Log:Brotherhood: Right Place Right Time 1
A team of Harbingers from the Ironscale Brotherhood try to capture two Wookiees on the streets of Gearhead, but fate (and others) intervene...
OOC Date: November 19, 2023
Location: Nar Shaddaa
Participants: Shala, Nels Ophiran, Boba Fett, Merulia, Bizz Bliptettjupp, and Qi'ra as GM, The Brotherhood
In a shadow-draped alley of the Gearhead District not far from a collection of shops where 'innocent' people (as innocent as anyone in the Gearhead district can be presumed to be) gather, a tense showdown unfolds. There, the air is thick with the stench of refuse and fear. Flickering lights cast an eerie glow, revealing two Wookiees, one with light fur and one with dark, both matted and mottled with grease and grime, eyes ablaze with a primal defiance as they growl at their aggressors, but a sudden burst of blaster fire that just misses, burning fur pushes them further back into the dead-end.
The Wookiees' roars reverberate off the grimy walls, a clear challenge to the encroaching Ironscale Brotherhood. Each cloaked figure stands as the embodiment of dread, standing tall and imposing, cloak shifting around their heavily armored forms like a dark cloud. The armor is a seamless fusion of form and function, a metallic exoskeleton that glints faintly in the scarce light. It envelops them completely, leaving no part of their bodies exposed. Their full face masks, devoid of any emblem, are an unyielding facade that obscures any hint of humanity, and their surfaces, visible from within a dark cowl, are the only unique things about them, each metallic 'face' only vaguely humanoid.
A Reaper, the lieutenant of this menacing group, stands behind a veritable wall of his brethren, commanding the impending capture of their quarry. His armor is more ornate, the triskelion emblem of the Ironscale Brotherhood catching the dim light. He gestures sharply, his voice a distorted, demonic hiss through the mask's speaker, commanding his subordinates.
The four Harbingers, identifiable by their heavier armor and more pronounced emblems, spread out with tactical precision. Their movements are fluid, yet deliberate, each step calculated and designed to cut off any path of escape for the Wookiees. Their weapons, a mix of blasters and electrified batons, are held ready, a tangible threat in the charged air.
Two Initiates, their armor less adorned and carrying a sense of eagerness to prove themselves, flank the sides of the alley. They are cautious, aware of their prey's reputation for both strength and agility, and clearly also keeping would-be heroes from interfering.
The Wookiees, cornered yet far from defeated, assess their situation. They each eye the fire escapes and balconies above, but the Brotherhood anticipates their intent, their blasters aimed upward, ready to cut down any attempt to ascend.
Bystanders, the dregs and drifters of Nar Shaddaa, watch from a distance, their eyes wide with a mix of fear and fascination. They know better than to intervene, but they cannot tear themselves away from the impending clash.
The Reaper, his voice a cold, modulated snarl, gives the signal. The Harbingers close in, blasters slung and two stun-net launchers trained on the Wookiees, while the Initiates move to flank, attempting to drive them into a direct line of fire.
The Wookiees, sensing the tightening noose, release guttural growls of rage and charge.
Shala had stopped and ducked into the mouth of the alley to lean against the building and adjust her rain cloak to keep the weather from dripping on her or her clothes underneath. She stiffles a shriek as the blaster fire is heard and pressed up against the wall tighter and tries to make herself both small and in a shadow.
"Where are you running off to now? I'm pretty sure this isn't a shortcut!" Nels hisses to his droid as it rolls along down the alleyway. It comes to a stop about fifteen meters away from the confrontation taking place, and whistles quietly to its owner. Nels sees the gathering of the Iron Brotherhood, and the wookies, and instinctively ducks down, not behind his astromech but...sort of behind his astromech. Not trying to hide, just trying to make sure if blaster bolts start flying, he's not in the way of any.
Sometimes bad business draws even the dead back from the grave.
Through Nar Shaddaa's dank weather, the sound of heel spurs quietly sing with every step an armored figure takes toward the alley. Passing from one street to the next, the armored figure of a would-be Bounty Hunter moves toward the alley tonight where the Wookiees seem to have found themselves a bit of trouble.
The armored man moves past Shala where she finds cover, a glance not paid toward her, as his heavy footfalls splash through shallow puddles gathering at the alley's portal. He holds a blaster rifle at his side, clutched in a black gloved right hand, he merely moves with a casual gait through the alley, his masked face reflecting what ambient light there is in this dark space.
His rifle is aimed down, not in a threatening position, as he merely seems to be just another soul striding through the grimey cityscape.
Fear, anger...and much more noise, that was enough that it was probably going to draw some near. Certainly, a particular Sephi healer was out and about, making her way towards her ship when the sounds of danger brought the poncho-clad blonde closer to the alleyway where the wookies were cornered.
Brother Bizz walks the backalleys of Nar Shaddaa in his sedge hat holding an unetiwood walking stick in one hand. In the other is a skewered honey-roasted Nexu tongue - a holiday Nar Shaddaa treat - but it probably isn't real Nexu tongue. He gnaws on it as he goes. But the firing of blasters and the growling of Wookiees interrupts his peaceful jaunt. "By the FORCE, I wonder wot is happening."
The Wookiees charge, and chaos erupts. Their massive, hairy forms, each over seven feet tall rush forward, long, powerful limbs swinging at each of the Harbingers holding a stun net and knocking the rifles, unfired, clear to the ground -- and their wielders along with them, screaming in a mixture of rage and overt terror.
The other two Harbingers, each holding stun batons, both swing at the big hairy beats, but their blows are swatted aside before they can connect. The Initiates -- easily identified by their simpler garb -- fire off quick shots from their blasters in surprise, and even the Reaper, clearly the most experienced (or at least highest ranking) of the group, fires as he back-pedals from the enraged Wookiees.
"Stop them!" his sinister, modulated voice hisses from his mask, barking the order even as the first to Harbingers begin to scurry back to their feet, bringing the blaster rifles back around as they each take a knee and prepare to fire.
None of them seem to take notice of the spectators they've gathered or the infamous figure slow-walking towards them, too busy trying not to get snatched up and ripped limb from limb by their would-be quarry.
Shala watches with wide eyes as more and more people enter the alley and near to the combat. She shrinks as much as she can as the bounty hunter enters. Raising a hand right after as the being and his droid enter the area. When Mirulia enters she reaches out to try and stop her but checks the impulse to touch the woman given the situation. And the fact she's trying to hide. Trying..
Wookies charging armed men is rarely a recipe for a good evening. Nels remains firmly behind his droid, though as he does so, he starts to draw a blaster, not pointing it at anyone, not lining up a shot, but if people shoot at him, he will probably shoot back. He stays down, watching the scene unfold.
It is not terribly uncummon for the alleys of this busy upper level to be traversed by people looking to cut corners, to reach streets over from one another a little quicker than taking any longer routes... but of course that always comes with some inherent dangers.
The armored Hunter pauses when the chaos breaks out a few meters ahead of his position. The light from the weaponry casting shadows behind his form as he watches, his mirrored visor shining distorted representations of the fight back at those in battle. His gloved hand flexes upon the handle of his lowered blaster rifle, but he doesn't raise it up... this isn't his fight.
Or so he hopes.
The Hunter's masked face observes the Wookiees in their peril, but his main focus is on the armored individuals who seem to be attempting a capture or kill here.
A hiss on the air, a ripple of the invisible. Perhaps Merulia had a pang of sympathy for the wookies...or their ferocity reminded her of home. Either way, as one of the hunters readies his weapon it seems to surge out of his grip with suprising momentum, scattering and skittering along the floor!
Bizz takes one of his booma balls from his robe sleeve and hurls it in an arc over at an Ironscale's back! It hits in an explosion of Naboobian core matter. Using his best peanut gallery voice, Bizz throws his voice, shouting, "HEY, Boba Fett threw a grenade at that Ironscale!" Then he takes cover, gnawing at his Nexu tongue.
One of the Harbingers, already having taken up a firing position on his knee, abruptly loses control of his rifle and fires a shot harmlessly into the ground right in front of his fellow kneeling companion, causing the other to jerk suddenly to the side out of the way. There's a menacing glare given, but there's no time to bicker in the heat of the battle -- they'd already both been knocked off-balance.
Seizing on the momentary and unexpected reprieve from those point-blank blasters, the Wookiees, one light and one dark, roar menacingly as the two remaining Harbingers with their stun batons. Each grabs one of the armored figures by the arm and jerks them bodily up off the ground, and each rips a limb clean of it's socket. Blood suddenly covers their fur, and the Brotherhood's minions are tossed to the ground as little more than discarded toys.
Wookiees are not to be trifled with.
Suddenly there's a burst of an explosion -- a bright glob of of a booma ball hitting the back of one of the Initiates, thrown from somewhere that none of the soldiers seemed to see, and burning armor and flesh alike. It melts the Brotherhood's recruit where he stands, screaming, unable to escape as he crumples down into the ground.
'HEY, Boba Fett threw a grenade at that Ironscale!'
The other Initiate, hearing the cry but unable to find its source, whips his masked visage up on the alley and focuses on the Mandalorian, opening fire in retribution of his friend without waiting for orders.
"NO!" the Reaper hisses, but it was too late. The Initiate's shots had already lanced down the alley, hitting the wall beside Shala purely by coincidence, scorching the metal. "The Wookiees!"
Undeterred, the Reaper fires his rifle at one of the Wookiees, hitting him center mass with a sudden puff of burned fur and flesh, the light-haired figure howling in response and stumbling backwards from his companion. It didn't seem like capture was on the table any longer. Now it was down to survival.
Shala ducks and lets out a scream as the blaster bolt lancers into the wall next to her head. Bits of hot atomized building material brush agaisnt her face and she dives to the ground of the dirty alley, getting low and covering her head. Now is not the time for anything but self preservation. And the fact these people in the alley are all still standing (kneeling) baffles her terrified brain.
Shooting, screaming, arms being ripped out of sockets. Not your usual day for Nels. He stays hunkered down. Nobody is shooting at him, but they are shooting at the VERY TECHNICALLY armed Wookies. Which, Nels doesn't seem to appreciate very much. He starts to lift his weapon, as if considering taking a shot at one of the pursuers. He doesn't fire yet, but he's considering it.
When the Boomer Ball goes flying, its glowing blue form is visible against the mirror finish of the Hunter's mask. That mask shifts over to see Bizz ducking behind cover moments after the Gungan weapon hits its target, and the Ugnaut blames him for it..
He looks back to see the soldier firing at him, which causes Boba to raise his rifle up and aim it at the still standing Initiate I2. He doesn't fire though, not yet. "I'm afraid you've been mislead!" Boba's gruff voice calls out from within his helmet, modulated by the mask's vocalizer.
With a simple motion of his EE-3, Boba aims at the refuse that Bizz ducked behind. "Your enemy is behind that pile of trash. A chubby Ugnaut, in monk's robes. Fire at me again, and I will fire back..."
Those last words are given a bit more edge, a bit more anger ebbing its way from the Hunter's core, out across his vocalized warning.
Another little flick, another little ripple after the next shot and...well, those rifles were just so dashed hard to hang onto sometimes, right?
Meanwhile the Sephi herself was watching, seemingly staring like many of the other spectators.
Bizz throws another one of his booma balls, this time hitting the Ironscale boss right in the back with a sizzling explosion of purple goo. "There goes another grenade! Everyone knows Boba Fett hates Trandoshans!" It isn't quite as convincing this time around, and what's worse, in the excitement Bizz drops his roasted Nexu tongue. Once things touch the ground on Nar Shaddaa there's no eating them. He peeks over his cover.
Just at second Harbinger was re-collecting his rifle, the /first/ Harbinger loses his grip, and it looks a little like some kind of horrific slap-stick comedy side-show. One could almost swear they could see the strings someone had tied to their guns, yanking them out of their grasp at the past second... and yet there wasn't any string. They were literally just that comically clumsy.
'Your enemy is behind that pile of trash.'
Between orders of his Reaper and the Mandalorian's cool reply, even after being shot at, the Initiate's masked face turns towards that pile of drek, clearly unsure what to do. There was so much howling. So much blood.
And before he can react, there's another ball flying out from Bizz himself! The Initiate was able to WATCH IT HAPPEN!... Even though he wasn't able to stop it. It strikes the Reaper with a sickening splat, spreading and melting, burning, eating away at armor and skin alike, and leaving the Reaper howling in agony as he rips his melted cloak off and throws it to the ground while it's still disintegrating. Even through the pain, though, the experienced soldier brings his rifle up and fires at the Wookiee again, trying to finish off his first victim out of... perhaps... nothing more than a blood-lust, even if he should be taking cover.
He misses.
Unsure whether to resume the attack or to try to help his wounded comrade, the dark-haired Wookiee's decision is made for him when that Reaper takes a hit from the booma ball. Both of the Wookiees rush forward, closing the distance and trying to finish the Reaper off, neither able to get a grip on him.
The others? The remaining Initiate and the two Harbingers? They begin to retreat, calling to their leader as they run towards the entrance of the alley, past Bizz, towards Shala, Meru, and Nels, though it doesn't seem at least like they're interest in picking any additional fights.
Shala covers her head with her arms trying to think past the fear of blaster fire. They're talking. Beings are having conversations while blaster fire is taking place. And there are screams and blood to go along with the stench of the alley. Shala catches too much of all the smells and the burning fur hits her hardest. She nearly vomits.
Retreating Initiates and Harbingers are of no concern to him, at least until they are well beyond him. Nels stays hunkered down, ready to defend himself if need be, but it seems that will not be the case. He will wait, and watch.
When that second Boomer ball is thrown, proving Fett's declaration to be true, there is little time to react to it for the man thrown upon. Boba gently shakes his helmeted head, before he starts walking with a determined gait to his step. Heavy footfalls carry him toward the trash heap that Bizz was crouched behind, and selecting the largest can of rain soaked garbage, Boba slams an armored foot in to its side, causing it to topple over, and potentially drench the hiding monk in the waste and filth of the Nar Shaddaa back alley. A heavy reverberating vibration rolls out from the foot to can, and the armored Hunter simply continues on toward the other side of the alleyway now, his EE-3 held across his waistline now, much more ready to squeeze the trigger at a target, should one choose to fire upon him again...
Brother Bizz has a trash can tipped on him by Boba Fett, the supposed Mandalorian who never said he was. "Discustang! This is a new robe!" The last Ironscale refuses to retreat like his compatriots, and so Bizz throws another ball, finishing him off with a sizzle. Slavers don't get much mercy even on the mean streets of Smuggler's Moon. He waddles over to the Wookiees once the rest of the Ironscales have fled. "I thought he was all about ruling with RESPECT as a daimyo but... Oh, you Wookiees should run! It isn't safe on these streets with that Trandoshawn running his game. Ironscales are worse than the Ganks!"
Unimpeded, the Initiate and the two Harbingers swiftly turn the corner, their pace unrelenting. A fleeting look back reveals a dire scene: a final projectile arcs through the air towards their leader, the Reaper. It collides with a gruesome splat, its corrosive contents engulfing the slaver. His agonized screams pierce the alley as he succumbs to the melting fury of the substance.
The immediate danger now past, the Wookiees' fury subsides into a weary calm. The dark-furred one gently attempts to tend to his lighter-furred companion, his movements awkward and unpracticed. A mutual howl of pain and frustration echoes between them, the lighter-furred one brushing away the other's clumsy attempt to soothe the burn.
As Bizz cautiously approaches, the Wookiees turn, their eyes flickering with a brief wariness towards Boba Fett, who had nonchalantly knocked over a trash can nearby. Recognizing the Ugnaught's aid, they release grateful howls, their nods heavy with the weight of a newly pledged life debt. With a shared understanding, they move to exit the alley, their large forms disappearing into the shadows, seeking the elusive safety of the moon's less perilous corners.
