Log:Resistance: Sound of Silence I

Sound of Silence I

OOC Date: May 6, 2019
Location: Lianna City, Lianna
Participants: Ektor, Nova Korell, Merek, Rhysio Ando, Sapphira Solari, Finn, Tallissan Lintra, The Resistance

The Sienar Corporation is constructing a new and expanded manufacturing facility in the heavily defended metropolis of Lianna City. Resistance Intel has placed a high priority on the destruction of this facility, which is being prepared to mass produce the prototype TIE/vn "Silencers"; craft which would tip the balance of starfighter superiority firmly in favor of the First Order, if successful.

Resistance surveillance of the top secret facility began a month ago. One week past, a data lead was planted in the manufacturing facility mainframe.

As the factory is surrounded with public works projects (a hospital, several public schools, and public housing blocs), collateral damage is to be minimized, and the hour of operation is set for late at night, to minimize civilian traffic. Heavy shielding and anti-aircraft defenses make a traditional fighter raid impossible, which leaves the complex mission up to the boots on the ground. While a handful of friendly civilian fighters are on call in the vicinity of Lianna City, a direct air assault is out of the question, unless planting bombs has failed, and air defenses are deactivated.

The Resistance infiltration teams have arrived over the past 24 hours by various methods, coordinated by special agent Silver Astro. A discreet signal goes out: it's time.

Merek has taken his time to put on his black armor, which is beneath his tan and brown casual work attire. He has on a tool kit upon his belt, while he takes a moment to make his position to the computer so he can tap on it. He is with Nova, while he takes a moment to check on the security. He has chosen a location next to the factory to work it from also. He then shifts the control pad to the woman.

Normally, this isn't Nova's thing: If she wants security down, she prefers to physically destroy the equipment in question. She's a soldier, not a technician or a spy! But occasionally soldiers have to do techy stuff, and apparently this is her lucky night. Yay.

Accepting the control pad from Merek, she drops into a crouch, back against the factory wall, resting the unit on her thighs. Tracing the feeds with a few quick commands, she finds the control module and slips in the feed loop program she'd spent a couple hours compiling before the mission. Thank goodness for Intel and their droid cams around the factory. She closes the enhanced datapad and gives Merek a thumbs-up. "The system'll be chasing its tail for the next few hours. We're in!"

Of course, getting inside the factory still has obstacles; she's only disabled the electronic systems. The LSD guards are still there. But she knows the pattern they'll be using, thanks to Intel and their cams. It only takes a couple quick, darting movements in the wake of one patroller to get to a factory entrance. <Variable, this is Knife. I'm in.>

Disguises, who needs 'em when your face and ID are clean as a whistle? Sapphira Solari, as no one here knows her by, is sauntering along by the perimeter of the factory, dressed in street clothes and looking as much like a townie as anyone else in this, well, town. City. Whatever. When word comes over the comms that the system is down, she seems to almost fade into the darkness. As if she were made of it, and had now returned to it, perhaps to never be seen again ... At least, not until she is suddenly standing beside Nova, as if she was always there. "Oh man, we've all got code names now? I kinda wish I'd brought a notepad to keep 'em all straight." Nova can probably see Sapphira's cheeky grin in the darkness. <<Make sure we leave a team on the perimeter to take care of any pesky LDF patrols that might come our way,>> she reminds the others via comms, then looks back to Nova. "So, computer room then blow this joint?" she suggests to the other woman. She makes it sound so easy, like they still don't have to get all the way in to the factory and the like.

Timing is the essence of flying, of breaking into things, of staying alive. Just as Tallie started across the perimeter a guard rounds the corner. Sap with complete insouciance disappears into the darkness which leaves the young pilot with a choice, take a chance that her civilian finery won't attract attention or pull back into the shrubbery. Shrubbery, even for a farm girl who never wanted to see an acre of soil needing to be planted again, has a certain appeal. She pulls back.

Having been smuggled in to Lianna City by one of the various means available, Rhysio Ando has adopted the character and clothing of a hard drinking spacehand of the mercenary variety that has seen a little too much of space. Brown hair, mostly covered by a helmet, splotchy skin, and reeking of the cheepest swill that will offend your liver. Lightly armored and nigh unrecognizable. He follows the plan until he is just outsided the Sienar Corporation factory assigned to building these new TIE/vn starfighters. Taking a brief moment to look out, he receives the update on the patrol patterns, and then begins moving.

He keeps hhis head down, looking at his wrist chronometer as he approaches a clandestine entry to the factory, with occasional glances up. A proximity alert sounds off in his ear, leading him to immediately crouch low and duck behind a refuse container.

Breaths come slow and shallow, his eyes scanning left to right until he can identify that the patrol has passed. In a flash, he's up on his feet and proceeding silently towards the rendevouz point.

Everyone hears the fumbling of a hot mic, followed by more fumbling until finally it's settled and an exasperated sigh sounds afterward. <<"Is this thing on?">> Asks Finn, who both seems and looks annoyed. He hated covert ops, he hated ops, he hated most things that required him to be far from his friends and closer to danger. His armor consisted of concealed plates of plasteel, thin and implanted beneath the old flight jacket that belonged to Commander Dameron. Dark cargo pants and shop boots completed the ensemble, leaving Finn to look like any average Joe, save for his expression which betrayed the fact he was up to something. Wide eyes looked for direction on this one.

<<Acknowledged, Knife,>> Silver Astro answers quietly over the comms. <<Cloak is standing by, if you need us- and yes, the mic is hot,>> she adds tersely to Finn.

The team gains entry largely without incident, with a notable exception: One of the perimeter guards is wandering on his route, and for a moment Merek is exposed about a hundred paces in front of the guard. Luck is with the operatives, though, and neither is pace quickened, or any challenge issued.

Merek manages to actually make it into the factory with the others. He looks to the side in thought as he lifts his brow, and shrugs a bit. <<Weird.>> He then takes a moment to adjust a few of the charges he had brought with him, while he looks to Nova and nods a bit, then speaking to his comlink, << I should be able to manage the charges.>> He also frees his pistol, in case he might need to assist Nova.

Nova smiles wryly at Sapphira, the older woman a welcome tension-breaker at this difficult moment: She's too far away to help other than blasting that guard, and that'd undo what she wanted to accomplish, anyway. Fortunately, the guard isn't much of a guard at this moment. Nova sighs near-silently in relief. "Computer room. With any luck we can corrupt their main blueprint as well as make a mess of the system," she agrees. "I'm not very good with explosives. There are still guards inside, too." She nods to Merek as his voice comes over the comlink. <Good luck. We'll see if we can't do something about their master system.>

"And maybe figure out what other R&D sites they have," Sapphira says to the woman beside her, in a flat tone that doesn't indicate she has much hope of that, but hey, weirder things have happened, right? It doesn't take long for Sapphira and Nova to get to the security room. The redhead will pause long enough to glance at Nova, as if seeking some kind of guidance before she gives a 'fuggit' shrug and just ... taps on the door before pushing the switch to hiss it open. "Hi!" She says in her most bubbly, friendly manner. She doesn't wait to be greeted, but waltzes right in. "Wait ... where's Derek? Derek told me he was working tonight, that we should come by....."

Loitering in the bushes no longer has the appeal that it had a few minutes ago. Straightening her business jacket, adjusting the bag she carries on her shoulder, Tallie with her hair tucked back into a bun and wearing sensible shoes looks every bit the part of a computer subcontractor. At least, that is her hope as she strolls out and joins Sapphire and Nova as they enter the facility. She hears the cheerful greeting that Sap uses, closes her eyes, steels herself and skitters in behind them. "Ms. Solari! Ms. Solari? Derek sent me," she calls and looking suitably frazzled as a last minute replacement slides into the group.

Joining up with the rest of the group, Rhysio Ando's voice can be heard whispering into the comms, "<<Axon is inside.>>" He looks momentarily between Nova and Sapphira before he nods his head and speaks verbal agreement with Nova, "Computer room." He then shakes his head, "I wouldn't be too concerned. Throw enough misdirection at them, they'll quickly realize they aren't paid enough to deal with it." He then gestures behind himself, "I'm going with the others to cover the charges. Good luck." He then turns to Merek, tossing his head slightly to the side, "Whenever you're ready, I'll cover you."

Finn moves to join Merek and Rhysio. Finn's talents resided in blowing drek up, not sneaking into stuff, or hacking. He was next to useless dealing with computers, and even worse with people, especially if he had to bluff. Silently, he joins the pair, echoing Rhysio's sentiment that Finn intended to cover them.

The blue-uniformed Security chief turns in his chair to peer in annoyance at the door as a trio of unknown civilians tromp into his operations room. "Who the hell-" he begins to mutter, standing up from his chair with a darkening glower, "This is s secured sector, I'm gonna-" he reaches for a comlink rathe than his blaster.

Meanwhile at detonation point Beta, one of the foot patrols makes their bored way across the factory floor. Finn and Rhysio avoud notice, but Merek is once again caught in the open. This time he's not so lucky. "Hey- who're you?" the trooper demands, carbine in hand and snapped onto target.

Merek placed up a thermite on the target, while he takes a moment to switch each wire after a bit. He then works the weapon so it's set, as he takes a moment to move with the others. He didn't know that this patrol route there would be a guard, so as such he looks to the trooper. "What... This isn't where I parked my speeder!" He holds up his paws, actually hands, but what do you do. He then takes a moment to shift in a way that lets the others to know to get on with their duties, while he talks to the trooper. "Well, I'm going to be honest, I'm no one important, but this place really intrigued me. I thought I would sneak in and look around a bit, so here's what I want to ask you. Could you give me a little tour, I'm curious!" He pats at his tool kit, "This fancy work you all do, it intrigues me. I know I am breaking your rules, but..." The man makes a motion with a hand a bit, "I'll even pay for a little tour. I am not sure it works that way." He taps at his cheek a bit also, "You can call me Dalton, what's your name if I might ask?"

The trooper sees an unfamiliar man in black armor gcrouching beside what appears to be some sort of insidious criminal explosive, offering him credits for a paid tour of the place he is breaking rules by being in. The trooper promptly reports over his helmet comm, <<Intruder in sector 47->>

In the few seconds she has between Sapphira breezing into the office and starting her line of patter, and Tallie's hurried entrance after, Nova pauses to shrug off her jacket, tying the sleeves around her waist casually, and opens the zipper of her top a couple inches, just to add to the illusion of a ditzy Seinar employee who was hired mainly for her looks. She sashays in behind her two friends. "Same old Derek: All promises, no substance," she says regretfully. "But you're here, right? Thirsty?"

She tosses the security chief the drink bottle she'd caught up off one of the workstations. When he catches it, she does a quick hopping step, catches hold of the light fixture, and swings her legs up, kicking out once with each... and somehow managing to miss him completely. Which leaves her hanging well within reach if he has the presence of mind to drop that bottle and grab for her. At least she's managed to make him drop the comlink to catch the bottle! It's gonna be one of /those/ nights...

It doesn't take Sapphira any more time than it takes for Nova to act. While one woman goes into kickass mode, the other takes two running steps toward the computer terminal, skidding on her knees to the final stopping position in front of it. With a quickdraw's wrist, she whips out the pre-packaged code plug from her jacket pocket and jams it into the machine, typing frantically with her gloved hands. "Sunshine, get on that comm and redirect reinforcements to another sector," she calls out to the woman, type-type-typing without a glance to Nova and the security guard. That's trust, that is. Trusting that the one has got your back to the point when even as a fight rages on, she doesn't even blink an eye. That's the kind of trust Sap has in Nova.

Moving along the corridors with a quiet step, Rhysio Ando attempts to watch as many corners as possible, with the helmet feeding information to him based on the sensors located within. He stops suddenly and takes cover as the guard rounds a corner, carefully and quickly catching himself before he can gasp in surprise. He takes a deep breath in, exhaling as the guard passes and confronts Merek.

With wide eyes, Rhysio Ando tilts his head and watches the interaction between Merek and the guard that has spotted him. He grimaces at the excuse given by Merek, shaking his head before he ducks his head back and reaches beneath his jacket. He pulls a DL-30 blaster pistol from a shoulder holster, flicking a switch to unsafety the weapon.

The only indication that things are going seriously sideways to someone focused on Tallie (no one is focused on Tallie except perhaps the security cameras that should be rolling) is the deep sharp breath she takes when Nova's feet swing by her head. Shades of a dogfight with fifteen things happening around your X-Wing at once. The com that has been knocked out of the guards hands slides sright between her feet. Just as it spins sideways into her left sensible shoe she bends over and snatches it out of harms way or would that be out the enemies hands?

A voice squawks sending troops to different sectors prefixed by a code startles her so badly she nearly drops it. Looking at the the com an idea clearly comes to her. Any other sector would have to be better than their present one, she decides and thumbs the com on.

<<Sector 35 reporting, all clear, check sector 15 and 16 and report back to me>> she commands, pressing her hands into fists so hard her knuckles whiten.

Finn hugs the otherside of the wall, avoiding detection and being witness to Merek and the subsequent conversation. Like Rhysio, Finn produces his weapon, a Sonn-Blas F-11D rifle that's been clipped to a sling and concealed beneath his jacket. Finn's dominant hand takes hold of the pistol grip while his offhand supports the receiver by grabbing the ventral heat shield of the weapon. He levels it in front of him, and his finger slips over the trigger.

Over the short-range comlink, Silver's husky, precise voice states, <<Knife team, what is your status? I'm reading the code packet as live, twenty-three percent uploaded, but only two charges in place. Please advise what support you need, quickly.>>

The patrolling trooper in Lianna System Defense blue, white, and gold fires off a close range blast that burns into Merek's fiber armor, at center body mass. <<Shots fired, shots fired!>> the trooper declares.

In the security center, the brawl turns into a proper fight as the Security Cheif throws the water bottle at Nove, and grabs for his sidearm, hauling the pistol loose of its holster, as Tallie misdirects the other guards. << I copy, control- double timing to Sector 15, blasters hot.>> The Chief shouts, indignant but powerless, "No, you idiots! She sounds nothing like me!"

Merek is shot clean into the torso, and he's knocked back by it. He knows he has not succeeded, but he can't really let the trooper shoot him again. He embraces the feeling in a sense of calm with serene thought. He trusts to the High Force and to Finn and Rhysio to either complete the mission, that or protect him. He's putting quite a bit of his trust into this situation. The two sneaking up on the trooper might notice the way he's trusting them with this. He hits floor, while he holds up the hands of surrender where he doesn't even reach for his weapon.

Nova aims another kick at the security chief, missing again as she drops from the light fixture. Abandoning swashbuckling for the moment, she swings the edge of her hand into his wrist as he pulls out that sidearm, causing him and the pistol to part ways. "I'd suggest you find a quiet spot out of the way and /shut up/," she snaps.

<<This is ... who am I? Fuggit. Requesting demolitions support. We've got the package up and running, we just need to be ready to blow it unless our demo team is already on the job.>> Sapphria speaks into her comms as she turns away from the computer, which is running the program at 23 percent as reported. Shock gloves already on, she badass-ed-ly taps her knuckles together twice, and the weaponized fingers light with blue electricity. As she approaches, however, the pistol that Nova sent flying hits the redhead square in the face, and she instinctively reaches up to protect one of her most vulnurable spots. But she's got that electricity going and so all she manages to do is to give herself a harmless, but hilarious, zap that sends her red hair in all directions. "Ow!" It's a fail on all counts.

The odor of shields taking a full laser hit fills the room when Sap, fist sizzling blue, goes after the security chief. The drek has hit the fan and quite unthinkingly Tallie flips open the bag she is carrying and pulls out a gun.

The world passes in slow motion for Rhysio Ando as his mind registers the shot that sends Merek sprawling to the ground. Lifting his pistol in a double-handed grip up to point to the sky, he takes a deep breath that looks more like a gasp in real time and then holds it. His jaw sets, and his eyes narrow, pure hatred for this otherwise innocent man just doing his job passing over the face of Rhysio.

Turning to the left to peel off the wall, Rhysio Ando descends upon the Trooper like a shadow in a seedy bar, his DL-30 blaster pistol extended in a double-grip. He waits, patiently, as the sights align upon the back of the Lianna trooper, his finger gingerly resting on that trigger until the moment comes for a bad man to do bad things for a good reason. With two quick flicks of his finger, he places two blaster bolts in a reasonably tight grouping into the back of the soldier, still walking towards him even as he leaves a smoking in the soldier.

The soldier Rhysio hit in the back stumbles to one side and falls. That is when Finn steps out and stops him from rising back up by planting a heavy boot flush to their chest and leveling the F-11D at face level. Finn's face lights up as the red bolt is discharged, its sound loud. The result has the guard's head jerking backward, his body flinching from the impact, then.. nothing.

A steaming barrel rises up casually as Finn chicken-wings the buttstock of his weapon and approaches Merek, kneeling down. "Where's your first aid kit at? We can get this dressed before we move." When given the kit, Finn does what he can to stabilize Merek, but they have a mission to do and it shows on Finn's face. He hefts the explosives bag up on his shoulder. "Where to next?" The dead guard's body is dragged away and concealed, their comm-link taken for good measure.

<<Copy, fugget it, I'm moving on demolition point Delta, >> Silver returns with a short exhale as she moves into the factory that is being illuminated by flashes of blaster fire. As the spy slips past the perimeter and into the factory, she pauses beside a sign on the wall reading *Sector 15* A one beat pause follows as realization dawns with approaching bootsteps of guards. "Bloody amateurs, every time," the Zeltron spy curses, breaking into a run. <<Knife team, this is Cloak- site is too hot! Deactivate the shields and anti-aircraft defenses and call in an airstrike. Signal when you're done!>>

The trooper had just ordered Merek, "Hands on your head!" and drawn our a pair of wrist binders. He'd just affixed them when Rhys emerges, sending the trooper slamming into a wall, badly wounded, << I need backup in Sector Forty->> his report is cut off finally by Finn's subsequent blast.

In the control room, the Security Chief curses as he loses his blaster, retorting with a hard punch that snaps Nova's head back, "I'll take down all three of you, scum-" he growls back at the advice to get lost.

<<Roger that, disabling surface-to-air security features. Fuggit out.>> Oh yeah, Sapphira has every intention of rocking this Fuggit business. Tapping her knuckles back together, the redhead once more finds herself on her knees in front of the security terminal, sitting up tall so she can type-type-type away. "You guys don't need all that security anyway. Who's gonna hurt a simple R&D facility, huh?" she singsongingly tells the computer terminal as she moves through programs, shutting down features here and there. <<All teams, surface to air security has been disabled. Clear the facility, airstrike is imminent.>> She rises to her feet then, looking at the security guard with lifted brows. "Here that? Run if you can, buddy, or your shift's gonna end earlier than you ever wanted it to."

Nova staggers under the punch, wiping the blood from the corner of her mouth. "We'll see about that..." she mutters, leading with her right and keeping her elbow tightened up. She manages to smack him with the fist, but the follow-up elbow doesn't connect. Par for the course for this night. <We'll be on it as fast as we can, Cloak...> she manages to comm, a little too busy to explain much. She winces in sympathy as she hears Sapph's cry of pain. "Careful..!" she manages to say, trying to stay where the security chief's fists aren't. It's much harder than it should be.

Merek shoves up his kit towards Finn, while he's patched up. He then takes a moment to stand up, while he picks up his demolition charge and moves forward. He makes through the halls, as he motions a bit, "Come on, we have a mission to complete!" he says. He then places the charge next to where he plans to set it up, but it looks like distractions will be met. Because even as he does, he hears as the shouts as well as shots come.

Merek lifts up his arm to attempt to shield from the blast, but all that it does is sear right through the skin of his arm, shredding it up even as it reaches his face. The blastback isn't as rough because of that, but it tears through his beard and burns at his eyes as well as his face and all places within that general area. It's enough that it causes a lot of issues, but the skin itself is mostly intact. The bones of his arm and all the cybernetic pieces of the hand also show. Like always, he does not seem to be moving at all once he's managed to hit the floor, blood rolling from his eyes as well as his mouth also.

For the tenth time since this mission has begun Tallie asks herself why she is standing in a small room that smells of ozone and high anxiety when she could be shot at from a distance by TIE/IN lasers while chatting with her droid. The gun is heavy in her hand when she raises it at the Security Chief. She would like to live another day; she watches herself as though from a distance aim and take the man full in the chest. His arms tentacle outwards and he slumps to the floor.

As the first Trooper drops and Finn begins seeing to Merek's wounds, Rhysio checks his blaster and then keys up his comms, "<<They've been alerted to our position. We're continuing to move.>>" When all is said and done, they continue pushing forward to complete their mission. Suddenly, a shot rings out that takes Rhys by surprise and takes Merek down. The actor looks over towards Merek to see blood pouring from the man, his jaw slackening just slightly.

In a kneejerk reaction, Rhysio raises his blaster and fires off two random shots towards the direction of fire, missing the Sergeant who shot towards them completely. Rhysio is already shifting, lining up a next shot even as a blaster bolt is returned towards him, only just barely missing the actor.

Merek goes down; again, and this one is for the count. Their advance to complete the mission is cut off, and Finn feels the sting of failure setting in. His expression changes as Rhysio's fire draws him out of his own internal struggle. Stepping from his point of cover, Finn fires from the hip, blasting the advancing Sergeant in an explosion of plasteel and discontent. They're closelined by the red bolt, and Finn steps forward grabbing Merek's collar and dragging him back behind cover. <<"This is .. well you know who this is. We've got a man down, and the opposition is bad. We're pulling back. We couldn't get the charges set.">>

<<Somebody calling down the thunder, yeah?>> a distinctive low brow drawl grins over the comms. <<Lifting off, reading... three points targeted? Acquiring missile lock, now. You ah.. you all really wanna be getting outta there, now. Bad Day incoming.>>

Silver Astro replies to Finn, <<Understood, get clear. All personnel, get clear, get clear! T-minus sixty seconds before placed charges detonate, with airstrike to follow. Fall back on extraction points, now!>>

Gasping, Nova nods to Tallie. "I owe you one," she murmurs, shaking her head to clear it. She regrets it instantly, as her skull throbs with pain; that guard was packing a nasty right. Her attention goes to Sapphira next. "Airstrike... right. We should go," she agrees. "I doubt they'll keep us waiting long." She moves to open the door again. <Cloak, this is Knife... we're coming out now. Just need a few seconds.>

"No one tell Ektor about the hair," Sapphira tells Tallie and Nova with an underlying lilt of seriousness as the redhead steps out of the security room. At least there's no pictures this time, right? Because if there were, they'd show Sapphira looking like she just stuck her finger in an astromech's power socket. There's quiet focus on the Intel Officer's features until the trio make their way from the facility into the open sky above. Something about that gives Sapphira a jolt of sass, and as we know, she just can't hold that to herself. "Well, I'd call this a victory for the ladies, wouldn't you?" she rhetorically asks Nova and Tallie. Cheeky, sassy, pick your adjitive. You get the idea.

A blink and Tallie stares down at the Security Chief sprawled unconscious at her feet. Nova's voice jerks her out of her reverie and Silver's voice over coms gooses her into moving with some sass behind Sapphira and Nova. "Time to book, ladies. And, yes. We are the champions. Let's blow this manure pile."

As Finn begins dragging Merek backwards, Rhysio calls out, "Get him out of here!" He looks down the barrel of the DL-30, trying to aim the blaster at the ramining trooper as he strafes to the left to rejoin with Merek and Finn. He fires twice, the blaster bolts going wide.

With a grunt of frustration, Rhysio crouches down, picking up the EL-718 that Merek had dropped. He takes a moment to switch hands, raising the EL-718 to take aim towards the trooper.

Finn lifts Merek over his shoulders in a fireman carry, hooking an arm over Merek's dangling arm and leg. Blood stains Finn's jacket and the front of his cream colored shirt. With the trooper still a threat, and Rhys unable to take him down, Finn turns back for a moment, and opens fire. It was moments like these that made Finn recall components of his upbringing, his training. Instances like this required a soldier to be spot on, and his training did not fail him. The trooper was blasted back, and Finn turned back to run. It was to the fall back position they were headed, and Finn refused to stop until they were there!

Silver Astro keeps a silent tally of the Resistance agents as they get clear of the deadly building. <<That's everyone. Primary detonation in three.. two.. one..>> Fiery blasts light up the windows and send a shudder through the duracrete ground, but the building still looks largely intact.

From directly overhead, diving straight down at the ground, a series of guided concussion missiles streak down into the remaining portions of the factory, before the offending fighter veers up, and banks toward the sky. Already, alarms sound across Lianna City, and the telltale scream of twin ion engines can be heard, as the System Defense forces scramble, with several craft already roaring in pursuit.

Alas, even once the ground forces reach their ride home and spool up the engines for takeoff, escaping Lianna will still take a fight.