Log:Black Squadron: Recidivism Initiative
Black Squadron: Recidivism Initiative
OOC Date: September 1, 2019
Location: Old Republic Prison Biome 2134, Belsavis
Participants: Tallissan Lintra, Jessika Pava, Karé Kun, Karas Darkwing, Ektor, Nova Korell, Callax Dalso, Elrych Cometburn, Poe Dameron, Black Squadron
Old Republic Prison Biome 2134, Belsavis
Belsavis is an icy planet whose surface is freckled with patches of lush biome wilderness thanks to the presence of mega-volcanoes. In each massive biome, cities have formed, or prisons. Originally mapped to be a Republic prison world, Belsavis has a dark and violent history. Since the fall of the New Republic, the prisons have become violent and explosive. Unmanned, save for droid prison guards, Belsavis has become a haven now of the most dangerous people in the galaxy. Fortunately, no one but the Republic Military knew about the prison site, so no one has come to release these terrorists and scum back out into the galaxy.
Belsavis is near enough a waste. What settlements took up residence in some of the rural biomes have evacuated and chaos has befallen the secret Republic world. In the absence of a government, guards have abandoned their post. The Ghost, a VCX-100 light freighter, was not even hailed when it zips into existence from hyperspace in a flash of gold and blue. It's as if the world is dead.
Black Squadron is set down on the outskirts of biome 2134, a Republic prison that spanned roughly 300 miles from ice shelf to ice shelf. As the Ghost powers down, her main ramp is lowered onto an outpost tarmac landing area that is surrounded on three sides by a perimeter wall of durasteel. Tall watchtowers provide a decent vantage, but they have since aged and ice has formed over the places where windows typically were.
There is no sound of wildlife here, only the peaceful whisper of an icy wind, the calm flutter of snow, and the sounds everyone makes getting off the ship.
Belsavis is /cold/, unforgiving, and intimidating. Behind them, and the Ghost, a massive shelf of ice stands so tall the clouds conceal its top.
"No incoming communications." Informing Major Poe Dameron of the situation and the lack of any kind of signal coming from the known installations listed on the data screen she has pulled up, Captain Jessika Pava glances out the viewport from the co-pilot seat of the Ghost to gaze at the snow-covered world of Belsavis. She knows it's history, and the dangers associated with it, but this isn't their first trip to a prison planet, and Jessika would dare say it's not the worst one around, if anyone cared to ask her. No one does. "Landing zone looks clear on initial scans. Just ice, ice, and more ice. Getting some readings on some fauna, but that's about it." She lapses into silence as they make the last bit of their descent to land on the icy world.
Dressed in the white armor of an conflict past, Kare adjusts her cap and steps down into the harsh environs that await them all. Her feet leave the ramp and crunch on snow and ice alike, carefully adjusting her pace so she does not slip and slide. Adjusting the strap of her rifle on her back as she goes, her hand sweeps up to pull the lower scarf about her face to keep the blistering air from chilling the skin. Its likely to cause lasting damage if exposure continues. Even through the swath of cloth her breath mists out, "Pleasant. Perfect place for a facility like this." She swings the rifle down and checks its cell for the third time - its a charm.
WIth the area clear there is no immediate rush to secure anything but rather wait to form up and fall into line with the others.
"This has to be the most lifeless world in this sector," Nova Korell agrees, coming down from the dorsal turret of the /Ghost/ once the ship touches down. "Scenery's not much to look at, either. Let's hope that means this'll be a simple in and out." The cold wind makes the blonde soldier shiver as she steps down the ramp. "Whew! I'm suddenly glad I wore my temperature control body glove under this gear," she murmurs, pulling her scarf up over her nose and mouth.
An instantly cold nose - Tallie closes the helmet and despite the heating system it fogs and the world goes whiter than the ice that surrounds them. A fan in her white armor whirs overly loud in her ears surrounded by the near silence of the cold. It is not a topic of conversation but a secret worry of Captain Lintra, Reynaud's Syndrome is not fatal by any means but uncomfortable in the cold. She follows the other down the ramp, feet crunching in the powder at the bottom of the ramp, she rotates her head to get a panoramic view.
"You said it Nova," Tallie agrees tersely and checks her gun.
Ektor, by contrast, is all smiles. Decked out in an armored flight suit, his expression is invisible. Still, good cheer is audible in his voice. "No lie? Always knew there was a chance I'd wind up here, some day. But coming here like this is WAY BETTER than any reason I woulda guessed, yeah? Heheh. -Say, what are we here looking for, again?" he remembers to ask, lazily checking the charge on a heavily modified pistol.
Stepping down the ramp in his Jedi garb albeight with a scarf and some heavy furs in all the right places to keep him warm(ish) on this frozen world, is Elrych Cometburn. His hood up on his dark green cloak, sunglasses protecting him from snowblindness and allowing him to properly see clearly. He isn't baring a weapon yet, lightsaber still hanging from his belt. He pauses, glancing around, taking in a deep breath before smiling, the cold really clearing up the stuffy nose he had on the Ghost. "My kinda place. Think I'll put a cabin right over..." He points towards a sparce tree line. "There, door facing south of course..." He glances to Nova, "Not a bad idea, Moonbeam. Those initial base layers are important, right?" He liked the cold better. The Corellian Jedi then looks over towards the other, "Some of you been here before? Sounds like a good story."
Bruise-purple against the gray of the Ghost's bulkheads, the micromotors beneath the dark violet plates of Callax's armor emits a chorus of whines as he double-checks his gear in the in the cargo bay. Loading both pistols at his hips, he checks the sighting of each in turn before drawing and testing the song of the sleek, vibrosword that hangs there as well. Its hum hangs in the air for a moment after he's disengaged its generator, and sheathing it once more draws on the sealed barbute helm - and once the rest march past out into the cold, follows the knot with body insulated and visual suite engaged.
<< Thermals on, Commander, >> Callax says, his voice made flat and metallic by the helmet's hidden speaker. Through the visor of his helm, the planet is a world of colored shapes and computer-generator wireframes.
"No one likes ice worlds, Jess. It may not be a beach, but there's peace to be had if we came to watch the snow fall." Poe unstraps from the pilot seat and brings himself out of the cockpit, stopping only to take his rifle from the rifle rack by the door.
When Poe steps down the ramp and outside, he's among the last of the group to do so. Like Kare, and like Jess, he wears the snowsoldier armor regulated for this climate by the New Republic military; an organization that's painfully missing from this world. Poe collapses the custom buttstock of his Rebel Alliance rifle, and activates the weapon's charged with a practiced slap against the receiver. It comes to life with a dull whine, and its custom optics begin to power up with a luminescent orange.
BB-8 has accompanied the pilot down the ramp and rolls ahead of the group. Poe simply acknowledges Callax with a nod then steps up carefully to join the others. "Don't think for a second we came down unnoticed. There's at least a dozen eyes on us now." Poe shows some familiarity with their surroundings as he steps toward the north, where the main gate is. He wraps a scarf around his face and looks back at the others. "Everyone look around for a double-door entrance. It might be close to the ice wall, it might be on the ground. This outpost is supposed to lead underground and take us to the max security paddock."
"I've been to ice worlds before," Jessika reminds Poe while trudging out into the snow. By the time she reaches the bottom of the ramp and sinks her boots into the powdered surface covering sheets of ice, her scarf is up, her goggles are in place, and her cap is tugged down low. She carries the same rifle as Poe in her hands, with the weapon's stock attached to a clip near her shoulder should she need to let it go for whatever reason. The crunch of snow under her boots joins a chorus of other footfalls in the process of following the Major towards the main gate. With the orders to look for the entrance handed down, Jessika turns her gaze towards the ice wall and then closer around. "I've got some markings here. Seems like it's under the ice."
Drawing an ice pick from the back of her belt, Jessika takes a swing down at the ice to try and get a notch into the ice. It does nothing but glance off. "Great."
Kare takes a few steps forward as the others disembark, giving space for the others as she tugs her glove on down so that her fingers are a bit more agile. Though when Jess notes the markings just as she catches them from the corner of her eye she makes a thougth sound and narrows her gaze agaisnt the blinding white. "Yep, see it.." she moves over to help, her rifled shouldered again as she drags her own equipment out. Two handing it she pulls back to get a hefty swing as she grunts to put force behind it. The smaller ace slams home, a chunk skidding away as a more sizeable crack forms down the rest of the icy covering. Her boot moves out to kick some of the looser chunks away.
"Weak right here."
Seeing that the others have things well in hand (and foot), Nova steps back and pulls her quadnoculars from their case, glassing the area around them to make sure there won't be any unpleasant surprises while they're working.
Adjusting the internal temps of her armor leaves Tallie with a fogged faceplate. Exasperated she opens it for better vision and pulls her white silk scarf across her mouth and nose. Her boots crunch along with the others. She stops short of the others who have spotted something under the ice and draws her blaster thoughtfully. Pava gives the ice a good whack with little result.
Pointing the blaster to the side of their target and away from the feet of the group, tallie makes a test splash. The noise echos across the ice with in a stunning crescendo but the ice has disappeared where she shot. The others make enough headway for her efforts to seem less urgent. "Blaster seems to work," she says loud enough for the others to hear.
"Don't worry.. I got this, yeah?" Ektor grins in the tone of voice that his comrades have learned from prior experience tends to mean that he does NOT in fact 'have it'. Gesturing for the others to give him space to work, he cracks his knuckles, rolls his neck, declines an ice axe... and promptly launches himself bodily at the wall of ice. In a combination of dumb luck and brute force, he smashes into the ice, and a broad sheet cracks audibly, crumbling in chunks. Staggering back from the sealed door with an uneven cackle, the Tionese declares, "Winner!" before ribbing his shoulder, chuckling again and adding, "Not for nothing? Looks welded shut, yeah?"
"Work smart not hard, guys." Elrych says as they come upon the entrance covered in ice. He's about to unclip his lightsaber but the others move to work on it in other ways. "I think Sunshine has the right idea." Though at the news of it being sealed or fused shut, the Jedi does then pull his lightsaber from his belt. "I could probably cut into it. It'll take some time though." He'll have to adjust the length too.
<< Right, let me try this, everyone, if you please. >> Stepping up to another section of the door, away from the rest, Callax extends a heavy, gauntleted hand close to the ice while extending the other in the opposite direction - and making a fist, a broad cone of alcohol-blue flame gushes from the ports over each hand. Kept in place by the dual tongues of exhaust, Callax is able to sweep the bright flame across a broad portion of the ice across the top of the buried portal, causing battered chunks to melt away and the rest to fall clear.
<< Oh, >> his mechanized voice sounds like a bit like a startled droid's with the collapse of the ice. << More effective than I thought. >>
The door is revealed just as Poe said there would be one. The combined effort of the squad, except for Poe and Nova who stood guard, saw the structure uncovered. Seeing it sealed, Poe chuckled. "New Republic order 43 Besh; 'in case of a prison riot, seal the doors from the outside to contain.' " He motions for Elrych to cut the seal with his lightsaber.
When the doors open, hot hair brushes out as a corridor carved into the stone is revealed. Blinking lights have come to life until a dull whine is heard from the power. The stairs go far, but level out at the bottom which is a good 30m down.
Those wearing radio or comm gear pick up a garbled transmission.
<<"---static---..olonel...eron. --static-- ..ollow him...">> The background noise, aside from the static, is comprised of the sound of battle, like blasters going off. <<"..ly fire.. lls...hem!">>
Poe motions for BB-8 to wait on the Ghost. His comm is out of his ear. "We may need you to come find us, buddy. Wait on the ship and keep the hatch closed. We'll call if we need you." Poe turns and motions the team down. "Alight, let's head down. Blasters up and watch for ice on the steps. That's a long rekking way down."
"Nice work, Ektor. How's that shoulder?" Impacting hard ice is a good way to dislocate it. Regardless, in short order, all the ice is broken away from the doors to reveal that it's been sealed shut by the people who were there last. Jessika stows the pick away onto her belt, and hooks her thumbs under the black straps of the bag she has slung over her shoulders. "I brought my toolkit with me, Poe. I can undo the fuse if you'd rather that than the lightsaber. We don't know what lies beyond the door or if it taking a lot of damage might trip some other security system." She keeps her gaze trained on the Commander to see what decision he's going to make. Whatever choice awaits, it means they'll be getting out of the snow, and she's looking forward to that.
It's Elrych that gets the honors of unsealing the door, and Jessika slips her hands away back to her blaster rifle to take up a covering position that involves staring out across the packed snow with her eyes looking for movement. As soon as the door opens, Jessika sweeps her rifle towards it and trains her barrel down the stairway. The indication for movement forward sees Jessika taking point, and just as the Major suggested, she attempts to be careful about the steps. Maintaining aim of her weapon with her right hand, and her finger hovering against the trigger guard, Jessika uses her left to yank her goggles up and over the brim of her cap, so that they're not obscuring her vision.
"Getting a garbled message. I don't know if it's some distress signal or something else." Jessika doesn't stop to mess with her equipment to find out.
"Yeesh, Tion..." Kare rumbles out. She glances at the work he's done on the ice and then Callax following it up. A nod of her head is given and she backs up so Elrych can get into the space before the door and get it open. She tugs that covering more firmly into place while they wait, the door slow work even for the lightsaber. Her hands rub together and she stamps on her feet to help move her blood around.
The sudden blast of hair unsettles Kare's scarf and causes it to flare back behind her. Its warm, not a bad thing but the cold slips back in quickly thereafter and causes a shiver to run up her spine as it immediately bites into her skin. She shudders and pulls the rifle from her shoulder as has to lean around Elrych to get a look - small stature can be a pain some times. The rifle clicks as she switches the safety off while the barrel is pointed down and away. Suddenly her comm lights up in her ear and she glances to the others, listening as her eyes lift left in thought. Not much is understood really and she nods at Jessika as she states there is a message coming in. "Well then." She lifts up on her toes to rolls her shoulders. "Be ready for anything," she glances at Poe and then follows with the group, keeping to the right side. "You think it might get more clear the further we go in? Likely to find more sealed doors bewteen us and whatever is going on in here."
Nova winces, seeing Ektor crash into the ice over the door. "Next time, we definitely bring tools... for Tion's sake if nobody else's," she murmurs. "Ek, that skull of yours isn't going to protect you from your own... /determination/ forever." She probably had to resist saying a different word.
She looks up as Jessika mentions the transmission, one she heard as well. "Confirming that transmission. It's garbled, but maybe it can be cleared up," she says, frowning at her wrist comlink. "Just give me a sec..."
Or BB-8 a sec. The droid's comlinked warble prefaces a clearup of the communication... and Nova freezes. "Whoa... Colonel? This is weird. Someone's talking like they know you! And something about fire killing... /something/. Here, I'll play it back."
She adjusts the controls and turns on the comlink speaker, holding it up. And out comes: <<"Are you with Colonel Dameron?! Follow him!-- Only fire kills them!">>
She looks around the little group. "I don't know that voice. Does anyone here?"
"Feels ALIVE, yeah?" Ektor answers Jess with a crooked grin, rolling his shoulder to see if anything feels busted. With no abrupt pain, he seems to have gotten lucky, sketching a lazy bow at Kare's 'yeesh'. Nova draws a chuckle. "I'll last long enough, Moonbeam, no worries." Then the cleaned up transmission is played back. "Colonel? Who's a Colonel? Pretty Boy if you got promoted again and didn't buy drinks- wait, never mind, that don't make sense."
Elrych increases the length and the power of the blade a bit before letting it slide into the door after Callax does his thing. Molten Orange and hot white spark and plume from the impact area. It continues in a line as Elrych slowly draws them a 'door' of sorts. After a moment, he shuts the blade down but doesn't return it to his belt. There are a few creeks and moans before the new 'door' falls forwards and down with a loud clank. "After you..." He bows to the rest of the team. He keeps the saber disengaged in hand as he walks along with the others, raising an eyebrow at the strange comm traffic an Nova's decryption. "Uhg, I've had just about enough with anything to do about fire this week." He was of course referring to the Psychokinesis of the Knights of Ren.
Once the hatch is unsealed by way of the squad's space wizard and the way down is shown, Callax draws a heavy Nabooean blaster from his hip - an officer's version of the old S-5, it lacks the chunky wooden grip and so is able to be wielded by his armored fist. All business, here, he descends with the rest while scanning the corridor yet through the strange view of the thermal visor. Searching for targets before they can be alerted, hopefully, especially now with that broken noise in his ears.
<< Sounds like a dark holofilm, >> Callax murmurs, checking that his pistol is loaded. << I have fire, at least. >>
Karas was the last to show up but he manages to make it before they through the make shift door. Skidding to a halt, he hefts his blaster pistol out of its holsters, "Sorry I'm late." he says to them as he checks the area, and looks to the make shift door then to Elrych. Giving his fellow squad member a nod, taking a breath and waiting for the others to begin moving in, he moves to the side to cover them as they head in.
Poe freezes half way down the staircase and seems caught up by the transmission; choked up even. When everyone looks to him because of the name likeness, Poe pulls back his goggles and beanie cap, revealing dark messy hair and an expression of utter surprise. "They aren't talking about me-- It's my dad!!" Without any regard for safety, Poe moves ahead of the others, rushing down the steps as quickly as he can manage.
As everyone reaches the bottom, they're witness to Poe kicking open a second set of doors, and a sudden rush of icy air comes in.
<<..-- "Alright boys, they're swarmin' us but we have them right where we want them. Everywhere you shoot, you're killin' a bastard, so don't give up /ANY/ ground!">> Growls an older voice, the background a bit more clear.
Poe has led them to a lookout that provides a vantage of a vast area below. Bright brown stones of ancient ruins contrast defiantly against the stark white of ice and snow. The look out they are on? Is a walkway cut into the side of a steep cliffside. Heavy and wide metal-grated catwalks are bolted into the ice and rock, and lead down to the vast open area below. Looking down from the edge of the catwalk, the squad can see the mouth of a giant structure in the distance (roughly about 100 meters. A mass of dark shapes have surrounded a smaller group, yet fire has been used to mark a protective circle separating those trapped in the middle fighting, from the mass that has swarmed them.
Poe can see this, and turns to look down the long stretch of scaffolding that gradually leads them down to the surface where they might be able to help. "Damn it.. we won't get there in time."
"Poe, wait!" Jessika damn near loses her footing on the steps when the Major shoves her aside to finish descending the steps before anyone else. Grunting, she tries not to slip and rush at the same time. Running ahead is a good way to catch a blaster bolt to the chest. Or worse. She makes it down the stairs first to observe her friend kicking open a set of doors and sending light from the exterior flooding into the more dimly lit interior. Jessika yanks her goggles back down once she gets to the bottom of the steps and joins Poe on the catwalk. "Don't go running off like that." Her tone is sharp and is meant to pierce through whatever fog settled on Poe's head and made him run off like a damn fool ahead of the rest of them. It's good advice to heed.
"You're not going to help him if you slip and break your neck." Smacking the back of her hand against the side of Poe's arm, Jessika points out towards turrets lining the catwalks. "Some of us can use those and some of us can try to get to them." Jessika spies the power cables connected to the turrets, though, and natural curiosity spurred by her analytical mind lead her to see where they're connected. "Hold that thought." Breaking away and heading adjacent to her current position, Jessika finds a power source that's disconnected from the main trunk that splits off to the rest. Dropping her weapon to her torso again, Jessika hefts the cable up from the ground and hooks it up. Some things like plugs for the giant guns are pretty universal, no matter how long they've been here or who installed them.
Poe is not the only one to recognize there is great significance here and she watches him pause just as she hears the name too. Confirmed from his own lips, Kare hisses out a breath and she picks her way with a little more care than the commander. Best not to break anything at this juncture - especially when they have one very enthusiastic and rushed Commander. "Poe..slow down.." because they have no idea what they are rushing into. Kare shares a look with Jess and then is just on Poe's heels given the fact he has taken the time to break the door down. With the care she takes along the way she notes something, considering the distance as Poe says they won't get there in time. She shoulders her rifle, giving a glance towards Jessika as she is on the move.
When the power winds up based on whatever Jess did, Kare is shifting forward and over to a turret, slipping in behind it to grab hold and start to swing it towards the mass. She depresses the trigger and braces, boots squeaking against the catwalk as she starts to continuous beam and swings notices the continuous shot.
"Wow... Colonel Dameron? The man's a legend! We even heard a little about him in training," Nova recalls, forgetting in her excitement that her training was not /their/ training. "We have to help him!"
The pronouncement about the distance between them is like a punch in the gut. "But... we have blasters," she reasons. "Can't we give them covering fire, at least?"
Then Jessika points out the turrets. Now /that/ is an idea she can get behind. "On it like a sonnet!" she declares, dashing over to one of the turrets.
...Which is deactivated. But not for long! It's a couple seconds until it goes live, but once it does, she's activating the targeting computer and taking aim at a crowd of those rushing creatures. "Consider this a show of respect, Colonel," she says, and opens fire.
The results are spectacular: The bluish beam that lances out from the cannon lands in the middle of a crowd of the rushing horrors, turning them into crispy critters! Lots and lots of crispy critters! The tide on that side is fast being stemmed. "Wow! Now /this/ is covering fire!"
Below what looks like pure chaos separates into combatants and foe. Pava's voice rings out over the others calling Poe back, slowing Tallie's own downward momentum. Quick thinking, equally quick work and what looked like odds stacked against them is turned when power is restored to the turrets.
"I'm going for the turret in position three," Tallie sings out before beginning the treacherous climb along the icy catwalk toward it. Cold fingers clutch the wall as she climbs into the well of the turret. Using her fist to crack the ice on the computer she brings the targeting mechanisms online. In a ponderous turn the turret judders into use, ice cracking from the mechanism. The blue is blinding as the beam lances into the enemy below, first shot and a few fall to the ice.
Ektor echoes Poe, incredulous, "Your dad?" As the squad hastens on, he adds, "Wait- you have a dad??" When the survivors in their ring of fire are spotted, Ektor winces with a low whistle. "That don't look good." He looks up as the lights clap on, in turn. Spotting a turret with a chuckle, Ektor hurry-limps up to one, and begins priming it to fire. "Nice, Jess!" he calls toward the rational one. Laughing under his breath as the machine hums to life, "Hey, Joy: lookit me, I'm a prison guard and drek!" Swiveling the anti-personnel installation on target, firing a concussive stream of blue energy and blasting a sizable portion of one shadowy flank, working from the side of the chamber opposite Nova's fire. "The best turrets all shoot blue," he opines, plainly. "That's just science."
Elrych isn't as observant as the others. He doesn't pick up on the turrets, he's too preoccupied by the battle raging down below. There's a moment or two as the others discover the machines. He moves to do his best. He knew a little bit about shooting turrets, learning up as his freighter required the use of them in combat. He's able to start the machine which gives the Corellian a bit of satisfaction. However, when he pulls the trigger the wine of it charging starts to spin down and several errors prope up. "Damn it..."
He was not born in a cabbage patch, was Poe Dameron - Callax manages a moment of amusement as he leaps to to controls of one of the turrets - not really certain exactly what is down there, but knowing that it's hostile, Callax activates the turret's targeting computer and prepares to loose a blast...only to have the whole emitter let out a groan and a whine. << Sons of blood, >> Callax mutters through his helmet, and smashes an armored fist upon the turret. << Work! >>
Karas follows into the shaft with teh others and as Poe goes off moving quickly and a little haphazardly down. Karas is a little more careful, moving quickly but only going as fast as the slowest person in the group. Upon seeing teh scene before them, he begins rushing to the turrets himself, he couldn't shoot with them but he could help them get started and thats what he does, "I will help get these kriffing things operational." he tells the group and thats what he does. His cold weather gear keeping him warm, he moves to the junction box and works his computer skill magic, helping to get a few of the other turrets not manned by anyone else up and working, "We have a few more working turrets!" eh calls to the team.
<<--"Where's that fire coming from?!"-- "Over there, the look out, Colonel!-- I'll be damned.. looks like the Warden's back in office. Don't just stand around, keep blasting and moving people!-- Yes sir!">>
Poe is reigned back in by Jessika's cooler demeanor, but he doesn't look sheepish or embarrassed. He turns to look at the turrets, and the squad takes the initiative to man them after Jess finds the source of their juice. Rather than man a turret, Poe walks the firing line as people open fire, and he hefts his rifle up casually to watch the effect. "Good effects on target. KEEP KRIFFIN' THEM UP!" He yells over the wind along the line, pointing with his offhand. He steps up beside Jess and squints down below.
Everyone has leveled the odds now, and from the looks of it, the group below has increased their fight with a massive wave of flames. The soldiers below retreat into the massive structure but are pursued. What's left of the large crowd move after them. Black Squadron still has clear shots on the turrets!
With the power trunk hooked up, the turrets go live. As her various Squadron mates hop onto the weapons and begin providing covering fire and support for Colonel Dameron, Jessika stays where she is to get a closer look at the panel. Dragging a multitool from her belt, she flicks it open with a practiced motion from her wrist and pops a small door on the panel. Glancing over the numerous lights and wires inside, it's obvious that these are Republic systems, which means it takes no time at all for her to locate where the safeties for the weapons are controlled. Drawing the knife out from its concealed position, Jessika yanks a wire towards her into a loop and then slips the blade underneath it. A quick yank severs it.
Within a seconds, a small little warning alarm on the panel begins beeping incessantly. Jessika hits it with the base of her fist to shut it up. On the turrets? The indicator for weapon power peaks out at the top, indicating they're now firing past their normal levels and at more damaging force. "Be a little more selective with your sweeps! I just disabled the safeties on the gun. Don't hold the triggers down or the turret will probably explode!"
"Oh by the Force, Tion, do not put that picture in my head," Kare snaps back as she focuses on the aiming of her turret. She glances aside only briefly as her face is thrown in blue relief from the beam of energy that is laying waste from all the other turrets. As the report from Jessika is barely heard over the whine of her turret she notices the slight difference in how it responds ands he widens her gaze, sweeping it quickly and testing the limitations for a moment as she sears through quite a few. It brings an odd grin to her face but she eases back just a little so she's not overheating the turret and causing more problems.
The blue beam moves with her slow rotation, steady with hopes of keeping from hitting any of the friendlies. "Well done, Jess!" She lifts her voice, glancing as the other beams are all working through the numbers, chewing them apart, a slow exhale of relief washing out of her as more than just the tide is turning.
"Whoa... hey, they're falling back! The Colonel and his people, I mean!" Nova says, watching the group move "Think we'd better try to keep their tails clear! Jess, I hope you can keep us shooting. The people down there sure need the help!"
True gunner at heart, she manages to be sparing with her laser power, but all the same, a sweep of the beam shears off the closest pursuers, clearing the heels of the fleeing people below. Another shaves the margin just behind /them/, the exploding stones under the beam wreaking more havoc in the horde. "Just gotta /keep/ the creeps off their collective backs!"
Muttering over the open coms, Tallie continues firing, <Poe, has a father? Galaxies - what next?> Ice broken loose, the turret turns more easily making target acquisition just that much quicker. Pava's fix has them on continuous fire turning the turrets into death machines. Blue beams of destruction follow the enemy as the Colonel pulls back, black ash is all that is left in its wake.
She disabled the safeties?? "Ooh, baby," Ektor grins, loudly admiring the effect of his squadmates' fire on the shadowy horde, below. "Too late, I'm in your head now, Joy- BOOM," he cackles back, a big ball of dumb enthusiasm for blowing things up. Blue energy and exploding shards of rock, leave a trail of destruction. "Sure hope I don't know any of these guys," he grins under his breath.
As Jess anounces that she's disabled the safety on the turrents, Elrych smirks a bit. "Alright, alright, alright." He presses down on the trigger machanism, aiming for a group on the far right that is attempting to make some type of flanking maneuver. They are cut down soundly by the heavy repeating blasts from the anti personel turrets. "We should think about getting down there soon. They'll be too small of numbers and into cover to cut down like this eventually." He informs to anyone listening, adding onto Nova's report. "Everybody's got a dad, even if it aint their real dad... or is a deadbeat Dad. I mean my dad was kinda drek, right?"
Manual repair techniques - literal ones - seem to do the trick, or maybe that's just the effect of Jessika's expert electronics work. In any case, the turret hums to life as power pours in through the linkages, and without a word Callax cuts the thermals and activates the helmet's targeting system; between the coruscating beam of energy that pours from the turret's emitter like water from a hose, and the autotargeting routines that point out the best way to direct that fire, the left flank of the rapidly dwindling mass are reduced to carbon shadows wherever that beam falls. << Suppressing left flank, Commander, >> Callax reports over the comms. << Fire steady and deliberate. >>
He heard the bit about the explosions, after all - torrets of light squeeze off and back to life again, disciplined fire from Black Ten's rider.
Karas quickly runs over to one of the turrets and as he does, he sighs. "This is going to suck." he says as he powers it up and lets the turret charge. Once it's fully charged, Karas uses the targeting computer on the turret and begins lining up his shot and as he does, he pulls the triggers and well, brilliant laser fire over shoots his targets, not hitting any of the targets.
Poe watches from the platform as the wind continues to kick up. Bright flashes of blue catch the horde below. Each time movement is seen through the smoke and dust, another flash of blue beam sweeps across cutting off another flank. Before long, the field below is simply cast with smoke and falling chunks of debris. The soldiers that had been caught there have moved up a ramp, then disappeared into the structure itself. Poe takes that to mean they've gotten away, and Elrych has the right of it. He looks to Jess and raises his hand, flashing his palm toward her only to gesture up and down in quick motions. This means cease fire. <<"Cease fire, cease fire..">> Poe calls over their open comms.
Another alarm sounds from down the line. It's Captain Darkwing's turret. Sparks fly from the base of the weapon, and steam hisses out when a hose attached to the receiver pops loose, indicative of uncontrolled pressure. Something bad is about to happen.
"Karas! Get off your turret it's going to blow!! Everyone... MOVE!" Poe takes up the rear position, motioning for everyone to get away from the turret and move further down the catwalk. The direction he is gesturing is the same that will lead them to the smoking and dust covered battlefield. "MOVE! MOVE!" Poe screams!
At least one person either doesn't get the memo or these old turrets have some power feedback issues. Whatever the case, one of the turrets down the line suffers a catastrophic failure in its systems and that starts an overload. Jessika attempts to deal with it by cutting the power to that specific turret, but that does nothing. "Drek." Muttering it under her breath, she begins sprinting at Poe's insistence. "RUN! RUN NOW." Even if the other turrets don't go up, the catwalk is likely going to be destabilized from the destruction of the one in that particular area. "GET AWAY FROM IT!" If one person screaming is enough motivation, maybe two people screaming will be extra on top of that. Jessika is certainly sprinting as best she can in all this gear.
The open comm cease fire gets a response from Kare right away by the trigger being released. The call to run is something that causes her head to whip about as she sees the sparks fly before Karas. "Kriffing.." she hisses out and is turning then, "Tion!" She says as she starts to pass him. Her boots hit the catwalk as she leans into her run, hand going back to help secure her rifle into place as she pumps her shorter than average legs as quick as she can. The clatter thud of each step is amongst the many of the Black Squad group that is trying to clear the are before trouble follows along the line and creates a hell of a problem for them all.
She glances around, mentally checking each person on the fly.
"It's... going to blow?!" Nova exclaims, blinking. "Wait, we're on a catwalk! Where are we gonna go?!"
But people are already moving. Nova just decides to follow them, tagging onto the end of what's rapidly becoming a flying salami. "Hurry! Move-move-move!" she shouts, a drill sergeant's idea of being encouraging. "We're not geing paid by the hour!"
The turret smells like burning electronics but Tallie is concentrating on her targets to the exclusion of everything else. The yell over coms makes her bark her shin so hard that she would be hopping in circles yelling, "Ow, ow, ow," where it not for the padding in her light armor. She bails and nearly takes a head long flight down the icy stairs, catching herself hard under the arms on the railing, she slips and slides her way down. Move-move-move she does, watching the others abandon their turret nests like a flock of startled birds leaving the roost.
"YEAH, that's right!" Ektor hollers (off comms, mercifully) down at the smoking battlefield, before the calls go up to run. "Huh? But we was- oh. OH," it takes him a second, but once the situation is clear and Kare is yelling too, Ektor is sprint-limping after the others. "I'm moving, I'm moving- I like blowing drek up and all, but I ain't so keen on being the drek, yeah?" He might move faster if he were able to shut up, occasionally. Still, he's not the LAST one out.
Elrych is like a bat of hell when the order to bug out and away from the turrets that are about to explode are given. Clank clank clank are his boots on the catwalk stairs as he makes his way down and around. He might even skip a few steps for quickness. It's like he'd spent an entire life running from the law in back alleys and city streets or something. Those dang Corellian rascals. "DOWN!" He shouts to Nova. "YEAH Salary sucks! No Overtime!" He keeps the momentum.
Leaping off the turret, Callax runs along with the rest - but the armor is heavy, and even with his training and the motor-augmented motion, he cannot carry forward quite fast enough. And so, he simply leaps into the air, and...flies above the others, keeping pace, held in place by the cones of blue flame projected from nozzles on the backs of boots and gauntlets alike.
Karas jumps off the turret, he didn't need to be told twice and he quickly races down the catwalk, "Come on Poe now!" he calls as he is the last one in line. He is moving as quickly as he can not running no one down or anything but keeping pace as they head towards the battlefield.
Poe is the last of the group to go, ensuring his people are off the guns and on their way to safety. He chances one look back, realizing then they'd have to find another way out, like Nova pointed out, he commits to their strategy and runs after his team. He holds his rifle in front of him, hugging it close to his chest as he breaths out labored, heavy breaths to follow the others. His vision is shakey, and his ears are ringing from the sounds of their feet hitting the grated metal as they get a headstart.
The explosion is massive, and the entire catwalk shakes and vibrates. The catwalk that held the turret platform for Karas' old gun swings out from the explosion, disconnecting from the wall.
If their ears weren't already ringing, then they'd hear the groan of metal as the momentum of the catwalk began to tear more and more of the platform from the cliff. The process increases, one platform falling off just at Poe's heels. "RUN! RUUUN!" He screams, not daring to look back for a mis-step.
Overall they were making good progress, and by some grace of the force, everyone makes it to the bottom, Poe leaping off just as the last bit of catwalk fell and collided with the earth below. Now the squad is completely surrounded by dust and smoke of the battered battlefield they had just saw from above. Everyone can see each other, but moving forward was going to be tough. The sounds of snarling and the shuffled movements of something or somethings very alive around them (albeit unseen through the smoke and dust) is heard. Without much warning, the team sees dark shapes close in on them; WHAT they are remains a mystery, but they do not sound friendly and their skin matches the shade of what they determined were hostile when shooting the turret. Poe lowers his rifle, knowing it will be of no use in close quarters. The DL-44 at his side is brought up with practiced ease. "Stick together.. we're in the middle of it now!"
During the process of running, Jessika gathers up her rifle to keep it from bouncing around on the attachment clip hanging from her jacket. She's not the first, but she is the second off the catwalk, and she doesn't stop. Stopping might clog up the exit off the horribly creaking, completely collapsing death trap, and that's the last thing that any of them need. There's zero time to recollect and take a breather, though, because as the debris impacts against what seem like ancient ruins, a great cloud of concealing dust, just like what they'd kicked up with the laser turrets, begins to swirl and seep around them. "One thing after the other," Jessika remarks to herself, and snaps her rifle up as snarling noises beyond her vision of sight begin to surround them.
Not all of the vague shapes stay away. "Contact!" As one one of the creatures attempts to grab her from the smoke, Jessika orients her rifle in that direction and snaps the barrel down towards something vital. The discharged blaster bolt is loud and echoes in the cavern, and its destructive force rends the creature's limb from its body and leaves it collapsing to the floor. A disgusting spray of arterial blood arches across and smacks against her dark grey and white uniform, staining it with the vitae of some hostile enemy.
Coughing as the dust fills her lung, Kare is busy trying to look around at the others. "Everyone all right?" She asks once they are all out of harms way. But that sound, whatever it is, is not promising in the least. The rifle in her hand is brought up and as Jess takes am so does Kare. She continues to cough, trying to lift the scarf around her face to cut off all the particles in the air from filling her lungs. She sucks in through her teeth a moment to try to filter and then makes sure others are clear. MOVEMENT! She takes aim, trying to follow it.
"Firing!"
She calls out loudly and begins to sweep her gun around and movement again catches her eye. She pulls back on the trigger but hears nothing of import that is hit, the blue bolt disappearing as she narrows her gaze and coughs again, dust and the like still gathered in her throat.
It's a long run to... wherever they're going. Down, for sure. At least they seem to be all alive and well for the moment.
Hearing something between a hiss and a growl from the smoke around them, Nova pauses to take a look around. "We might have a problem," she murmurs, seeing movement in the smoke. "Or a lot of problems."
Something darts in the smoke, and she fires! A three-round burst flashes into the darkness, and she hears two screeches, one of which keeps on screeching until it suddenly goes silent. But she's still seeing movement. "I don't know if we brought enough ammo for this..."
One down on the ground smoke and steam from the ice greet her. It's only the others voices that orient her. "Problems, Nova?" Laughing aloud, Tallie plunges into the darkness firing wildly. Her shots go awry adding more flashes of light in the obscurity but doing nothing to further their cause.
"Oh, I *definitely* didn't know any of these guys," Ektor grunts with relief as the shadowy enemies are revealed to be monstrous unknown creatures. His pistol is fired three times in quick succession at the mass of swarming somethings.
Elrych's blade snaps to life once move as it hadn't left his hands even when firing the turret, probably another reason he had trouble with it. He just didn't know when he'd need the ancient weapon. He circles the wagons with the group and the mysterious entities come, the blue of his blade reflecting in the darkness of his shades. This smoke was doing them no good. They couldn't see the enemy. He closes his eyes, face scrunching a bit and then with a shout thunder cracks and his hands stretch outword, even the one with his blade. Suddenly the smoke clears as if a wind had come through and removed it. "Alright... there we go." He looks towards their combatants, "Dayyum, Dude... you need some product for sure."
Touching down onto the surface from his hurtling escape, Callax wields his heavily augmented pistol - the formerly pristine relic of the Republic has been transformed into a mighty cannon, and he looses a pair of enormous green bolts from its heavy barrel with a thunderous roar. The smell of ozone fills the air as one of the burly figures screams and falls, the majority of one leg left behind on the frozen ground as it tries to step forward...then falls and lands, grievously wounded, in the snow.
It is an unnerving experience being surrounded on all sides by an all concealing wall of dust and smoke. Errant blasts from his squad ring out, some lighting up the smoke and disappearing, some finding their marks. Elrych's call to the force sees the field cleared of the concealing presence, and before them stands a field of steaming destruction complete with the fluttering of ash, or was that snow? Blood and gore was all around them, but there were still standing monsters searching their dead and finding the culprits. Standing at an easy 6'5, some even taller, these entities were Esh-Ka, inhabitants of the lower levels of the prison.
The had the face of a bull, but the bodies of Viking war-lords built for war. They stood on two legs with hooved feet, but had hands capable of using blasters and other weapons.
Poe does not hesitate in opening fire. He takes the lead and blasts two down with the loud discharge of a handcannon; his third shot goes wide though. Then?
They are swarmed. He suddenly realized the danger his father had been in. "FIGHT THEM OFF!" Poe yells, side stepping two attacks intended for him and raising his blaster to retaliate.
The sudden clearance of the battlefield causes Jessika to suck in a breath. They're surrounded and outnumbered. One of the creatures dips in close and stabs her in the left leg with what looks like a fishing gig consisting of three sharp prongs attached to a long haft. It bites deep into the fabric of her clothing and shreds it to expose the bodyglove and her bare flesh beneath it. Screaming out in pain, Jessika allows it to fuel her rather than hinder her. The pain turns into anger, especially as the shouts from the other members of the Squadron fill the air around her. "Blast these things!" Losing the turrets and being forced to come down this way have put them at a horrible disadvantage. All that's left to do is try to perserve through it.
Snapping her rifle up at another closeby target, Jessika squeezes the trigger and her rifle barks a second time. It punches a bolt right into the target's chest and the target pitches forward with a smoking wound to faceplant into the ground. She watches two more drop as another of the combatants on their side places a well-aimed pair of shots. "Keep it up!" They're living on borrowed time right now, especially as the fray comes closer and closer to becoming a melee rather than an exchange of blaster fire and stabbing weapons.
Two shots come howling her way and Kare makes a sound as one goes wide but the other lands square against her right arm. Nearly dropping her rifle, she side steps and goes to a knee to attempt to focus fire on their foes with the rest of the squad. There is a painful smell of flesh as her suit smokes a little and her fingers tingle before the raging pain of the blaster bolt travels her nervous system. "KRIFF!" She cries out, gritting her teeth as she can not see what they are facing down. "What in the.." she has little time to question as they are faced off with a small horde and her rifle swings up to try to get another clean shot and just does not have the focus needed. The shot goes wide, bolt taken in by the far wall as a bead of sweat trickles down the side of her face. Grunting she nearly pushes herself back up but gives in to the pain and remains on one knee. Better stability and all that for aiming. If she can even hit anything. The smell of her own burned flesh is making her a little light headed.
Nova staggers under two hits from whatever's attacking the group. "Okay... you're making me mad now," she mutters, regaining her balance and checking her weapon. Still functional. When she glances up, she sees what's attacking them... and it's not a pretty sight. Or a heartening one. But one's hurt. That's something she can take advantage of.
Nova holds down the trigger, scything fire into two of the monstrosities. One goes down under a burst, the injured under another shot. "Next time, let's just push the exploding turret down on top of the monsters," she mutters, wearily disgusted.
Watching a Jedi using the force close up is far from Tallissan's everyday experience. She gapes for a moment. The smoke being blown away has a two-way affect. They can see their adversary more clearly and are as easily seen. Tallie barely has a moment to rejoice in the change of circumstances before something swipes her from her feet and she hits the ground with such force that even cushioned by her light armor she blacks out for a moment. When she comes to she gasps as what seems like having her leg set on fire and then stamped on hits her. Miraculously she still has her gun in her hand which just as she lifts it is knocked from her hand, the thing standing over her wants to make sure she is down and spears her through the thigh like a fish. "What...?" She never finishes the question.
"'Fight them off', he says," Ektor commiserates with whichever Esh-ka warrior is trying to murder him at the moment. Firing another desperate burst of blaster bolts at the pressing foemen, he hollers, "NO DREK WE FIGHT THEM OFF," with a jagged laugh. "So what are you guys? Bantha boys? Man-cows? Horny Hutt-suckers?"
Elrych is busy deflecting a couple of attacks towards him, whether they be laser blasts or otherwise his brilliant blue lightsaber cuts or deflects them with the ease of a trained warrior. "ENOUGH!" The Jedi shouts as he picks up some of the rocks that have been thrown around in the fire fight and launches them towards the group of enemies. "They real ugly, that's for sure, Xer."
This is bad, very bad, and it's only going to get worse if someone doesn't get behind the wall of snarlers - and that's going to be Callax, apparently. Leaping through the air, the armor's jets propel him over the knot of monstrous beings, and landing Callax brings his pistol up again - firing twice, he severs more legs at the kneecap, sending limbs spinning away with every shot. He cannot allow himself a moment to ponder the fate of his comrades, not now, not even if he might desire it. He can only kill, and pray - if he does such a thing - that his distraction will be enough to give the others time to draw back.
Karas is nearly trips and as he does, he sees the Jedi fighting and the others, he can't focus on that as he is now able to see wha the hell it is they're fighting. "Oh really now!" he calls out as he brings his hand up and fires a quick shot at Bull-man!
It's a chaos of battle. Scuffling around, ducking and dodging, weaving even. Poe is knocked backward off his feet, but one arm goes wide like he's practiced thousands of times before to absorb the impact of falling. In doing so, he's managed to keep his blaster up, blasting the leg clean off one Esh-Ka, then catching another that charged him, in the arm. Both creatures fall at each of his flanks and Poe is scrambling to stand back up and looking for his squad mates.
Poe has to pause when he sees Dalso take to the air to land behind the enemy and fire into them, and it makes him smirk. He moved back to his team and kneels down beside Captain Lintra. "Hey!" He yells, a gloved hand lightly tapping her cheek. "Tallie!"
The fight is finally even, and Black Squadron is showing their prowess against the overwhelming odds. "MEDIC!" Poe yells, for anyone with a medpac that can see to their downed officer. He stands vigil near her, taking up a practiced stance his father taught him. "HOLD YOUR GROUND!"
They're in the thick of it, still, but enemy bodies are dropping fast, and they have their own pinch with some of the enemies between them and Dalso. Jessika leans back from a swipe with a shank and attempts to hipfire her rifle into the target that's right in front of her, but the angle is off and the blast goes wide to impact the ground beyond. The ground feels it. Preparing to do whatever it takes to keep the enemies away from them, Jessika can only spare a slight glance off to the side where Poe yells Tallie's name. She curses under her breath at the sight of her downed friend, and tries to adopt a better firing stance as pain surges and throbs through her thigh.
It hurts. That right arm is not going to do much of anything for her in too long and Kare is leaning heavily on adrenaline at this point. She stays upon a knee which puts her at a disadvanage as one rushes her but she drops, rolling to the side and over her arm. Hissing through her teeth she stays on her stomach and aims at her foe with a vengeance. Dark eyes narrow into focused attention before she squeezes again, this time able to score a hit. She watches the bull headed figure drop and crumble back givign her time to quickly get to her knee again and swaying up to her feet as she tries to hold the line for the rest that might need it.
The call of Tallie's name is heard, but her eyes are darting between targets.
Nova grimly keeps firing. The injuries and the fatigue are beginning to tell, compromising her aim. She almost doesn't realize that the only one she hit went down. "Are we... thinning them out? With our luck, they're... too damned stupid to run away..."
Ektor continues blasting away at the bipedal bovine bandits, putting a pair down with grievous wounds to the chest, hollering back at Poe, "Are you calling a medic for us or for them? Cause if it's them- I know you all heroic and drek- but what kinda doctor would they even NEED? A veteranarian-" yes, he mispronounced it, "-or a butcher?" Nova's question draws a sharp, manic laugh. "Thinning the herd, yeah??"
Speaking of butcher. Elrych had perfected the art of defending with a lightsaber. It was paramount after all and served him well as he deflects another attack. That said attacker had chose to wield a melee weapon against him which was summarily cut it half by the ancient weapon. The basics he knew about Lightsaber Offense though drew from the very first teaching and the very first forms. One solid strike across the midsection. The blade hums as it moves, cutting down from right upper side to left lower. It takes a moment, but the body of the alien splits in twain as the blue blade bifurcated the attacking creature. "You got to stop now... this is just getting messy and ridiculous."
Tallie hears her name being called from far away. She wants to answer, knows she must answer. But it's too cold right now to do that. She can see herself lying on the ice with her comrades around her. Her leg is crooked into an unnatural shape. It's just too dark to answer.'
The blowing winds are frustrating even the sophisticated systems of Callax's armor; while the natives drop one by one, and he has contributed well, this time a plume of ice and snow blows through his visual field, causing his thunderhead of a pistol to spit its glowing lances wide.
But the more that fall, the better look he gets at his wounded comrades, at least one of them fallen. Behind the blank face of his helm, he grits his teeth and steels himself. More blood to come yet.
The fight is dying down now. Poe kills two out right in quick succession, a hammered pair firing style. The bodies fall, and he pivots blasting a third in passing to send it stumbling and lumbering away. He has not left Tallie's side, he stands over her marking the spot he had called for a medic.
The two Esk-Ka that remain realize they are outnumbered and turn to flee, but two red lances, bolts fired from the opening of the ruins catch both Esh-Ka in their head, killing them instantly. A gruff voice comes over comms as the shooter, from a distance stands up.
<<"Dunno who you are, or why you helped my men. But we're even. This way leads out of this cavern of death. Follow the bodies. Good luck. Dameron out.">>
Poe places his hand to his ear pressing it in and attempts to speak onto the old rebel frequency, but his comm indicates the transmission doesn't go through. <<"Dad!.. Wait! KES!">> Just static. Poe watches from a distance as the shooter jogs out of sight; then he looks down at Tallie and around to the others. "I need someone with a medkit.. Tallie's down. Defensive positions until we can get her up." Poe kneels back down next to Tallie, his face neutral as he tries to survey the damage to her leg. "Captain Pava, get on the horn with BB-8. Tell him we're gonna need a dustoff and to monitor our IFF to find us."
Before Jessika can orient her rifle on another target, they're all down. Groaning in relief, Jessika nonetheless doesn't relax. She sweeps their vicinity to check for any that might be coming from a direction she's not looking, and remains standing despite the fact that her leg is screaming for her to relieve some of the pressure on it. She's not hurt near as bad as some omf her other Squadron members. "What's the plan, Poe?" They can't stay out here and risk being surrounded again. The Major answers her before she even gets the question out of her mouth. Dropping her left hand to her commlink, she draws the device from a pouch on her belt and lifts it to her mouth. "Beebee, we're going to need extraction. Track my location through this signal."
The response from Kes is something that cause Kare to pause, her right arm releasing her rifle to her leg as she winces again. The smoking and smoldering of her arm and clothing surrounding the blaster strike has eased but with the rest of the scent of burned flesh and down bodies she likely could not tell the difference. She lifts her gun and slides it to her shoulder, letting it rest there so she can free up her still fully functional appendage. "Got a little hairy there, how is Sunshine," she asks only to turn and see her leg twisted the way it is. Wincing some she starts that way, leaving room for those with the gear to help her some room. Shifting back on her feet she glances back around them, surveying the sight of the massacre and warily waiting for more to give them an unpleasant visit. "I can help carry her." She's going to need it with her leg the way it is.
Nova lifts her weapon, sighting in another target. It's slow, sloppy... and nothing tells her than more plainly than someone else taking the thing down before she can fire. And another is taken down before she can shift her aim.
Face it, Korell: You're too hurt to be doing this. But at least you can move. Hearing Kare and Poe, she moves to take a look at the wounded Tallie. "Oh, Sunshine... not you, too," she says softly, and kneels next to her friend, pulling out the medpac. Not much she can do besides wound sealant for the obvious injuries and a stim-shot for the woman herself. "Hopefully... that'll get her moving. We should go. I'll give you a hand if the shot doesn't work, Kare."
She's even too far gone to remember ranks.
It's the laugh. That bovine bastard blasted Ektor in the belly while he was laughing. The Tionese pilot falls back off his feet, crashing in a tumble of snow, ice, and gravel. Landing on his hands and knees, the Tionese shares his state of health with a groaned, "Aaaaauuughh!" Slowly sitting back on his heels, he grouses after the elder Dameron, "Even?? Rekk that, we killed like.. hundreds of them things, that Hutt-sucker poached TWO and calls it even? If that's what dads are like, you can keep em."
"You ant Corellian or anything, right, Major? Cuz' your Pops kinda sounds like a he might be with that kinda attitude." Elrych says in responce to the comm call. He's still got his Lightsaber out and ready. "How're we looking?"
The battle is over; while the others catch their breath, Callax looks at them, his squadmates. Lying on the ground, wounded, but recovering - himself healthy and hale after all of that chaos. << Commander, >> he says through the dehumanizing filter of the helmet's speaker, << I will maintain overwatch while injuries are attended to. >>
With that he leaps into the air, carried up by the flames spat by his boots and gauntlets, where he hangs like a violet angel monitoring the frozen field for any further signs of life to be put down. No flaming sword, but blasters instead at ready.
Poe pulls his belt from around his trousers, not his gunbelt, and finds two sticks to help splint Captain Lintra's leg, or at least keep it from moving unnecessarily. "She's gonna make it. Let's get her on a field litter.." They had to fashion one, but it didn't take long to do. Tallie was placed on a litter to be carried.
"My old man's something, that's for sure." Poe says gruffly, not really revealing if he's upset or concerned. <<"Roger, Dalso. Be careful.">> A hundred questions swirl: Why was Colonel Kes Dameron back on Belsavis? What was he trying to do? To get? There were so many things they did not know, and all they'd accomplished tonight was to chase the coat tails of an old ghost, and nearly get themselves killed over it.
Poe nods appreciatively to Pava, then motions for those who are able, to help carry Tallie. Poe takes point to lead them through the ruins.
The Colonel's directions were clear. The team moved into the ruins and found bodies everywhere. Not just Esh-Ka, pirates and prisoners. Everyone was shot to death, some even executed while trying to crawl (judging from how they died.) Easily, there were some fifty dead. Explosives blinked on munitions and storage crates. It seemed the Pathfinders intended to blow the cache once Black Squadron was clear.
They found the exit, a cliff face that ended abruptly. A glance down showed a height that exceeded 300m or more, the bottom unseen because of a lingering fog or blizzard. Up ahead, just open skies, shifting clouds, and snow. The Ghost lowered down from the clouds, pivoting slowly. BB-8's warbling voice sounded worried over the comms, but the capable droid lowered the ramp and sallied up close to the cliff face for the squadron to step safely aboard. When they were all on, the ramp rose, the ship pivoted, and gold engine grew brighter carrying the ship into the sky once more. Shortly after, an explosion from the caves followed, and fire erupted from the exit they had just taken. Everything inside was destroyed.
