Log:Resistance: Ore in the Core

Ore in the Core(The Past Wont Die)

OOC Date: January 21, 2018
Location: Bonadan
Participants: Ambrosia Greystorm(GM), Nova Korell, Elrych Cometburn, Merek, Tallissan Lintra, Poe Dameron, Jessika Pava, Lofty, Syrus, Yuun The Resistance

Part One

Welcome to Bonadan. Eons of industrialization and strip mining have mucked up the ecosystem so badly that very, very few animals survive on the planet outside of captivity. Natural resources are by and large gone....but the minerals remain. Minerals and horrendous "sweeper storms" generated by a weather control station to fight (in vain) the pollution in the atmosphere. Kids, buckle up, it's gonna be a bumpy ride...

<<We getting close to dropzone?>> Lt Faraya Quish is seated with her 'Nurf' Squad and the additional fire support that's come along for this exciting ride. <<How's it looking out there?>> In otherwords, she's starting to feel the turbulence as they break atmo.

Down through the layers of industrial smog and dusky ozone they go, circumventing the more populated ports in favor of honing in on that mountainous stretch of older, treachorous mines. Generations ago, a Core Ship broke away from its shattered cap ship, fell to the scorched and barren landscape. The fractured Trade Federation's loss became a future generation's treasure. Pirate's treasure, that is.

The location of this pirate-held cache is growing nearer by the second as the Freighter descends under the dense cloud, rocked by the tail end of what must've been another 'sweeper storm'. Fortunately, the Coporate Sector Authority patrols have NOT noticed this little freighter flying the winds less traveled by and sensors fail to pickup on their intrusion.

Merek is on the freighter with the squad, while he checks his weapons. He has on his gear which has been shifted to a camo for mountains, while the helmet which he wears is adjusted so he can check the HUD readout. He has walked to the LAV proper so he can enter it, and settles at the back, while he draws his pistol. "I'm setting up some schematics for our LAV while you all land, Lieutenant Lintra, can you send me sensor sweep map data so I can upload it?"

Atmosphere flying reminds her of home and crop dusting in her father's old fighter. The shaking makes Tallie grin though she keeps a very close eye on the shields and stabilizers as they are buffeted by the high velocity winds.

"Hold on to your seats, folks. This is going to be a bit of a fun fair ride for a bit. Bags are at hand for those of you who don't like pressure change drops and turbulence." They are as low as the terrain will allow them, running on passive scan themselves to keep a low profile. Calmly adjusting course, the young pilot brings them into their destination awaiting word from command for touchdown.

Seated in the shuttle or whatever the thing is they're sitting in is Syrus Volo, Jedi in training. His hands idly turn his stunsaber over and over as he watches the viewport.

Elrych is sitting next to Syrus with his feet up and crossed, his own stunsaber in his lap while his actual saber rests on his belt still. He's deep in meditation, calming himself before a potential action.

Lofty is strapped in with a three-point harness in the back of the freighter. He is replacing the power pack of his borrowed T-21 repeating blaster and slurping FizzyGlug from a can. Unfortunately the turbulence makes the can spill, sending sugary-sweet fizzy beverage all over the floor. "Poodu!" the Talz curses.

Actually doing a mission, in Nova's experience, is probably one of the less stressful times of the entire mission. By contrast, one of the most stressful times is the trip there. By that adage, it's a bad night, even if you've been trained in the soldiering trade since your early single-digit days. She's settled on one of the jump seats near the cockpit, one hand on the safety strap next to her seat. The other holds her rifle secure over her shoulder. Her eyes are open, but seeing nothing as she goes through her deep breathing exercises to keep herself calm. It's been a little time since Hoth, but seeing someone maimed there by a cybernetic horror hasn't been good for her. At the time, there was nothing to do but go on with the mission and keep the trouble from getting bigger. She's had a lot of time to think about it ever since.

That's not a good thing.

She opens her eyes at the shout from Merek. So much for meditation. Lofty's addition to the floor decor just has her rolling her eyes. "I'll give you a hand," she says to Merek, rising and moving to help make sure the LAV is ready.

Yuun is sitting with both Elrych and Syrus, his stun saber clipped to his belt and a yawn esapes him as he is sleeping. Actually sleeping in his seat, he's been on a few missions as of late and so he's getting used to things but still his nerves get to him and well he sleeps for now.

The light freighter they're using to try and sneak in through the atmosphere of Bonadan is packed with Resistance fighterss and the supplies they'll need to pull this off. Jessika is doing what last minute checks she can, given the jarring nature of the ride. Her crash harness keeps her in place and stops turbulance from flinging her into a bulkhead, but her grip has to remain tight enough around her weapon that her knuckles are white beneath the protective layer of her leather gloves. She checks the new power cell, then shifts the only weapon she carries into its holster. Reaching her hands up, she wraps her fingers around the shoulders of the restraints, but tries to stay relaxed. Any abrupt changes will hurt more if she's tensed.

Poe is seated in one of the lounge chairs. He wouldn't look so comical if it weren't for being in full battle-rattle whilst hugging an A280. He wears no helmet, his dark hair a mess, and he rocks from side to side as the ship makes the descent. He seems asleep.

The ground that awaits them is a muddied, rocky hell and rain continues to pour. At least the peals of thunder rolling around the skies will help to mask the noise of their LAV? Any smoggy residue or avians struck in flight will be washed clean away...

"BLASTIT, Lofty..." Lt Quish watches the fizzyglug can go rolling with scornful eyes. "What did we say, about drinking on the job? If we get back, you're cleanin that up." Mutter,mutter,sticky mutter. <<Nice flyin', Lieutenant,>> says groundpounder to child of the sky, voice still a little hard around the edges. <<Get a quick scan of terrain, fire it off to Pvt Black, then touch us down. Drop cargo on my mark.>> aka...them. "Ground team, get to that truck," she instructs those not already moving in that direction. "Wake up the surveillance drone. We'll send it ahead for a peek at the Core Ship...make sure the inhabitants are keepin to their schedule. A quick glance shoots to the Jedi and Commando folk. Everybody ready for ride 2?" A grin flashes to say that she is. "Let's go make our cannon happy." And off to the truck we go!

Merek looks at the data which is coming from Lintra, and he nods to Lt. Quish while he uploads the data to the systems on the A5. He sings to him self while he works with that, and offers a nice thumbs up, "We're set, callsign is Frost," he tells for benefit of anyone who might wish to know. He checks on his pistol while he takes a hand to the railing, not bothered with the movement of the ship.

Tallie hands off the last of the data Merek requested. "To your board, Private," she announces barely glancing up. Hands light on the controls, eyes riveted to the scans she turns them in place spraying blue thruster fire underneath them adding another scar to the already devastated landscape. Over the next set of hills there target awaits them while she lowers them out of sight.

Walking down the ramp, Syrus raises his hood in an attempt to keep the elements at bay, as best he can. Marching over to the LAV, the sizable man, looks around at the rest of the group, remaining silent for now. It's the Jedi way, of course.

He'll make his way to a seat in the back of the LAV, doing his best to get comfortable and await a driver to whisk them off towards the next step of the mission.

Elrych is brought out of his trance by the popping of the fizzy soda, his eyes open and the order for boarding the LAV comes. So up he steps, pulling his green hood over his head and finding himself yet another seat. He doesn't seem overly concerned with the mission at the moment, more focused on what the force was telling him and keeping those here safe and able to get back home. "Who's driving this thing?" HE asks out of curiosity.

Lofty belches, the exhalation of carbonated vapor tickling his boopsnoot. He rises heavily and nods to Lt. Quish, then waddles back to load up in the A-A5 speeder truck. It's all pretty tight quarters for the large Talz.

"Data transfer's good, Tallie," Nova coms to the blonde driving the bus. Taking up a position by the rear doors, she waves folks to seats inside. "Check your breathers, folks! Lot of pollution down where we're going, and you /don't/ want that inside you screwing things up."

Feeling the stirring around him, Yuun wakes up and looks around seeing everyone getting up. "Huh...?" he asks as he takes a moment to look around. Yawning and quickly getting up and following the others and moving up into the LAV, he finds a place to sit.

Unfastening her crash harness, Jessika slips from her seat at the mention of loading up in their secondary mode of transportation. She files through corridor and into the cargo bay with the numerous other members of the ground team. She's in no rush. Especially with the ship's deck plates still rumbling under her boots. Stepping through the vehicle's side door, Jessika maneuvers past the various passenger seats towards the cabin. "I'm driving," she answers Elrych's question without looking back. Her footfalls inside the A-A5 are not loud against the backdrop of the spaceship's laboring engines, but they cease moments later as she slips into the driver's seat. The first thing she does is buckle up, because safety. She does a systems check next.

Poe wakes with a start, sitting up and kicking all at once. His weapon isn't raised though, he just stares at everyone moving around for a moment, then adjusts so he can stand up. "I hate those dreams where you're falling.." He admits, climbing into their ride to find a seat inside. It's the A-driver seat, parallel to Jess, who has decided she's going to drive. Poe secures his rifle into a combat locked position, then adjusts his seat and begins to flip a series of switches. "This old fossil.. I'm surprised it still runs." Lights began to come online inside, shading everyone in red tint. He switched on the air too, to give them some of that good recycled air! Reaching over, he picks up the comm receiver. <<Comm-check. Anyone hear me?>>

"Like the Sarge says," Lt Quish gives Nova a little sidenod after climbing aboard the truck. "Air quality's ripe. Visibility's drek, till this rain quits and even then the fog'll be thick. This works in our favor, if we let it. We're anticipating a few bodies at least, posted while their buddies play roulette with sketchy mine shafts. Ought to piece of cake, vets like us. While Capt Pava steers us in, I want gunners at the door and man on turret. Just in case." And she? She gets the drone ready to let out said door, soon as they drive out the ship. Speaking of....

<<Lintra: let us out. Keep awake up there. We'll be in touch when we find somethin.>> A quick tap of her comm and thumbs-up in the direction of the cab. <<Loud and clear, Major. Captain, we good to roll>>>

"Thanks, Lintra," Merek tells Tal on comms, while he checks his then nods to the others, <<Copy Major.>> He then lifts the hand upon the railing while he shifts his pistol with the other hand. Already at the main door into the LAV he points the weapon to it for when they are required. He doesn't seem to have any wish to settle on the seats. He looks to the rains.

Settling in, Syrus leans back in his seat, crossing one leg over the other. Still, he's holding onto the stunsaber. To Yuun and Elrych, the (technically senior) Jedi says, "Keep your wits about you. And remember your training." One of his large hands comes to light on Elrych's shoulder before it falls back down to his side.

Elrych watches Moonbeam and gives her a smile as she directs them and gives him a breathing mask, "Thanks Moonbeam." He takes a seat and buckles in, responding to the Major over comms, <<"Yeah I got you... can you put on some sweet toons while we're driving? That'd be sweet.">> Of course he would have without even asking if he was the one driving. Perhaps everyone was spared that for today. Eather way, the glasses go on and at least one earbud is placed in his ear. "Let's rock." Finger guns and pops some fruity chewing puddy into his mouth. He looks to Syrus as he chews the gum and nods, "Will do Mr. Volo." He taps one foot repeatedly, something he's always done.

Lofty takes up a kneeling position at the open door of the converted speeder truck. He raises his massive five-foot-long repeater blaster and aims out the side as they disembark from the freighter and repulsor across Bonadan's polluted terrain. His woolly fur whips in the wind. "Drag marks in mud," he says over the comms. "Do CSA patrol use land vehicle?"

Yuun is watching the Resistance members as they go about getting organized even as the LAT drives them to thier destination. Though as Syrus speaks to him and Elrych, he nods his head, "Yes, we will." he says as he looks to Syrus, "If you don't mind you can provide instruction if you feel the need Syrus." Yuun says.

At the door, Nova shuts the hatch and secures it, then nods to Elrych as he passes. "It's nothing, Elrych." Taking hold of a ladder stanchion, she clambers up into the vehicle's turret and begins strapping in. <Moonbeam here. Comm is live.> Lofty's observation is a good one. She frowns and awaits the answer.

She glances over to Poe and gives him a nod, acknowledging that she can hear him doing his comm-check. Then she sets her gaze forward towards the freighter's ramp, which is currently raised. The lurch of setting down jars her to the bones, prompting her to mentally pat herself on the back for fastening her harness so tight in the first place. The ramp descends, and Jessika waits just as long as it takes for the lip to touch the ground. She engages the throttle after that, and the vehicle's repulsorlifts carry it out at a good clip. "Hold onto your butts."

Poe's hand reaches out to hold the handle above his window and he rocks violently. "We don't have anything here that has music, Cometburn." Poe calls back. Propping a foot up casually beside his seat, he half faces Jess, and half faces their front viewport. He's helping watch their path ahead, pointing out obstacles along the way just to ensure Jess can see them too. "This takes me back to when I was on the farm.." He says casually to Jess, just loud enough to be heard over the motor.

Soon as their LAV emerges from the safety of the ship and into the gusts of blowing rain, Lt Quish releases the drone. It buzzes on ahead, sweeping buffeted runs back and forth across their desireable path, toward the final destination. Scanning, scanning....so far, it's not picking up any signs of trouble. Lofty's alert to the drag marks ARE cause for concern, however. Quish frowns, looking at the relay sent from her droid, then to the door where the Talz is posted. "Yeah, but I'm not picking up on anything." <<Captain...possible vehicular activity nearby.>> <<'Frost', keep an eye up there.>>

There are indeed scuffed, dragging tracks along the gloopy ground, but it's not quite the danger it seems. Unless you're a scrawny patch of thorns, tryin to keep alive. The tracks Lofty's spied lead to one of the few indigenous locals to survive the ecological collapse. It's a tortapo. Six lumpy legs trundle its cumbersome shell around in search of withered, parched vegetation to munch. Toxic thorns and all. Little beady eyes watch apathetically as the Resistance raiders cruise along by.

The Core Ship's swollen dome soon becomes visible between cuts in the mountain pass, just around the bend. It's sunk partially into the craggy hillside, precisely where it landed all those decades ago. A little worse for wear maybe, but some of the towers and communication relays remain intact/reconstructed and if it weren't for the horrible patch job increasingly visible on one side and the sideways tilt it's wedged into, it COULD be conceivably operational.

Inability to fly aside, it's not hard to see why the pirates have taken advantage and made this their local den/mining hideaway. The thing is huge, once a self-sustaining, free-flying mini station of sorts. An unpatched panel just above its equator serves as an extra door for the landing bay and is rimmed with flickering rope lighting. No doubt there's plenty of room inside the rest of the Core to store whatever bounty they've pulled from the depths of Bonodan's overexploited crust.

Merek looks towards the ship while the LAV does their approach. He then shifts his gaze, and notice something while he lifts his brow, "Tortapo on aft, looks pretty sad." He shifts up that hand which is upon the rail and also calls back to the others, "Make sure that the HUD in the helmet updates all of us if you find any thing, could be useful to targeting." That's mostly to the people which don't seem too accustomed to it.

Rain sprays the forward viewing port, the sharp needles barely whisper in the interior of the ship. The ship vibrates gently as she keeps the engines on standby. Scans have been set to give her an alarm and she jumps as one sounds off. She bends over it trying to parse what the readings give her. Something bobbles along not far from the shuttle. At first, she reads it for an animal. The passive scan has her tapping her foot in impatience; it slowly resolves into a probe droid heading directly for them. <<We have a droid on direct approach to the shuttle.Do you copy?>> she transmits to Lt Quish.

"I have faith in the two of you, however misguided that faith may be," Syrus says, offering a hint of a smirk to the two of them. Syrus then returns to sitting quietly, waiting for the Army and SFC folks to do their jobs.

Elrych taps his foot listening to the info over the comms. He wasn't able to do anything about it and it was up to the gunners to neutralize the threat. So he just bobbed his heads to the tunes that were in one ear.

Yuun nods his head to Syrus, "Wow a smirk." he laughs as he looks to the older Initiate. He looks around and watches as the rest of the Resistance members do thier jobs, "Hey is there anything I can help you with?" he asks out loud, "You all seem to have things in order, but still, whatever help I can offer."

Lofty keeps his repeater blaster at the ready. "<<No visual on droid,>>" he says over the communication network. The poisoned Bonadanian rain stings his eyes, causing him to close the lower set and merely squint the smaller top set.

<Something up ahead, Frost. All I've got is moving shapes... very shifty ones,> Nova calls from the turret. <Trying to identify now. Rain's making it tricky.> Tallie's call cinches it. <They're upright... could be bipedal droids. They're heading back toward the Core Ship. Still too far away for positive ID.>

"I don't see drek through this muck," Jessika murmurs. Her visibility is more limited given the torrential downpour smashing into the vehicle's windshield, and it's wipers work over time to ensure that she isn't totally blind. The drone and the people gazing out the sides have a much easier time spotting things when the rain isn't crashing into them head on. "Anything on the sensors, Poe?" She doesn't take her eyes away from their destination, but she does glance down towards the projection screen in front of her, which is good enough to show her the general shape of the terrain, at least. So far, she doesn't see anything that she has to swerve to avoid. She keeps them bearing towards their destination, but she's ready to react.

"I don't see anything concerning." He calls back, glancing between the holo-imagery, and where they were moving. Occasionally, he'd look back to see what the others were doing. Another glimpse at the sensors and Poe's head turns with a confused look. "I'm picking up heat signatures.. some sort of body, on the move. Directly ahead of us!" He looks back. <<"Look ahead.. sensors are picking up heat signatures. What do you see?">> He's talking to the turret!

"Aw, kriff," Lt Quish mumbles under breath, then taps her comm and answers back to the pilot left behind. <<Well, get rid of it! Has it seen you, or is it just doodling about? Might be able to scramble its relay, interfere with its signal...keep whoever it reports to blind. If you shoot it, someone might come investigating!>> Then, in the wake of her truck crew's alerts, she squints up at Korell, up in the turret, tense and awaiting clarification. "Troops, get ready to form out when we stop, keep close to the truck for cover. If we've got a runner, alarm's out!" and, right on cue, her own HUD beeps confirmation from the surveillance drone above. It IS a body, in full retreat. Heading for the ship. "YEAH we've got a runner!" <<Capt, bring us in hot. We gotta catch'em.>>

Meanwhile, up ahead, there's that runner having a bit of a crisis.

"Scum suckers..." Vhani grumble-pants under HER breath while slip-slide-sprinting away from her hideout in the rocky hillside. The shadow of a little drone passing overhead jerked her attention out to begin with, curious to see if the CSA was sending /another/ round along...but nope. That was a different model than their usual patroller. A careful scan of the terrain revealed something big moving in the distance. A-A5 or some sorta vehicle that wasn't the mining crew. At least...not HER mining crew. "I /told/ Dross they'd be back..." she tries to beat a hasty path ahead to their CoreShip cache, to warn the others while the rain drums a daunting tune on her shaved skull. <<Wod, Dok! Wake up, git yer claws out ya noses and meet me out front! We got company!>>

Somewhere inside that Core Ship are a couple of Vulptereen, bumbling to get their act together and meet Vhani outside. They can see her flailing shape now and closing in behind her? That's one big turret. "She told Dross they'd be back!" they screech in tandem. Whoever it is they're mistaken for being, the Resistance troops are now within range to do something about it.

When the LAV makes that approach, settling up above the ground, Merek nods then to Lt. Quish, moving to exit the tank while he shifts to the side so he can take cover while the pirate moves to get into the base, "Pirate confirmation, can I have another confirmation?" he asks, while he waits on that and prepares for combat. Would seem that they are not in full range at the moment also.

Tallie's taps the console hard as she weighs the pros and cons of using a scrambler on the droid that has disappeared from sight. At the best it will set the droid off in another direction, blind to the ship at the worst, she will have just announced themselves loudly. The program that she has called up awaits her prompt. She taps a key and the scrambler does its magic just as the droid rounds the hill. It stops. Rolls backwards. Stops. And makes an abrupt turn away from the ship.

"Alright, let's go," Syrus says, still sitting down in his chair as he hears the announcement of a runner. The man nods softly and closes his eyes, focusing in on something or another. Searching out, he finds Vhani. Concentrating, Syrus lifts a hand and slings it softly to the side. Outside of the LAV, poor Vhani is pulled by a set of invisible strings and thrown into a nearby rocky outcrop.

Elrych glances towards Syrus, feeling him reach out with the force. His mind's eyes envision the lines and tangled webs that weave at the older man's will as the girl is tossed away. "Herm..." He says softly to himself. He reaches out himself, sensing another being coming out just as Syrus invisibly manhandles the girl. His own hand reaches out and lifts up to lift Wod off the ground and then.... slam him right back down into it. "Getting better, see?" He comments.

Not sensing anyone else, Yuun looks to both Syrus and Elrych and winces as both their targets get slammed. "Easy guys." he says as he looks to the other Jedi Initiates. Yuun didn't sense anyone else near them, "I don't feel anyone else around except for all of us." he says to those near him. "We should be good." he says.

<Moonbeam, confirming! That's no droid! Looks like they had at least one spotter out!> calls Nova from the turret. <Lining up for a shot... uh-oh! Looks like our runner's got company ahead!>

She sights in on the frantic figures and pulls the trigger. The cannon spits out several crimson bolts in rapid succession. She peppers them around the skittering pirates, bracketing them, making it plain they can stand still or get blasted; she's got them cold. <Might want to see what these two know. Seems like an awfully small crew for such a big station.>

"I see it, I see it." Jessika's job in this is simple. Advancing the repulsorcraft's speed to full, the A-A5 kicks up muck beneath it and speeds up to bring them closer to their destination faster than they were already going. The signature on their sensors is booking it straight for the ship they're trying to get to, and like everyone else, Jessika doesn't think this is a good thing. Lookouts alerting the troops that someone is coming only spells more work for them. Once they're close, and Jessika gets the cue, she whips the A-A5 into a skid to bleed speed while yanking the throttle back to zero. The door's already open, and it lets the passengers disembark to deal with whatever threats they need to right off the bat. Chaos ensues after as the Resistance fighters launch their attack and begin knocking heads around.

When the vehicle has come to a stop and people are disembarking, he pushes from his seat to move to the hatch. Rather than follow them out, he brings the door to a closed position and latches the lock in place (only after ensuring everyone who needed to exit the vehicle did so.) This maintains the safety of their driver, and leaves Poe to maintain vigilance of the door. If Jess looked back his way, he only flashed a thumbs up.

On Tallie's end of things, the probe droid is ambling on along unbothered by the wind and rain. It doesn't seem in a particular hurry, so maybe it hasn't noticed the deployment that occured just before it came into range. It does pass nearer to the Resistance's dropship, definitely within firing range. And MOST definitely within scanning range. However...

Anywhere that visual sensor happens to point, the feed gets spotty. Transmission fuzzy. Maybe it's interference from the storm? Maybe this is just an incidental technological malfunction. Whatever patrol has deployed this droid isn't any the wiser about the rebellious thieves that have landed just under their noses. For now, somebody owes Tallie a cold one.

Run, Vhani, run! Fly, Vhani, fly! The expression of shock on HER face as she's unexplicably flung into a big rock barely has time to register in the narrow brains of her two cronies that emerge from the Core Ship before the sweep of turret fire has one of THEM flying. Just not by Wod's own accord, maybe. Hard to say. Not as hard as the SPLAT he makes when slamming back into the ground, though. Dok, on the otherhand, is coralled in by the BLAMBLAMBLAM chunking plasma death into the ground all around him. At first, it looks like he might've been obliterated by the aggressive order to STAY, having fallen over. He huddles there, becoming 'small' with fat little hands doing a poor job of covering his broad, toothy snout. Playdeadplaydeadplaydead....his little pistol's ended up just out of reach and another heartbeat later it falls victim to the turret. Insult to injury.

<<Nice work!>> Lt Quish commends when she's hopped out and bears witness to the short work made of their welcoming committee. Vhani's struggling around on the ground, fumbling with something on her belt while trying to see through the blood and rain in her eyes. Wod is rolling kinda uselessly there until he follows Dok's lead and plays dead, which isn't hard to do with a concussion. The Lt approaches cautiously, bringing her rifles to bear and aiming it squarely at the downed pirate woman. "Don't make me shoot you in the mud," she warns lowly, then barks at those behind her. "Secure them! Let's find out if our timing WAS so good they're as alone as they seem..."

"I'm sorry for having to do that," Syrus says as he approaches the downed Vhani. The big man kneels down next to her and waves a hand in her direction, "You will tell me about the ships defenses. And where we can find the metals. Thank you." The big Kiffar will then offer her a hand in standing up, of course.

Merek walks over to where Vhani is and speaks through the voice changer, "We should get a drink sometime," he tells her, while he shifts the gauntlets of his armor with a look to the other two, "Right, I don't need to persuasive with any of you... Just give me the information, and we'll let you go, and by the way, stop the piracy, or we will be back."

Part Two

Vhani stares balefully at Merek and his attempt at charms, while accepting the hand up from Syrus. Weirdly, her stubborn frown melts into a more passive line, if not mildly confused. In a fog. "Dross sent the crew down with some of our workers to pick up the next load of tyrdirium out the mines. 'spectin to ship a load out on the morrow, so e's been busy up in the landing bay." One hand floats up and around to gesture vaguely /up/ and over her bald, tattooed head toward that wide opening above the core ship's equator. "Still got few big crates t'move up there from down here," another gesture, this time to the entry hatch behind the Vulptereens.

The Vulptereen, Wod and Dok, are cowering in the mud. "Yeah yeah yeah! Big boss man send all hands bel--" "MOST hands!" Dok corrects Wod. "We still here! It's like th'boss lady says," with a flapping fat hand at Vhani over there. "Pressed for time. Dross'll be meggo maddo if we don't get them next carts up!"

Lt Quish smiles faintly behind her visor and motions to Nova with her rifle. "Why don't you lead a little search party to assist these fine people in moving those carts..." She takes steps forward to come up alongside Merek and Syrus. "Slap some binders on this bunch and I'll watch'em. You lot get goin."

Elrych has stepped off the A5 once the ramp went down after some of the first ground teams went forward. Lightsaber in hand but not yet ignighted, he glances around with green hood up, sunglasses on. He reaches up with a freehand pulling a black faceshield up over him and around the breather for an extra bit of protection from bigger elements. He glances over towards the Vulptereen but remains quiet as Merek interogates them.

"Thank you," Syrus offers to Vhani before stepping out of the way of the Lieutenant so she can apprehend the enemy combatants. Nodding at her suggestion, the big man's hands move to the strap of his bag and he begins his trek towards the interior of the ship.

Lofty presses a button on the handle of his Ion Whip causing the bright blue energy to fade away from its length.

Merek looks aside while Volo moves to do his own form of that interrogation, then he shifts his attention to the three, "Do you all have anything to add to it?" he asks Wod and Dok through the voice change while he motions to the side with his blaster pistol, then he points that at them, "You know, you should give up on this life, you should turn to a better avenue of making credits. You're fortunate that we found you, not someone else," he says, while he looks to the others, "They probably know that we are here."

Lofty disgorges from the modified hover truck with his repeater blaster at the ready. The interrogation doesn't concern the Talz but he keeps an ear open as his four eyes remain mindful of the horizon.

Nova clambers down from the turret, stretching a little as she steps out the side door of the A-A5. "So your boss is away at the landing bay. It's a big facility, though. Where's the landing bay?" she asks almost casually, looking their captives over. Quish's orders prompt a nod. "On it. Hopefully we'll see plenty of metal for our trouble," she agrees, checking the charge level on her own weapon. "Walk soft, folks. Merek's right. I doubt they missed all the noise we've made so far. Let's try and see them before they see us... or at least shoot first."

Yuun bows his head to Vahni, "Thank you." he says as he follows the others off the transport. He doesn't unclip his lightsaber, he does have on a pair of black fighting fingerless gloves on his hands. Looking around for a moment taking in what they see, "Hopefully we can do this without too much fuss." he says more to himself.

"Keep me in the loop," Lt Quish raps the side of her helmet then moves in to secure the uh...'prisoners'. Her rifle herds Vhani on over to where the Vulptereen are huddled and babbling away over one another.

"It's a profitable life!" "Very profitable!" "We don't make trouble!" "CSA was done with them holes anyway!" "Sixth level!" pipes up Dok about the landing bay. And so on.

"Right..." Elrych says craning his head up to look at the massive core ship. "Well we better get going." And so the young Jedi marches towards the entrance not giving one bit of a fuss as to wether he's stealthy or not. His shoes clank against the deck plating and he's too focused on where his steps are going to notice anything outside his imediate range. His glasses weren't helping either.

Moving to unclip his stun saber from his belt, it rests idly in his hand as he moves along. But then there's movement. The big Kiffar's eyes flit up to the ceiling as he tries to get a clearer look at...whatever it is. And he's looking away long enough that he bumps into a crate and sends it toppling off of the stack it was on and onto the floor. "Oh..." He looks back to the group. "I'm sorry..."

Merek walks into the building with the others as he lifts his pistol and nods to the ones that have information. He walks through to look around, as he points his weapon around a bit, "Bipedal, mottled green, I'm sending updates to HUD so you can look," he uploads all that information while he nods to the intersection of corridors where he saw it to note to the other people.

Lofty proceeds into the structure, moving silently on his massive footpads despite his size. His lower set of eyes open and take in the darkness, catching sight of something ahead, but it disappears before he can shoot it.

Yuun notices the same creature, "Yea I see it." he says as he allows himself to take a calming breath and as he does he looks too Merek an gives a small nod of his head. He rubs the back of his head as he looks around, than something catches his attention, "I hear some kind of insect noise ro something." he say says into his com, "Like a chittering sound, keep eyes open." he says.

"Keep it quiet, guys," Nova mutters, wincing, as she proceeds inside, keeping to the left to keep her fire path Jedi-free. "Whatever I'm seeing, it's the vocal kind." Merek's datafeed comes at a good time. "Good eyes. That's a better look than I got." She pauses to shut the door behind them. "Just in case there are some outside, too..."

Lt Quish doesn't get a great look at what comes through on the HUD yet. She's still arranging the pirates into a neat little pile, away from the entrance, behind some rocks. She's got a decision to make now. Shoot? Or not to shoot. For now, they live, no other visitors to fend off and require her to turn her back on them.

It's easier to see the toll that time has wrought once inside this wreckage. Corrosion and the persistant nibbling of metal borers has left gangways, ladders, exposed framework of any kind pitted and janky. A couple Balmorran metal parasites go scampering by overhead, clinging to the ceiling with their steely little toes. It's a bit reminiscent of the condition that Blackrock Station was found to be in by the infiltration team, except worse.

The tipped angle of this spherical ship creates a mildly funhouse-esque slant to the floor and in some areas, scavenged metals have been hammered into place to even out the ankle-wrenching trench where bulkheads meet floor. It's easy to trip if you aren't paying attention. Also, watch your heads! Miners /would/ feel at home here.

"Gibbbbrgity, zzzzzeezee!" says the mystery being that zipped by up ahead. Another squeaky voice answers it from the opposing direction and it sounds like something might be scrambling around in the walls. "Bipizzzr..eep ekek" Whatever it is, it's running under deck plating, stopping, going back the other way, starting overhead, but then its mottled green skin is exposed and it shyly darts back. Sounds like it's trying to go after the other one, but the Resistance party has now gotten in its way and it's trapped. "Eeeeeeeeeezizi trrrrroooootooo"

Elrych dosn't really know where these things are, the buzzing and talking seemingly coming from every which way. Though it settles after a moment and the sunglasses wear Jedi glances towards them. Taking a deep breath he reaches out with the force to lend aid to his words. "You want to come out of there and say hello. You want to drop your weapons." There's a dull roar as he speaks as if something they could not see was being moved.

"I must say; I'm no fan of this," Syrus admits, the six foot, three inch tall Kiffar having to crouch to move ahead. The man grunts, stopping to listen as the creature babbles on in its weird creature-speak. He looks over and watches Elrych as the young man does his best to approach the situation.

Merek looks to the side a bit, and he frowns, although he seems to be more focused upon his task. His camo also does a shift towards a pattern that's metallic. The man keeps his pistol up while he looks from direction to direction to keep watch.

Lofty was once a miner on Alzoc III, but those were bigger mines, for bigger Talz. He is seven feet tall so he is crouch-walking toward the intersection with his blaster at the ready.

"I'll have to make a note to speak with the maid," Nova mutter sarcastically, looking around the shabby, literally bug-eaten ship. "Step light. Some of this looks like it'd give way under us." She pauses to watch while Elrych speaks to the creatures, frowning thoughtfully. "I hope they speak Basic..." She opts to cover the corridor, just in case they react badly to it.

Yuun isn't a miner but he's lived on Coursucant so this doesn't bother him too much. Still he gets a little cringy feeling running through him a bit. Looking at the others to see how they are feeling until he hears that loud noise, his hands slowly flexes and clenches into fists from time to time as he walks.

Elrych's coersion works and the frantic scuttling around inside the walls slows. Stops, even.

And then?

"OOZAKA!" shrilly exclaims a tusked, brown/green splotched oddity as it peeps out from some gap in the paneling overhead. A long, green tongue flits out to sample the air, then it drops to move among them, zipping around and under legs with ease. It's a Turazza, dressed in rags too big for its little frame and wearing a very old, discolored metal collar of sorts. More babbling, squeaks, and peeps follow while it gestures frantically at them and at the hatchway its little comrade disappeared into.

It does /not/ speak Basic. That much is clear. Then suddenly, there are two of them after that hatch pops open. Double the chatter, double the excitement! One of them - it's hard to tell them apart once they start moving together - tries to mess with whatever's within reach on Elrych's belt/gear/stuff. Touchy touchy.

So no carts full of tyridium ore yet, but there are these....things.

"Oh... Mister Volo, look at this!" Elrych seems somewhat excited as the creatures pop out and start making their way towards him. "Hey... woah now..." He says pushing their hands away from his belt. "No... maybe if you take us to the Hanger Area on deck. What was it? Seven? I'll give you something, yeah?" He's all friendly voice, thought they probably can't understand him with their in ability to speak basic but they may know how to understand it.

"They seem harmless," Syrus says, gripping his bag tightly along with the stunsaber. Can't have the little scamps running off with either of those, after all. Moving closer to Elrych, the Kiffar looks down at the Turazza. "I've never seen anything like them," he muses, watching them closely.

Merek looks at the creatures with his brow lifted as he shakes his head a bit and moves next to Nova while he keeps his pistol up and nods to the woman, "We should be meeting resistance if they knew we were here, this is weird a bit," he says.

Lofty just continues down the long corridor to the intersection, wishing to see the two ways they could go (excluding the hatch).

"Whoa..." Nova blinks, seeing the exciteable creatures clustering aroung Elrych. "At least they're friendly." Hostile would be a bad thing, between the mission and this 'boss' they heard about outside. Add in this ramshackle hideout, and the whole mess would only get worse. "I don't think they speak our language. Do any of you speak theirs? Or know how to bridge the communication gap?" she asks, looking around the group.

This is funny in a way to Yuun he watches as the creatures begin moving around and poking at Elrych. "I agree Nova." he smiles to the marine. He looks around the rest of the corridor, "Is anyone ...." he stops as Nova ask what he was going to ask. He shakes his head.

The steady drone of buzzzzzz and clicks passes between the two little residents, interupted intermittently by 'eep's and lengthy trills. They could be having an indepth, philosophical debate for all the interlopers know. "ZZesz?" The one keen on Elrych's stuff cocks its head aside, looks back to the other who echoes "zzesz" and then the debate continues.

Finally, they both declare "ZZESZ!" and start to sprint ahead....then spin in a sharp about-face to loop around Lofty and turn that corner to the left. One briefly doubles back to pet Lofty's white fluff hastily, then it disappears again. The chirps, cheeps, and squeaks get louder, more frantic as they go, crying out "zzeeeeeeeeeeeeesz!" They might be small, but they are /fast/. Very fast.

So much for being quiet. Those left behind are faced with two options: Follow the trail of Turazza, or wander the other corridors in search of mining cache or a way up on their own.

Elrych is slightly surprised as they start to take off down the hall at a run. "Hey!... wait up!" He yells, starting to run after them. However, he gets winded far too quick and slows down, heavy breaths coming out of him. He waves the others past him. "Keep an eye on them... I'll... catch up." He caughs a bit, leaning against the bulkhead. "I need to cut back on the nurf burgers..." He says to himself before pushing on once more.

Being largely uncoordinated anyway, Syrus has a hard time with this whole 'running' thing. Honestly, up until a few months ago the man had spent the majority of his life digging around in the dirt and looking for ancient civilizations. And so, it is no great surprise when his leg gets caught on a piece of exposed piping and the man trips! "I'll catch up," he groans.

Merek seems about to speak, then he notices the thing moves as well as the others chasing it. He follows them, although it seems like he is still not fully better since before, and as such he takes a bit to catch up with them.

Lofty kinda crouch-hops after the short chittering creature, though he's difficult to keep up with! He lowers his rifle as he goes.

"Huh?" Nova blinks in surprise as the creatures suddenly take off, making their funny zee noises excitedly. "Hey, wait up!" she protests, dashing after them. It's not easy in her full battle gear, even as strong as she is. But after several steps, she slows her pace a bit. "Eyes up! Stay sharp! I just heard what sounded like an electrical arc up ahead," she warns hastily. "Could be a trap. Or an ambush!"

Well there is time for fun and well now they run. Seeing everyone sprinting after the creatures, Yuun takes off running like a hawk bat out of hell. Quickly hoping over things and move with purpose. He isn't heavily geared, but he isn't slowly easily, and as they come to a this particular area, he quickly skids to a stop already looking up before Nova tells the others, "Quiet." he speaks into his comm to the others. "I hear it too."

"Wox va deeza comda!" Bellows a gruff sounding voice that is most definitely NOT Turazza. (that's bocce for 'you leave now')

One of the two scampering aliens siezes mid leap and flops to the floor, clutching its stubby neck where that collar sent a solid jolt of electricity into its little body. The other one skids to a halt alongside and just cowers, chittering quietly and nervously, petting the felled sister with little soothing noises.

The next sound to greet those hot in pursuit is the whine of a powered up carbine and a solid looking Klatooinian steps out from an open hatch. In one hand - the gun. In the other - a remote. "Jaaz Ore Bloods territory!"

Elrych moves over to help Syrus up, "Come on Mr. Volo. I got a bad feeling the others are going to need us up ahead." Once up he would start forwards once more, heading towards the shouting of the Klatooninian and the electrical zapping.

Standing back up and doing his best to catch up with the group, Syrus skids to a halt as the angry Klatooinian appears, weapon and remote in hand. "That is likely a correct assessment, Elrych," Syrus offers to the Corellian.

Merek does manage to catch up, and he's further away than the others as he comes upon the creatures, Yuun, and Lofty. He then lifts his pistol up and puts his paw to it, placing it upon the wrist of his other hand to aim better. He takes two clean shots which strike the man, and he speaks, "Yes, don't monologue before you shoot, guys." He then shifts his weapon to point to the floors while he looks around again.

Lofty skids to a stop but doesn't have the time to shoot the enemy in front of him. "Slave collar?" he warbles, looking down at the controller in the Klatooinian's hand.

The sight of the Klatooinan's callous treatment of the little lizardfolk sends a white-hot surge of anger through Nova. "If you hit that button again, I'll..!" she starts to say. But Merek's pistol makes a far more profound argument. Wincing at the smell of burning Klatoonian flesh, the blonde Sergeant moves to the dead bully's side, kneeling and picking up the remote control unit. "It must be," she replies to Lofty. "But I can't make heads or tails of it. None of these buttons are labeled!" she exclaims, holding it out. By the look in her eyes, she's ready to scream in frustration.

Yuun was moving along with Lofty though when the Klatooninan appears, the dark skinned Jedi quickly pivots to his right. Though as blaster fire erupts from behind him to slam into the Klatoonian, quirking a brow, "Nice shot." he says and he bows his head to the dead alien, "May you find peace." he says then turns to look around to see if there are any other threats around them.

"EEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" the Turazza NOT laid out on the floor keens about life in this hellhole while Nova struggles with the remote and their former handler sizzles in a heap outside the open hatchway. The Turazza that IS laid out is still breathing and emits a very quiet, tired sounding peep. Brilliant, green eyes blink open to stare expectantly past Nova's ankles at the hatchway. It's there that another set of green eyes are watching and green tongue flicks a sorry sort of empathy. It's a third Turazza and it comes creeping halfway out to peek at the big strangers. A similar jabbering dialogue strikes up between the two able-bodied ones briefly, then they point simultaneously to the dead Klatoonian, then at the hatch.

It's a turbolift.

Their little hands mime blasters, mimicking the sounds of blasterfire and electrical death with striking accuracy, too.

<<What's going on in there?>> The voice of Lt Quish comes over coms. <<Any sign of the ore?>>

Elrych looks to Lofty after having arrived just in time to witness Merek gun down the large Klatoonian. Shaded eyes glance towards the slave color, then to the dead reptilian. His lips tighten into a frown. "Well..." Rey would be proud of that frown, just as good as one of hers. He looks over to Nova and moves to join her, cliping his lightsaber back onto his belt. "Let me see. I might be able to figure it out." He takes it in his hand and stares at the thing. Then starts to smack the side, "I think the battery is dead." He looks up to see the next Turazza come out of the lift.

"You poor soul," Syrus offers to the downed Turazza, reaching down to pat the thing softly on the leg. A moment's consideration and he's turned his attention to the dead Klatoonian. Sighing softly, he begins rummaging through his pockets. Finding nothing, he begins digging through the pouches on his utility belt. Sliding out a keycard, the Kiffar looks it over for a moment before he unclips the man's comlink from his vest and attaches it to his own.

"For you, Nova," Syrus says, offering the keycard to the woman he imagines is technically in charge of this cadre. "And someone should do something about that camera, I think," Syrus says, nodding his head in the direction of the surveillance eye inside of the turbolift hatch.

Merek looks from the body towards the others, then he nods a bit to Yuun. He looks around, but doesn't see a lot that is useful. He does look to the newcomer while the others work on the other matter, a hand shifting to keep the pistol from pointing their way. "You know, if we chose a few different paths, we might be the ones that took his position," he says.

Leaving the remote in Elrych's hands, Nova moves to check on the downed Turazza, wincing in sympathy. That has to feel as bad as live stun baton practice used to. "Poor little thing," she murmurs, gently stroking the rounded head with her fingertips, moving to help the lizard-person up. "We'll get these off of all of you, I promise." She looks up as Syrus joins her, nodding and accepting the keycard. "Good job," she says gratefully. "Our former host must've been pretty important, if he was carrying around that remote /and/ this key. Bet it opens something good."

Merek's observation proves insightful. "Much as I'd love to try different ways, we'd better not separate. This ship's big enough that we could get lost very quickly. It looks like the turbolift's the way to go if we want to reach Deck 6. But we'd better do something about that spy-eye..." Without further ado, she casually aims her weapon and takes the camera out. "Today's not our day to be in pictures."

• ZZZZT*CRACKLEDIEFIZZLE*

The camera is dead.

The Turazza flinch in tandem at the sound, but two of the three have basically become one with Nova's pantsleg, it'd seem, choosing to stay RIGHT on the human's tail. The third just kinda edges on back to Elrych and gets close to his belt, waiting for that promise to be made good. "Zzesz," it points to the lift and 'pewpews' up at the wonky ceiling. Then ambles on to Merek and does the same. And Yuun. And Lofty. And...Syrus. Everybody's been informed. With her job done, she slinks up alongside her sisters and waits for the liberators to make their move. Wherever they go, the Turazza now go, too.

Elrych pops open a panel after takinga screwdriver type thing out from inside his vast dark green robe. Those who might look towards him may see lines of text moving on the black mirrored sunglasses he is wearing. "Okay, so we just flip this thing over... and..." He turns the thing around, inspecting it after a moment, then presses a button. The one that's supposed to release all the slave collars. He kneels down to the Turazza who comes to him and yanks on his belt. "Ah... so you can understand basic... here." He gives the little guy the remote and a few credits, "Be careful with that yea? If you fiddle with it enough, you can make it do some really cool stuff." He reaches a hand out and rubs their head.

"Yes; thank you," Syrus offers to the Turazza that is quick to inform him of the 'Zzesz'. Syrus has no idea what a 'Zzesz' is, but the Turazza was very adamant that he know about it. Stepping into the lift and waiting, Syrus's grip tightens on the handle of the stunsaber. Call it a 'bad feeling about this', if you will.

Lofty goes ahead and squeezes inside the turbolift. It's the only way down! He has to angle his big repeater up toward the ceiling for it to fit. "We go, fast. They waiting."

Merek looks to the Turazza which notes things to others as well as also him. He then nods a bit, "Thank you," he says, looking next to the others, "We are going to rescue them, right?" he asks, "Might not be the mission... But seems like it's right to do," he adds. He nods a bit as he walks to the lift, "I wonder," he then walks to one of the loose panels of the ship and takes that with him, and he shifts his shoulders a bit. That is lifted up like a makeshift metal shield as he then enters that lift.

"Trouble upstairs?" Nova guesses, seeing the lizardfolk doing their fingerblaster thing at the turbolift's ceiling. She still isn't sure about how well they understand Basic, but Elrych seems to think they do. The smartest one (or maybe just the most confident one) seems to have attached herself to him. For her own part, she looks down at her two new shadows and nods as reassuringly as she can. "Stay close. Preferably behind something heavy and solid." Stepping into the lift, she takes a good look at that keypad. "Looks like that keycard was a good find," she says, slipping it from her pocket and popping it into the slot, then punching the '6' button. "And it's definitely the right thing to do. So we're doing it." Mindful of her new friends, she stacks up at the door, her weapon ready for action even though she'll have good cover when that door opens.

Yuun has been quiet for the most part, taking in their teams situation and looking to their new Turazza friends who have been suffering from the Klatoonians. "If we take them on and beat them, this will allow us to continue our mission as well as free our friends here." eh says. He begins to follow the others onto the turbo lift, he doesn't reach for his weapon just yet. Upon hearing that this is what they will be doing, he smiles a little bit. "Yes this is right."

Turazza number one - we'll call her Bizzi - puts one of those credit chips in her beak for a munch, then drops them into the baggy sack of a shirt where they're caught by the rope of her belt. As for the remote, well, it goes in there, too. Hoarding!

The collars emit a little 'click' in unison but don't fall off. Rizzi, who got fried, seems to relax just a little bit and exchanges some tittering whispery talk with her egg sisters like the humans and Talz might know what they're sayin' anyway. The three become a tight little ball, conveniently repositioning themselves to the rear of the lift riders, between legs and wall. Somebody's bum might get a little, accidental goose of toothy beak while they continue twitching their heads nervously about.

The keycards in and up they go.....the lift sounds like it's had better times. After all, this ship is at a slat and so it grates juuuuuust a little in its shaft for the duration of the ride. Level six grows near and those riding can probably guess what's waiting for them at the top. Only question is...who gets to be in the front of the line?

"Hey Moonbeam, what do you say?" Elrych starts as he enters the Elevator, "You and I take these little guys, raise them as our own. Settle down on some nice planet somewhere." He looks over to her and grins, clearly joshing, but there's always a little truth in every joke. He pulls his Lightsaber from his belt again and holds it at his side, facing it towards the ground for the time behind. Elrych moves towards the front of the line, "Mr. Volo... Frost... let's be up front. His shield in the middle and we're reflect the bolts."

"Yes," is Syrus's answer to Elrych, moving so that he's nearer the front of the lift. There's a subtle *click* and the blade of the stunsaber extends. "We should be careful," the older man says. "We're not sure what's waiting for us."

Merek looks to the side and nods to Comet, while he shifts the wall and stands to the front of the Talz while he waits as the lift is preparing to move. "Copy that," he says, while he places the pistol of his above the shield so that he can still shoot it also. He's protective of people quite a bit.

A friendly chime indicates they've reached "Level Six, Landing Bay and Ship Services."

The noise to follow is less friendly. The doors open halfway, revealing a glimpse of who is inside, then the pretty vacant bay lights up with blasterfire from...just two sources, right now - Humanoid folk taking partial cover behind stacks of crates and a cargo loader. "LIGHTEM UP!" screams a man's voice over the din.

They aren't the only ones screaming, though. A multitude of familiar beeps, buzzes and shrieks comes from all over as several more Turazza scramble to take cover and hide. The ones on the lift become equally agitated and join in the ear-piercing cries of terror.

Meanwhile, the rest of the army squad is still making their way through lower levels....no sign of precious metals yet. <<Taken some heavy fire, level three>> A corporal announces over the comm to touch base. <<Enemy subdued.>>

<<Good,>> is Lt Quish, from down on the ground. She's looking up at the faint flashes of light visible from the hangar bay doors. <<Sarge...am I seeing your handiwork?>>

Elrych ignights his blue blade, the neon blue reflecting in his shades, the saber squeeling to life. He's taken slightly by surprise as the blaster bolts come flying and impact behind him, sparking. He deflects a few here and there, free hand reaching out to 'push' at Drosk with an open palm. It only nudges him slightly. "Move out of this choke point!" He steps forward his blade moving around swiftly and expertly. He starts pressing forward.

Stepping out of the lift and into the fray of incoming blaster bolts. Doing his best to protect the ones he arrived. A bolt screams angrily toward the Kiffar who catches it on his blade and whips it into the bulkhead. Saber held away from his body, he throws his hand forward, reaching out through the Force to punch poor Dross in the chest, sending the merc flying backwards. A crunching sound follows soon-after as flesh meets wall.

Merek lifts up his pistol as the blaster fire comes at them and also hits Lofty. He shifts up the shield and takes two shots, one of them actually managing to hit the one he's aiming for also. "Surrender, I think you can tell by what our friends are carrying that you won't be able to win this fight," he tells them with his voice changer, looking forward while he moves from that lift though keeps with his shield wall to the others moving from it also.

Lofty is struck in the initial fusilade by a blaster bolt that singes his left arm, blackening the once-pristine white fur. The Talz roars in pain and anger. His massive repeating blaster is lowered from pointing at the ceiling of the lift and he fires a burst into one of the pirate holdouts, splattering his matter across the bulkheads.

"Focus, Elrych. I have a feeling they know we're coming. We did blast that camera," Nova recalls. It's not the first time she's had reason to regret a call, but it might be the most serious. "But they don't know who all is coming up, just that someone is." She glances back at the little ball of lizardfolk huddled between herself and the elevator's wall. "You three stay there, okay? We'll protect you," she says earnestly. "Just... stop poking me in the behind? It's distracting. Even clinging to my legs was better," she adds, considerably softer, likely to herself. And that's about when the doors open... and there's a welcoming committee! Blaster bolts come screaming in, fortunately only grazing the resident Talz. "Give 'em our answer!" the Sergeant snaps, bringing up her weapon and returning the incoming fire. Her fire ends up being covering fire as the group advances, Jedi, Merek, and Lofty taking down the two troublemakers. It's a few seconds before she moves, flanking to the left to offer better cover to the group, quite possibly followed by two or three Turazza. "That can't be all of them... not after all this." Her head snaps up, looking back and forth. "It's /not/... I hear something moving! Tapping and scraping!"

Having reached down to his side, he unclips his lightsaber from his belt and as the turbo lift comes to a stop they are being fired upon. "Krif!" he says as he moves to the side to keep from getting hit. As it's calle for them to get off the lift, once the way is cleared Yuun manages to get out of the lift.

THe blaster fire is deflected by the others. He ignites his weapon and a dark blue blade of energy elongates from his lightsaber. Moving quickly Yuun is in a defensive guard scanning the area, but with the two enemies down, "I agree, we better be careful." he says as he looks around and reaching out with the force, he tries to reach out and sense if there was other threats to them nearby.

"Eezk'tzz..ziizii!" The Turazza can't be quiet, even in their little ball of terror, hiding back in the lift. When the smoke clears, they zip outta there so fast and reconvene with wherever some of the others have squirreled away. Gone. Vanished. Good luck trying to tell them apart, now, IF you can find them. Browns and greens, reds and yellows....lots of little reptilian workers here. Most were in collars. Some were not.

Also when the smoke clears, the team has access to those crates. Just might be what they're looking for!

And what Si-dur-shraak is looking to protect. "Incompetencccccce..." hisses the tiss'shar from his hiding place. A lovely little perch, the scaly sentinel is loathe to descend from it. But, sometimes you've got to do your own housekeeping and right now, the rest of his gang are likely still a thousand meters underground, ignorant of this situation. The sharp-toothed 'pirate' enforcer leaps nimbly from his post and lands with just the scarcest of sounds. The Turazza were at least good for that. Unlike his men, Sir-dur-shaak isn't relying on a blaster to do his work for him. He stalks like a pro and those claws are made for disemboweling.

Elrych glances around as the two firing on them are taken down. Elrych spins, his blade at high guard. "Everyone, tighten up..." He announces, his voice becoming lower as his blade vrooms when he lowers it to mid guard. "Something is near..." He glances over towards a freighter off in the corner. An old YT-1200... "That piece of junk. Force what a drek model." He starts towards that area but stops as soon as Si'dur jumps down and starts stalking towards him. "You are the leader? You are the one who enslaved these poor cute things?!" Elrych takes a deep breath and then, gathering the force into his hand lashes out with a shout. Not one of anger, but one of ritious indignation. One of Justice. Lifting the taloned alien up and slaming him violently against the drek ship he mentioned before hand. HE pushes, hard, trying to snap it's spine against the hull. A whirlwind surrounds Elrych, and he glows slightly blue for a moment before it dissipates after his attack.

Whipping the saber around, Syrus readies it, his hands gripping the hilt anxiously. Watching Elrych attack the actual dinosaur, Syrus watches the thing, awaiting any sign of retaliation.

Merek lifts up his pistol to take shofts, then he shifts his shield a bit so that he can move him self forward while keeping his gaze on the place in case more are waiting about. He doesn't seem to be upset at all, there's little emotion to him while he does his duty to take them on.

Lofty sees a lizard-like alien coming down from a high perch and aims. When the creature is slammed against a far bulkhead, the Talz fires a burst at him, but he is too quick! The blaster bolts send sparks out from durasteel and crates. "Watch out, is snake!"

"A snake with legs and a voice," the Sergeant snarls quietly. It can be surmised by the fury in Nova's eyes that she's in agreement with Elrych on this one. Of course, actually blasting the deranged reptile is harder than it sounds, even after it's been smashed to the ground in a heap. It's as if the universe is hanging on a set of broken sliding rails that intersect in all the wrong ways.

Rushing forward, Yuun is more one the physical side of things and as such he closes in with Elrych as Si-dur is sent flying into a bulkhead. As he moves in, Yuun sees a few blaster bolts being fired off but missing their target. TO help their ranged fighters, Yuun flanks off to his left to come in at Si-dur from a different direction and engage, he still has a ways to go but Yuun is closing in.

Si'dur didn't quite anticpate that sort of attack. Not something he can deftly hop away from! The impact of his body against the hull makes an audible 'clunk' but unlike his human counterpart that struck the wall earlier, his spine does not break. Maybe some ribs and half his lower jaw, though! And an arm. Tiss'shar are made from tough stuff, apparently. A frothy spray of pink shrieks forth in anger from his fangly maw and he sliiiides off the hull, down to the tarmac when that invisible Force is spent, managing to slip past the torrent of shots fired his way as he goes, save for a few singed scales here and there. For a moment...just a moment...Syrus' pause may be warranted.

That leathery torso rises and falls with labored sounding breaths and it lays there, on its side. Is it done? Is it agreeing to unspoken terms of surrender? Beaten and accepting?

Of course it isn't.

The Tiss'shar springs up with a last burst of energy and charges Elrych with a lunging gnash of teeth and snickersnack of claws. Call it his 'excitement phase' of dying, where there's nothing really left to lose.

Elrych is impaled through his gut by the giant dino alien. Blood starts to stain his robes. It's not looking good for this Jedi. Some synthetic organs and a good long time in the bacta are going to have to happen. He caughs up some blood as he looks down at the wound. His legs have gone limp, the talon severing his spinal cord completely. "What..." He's slightly confused but for just a moment he is able to realize an opportunity. With a pained shout he raises his blade over his head and points the edge towards Si's head and then, stabs down sending the blade through his mouth and head, his entire body, burning him from within. When the Alien lets him go he slides off the talon and prone onto the ground. He's breathing shallowly and is in need om immediate medial attention as he just starts to bleed everywhere, a massive hole in his center.

"Elrych!" Nova exclaims, seeing the clash end badly for the valiant Jedi. The apartment house for wayward pointy things seems to be dead, and Elrych... nearly so. But not if she can help it! The Sergeant hurriedly slings her rifle as she dashes to the man's aid, pulling her medpac from her combat webbing. "Just keep breathing," she murmurs breathlessly, hauling the dead reptilian off of him and heaving it aside. Kneeling beside the Jedi, she sets to work, cutting away the torn and bloodied robes to reach the wound. She doesn't gasp so much as take a slow, deep breath upon seeing it. It's big, ugly, and leaking crimson steadily. "Somebody, I need help! I can't keep pressure on this and seal it at the same time!"

Merek looks at that man, and seems about to take another shot, when it looks like him and also the Comet meet. He watches on as things become obvious. He sees then that the man has been run through with those talons, then he's shifting the shield back to the others while he's moving to assist Nova, "Comet, Jedi... Stay with us buddy," he says. Most people probably have not actually seen him worried before like that, and he does his best to place his hands upon the wound as well, "I have this, you do what you need to," he says, so that she can focus on tending the wound itself while he does that. "Come on man, you still have to be there to tell me off when I'm an idiot man."

Yuun turns in time to see the attack between Elrch and the lizard and a frown shows on his face as he wasn't able to get in fast enough to intercept Si-dur. Still Elrych is able to take it down, and as Nova rushes over to administer a medpac to Elrych , Yuun is moving to guard the two. He moves his blade into a guard so that he is able to guard the two, "How is he Nova?" he asks her. He doesn't look towards Nova, keeping his eyes looking around for any other threats but also sensing the area for any other threats.

"Got it. Thanks, Merek," Nova replies, opening the medpac. She looks up at Yuun. "Bad. Real bad... but he's alive. Now we just have to keep him that way." She gets to work. And to work with the radio, too. <Lieutenant, this is Moonbeam! Get that shuttle on the way. We have a wounded man in need of immediate dustoff! We're policing the area now for that ore. We might also have a few passengers on the way home. Don't worry, they won't take up much room.>

It is done.

When the weight of Si'dur'shaak goes slack and the reptile kabob gets lugged off/out of Elrych, the formerly noisy bay is silent...in the Turazza corner, anyway. One by one the little guys and gals start to emerge and slowly surround the mystery band of warriors in their midst. "Zzsez," one of them steps forward, pulling a credit chip from its shirt. It's Bizzi, and she chirp-meeps very quietly to her kin while moving in closer to first inspect the fearsome Tiss'shar, then her new friend who seems to have taken the brunt of their captor's fury. "Eeeeeee'yeee," she laments and hangs near Elrych's feet. Two more move out from the throng to sit beside her and wait. For whatever comes next.

If the Resistance works quickly, they'll be be able to load up as much metal, and as many Turazzas as they can, and pick up the truck and its occupants, to boot! Fortunately, these little things are able to fit into small spaces, like Nova says.

Down on the ground, Lt Quish is commending into the comm and the other half of the squad is already scrambling up to level 6 to load up with the others. "Well...today's your lucky day," she tells Dok, Wod, and Vhani, then pops each of them with a stun round to the midsection, binders still in place. <<Let's get the hell out of here before the rest of their crew returns...or CSA patrol makes a second pass.>> And she climbs into the truck.