Condor puts his blaster away for the time being, retrieving his DC-17’s and dropping the spent cartridges, reloading them swiftly. “ Get ready to move. We should be getting close to the bridge.’

"Anyone injured?" Mireska casts a quick, evaluating glance around the bridge team.

When no one replies, she then addresses Elsee. "Elsee, please find out if there are cameras in the turbolift shafts and stair wells, then see if you can disable the turbolift in one of the shafts, so that at least some of us can climb it to the bridge."

Condor stepped up beside Mireska, looking at the turbolift thoughtfully. “ Not a bad idea general. I’ve got an Ascension Gun. Should make quick work of the turbolift shaft if it can be disabled. Who do you think should go? ”

"My troopers have the standard AG attachment on their carbines, and my blaster," here Mireska pats a thigh-holstered weapon that no one's ever seen her use, "is an upgraded one which goes twice as fast. I have no idea as to what Ker'see's carrying. What about your ARCs?"

She pauses, then addresses Elsee. "Elsee, I forgot to mention - please see what you can do about either jamming or looping any security cameras too."

"The force has gifted me with the ability to move great distances without the need of a tool," adds the devaronian. " There should be enough protrusions for me to leap between..."

“ Balyeg has their own as well, General, ” Condor replied. “ Wasn’t expecting to need them until we got down to the surface though. ”

“ Sounds like we should all be able to make it. As long as Elsee can make it safe to head up .”

"I must admit that I'm still wondering whether or not it would be better to split the party. Squeezing all twelve of us through one opening might not be the best idea. Plus Elsee of course, but she'll need to move a bit more slowly behind us, so as not to present a target."

Elsee trundles over to the computer jack next to the turbolift , plugs in, a few seconds later she whirs and beeps excitedly. You think she's indicating that she did as you asked.

Sithspit! I really should learn Binary for situations like this.

Mireska clears her throat. "That sounds like Elsee's done it. Let's crack open these turbolift doors and see what the shaft looks like." She looks thoughtfully at her lightsabre. "Or we could just slice the doors open."

Condor looks thoughtfully at the turbolift door, then at the stairway. “ I can take Balyeg up the stairs. If there’s any clankers waiting for us at the top, we can try to draw their attention long enough for you to make it through the top door. ” Even with the ascension guns, he didn’t expect it would be easy to breach through the turbolift doors without something solid to stand on. Best to buy some time.

"You okay?" Cog says. "Hey, shiny! Two-Five, you copy?"

Shaking his head, in an attempt to focus his vision, Two-Five mumbles, "Umm... I.... uh, sir?"

"Oh, kark it all," Cog mumbles as he retrieves a stim from Two-Five's utility belt and jams it into a soft spot next to his fellow clone's shoulder plating.

"That should do you. On your feet, soldier."

-------------------------------------------------------------

Making their way through the maze of corridors, Wraith and his men find themselves closing in on their destination. He knows engineering should be just right of this next intersection, but he had expected more droids, more resistance up to this point. Somethings off , he thinks to himself. Taking point with Alpha Squad and the others following, Beta taking the rear, Wraith stops just short of the intersection, raising his hand into a closed fist. They’re waiting for us, they've gotta be.

"Sir, you thinking what I'm thinking?" Sergeant Scrap whispers.

"That depends," Wraith responds quietly, retrieving a MK-II EMP grenade and passing it behind himself to Scrap. "You want to fry some processors?"

Accepting the grenade, Scrap grins behind his face-plate "Would be an honor, sir."

"Beta Squad." Scrap says as he turns to his fellow clones. "Once we clear the corner, we're going to dig in," he points to the architectural wall prominences, "and I'm going to fry us some clankers." He holds the grenade up before them, stowing his rifle.

"Alpha." Wraith says, "we've got fire support."

"Yessir," comes their uniform response.

"On me," Wraith says as he glances around the corner, and sees dozens of droids dug in behind prefabricated cover. Knew it, he thinks as he leans out from around cover, his carbine trained on the lead B2.

Initiative Rolls

Wraith/Alpha

Initiative (cool) : 2eA+2eP 1 success, 1 advantage

Scrap/Beta

Initiative (Vigilance) : 1eA+2eP 3 successes, 3 advantage

( once combat begins, Wraith w/Alpha squaded up is going to go first and make an autofire attack on one of the B2 groups and Scrap w/Beta squaded up is going to move to short range and throw the EMP grenade

edit: decided to do it the opposite, let the grenade soften them up first)

"Good luck on the stairs, Lieutenant!" Mireska says, then turns to droid. "Elsee, would you please open the doors to the turbolift shaft?"

With a couple of beeps, Elsee does so. Mireska looks cautiously into the shaft, with her activated lightsabre at the ready in case of ... she's not sure of what, but feels that caution is justified under the circumstances. She needs a clear look at the "terrain", particularly the four levels that she, her CTs, and Ker'see will have to ascend in order to reach the turbolift doors to the bridge corridor.

"Aim carefully!" Mireska advises as she unholsters her own ascension gun-equipped blaster pistol.

Aiming carefully herself, she fires the ascension gun attachment and hits her target location - a protrusion by the turbolift doors on the bridge level. It just lands where it should, and her upgraded AG repulsor has her on the protrusion in no time at all.

"You heard the general, men!" Binary says, and he leads the short squad in carefully aiming their own AGs - set on their blaster carbines - and advancing at a slower pace. Their caution allows them to find more solid protrusions than Mireska did.

Mireska uses her earbud comlink. "Lieutenant, how are you doing?"

It's going to take some coordination with Condor when the time comes to break through the doors. We've got to try for a simultaneous entry, otherwise we risk being pinned down.

As Mireska wished them luck, Condor signaled the rest of Balyeg and the group of them headed towards the stairway. Drawing his ICWS, Condor carefully moved around the corner as the door slid open, checking the landing. When it was clear, he quickly moved over to the stairs, aiming up through the center and trying to aim through the top. It was definitely too narrow to ascend through, and from this angle he couldn’t make anything out at the top. “ Hug the wall, single file. Stay alert. ”

They made it up one flight of the stairs before Mireska’s voice came over the comms. That didn’t surprise him, the ascension guns were probably much faster then old fashioned stairs. “ Won’t be long. We’ll come out first and- “ The sound of a small clink of a grenade bouncing against the stairs was followed by Titan screaming “ GRENADE !” Loud enough to be heard over Condor’s open mic.

Then time seemed to slow for a moments. They didn’t have time to get it out of the way, but as it rolled to a stop under Titan, the commando dragged his blast shield in front of the grenade, blocking the rest of them as it exploded. The resounding explosion was hard on the ears, but the shield was enough to keep the brunt of the blast from reaching the rest of them as Titan crumpled to the ground. The lack of blood and viscera told Condor it was just a stun, which was something to be thankful. The squad began to act in unison then, moving to cover their downed comrade.

In almost an instant, O-3 and Boomstick had moved to the hole, open firing on the floors above them. Condor couldn’t tell if there was actually a target up there they were firing at or if they were just suppressing. Doc quickly moved up the stairs to Titan and began looking for wounds while Bullseye moved back to cover their flank. With only one other angle to cover, Condor grabbed the bulwark shield off the commando with his let hand, and began charging up the stairs with it while the other commandos continue to suppress. He needed to get up there before whatever droid was up there got brave enough to try again.

On 12/19/2019 at 8:51 PM, AnomalousAuthor said:

"You okay?" Cog says. "Hey, shiny! Two-Five, you copy?"

Shaking his head, in an attempt to focus his vision, Two-Five mumbles, "Umm... I.... uh, sir?"

"Oh, kark it all," Cog mumbles as he retrieves a stim from Two-Five's utility belt and jams it into a soft spot next to his fellow clone's shoulder plating.

"That should do you. On your feet, soldier."

-------------------------------------------------------------

Making their way through the maze of corridors, Wraith and his men find themselves closing in on their destination. He knows engineering should be just right of this next intersection, but he had expected more droids, more resistance up to this point. Somethings off , he thinks to himself. Taking point with Alpha Squad and the others following, Beta taking the rear, Wraith stops just short of the intersection, raising his hand into a closed fist. They’re waiting for us, they've gotta be.

"Sir, you thinking what I'm thinking?" Sergeant Scrap whispers.

"That depends," Wraith responds quietly, retrieving a MK-II EMP grenade and passing it behind himself to Scrap. "You want to fry some processors?"

Accepting the grenade, Scrap grins behind his face-plate "Would be an honor, sir."

"Beta Squad." Scrap says as he turns to his fellow clones. "Once we clear the corner, we're going to dig in," he points to the architectural wall prominences, "and I'm going to fry us some clankers." He holds the grenade up before them, stowing his rifle.

"Alpha." Wraith says, "we've got fire support."

"Yessir," comes their uniform response.

"On me," Wraith says as he glances around the corner, and sees dozens of droids dug in behind prefabricated cover. Knew it, he thinks as he leans out from around cover, his carbine trained on the lead B2.

Initiative Rolls

Wraith/Alpha

Initiative (cool) : 2eA+2eP 1 success, 1 advantage

Scrap/Beta

Initiative (Vigilance) : 1eA+2eP 3 successes, 3 advantage

( once combat begins, Wraith w/Alpha squaded up is going to go first and make an autofire attack on one of the B2 groups and Scrap w/Beta squaded up is going to move to short range and throw the EMP grenade

edit: decided to do it the opposite, let the grenade soften them up first)

Scrap moves into short range of the droids, Beta squad "dug in" on the wall prominences, and throws the EMP grenade at one of the B2 groups behind cover.

Ranged Light EMP Grenade Attack : 1eA+2eP+1eD+1eS 0 successes, 3 advantage

Misses but will activate blast with 2 advantage and pass a boost die onto Wratih's attack. 6 damage to whichever droids are in engaged range. Also has disorient 3 and ion damage if that matters against minions.

Wraith takes cover and with a second maneuver aims at the remaining group of B2 droids. Alpha squad is providing support fire.

Autofire attack on droids (aim maneuver, quick strike, support fire medium range) : 4eP+3eD+1eS+4eB 4 successes, 3 advantage

18 damage and activates 2 extra attacks because he gets an automatic advantage from superior weapon cust. Should be enough damage to destroy all but 1 droid that has suffered 5 wounds.

@EliasWindrider Updated.

As Condor rounded the corner, the droids began to turn on him, and he quickly raised the shield to cover his approach. It seemed the blaster fire from O-3 and Boomstick had been enough to distract the droids enough to get them out of position, which was all that Condor needed. The. First few blaster shots from the droids landed harmlessly against the large shield. Secure in his cover, Condor slid the gun over the top of the shield, and began to open fire on the droids as he pushed up the stairs. The first few rounds scattered amongst the droids, but then the first fell, then a second. The third went toppling past him on the stairs. He’d nearly reached them when the fourth droid went down. He didn’t bother trying to brawl with the droids, even the strongest clone would break his hand trying to punch one of the droids. Instead he used the shield to send one off balance while he blasted a leg off the other. Pivoting, he swung the shield around in a circle, batting the cripple droid down onto the ground. A second hit in the circle pushed the standing droid into the wall, and he angled the shield up, slamming the metal in-between the droids head and torso. The last droid crackled on the ground where it had come to slump against the wall, and Condor put took a deep breath as it struggled to raise it’s blaster rifle. Two quick rounds to its head rendered the droid a useless pile of metal.

He took another deep breath as the exertion caught up with him, opening up his helmets comms again. “ Generals, ran into some Clankers on the stairs. Hit us with a stun grenade. Got one who’ll need medical attention, but I’m ready to make a distraction on your signal. ”

He switched the Commlink off as he waited for a reply, calling down to the rest of Balyeg. “ Get Titan up to the landing. Sixer, you see what you can do for him. Bullseye, you cover. O-3, Boomstick, you’re with me. ”

"Copy that, Lieutenant," Mireska replies. "We're about to check on conditions up here." Turning to Ker'see, she asks "Ker'see, what do you see outside the shaft doors and down the corridor?"

"Open the doors on the count of three," Mireska murmurs into the comlink as her CTs get into a position which will give them cover and yet allow them to fire into the corridor when the doors open.

Elsee gives a chirp and Condor's affirmative comes through the comlink.

"One, two, three!" Mireska counts, and Elsee uses her datalink to open the doors to the turbolift shaft. An answering thud can be heard from the direction of the stairwell door.

Rain, Storm, and Cloud let loose with a barrage of suppressing fire, and Binary aims carefully before sending a Mk II EMP grenade into the closest group of B2s. The droid at the centre of the blast topples immediately, and others follow suit as their electrical systems shut down.

Using the Force, Mireska leaps into the corridor where - with a bit of effort - she calls upon the Force yet again for protection. It answers her summons, weaving about her a shield of invisible threads which will only be seen (briefly) if they are needed to ward her from an energy attack. Shield and teal-bladed lightsabre at the ready, Mireska prepares herself to intercept any attacks against her companions.

After Mireska and her clones her into position and fire into the group of droids Ker'see calls on the force and propels herself forward over the droids and behind the undamaged group of b2 droids. The lightsaber is quick to be summoned to her hand and continuing to propel herself forward with the force allows it to guide her strikes as she allows the energy blade to cut through the droids with ease...

As Mireska gave the go ahead, Condor quickly stacked up Boomstick on his shoulder, O-3 on the door control. It was a standard breach procedure. They’d head in first and O-3 would follow behind with his large flamethrower. As the countdown finished, Condor and Boomstick burst through the opening door, we’ll protected behind Titan’s shield. Their timing had been perfect as shots joined with theirs from the opening elevator. The angles were enough to catch the droids off guard it seemed, and in the hail of blaster fire Condor couldn’t even tell what shots from where were taking down the B1’s.

As O-3 followed up behind him, he couldn’t even tell how much damage they were doing. They’d taken down at least a half-dozen as the first grenade went off, an entire group of the B1’s falling to the floor as their wiring burned away from O-3’s bursts of flame. Condor was surprised to see the jets stop, but then realized that suddenly Ker’see was in the thick of it, cutting the remaining B2’s down with ease. By his count they’d dropped over a dozen B1’s by this point, and he gritted his teeth as he continued to open fire into the droids, careful to keep his shots away from the general.

The b1's closest to Mireska shoot at her

Shooting at Mireska : 2eP+1eA+4eS+1eD 1 success, 2 threat

Scoring a hit ( @Bellona 10 incoming damage, if you have improved reflect, I'd recommend that you use it)

The remaining b1's shoot at Ker'see and also tag her

Shooting at Ker'see : 2eP+3eA+1eD+2eS 5 successes, 1 advantage

( @MrTince 14 damage incoming).

The close quarters fighting has proved dangerous to the jedi

The droids defending engineering return fire

Shooting at wraith/alpha : 2eP+3eA+2eD+3eS 0 successes

Shooting at wraith/alpha : 2eP+3eA+2eD+3eS 0 successes

Shooting at wraith/alpha : 2eP+3eA+2eD+3eS 3 successes, 2 advantage

(12 damage incoming)

Shooting at scrap/beta : 2eP+3eA+2eD+2eS 0 successes, 2 advantage

Shooting at scrap/beta : 3eA+2eD+2eS 2 successes, 1 threat

(12 damage incoming)

Most of the barrage goes wild but a few blaster bolts strike the clones

(Advantage spent to add 4 black dice added to the next attack against a droid, for threat the b2 takes a point of damage)

@AnomalousAuthor

The group of B1 battle droids closest to Mireska sent a barrage of shots towards her. The blasts that would normally have hit her were instead absorbed by a briefly appearing curving shield of teal-coloured energy. Only a few energy discharges made their way past it to crackle harmlessly over her Healer's uniform as she aborted her attempt to reflect the shots.

She blinked, momentarily startled by the attack and its lack of effect, then grinned slightly maniacally at the B1s. I almost can't believe it; not only did it work - but it actually was of use this time! was the thought that ran triumphantly through her mind.

Binary, Storm, and Cloud sent another volley of fire towards the battle droids, while Rain took advantage of the covering fire to throw one of his EMP grenades. Unfortunately it either was a dud or something was off with his aim: only one droid dropped in the larger group, although the one standing next to it apparently took some damage as demonstrated by its briefly fizzling electronics and some slowed movement. What the CTs didn't notice in their enthusiasm was that they had edged forward enough to lose the advantage of their cover.

Mireska just grinned at the remaining droids as she invisibly collected the threads of the Force again to form another shield. Come on, shoot me again! Ignore the soldiers, shoot at the Jedi who's protected by the Force. ... Sithspit, if anyone had told me a year ago that I'd be a willing target for a bunch of battle droids, I'd have sent them to the Mind Healers! She twirled her teal-bladed lightsabre and readied her shield in preparation.