Log:Sith Empire: In the Heat of the Night
A team moved to eliminate an insurgent group that threatens to halt the firefighting efforts on Coruscant's Level 1313.
OOC Date: May 27, 2022
Location: Coruscant
Participants: Caius Sentari, Grafn Struss, Kin-Li Kel, Tamsin Cas as GM, Xavier Harcourt, Sith Empire, SMASH, SE Hired Guns
[ Tamsin Cas (Cas)]
Coruscant. A City Planet on fire. While, on the upper levels, the fires had done little more than inconvenience the rich, who complained of the lack of good domestic help, amongst other, literal, First World Problems, in the lower levels, the planet was going up in literal smoke and fire. The First Order, when they had first landed their Citadel had begun the fires with the force of their weapon blast. And it had been A Problem for Some Other Time. That time had never come.
And the fires had raged for the better part of the last year and more, consuming the planet from the inside out, as the lower levels burned, melted, fused into an endless hell of the dead and the dying.
Now had come the Sith Empire, who had almost immediately upon taking the city planet, dispatched fire teams to work their way down into the bowels of the planet to manage the fires. To save lives. To protect the sanctity of Coruscant. The Problem for Some Other Time had become A Problem For Someone Else.
The Sith Empire's efforts had not been met with good will on all fronts, and there still proponents of the First Order, not yet rooted out, who made attempts to sabotage the Empire's efforts to save the planet. One such group had been located, and a fire suppression (see what I did there) team sent in to rout the Insurgents.
[ Kin-Li Kel (kl)]
Fighting fires. Kin-Li Kel's Mandalorian armor and the fact that his is literally festooned with weapons and ordnance make it seem like he didn't fully read the memo, and instead showed up for a firefight. As he enters the area with the rest of the team, it becomes VERY apparent he was unprepared for the reality of firefighting, and as he moves to assist his team, he is nearly burned alive by a blast of fire as he opens a door. The fireball literally scorches his armor, and he leaps back, completely taken by surprise. < "What is the ...??" > A pause, then he begins talking over the comm circuit. <<"What are we supposed to be doing here? This fire is planet-sized!">>
[ Xavier Harcourt (Xav)]
Coruscant. A City on Fire. Doomed to always been the Next Person's Problem. Just a pity that the Sith Empire appear to have inherited that mess /and/ also seem keen on resolving it once and for all. But how does one put out a literal planet-wide fire both literally and figuratively? By throwing but credits and force into it.
Fire suppression teams have been sent out all across Coruscant to deal with the harshest of the blazes, but Insurgents have made themselves quite the thorn in the Empire's side. A niggling, nagging little buzz that neede to be stomped out.
Xavier is usually more keen towards applying a certain amount of finesse: often even going as far as to expand into non-involvement. At least not directly. But this particular mission demanded his presence. Hood drawn up over his head, he pulls a drag from his cigarette. Because apparently there isn't enough smoke around to suit him. "The fires will be easy enough. It's the rabble-rousers underneath that would prefer the fires keep going, mmm?"
[ Caius Sentari (Cai)]
<"Welcome to /Hell/, Kel! Haha. That rhymes...">, comes the chipper Coreward-accented reply on the common comms. If it wasn't clear enough in his voice, Caius is smiling beneath that dagger-wedge helmet of his, the light of the fires around him imposing upon his crimson armour in an even more fiery countenance. He's found himself prone on a stable-looking third floor of a nearby building whose walls are now non-existent - providing him a perfect overwatch of the area the Insurgents are in. <"10 blobs. Be efficient.">, Caius voxes in a more serious tone as he sets the bipod of his rifle up and starts lining up a shot.
[ Grafn Struss (Grafn)]
With his carbine partly raised, Grafn moves into the hellscape that is Level 1313. The aged merc muttering to himself as his throat rasps at the acrid smoke that hangs in the air. Beneath lush brows, Gran's eyes focus on a distant spot ahead as he sweeps the area, his head nodding for an instant as he lifts a hand and gestures up ahead. <"There's a spot up ahead, just beyond that signage... see?"> He rasps, his baritone rumbling as he glances across at Kin-Li. <"Mind yourself lad... but yes."> He continues as he slowly levels his weapon. <"A good spot for insurgents, stable enough. Mind yourselves.">
The aged pilot, casts his eyes about the ruinous surroundings and shakes his head a little. "Never thought I'd be down here." A grim smile spreads for an instant, abundant teeth bared for a flash of unfortunate and sorrowful mirth. "But yes, be careful." He steps towards Kin-Li and reaches out to brush some ash off a shoulder. As if that helps.
[ Tamsin Cas (Cas)]
With the keen eyes of the old Imperial Walker Pilot and the sniper scope of the Coruscanti Police Officer, the team is able to determine where they believe the insurgents are laying in. Intel claimed that the insurgents were going to be introducing accelerant into the fires, hoping to spread the blaze back into the areas already cleared by the Empire. Whether or not they had care for the fact that they themselves might not make it out alive. But that was First Order cultists for you. Always thinking only one step ahead.
As the team made their way into the relative clear of what was once a balcony for landing freight, the sight and sound of movement, the scraping of steel and the staccato rap of shouting voices could be heard. Six bodies immediately visible. But the smoke was thick. No use praying for a gust of wind down here.
[ Kin-Li Kel (kl)]
Kin-Li Kel's eyes squint, though this is unseen by the rest of the world. A veritable walking arsenal, he seems to decide on the right tool for the job. The very large rifle slung over his shoulder -- a vintage T-27, replete with concussion grenade launcher -- is swung up as he takes cover behind the burned out hulk of an old speeder. He gets himself settled in behind cover, readying his weapon.
And, of course, then he looks around. He's fighting in a burned out urban hellscape. <<"Uh....I guess. Shoot at them and keep them suppressed? I'll lob a grenade up there and hope it doesn't explode everything in a 3 kilometer radius?"
[ Xavier Harcourt (Xav)]
Navigating the hellscape, Xavier rounds the corner to find a cluster of their targets scrambling like rodents in a burning--- ah, well. That's a strained metaphor at best. The cowl of his hood shifts upwards, his eyes still concealed but not the grin on his face. "Ah. There you are." Is all they merit. Any other response is done without a word.
Lifting up his arm, the long sleeve of his robe is pulled back to reveal the slugthrower pistol in his hand. Immediately, it screams out with three rapid-fire blares. They all miss in the thick smoke, but it serves well to accentuate that they're not here to negotiate.
[ Caius Sentari (Cai)]
PHOOM! Caius misses the head of an Insurgent by a hair's breadth. <"Lucky- bastard-">, he voxes, tapping harshly on his scope with his free hand as if smacking it around would fix the targeting computer. A poor workman, this one, blaming the tool. But blame he does before settles in for another shot.
[ Grafn Struss (Grafn)]
Grafn advances nimbly, for one that requires specially tailored swoop suits and almost certainly needed a few seams readjusting on his present armour, there's a grace to every footfall, on a par with the Imperial Walkers he once piloted. Ash and debris is dodged about with barely a glance down, brows furrowed, with but a singular brow briefly illuminated by a solitary piece of ash. A flare of light, and a brush of a finger, and that wayward ash is sent away, its light snuffed.
Though Grafn advances towards cover, he pauses a touch too long to level his rifle at the enemy, the smoke getting in the way of a good shot. This in itself puts him several paces behind where he needs to be as he seeks cover! But sending off that singular shot, a bright red streak, he makes his presence known by punching the enemy with that singular bolt right in the belly! <"AHA! Got you! Winged one. Not down."> The very words crackling over the comms as the aged pilot moves forward deftly. Teeth bared. Those abundant teeth. Like a sarlacc pit in human form.
[ Tamsin Cas (Cas)]
As the fire suppression team made their way towards the insurgent fire team (looks it's a fire theme today, oh ka?), blaster bolts and lead slugs whizzed through the air. Whether the bolts and bullets hit home or not, they served their purpose, as it pinned down the group, who seemed more concerned with protecting the catalyst they had been moving than in simply running off into the fire light. Two of the six who could be seen kept working, four turning to open fire on the incoming Sith and allies.
[ Kin-Li Kel (kl)]
Kin-Li Kel's eyes narrow again from his position behind cover. His inspection of the battlefield is pretty short-lived, however. Blaster bolts come streaking across the open space between the insurgenrs and the speeder wreck KL hides behind. Most of them simply smack into the charred wreckage but one smashes into his left arm. Durasteel boils, and there is a definite entry scar in the armor.
There is a cry of pain, cut short over the comms, and then he calls in a hiss of pain, <<"Banger out.">> There is a low 'wwwhump!!' as he triggers the concussion grenade launcher.
It detonates amidst the insurgent position, and a screaming body goes flying up into the air. It crashes to the ground, smoking and unmoving.
[ Xavier Harcourt (Xav)]
Banger out.
Xavier has heard that said in so many ways and they all mean the same damn thing. Instinctively, the dark-cloaked man ducks down behind a crate, attempting to shield himself from the blast. After the initial BANG! of the grenade and the tell-tale scream of a victim, he peers around the edge and follows that explosion up with three more.
Metal ballistics pelt another target; a heavy thump-thump into the chest that doesn't burn like a blaster bolt. It pierces. It rends. It tears its way through the other side and leaves a body falling to the ground in its wake.
[ Grafn Struss (Grafn)]
With a glance towards the enemy, Grafn presses his left shoulder against the wall to steady himself, causing a little trickle of dust to rain down into his lustrous grey locks. That tinkle of building detritus doesn't deter him though as he raises his rifle, takes a breath, and fires off two shots in quick succession. The first slams into the wall behind the enemy, while the second slams into one of the insurgents who had previously been hit, if the stance and sluggish demeanour was anything to go by. <"Another down."> The aged pilot squints into the smoke, pausing only to rummage in his slung bandolier for something. That something apparently a bottle of brandy. Tearing the stopper free for an instant, Grafn pauses to take a good swig, to wash away the dust and smoke of course! And then slam that stopper home and stow that bottle away. A good medicinal slug of cheap brandy.
[ Caius Sentari (Cai)]
<"-RGH!">, comes the anguished exclamation from Caius' end of the vox channel as he's scraped by a blaster bolt square on his center mass in the midst of him switching up his angle of attack. <"!@&?!@!">, comes the garble from his helmet, thankfully disguising a likely string of expletives as he lines up a second /and/ third shot. Annoyedly, in quick succession. No wonder they miss. He just takes a heavy huff of a breath at this, though... lining up for more. <"Try until you fail. Then try more.">, Caius murmurs to himself, much like mantra.
[ Tamsin Cas (Cas)]
Blaster bolts, lead bullets, and now grenades lobbing through the air. The sheer concussive force of the grenade blast seemed to make the very ground beneath their feet shake and falter. Perhaps, one was, now, reminded that this level was not built upon solid earth, but only on the slowly liquifying bones of industrial progress. The shouts of the insurgents took on a special sharpness, as they tried to use the crates for cover, one body not before visible moving into the open. From within the smoke, a bolt exploded, heading towards the sniper in his hide.
[ Grafn Struss (Grafn)]
The ground? The walls? They're bending? Cracking? Failing?! <"KARK ME!"> That baritone rages over the comms as the aged pilot pushes up with a stumble of ancient knees and failing sinew. <"Karking... *mutter* karker... karking planet! Karking fires! Karking bunch of... *crackle*... bantha-sucking farkers!"> The muttered curses rage every step of the way as the group witness the wild flailing locks of grey, ash fluttering all about like little doves, the bounding Imperial running towards the spot those insurgents are in! Direct for them! Every step sending up sparks of ash and dust! The old pilot is running hell bent for leather! The building behind him is slowly buckling, failing utterly as girders that once held it upright and rpoud begin to just fail and bend like butter.
Not that Grafn looks back once. He just focuses on the insurgents ahead and their little gathering spot! And their thrice damned equipment that he cares nothing for! Levelling his rifle, two wild shots are fired off towards the insurgents, blowing small craters into the cover about them, splinters and shards and that stinging burn taking up residence in the wake of the blaster fire. And still he runs, closing that gap. Breathing heavy over the comms. This was a bad idea. Inhale. <"Hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhnnnnn...."> Pause for exhale. <"...hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhuhhhhhhnnnnn!"> And inhale! <"Farking comms! I can hear myself dying!"> and they click off!
[ Caius Sentari (Cai)]
Oh, there it goes. Kin-Li's grenade, while taking out half the insurgents, had caused further instability in an already raging inferno of a sector. The whole side of Caius' building starts collapsing, like a line of dominos undone, and the poor cop is caught in it, having barely enough time to hitch up from his position before he's brought down.
<"FARKING-"> Caius couldn't even get started on his string of expletives, this time, though needed that energy anyway - it took all his physical strength to be able able to will himself to shoot out and grasp onto whatever outcrops of rebar and duracrete remained, and to to climb-stumble-fall down from his perch to the ground, and to power through the pain of all of that without falling unconscious.
Good thing he picked only the third floor to perch on. High-rises always were /impractical/...
[ Xavier Harcourt (Xav)]
The writing is on the wall. And also in a gaping sinkhole filled with fire: this place is going to crumble more before it settles. The Force SCREAMS at Xavier: tells him to move quickly. His response isn't as nimble as he would like it to be, but Xavier jumps back a few surprisingly graceful hops to more stable ground. Just in time to get a front-row seat to some of his own compatriots suffering the consquences of their collective actions.
He considers helping them. Even lets the thought bubble in his mind. There is always the thought of letting them burn. Saving himself. Oh, those two warring factions forever bickering in his head. But what catches Xavier's attention is the accelerant slowly starting to slide towards their doom.
With the others occupied, Xavier clenches his bearded jaw and his left hand flicks upwards a little; his brown eyes sharpning in concentration. The bursted, gnarled edging of the blown-out hole in the floor gives a metallic groan, curving against the heat of the fire and bending upwards enough to form a lip that miraculously stops the catalyst from falling into the inferno.
What fortuitous luck.
[ Kin-Li Kel (kl)]
The manadlorian 'whhummmps!!' another grenade out towards the insurgent position, saying through gritted teeth, <"Banger out!"> The launched grenade arcs through the air, landing right in the middle of the remaining insurgents. Outstanding! The explosion lights up the night sky, and pieces of body go every which way.
Also? A piece of central support structure goes with it, and the chain reaction of structural failure begins a massive sinkhole which opens and spreads towards the group. <<"FARK!">> It comes out over the suit's speakers, and he begins struggling to maintain his balance as the ground quakes and moves under his feet. The ground simply...disappears.
By instinct, he triggers the rocketpack built into his armor, and it fires all right...butt his left leg was back to brace himself, and a jet of white-hot flame sears right through his clothing, destroying the suit's integrity and creating what looks suspiciously like a 2nd or 3rd degree burn. He flies up into the air, screaming in agony, and lands in a heap near Struss' feet, groaning in semi-consciousness. Ouch.
[ Kin-Li Kel (kl)]
Kin-Li Kel pulls to his feet, looking like he might be a little punch-drunk...which is really just a nice way of saying he most likely has a concussion. He shakes his head as if to clear it, looking wobbly on his feet. Idly, he reaches down to touch where his leg has been seared, and he gives a soft little yelp. Stunned like a gaffed fish, he brings his rifle up, scanning for targets. << "No fishes in the barrel for the shooting thing. We're blue tonight." >>
[ Caius Sentari (Cai)]
Caius gets himself up to his feet with a grunt, dusting himself off with little fuss. What isn't a little fuss, is Grafn running around on fire and all, and the cop immediately put his stride towards the veteran pilot in an apparent attempt to subdue him. Or the fire he caught. Probably both, with how annoyed he seems.
<"More red than blue.">, Caius comments idly as he makes his way, the area still bathed in some amount of flames despite most of it being put out by the collapsed debris. <"Just need to deal with-"> He /was/ going to refer to Grafn and his flailing, but his helmet had swivelled over towards the catalyst - a stack of crates with wires and devices stuck to them, clearly rigged to blow, and he swivels his stride towards that direction in a split-second.
He attempts to figure out which wire goes where, and which wire should go nowhere, ripping them free in a callous manner. It remains beeping, but at least he doesn't blow it up. <"Maybe we can move this drek somewhere else??">, he voxes out behind him towards the rest as he takes a rest from fiddling with the thing.
[ Grafn Struss (Grafn)]
The distance was closed. He made it. And he's alone. So looonely! Oh soooooOooo loneeeeeely! No wait, there's Caius! The very words banished from his skull as he sinks to his knees beside the device and Caius. <"Why did I run in this direction? This is a karking bomb!"> The very words blasted suddenly across the comms, likely alongside a little bit of unhelpful static. Even so, he eyes the device and squints. Leaning back some to at least allow it to drift into focus. Another blink. That's better. Setting down his rifle, the old Imperial glances to the Prefect's own attempts and pulls free a throwing knife from his bandolier. "I think I might be able to do this dear boy. You want to run?" He asks Caius, his voice for once not broadcast across the comms. <"You might all want to run."> He finally adds, his voice clicking back over the airwaves. <"The Sith are rich aren't they? I'm sure this is worthy of a bonus if I succeed. Better damn well be."> And that said he holds the knife poised, glances once more at Caius. "Go on lad. You've got years ahead of you."
[ Xavier Harcourt (Xav)]
His left hand disappears back into his robes as Caius, Grafn, and Kin-Li all make ample recoveries. Mostly. Kin appears to be loopy as all get-out. Enough that Xavier actually cracks a genuinely amused smile. The mission is, technically, a success. Though Ferren may not like hearing that a section of 1313 exploded.
Then again, they can always blame the insugrents. But that's hardly the point, is it?
Xavier, still smoking his cigarette if you can believe it, tucks his slugthrower ont his belt and inspects the many crates of Problem. From a distance. Whtn Grafn brings out his knife and makes his vague intentions known, Xavier's smile broadens until teeth make an appearance under the short stubble of his beard.
[ Caius Sentari (Cai)]
<"Maybe because ya chugged a whole bottle of frakkin' rotgut that one time, ya lush??">, he replies to Grafn as he shifts over to rest an elbow on the crates without a care, grunting as he holds onto his side. <"And frak you, Junior Prefect Sentari runs from no danger!! Just fix this drek, if it blows I got thicker armour. Just be ready ta hit tha' ground."
[ Tamsin Cas (Cas)]
The world was ablase, crumbling all around them. So, you know, it was a day, just like any other day, down here in the wreck and the mess of the lower levels. The dark levels, the levels no one ever seemed to want to talk about. The insurgents had been eliminated, the plot had been foiled, and well, all that structural damage, well, the level was on fire down here, wasn't it? I mean, who was to blame, really? That's right. The First Order.
Always blame the First Order.
Was the mission an unqualified success No. But it was a success.
[ Grafn Struss (Grafn)]
<"Got a damned thick head, don't know about armour."> Grafn replies as he eyes the various parts, taps his knife in a gentle rythym from one piece to the next. Wait. That truly is eeny, meeny, myney mo. Catch an ewok by its toe... and the old Imperial jabs his knife under a bunch of wires, grasps, yanks and severs. And the bomb flickers and fades. Dead. Defunct. No longer working. Still, at that he grins, slumps back and rests against a near crate and exhales a boozy breath while rummaging for a cigarillo. One is soon found, lit, and popped between his lips for a swift inhale. Smoke gets in your lungs! More so here than anywhere else. "We're alive!" The yell can be heard, and there sits Grafn. Turning his bulk about to wave to those others and signal success. Of a sort.
[ Caius Sentari (Cai)]
Caius Sentari waits and watches and listens to Grafn with baited breath as he works. It's not apparent, but he's probably manic and eyes-wide-shot beneath that helmet of his. Tensed up and ready to lunge as the old man stabbed and snipped and sliced at the device. But by the Sith, he did it.
Caius simply pulls off his helmet in excitement, hair and skin all messed up and wet from all that excitement. "You actually frakkin' did it??", he asks with no small amount of actual, genuine surprise, with how sideways this all has went. He then blinks slowly, and then shakes his head, before facing the rest of the team.
"...well. We know what we're tellin' Imperial HoloNet then, right?", he asks of everyone with a smirk. Metaphorically, of course.
[ Xavier Harcourt (Xav)]
"Any mission you can walk away from," Xavier nods to the other man, plucking his spent cig from his lips and tossing it into the inferno several levels below. Pulling out his datapad, he turns away from the blaze and takes several steps away; meaning to leave the way they came.
"Harbinger. Harcourt. Mission successful. Additional personelle required. Fire suppression and ordinance retrieval. Coordinates sent." Then the datapad is off and he looks back to the others. "We should vacate before the rabble start to gather to ask questions. We've people to answer those the way they need to be answered, mmm?"
[ Kin-Li Kel (kl)]
Kin-Li Kel meanders towards the precipice, looking a little...lost. His balance is not great. Still. He's mobile, he's alive, and he's holding a grenade launcher. Life is good. Shakily, he stumbles away from the fiery carnage.
