On 7/7/2020 at 1:08 PM, P-47 Thunderbolt said:

That's the Jorin I know... "We'd be hard pressed to find one that hasn't been destroyed, and we don't have the time to look now. But wait, if there's an intact law enforcement base nearby... Commander Cody, do we know of any that might have a motor pool we could borrow from? We don't know the Jedi's condition, might need something capable of transporting someone badly injured, and an APC would do nicely."

Sorry trooper, the only nearby law enforcement bases I know were stripped clean before we got here. It was one of the first things I checked after setting up the garrison. I decided that checking facilities close to or on the other side of the river wasn't worth the risk. We aren't desperate for gear at this point.

"Then bikes look like our best bet. What are your orders, generals?"

"We take as many as we can, Mireska you'll need your med kit I think..."

"I never leave home without it," Mireska quipped, echoing a well-known holonet advertising slogan. "A small, quick-reacting group consisting of myself, Ker'see, Jorin, and Camoflage, on BARCs with sidecars, mine with a stretcher attachment in case our downed pilot needs it. Ker'see with the Duchess - if you want her along - and the rest of us riding solo with the sidecars. That way if there are any ... errr, mechanical ... issues, then we have a better chance of bringing everyone back. And Jorin needs the practice.

"Let's go for a stealthy departure from the base, to confound any observers. I don't like how those snipers found us so easily yesterday."

Jorin cringed slightly at the mention of mechanical issues but he accepted that he did need practice with the equipment. He looked up to Camouflage, We should do a quick inspection on our bikes.. I'll have to ask Spanner to show me the proper inspection and basic maintenance procedure when we get back. Jorin saw the slightest questioning tilt of the Lieutenant's head, it was very subtle and Jorin was sure that many wouldn't have caught it, but it seemed to happen when he surprised Camouflage in a way that the clone wasn't expecting from Jorin. We won't always have a maintenance team... I should be able to at least pull my own weight.

Kid never ceases to amaze me. He's smart, I'll give him that, but possibly a bit over-eager. One of these days his head's going to overflow with and he'll get his marksmanship confused with mechanics. He resists the urge to chuckle at the thought of Jorin "fixing" a BARC with a deece.

"When will we leave? I need to retrieve some gear if we've got the time. Shouldn't take more than a minute or two."

Jorin paused. If it will benefit the mission, retrieve your gear... Jorin patted himself down; checking for Lightsabers, comlink, utility belt.. He also had the Dragoon blaster slung across his back.. It wasn't as comfortable a weight as his main Lightsaber, but until he could rig something better- so it wouldn't shift as he moved- it would do for now. Jorin also had a curious thought. Other than the rucksack that had the spare clothes and a few odds and ends in his bunk, he was wearing everything that was essential to him.

"Right away, Commander." Camouflage pats Jorin's shoulder and turns, breaking into a jog once he's out of the command center.

Soaring across the landscape three Jedi, their elite clone escort and The Duchess head towards the sign of the crash site. The BARCs cleared the distance with ease and the beacon flashing on all their computers directing them around the buildings left abandoned by the conflict.

"I do hope there'll be no droids this time," remarks Mireska into her comm link, the last conflict fresh on her mind.

"Best case scenario, the clankers don't care about one crashed ship and are busy regrouping for another offensive. Best case scenarios are unlikely." adds Camouflage.

The thrum of the engines and whistling of the air going by filling what would normally have been an awkward silence. The battle on the planet was expected to be a long one and they all knew it.

"What about that Bounty Hunter? Maybe they'll send him," says Jorin eagerly, hoping to prove his knowledge to the two Knights.

"This time he'll have the four of us to contend with," advises Mireska. Hearing this Ker'see grips the throttle tighter and zooms slightly ahead of the group. "Ker'see! Don't do anything stupid. We're a team remember..."

Ker'see sighs heavily into the comm link and slows down the BARC. They continue in silence for some time before a trail of smoke pierces the sky.

"We're here," peeps Jorin.

Ker'see unfocuses her eyesight and looks upon the crash through the force falling behind her comrades. She sees the ship crashed and a figure in cover defending themselves against B1s mounted on STAPS. "Weapons hot, people. We've got B1s, and they're mounted on STAPS. The Duchess stay down."

Their BARCs continued until they could see droids with their own eyes.

Roger...roger.... Jorin mutters under his breath, he knew it couldn't be that easy... He took a slow breath, letting the Force flow through him and calming his nerves..Even though he had just taken a beating just yesterday, he felt that a great deal of experience had been learned, much of the fear and uncertainty stripped away in the rapid pace of events.

Now we'll see if my training shows results...

"Keep on your toes, people," Mireska said, "The pilot identified himself as a Jedi in his distress call, so the CIS forces know that they could bag a Jedi here, either the pilot or possibly one of the search and rescue party."

Seeing the smoke, Camouflage powers up the bike's blaster cannons, just in case. He hangs back and to the left of the group, intending to come from a different angle if there are any clankers around, which he expects there will be. Hearing Ker'see's confirmation, he turns and speeds off to the side, ready to flank around the droid. Over comms he says, "I'll take the left and flank them, one of you should take the right. Ker'see, how many do you make? Are they in a defensive formation, or the standard droid mob?"

"I make about 12 but I didn't get a good enough look at tactics. They are possible grouped into 3 groups..."

Jorin's eyes dart quickly, surveying the situation. Masters, if I may... Camouflage, Ker'see and myself can provide cover, as Master Mireska retrieves our colleague.

..

"Excellent suggestion, Padawan," Mireska replied. "Remember to be aware of your surroundings."

As should I, Mireska thought to herself. Let's try to avoid a repeat of our last excursion.

Maintaining her speed Ker'see charges across the landscape and sets a group of droids in her sights. Her thumb moves to the trigger and presses down unleashing a volley of blasts at the group. Both blaster score hits at all members of the group dropping them instantly.

"They'll know we are here now!" she shouts to her comrades.

Jorin followed relitivly close behind Ker'see, relaying coordinates of the droids he could see to the others before taking his strafing run.

The canons roared as he pulled the triggers, sending a hail of blaster fire into the scattering droid formations. Jorin sighed briefly as his shots completely missed his targets, but he quickly updated the droids positions so the others could track them easier.

Taking in the information from Jorin, Camouflage uses his knowledge of droid tactics to predict their next moves, adjusting his course accordingly.

He opens the throttle all the way, moving as quickly as he can towards the location. The engine's whine becomes more pained as it starts to heat up, but Camouflage ignores it. These bikes can handle it. 300... He flips up the safety for the bike's cannons and gets ready to fire. 200... 150... 100... targets acquired... 50... NOW! Bearing down on the distracted droids, he holds down the triggers and the blaster cannons open up on the droid formation--such as it is--annihilating three of them before they have time to protest the injustice of a cruel world.

He zips straight through the formation, breaking it up as they peel off to avoid a collision. Coming from a different direction gives him a better angle on the crash site as he sees the Jedi, Mandalorian... interesting. I thought that name rang a bell. Clan Eldar. "I've got a positive ID on our Jedi. Seems to be in one piece."

With a whoosh, Kain Eldar’s jetpack ignited, sending the male flying off into the sky.

While he had mastered the use of his jetpack, it was still a difficult experience to hit a moving target while he himself was flying in the air.

Luckily for the male, his saber slashed through the fuselage of the STAP, sending it spiralling to the side before it exploded, rocking the male slightly.

"Force, since when did Jedi start using jetpacks?!?" Mireska exclaimed when she saw the Jedi pilot launch himself into the air on a coloumn of fire.

As soon as Kain Eldar made an obvious moving target of himself, another group of B1 droids immediately began shooting at him from their STAPs. Unfortunately for their accuracy, the spiralling STAP fell between them and their target, ending in a fiery crash with accompanying fireball and plumes of smoke.

"Target lock lost! Target lock lost!" came the mournful cry from the confused droids as their blaster bolts streaked through the smoke without hitting the flying Jedi.

"Let's hope that that's good news for me," muttered Mireska to herself as she waited for a pause in the barrage of blaster fire and then sent her BARC barrelling through the same smoke clouds at her best estimate of where Kain Eldar was currently located. Thumbing on the BARC's communicator, she commed the newcomer. "This is Jedi General Tanohdi from the Christophsis garrison. I've got a BARC sidecar for you, if we can meet up without becoming barbecue!"

Once through the smoke, she homed in on what she was now mentally labelling as the Jetpack Jedi .

Suddenly the BARC's engine started coughing. Too much smoke? Please, by all the little gods, not another crash! Mireska began to vent the engine, desperately trying to remember the necessary recovery procedure. Force guide my hands ... ah, that's it!

She sighed in relief as the engine stopped coughing and her heart returned to a more normal rate.

Realising that she was now a bit too close to the droid forces, she drew and activated her lightsabre. Piloting this thing while keeping one hand free for the 'sabre is not going to be easy ...

Slowing done to keep the Droids in site Ker'see calls upon her skills and unleashes on the droids shooting from both guns of her BARC speeder. It was too easy to kill these droids and they weren't the target she wanted.

Your next, Bounty Hunter...

Jorin initiates a sharp 180 degree turn and fired at the first group of STAP's that crossed his targeting icon. The BARC unleashed a hail of fire that desemated the flying platforms.

Lieutenant, take out the last group and let's get out of here!

"Yes sir..." Camouflage quickly brings the bike's nose around, sending the BARC into a slide as he levels his cannons at the remaining couple STAPs. Making sure his line of fire is clear, he tracks them as they start to take evasive action and opens fire, cutting through both of them with ease. "Let's jet before they send reinforcements!"

"Agreed, Lieutenant," Mireska replied.

She looked over at the Jedi with the jetpack. "Do you have enough fuel to make it to the garrison, or would you like to take one of the sidecars? It doesn't have to be mine with the stretcher attachment - the other sidecars each have a heavy repeating blaster. I don't advise taking the occupied one, though - the nexu will likely object."