Log:First Order/Resistance: Alleycats
An alley party turns sour
OOC Date: November 2, 2016
Location: Nar Shaddaa
Participants: Fuze (GM), Gren Delede, Triz Dermout, Sar Yavok, Mara Jade, Tess Ul'Datha. Corr Waldin, Siya, Kath Hounds, First Order
The citizens of Nar Shaddaa are an eclectic lot, drawn to the Hutt world from all over the galaxy. And, of course, they bring their customs with them, keeping them (and occasionally multilating them) as best they can so many parsecs from their original homes. One such custom is from one of the outer planets, it's not very important which; a celebration throughout the month of Relona, culminating at the end of the month with partying, feasting, inebriating drinks, and, it must be said, a certain amount of nodding to the ancient fertility rituals amongst the younger people - possibly aided by the aforementioned inebriating drinks. It's big on the home planet with celebrations across the planet for days, but on Nar Shaddaa the few hundred expatriots have boiled it down to one street party behind held in one of the concrete canyons of the undercity. There are street vendors, a live band at each end of the street, and people, humans and near-humans alike, having FUN.
There is a shadow, however, over the proceedings, and that shadow has the name of the First Order. A refuse collector picking up trash from the new First Order base overheard a couple of First Order officers talking, and he told his sister who gossiped to her cousin who happened to be a Resistance symapthizer, and the gist of the message is this: That the First Order are going to raid the merry party, because they believe that one of the ringleaders, a human named Alia Jay, has sufficient anti-Hutt and anti-FO sentiments that she should be bought in for questioning. Alia Jay is the lead singer of one of the bands playing, the 'Manic Flyers'.
Grunt. Sar Yavok's arms are crossed over his chest, the be-grumped Corellian man obviously not enjoying the night's festivities.
But he's on a mission.
He's assigned a detachment of the Kath Hounds to the party. He's not a big fan on the young woman's music, but he understands its impact, or whatever. At least that's what Leia told him. Along with orders to pick up a t-shirt for her.
"Hounds, report," he commands into his sneakily-placed microphone, eyes scanning the crowd in an attempt to spot his compatriots.
The cousin of the of the first order's sister gossiping to the resistance sympathizer shops at the same ammunition surplus as a guy who hangs out with a young Worrian who peddles in glitterstim in one off the lower recesses of the Corellian sector. While he was yammering on with a Dug about getting totally smashed omg lol Tess was having a drink.
Tess likes to drink.
Tess likes to fuck with the FO a whole lot more.
Also Tess is blood thirsty and wants to bathe in the blood of her enemies. So it all sort of works out in her favor no matter how this pie is cut. So she packs up enough ammunition and weaponry to wage a small scale solo war and sets up shop in one of the high rise apartment as a fall back position after stashing her jet pack on an adjacent building incase she has to make a quick get away, Tess is laid out across another rooftop with a camoflauged tarp spread out ontop of herself and Addell. The sniper leans into her rifle scanning the parade, adjusting sites before the shooting starts to establish good firing lanes. Beneath the tarp, her datapad is primed with music ready for the fireworks to begin. A small earbud runs up to hang just behind her left ear.
"This SUCKS." Gren grouses to the droid perched behind his canopy in its little astromech slot. Spark One has been parked beneath a concrete awning. and tucked back deep in the shadows for what seems like days. It has been hours. He and his wingman for this operation are sitting camoflouged, at very low power settings, waiting for trouble to arise. They might look like speeders, or the like, to a sensor scan from afar. Maybe. <<<Oh. You know. Still sitting in the fucking dark. Regretting the Rodian food. "Thanks for the advance warning, asshole..." A further grumble, and he turns his head to look over at Spark 4. He gives her a visible shake of her head, and then makes a 'gag me' sign with his finger. This. Sucks.
Sweat trickles down from under her helmet and Triz, for the hundredth time, wipes it out of her eyes as she sits in the cockpit of Spark 4. On a roof top, in her flight suit, inside a closed up and low powered X-wing things tend to get warm and for the newly recruited pilot it's getting just plain old hot. And not in a good way. She peers into the darkness barely making out Spark 1. She sees flight lead and shakes her head, pulling at her flight suit and waving her hand in front of her face. "R2, check all the systems again. We have to be ready to go and no delay." The R2 beeps, not a happy beep either, that's the fifth time she has had it run the systems. At least it gives her something to do, even if it's waiting for the status report. Now the sweat trickles down her back and lower, causing her to squirm in her seat. Yep. This. Sucks.
Mara was just here to enjoy the party like everyone else, but she had learned that Nar Shaddaa was a dangerous world; far more dangerous than most. Currently she's wandering around with a drink in her hand when she spots Sar Yavok, the random guy she met at a Cantina one day and saunters over to him with a friendly smile, "Hey, Sar, right? Not sure if you remember me, we met awhile back."
From his position in his market 'stall' peddling friendship beads, Corr Waldin, swathed in robes and some sort of fez, whispers into his mic. "No movement, sir." He scratches at the hair on his chin, turning his attention to smile broadly at the children who have wandered forward to survey his wares, who smile sheepishly back at him. The butt of a rifle bumps up against his leg as he reaches forward to point and explain prices.
What's a party without a Zeltron? Siya, the manager of the Blue Light has come to enjoy herself, drinking, dancing lewdly, and flirting with the gorgeous male specimens. Siya is simply allowing herself to 'let go' for the night, enoying the partying and bringing the party to the partiers. "SO! There I was, I kid you not.." She has a few men around her on the street, "I was in the pool when suddenly a naked Rodian jumped right in with his bith girlfriend! Now, you know, usually.." She trails off in her tale that leaves the men around her just howling in laughter. Maybe it's the pheromones. Maybe the tale really was funny?
It certainly is hot and muggy. The thunderstorms have not yet broken and the air is oppressive, that oppressiveness that breeds headaches and tetchiness. Down at the north end of the street, the 'Manic Flyers' have just started their first set - it's jazzy music, a slow beat, and people in the crowd are chilling, relaxing.
Until the armored vehicle turns into the south end of the street, flanked by two columns of marching Stormtroopers, perhaps two dozen in all, twelve on a side. The gunner on top of the armored vehicle is tracking the crowd with a heavy turret-mounted blaster, and the vehicle and marching column come to a halt. A voice booms from speakers, <<This is the First Order! By order of General Hux and Lord Gnuda, this street is now under curfew! You are ordered to disperse immediately and return to your places of residence or face arrest! You have ten minutes to comply!>> The Stormtroopers fan across the street, blocking that southern entrance, but there are plenty of other exits; the street to the north and many other side alleys and crossings. Above, the street is strung across with power cables, washing lines, and in honor of the celebrations du jour, strands of paper lanterns and the like. The crowd nearest the troopers draws back, looking restless and unhappy. The Stormtroopers, in this heat, must also be restless and unhappy.
On her cue, Tess reaches beneath the tarp to start her datapad playing music into one ear, without taking her eye off the scope centered on the lead stormtrooper leading the progression towards the parade. Her hand closes in around the grip of her weapon, tickling the trigger with the tip of her index finger, "I've been a bad, bad girl..." She sings to herself, slowly trailing out her shot on the armored vehicle. The AFD PRAX Sniper rifle was designed to punch through heavily armored vehicles, "I've been careless with a delicate man..."
Her first shot busts right through through the center of the gunbox atop the vehicle, then moves down towards the left side of the forward facing operator compartment, "And it's a sad, sad world... When a girl will break a boy, just because she can..." The second hammers into the armor, the third punches through with a resounding clink and a horrified yelp when the pilot is pink misted inside. "Don't you tell me to deny it... I've done wrong and I wanna suffer for my sins..." She trails of a little to left, "I've come to you cus I need guidance to be true and I just don't know where I can begin..."
Huh? Sar looks up as he's addressed. Probably not good. Having a bounty on your head and being approached by a pretty little 20-something. Honeypot, right? He's been studying his tradecraft. Probably.
Oh, hey; the honored guests. Sar takes a moment to assess the situation, blue eyes squinting as he takes it all in. <<Can't say I'm upset that the music's over. Spark, get in here and put a few missiles into that armor.>>
A look to Mara and he says, "Unless you're immune to shrapnel, might wanna dip behind somethin' real quick." The Old Man does just this, grunting as he stands up straight and moves to slide down behind a concrete barrier, hand resting on the grip of his handcannon. <<Sergeant, don't get dead.>>
The pair of kids scatter as quickly as they arrived, and MSgt Waldin drops to the dirt, padded knees striking the gravel hard and depositing him behind the table and in front of his rifle, which he latches onto as his fezzed head peers over the bead display. <<Sir, we got F-O inbound, contact left, Troopers in the open. No eyes on the shooter,>> he barks, a rapid and cursory evaluation of the situation as chaos immediately descends on the street.
<<<Four. You heard him. Let's roll.>>> The whine of repulsors fill the little hidey-hole when he kicks the T-65c to full power. <<<Don't engage with missiles, though. He wants them to hate us more. Laser cannons only in ground attack, unless I say otherwise, Girlie.>>> A miss could do serious damage, after all. Space warheads are large-ish. And then? He's punching the throttle forward, and tearing through the paper-mache wall in front of them. The white X-wing is bright, reflecting the Undercity festival's garish lights. <<<I've got high cover. Light 'em up, Four.>>> "Can. Find out if they've got air support in the area, ASAP." His little R2 starts to run what scanners the starfighter has.
Siya was getting right to the juicy bits of her story when they were so rudely interrupted with the announcement of the First Order. She pauses and glances up, curiosity on her face. She happens to be near the end of the street where the troopers show up. "Now wait a minute? Why? We aren't doing anything wrong!" The slightly inebriated Zeltron calls out to the Storm Troopers. "You guys should join..." Then there is gunfire and she lets out a loud startled cry. Ok, fun time is over. Why does it have to be over? Why?!
Mara flashed a look of disappointment at Sar even as he warned her, yelling out to near-by party goers, "Get to cover, now!" Ducking behind the same concrete block as Sar, her emerald eyes narrowed in his direction, "You're all turning this planet into a warzone." No, she wasn't a honeypot; she was genuinely concerned for the people here.
So high up, Triz doesn't see the troopers move in on the street not to mention she is tucked back under cover. The status she requested is sent by the R2 and she reads it, carefully. All systems go. Like anything could break just sitting there and her R2 lets her know this. "Keep it up and I'll trade you in for a newer unit," she tells it. And again wiping the sweat from her eyes. Damn heat. And down the crack of my...her thoughts are interrupted, the sweat becomes a faded memory as she begins to power up the ship "Lets do this, R2." She gives a glance to Spark 1, gives a thumbs up <<Waiting on you, boss,>> she replies as the ship comes alive and grows light on it's skids as Spark 4 gets ready to do what it does best, fly. <<Copy that, One. Lasers only.>> Where the hell did that wall come from? Triz jinks the ship to the right scrapping it and sending showers off behind her "Damnit!" Forget it, she tells her self and lines up her shot, squeezing the trigger and sending her blast toward the armor.
The Stormtrooper on the heavy turret blaster is flung back, the barrel of his weapon elevating skywards. The pilot inside is quick, but not quick enough; as her hands move to the controls she too is pink-misted, and her armor-clad body slumps over the yoke. The heavy vehicle rumbles into life, swinging slowly to the left towards some street trader stalls; the stallsfolk and their customers start to scatter in panic. The two ranks of infantry respond immediately, scattering to avoid being a single target; firing as they go, most of the firing directed in the direction that Tess's bolts came from but others firing randomly into the crowd as they scatter for cover behind stalls, in doorways, a couple pounding up fire escapes. A skinny Chiss is hit, sprawling into death with his limbs outflung, bouncing until he becomes dead and still; a young human girl in braids, perhaps ten or eleven, is clipped by a bolt and goes down in what must be scary silence, staring in shock at the cauterized stump where her foot used to be.
"We didn't start it," Sar says to the girl that's admonishing him, as he's sliding the foot and a half-long blaster pistol from its holster.
"Reckon I oughta get to it, huh?" he asks, standing up with a grunt and turning around, hefting the handgun with squeezing the trigger four good times. Two of the shots place fist-sized holes through those pretty FO helmets, one goes wide, and the final one clips another trooper in the shoulder.
With his opening volley taken care of, the Old Man vaults the barrier, on his way to march down the remaining soldiers. Who needs cover, right? The sergeant pops up over his stall like a bedouin raider, his fez cap slanted wildly as he unleashes fire from his rifle towards the column of storm troopers. Unfortunately for everyone involved, the weapon did not appreciate being shoved in a box of craft supplies and the shot goes wide. <<Sir, you may want to rethink that, I still don't have eyes on the shooter.>>
"What are you, five? It takes two to start a fight." Mara retorted to Sar as the fighting escalated, for a moment she hesitated to join in the conflict; wondering what she should do. The civilians that go down fill her with pain and guilt, but it is the little girl's loss of a limb that polarizes her into action.
Vaulting over the barrier and racing in front of Sar, she pulled up the hood of the cloak she wore so that she wouldn't be as easy to recognize before motioning with her free hand towards the shocked little girl.
The girl would find herself being levitated to safety, to Siya or one of the other near-by civilians before Mara focused her attention on the Stormtroopers that were responsible.
A flick of her hand brings a fire escape a short female Stormtrooper had been climbing crashing down to the ground while her other hand holds a metallic cylindrical object at the ready, calling out to the civilians once more, "Get the frak out of here!"
That little girl who looses her foot falls across the street from Siya. She is standing right on ground zero! The child's laments and state of agony cause tears to just fill Siya's eyes. Empathy, it is a curse as much as it is a blessing. Her mind is now utterly filled with the intense emotions of panic, anger, rage, and terror of the people around her! She manages to crouch down by a wall, her eyes locked on the little girl as she levitates towards her. Without thinking, Siya simply reaches out to embrace the child close like a mother and turns to run with the fleeing crowds.
The return fire forces Tess to draw back away from her perch and deeper into the cover provided by the edge of the building. Rolling along the gravel with her rifle pressed to her chest until she's up on a knee pushing down the bipod along Addell's barrel and slinging the rifle back onto her back for easy of mobility. Her blaster rifle is taken up from the collection of belongings along with a bandolier of ammunition for both weapons to move to her secondary firing position at a brisk run. Her datapad continues to feed her music that is grossly inappropriate for the level of action going on down on ground level.
As the fire escape is torn from the wall by some invisible hand, concrete spattering away from the bolts that held it hitherto securely, the Trooper two stories up screams, a scream that continues as the metal structure twists and falls. She, and it, hit the ground with a dust-raising thump and then there is stillness, the Trooper's helmet slowly pooling out a growing puddle of blood.
But that's not to say that the Troopers are sitting ducks any more. By now they're all in cover, ranging from the poor to the excellent. Tess's rooftop is receiving a steady barrage of suppressing fire, and Sar is being targetted by half a dozen hands. The others, though, are not firing - not yet, even as the remaining civilians disappear into doorways and alleys and, even in a couple of cases, manhole covers leading down to the sewers. The band has ceased playing, and the lead singer is being hustled towards a doorway. With the exception of Siya and Sar's brave (?) charge street center, there is now practically nobody moving in the open on the street.
"He is? Fine." Gren says, looking away from his search for First Order starfighters, and noting something that Can has to say. <<<Four. Joining you on the deck.>>> The former Rebel sounds a bit annoyed, as he rolls his X-wing over, and plummets toward the festival-turned firefight. At the last moment, he yanks hard on his yoke, and activates his repulsors. There is a hefty bounce as he hovers over the ferrocrete. He steps on the rudder pedals, and shifts the nose of his starfighter back and forth, stipling the cover of the Stormtroopers firing at Sar with his own heavy laser cannon bursts. He's a pretty good shot. Maybe some will die. It is a nice volume of firepower, if nothing else. Also...a large, if tough target.
<<Copy that, One>> comes Triz's reply as she banks her X-wing between buildings and up, her engines screaming. She keeps the bank to the left going, eyes searching for a targets. Spotting a small cluster of white clad Troopers <<Heading back down, on your left>> She tells Gren as her fighter heads down and her nose aimed at the group. At the last moment she fires at the Troopers that has sought shelter behind a partial wall and store front. Bright bolts streak from her ship down at the cluster. Another shot rips from the barrel of the EE-3 sawn-off and finishes off the stunned trooper from before. Two more follow, and dig themselves into the guts of two more soldiers. They may not be dead, but they aren't going to be fighting back for a long while.
But, no, everybody needs cover, Sar. You dummy. The Old Man has earned the ire of the whole lot of Stormtroopers, and he makes a run for it, sliding behind a parked speeder.
The Fezzed Warrior emerges from cover to fire again, and this time the bolt that goes careening down the street knocks a trooper over with a flash, a blast, and a gout of flame. <<Can't be much more than a dozen, sir,>> he barks into his comm unit, casting a wary eye back down the other side of the street where the other concert was similarly abandoned to be sure there's not an impending flank maneuver from the First Order. <<We got 'em on the run, time to put bodies down.>> He's already on the move, his tiny cap flying off as he tears into the street after the colonel on booted feet. There were good men and women on both sides of the conflict, but a party, a place of celebration was no place for a battle. As Sar retreats off the field, Mara remains in the center of it all, not presently an apparent target of either side.
That was something she could use to her advantage as the man begins his retreat Mara calls out, "Get out of here." She then added under her breath, far lower but perhaps loud enough to be heard by Sar, "We'll be seeing each other again."
The object in her hand was ignited, a glowing green blade of pure energy extending forth from it that she used to deflect blaster bolts away from Stormtrooper and Resistance fighter alike.
She couldn't stop them all, but anyone continuing to shoot was going to run the risk of hitting her if she didn't manage to deflect the blasts.
Mara Jade depresses the small red button on her lightsaber. Suddenly, a second blinding bright green energy beam extends from the right side of the metal hilt with a snap hiss!
Siya pauses, looks left, looks right, then ducks as a blaster bolt whizzes past her head. With the crowds dispersing, the mental anguish subsides and she can focus a bit better. "Shhh.." She tells the child, "We will be ok.. They aren't shooting at us.." Tell that to the child who was already shot! There is a business and she darts to the left, running to huddle inside the doorway. The gunfire is simply too thick to make it to the next alley or street. The child is settled down on the ground inside the deeper doorway and Siya huddles over her protectively. She glances up, watching as Mara ignites her light sabre. There is a moment of awe that crosses her features.
Tess descends into the belly of an apartment complex full loading up with Stormtroopers a lot faster than she realizes or would be comfortable with if she did. Down a floor, clearing corners as she swings around stairs, her hair is matted where a few strands have come loose of the ponytail. The second position is in one of the apartments, she just has to make it there, and there's only a small squad of troopers coming up to get the sniper between her and her destination...
She rounds another corner into an open hallway to find a group advancing on her end with their blasters ready. Muscle memory brings her rifle up for a quick shot that puts one down as she drops back around the corner ahead of the return volley. Dust flies around her in near misses, but the sniper is already scanning the hallway for a quick way out... through a locked door. She doesn't actually know if it's locked, she just barrels through it shoulder first and only barely breaks it open to permit her entry. "Okay.. okay.." Her weapons are slung off her back at the corner of the small apartment while she pulls heavy furniture in the path of the doorway to keep it closed long enough to set up some sort of defense. "Alright..."
Because this is not at all the position she wants to be in. Trapped in a box with a squad of bucket heads gunning down on her. "Yeah... we.." She turns over a bookshelf, making a lot of racket in the process, and reloads Addelll after extending the bipod. "We can do this..."
That is probably not true. She's got a few seconds though. Think about something pleasant. Turn on her datapad to start the music again and shuffle through until she finds something inappropriate to her situation.
"mmm..." Fast-forward a little. "Let'er cry... if her tears fall down like rain.." She doesn't bother with her scope, it wont do her any good in this close proximity, "Let'er sing... if it eases all her pain..."
After the strafing run from Gren and Triz which flung white-armored bodies hither and thither, blaster bolts tearing through the delicate paper lanterns strung across the street, there is no more firing up at the two X-wings; the remaining Troopers find themselves deep cover in the buildings flanking the concrete abyss. Some are indeed pursuing Tess, there are four of them clattering up the stairwell and hammering at the door she is musicalling behind. Others are meeting with different receptions; there's a sudden clatter of glass as a Stormtrooper is flung out of a third-story window to the street below, arms windmilling, hitting with a final-sounding splatting noise near Corr's feet as a Wookiie appears in the shattered windowframe above with a roaring snarl. For Sar and Corr, chasing down more Troopers will have to be done by entering the buildings. For a moment, on the street, all is quiet, save for the stifled cries of the wounded and the rumbling engine of the APC that has become wedged against a building, street vendor stalls crushed under its heavy tires. Siya's child is whimpering, going into shock in her arms, mumbling about her mommy as tears run down her ashen face.
Then, sliding into view at the far end of the street, come two TIEs in close formation, whipping round the building and towards the departing pair of X-wings. They're not firing, yet, not until they get closer.
<<<Jedi...?">>> Gren starts to form a sentence, before Can starts to beep and boop up a storm. Eyes flicker to scanners, and then Delede has to focus on getting off the ground. Forward thrust is re-activated, and he hauls the X-wing end over end. "More power to forward shields!" He snaps the order to his R2, and then keys his comm. <<<Look alive, Four. Eyeballs. Engaging.>>> Spark Lead barrels down the street toward the approach pair of First Order fighters. His lasers spray red blaster fire even before they are quite in range.
<<We got...>> But Gren has already called them out. Triz starts to go after the second Tie but no, "Stay with One, Triz, stay with One," she tells her self swinging the X-wing to follow after her lead <<Right behind you, One, right side.>> she tells him. A quick glance at the second TIE and she grits her teeth and doesn't give up her position as his wingman. She fires right after Gren does, her red blast streak through the air.
<<Waldin. Lead singer lady's in there. Pursue. I'm on you,>> remarks Sar as he notes the scrambling soldiers. He drops an expended power pack from his blaster and slides it back into his holster, before standing up from behind the swoop. "Oughta try some subtlety, darlin'," Sar begins to Mara, moving towards the building where the primary target was taken. "Standin' bounty out for folks like you."
<<Roger that,>> Waldin replies, stacking up on the door and ditching his robes before he slams his boot into the doorjamb, sending the door crashing in with a rain of splinters and immediately wheeling in through the entry, sweeping the room with his sights and sticking to the inside wall. <<First room's clear, sir, I'll sweep left, you sweep right.>> Stepping on the heels of his feet, the lean, mean, door-kicking machine glides through into the next room to repeat the process.
With hopefully a few lives on both sides saved and all of the civilians save Siya and the little girl out of the immediate area, Mara's job, if that's what she could have called it was done. No doubt, she would have to answer for her actions but a bounty was the least of her concerns.
"Likewise." Mara replied to Sar with a smirk, killing two birds with one stone, "But I'm not your darling."
Fleeing the battlefield with as much haste as possible, she did her best to search for Siya and the child and upon finding them offered a hand to Siya, "Come on, the two of you need to get out of here. The battle isn't over."
Siya stares at Mara even longer, but the words of the child in her arms redirects her attention. She leans in, placing her cheek against the girl's, "I want you to close your eyes and think of your most favorite thing ever." There is a pause, "That's it.. now, keep thinking about that. Think of the good things. The shadow will pass and there will be light again." She uses her own abilities to give the child soothing feelings, peace, comfort. Then, Mara is back again. Her gaze lifts to look to the woman and reaches up, accepting the hand. Though, she then turns and scoops up the child, holding her close to her chest. "Thank you.." She whispers.
Tess, holed up in her little room, takes shots at anything that dares break the sanctity of her home. She's got ammo, plenty of ammo, but it's really only a matter of time right? "I can do this all night you shits..." Her rifle literally puts holes through the wall and hits her targets, one of them cut clean in half by the sonic bomb of Addell barking at her charges assailant.
The unfortunate truth is, it provides a means by which they can return fire and while she is by no means without cover, it is only a matter of time... One of the blasters hits her right in the chest, over her armor, and buckles her backwards against the wall behind her with a hard crunch of broken psuedo wood book case. The armor is sizzling a little, blood oozing out of the frayed edges as she claws back towards her position as the Troopers continue to fight getting inside before she can get back to the god damned death cannon.
The two TIEs engage head to head, Gren and Triz are both targetting the lead. Its pilot is good, jinking and jiving, but Gren's shots clip the right 'wing' and Triz's ship blasts the left wing strut. The left foil goes spiralling off, whipping up, spinning like a ninja throwing star to slice through the window - and the surrounding wall - where Tess is holed up, disintegrating into flying shards of glass and metal that become lethal missiles; a Stormtrooper in the next room is impaled through his chest, pinned to the wall like an insect. Outside, the remains of the TIE plough through the things strung across the street - power cables, plunging the street into darkness, washing lines, strings of paper lanterns,, hits the ground, skids in a spray of sparks into the stalled APC, and explodes, shrapnel and flame peppering the area where Mara, Siya, and Siya's new child are crouching. The second TIE is firing on Triz's ship, and while its pilot isn't as sharp as the others, it still manages to land some punishing blows onto the venerable X-wing.
Sar (and Corr) burst into the building where the lead singer has been spirited...to find himself covered with blaster upon blaster, five or six band members and roadies and groupies covering him. Behind is the singer, a blaster in her hand too. "Hold your fire!" she yells, "He isn't FO!"
One of the Stormtroopers outside Tess's adopted apartment yells in a woman's voice, "Drop your weapons and surrender! You'll be taken for a fair trial!" And then, through one of the holes she blasted in the wall, a cryoban grenade is tossed, the little black cylinder bouncing across the floor towards Tess's feet. Tess's options are, by now, limited. Out the window, two stories up. Into the bathroom. Or, um. That's it.
<<<Nice shot, Girlie!>>> Gren calls out over the comm. Spark Lead's shields are flickering, and lighting up, debris and close shots skimming off of the front of the ship's protection screen. His laser cannons don't seem to cease firing as he heaves the snubfighter over to starboard to avoid a really inconveniently placed food truck's sign. "Damn. I hate streetfights..." A button is pressed, and his lasers switch over to quad linked fire, and spit out an aimed burst at the second TIE that's picking on his newest hire. <<<I've got you covered, Four.>>>
<<Thanks, Boss>> Triz replies but she knows what's coming, if she was in the TIE pilots seat that is. She braces herself for the hits, shields go down, bits fly off her ship. But she maintains control even through being bounced about in the cockpit "Ugh!" she lets out as she just instinctively pulls the trigger, maybe she will hit but it's doubtful. Of course the bolts go well wide with the violent manuvers of her ship. <<Still flying, Boss>> she says over the comms.
Sar Yavok lifts his hands as he enters the room, blasters waving in his face. "Colonel Sar Yavok. I'm with The Resistance. Gone get you outta here, if you ain't opposed. Got a ship inbound, if Captain Delede ain't shit the bed and lost us our air superiority, by now." He beckons for the woman and her band to follow after him, before he turns and begins wandering back outside, speaking into his comm "Big Dog to Starburst, I'm ready for evac. Couple dozen or so for pickup".
<<Spark, we're gettin' out of here, I'm gonna need you to-hold on>>, he closes the channel as he spots the stormtrooper harassing his daughter. "Leave her alone, dammit!" is shouted, as his Tenloss-brand Disruptor is swung out from beneath his heavy knee-length coat.
The thing about disruptors is that you only need to hit the bad guy a little bit, you see. He steadies the thing at his hip and pulls the trigger, the hyper-illegal weapon screaming out an ear-splitting, awful howl as a bright orange beam is fired from it to connect with the Trooper's thigh, which begins dissolving into ash. This unfortunate occurance claims the entirety of the man, in time.
<<As I was sayin', target's safe. Gettin' her out of here. Watch our asses, Spark>>, he says, raising his hands to wave in an approaching LAAT/i gunship. The bulky ship sets down in as clear a spot as it can find, and band members are soon being loaded onto it.
If this process is uninterrupted, the ship will take off shortly after it landed and begin its trip back to the SECRET BASE. "You're welcome." Mara replied without much thought to Siya, but there is a nagging sense of danger in the back of her head and it soon presents itself in the form of an explosion with all of the trimmings.
Mara doesn't hesitate, she pushes Siya and the girl back into what little cover the building offered and threw herself on top of the pair using her diminutive form to shield them as best as possible.
Siya suddenly finds herself thrust back into the doorway as explosions ring out. The sound is deafening and debris falls down into the street. Once more, she huddles in the doorway with the child, who is once more sobbing. "Why is this happening?!" Siya finally asks aloud as the sound of the explosion has subsided. "This doesn't make any sense!"
Tess just makes it back to her weapon when the grenade, and the demand to surrender, are sent in at her through the hole she created in the wall. "N- oh shit fuck!" With no good options and only seconds to make a decision, Tess opts for the worst of the two available to her and turns with weapon in hand to crash through the window, unaware that her dad was just about to dissengrate some cat to protect her. This is not her most graceful moment by any stretch of the imagination and she damn near cuts her arm off on a jagged piece of broken glass on the way out. The fall isn't much better, until she just manages to grab hold of an awning and keep from falling flat against the concrete on her back, which would have proven quite painful when she speared herself on a piece of REBAR sticking out of duracrete broken off by the tank she took out earlier.
When she lands, it's in a crouch, bleeding from a wound in her chest and with a right arm dangling useless at her side, but she doesn't dally about lamenting her piss poor luck... instead she starts towards a sewer entrance before she's befallen with loose troopers. Get somewhere say, then she can worry about her injuries.
The remaining TIE fighter bugs out, going vertical in a gut-wrenching climb up and out of the concrete canyon, trailing a thin skein of oily smoke behind it as the rear gunner shoots back at Gren and Triz to keep them from following. But it won't be long before more TIEs arrive, in force. A Stormtrooper appears at the window that Tess vacated in such a hurry, firing down after her to encourage her escape. "Cut her off!" the Trooper yells, and another Trooper moves to a balcony to fire down. But Tess will reach the sewers (mostly/partly) intact, Triz will be able to nurse her damaged X-wing home, and Sar and Corr are away with the band doing whatever it is they do with a jazz band. That just leaves Siya and Mara, and Siya's new girl, on the ground. Probably not a wise place to linger.
<<<Damn. He ditched the party... You're clear, Starburst. Don't take the long way, home...the skies'll be busy. And my stomach is too.>>> Gren's voice intones over comms, sounding tired, and a little pissy. <<<Four. You're gonna owe the deck crew more than a few drinks...two fragged fighters in as many missions...>>> This, on the other hand, has him sounding amused. Any fight you can walk away from, after all. Spark Leader's engines flare, as the adjusts to cruising speed, and falls into high escort position on the drop ship. It'd be almost majestic, if it weren't for the carnage, and fire, and smoke below.
<<Roger that, Boss>> Triz replies as she struggles to keep the fighter in her wingman's position. <<Ugh, don't remind me, ok>> She comes back about two damaged ships. She limps it on home, bits falling off now and then as she does.
"It's not happening for any reason. We're not here because of anything we've done, it's just happening because it is. The galaxy is a messed up place." Mara replied sadly to Siya as she dusted the debris off her back and got to her feet, "The two of you need to get somewhere safe and we need to find out where her mother is." Mara then adds softly under her breath, "If she still has one." Heading deeper into the building, Mara hopes she can locate a backdoor and get the pair to safety.
