Log:Mandalorians Reclaim Ordo: Part 2

Mandalorians Reclaim Ordo: Part 2

OOC Date: 16 May, 2016
Location: Death Star
Participants: Russ Ordo , Narsai Ordo, Laika, Tess Ul'Datha, Sabella Lockheart

The sun rises over the conquered pirate fortress, flames still bellow from some of the bunkers and weapon pits. But the fortress is now firmly under Mandalorian and Resistance control. Pirate captives numbering in the hundreds are bound and watched over by Mandalorian guards, the numbered of captured men outnumbering the forces that did the capturing. But the Mandalorians had made a hell of a show last time, and morale and perception can be one hell of a thing. Not everything was destroyed in the attack on the fortress, some of the emplaced weapon pits are untouched though some of them are a little corpsey. The shield generator is running at full capacity minus a door and some technicians and many of the AA automated guns remain, however the network shows extensive damage and will need to be repaired to get the weapons back online and running at full capacity.

Russ is standing with a small cadre of his commanders and most trusted soldiers as well as some of the representitives of the Resistance. Beside him is a war machine alot of people will not even be able to name, it has been many, many years since the last of them were thought destroyed. His basilisk war droid sits beside him several metres in height and bristling with weaponry, resplendent in its gold and black colouring. Russ nods to his commanders and to the resistance fighters as he begins to walk, his Basilisk slowly loping along behind him "I need you all to get back to your commands, the scout reports have just made it through the comm static. We have a large pirate force coming this way. They are apparently well armed, with vehicles and air cover. I have ordered the scouts to make a full retreat and to return here, i will not lose the men by leaving them out there against that sort of force. Are we having any luck getting the automated defences back online? After how much of a pounding our fighters took taking this place including Ha'rangir squadron. The large majority of them are undergoing repairs to make them dog fighting capable."

Tess, on loan to the mandalorians, leans on her oversized sniper rifle like a post after getting her things together and doing some doctor work on her typical trooper gear to erase any Resistance insignia or ranking so as not to paint a big ol sign, completely with bullseye, from the suit. It's painted a jet black and she's wearing a like colored scarf around the bottom half of her face.

She's quiet for the most part, walking along once they start doing that, with her big ol gun straped across her back listening to the sitrep. Already she's looking for a crows nest on the outter wall of the fortress, somewhere from which she can rain down death upon the approaching pirates. "Which direction does intelligence say they're coming from?"

"So..." Narsai comments, adjusting her armor and holding her helmet in her hands, the E-11 carbine she'd been using now currently holstered at her waist. "They want their base back. Go figure." The Mandalorian mechanic tilts her head to the side, looking at the Resistance fighters and then back to Russ. "I can try getting those defences back on line, the shield should at least hold their fighters off from being able to hit us. If they have to come walking through us to engage though, the fighting is going to be close and dirty. Keep them off my back and I might be able to get some of those guns going again though."

Standing amoung the other fighters, Laika is the exact opposite of Tess' armament. Empty handed with only a small gun resting on her hip, the blaster pistol barely payed heed to as she adjusts her armored gauntlets and then stretches her arms up over her head. "Vehicles? Speeders or bigger?" she questions of Russ before nodding at Narsai's words. The Cathar's face is hidden by her helmet, but one can hear the grin in the cat woman's tone. "Close and dirty is something we can do." Sabella Lockheart is one ofthe Resistance type people that has came along to help, someone said there was extensive repair work needing to be down and the mechanic had offered up her services forsuch things. She listens on quietly, taking in the area as she follows along after a few paces. Even though she's with the Resistance she doesn't have anything on that would prove that, infact her armor is from Rebel Yell, and still holds their mrk across the shoulder. A blaster does rest at her hip, and a bag for her tools is settled over her shoulder and neck, out of the way incase things get a bit squirrely, but near by for work things. "I can help with getting things back on line. Might be a bit quicker if we can split that up at least?" This said while she glances over to Narsai.

Russ doesn't particularly look towards any person in particular as he walks even as he answers the questions asked of him. "Well our scouts reports indicate that their primary direction of travel is from north to south, so they will most likely hit our northern perimeter the hardest." Russ chuckles slightly as he lifts the helmet he has slung under his arm and places it over his head before he answers his sister "Chances are at least one of them has clued on to the purpose of us taking this fortress in the manner. They know we intend to use it as our base of operations as we wipe them from the face of our planet." Russ turns slightly to look back at the shield generator half buried in the desert sand of this planet "They may get ballsy if they have some quality pirates and fly within the shield to rain hell down on us, or to strike the shield directly with their fighters. Best not to rely on its protection. Getting those AA emplacements back online however would be a huge boon, both for this battle and any future operations here." He shakes his head slightly at Laika's question "When have we ever been that lucky? No, intelligence indicates they have tanks, armed APC's and a few speeders to shuttle their troops around. Luckily they don't have anything quite as large as us." Russ thunks his hand against the huge beskar flank of his Basilisk as it runs up beside him. "They certainly have the numbers though."

Those with vision enhancements can begin to make it out as Russ's scope slide down from it's upright position on his helmet to allow him to see further. A huge dust cloud on the horizon. The pirates are making good time, they will be within effective combat range in minutes rather than hours. Russ growls lowly as he taps the side of his helmet "Malachor, this is Russ Ordo. I have the pirate incurion force bearing down on us, approximatly fifty kilometres to our north. Request orbital bombarment." The Mandalorian comm channel crackles with static, the reply from orbit is heavily distorted far more than it should be. "Negative....mandal...pira...force..he...engag..."

Narsai gives a little grin, nodding at Russ before before her eyes turn to Sabella. "Well, if you're handier repairing things then in a fight, you can take the lead and I'll help where I can but be ready to fight when they come in. It sounds like we'll need every gun and blade we can at the line to hold them back." The younger Ordo glances up at the Basilisk and then back to where her own rests. "We don't have much choice otherwise, but try not to get them blown up. Be an awfully short triumphant return."

Have direction, will travel.

Tess grabs her helmet from where it's been looped onto her belt and slips it on over her maticulously braided hair so that every strand is kept out of her face and vision. She's actually carrying more than one (more than two) blasters. There's a pistol on her hip, a battle rifle collapsed down on the small of her back, and the oversized sniper rifle slung over her shoulders. It's balanced there with he right arm looped over the butt of the weapon which bobs a little as she makes her way up the palisade to the outter wall.

Once she's in a position, hopefully from ane elevated tower, she sets out the bipod arms and settles the big rifle down with the extended shoulder harnass pushed up into her shoulder. The next couple minutes are spent zeroing out her sights, then watching the growing dust cloud get bigger through her optics.

"Farewell and adieu to you, pirate ladies... Farewell and adieu to you, pirate ladies... for we've received orders.. to kill you on sight now... We'll shoot at your corpses and dance on your bones."

Sabella Lockheart glances towards the shield generator and then towards the AA emplacements that Russ has brought up and how that seems to be the first order to get back online she'll nod slightly to herself. There is a slight blink and she pauses while glancing towards the side, yet she doesn't see anything at the moment at least. As for what is said he swallows a bit and then glances back to Narsai. "I won't deny that I'm indeed more handier at repairing. I got my blaster and when it comes down to it I know how to use it." She pulls out a pair of gloves from her bag and is heading on towards those AA gunsand the network that she already has a feeling will need some attention to get them up and going once more.

"I'm going to need bigger then my claws and a bad temper if I'm going to be rushing tanks..." Laika comments with a sigh before Russ' commlink troubles makes her look back at the repair space for the fighters. "So no support from high-up until we have fighters to clear up the airspace. Easy solutions would be boring anyway." Drawing her blaster, the Cathar stretches once more and starts to move towards the line. Even her little pistol could help, but the first pirate to get in close was going to find out how sharp her claws were.

Russ calls out to Sabella as she moves away "The control centre first. From there you can work out your priorities." Russ turns to his sister "Make sure she gets there in one piece would you sister, then i want you to either aid her if needed or return to the frontline. I will need both you and your basilisk working at max capacity if we are going to get out of this in any decent condition." Russ nods to Laika "It isn't ideal for either of us." Russ indicates towards his pistols as he leaps down into a fighting pit. "Stick by me and help me out, i'll need some cover." Russ starts powering up the E-web in the pit as blasts start to slam against the shield as their tanks open up at their maximum range. Russ shakes his head slightly as the weapon reaches full power. The full force of the pirates come over the rolling sand dunes, twelve tanks, 6 APC's a small horde of speeders. The pirates must number in the hundreds. Outnumbering by far the hundred and twenty Mandalorians currently in the fortress "Here we go!" Russ snarls as his weapon starts to spit hate at the incoming forces

As Narsai and Sabella head towards the AA control center they are met by an odd sight. Two mandalorian guards slumped beside the door, thick arterial blood covering their chests still slowly oozing from torn open throats. The two approaching does not go unnoticed two insectoid looking creatures scuttle down the walls of the command centre. Six limbs, red hateful intelligent eyes. Looks like the pirates are smarter than initially thought.

Spitting a curse in Mando Narsai raises her carbine, firing her blaster at one of the two bug-things. The autofire scorches the wall while one bolt collides with one of the creatures, taking one of its limbs an seeming not to cause it all that much pain. "Watch your back!" she yells to Sabella before keying her commlink. <Everyone be advised, we've got creatures in the perimeter. Looks like they've attacked some of our number. Tough and vicious. Watch yourselves!>

The calm settles in. The world around her slowly fades away leaving just instincts and training, of which she's had plenty in her meager years. Tess stares through the optics of her heavy sniper rifle, trailing the red crosshairs ahead of one of the pirates zooming across the dusty plains on a speeder bike with a grin slowly creasing the outter corners of her mouth as she lines up her shot.

Wait for it.

"There's a ton of them." She says through comms, a birds eye view of the incoming army, but it's said without much concern. There's an old military saying; 'Today is a good day today.'

"One less though."

The sniper rifle bucks against Tess' shoulder when she squeezes the trigger, barks out like thunder following a haze of red lightning cutting across the distance into the armored chest of the pirate as he cuts around on his speeder towards the front gates of the fortress. The impact alone would have knocked him off his bike, even if it hadn't punched right through his armor and all but smashed his chest cavity in a spray of lysed blood across the dust.

She doesn't keep her sight on the target, hit or not, (she knows he's dead) but rather trails off towards another with a calm steady hand. "Ninty nine bodies of blood on the wall... ninty nine bottles of blood. You shoot one's head, now that he's dead, ninty eight bodies of blood on the wall.."

"Right, control center." Sabella murmurs to herself before pausing as she catches sight of the guards down and well bloody. "Ah..." Is all that escapes her before the insectoid is caught skittering down the wall. "What the hell is that..." For someone thta grew up bouning around a lot this is the first time she has seen something like /that/ before. She doesn't go asking quetions again as she pulls her blaster from it's place and is taking a show at one which sends the animalthingy screaming out and running towards her. The whole time she is thinking 'must not fear, must not fear' to herself while wishing she had a giant fly swatter.

The pistol isn't exactly matching up to cannons and sniper rifles, but Laika fires it with suprising precision. The Cathar had been practicing! Her bolts lance across the field, slamming into one of the men who'd ditched from the crashing bike and wounding him badly but not quite putting him down. Narsai's call about creatures has her frowning and she reaches up, opening the filters to her helmet and inhaling. She's trying to get the scent of the creatures over the chaos.

Russ's fire rakes the land speeder, the insane fire rate and power of the E-web turrets tear through the thin plating of the speeder. Most of the pirates make it out. The pilot is not so lucky, the bolts punch through the windshield protecting him and melt his flesh from his bones even before the craft crashes and disintigrates his body. Across the lines of weapon pits the Mandalorians and resistance hold firmly against the first wave, the emplaced weapons taking a heavy toll on the pirates. Russ's basilisk rises slightly from it's own pit and roars, a pair of rockets firing from it's back and thoroughly destroying one of the incoming APC's roasting a dozen pirates. The return fire begins to intensify however as weapons mounted onto speeders begin to open fire aiming to supress the dug ins of the Mandalorians. The tanks and the majority of the APC's close in on the shield barrier. A sound that everyone would recognize fills the air over even the intense firefight, incoming fighters.

Tess is in a great perch, so great a perch that when her fire begins to take people down it was one of the first places the pirate counter snipers looked. There is no glowing light of laser fire before a chunk of wall if taken next to her head. Then she hears it, the whip snap of a slug thrower round. The insectoids do not speak as they rush at Narsai and Sabe, doing everything they can to lock them into close combat each of their limbs wielding a wickedly sharp blade. Two more of them claw their way out of the doorway of the command centre, those wicked red eyes focusing on the pair.

The red mist is energizing, even if it is super heated coagulated blood rather than fresh viseral spray, but it's not until the thrill of return fire that Tess really comes into her element. The dust of the wall comes up all around her and Tess is giggling, "Oh goody." She breaths into the side of Addell (that's her rifle), "We're having sniper for dinner."

The problem with fighting a sniper that isn't using a laser weapon is having to search for the glint of the sun off a scope or the shift of a silhouette on a plain dust bowl. It's complicated, especially while still providing overwatch for the forces still being assault all around her. "Here sniper sniper sniper..." She's got it narrowed down by tragectory alone, but that's a square about six inches long, a good thousand meters away, which equals a full ten meters of real space. "Don't make me come down there and find you..."

If the bugs want to fight up close? Narsai will fight up close. Her E-11 drops from her hands back on its sling and she draws her trusty old vibroblade with a high-pitched humming noise. Her blade flashes as she rushes to meet aggression with aggression and try and keep the other blade-bug-things off the resistance fighter. Can't have their people dying on her watch, what would that say for the future. With great precision she cleaves the remaining three arms off one of the assassins, only for her eyes to go wide as the limbs keep moving. "Aim for their heads." she calls to the woman behind her.

"An't nobody got time for this..." Sabella murmurs out faintly in some attempt to keep herself calm seeing how there is a rather angrey blade carrying icky bug thing heading her way. She grips her blaster sending another shot towards the one that is getting closer to her attemping to hit the buggies head though misses that lovely target enough to send the thing upon it's back before it's icky legs are skittering about and the beast is trying to get back up. As for the new pair of bugs, she hasn't seen them /just/ yet.

Laika's marksmanship doesn't quite keep up, the next couple of shots she fires missing and earning a noise of frustration from the woman. She continues shooting, even if part of her is almost hoping they charge close enough to fight close quarters.

The fighters draw closer, the sound washing over the battlefield. The men on the ground cannot see if there is any fighters on the horizon however, the dust cloud kicked up by the intense combat and vehicle traffic has smothered out the sky. The only thing truly visible is the plasma bolts turning the sand cloud to glass as it passes through it. Russ snarls harshly into his comms as he continues to pour on the fire from his position on the E-web, the air around him swirling and biting as it is stirred into a frenzy by the massive weapon. "Narsai! Do whatever you have to to get those AA emplacements operational. We are going to need them sooner rather than later.!"

The APC's slam through the limits of the shield, their heavy blaster turrets spewing fire effectivly supressing many of the weapons pits. The tanks begin to come through the shields, their heavy turrets swinging pondersosouly around. Their targetting computers struggling to make sense of things through the heavy dust storm. The fighting in the first line of pits draws closer and closer, Russ steps back from the heavy weapon and draws his pistols. "Here we go Laika!"

Narsai may well be on the money, the disembodied limbs of the creatures begin to shuffle quickly on the sand towards the pair. They seem almost unfazed by their wounds. And now more of them are joining the fray, and perhaps even more desperatly the two technicians are cut off from getting the AA guns online which may well decide the fate of this battle.

The sound of one of the rushing insects slipping by her and sinking blades into the other engineer makes Narsai growl. Extending her other hand she activates the holster hidden within the gauntlet and her hidden weapon springs to her hand. Usually she wouldn't draw it, or wield it with others not of their clan present...but one more hit like that and the other woman would probably be dead. The violet blade ignites with a sharp snap-hiss and she slices, furious strikes abandoning the idea of disabling parts for a straight slash from head to toe of one bug before she turns on the next. "Your fight is with me!" she calls to the creatures, trying to draw all of them at her.

There's all sorts of shouting in her comms and this damn Sniper is proving to be a lot sneakier than she's directly willing to give him credit for. Certainly not enough to completely disregard the fight going on behind her now, inside the fortress. Tess is doing a piss poor job of providing overwatch.

So she lifts her sniper rifle and turns so that she's aiming down into the courtyard, particularly, in the direction of the AA guns because there's transports coming in and without those guns online, they're all going to die anyways... so what's a sniper rifle bullet in the ass right?

'Big' 'ass' 'bugs'

"Oh hell no... who invited the cockroaches?" Jeez she really hopes none of the Mandolorians are Viirpin or Kilik. How awkward.

Whistling, quite pleasantly considering the chaos, Tess lines up her shot. Through her scope she sees the bloody business, but doesn't go all nuts about shooting them up until she's good and proper ready. Which so happens to be when one of their bug heads pops up over Narsai's flurry of strikes.

BOOM! The rifle snaps against her shoulder, buffered by the padding, but it doesn't actually hit head... it does take an arm off though! That would be a happy moment if that was even remotely effective. "Yeah, your fight is with the heavily armored lady with glowing blades!" Tess teases the bug persons from her vantage.

Sabella Lockheart isn't one to just go down wthout a fight, even if it is against some super huge blade toting super bug. Another shot is sent towards the one coming at her while she attempts to get away once more. Sometimes being small is good for being quick, yet at the moment it doesn't help matters. One hit and then aother, perhaps a third heck she is a bit taken back by the first as it was rather painful to say the least. Though she is at least able to escape the thing from grabbing hold of her in the process. Her right arm is a blaze of red and she is quickly gripping her blaster in the left hand. She does catch sight of a sudden glowing blade of somesort not that far off, though she doesn't stop to figure out what it is.

Laika lowers her pistols and raises her hands. By the time that first pirate rounds her cover? She's ready. A vicious gut-shot leading, the woman grips the man's shoulders and rams her helmet-protected head against the bridge of the man's nose before she twists and her feline agility carries her around in a vicious hook-kick into the side of th man's head while he's still staggering back clutching his nose. The gloves might stop her from tearing flesh with her claws, but they still hurt.

Russ's shot cut down a few pirates as they start to swarm over the first line of defenders. His heavily customised pistols cutting thick holes through their armour, dropping smoking bodies to the blackened sand. He does not escape unscathed. One of the APC's mounted weapons turns on his pit, spitting out a huge volley of laser bolts. Several skitter off of his beskar'gam, the finest armour crafted by the finest craftsmen. One however punches through where his pauldron joins to his chest piece. Russ and Laika quickly find themselves surrounded, two Mandalorians in a sea of pirates.

The tanks cross the shields threshold. Their weapons booming almost impossibly loudly, deafening all those in close proximity sending up huge plumes of dust with every shot. The fortress begins to shake under the assault huge chunks of duracrete breaking off, falling crashing and tumbling across the uneven ground. Weapon pits and emplacements explode under the heavy fire. Twelve tanks, more than his intial intelligence when this mission was started yesterday. But Mandalorians don't quit until the last of them drop.

Russ's Basilisk leaps from it's pit, pirates flying through the air as it's huge limbs brush them aside as though they are but the mildest inconvenience. It leaps upon a tank, it's massive claws craving through it's thick armour as though it was butter. But a lone basilisk is nothing against a platoon of tanks. The massive armoured flank of the beast is caved in as it is rocked by supportive fire from the main canon of the supporting tank unit. Even through the melee Russ hears the cry of his his companion. Now is the time if there ever was any. "Strike from the skies brothers." Russ calls into his comms. And the roar of thirty jetpacks rise from over the sandunes. The Mandalorian knights drop from the skies, their flamethrowers spewing molten flame turning pirates into candles. Their swords held tight in their hands they fall onto the the tanks and begin to set demolition charges, all while inflicting a heavy toll on the pirates. But they are few and the pirates are many.

The purple lightsaber certainly draws attention. This is not the first time these insectoid creatures have encountered weapons such as these. They pause as one of their number is cut cleanly in two. Even cut from head to groin in half the creature continues to move. However missing it's limbs and cut in twain it is very limited in it's actions. Sabe despite her impact is forgotten as they focus on that glowing blade with hate.

Narsai cut the first one in twain and it still keeps swinging. Time for a new approach. Ducking and weaving under the sweeping blades the woman sweeps around one of the bugs and simply jams her lightsaber -through- the creature's head, scorching brain with plasma and giving a twist before she spins around, ripping the blade from the first and slicing at the next, trying to split the thing's head in half horizontally.The slash is followed with a pivot and a stab, making doubly sure. "Go!" she yells back at Sabella. "Get those guns online, I'll hold them off!"

The very ground upon which Tess is positioned begins to rumble beneath her feet as the tanks assault the fortress in masse. It's got her weapon bobbing and weaving when the wall providing secure point for the massive rifle begins to sway, ready to crumble and deposit her under a mountain of debree.

So she moves, and quickly, from the tallest structure towards the stairs that leads up to the defensive tower position. It's in that very moment that the sniper what she's been playing the cat and mouse game takes their shot.

Had she not been wearing armor she likely would be dead right now. The bolt hits her right in the left flank and smashes her against the railing of the stairs she's taking three at a time, toples her over, and sends her falling the fifteen or so feet into the court yard with a loud and audible crunch.

Air pushed out of her lungs... but Mandalorian's don't quit and neither do Tess Ul'Datha's.

Not because she's a hard ass (which she totally is), but because she's way too stupid to realize she should be playing dead. Her Sniper rifle is a good six feet from her and there's all kinds of pirates between her and it, so she does what any san individual would and pulls the wicked looking ceremonial dagger from her left leg. It's more like a machette.. seriously, have you ever seen the size of a Rancor's claw?

But it smarts. And she's pretty fluid with it, slicing and spinning. She's not fancy about it, all about keeping people away from her while trying to get ever closer to her ballistic weapon. Her left arm is craddled up against her left side protectively and there's dusty blood oozing from her mouth.

Sabella Lockheart swallows as her gaze finally rests on Narsai, she can't help it as the blade has caught her attention. Seeing how the buggies are all over there with the other a stiff nod is seen at the call before she is running towards the open doorway and sends a glance upwards before she creeps inside the room. Her blaster is tucked back away and while blood is running down her right arm she is quick to work on starting to get things back in order. A few tools are pulled from her bag, once she catches sight of one issue with the power an she is busy working on splicing a few cords and wires to work on getting the power back to the control panel that needs it. It will take her a short bit of time, her hand starting to go numb and she is blinking a few times to keep her attention on the process at hand, though it is getting a bit black there around the edges. Another cord is spliced and pushed into a spot, a crackle and spark is seen and she help yelps as she is sent backwards before the thing kicks on and lights up as power runs through it. "Got 'em up!" Is said over the comms.

Laika's hit, but that really just serves to make her more angry. Snarling a cry more animal then sentient, she lashes out at the pirate that hit her, beating him down while she and Russ are pretty-much forced back to back while the pirates surge around them. They're getting close, very close, but that might actually work to their advantage. "Russ! Flamethrowers!"

The AA guns are almost bought online in time, almost. The pirate fighters make it through the shield, their weapons blazing hate down on the defenders below. Defenders that are already under intense pressure from the combination of swarming pirates, covering fire from the APC's and the ground shaking supportive fire of the tanks. The defenders have a couple of things going for them however, the need to fly within the shield groups up the enemy fighters and the dust cloud makes it incredibly hard to distinguish targets. The sand fountains as the superheated bolts from the fighters slough into it, bodies are hurled through the air and buildings buckle. An old Z-95 crashes into one of the AA guns, both explode in a huge fireball that draws the eye. Then the AA guns come online, the weapons spinning up massive draws of power being diverted. The hunters become the hunted. Starfighters begin to explode, even as they fire on the AA guns adding more chaos to an already beyond chaotic scene.

Tess plummets from her vantage point and finds herself amongst the melee, armoured Mandalorians locked in close quarters combat with a tide of pirates. Blasters cut through the gloom of the storm around them throwing up shadows and showing the bodies lying on the ground in sharp relief. She decends on the pirates with fury her knife drawing blood, but she does not go unnoticed as some of the pirates turn from their armoured foes towards her.

Russ's Basilisk howls as it finishes shredding the armour from the tank, ripping it open until it's guts are showing. The weapons mounted on it's head glow ominously before they reduce the insides of the tank and the occupants to molten piles of slag. The Mandalorian Knights defend it's flank, two tanks erupting as the demolition charges are set off the knights leaping clear to relative safety with only seconds to spare. Blaster fire reflects off it's Beskar hide as it seeks new prey, but it is still heinously outnumbered and there are so many tanks and men left.

Russ nods to Laika and stands from under the bodies falling around him as they are engulfed in the pirate horde. Both of his gaunltets spark and then ignite as huge plumes of scorching fire begin to tear through the pirates ranks. "Come on men! Give them nothing! But take from them, everything!"

Tess is a fighter.

Surrounded, she doesn't have someone watching over her shoulder for pirates coming up behind her and she's fighting a down hill battle out in the courtyard alone. That does not change the facts: Tess is a fighter.

One of the pirates comes up behind her and sends his vibroknife across the back of her legs, taking them out from under her. Down one knee she swings backwards and barely misses opening his gut, but it gives her space enough to push herself back to her feet and turn her dagger along the inside of her arm as another comes at her from the front, has his blow deflected with a turn of her wrist, and stabs the point of the dagger right under the edge of his helmet. The blood doesn't shower because that's not realistic, it gurgles out like a brook over her knife and wrist.

She doesn't have time to think about it, stumbling a little while trying to keep her footing in the tense melee as another, heavier, pirate barrels into her and pushes her back against the side of the fortress. It's a mixed blessing. She can nolonger use mobility, but it benefits her since mobility was not something she had in great supply anyways. Instead she's fighting like a cornered animal. Small biting slashes taking their tole on her, slowly sapping her strength.

She's taken another two with her by the time she swipes that dagger wildly, drops to a knee, and stares up at a pirate looming over with his vibroknife. A knife she watches glint a little and then thrust right into her chest. With a shove, he pushes her off the blade and drops her down on her side in the dirt, hair spilling out around her.

Everything is very quiet.. even in the chaos, it's silent. While she's not -dead- in the strictest sense of the word, she knows, without any shadow of doubt... that she's going to be very soon.

And for some reason; that takes the weight off.

She's worked out how to kill these things now...so Narsai attacks with vicious zeal. Slashing and stabbing with her laser sword, the Mandalorian woman cuts through the insects and moves her way through, one of them landing a slash that manages to penetrate the plating of her armor and sting her side with pain. She'll manage. Spotting Sabella make it to the gun-control room and get the guns moving she sweeps past, slamming her lightsaber into the controls with one sweep and effectively sealing her in. They can let her out later, when the battle is over.

Turning back to the bugs she drops her vibroblade, taking the glowing purple energy-sword in both hands and then racing at the final and very injured insect.

There's nothing quite like fire to ignite primal fear in most beings. Where Russ and Laika had been surrounded and almost over-whelmed, suddenly the very foes that had crowded in close to kill them are too close to pull away as napalm flames burst from their gauntlets and sweep over the hapless men. Twisting, kicking, punching and burning, she looks like a hurricane of fire and metal unleashed on her foes.

Nine tanks remain, nine tanks left over by the CIS after the clone wars. Tanks that have passed through the hands of a dozen arms dealers and private owners to make their way here. And all to be destroyed in another war. The Mandalorian Revivers other five basilisks leap over the beleaguered defenders. Pirates scatter at their feet, huge rends through their flesh and bone Beskar claws parting flesh as though it were butter. Their weapons blaze and corpses drop. Their armour dents and begins to crumble under the combined fire of the tanks and APC's, but it not enough to stop their foward momentum.

Narsai's grey and black painted warbeast leaps up alongside Russ's own and together they cleave through a tank, ripping the turret from the top before launcing a cluster of grenades through the ragged hole in the armour. A basilisk drops as the hydraulics in it's legs are cut by a tank. It roars pitiously as it's weapons continue to blaze. The rest continue to descend on the tanks and APC's metal meeting metal with hellish results.

One of the tank shells goes wild as a basilisk leaps atop of the war machine, the shell slams into the shield generator. And with a sputter and a whine, the shields die. The fighters are free to shake out their formations. Less of them catch fire as they spread out. Their attacks concentrating on the remaining AA stations. Their attacks growing far more devestating as they begin to be able to conduct proper strafing runs, Mandalorians begin to fall in greater numbers to fire from the skies.

Russ ducks under a sweep from a vibroblade, pushing his gauntlet into the mans face before he lets out a fierce torrent of flames that melts the mans flesh from his skull. He ducks and weaves around another blade, leaping backwards with the aid of his jetpack his blaster fire turning the mans chest into a cavern. He stumbles slightly as he lands, his wounds begginning to slow him. And he pays for it as a vibroblade is brought down across the armour covering his back. It grates through the beskar'gam sparks flying before it cuts flesh. Russ growls and turns on his heel, his blaster bolt sending the mans brain steaming out of his ears. A hot waterfall of blood begins to fall down his back and pool in his armour.

Narsai's lightsaber is a slashing blur of violent, violet light. Cleaving through the swords swung at her she strikes, stabbing and slashing til the creature lays still with its brain destroyied and its body sliced into useless-sized pieces. Stepping over it, she turns her eyes towards the fighting at the front line. She'd done her job, now she had others to do. Seeing Tess where she lay still, the Mandalorian takes a breath and then takes to the air, speed and a rocketpack carrying her to a landing beside the fallen woman and the man still holding the bloody knife. Extending her lightsaber in challenge she smirks behind the mask of her helmet. They weren't facing an overwhelmed sniper with a knife now...

The washing fire and swiping strikes just didn't seem to be enough...did the pirates really want the base that badly that they were willing to go and throw so many to die into a meat-grinder of Mandalorian blasters and steel? Hissing in anger as another stab strikes her she turns both flamethrowers on the single man in vicious attempt to cook him outright before stiking the next.

A clear communication breaks through the static that had been blocking atmospheric communication, it is broadcast over the Mandalorian tactical channel. "Sorry about that Mandalore. Looks like the pirates decided on a joint operation. We have sustained damage, but we have forced their space forces back to the dark side of the planet. The Malachor is standing by to carry out your orders."

Russ's voice is quick to reply, tense with pain and with obvious urgency. "This is Russ Ordo, fire on the first line of defences immediatly! Danger close fire mission approved. Begin immediatly." Russ switches comm channels quickly, his blasters glowing red as he cuts down pirate after pirate around himself. "All Mandalorian forces fall back from the perimeter defences immediatly. Withdraw to tertiary positions! We have orbital support incoming." His comm hisses as he swaps channels again to his personal line "Laika get the hell out of there, the most extreme of fore support missions is incoming! All basilisk units withdraw immediatly. Group up on Mandalore!"

Russ starts to run quickly across the sand, his feet sinking in deeply with every step of his heavy armoured form. The Basilisks catch him quickly their massive legs eating up ground, even the lame one manages to catch up with help from it's retro-thrusters. He cuts down pirate after pirate as he runs, lasers richoceting off his beskar. The sound is like the deepest clap of thunder ever heard, the warheads and turbo lasers of the Malachor and supporting fleet just broke atmosphere...

It might have looked like Narsai was squaring up for an epic duel with the knife-pirate above Tess' fallen form. Unfortunately...there's no time for that right now. Instead she just sweeps a heavy strike at the man, a movment of shoulders and wrists severing his head and cleaving the blade he'd raised in his defence in half. Deactivating the weapon with a hiss, the younger Ordo sibling stoops and lifts the still-bleeding Resistance sniper, hoisting her over her shoulder before she activates her jetpack to get them clear. No heroic sacrifices today.

Empty hands makes things a lot easier for Laika, the moment that Russ yells for her to get clear? She's running. When the basilisks pound past them? She leaps and grabs onto the 'saddle' of one, holding on and letting its metal limbs and powerful pistons carry her out of the blast radius of the ships guns above. This is going to be loud.

Say whatever anyone wants to about how quickly she went down, Tess clawed her dead ass over to Addell and laid atop the sniper rifle so that none of the pirates could get their grubby hook hands or peg legs on that fine piece of machinery. Sure, it would be easy to replace, but there's an emotional connection now. She was content, ready to go into the great darkness, and then she was lifted out of the hot zone... she doesn't realize that, not really. She only knows that she expected oblivion and didn't get it.

The ground shakes. The sand turns to glass in huge craters around the impact zones. Mandalorian corpses are cremated inside their armour and pirates are erased from existance. The heavy and so expensive machines painstakingly brokered and bought from some of the galaxies biggest arms dealers are turned to slag. The pirates that survive begin a very hasty retreat. The day is won for the Mandalorians, but not without great cost. Dozens of them have made the ultimate sacrifice, the fortress they had captured is now greatly weakened. The AA weapons systems largely reduced to rubble, the outer perimeter turned to glass the mounted weapons there gone. It is a win but a costly one. And there is still an entire planet to clear of this pirate scum.

Russ Ordo slows to a walk, his breathing laboured and heavy. Blood flows through some of the rends and joins of his armour. His voice is booms out in between breaths. "Medic! I need some attention before i bleed out over here!" He removes his helmet and inhales a deep breath of desert air, air that now reeks of death and ozone. He snags a comm specialist as he walks by and uses his relay rather than placing his helmet back on his head "This is Mandalore the Reviver. All sections are to tally their losses and assess their situation and report to the command centre for briefing. Make sure all your men are fed and watered, then get them to work. We need to police these bodies and establish a perimeter. All wounded pirates are to be treated after our own men, those with little chance of recovery are to be put of of their misery." He swaps to the line to the Malachor currently raining hell from orbit "Malachor sweep fire north. Sustained bombardment for half an hour over the twenty square kilometres north of our position."