Log:First Order: Point Raid

First Order: Point Raid

OOC Date: November 10, 2019
Location: Kuat
Participants: First Order: Hadrix Rol, Emma Starflare, and Saanvi; Knights of Ren: Ravelyn, Dreman Bryce, and Kylo Ren

Kuat Driveyards, 1800 hours, local time.

It's been weeks since the excitement on Korriban, weeks since the Vanguard were dispatched on an 'official' mission, so when the order went out to rendezvous on Kuat, it may have caught them by surprise. The various ships and transports have likely arrived at disparate times with their various passengers, but once the full complement is assembled, they're quickly briefed by an austere uniformed woman with her hair pulled back in a tight, polished bun.

"We confirmed this intel not three hours ago. Terrorist radicals are making a strike, tonight, on the unirail train that moves supplies from the raw goods stockpile to the RSD drydocks," she explains as she walks, marching towards the metal staircases and catwalks that lead up away from the landing pads towards the long, circuitous line of the unirail. "We don't have much to go on, but we know they're boarding and the attack is imminent. We expect it will take place somewhere between here and the drydocks up ahead. Most of the route is sheltered by the cliffs, but there's an exposed run where the train will be vulnerable. You'll have to ride along and stop them. I don't care how big of a mess you make, but we have to show this sort of kark will not be tolerated."

Down the line, the long, low line of the train can be seen drawing towards the station, coming to a jerking halt alongside the gangplank at the top of the stairs. "This is your ride."

Long-gun drawn from his back and checked, the impassive glare of Hadrix's helm as he listens to the briefing, the externals washing out anything other that the growl of his distorted voice, "Copy. Eliminate targets, open conflict parameters. No prisoners, no quarter." looking to the gangplank and starting towards it.

"Vanguard - take positions, prep for three sixty observation, call out potential threats an targets. Focus fire and cover one another." massive boots clunking as he walks. To the woman with the bun he comments, "Additional intel, put over secure comms. No leaks." a glower in his tone as he makes for their 'ride'.

It has been a while since their last adventure, but whatever method that's used to call Ravelyn in still works, because the knight is here once again. The always present armor has been polished and repaired, looking as good as new since their last encounter. "A train heist?" The helmet turns to look around at the others, then up to the tight-bunned woman relaying the information. "That's new." Their ride arrives and the Knight moves ahead to board the train without hesitation. "Let's have a care with what we shoot at, or how explosive things are," the remark is made off the cuff, an absent thought tossed over a shoulder to the others. "I don't want to die in a fiery train wreck if it can be avoided."

"Something tells me your fate is far more dramatic," Bryce offers in a cold, digital voice that flows from the half mask. How long was he there? Did anyone care? He didn't know. But there he is, with a single exposed eye scanning those assembled. As Hadrix provides a tactical option, Bryce listens and considers their ride.

It had been a while since Emma had been alongside the rest of the team, other assignments and duties had kept her from the same field. Yet here she was, sniper rifle in hand and offering a silent smirk at Ravelyn's comment. There's no arguement with Hadrix, only a nod and a flick of the safety as the sniper preps her weapon. "Lead the way."

Saanvi unslings and checks her rifle <Copy, Team Lead. Medic to bring up rear unless otherwise ordered> She considers their right and tries to contain her excitement. A locomotive. She doesn't nerd at them knowing by now it is not the venue but someone is clearly excited about their first train ride.

Almost before the Vanguard and Knights have finished boarding, the train starts to pull ahead, quickly gathering speed. This unirail has a schedule to keep, terrorist attack be damned! Five long cars form the body of the train, drug behind a combination engine/cargo car at the head, massive U-shaped clamps mag-gripping the single rail that provides its power.

A hard, feminine voice crackles over the comms. <"We've been running the trains short of their full cargo for a few weeks now, low on resources as it is and I think they know it. The uh. The Supreme Leader is aware.">

Wind rushes back over the sleek shape of the train, pushing against anything that breaks the streamlined bullet surface. A number of handholds and platforms and railings mark the various cars, but judging from the look and feel of them, they're likely intended for servicing the train at rest. <"The space between cars is fairly safe, so long as you don't fall between the couplings. Or fall through the gap. But at least the wind won't hit you there."> Reassuring!

Gaps, falling... Horrible death. Check. Working to make his way along, suit sensors seeking targets, oblivious to wind or cold caused by such, the big man holds the sniper blaster steady in one hand.

<"Ravelyn... Dreman... you you notice anything that we can't?"> a pause as he considers, trying to take a long look himself, <"Seventeen, anything in your scopes?"> Hadrix grumbles as he scans and tries to not have to use his jets.

"I hope so, it would be a disappointing way to go," Ravelyn remarks to Bryce, moving down the train car to look for a seat, or handhold before the train sets into motion, and settling on the latter as the train sets into motion. The voice chimes in again, helmet tipping back unnecessarily to look for the speaker that's carrying tight bun's voice to them. "Notice anything? No, not yet. I'll let you know if anything tickles the senses."

Bryce remains quiet for a moment as they consider their objectives. The question doesn't go unanswered for long. "No," he says simply, as he wonders whether they would be fighting atop this train. It would be appropriately dramatic, and dangerous. "Something tells me full speed is the order of the day," he adds.

"After everything else, plummeting to my demise here would be...yes, disappointing," the accented blonde sniper muses before Emma is left peering over her scope. "All clear so far..."

Saanvi muses "The logistical challenges to this mission should be educational. Is there a suggested method to this wholesale slaughter? A shame we cannot engage in transit."

There isn't long to wait in suspenseful silence with the whoosh of the air rushing past filling their ears. A trio of speederbikes scream overhead, pulling ahead of the group and abreast with the train, starting to match pace, and behind those three, a few less than a dozen are in hot pursuit, winging in down towards the long locomotive, eyes covered and faces shielded from the high speed wind. Most of the bikes are packing double, with a rider and a passenger clinging on behind. A passenger on one of the lead scouting bikes scans the train and waves down towards the shapes of the unexpected defenders.

Hadrix turns at the sight of the speeders en route, <"Contacts, en route. Aim for the vehicles or gunners."> the big trooper's rifle is up as he takes a knee to brace and follow the lines of his suit targeting to level his shot dead center in the bracket. <"Weapons free."> The order given even as he looses a bolt at the lead speeder.

A lone gloved hand clings to the handhold as Ravelyn sways with the motion of the train while attention is focused outward, watching for signs of trouble. There's a subtle straightening of the spine as movement is spotted coming up on the train fast, the hand not being used to maintain balance gesturing toward said trouble. There's a faint narrowing of unseen eyes as the gesturing hand hangs in the air then clenches, so that invisible force clamps down the passenger on the colead speeder, crushing painfully, if not yet fatally.

Something gave Bryce the feeling they were not chosing the appropriate venue for this incident, but, that die had already been cast. The speed kept him focused on not falling off the side of the train. With a focused mind and a raised hand, Bryce attempts to simply apply ample amounts of force downward to send the speeder crashing. Instead, a series of plates buckle and sheer off of the side of the vehicle, flipping wildly behind them before falling to the ground.

Targets sighted, their presence announced by the others. Swivelling from her position Emma takes aim and fires, he bolt zipping through the air and just narrowly missing her mark. There's a tsk and the sniper adjusts without another word, preparing to fire once more with a steady exhale of breath.

Saanvi lifts her rifle and her body turns pivoted on the balls of her feet as she follows the speeders <Confirming we do not require any targets for interrogation?> She doesn't fire as she works to get a clean shot.

The shots and Force attacks on the speeders do some serious damage, and as the speeders pull in close to deposit their passengers on the train, one bucks wildly from the impact and the leaping passenger hurtles into oblivion with a shriek, plummeting down away from the rail. The other two leap with better luck, thumping down on top of the car, one immediately sliding over to the side and nearly careening off into the void, but she latches on at the last moment, grabbing one of those handholds.

To the rear, a few more speeders pull up alongside the train, angling to deposit more of the raiders onto the vehicle.

<"I should have brought the missile launcher..."> Hadrix grumbles... But who the hell gave him a missile launcher? Where did he find a missile. Why does he -have- a missile launcher. Most important, why isn't it with?

Then people are leaping onto the train, Hadrix swiveling to put a bolt down range, to arrest their invasion and send them hurtling with their hapless compatriot suddenly ablaze as the unstable plasma erupts around them.

<"Knights suggest you use sorcery on the speeders, try to eliminate their ability to continue to board us?">

"No, you should not have," Ravelyn replies to Hadrix, the edge in the tone moving closer to stern as those words are spoken. "Look where we are." People are leaping into the train, and like a cat slapping at prey, one hand sweeps outward, simply pushing Nadras right back off the train again. Simple, effective, not the least bit explosive.

A plan begins to form within Bryce's mind, but more time was needed to suss the details from the muck. In the meantime, he responds appropriately by sending fallen debris back at Red Speeder. Broken parts from other speeders, the bodies of falling raiders, whatever. Whatever he could coerce back towards the speeder with the power of the Force.

Saanvi is patient even in the face of sudden increase in the number of targets needing their attention. Only when a shot is lined up does she fire and she waits just long enough to confirm a solid hit but continues to follow it in case another shot is required.

Boarders come to the train, earning a sudden close quarters threat...and they're swiftly dealt with. A blink, a shrug, there's another shot made at the approaching speeders and yet still her shot seems to narrowly miss. Sometimes, it was simply not one's day!

The first pair of boarders are summarily executed, pushed into oblivion by an unseen power or just shot there by Hadrix's rifle and the big bolt of sizzling plasma it sends scooting down over the top of the train.

Unperturbed, the next batch come winging in low to dump a few more terrorists aboard, but between Saanvi's shot across the bow sending that speeder lurching back upwards and the chunks of debris that Bryce sends crashing into a red speeder, only two of the passengers manage to make it atop the train, with one staying in his seat and the other hurtling down into the expanse below, sending a scream upward that bounces off the cliffside (https://bit.ly/32vXQfH).

Blue keeps puttering along, trying to line up with the train, while the last few of the terrorist speeders surge up beside it.

"I know exactly where we are, it's the perfect use of a missile launcher, we'd outrun the explosion." Hadrix doesn't get physics... or maybe he does? who knows, as more raiders mount the train he continues to fire, unstable plasma splashing against the leg of his target, suddenly setting the poor(?) man on fire.

"Not all of us spray lightning or turn people to fire with our minds. Some of us need explosives. Glorious. Violent. Bright... " he trails off, thinking of explosives more than his aim, clearly.

"It is absolutely not the perfect use when it could present more danger to us than the actual danger we're here dealing with," Ravelyn replies, perhaps having a more firm grasp of physics. Or a healthy fear of explosives being used in ill advised situations such as these. The hand whips out again, this time aiming at a purple speeder, hitting it hard, just not quite hard enough to stop it.

As they seem to have only somewhat availed the attempts at being boarded, Bryce turns his attention back to their train. With an electric hiss, the lightsaber comes to life with a squealing crimson beam emitted from a pitch-colored, rimed hilt that was perpetually cold. Bryce moves to figure out an intercept path. "Never underestimate the value of gravity," he says offhandedly to Hadrix. He'd killed far more with that than lightning bolts.

Another shot missed, the sniper gives a little frown in disgust. Had she simply gotten rusty, were her opponents watching her a little closer? Emma wasn't sure. Still, as one of the boarders dived under her bolt the woman's grip on her weapon tightens. Perhaps her carbine would have been a better choice, but the attackers still have to get past the Knights.

Saanvi's second shot goes wide prompting her to scowl and shift her attention to one of the two boarders who've managed to make it aboard the train, her stance bracing a bit as she levels the barrel towards her new targets.

With a few boarders successfully on the roof of the train, the remaining speeders drift in as low as they can, a pair of them trailing smoke back in a cloud of black behind them, and all of the passengers left are able to make the leap to the roof, joining their compatriots in crime and hastily securing handholds. One unfortunate soul slips and slides to the edge, the toe of their boot catching in a crevice of the roof and holding them dangling over the edge. "AAAHHH," the man shouts. "AAAHHHH! PULL ME UP!"

As the train hurtles around a bend in the track, the clear spot is abruptly gone as the cliffs resume sheltering both sides of the railway and the speeders, their payloads deposited, are forced to veer sharply upwards to avoid crashing into the rock. Only two of them make it, the other two impacting in a staccato boom-boom that drowns them in a burst of flame.

"How could I possibly cause a worse threat? You've seen me shoot, yes? Accuracy -and- firepower, Ravelyn... It's like math." He's not good at that either. Algebra... Heh. Why do you have to mix letters and numbers together? Why can't you go kriff yourself?

A blaster bolt spaks off of his helmet, deflecting away harmlessly to cause a score mark and the massive trooper growls, causing his externals to warble threateningly and he draws up again, taking aim, and letting loose... and using his targeting computer this time to its full advantage, a blazing a bolt center of mass, again setting the poor raider aflame.

"Look, I'm not trying to disparage your mathematical prowess," Ravelyn assures Hadrix in what is definitely a lie because that's exactly the direction this is going. "I'm just saying your calculations are completely off and I don't want your bad numbers blowing my pretty face up." Is it pretty? Who knows, the armor looks neat though, so maybe that counts. In the midst of the chatter Ravelyn uses that same terrifying power to snare another of the train boarders, fingers clenching in to mimic the sensation capturing Goza, crushing him, holding him very still so that he's given a much quicker death than he might've gotten in the knight's care alone.

This time, the bolt finds its mark, the incendiary shot slamming into the target already pelted by that telekinetic force and crushed. If anything, the shot was a mercy when it blasted through Goza's body and ended his life, but the sniper was making to take aim at the next target. Hopefully, the bad luck was coming to an end, but either way the female trooper was still in the fight!

Saanvi assures both calmly over the comms <<Oh Four's advanced mathmatical prowess is dubious at best.>> any indignant reply oh four might have about her uncaring observation is drowned out by the report of her rifle and the priming it for another discharge.

With the raiders all aboard and the one hanging by a toe pulled back upright, they open fire on the defenders, clinging to the top of the train and shooting back as shots fly over their heads, blaster bolts peppering the sides of the canyon the train hurtles through and sending down chunks of debris and scree into the empty air beneath them, or at least it appears empty. Slowly, they begin inching forward under each other's covering fire towards a hatch in the roof of the car.

"I'll believe it's a pretty face when I see beneath the armor Ravelyn. Phasma's head has seen the light of day more than yours, I'm sure of it." Hadrix quips back as a bolts explode on his armor forcing Hadrix down and a growl from his externals as a shot cores past his armor, scorching muscle and flesh. "Kark it!"

Sniper rifle hitting the ground, Hadrix stands with a carbine held in a pistol grip reinforced by his suit. "MATH... RAVELYN... I AM AN EXPERT!!" the ch-CHHOOM ch-CHOOM-CHOOM! of an old E-11 filling the air, dropping one raider after another while he shouts at the Knight. Bodys falling with holes coring through their brows and out the backs of their skulls.

"Oh, well if you're sure of it," Ravelyn replies in a tone that's dry enough to belong on Tatooine. There's a moment where the knight simply watches as Hadrix goes full on murder machine to prove his math savvy, but it's impossible to say if the Knight is impressed. There's just a bark of a laugh made sharper by the vocoder, and then an unfortunate attack on Tiilandra, a force not unlike a speeding train slamming into the raider to knock them down. "I'm not sure you know what math is, Hadrix."

Bryce seems to have little else to do, as the others have taken care of the immediate threats. Bryce takes up a defensive position until the last of them fall. His careful, piercing gaze regards the others.

Saanvi grunts and rocks back a step as a shot breaches her armor while she's reaching for her sidearm after stowing her rifle. Clearly she knows who to blame as her retort is to aim her pistol and issue a retort, pistol making a sweep as she seeks other targets <<Team Lead, how urgent is your medical need?>>

With her first mark down and more borders abound than she'd like, Emma's own blaster falls from her hand...and dangles on its sling while the blonde deftly draws her Carbine and opens fire. Ther first two bolts? They impact heavy with one of the terrorists, one in the chest and the next in the head sending his lifeless body skidding off the top of the train, leaving Emma to fire off her next bolt at the slightly more alert but shortly no less unlucky Tiilandra. "It's good to see some things have not changed!" she calls over the din towards Hadrix and his arguement, a little smirk on her lips. "Perhaps we can debate this after they are all dead and our mission is complete?"

As the last of the boarding party is gunned down, the train rounds the final corner and the drydock appears in sight, the brakes on the train already beginning to squeal and scrape as they grate over the metal surface of the unirail.

The feminine voice comes crackling over the comms again. <"Good work, Vanguard, I've got the train on sensors here pulling into the station. You've kept the shipment in one piece and the rail too. I can't speak for the Supreme Leader, but I'm grateful for your assistance. Cannady out.">