Log:First Order: Investigations on Felucia
Investigations on Felucia
OOC Date: March 16, 2016
Location: Felucia
Participants: Fuze, HL-3114, Hux (GM), First Order
The day following the failed capture of Luke Skywalker was one that could only be described as hell for those Stormtroopers aboard the Finalizer. Once the destroyer caught up to the transports and the troops returned empty handed, General Hux's outrage was borderline nuclear. Double and triple PT's were assigned to those companies that were directly involved with the failure, and most that were not. Rest was something that was not even considered as those who were not busy with physical training or duties on the ship itself were sent back to Felucia to sweep the planet for any traces of what Skywalker wanted on this planet, and where he may have gone.
Being on the ground is where HL-3114 wishes to be, and being so short means she is that much closer to it. When she is on the ground. Though she wasn't a part of the assault on Felucia, she has since come to join her squad there. There's a lot of busy work to do which is something 'Hela' is thankful for. She has way more energy than the size of her frame might suggest, so even when she's not onduty she tends to be active, doing anything she can to help. Hammer, her direct commander, has deemed that the best way to harness this abundant ambition is to make the shortest Trooper do recon and skuttle work. So this search-and-find is right up her alley.
With her rifle on her back, Hela takes to the available locations that might yeild results. With a perchance for climbing and a small frame for getting into tiny places, she means to put those to use. First off she heads to the building the women and children were in, not to talk to them, but rather to see what kindof hidey-holes she can pinpoint.
FZ-4792 is planetside as well, dual-hatting in supervising the removal of the wreckage of her TIE fighter by a heavy-lift crew to avoid the wreckage falling into Resistance hands, and also to take a hand in the searching of the village. First stop is the cave where Luke's X-wing was lurking, and that she climbs up into/rappels down into (delete as appropriate), using a heavy flashlight to illuminate the darkness within. To say she's pissed is an understatement; being sucker-punched by the most wanted man in the galaxy (at least in the First Order's eyes) is unforgivable in her own bitter introspection.
The two story building that HL-3114 is heading to investigate looks much the same as the field report said that it would. It has been completely untouched by Rancor attack or Stormtrooper blaster fire. In fact, it seems to have seen more damage in the anger of the troops following the departure of Luke Skywalker from the planet, which may or may not be a coincidence. The door is now torn from its hinges and lays out on the ground before the building, holes being smashed through the walls and copious blood stains on the short two step lift into the building. The people that had been found in the building the day before are all manacled out in the village before the building, many sporting bruises and wounds from the beatings received at the hands of the First Order. The old man that had intoned the simple words of, "Skywalker gone," is notably missing from the lineup.
The cave has thus far been unexplored completely, save for the initial glance that revealed the wide mouth disappearing into the inky blackness below. The terrain is rough, and the walls of the descent jagged, enough to easily cut and scrape if the climbing should go awry. As Fuze's light shines along the stone walls, they glint and sparkle with some highly reflective mineral, causing the light to be sent back toward her in a myriad of different colors. Far below her, she can see a faint glow that seems to pierce the darkness, though the flashlight's beam seems to make it more difficult to tell if it is actually there.
HL-3114 is not a people person, not in the way that means she has concern for these people. They did something wrong. They harbored Skywalker. Which means that every bruise they have is earned. Any beating they got, they deserved. Without regard for them or their things, Hela means to go through them. While she is not a people person, she is clever enough to know people. They all hide things - even here. So why would these Feluscians be any different? No doubt there is some kind of hidden compartment, a loose floor board or a tile to pop off that has some hidden treasure behind it. No matter what war she has been in anyway, there's always these buried treasures to find. She's become good at finding them out.
Hela starts her search of the building in any living quarters, mostly around or under beds, since that is where people tend to stash stuff. "Like it makes it any safer," she snorts to herself as she roots through things. Or more aptly, she roots under and behind things.
Muttering obscenities under her breath, Fuze hammers a piton into a crevice in the rock and clips on her lifeline, several hundred meters of monofilament-woven cord that unspools from a receptacle on her belt. Then she's edging over the void, hand on the ratcheting mechanism that releases the cord foot by foot as she walks backwards down the descent. Heights don't bother her, she's a pilot, but enclosed spaces do, and while the void she's currently in isn't resulting in anything like a panic attack, the depths below are starting to gnaw at her intestines. She uses her helmet to illuminate the small expanse of rock face before her, letting the heavy flashlight dangle on a short length of bungee. Its beam spins around disconcertingly. One assumes there's a Stormtrooper detail at the mouth of the cave, that she hasn't gone trotting off into the jungle purely by herself. That would be…unwise.
Hela's search as of yet turns up nothing, by all intents and purposes it seems to be quite a normal bedroom. The bed was not made this morning, and the simple wooden bookshelf seems unremarkable. There are a few squeaky floorboards, though it doesn't seem to isolate to one are in particular.
The dizzying effect of Fuze's flashlight makes it impossible for her to get any idea of what may be rushing upward toward her from the darkness below. All that she is able to see is the oddly reflective surface of the rock wall directly infront of and around her as she descends.
HL-3114 gives it a few more passes and... still, nothing. Frustrated, she isn't about to give up yet. She tilts her head and touches the comm button on her helmet, asking dispatch to see if there's anyone else on a search duty she can speak to. "Hello, if there's a party or individual out there, I could use a fresh pair of eyes. There's got to be something in here, where the people were found. Everyone stashes something, and if Skywalker was here then no doubt there's some evidence of this that they would have hidden from us." Because the Ren and the Supreme Leader are never wrong. She HATES asking for help but the idea of turning up nothing motivates her to reach out.
Snapping off the powerful flashlight, Fuze stops, killing the helmet lights as well so she can look down towards the glow below. She clicks on her comm, "Search teams, FZ-4792. Can't see much down in this hole, so I'm carrying on further down." She remains where she is, though, letting her eyes get accustomed to the darkness of the void, before she makes another move.
As Hela leans back and phones in over the comms to request a fresh set of eyes, the change in angle seems to be what was needed. Something about the book case seems to draw her cursory gaze, drawing her eyes toward the few twenty something books that are on the shelf. The fact that there is a bookshelf at all on such a primitive planet, in such a obviously primitive village could be cause for interest. The spines of the books are worn and faded, obviously old. And then there is what appears to be a thin piece of parchment that rests between two such tomes, the paper folded so thin and neatly that it almost disappears between the two larger books.
The darkness seems to press in on Fuze as she clicks the light off, inky blackness that covers everything in or in this case /out/ of sight. As she gazes below though, the darkness seems to shift. A faint green glow seems to pulse far below, the brightness swelling and then quickly receding, swelling and then receding in a steady rhythm.
HL-3114 is well aware of the chain of command and she is certain that Fuze outranks her. EVERYONE outranks her. Spotting the thin piece of parchment, Hela grabs it and quickly stows it in her belt. It might be thing, maybe delicate, but hopefully it survives the process. "Heard, FZ-4792," she answers back. Making sure her rifle is shouldered, she checks her locator to see where Fuze is and then hoofs it in that direction double time. Good thing she has been working on her running lately, huh. "En route to assist.”
"Copy. There's something down there." Fuze's voice sounds puzzled. "It's...weird." Not particularly helpful to those above. Then she starts to rapel down, using her helmet lights if needed to guide her booted feet down the wall of rock. She's not afraid of the dark, but she is afraid of the thousands of tons of rock above her. What if it collapses? What if she's buried alive, imprisoned until she dies of thirst or goes insane, smashing her head against the rock to escape the voices in her head? She has to stop, take a couple of deep breaths, each exhaled in a low hiss. Then she resumes her descent.
The further down that Fuze goes, the brighter that glow beneath her grows on each up pulse, the sheer size of that glow also increasing to reveal that it is obviously no small thing responsible. The further down the hole she goes, the large the sheer drop seems to be, as well as the circumference of the tunnel she is descending as she can no longer see the walls on the other side. Suddenly the wall she was using to catch her feet disappears and she is suddenly suspended from her rope in inky black free space. The momentum of her rappel jump sends her swinging from the rope as there is nothing to catch agains and she is spinning in a disorienting fashion. That glow seems to be all around her.
The paper that Hela takes does indeed seem to be very old, no doubt made by the primitive people here out of some plant based materials. It fits into her belt easily enough and doesn't tear. The going is quite easy as the short Stormtrooper makes his way toward Fuze. The cave is quite large, and then there is the place where Fuze secured her rope before disappearing down into the tunnel.
HL-3114 doesn't waste any time leaping into the breach, as it were. Securing herself with her own line, she quickly decends in after Fuze. She can't let her superior continue on unaccounted for. For not the piece of parchment will have to remain unexamined. "Coming down now, sir." "OK, the cave has opened out, I'm dangling in space." Oddly, this reassures Fuze. She can only see darkness, and the glow below, it's like floating in deep space, her home. She looks up, her helmet lights tiny pinpricks of light below Hela. "Glad to have the company.”
As Fuze spins at the end of her rope, those head lights atop her helmet seem to almost catch something. There is an odd sound off in the darkness, a /few/ odd sounds, somewhere between the sound of nails on a chalk board and the loud screech of a bird. Movement seems to evade Fuze, just outside of her notice, in that steady pulse of green.
Hela has no trouble following Fuze's line down the shaft, though those pinpricks of light are far below her.
"HL-3114, FZ-4792. There's something down here." Fuze's tone has gone from detached to alert. And then puzzlement: "I can't see it, but I think it's flying." As she spins, she hauls up the heavy flashlight, a powerful power pack attached to a lens and reflector arrangement the size of a dinner plate, and aiming it in the direction she last heard the noise or movement, clicks on the beam. And then she begins to scan the beam, raster-like, left to right and back.
Open space, like this, is not something a groundpounder like Hela is all that comfortable with. Before that dangling bit she'll stop, at that part where her feet can still feel something to push against. "Glad to be of service, sir," she says though she wonders if she has to get any closer to Fuze. She then considers and says, "Like... living or a ship?" If the latter then they might want to consider backup.
No sooner does Fuze mention that she thinks there is something down here and lift that flashlight, the beam piercing the darkness, than whatever /IT/ may be is on her. With that same screech as before, only much, much louder, something hurtles out of the darkness to pounce on Fuze. Whatever it is is quite large and obscures both Fuze's helmet lights and the flashlight beam from being able to be seen from Hela above. All Fuze is able to see is the brief flash of something green before the attack is on in full, strong taloned fingers ripping the chest plate of her armor free in one terrible rending motion and then those claws digging into her stomach and shoulders through the under armor.
HL-3114 is immediately glad to have her feet planted. Her rifle is unslung, aimed and fired as fast as she can do so. If it won't scare this thing then maybe it will draw attention off of Fuze and onto her. "Fuze!" That comes *after* the shooting, because the shooting has been so very drilled into her. "Activate your inch, get out of there!" She gets off all of the shots she can, going as wide of Fuze as she can, looking to clip that thing in any way she can. You know. Firing around that being-mauled lightsource below her that is - was? - Fuze.
The powerful flashlight goes bouncing off on its bungee as Fuze lets out an inarticulate cry of agony and panic. At least the beast is merely ripping her torso apart; she fumbles for her blaster with one hand, managing to draw it and fire at point-blank range; there's no skill or aiming or targeting, it's just a reflexive shot. The other hand fumbles with, eventually activates the winch control, and the device groans under the weight of Fuze plus beastie, the monofilament wire straining towards the point of breaking. And all the time she's screaming, blood bubbling out of her lips from her clawed chest and stomach, which can be doing nothing for the morale of the Troopers above.
True enough, the Comms are alive with chatter that cannot help communication between Hela and Fuze as voices sound off asking for status reports. Fuze's winch struggles to lift the wounded pilot as the beast claws at her once more before that blaster bolt sizzles into leathery flesh and with a fierce flexing of taloned feet, the beast launches off of Fuze and into that oddly glowing darkness once more. This causes Fuze to swing on that winding rope once more, head and feet cracking against that sharp wall as her body is finally dragged upward into the tunnel that composes the ascent back to the world above.
Hela's shots go wide of the beast, though if she is watching that red light flashing by, she can see the quick zip of dark shapes below that suggests at least three more of these beasts are below Fuze's swinging body.
HL-3114 needs a larger deterant. And she needs to get Fuze out of here ... like as of YESTERDAY! She is quick (and calm) to give a brief status update, and a warning of the medical need that needs to be ready above. As soon as Fuze is free of that beast, Hela lets go and drops to meet her. As she does she throws a grenade, set to detonate well, well below them but hopefully the sound/force of it will drive those nasty things away. All three (or more?) of them. Also, then with her hands free, she can grab for Fuze as she activate her own winch. She'll crawl out of here with the pilot if she has to. "You best stay alive, Fuze, or Pox might kill me. Stay with me, sir. I'm getting out out of here."
Fuze is only semi-conscious at best, now, firing blindly into the darkness below until her blaster falls from trembling fingers to spin into the abyss below. Then she's being dragged back over the rocks by Hela and by her own winch, her body slamming into outcrop after outcrop, her limp ragdoll form leaving a smear of dark crimson as it's dragged upwards towards the light and safety. "Get...out...of..there..." she chokes to Hela, her voice bubbling with blood. “That's...order..."
"Yes, sir. Order heard. Get you out of here." At least Hela is honest about what she wants to hear. With her hands on the prize, in this case, Fuze, she's going to get herself between any outcroppings and crags, to take those dings and dnets as Fuze has been through more than her fair share. The medical unit better be ready above or Hela might have more targets to shoot at.
The pair of Troopers, aided by their wench manage to make it to the relative safety of the tunnel ascent. If Hela were watching below, in the brief illumination of her grenade she would see what appears to be a huge underground lake that bubbled frequently atop the surface, smoke rising into the air and aiding that pulsing green glow. A swarm of the flying beasts, racing up toward Fuze's retreating and wounded body are scorched by the explosion, two tumbling away into darkness while the rest scatter wildly with shrieks of protest. Once Fuze's rocking swing has played out, Hela and Fuze are both dragged slowly upward, Fuze losing what appears to be quite a bit of blood that drips back down into the darkness below. After what seems like hours, the pair are seized by strong hands of other troopers and yanked over the rim of the tunnel and to the cave floor. A medical team is there waiting, as well as several Stormtroopers, blasters leveled at the hole as if expecting something to follow them up.
HL-3114 waves off nay help aimed in herdirection and instead points it all towards Fuze. ONce she's out of the hole, she'll follow Fuze towards recovery, on the tails of that medical team. If there's a need for blood to be provided, she'll be on hand to volunteer to have it drawn from her first. The parchment she found and stowed? Forgotten for now, but once she remembers she has it, she can turn it over to a superior officer then.
There's blood. Lots of blood. Bubbling from Fuze's mouth and nose, pulsing freely from the shattered remains of her stomach (glistening purple sausages of intestine visible) and shoulders (pale bone seen under the fragments of armor and underarmor). She looks towards Hela, and grasps the woman's hand if she can with a weak and trembling grip. Fuze's eyes are still terrified, frozen in shock. She coughs up bloody spittle, "Kill them. Kill them all." It's unclear whether she means the villagers or the flying beasts below, and there's no time for clarification, for her head flops sideways. But her vitals are still hanging in there, and soon she'll be in a bacta tank. Perhaps Hela's blood will be needed to get her there, though.
