Log:Clan Kora: Knock Knock
The group that attacked members of the Kora Clan have been identified. Calling themselves Blackout they operate out Umbara, a planet of perpetual night and hostile plant life. The target is warehouse suspected of being one of the Blackout's depots. Clan Kora kick the door down and introduce themselves in the best way they know how.
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Knock Knock
OOC Date: November 25, 2021
Location: Umbara
Participants: Valeska Jaivon (GM), Hadrix Kora, Sumi Kora, Clan Kora
In the Expansion Region, the Ghost Nebula blankets the quadrant. Within this dense cloud of dust and gas floats the planet of Umbara: aptly named because the rays of the star system's sun cannot reach its surface, casting it in perpetual darkness. With the advancement of technology, sentient life has been able to not only thrive but flourish without the natural light.
Though why anyone would want to is another matter. Umbara is known for it's vicious, carnivorous plantlife making travel outside of the settlements and cities a trial at best and suicide at worst. The cities themselves are artificially lit and abundantly so. The colours change with the daily passage of time, creating visual barriers from 'night' hours and 'day' hours.
Currently those colours are cheery purples, reds, and dark blues. Nighttime. Supposedly.
<"These guys call their HK operations leader the 'Architect'. I think I met him once, chatty old mad that go clear while I tore his goon squad to pieces."> Hadrix is looking at his hud, at indicators for a warehouse that has become the target after information about it was 'acquired' from a captured member of this Blackout group.
<"Perimeter security, interior security and massiffs for guard dogs They slave out of the warehouse, probably for shields as well as trade and their precious Architect keeps his ship there, some Baudo yacht called Endeavor."> The ship is being kept just at the ranges of breathable atmosphere for a lack of sealed suit.
<"Figure we can just avoid that whole guard dog problem for a bit by going in through the skylight, eh?"> looking to Sumi, T-Visor focusing while he speaks. <"We should be right over drop unless you have something you'd prefer, Sum'ika?">
Sumi has her helmet off for the moment, a smoke settled in the corner of her mouth as she listened to the set up, her stare locked ahead in some focused trance that broke when he asked for her opinion. She pulled the smoke free of her scarred lips and mentions that, "Good with that approach, but we should take out his ride before we move in; keep it from flying off again." She makes a soft snorting noise and finishes her smoke. When she speaks, it's with puffs of smoke trailing out with each word, "How far out are we?"
Clan Kora's target is a warehouse situated a few clicks away from the main starport. Unlike the other warehouses of Umbara's main city, this one is private and isolated. A large, reinforced fence surrounds the area: the first line of defense against the hostile flora. Even then, rogue tentacles of Death's Embrace -- a particularly hostile plant -- creep their way past the perimeter to occasionally snatch one of the feral massiffs that prowl the open area as guard dogs.
There isn't much movement outside of the warehouse itself save for the pack of massiffs sniffing around. So far, the members of Blackout have found that being surrounded by dense vegetation that is capable of dissolving a corpse is often deterrent enough. Plus no one is crazy enough to patrol the open space between the building and the fence. Any door leading in, however, is guarded by a pair of heavily armoured grunts as well as a single, large radio tower towards the back that could double as a sniper's nest.
But the Kora would know -- from Hadrix's unique questioning of a prisoner -- that the sniper had been killed on Tatooine against a Mandalorian in Dreadfinder armour and has yet to be replaced. Pity, that.
<"We'll have to try and find it when we get there, deep in the Warehouse, we could have Fae and Sana keep the Kyber Heart on station, have the Woor come down here and join to give support."> vaguely motioning about the drop bay for the Heart. <"We can go now, actually. We should be able to angle fall to come down on top.">
Hadrix turns to slap the hatch open switch, holding onto one the pneumatics once it has stopped moving so that he can lean out - matching up overhead maps to their airborne position.
<"Yeah this should do."> leaning back to give Sumi a nod before he starts down, turning at the bottom of the ramp to tick a two finger salute off the side of his helmet, <"Didn't get all dressed up for nothin' eh?"> a laugh in the growl before he tips backwards to begin the fall.
Sumi follows him quietly down the ramp and witnesses him salute and fall back. With the wind whipping about, her cape smacks left and right with loud snaps and jerky motions. She flicks the cigarette away and soundlessly dons her helmet, pinning her wild hair down along the back of her neck. A second later, another shadow departs from the vessel descending into the night. Sumi adopts a compact orientation with her body to catch up with Hadrix, the wind whistling by in her ears as the optics in her helmet help her keep track of all the details important to prevent pancaking against the surface below.
This high up and in an atmosphere that doesn't see daylight, it's freezing temperatures. Though the armour and adrenaline would certainly help stave off the cold for what short period they are suspended in it. They plummet towards the surface like a pair of guided missiles.
Breaking through the cloud cover, there isn't a sentient creature for miles that notices the aerial approach save for one particularly curious massiff who sniffs up at the air before sitting down to thoroughly and diligently lick at his nethers.
It isn't long before the pair of Mandalorians are close enough that their nightvision and HUD tracking can finally begin to light up within their helmets. The approach is effortless. Graceful. Beautiful even.
The landing... A falling arsenal can only be so quiet when connecting to the metal roof of the warehouse and a pair of guards guarding the nearest door ground level are heard powering up their weapons.
"You hear that?"
"Show yourselves!"
Landing with a distinct lack of sound thanks to the anti-grav belt engaging meters above the room to set him down gentle as cats. A quartet of L shaped detonite tapes being drawn as he comes down in a kneeling posture, slapping down the shaped and pre-tamped explosives before he rolls to one side, nodding to the smaller blue armored warrior.
<<"Breeching, stand clear or get ready to punch through with it.">> giving time enough for her to see where before he is signaling the cutting charges that ignite to blast with thermal components to flash melt or soften enough of the metal to be pushed down by the concussives. Hadrix's free hand draws a long dagger while smoke rushes up and noise echoes, ready to charge in after the Alor'Kora.
The century old soldier hit the top of the warehouse like a heavy brick. Her jetpack had the sense to initiate before she could just collide with it at dead weight and turn into jelly, but it did not stop her from hitting hard, then slipping to wipe the rekk out. The noise they heard? That was Sumi. It was ALL Sumi. Shamelessly, the old soldier picks herself up just as Hadrix is being far MORE productive with his time and more successful arrival.
BOOM
Sumi doesn't wait beyond that. She jumps and falls through the ceiling in the chaos, activating her jetpack to slow her descent. Chance would have it that the place Hadrix chose to blow up landed her in the midst of eight thugs.
Despite ringing ears, the first sound they hear aside from the crashing of debris, is a laughing Mandalorian female who disintegrates one of their own just before she would have landed on TOP of them. The guy didn't even get the time to cry out in pain, he simply ceased to exist as matter they could see with the naked eye, transforming to ash and absent clothing before Sumi landed in his cloud and brought up her weapon to fire again, cape fluttering down behind her thanks to gravity.
The pair of guards edge cautiously away from the door where they are stationed; rifles up and looking down the scopes into the darkness. One step in front of the other until they reach the very edge where the light of the overhead bulb ceases to illuminate. Just as they are about to assume they misheard something, the charges on the roof ignite and both spin around back towards the warehouse.
"Roof!" They aren't paid to be smart though one rubs two braincells together enough to try to alert those inside. <"Breech! Breech!">
The warning doesn't come in time, really. Sumi breaks through the newly-formed skylight and drop/floats amongst a group of Blackout grunts in the process of moving the next shipment of crates towards the loading bay. One poor bastard can't even get out of the forklift before he is a pile of ash on the seat. One other has the sense to shoot out of pure surprise. The rest are busy scrambling back to their feet.
The interior of the warehouse is huge. Cavernous and filled nearly to the high-domed ceiling at points with crates; creating a maze-like battlefield. From all corners inside can be heard the shouts of guards on alert trying to work their way around the man-made corridors. And somewhere even further in, the panic cries and sobbing of quieter voices.
Coming down like a meteor behind Sumi, beskar plated knee of his boot aimed for the face of one of the scrubs - the heavy form of Hadrix hits and rides the poor bastard down to the ground with a wet cracking sound that is quickly consumed by the shriek of a vibro weapon coming on line, plunging through the sternum of the foeman and then grinding with gristle and bone jamming the systems. It's an irritating matter but not crippling as the corpse is left with the blade sticking out as he stands.
Turning quickly to look for an enemy in a motion that makes the krayt scale cape snap around him and the focus of the building rage in the man is met with a hard bark like growl over vocalizers as he starts to approach, a pair of four pointed ring blades dropping from his vambrace to be caught between his fingers.
Sumi swaggers forward after getting her bearing, blasting another poor sap as they dove for cover. The contrail of the blast lit up the room briefly, and his body disappeared like her first kill, leaving behind a cloud of ashen embers and vacated clothing and weapons. Her casual gait leads her behind a storage crate for cover, just for the moment, where she holsters the disruptor pistol and draws up a heavy handcannon slugthrower. She takes her time checking the weapon, listening to the screams of those who cross her Al'verde and his infinite rage.
The cylinder chamber of the weapon is pulled out briefly, checked, then spun back into place with a loud noise that stopped with a CLICK of it locking back in place. A subsequent click followed, the hammer locking back, and she stepped out to take aim, head tilting slightly so that her eyes, behind the mirror visor, align with the sights on her heavy Morellian weapon.
Two more foemen fall before they can even get to their feet and five of the impromptu Welcome Wagon remain to answer fire with fire. Embarassingly so. Shaking hands make for terrible aim. Blame the massive amounts of cortisol being released into their bloodstream due to sudden stress. Miss a man from ten yards.
The shouting in the warehouse grows louder as the first group is closing in fast. It's difficult to say how many in total are manning this particular facility, but counting the five currently in a losing battle with the Mandalorians, another half dozen is almost there.
And then there is one brave voice which rises above the others far to the east side of the area; somewhere over the towers of crates. "Help! Help, get us out of here, please!"
Body twisting with nearly superhuman alacrity, Hadrix lets the blaster bolt meant for him slip past and using the movement to get momentum. Left hand sweeping up and around to put two of the bladed weapons into a joint by thigh plates to draw out a pained squeal before a pair of rocket darts are fired in unison.
One of those hitting the poor scrub in the stomach and blowing him backwards into one of the 'wall crates'. The other goes wide of their compatriot to explode against durasteel, leaving a blackened dent. A snap look towards Sumi, checking status on instinct, before the right hand comes up once more with a similar hand cannon gripped in his fist, thumbing back the hammer while continuing to press forward.
<<"May need to jump walls to see if we can find that yacht.">>
Sparks and splintered wood/sheet metal shower around Sumi in the hale of gunfire intended for her. Nothing seems to land amidst the chaos of it all, but Sumi's focus is laser-edged and locked on. She brings the revolver low, fanning it after the first shot. Three discharge at close range with two blasting apart a man from impacts to the stomach and upper torso.
Sumi pivots, firing a fourth toward a running figure, clipping their leg and spilling them over in a fit of screams. He crawls behind cover and Sumi leaves them there to bleed for now, turning to glance toward Hadrix out of instinct. When she hears the core accented gravel speak up proactively, she glances up and replies with a simple,
<<"On it.">>
Her jetpack lights up and she takes to the air, landing noisily above with a great vantage, handcannon still in hand with its barrel smoking.
The wayward rocket does, indeed, miss a wall o' crates. Given that the contents of said crates are a mystery, that could be a blessing in disguise. Not that two pair of invaders seem all that terribly concerned.
The approaching voices are louder now: clear as they shout to each other. "How many are there?"
"Sensors are only picking up two!"
"Two? Am I surrounded by idiots? You can't take down two damn intruders?"
"But sir--"
"You're not paid to argue! Go!"
Rounding the bend, another six similiarly-armoured figures appear; two of which a definitely the favourite as their armour is slightly thicker and they actually get to wear helmets.
Meanwhile, Sumi hovers in the air and gets a good view of the well-lit warehouse. Towards the east end of the warehouse, beyond the winding corridors of the crates and boxes and even a few pricey vehicles is a wide open space. Here, several aircraft are parked. A few starfighters. A few pair of freighters. And then slightly away from them, a luxury yacht.
It is at one of the freighters, however, that a group of shackled people of varying races are being ushered by gun point onto the ramp. Some of them are crying, most of them are stunned into silence, and one man -- the one who called out to them -- is now bleeding from a blunt hit to the side of his head.
Sumi going up and leaving the trio with Hadrix brings a stone on stone sound like an animal chuffing that shakes his shoulders. Heavy boots falling in a continually closing distance. <"Any of you remember Barton?"> helmeted head slowly lolling to one side when the sights of the revolver go up to zero on the leftmost of the original remaining trio.
CHK-KROW!
The first shot takes the figure in the arm, spinning them about from the sheer force of the heavy slug trying to drag them away. <"He gave you up."> the second shot punches a neat hole in between the meat of the shoulders before blood, chopped meat and hunks of armor spew from the far less clean exit wound.
<"He's still alive."> the hammer is cocked on the pistol once more and Hadrix's hand goes down towards his belt, towards the grenades mounted on his hip after dragging across what look like fingerbones strung into the leather like rustic world gunslingers might have threaded extra cartridges. <"Most of him.">
CHK-KROW!
The rightmost of that group is punched in the chest by the shot, forced back in a gasping cough coupled with the grinding cough of one trying to breath through cracked ribs. The big man keeps coming, thumbing the hammer again.
The survivor who crawled behind cover to hide from Sumi and try to treat his wound looks up to see the hovering Mandalorian high above. He has the urge to move, but before he can, Sumi fires a single round that impacts against his cheek and explodes out the back of his head creating a red misty cloud of pulverized blood. He slumped back down, losing oxygenated blood in a thick pool surrounding his body and the chunks that constituted the contents of his head.
<<"Marking the ship location; confirmed non-coms being coerced aboard. They're salvaging profit to run, I'm going to cut them off.">>
And she did, landing on the ramp by the one giving orders. He had the wits and perception to avoid Sumi's aim, resulting in the missed rounds that sparked off the ground and wall. Sumi plucked an electrum hilt from her belt and held it in her hand, yet kept her pistol leveled, pursuing the huttsucker as he, and his bewildered crew, set up a hasty defense to fight her. She noisily cocked back the hammer on the handcannon and took aim again.
They split the party.
Hadrix is left with a little over half a dozen armoured figures: less than what he started with as he drops one then another with brutal accuracy. Though the slugs are ripping through the lines, it is the man's words that are hitting the hardest. Barton's name gets a significant response in the form of tensed shoulders and confused, worried glances to one another.
All eyes return to the menacing figure in the Warmaster armour; shaking hands turning into full tremors. Six of the seven foes have a sudden change of heart, as it were. They turn tail and try to run.
---
Sumi lands on the ramp, effectively cutting off their production line. The captives cry out and drop to the ground, trying desperately to cover their heads as they are now trapped between the Mandalorian blocking the way onto the freighter and the Blackout agents trying to herd them onto it.
"Get rid of her! Now! Now, you useless bastards!" The foreman shouts, shaking off his own surprise at the Journeyman's appearance.
The injured captive, a bespectacled blonde man in his early thirties, grits his teeth and bum-rushes one of the lesser guards. A shoulder tackle brings him and the Blackout guard toppling to the ground and a struggle ensues.
If there was more to say the 'WHANG' and Hadrix's head snapping back puts an end to it. He stops dead where he currently stands. While the visor of the helmet lowers again to the group before him, the blazing crimson point flared as the wire pupil of the bionic has opened fully, the pistol is raised again.
The inhale of the man becoming a wet snarl before he fires in quick succession, two shots into the one who stand their ground, denting and then punching through their kinetic plates as his jet nozzles begin to fire, the voice answering Sumi bestial, <<"Copy. En route.">>
The one who had put the burn mark in the dome of his helmet crown pointed at, the barrel of the cannon spewing fire and shoving the running form down to lay in a growing pool of blood and the big man is flying, over the crates and toward's Sumi's location. Each breath hot-micing his comms carrying a rasping growl on their tail end.
Sumi is knocked back by a solid hit to the torso that makes an ear ringing ricochet, and is left to observe one of the intended slaves jump up to help her in the struggle. They take one of the goons clean off their feet and tackle them to the ground, and Sumi makes the struggle easier by raising and firing a slug at point blank into their chest. She tries to fire the weapon again, but finds the cylinder full of spent shells, and she's surrounded by enemies!
SNAP-hissssssssssss
A violet hue of light springs forth from the white-gold hilt held in her offhand, and she raises the humming blade up in defiance while her right seats the spent and smoking pistol into a worn, leather holster. Now the thugs are in a bad way.. the only other escape is back in the direction Sumi came from and a hulking Mandalorian just appeared from that direction cutting them off. Lightsaber or rage?
Another two splattered on the warehouse floor, wall, crates, goods, everywhere. Hadrix leaves nothing but death and fear in his wake. Five Blackout agents disappear into the maze; more willing to take their chances with the hungry massiffs and ferocious plants than to spend another moment longer in the warehouse the fearsome pair of Mandalorians.
The snaphiss summons a beam of hot, humming light from Sumi's hand, illuminating everything around her in a menacing violet glow to rival any Umbaran sensibility. Reflecting off her armour and making it seem like she, too, glowed with power. With one man injured and hope for back up waning, the remaining three Umbaran mobsters turn to run---
--right into Hadrix landing on their other side blocking their way. They skid to a stop, frantically looking between the two with the wide-eyed fear of an animal trapped. Then... one by one, their weapons clatter to the ground and hands slowly raise into the air in surrender.
The blonde man on the floor, his hands shackled, struggles to his feet but makes it all the same. His glasses askew, he releases a few unsteady breaths before taking a cautious step forward. "W-wait. Wait..." His bound hands raise; palms facing Sumi then Hadrix. Back and forth for fear of being shot. "Wait. You're... you're with Val, right?"
Licking his lips of the blood gathered there, he presses his hands into his chest. "I'm a friend of hers. My name Dax."
Looking to the ship, then the man claiming to be Dax, the head of the massive mandalorian turns slightly, studying him and then those surrendering. <"Val is with us."> foam and spittle audible on his lips as he points his pistol at the raised hands. <"On board, everyone you were loading too. We're getting them out of here. Gripper.">
The ID10 is ejected from her socket, arms extending and drawing out binder cuffs. <"Bind the slugs that were trying to steal people. I expect their Architect isn't here."> Hadrix continues on his vocalizer,
<"Copy, boss."> the droid going to her work.
<"Suggest we use the yacht to get them off planet, Chief... then I'm going to be having a chat with these."> a little too much relish in that notion from Hadrix... whose body language to a fellow Mandalorian may suggest he really wants to shoot those putting their hands up.
Maybe better to die, if they knew what Barton has been going through with his 'chats' between Bacta dips and medical droid examinations.
Sumi recalled the blade with an electric squeal and clipped the hilt back to her belt. She stays quiet, listening to Dax, then regarding her Al'verde a second. When he addresses her, Sumi's head nods slightly up and down before the voice modulator clicks over and the feminine tone, accented with that war-torn part of the galaxy, responds.
<"Have fun, Commander.">
She points at Dax, motioning with two fingers for him to 'come here'. <"You're with me, pretty boy. You want to take initiative and fight? You got balls. Get these people on board, then? We talk."> Sumi looks past him to Hadrix, nods, then turns to board the ship, her frame making the cape shift with each step.
Dax blinks a little at the response then a relieved smile pulls at his busted, swollen lip. "Then it's true. She's alive? Oh, thank the Maker. You have no idea--" The foam in Hadrix's tone gives the man pause; choking on his own words along with a fleshy-feeling clot of blood. Sumi beckons him over and Dax makes a quick decision that he is better off doing as he's told.
It takes some convincing to get the prisoners to their feet and onto the ship designated their escape. Many are weakened and beaten to submission. One or two are near hysterical and will likely need some sedation to make the trip.
The three unharmed prisoners are put on board: two lower-ranked agents and a foreman. Their fates unknown to them. The last man -- injured and bleeding -- is left behind. A messenger to those who come to find the aftermath. Soon, the yacht leaves the warehouse and takes off for the stratosphere; no hassle from starport security who guards the airspace.
This is where the Blackout house of cards begins teeter...
