Log:First Order Rescue at Kreis

First Order Rescue at Kreis

OOC Date: February 22nd, 2018
Location: Kreis
Participants: Dreman Bryce, Emma Starflare, Rhona Darrett

Mission: A detachment of Shadow Troopers are under attack on the planet of Kreis in the Krei System. These troopers are aboard a heavily armored transports delivering new recruits to the newly commissioned training facilities on Kuat. See to it that these terrorist attackers are dealt with. Recon suggests that its Republic soldiers hiding in the woods around the Kreis Starport landing field.

Tucked away into a little out of the way pocket of the galaxy was Kreis. It was a hot, sticky world with soft, sandy beaches beset by thick jungle terrain. It would be an amazing spot for the 107th, if not for the locals being particularly angry with their presence. As the First Order dropship swoops in overhead, the thrum of repulsorjets echoes against the terrain beneath them. Blasterfire lances from the jungle wall towards the fortified Shadowtroopers, unable to do much but remain entrenched. The dropship comes to a slowed position, hovering about four feet from the uneven terrtain--It was unable to land in the clearing. But, that wouldn't be any trouble for the intrepid heroes that have come to save the day!

Em-1710 was here, or 'Emma' as she'd been called for her cover ID. It was still strange to have a 'name', but it wasn't so far from the nickname EM she'd had for a while as to feel completely alien. Checking her stealth field generator's charge, the sniper hoists her rifle and then looking back at her shoulder. She was comfortable enough working alone, but having backup was never a bad thing as long as they could handle themselves. "We find the sight," the blonde woman speaks behind her mask, "We set up, remove the sentries as quietly as possible and then move in. Quickly and aggressively before they have time to mount a defense."

"Dropshadow to Control, we're on final approach to the ambush site now. Looks very hot down there," comes FN-4127's voice over the com channel. "Will be in touch once we get the situation under control." The black-armored woman nods to EM-1710 in agreement. "The faster we lift this siege, the better. I can take the squad in and start cleaning up the mess," she adds, gesturing to the little group of four 'troopers in the dropship's passenger bay. "We should be arriving at the drop site right about... now!" The ship comes to a halt, and the corporal slaps the shoulder of the first trooper, who is out the hatch in a moment. "Everybody out! Get to cover and head for the sound of the blasters!" Within seconds the ship is vacated. The cavalry has arrived.

The bay of the dropship is an easy empty for the well-trained Troopers. Brevit and field positions weren't exactly a thing when it came to rescue missions, but the troops that came had decided to put their faith and trust in Emma and Rhona. Boots thunder and the dropship begins to lift away, leaving an almost silence to fall over their dropzone. That is, except for all the blaster fire coming from the south, in the thickest part of the jungle wall.

This wasn't the first time Em had been sent to rescue a squad in fact, but having a squad with her was a nice change as far as firepower goes. A nod to Rhona, then they're on their way towards their destination. Taking the lead, EM frowns a little behind her mask. "Be mindful, these locals could have left traps or other obstacles around their paths to catch the unaware."

"Light feet," Rhona confirms, spreading out with the rest of the squad. "Sounds like most of the noise is south of us." Rifle in hand, she begins making her quiet-as-possible way through the foliage. "Don't spread out too much. Friendly fire'd be real easy in all this greenery."

They weren't wrong. Though the place had become extremely dangerous, it also seemed clear they were approaching the rear of the attacking forces. Emma would be the first to make a positive contact, through a broad sightline in their path. A man, wearing drab colors deliberately to try and blend in, moves to relocate around their position. A moment later, a second follows after him. The attackers were trying to flank their quarry.

Camo was good, but hopefully they were better. Em actually waits a moment to see if more of the hostiles are coming to flank around before she moves forwards. Silent as she can be, the sniper moves up behind the man at the rear and draws out her survival knife. It was primative, and there were better weapons in the galaxy. Cold metal loged in the base of the spine was still deadly to most sentients, if she could pull it off.

Seeing Emma go forward to ambush the ambushers, FN-4126 lifts a hand to get the squad's attention. Pointing to her eyes and then in the direction of the sounds of battle, she directs them to watch for more trouble. In the meantime, she covers Emma's approach, watching the first man in case he looks back.

The flanking party line does eventually end, to the detriment of a man who had no idea he was being stalked by Emma. One of the First Order's finest snipers doesn't have trouble getting close to the man, it was her purpose. And so, when at last she's close enough to strike, the blade finds purchase in the base of the soldier's spine. Broadly, the knife severes just about everything that would relay signals to struggle or fight. Dispatched so easily, in such a brutal way, the fight is over within seconds and he drops quickly. The shock of suddenly going limp causes an overload within his neurological system, buying them a moment of silence as his mouth opens wide and nothing comes out. He would scream soon, but in that split second, nothing came. There was only wide-eyed fear, and the hopelessness that they had been discovered and he was unable to so much as let his comrades know what was coming.

One down, but Em's gloved hand comes over the mouth of the man whom she'd stabbed just in case. Slowly, carefully, she'd lower him down into the grass before raising her hands once more, ready to creep towards the next man. <Prepare the squad to move> She speaks softly over the helmet comms. <I'd prefer silence, but we need to move with haste or there will be none left to save.> In her other hand, the woman draws her blaster pistol and holds it at the ready for if the first man moves to look back.

Seeing the Rebel dispatched so easily, Rhona nods and signals the group. <We're heading south. Pick up the pace, but stay quiet. If we get this right, that flanking party will be too little, too late. Eyes up and around. We only know roughly where they are.> She taps one man and details him to back up Emma. <Catch up once you're done. Hopefully we'll have found the main force by then.>

The man tries to scream, to warn his comrades, but it's in vain. Emma's black glove prevents the relay of the message, and shock overtakes him. His eyes roll back, and he passes out, just as she rises to leave. Blood covers her boots and the jungle flora. But, most important, the flanking team had not yet discovered they were down a unit. They continue on. In the thick of the jungle, glimpses of the men are caught as backpacks shuffle through the jungle. For whatever reason, they were moving around a tall thicket of jungle trees, away from the main force.

<Something's /odd/ about that flanking party,> Rhona signals. <If they've encircled the transport, they're going awfully far out of their way to reach a flanking position. I suggest keeping the last one alive and finding out just what they're doing.>

<Understood> That's about as much as Emma signals, then she's attacking the next man the same as the first. A quiet knife in the woods. <Update me when you have eyes on our people.> She lashes forwards, blaster ready to fire upon the first man even as she drives the first into the ground. If she succeeds, she's already raising her blaster set to stun at the last man.

The second man is dropped in much the same fashion, before the quiet stun-blast takes the third out. He stumbles in his tracks, falling forward and out of view over the top of a small rise in the terrain. When Emma reaches the apex, she's given view of a strange device. Etched into a small clearing, with a stunned trooper crumpled at it's base, is a transponder. Buried beneath webbing that made it nearly impossible to see from above, it's well-hidden and may have been guarded by the flanking units. Maybe.

<CM-1337, are you and Emma done? We're opening the distance in a hurry,> Rhona calls back to the backup trooper with Emma. <No sign of the lines so far, but with all this noise, I don't think they'll be too hard to find.>

Emma's second radios back. <We've found a device. A transponder--Looks like it's rendering a map of the area for the Resistance soldiers. It's giving them a feed of all activity in the area...> The Trooper pauses, not speculating on whether that was why the First Order was having such trouble pulling out. As Rhona draws closer, she is afforded a view of the battlezone more clearly than she could from the dropship: A series of circular fortifications protect the shadow troopers in rings. Storm Commander Bryce is issuing orders from the central ring, protected by a still-burning wreck of a shuttle. As the rings extend outward, fabrications made impromptu, more and more troops are seen defending them in cover. The enemy, the Resistance, has 3 large artillery guns pelting the area below, using some guidance technology to accurately keep the First Order pinned.

</This/ is quite a find,> Rhona observes, taking a better look at the display. <Download us a map of the battle zone. Can you use this transponder to jam their signals? If we can render them blind, digging them out of their rat holes will be a lot easier.>

<I'll see what I can do, sir> Chirps back over the radio as the specialist begins to try his hand at futzing with the feed. Overall, the position of the Resistance was not one of siege--They couldn't last forever. All that protected them was their vantage point from the trees. The real issue with the defensable position of the Resistance soldiers is the artillery cannons. The three guns prevent movement on behalf of the First Order troops. With Emma setting a defensive position while her second works, Rhona is left to figure out the problem with the artillery cannons. Emma's second returns to the comms, chirping: <It looks like each cannon is guarded by three troopers, only two of which are carrying heavy arms. If we can eliminate them, the siege will break>.

<I'd been having similar thoughts, CM. Looks like we'll have to spike some guns,> Rhona replies. <See about blinding them for a while. If this works, we might be able to use one or two of their own guns against them.> She notes the location of the artillery. <Squad, move out! We'll take them one at a time, starting with the nearest.>

<I'm working on it as we speak. We'll need at least one of them down. If they realize we've hacked their data, they'll turn on the transponder quickly.> Emma's second chirps into the comms, as he sets to work. Over the comms, Emma's blaster can be heard. It doesn't draw attention, but, it does signal their time was nearly up. They needed to work fast.

<On it! We're approaching the first position now,> Rhona coms back, peering at the locator and the terrain ahead. She clicks off the safety of her F-11. <Squad, take them down fast and hard, the armed troopers first. Weapons hot!>

The short hike to the station is nothing for the troopers, and under Rhona's orders, the begin their assault. The two heavily armed troopers guarding the artillery stations were mostly observers, and the Stormtrooper numbers easily out-gun the poor fools. in seconds, the first of three stations is secured by the First Order troopers. Two remained. <The next station is along the path--You should be able to make it. I'll time the firing sequence to destroy the third as you assault number-two. I've got a visual on you.>

<Copy, CM. Those cannon-cockers'll never know what hit them,> Rhona replies. <Double-time, Squad! Same plan, different gun. Stay off the path, but follow it in parallel: We don't want them to see us coming.> The Corporal leads off, weapon at the ready.

Just as Rhona and her troops approach the second artillery station, as planned, the artillery fires. Strangely, at least to the troops below, it fires on another of it's own placements. The third artillery cannon is destroyed outright by the fire, leaving only the second cannon as her team descends upon it. Blaster fire rings clear through Emma's comms, but ends swiftly. <Scratch one, boss.>

<Nice shooting, CM! We're just getting to the second gun now. Bet they're watching the unexpected fireworks,> Rhona replies, checking the clearing and signalling the attack with a quick gesture. She opens fire as the team does. <Hit 'em hard, Squad!>