Log:Katana Fleet, Part 2 - Log Pt 1
The Signal from Katana fleet leads the Resistance to a Moon near Unknown Forces.
OOC Date: November 6, 2015 (Optional)
Location: Chiss Ascendency Border, Ice Planet Moon
Participants: David Ironside, Jonn Drayson, Kare Kun, Poe Dameron, Thrawn, Jessika Pava
The first thing that will be noticed when the covert ops Shuttle comes out of hyperspace, are three Combat Cruisers, their configurations completely unknown to anyone on board the shuttle. And from behind them A heavy Cruiser pilots its way towards the planet in front of them, A star base protects this planet as well. The ship configurations and the fighters making their paths close to each ship don’t seem to notice the small shuttle. Their objective now, is to find which of the four planets in the system is holding the price. With a quick sweep its found, the moon that all orbits the Planet the ships linger near is their target. It’s a small frozen thing that show signs of life but it’s hard to make out with the scans.
Kare sits at the systems console, fingers dancing over the keys, except for that one time when her helmet, which is slightly large for her and slips down over her eyes causing her to pause to push it back up. Dressed as she is, for the cold, beads of sweat form on her forehead and upper lip due to the climate controls of the shuttle. "Three cruisers, a few fighters, a heavy cruiser coming up behind us," she announces. "Scanning the moon I have signs of life but can't determine what it is at the moment."
The word was winter gear, and that's what Poe was putting on in the back. Thick coveralls of a white-grey camo design were pulled on over his trooper gear, making it difficult to move quickly or bend over. It also provided him with the incentive to stay fit, he couldn't imagine having a gut to contend with when blousing boots. A similarly designed poncho was draped over his coveralls to assist in breaking icy winds from just stabbing him, and a hood was pulled up to cover the air-tight sealed arctic mask and breathing aparatus he now locked in place. The view ports for the mask was a reflective green, showing the shapes of the others around him. The final thing he locked in place, aside from his ammunition bandolier, was his EL-16HFE Blaster Rifle by way of a sling he cast over one shoulder casually. Then, he initiated his encrypted comm unit native to their unit exploring this planet. <<Poe here, comm check.>> His mask did not convey the sound of his voice initially, it required a separate feature to activate the voice emitter. <<How are we looking up front?>>
<<Just peachy.>> David replies, voice not yet masked by his cold gear. He'd slap that on when it was time to get in the actual cold. For now, he's just in his armor, plating not doing a lot to impede his range or mobility. When Kare informs him of the other ships, he glances over while reaching for the cockpit lights and flicks a switch. The cockpit goes dark apart from the small lights on the dashboard. "Hostiles? First Order?" he asks, glancing back to the crew compartment.
Various members of the team are in particular states of readiness for the mission. Jessika is one step down from Poe. Between the gear she's wearing and the arctic protection on top, the only thing she lacks is a helmet, face gear, and breathing apparatus to keep her lungs from freezing because of the cold meeting with her humid breath. She's not busy checking what she'd brought aside from the cold equipment. She'd checked and double-checked prior to getting onto the shuttle. Right now, Jessika is braced in her seat in as relaxed a position as can be had. It's all about conserving energy at this point, because she knows she'll need every calorie and every bit of it once they get to where they're going. Glove-covered hands have their fingers tucked over the top of the breastplate beneath as a resting spot, and her chin rests on top of the backs of her knuckles, creating the illusion that she's asleep when she's simply waiting.
"Der cold. I am nahd a fan of der cold," murmured John Drayson. The Jedi Juggernaut was dressed in layers, and by layers, it meant Jedi cloak over trooper armor over uniform over fiber jumpsuit, with an impromptu shemagh and goggles. A white cloak, at least. He's aware of stealth even if he's not the best representative of it!
The ships don’t seem to notice the small shuttlecraft, no visual means to detect them so the Large Heavy Cruiser moves over the top of the Shuttle, as its yet to move since dropping out of hyperspace. The Radio chatter isn’t a language anyone knows, even the droids seem to have issue with it only making out a few words, that sound like basic chatter of ships moving to and from port.
Listening to the com's chatter and that is all it sounds to Kare is just jibber, she shrugs mostly to herself. "Yea, okay, no idea what that is," she mutters as she switches back to the scanners and monitors the shipping. "The heavy Cruiser will be over head in," a pause "well about right now." A smile and another shrug. So much for early warnings.
"Well. They don't seem to know we're here, which is a good thing considering we're in this tiny shuttle and they might have a whole armada of fighters on board." David replies. It's a bit harder to find the controls in the dark, but a seasoned pilot like the LT doesn't let that stop him. "We're about to plunge into orbit." <<Comms on. Everyone strap in or hold on to something, hitting atmos soon.>> He speaks into the comm like a commercial airline pilot would.
The ships don’t seem to notice the small shuttlecraft, no visual means to detect them so the Large Heavy Cruiser moves over the top of the Shuttle, as its yet to move since dropping out of hyperspace. The Radio chatter isn’t a language anyone knows, even the droids seem to have issue with it only making out a few words, that sound like basic chatter of ships moving to and from port.
Listening to the com's chatter and that is all it sounds to Kare is just jibber, she shrugs mostly to herself. "Yea, okay, no idea what that is," she mutters as she switches back to the scanners and monitors the shipping. "The heavy Cruiser will be over head in," a pause "well about right now." A smile and another shrug. So much for early warnings.
"Well. They don't seem to know we're here, which is a good thing considering we're in this tiny shuttle and they might have a whole armada of fighters on board." David replies. It's a bit harder to find the controls in the dark, but a seasoned pilot like the LT doesn't let that stop him. "We're about to plunge into orbit." <<Comms on. Everyone strap in or hold on to something, hitting atmos soon.>> He speaks into the comm like a commercial airline pilot would.
Poe leans back against his seat and adjusts the straps so that they can hold him in place. The blaster rifle is taken off his shoulder and locked into a secure spot to keep it from bouncing about or coming loose should the worst scenario happen. A glance to Jess, then around the personnel hold, and Poe leans his head back and sighs. Again, no sound is conveyed through the mask.
On hearing they're going to enter the atmosphere, Jessika's eyes open in the shuttle's dark interior. They've long adjusted to a low-light environment, and she has no trouble picking out the individual pieces of gear still left in her lap. Reaching into the collar of her cold weather coat, Jessika drags up the layer of her body glove that goes up and over her head. It's a series of sweeping tucks to secure her hair underneath, and then further minute adjustments to get it fit just right. It leaves most of her face exposed, but all that is eventually covered with the addition of the mask and a pair of polarized goggles. The cherry on top is the helmet, which fits most snug with the additional layers. Those layers provide the additional benefit of protecting her chin from chafing underneath the helmet strap.
Poe leans back against his seat and adjusts the straps so that they can hold him in place. The blaster rifle is taken off his shoulder and locked into a secure spot to keep it from bouncing about or coming loose should the worst scenario happen. A glance to Jess, then around the personnel hold, and Poe leans his head back and sighs. Again, no sound is conveyed through the mask.
Jonn had one hand locked on to a hand-railing above him, and his feet were planted firmly on the deck. He could have strapped in, but he had cool cred. And one does not diss cool cred by strapping in like a chump. Not that there's anything wrong with being a chump, it's just that Jonn wasn't. "Bring on der bahmps," he said into his own comm, a sort of self-assured confidence and refusal to admit that the ground would be so daring as to buck him off his feet coming through in his voice.
The entry is easy, a nice glide but before the heating of the ship can even kick in the interior temp of the ship -drops- quick. Like going from a good comfortable 75 to 20 in mere seconds, then the heat returns to normal. Seems the upper atmosphere is pretty brutal when it comes to the cold. Down below seems like a light snowfall is happening, allowing for good cover. The blip from the commo comes live then, their objective has come into detection range and the people above don’t even seem to care about it.
Kare gives a shiver as the temp plunges and a small "Ack" escapes her. But then it warms back up again. She continues to monitor the scanners watching for the target "A bit to the left," she tells Dave "Objective is about ten degrees off our nose," adding.
David shivers, reaching for his vintage Hoth-proof parka hanging over the back of his chair. Shrugging one arm into the sleeves at a time, he keeps it on anyway. It's comfy, and shrugging out of it would be more trouble than it's worth. Planet looks like it's gonna be cold again as soon as the ramp lowers, anyway. Through the snow, David points at a tower. "That one. Gotcha." The shuttle zooms towards the tower, details becoming clearer as it approaches. There's several dishes on several levels, and a landing pad that's currently not being used. "Putting it down over there." he declares, pulling a lever to extend the landing struts and when they touch down, he lowers the ramp.
Once the shuttle touches down, Jessika toggles the harness release so that the individual straps keeping her secured in case of a harder landing loosen and slack off to the sides. Her arms work their way out with medial movements and then spread laterally so the straps are off entirely. Even with gear, there's no denying the cold. The gear limits exposure and helps retain body heat, but it's not like being under a warm blanket. It's a mental inconvenience she pushes out of focus, but doesn't dismiss entirely, because that mental inconvenience can also tell her when she's in actual danger. Rising from her seat, Jessika does one last check to make sure everything is where it's supposed to be, including her blaster pistol, and then lifts a hand to one of the hanging loops while standing by for operating orders.
The Ramp comes down, the snow blows in and frosts the edges where the heater is not keeping the metal warm. The relay station stands open, with guards at its base. Some soldiers of some sort in weird looking combat armor. Oh yes, this is why those up top didnt care about the station, they already were guarding it? But upon the outside of one of the relay stations walls stands a symbol.
Quickly fixing her mask in place, then pulling the white and off white hood of her camo cloak over her head, Kare stands after they land. She waits till the area is clear and then goes to the locker to pull her sniper rifle out of the locks. "Okay, let’s do this then." A quick check, she is all buttoned up, gloves with a little flap over the finger is in the cover position and she turns to make her way down the ramp after everyone else has cleared.
Poe slaps the quick release on the harness keeping him seated and rises up to stand alongside Jess. When they've landed, Poe retrieves his blaster rifle and eases up toward the ramp as it moves down slowly. Judging from the snow, Poe waits another second to drop the snowshoes on the deck, then places his boots within the clamps to lock his boot in place. Once both are on, Poe is the first to step out, keeping his weapon at a low ready stance. In the distance, upon the relay station, is a symbol Poe recognizes. It predates the clone wars, and is the Old Republic's emblem. Poe can also, barely, make out the presence of guards. <<Not so sure about this. They're sporting the old republic's colors, and have armed guards. This might not be something we jump into shooting.>>
"I agree." David has waited behind Kare, someone has to make sure the engines are off and the keys are in a pocket. He's outside now, hood of the parka nice and fluffy, but he hasn't pulled it up yet. He taps his chest. "Luckily we're uniforms as well, we just gotta make sure they know we're.. at first glance.. anyway, on the same side." He puts a hand on Kare's rifle, gently lowering it. His own stays holstered, though the clasp is unfastened.
"I see it." Jessika's response to the tall, brawny Drayson in the cramped confines of the shuttle's passenger compartment sounds like she's on the other end of a communication frequency rather than standing right next to him. Her statement is preceded and followed by a subtle clicking that indicates the toggle of the internal system built into her mask. Were it not for the equipment, no sound would have come from the Resistance pilot at all. Watching Poe, she doesn't immediately draw her blaster, but she does mimic him by securing broad, clip-on attachments to the soles of her boots so her weight is spread across the surface of the snow in a greater area, thus distributing it farther and making it less likely for her to sink in. "Imperials controlled a lot of the older, important sites left over from the Galactic Republic's days. If this was friendly, I don't think we'd be seeing unidentifiable ships. I could be wrong, though."
"Der chance of dis being a friendly site is minhimal," was John's input to the situation. He tucked his lightsaber away into a pocket underneath his robe. Probably not a good idea to be showing off his status just yet. He fastened the snowshoes to his own feet. Last thing he needed was for his impressive weight to send him on a one-way trip to Sinksville, Hoth. "But, lehd's give dem der benefit of der doubt." He fell in behind the assembled crowd.
The guards at the entrance of the base do not seem to know about the people outside, they are wearing the Old Republic uniforms but, their weapons don’t match, they dont even look like blaster rifles. There is a shift as they look at the gathered, seeming to have already picked up where they are with ease. One of the guards raises a hand to his helmet and taps it a few times.
<<Alright, spread out. I'll take us in.>> Poe turned to look back over the others briefly, then pointed at BB-8. For the first time, his voice is heard through the mask's emitter. "Stay with the ship, buddy. Don't open it unless it's us." He turned back around then and began to walk toward the relay station chicken winging the butt of his rifle stock under one arm and using his free to wave at the guards in a friendly manner.
Kare does that as she cradles the sniper rifle in her arms, spread out that is. The wind and flurries whip at her as she takes the left flank. Eyes peer to the target through googles, her breath would have frozen as she breathed out but the mask she wears prevents that.
"Feels like old times, huh?" David mutters as he keeps pace with Poe. "Us two pilots doing the ground troops work." He smirks under his face cover, stepping casually along to the armed guards. "You know if they start shooting we're gonna go down, right?" He keeps his eyes trained forward, squinting at their weaponry.
As far as situations go, Jessika classifies this one as tense. They've set down in potentially hostile territory with no way to know who is aware of their presence, and now they are approaching potentially hostile individuals with no previous intelligence or reconnaissance. Diplomatically, the best thing she can do at this point is keep her hand away from her blaster. It doesn't stray far, though. If necessary, it's familiar weight is nothing but a quick shift o her hand away. Not that getting into an engagement out in the open like this would be smart. Zero defilade and ignorance in regards to what they're up against put them at a severe disadvantage in this kind of situation. At David's mention of 'two pilots', as if he and Poe are the only pilots there, Jessika's polarized goggles lightly turn in Kare's direction. Under the cover of gear, microexpressions are invisible. But the subtle tilt of her head to the side isn't. With Kare covering the left, Jessika keeps eyes on the right. In their five man formation, everyone would ideally be covering a sector, but that's not the case here.
Maybe John had become too reliant on the Force. Ordinarily, a situation like this would have warning and danger crawling on his back. But his back and his mind were clear. If there was danger here, and there was every possibility that there was, he couldn't sense it. He was in the middle, behind Poe and David, basically serving as the muscle. "I haf a bad feehling aboud dis," he murmured into his comm. Since no one was doing anything, he stepped forward and boomed, "Hello! We do nahd haf yoah comm frequenceh!" over the sound of the snow and the engine noise and all the other chaos. "Id's been a long trip, whyere should we uhnload?!"
Poe's attention turns from what's ahead to David as they walk. His comments earn a chuckle. "Just keep your head on a swivel, pal. We'll be fine if we look out for one another. I've been in tighter situations than this." Poe shoulders his rifle back as the distance closes, using the sling to keep it against his side. What's left visible is the DE-10 handcannon seated across his lower back and parallel with the belt fastened around his mid-section, yet beneath his poncho. He had been about to speak when Jonn took that liberty. Instead of looking to Jonn, Poe looked over their weapons, judging that they were still about 15m away. The weapons did not appear to be any model he had seen before, and he had an odd sense about these guys that made him uneasy. Being at the slight lead, the others in the patrol line had a sidelong view of his back and could see the pistol grip of his blaster. When Poe subtlely switched stances and came to a halt a moment after Jonn spoke, he appeared aggressive, denoting his paranoia to those most familiar with him. With one hand still raised, his other settles on the grip of his blaster ready to pull and shoot the guards at close range.
Watching those to her right, Kare feels that she is well with in her range, so she drops into the snow. The sniper rifle is set on it's bipod, her camo blends in with the swirling snow and the rifle is placed into her shoulder. Slowing her breathing down, she sweeps the the unknowns, looking for anything that might tip her off that things are about to go nasty.
David grins at Poe. "You know it." He turns slightly to regard Jonn, somehow finding it easier to understand the heavy accent while looking at the man. He gives Kare and Jess a look each as he brushes some snow off a crate. It's one of those crates you'll find on any landing pad or nearby, containing a rolled up fuel line and providing decent cover. He doesn't pull out his blaster yet, the young pilot generally counting on the good will the group's symbols might give them. He sticks near the crate, though, awaiting the response to John's questioning.
Coming to a halt, Jessika adjusts her position in the line to be slightly wider apart from her comrades. Staying too close together creates too much disadvantage. She stays center-forward at the guards, so that the ceramic plates of her armor--which are meant to dissipate energy across their surface--are more towards them than any vulerable gaps in the equipment. At this point, her and strays even closer to her blaster pistol, but she makes no overt movements to draw it or even slip her fingers around its contoured grip. Her knees are slightly bent, though, so her stance is slowly lowered, and her muscles are relaxed to allow her the smoothest action possible should she need to react to the guards having a negative response to Drayson's approach.
Jonn Drayson may not be picking up any impending warning signs but the edginess of Poe and David clued him into something being up. He had one hand behind him, ostensibly to scratch his back, but in reality to be really close to his lightsaber. This was not going to bear out well. "Do you nahd speak Bay-sec?" he asked them, watching his chances of a peaceful resolution go up in smoke. At least he wasn't going to go gung-ho and attack first. "Do you at least have hyeaters insihde?" Because cold. This was all gonna end in tears. Jonn knew it.
The two guards, one taps his helmet as if not able to hear them. The other one on the other hand raises his odd looking rifle and aims it at John. Something is barked, its hard to hear in the building storm. Rumbling of, thunder?, can be heard in the distance. The weapon fires, instead the the usual red beam or green beam coming out the weapon its a BLUE beam, the attack hits the housing of the defensive crate, but something odd happens where this bolt hit actually dented in the crate. At that point the Klaxon Alarm goes off and the doors to the base slide open freezing but its clear there are more people inside.
The people inside the base however do not have Old Republic armor or gear on, they are wearing what looks to be highly sophisticated armor and similar weapons. Its clear these guys are more than just the bases defenders, they are likely the reason the message started relaying.
Poe draws his DE-10 the moment the first shot goes off and releases a shot toward the two guards before backpedaling a bit. The shot Poe discharged was so loud it left his ears ringing, or had that been the shot they made. His shot was a stunning miss, but to Poe's credit, the gear he was wearing for winter climate was a bit bulky. It'd throw any gunslinger off their game. It didn't matter, ringing or no, Poe screamed over the sound of the alarm. "LIGHT THEM UP!"
As soon as Kare spots the rifle lowering to fire she takes in a breath, lets half of it out, waits between heart beats and then shoots. Her timing is just behind the shooter's though so he gets his off but that will be the last one he ever fires. For her shot hit him center mass. A fist sized hole open's up and he is dead before his legs know it. Standing there for a split moment fore he falls into a heap. <<"One down, shifting targets">> she says calmly over the coms.
David ducks behind the crate when the others raise their whatever rifles. He pulls his blaster out of the holster, peeking out for an opening repeatedly. When Kare shoots, he can hear one of the hostiles let out a death cry, and the pilot gives her a thumbs up. He swings his blaster around, ducking back into cover when a blue bolt flies his way. He squints when he hears the impact. That was an obvious *thunk*. He gives Poe a look, like 'Did you hear that?'
As soon as the fighting starts, Jessika's hand shifts to the grip of her blaster. She doesn't yank or otherwise try to draw the weapon as fast as possible. Once positive grip is obtained, she calmly pulls it from the holster in the same practiced movements she's familiarized herself with over the many years of having a sidearm to use. Synchronized with the drawing of her weapon, Jessika slips onto one knee, both lowering her silhouette towards the snow so that the refractive fabrics of her winter gear can aid in making her harder to see, as well as creating a smaller target to hit for the guards in question. Her pose is squared off, with a supporting foot planted forward and a ninety-degree angle between her hip and her forward knee. The other is bent and pressed into the snow, with her foot extended rather than trying to rest on the tip of her foot, not only to avoid injury to her ankle but also to avoid the awkwardness of trying to balance it on the wide base attached to it. Her thumb disengages the safety of her sidearm, and she's searching for a target as the weapon comes up.
Snap-hiss.
The saber burst into life, blue beam almost as bright as the white backdrop. Against the figure of Jonn Drayson, however, it was blinding. Jonn never understood the impracticality of some of the stances that he had learned from the holocrons. The one for his style, for example, had the blade held up above him, with one arm forward. It looked great! It just looked cumbersome too. So he followed the philosophy. Blade held close, mild movements necessary, prepared to outlast any stubborn opponent. Soresu, at its finest.
"Stahnd daun!" he boomed to the door guards, walking forward and ready to return blaster bolts to very-near sender. The decision to actually kill people was not one a proper Jedi took lightly. But he could advance, and make them think 'Oh tangling with a Jedi doing one of those imposing slow walk things is a real bad idea'.
