Chapter 47: Taniar Trav'nel
In Orbit of Krant
Sixteen hours earlier…
After Clan Aean rejected the offer of eight billion Zav in exchange for aid in reverse engineering the Mandalorian armour Botha'ahir had seized, Captain Uk Biad'tannen remained in orbit. On the third day, when Taniar happened upon the Captain outside of the mess hall, she asked him why they were still orbiting Krant.
"Pam Guni, mesha ko korn fuful, yag syu anoda thi goyuri usmu." [Gunny, I have a feeling that our luck will change,] Uk said with a smirk in the corner of his snout.
Luck? [Very well sir, thank you for keeping me apprised.]
[I have one request of you, if you don't mind.]
Taniar's ears perked up. [What is it sir?]
[For your simulation today, would you mind if Colonel Zrask Oc'nel and his team of specialists joined in?]
What are those engineers going to do in a combat simulation? [Very well sir, they can join in as long as they stay out of the way. What role will they be playing?]
o.o.o.o.o
In the combat simulation, things were there usual level of hectic. Taniar, Bithisk, and their team wore implant-assisted, simulator helmets. This gave them a perception of not only the environment, but also simulated activation and deactivation of their Marine adrenal implants, armour implants, and even a realistic sensation of pain.
On the grassy fields of Krant, near a simulation of the one of the Clan Aean Settlements, Taniar and her team had deployed into action.
The Clan Aean fighters, this time controlled by an AI, wore similar armour to the KHGC forces Taniar had fought in real life, however, with almost RIS-like snouted helmets.
With her Abokul repeating blaster, taking cover amidst a circle of boulders, Taniar ruthlessly sent streams of hundreds of blasts into the sky while Gurosk blinded dozens of them with ink.
[Very good job Lieutenant and Gunny,] Uk growled happily into the comm. [Very good incorporating the flying behaviour from Thellus into the simulation. It's life-like]
Amidst the adrenaline rush, Taniar's fur danced with excitement. [Thank you, sir!] she yipped.
[Now, are you ready for Zrask and his team to show you their Mark 1 Quad Weapons Platforms?] Uk asked excitedly.
[Send them in sir!] Bithisk yipped excitedly in a breathless voice as he shot his own stream of blasts into two flying Aean Bothans.
[All right everyone, hold your fire on Quadrant 2, I say again, do not fire on Quadrant 2, we have friendlies dropping down.]
Dropping down? In real life, Taniar's ears perked up under her simulator helmet.
Suddenly, in the Western half of the sky, six fireballs emerged, falling through the clouds at terminal velocities. Whatever they were, they were distinctly boxy and looked very much like a TannenWorks design. Uh… Don't we need to worry about danger-close Captain? Taniar thought to herself. I hope those bombs don't hit us.
The rest of Taniar's team groaned in awe.
Suddenly, parachutes deployed from tops of the falling cubes and reverse thrusters fired into action, spewing white plumes below the cubes as they landed. Once they slowed down, Taniar could see that each was painted in an anti-reflective sage green and brown camouflage coating.
Magnifying her RIS display from the controls on her wrist, Taniar could now make out two tiny metal boxes at the front of the nearest cube. They immediately sprung to life, unravelling as thin rectangular legs. Two arms popped out from either side of the cube as it stood to its feet.
In spite of the jetpack propelled Clan Aean simulations flying about, still shooting blasts down from the sky, Taniar lost focus on the battle and stared at these contraptions. They looked like a closed-cockpit walker with arms, or perhaps a Type II Loadlifter droid with a cockpit.
The six walkers rallied on the empty hill in front of the circle of boulders, using the top of the hill as the perfect vantagepoint to laze anti-aircraft fire in every direction. Each one seemed to have a plethora of missiles, as well as wrist-mounted laser canons, with under-barrel flak canons.
[You Marines just keep in cover down there. We got this handled,] Zrask growled confidently.
[Kriffing engineers ruining the simulation!] Gurosk snarled, setting down his sniper rifle as he sat on a rock.
[What problem do you have with engineers?] Neyar snarled back.
[I didn't mean combat engineers,] Gurosk sighed with a Spacer shrug.
Taniar roared with laughter shaking her head. Those things are amazing. I wonder though, how easy they would be to extract from combat.
o.o.o.o.o
After the simulator, Taniar felt mentally exhausted, as usual. The adrenaline rush was followed by an inevitable crash. She laid in the pod for a moment, staring up the ceiling, blinking at the lights.
[Captain on deck!] yelled Lokesk, jumping to his feet.
Taniar to stood up.
[At ease,] Uk said with a smile. [Everyone but Taniar Trav and Bithisk Klir, dismissed. Great work everyone.]
[Thank you, sir,] Neyar yipped excitedly as she departed, carrying her simulator helmet.
Once Gurosk had finally left, Uk spoke again. [Your thoughts on the Mark II Walkers?]
So that's what they are, Taniar thought. [Very effective sir,] she answered.
[Not particularly effective for a ship boarding sir,] Bithisk growled wryly. The Bothan's fur danced with excitement. He was clearly very proud of his own joke.
Uk chuckled lightly at that. [Good point Lieutenant.]
Not reacting to the joke, Taniar asked something that had been on her mind since seeing them in action. [They seem to be very quick to deploy into combat sir. How can they be extracted from combat?]
[The same way other vehicles are Gunny, by transport.]
Taniar hmm'd to herself in a far less impressed tone.
o.o.o.o.o
Taniar awoke to the buzzing of her comm. [Taniar here.] She snapped awake.
[Gunny, we got lucky,] Uk growled proudly. [Report to hangar 1. One of the locals, an armourer, has accepted our offer.]
[An… armourer sir?] Taniar growled incredulously.
[Yes Gunny, an armourer.]
o.o.o.o.o
In total darkness, the boxy radar-absorbing CZ-9 TannenWorks transport descended through the night-time sky of Krant. All of the lights in its interior were off, the external lights were off, and the engines were running with dirty black smoke inducing fuel. The only way the Aean Bothans would have had any warning of their presence would have been to see it in the sky with infrared.
The mission was fairly straightforward. Rendezvous with some Natil Nif'ean on the edge of town, at the edge of the particle shield, and escort her back to the landing zone.
Why could this Natil Nif'ean not just extract herself from town? Taniar did not know. After the shuttle descended into the centre of a grove of pines, the Marines disembarked from at the edge of the forcefield. The fuel was so dirty smelling that Taniar could smell it, even through the filters of her suit.
Taniar's fur swirled nervously as she looked at the translucent blue shield in front of her, glowing eerily in the night. It towered hundreds of meters into the air, forming a massive blue dome.
She tapped the shield with the butt of her Abokul heavy blaster. The shield shimmered more brightly for a moment where the blaster made contact, and the butt sunk through.
[You're on point Gunny,] whispered Bithisk.
[I know sir,] Taniar replied, [just making sure.] Making sure that the forcefield is not electrostatic. Making sure that it is safe to walk through.
She took a deep breath, then groaned in her RIS armour suit as she took a step forward, gently pushing her way through. The forcefield resisted for a moment, blocking her advance until her armour boot slipped through, then her knee, then her shoulder, then [— Taniar to team, comm check? Can you hear me?]
No one replied. She turned around, flashing the Spacer gesture for comm is not working.
Bithisk replied with a Spacer hand shrug, then pressed buttons on his wrist, no doubt changing the channel to inform the ship that Clan Aean was blocking all transmissions through the shield.
Taniar then ducked, taking cover behind a hedge right next to the shield to stay out of sight.
A moment later Gurosk stepped through, sniper rifle first, followed by Varesk, Shkon, Neyar, Lokesk, and finally, Bithisk.
[Captains says to proceed despite comm blackout,] Bithisk explained the moment he was clear of the forcefield.
Taniar's fur swirled nervously. All righty… [Testing comm,] she muttered into the comm.
Bithisk's voice replied both echoing from his RIS armour and into Taniar's helmet comm. [Good thinking Gunny, the team channel seems to work in here.]
[Roger that,] Gurosk growled into the comm.
[All right,] Bithisk said in a somewhat uncertain tone as he spun around looking to all of the team members. [I suppose then, we will maintain comm communication with each other in here.]
You suppose? Taniar's fur stood on end. She always hated it when brand-new Lieutenants said stupid things like that.
[All right, let's move out. Try not to let any of the locals see you.]
Taniar looked wearily down the lane leading deeper into town. There were plenty of trees on either side of the road but, between the trees, house lights shone brightly.
o.o.o.o.o
The Aean houses in this particular forested town were a multitude of colours. Each one was painted in the same patterns of the leaves of the various native Krant trees, as well as in the dark green shade of the invasive Pines. Their roofs were covered in shingles, each a different colour, forming a pattern of beautiful rectangular camouflage.
After ten minutes of darting in the darkness through the well-lit gaps from suburban tree grove to tree grove, from colourful house to house, they arrived at their destination: a one-storey brick home. The dominant colour of this house was a dark orange, but many blotches were green, violet, and blue.
Crouching in the bushes, Bithisk growled, [I will go to the door and knock. Gunny, I want—]
—The Marines turned when they heard a crunching twig. Taniar set her eyes on a shaggy red-furred Bothan with a tan line of fur beginning on her throat. The line of tan fur continued downwards to the collar of her armour. She carried a Mandalorian helmet and continued walking across the yard towards them.
[It's Natil Nif'ean,] Bithisk whispered excitedly. "Hold your position!" he whisper-yelled in Basic to the newcomer.
Natil dropped her helmet and raised her hands.
Varesk walked forwards and began patting her down while Taniar covered him. Neyar walked up to Natil and began scanning her.
"I have a blaster on my ankle," Natil said, holding her hands up.
Gurosk cackled madly.
"Sergeant," Taniar whisper-snarled in Basic. "Keep quiet." She pulled Natil's blaster out of its holster, inspected it, and looked closely at the shorter Bothan's swirling fur. "Why so nervous?"
Natil's fur fell flat. Her grey-blue eyes dilated in terror. She began stammering incoherently. "It all began when—when I—well I am just so tired of it. Emulating—emu—emulate."
"Gunny!" Bithisk snarled. "You're scaring the shtak out of her!"
"Sorry sir," Taniar snorted, now thoroughly convinced that Natil, whatever her motives, was both weak and harmless. "Here's your blaster back," she said, handing Natil her blaster.
"Tha—thank you," Natil stammered.
"So, another three click hike back the way we came sir?" Neyar asked.
"That's the plan," Bithisk started. "Then we simply reach the shuttle—"
"—I have a speeder," Natil interrupted with a nervous yelp, gesturing towards her parked airspeeder.
"Yeah?" Taniar snared, suddenly doubting Natil's mental acuity. "There are eight of us counting you armourer."
"I only thought one of you would come to pick me up…" Natil croaked nervously.
The seven Marines glared at Natil.
Only thought… One… Taniar's fur swirled with suspicion. [Sir,] she whispered to Bithisk in Bothese, [this seems like a trap.]
"Why did you only expect—What is your plan?" Bithisk growled interrogatively, folding his arms.
"I—I thought," Natil stammered, fur flat again. "I thought one of you would ride with me. It's a Koro-2," she yelped. "We—we can take it directly into space and fly up to the ship."
Taniar became so furious she forgot to be quiet. "If you could fly all the way up to our kriffing ship," she snarled loudly, fur standing on end, "why the kriff didn't you?"
"I needed—I needed one of you to give me the access codes to be allowed aboard."
"Search her speeder!" Bithisk snarled.
"It's—it's locked!" yelped Natil.
Taniar took off her own helmet and displayed a ferocious toothy scowl. She grabbed the collar of Natil's armour, pulling the tiny Aean close. "You are going to unlock your airspeeder. If it's a trap, we are going to have a long chat on the Melan all about it."
"It's not a trap…" Natil croaked. "I really just—"
"—UNLOCK THE KRIFFING SPEEDER!" Taniar shrieked, screaming so loudly it caused Natil's whiskers to wiggle.
o.o.o.o.o
Natil's speeder was turned inside out. Across her yard, plastisheet, food wrappers, old ledgers, data storage devices, and luggage was strewn everywhere. The Marines could find no traps. Most now felt safe enough to take off their helmets as they dug through Natil's belongings.
So, we are back to stupid. Great, Taniar scowled as she dug through the top compartment of Natil's suitcase, filled with pink and burgundy underwear. We got a kriffing stupid Aean to help us. "Sir," Taniar sighed reluctantly. "I think she is telling the truth."
"I second that sir," Gurosk smirked, holding one of Natil's burgundy underwear up, glaring at it creepily. He switched to Bothese [I wonder how far down her tan patch of fur goes…]
Taniar's fur stood on end. More ass-talk. Not kriffing again.
[A second ago Sergeant,] Bithisk snorted, [you thought she was going to blow up the Melan.]
[Well sir,] Gurosk growled with a feral grin, [I find it attractive in a woman when it turns out she's not trying to kill me or my friends.]
Gavresk, Shkon, and Lokesk yipped with laughter at that. Neyar folded her arms as she turned to face Gurosk.
[Guys,] Taniar snarled, [knock it off. Gurosk, can't you just pretend to be a good Bothan for one mission?]
[Don't worry Gunny,] Gurosk snorted, [I never think about you that way.]
He is trying to set you off, Taniar told herself. He is trying to make Bithisk reprimand you. Nonetheless, Taniar shrieked, [WHAT THE KRIFF IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!] spinning to face Bithisk.
Natil's fur was flatter than ever as she looked from Taniar, to Gurosk, to Taniar.
"Let's calm down," Bithisk growled calmly in Basic. "Gunny—"
"—Sir" Taniar snarled, "you're new to this. If you keep letting Gurosk talk this way, especially about beings standing right in front of him, it is only going to get more and more out of kriffing control!"
"You're right Gunny," Bithisk sighed. "Gurosk. Cut it out."
"Yes sir," Gurosk growled, tapping the side of his head with two fingers.
Taniar scowled, ignoring the gesture.
"Erz-nizeg 'Bothask ko." [I can speak Bothese,] Natil growled more bravely, in an extremely thick accent.
"I am sorry about that," Bithisk sighed in Basic, fur swirling with embarrassment as he held his helmet.
"All right," Gurosk said, stepping closer to her. "Up front, I like that in a woman. So, I take it, you accept my offer?"
"Hell no," Natil snarled.
Gurosk stepped back, ears batting in annoyance.
Seriously, Taniar thought with a snort. You thought she was going to say yes?
"We need to take some of my belongings from the Koro-2," Natil growled nervously. "I have schematics, 3D fabricator instructions, and—"
"—underwear, got it," Taniar grunted, zipping Natil's suitcase shut and picking it up. "Shkon, Varesk, grab her datapads and all electronic devices from the speeder. I got her suitcase."
"Yes Gunny," they both replied, methodically picking up the electronics scattered about on the lawn.
o.o.o.o.o
Natil, now wearing her helmet, trotted nervously in the centre of the seven Botha'ahir Marines. The first five minutes of their silent walk were uneventful and then the shields suddenly shut down. In Taniar's helmet, the voice of one of the Melan's comm operators frantically trying to reach them echoed out.
The city alarm began blaring.
"SHTAK!" Taniar yelped, turning around, looking up to see if any of the Aean Bothans were in pursuit.
"What the kriff happened?!" Gurosk snarled.
"RUN!" Bithisk yelped, then began frantically requesting for support on the comm.
"I MIGHT HAVE PUT A VIRUS IN THE TOWN SHIELDS TO SHUT THEM DOWN! JUST FOR TEN MINUTES!" Natil gasped, her voice trembling as she confessed. "PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!"
"Why the kriff—never mind," Taniar snarled, all of her goodwill towards Natil erased in an instant. "You kriffing moron! RUN!" Taniar rammed the butt of her Abokul blaster into the back of Natil's armour with a loud ding.
Natil yelped and ran harder, keeping up with the pace of the Marines.
For a few minutes, the only thing Taniar could hear was the sound of heavy Bothan breathing noises, armour boot footsteps, and panicky yells on the comm.
Five minutes from the shield boundary, the ominous sound of jetpacks roared into earshot. Thirty of forty jetpacks flew overhead, lighting brightly on the Marines' infrared display in their RIS helmets. It was like Thellus all over again.
"Ghįn-įnkh wų ųszhųl!" [Ink them!] Bithisk snarled, pulling out his blaster. [Lethal force only when absolutely necessary. We are not here to start a war!] he yelped, repeating Captain Uk Biad'tannen's words verbatim.
Taniar stopped running, aimed her Abokul upwards, and squeezed the trigger once, spraying several ink rounds into the sky. One hit the nearest Aean Bothan's shoulders.
Natil stopped to look.
"I did not give you permission to stop!" Taniar snarled.
Natil ran even faster, Taniar sprinted to catch up with her.
Several electric balls rained down from the sky, originating with one of the hovering Bothans overhead. Six of them dissipated on the permacrete shoulder of the road, nearly hitting Varesk who was jogging out of cover. The final did hit Varesk, and he fell yelping to the ground.
"CONTACT!" Taniar yelped, returning fire, then snarled into the comm in Bothese. [One down, Melan! We need air support now! We are in retreating from the city, under attack from the sky.]
Neyar stood over Varesk and helped him up. [He's all right! They are firing non-lethal ammunition on us!] she yipped in relief. [They also don't want to start a war!]
[That's great Corporal,] Bithisk snarled. [They are shooting to capture.]
Varesk began jogging with Neyar towards the end of the group.
[Varesk!] Taniar yelled. [Run under the trees!]
Groaning in pain, Varesk turned slightly and began running under the trees again.
[Hold on Gunny,] Uk growled into the comm. [Be advised, all ground forces, air support will be raining from the sky. Danger close.]
Taniar swore under her breath. Not those stupid walkers that drop but don't fly back up. [Indigo-2 to Melan Actual,] Taniar panted, [I would strongly advise against that. Those prototype walkers can't be withdrawn.]
[Gunny, keep moving towards the town perimeter. I did not ask for your opinion!]
[Copy that,] Taniar said breathily into the static. "Natil, keep running!"
"I am tired!" Natil yelped, continuing to jog.
"KEEP RUNNING!" Taniar snarled.
Ineffective lightning ball fire continued raining down from the sky, mostly impacting the trees and ground. Every one of the Aean Bothans seemed to be carrying a Guardian Lightning Canon.
One of the clumsier jetpackers flew into a dense cluster of tree branches, attempting to get a closer shot, then hit a tree trunk, comically sliding down to the base.
Through the pines, an eerie orange glow brightened the sky.
Here they come. "All right everyone, danger close," Taniar yelled a reminder.
Most of the Mark 1 Quad Weapons Platforms landed on the permacrete street to the left. One however, landed right ahead of the Marines, knocking down a line of tree branches as it hit the ground. The heat from the impact was so intense, Taniar's external display showed a 5º increase in temperature.
Natil yelped in terror.
The walker used its arm to give a friendly wave.
"It's okay, they're on our side," Bithisk growled proudly.
"Keep running! We're almost there," Taniar said more hopefully as she ran around the walker.
The walker aimed its arm into the sky and fired a huge net. The net snagged three Aean Bothans from mid-air, causing them to fall to the ground yelping. Their jetpacks continued sputtering helplessly, scooting around under the net like trapped glowbugs.
Taniar snorted, smirking as she continued running. Okay, now that was worth seeing.
[We have air superiority over the streets,] Uk growled proudly into the comm. Taniar could only imagine his fur was dancing with excitement. [All ground forces, run along the street to the pickup zone.]
"You heard the Captain!" Taniar gasped breathlessly, carrying Natil's suitcase in one arm, and her Abokul heavy repeater in the other, "run to the street. If needed, we'll activate our adrenal implants."
"What about Natil?" Shkon panted.
"We'll carry her!" Bithisk panted, no humour in his voice.
"Roger," Shkon growled bitterly.
o.o.o.o.o
As they cleared the tree line, the walkers were ruthlessly firing nets dozens of meters into the air. One of the Clan Aean Bothans flying overhead was snagged in a net and fell dramatically onto the roof of the nearest house. The jetpacker's rockets continued blasting flames and smoke, forcing the yelping Bothan forward, dragging dozens of multi-coloured shingles off the roof.
Suddenly, several Aean Bothans dropped from the sky stealthily, igniting their thrusters at the last second before landing on the permacrete on their feet.
With a snarl, Taniar blasted one who had landed a few meters away in the face with her under barrel ink attachment. Just like the simulator.
The snarling Aean aimed his Guardian Lightning Canon directly at Taniar.
In a moment where time seemed to stand still, Taniar realised his helmet had external cameras to each side. Shtak. Her fur fell flat as a bright ball of lightning flew at her. She yelped as a fierce burning sensation began in her chest, then spread to all of her extremities. Pulsing with adrenaline, she charged forwards shrieking.
Another squeeze of the trigger, but this time, the ball of lightning hit Taniar's shoulder.
Taniar yelped, dropping Natil's suitcase as her arm spasmed. One step later, she swung her Abokul as hard as she could, right into the side of the Aean Bothan's head. The left external camera shattered in sparks, and the ink-covered helmet jerked sideways as he collapsed to the ground.
"EXTERNAL CAMERAS!" Taniar yelped, gasping for breath. Why didn't I notice the ones on Natil's helmet? Kriff me!
"Come on Gunny," Neyar pleaded, tugging her arm.
Taniar followed, jogging unsteadily next to Varesk.
More Aeans had landed and were now firing electric arcs far more accurately.
The Marines returned fire with ink to no effect. Gurosk swore as a lightning ball hit him centre mass, then collapsed when another hit his head. Neyar yelped as one hit in the side. Soon the Marines were all hit, wreathing on the ground.
Taniar drooled, yelping in pain as she spasmed on the ground.
Natil began yelping to the sky once all of the Marines were down. "HELP! HELP!"
What the kriff is Natil—"AAAHH!" Taniar shrieked as another ball of lightning hit her.
The walkers began firing nets at the Aeans on the ground, snagging a few more, knocking them out of the firefight. The lightning canon shots seemed to have no effect on the walkers, their chest plates dissipated the blasts.
Then, one of the Aeans shot a ball of lightning under one of the walker's chest plates, directly into the loose cables hanging under above the legs. The walker ignited in dramatic sparks, collapsing to the ground.
The Aean Bothans all turned their fire on the newly discovered vulnerabilities, taking walker after walker down.
The city shields flashed back to life, encompassing the town in the eerie blue glow.
You've got be kriffing kidding me, Taniar snarled aloud in sheer anger and exasperation. Then, as she lay on her back, another ball of lightning hit, and she yelped. This time, all of her displays flashed error messages then shut down. She tried moving, but everything hurt. Her suit was not cooperating.
Natil began yelping in a panic. "I—I need—help! They grabbed me! Said they would kill me if I didn't go with them to Botha'ahir! They wanted to find out how far down my tan patch of fur goes!"
As the Aean Bothans began conversing in Mandalorian, snarling and yelping furiously, Taniar scowled, beginning to suspect why Natil had demanded the Melan send someone to pick her up. If she gets caught, she can say we kidnapped her. Kriffing liar. Little backstabbing—
—Someone unlatched Taniar's helmet. Taniar blinked in the eerie blue light from the town's shields, staring up into a familiar face. Zovir.
"Sergeant Taniar Trav'nel," Zovir snarled, glaring down at Taniar. "You skeever! You liar! You backstabbing conniving bitch!"
Taniar scowled angrily. "It was—" shtak. She closed her snout. If I tell them it was Natil, and if they believe me, they will kill her. Not knowing what else to do, Taniar continued her outward display of angry defiance to the midgety Aean.
"YOU TRIED TO ABDUCT OUR ARMOURER! DESTROY OUR CULTURE! DESTROY HER ABILITY TO TEACH THE NEXT ARMOURER!"
"Leave her alone," Bithisk groaned, sitting up. "I am the commanding officer. If you want to speak with anyone—"
—A ruthless ball of lightning hit his chest plate, causing Bithisk to writhe and yelp once more.
"I am Gunnery Sergeant Taniar Lon'tannen, Botha'ahir Marines, operator code sierra tango—"
"ENOUGH!" Zovir shrieked, aiming her Guardian Lightning Canon into Taniar's face with one hand, prodding it into her nose.
Taniar's fur fell flat as she tried turning her head away from the warm barrel. The defiant look melted from her snout.
"If you were Mandalorian, I would kill you on the spot," Zovir snarled. "You may not be the commanding officer, but you personally lied to me, made me think you were reasonable. Made me think you were different! Made me think you did not want to harm any of my people!" Zovir pointed animatedly to Natil with her free hand. "YOU LANDED HERE, PRETENDING TO NEGOTIATE, AND THEN COMMITED ACTS OF AGGRESSION!"
Natil's fur was flat. Her eyes were teary, but she said nothing.
In the background, Clan Aean Bothans began cutting into the cockpits of the fallen walkers.
Taniar opened her mouth to say something, but Zovir squeezed the trigger, firing a lightning ball directly onto Taniar's nose.
An intense pain, accompanied by an acrid metallic smell, erupted into Taniar's nose. The now familiar pain of an electric shock spread all over her body, along with an intense bitter headache, the worst pain of her entire life.
Taniar fainted from the pain before she could yelp.
o.o.o.o.o
When Taniar came to, she was lying face first on the grass, hands bound behind her back. All she could taste was copper. All she could smell was copper.
"Zo?" [What?] Taniar croaked. Looking at her shoulder, she was no longer in RIS armour, and was stripped down to her black bodysuit of exhaled despondently, causing blades of grass to sway in her breath.
Lying next to her was Zrask Oc'nel, wearing a blue technician uniform with a Botha'ahir Sigil on his shoulder, handcuffed in thin white cast-plast bindings. Beyond him, the six more engineers laid on the ground. Turning her face to the right, squishing her snout on the grass, she saw the rest of her team. They got us all. Every single one of us, captured. The shields were still up.
"I die for Botha'ahir," Bithisk snarled defiantly in Basic.
"Wha…" Taniar growled dreamily in Basic, blinking her eyes.
The Clan Aean Bothans began yelping and snarling running around the other prisoners towards Bithisk at the end. One of them screamed "MEDIC!"
"GET IT OUT OF HIS MOUTH!" Zovir snarled. "IT'S POISON!"
Pulled to his knees, Bithisk was foaming at the mouth.
Realising what Bithisk had just done, Taniar's fur fell flat. "LIEUTENANT! SIR!" she yelped. "GET HIM AN ANTIVENOM! IT'S SYNOX!"
"Kriff," Zovir muttered "there is no antivenom for that."
They are just going to let him die. I won't let this happen. Taniar moved her tongue in an Aurek shape on the roof of her mouth.
A familiar voice sounded off in her mind. "Adrenal program three activated. Adrenal production will be increased 80%. This level will only be maintained for three minutes. To abort in the next five seconds, move your tongue in movement Resh."
As Taniar's brown and blue irises dilated, she tugged on her plastic cuffs shrieking "GET HIM AN ANTIVENOM!"
Vaguely, she felt some cartilage in her left wrist pop. Tugging harder, she heard the sound of breaking bones. Her thumb popped out of socket, bending inwards towards her other fingers, shrinking the size of her left hand as more bones crunch. Some fur was tugged away as she slipped that hand out of her cuffs and leapt to her feet.
"SHAB! HOLY SHAB!" one of the Aean Bothans screamed in terror. "SHE BROKE OUT OF—"
His explanation of what was transpiring was interrupted when Taniar's good fist connected with his snout. He yelped as his nose compressed into his snout, leaving a bloody print on Taniar's fist fur.
"GET HIM AN ANTIVENOM!" Taniar ordered again, pushing the yelping Aean to the ground.
Instead of moving towards their medkits, the four Aean Bothans nearest to Bithisk raised their Lightning Canons.
Taniar had enough of being zapped for the day. At super-Bothan speeds, she charged them, kicking and punching madly. Forgetting that her left hand was broken, Taniar swung her bloody blob of flesh at one of the Aeans. The Aean yelped in pain and shrieked in horror and disgust at the same time.
"Don't hurt her anymore!" Natil pleaded. "Please Zovir, they've suffered enough."
"HOLD YOUR FIRE! GET OUT OF HER WAY!" Zovir yelped. "KRIFFING VAC-HEADED ADRENALINE JUNKY!" she snarled in disgust.
Some of Taniar's team came to and began yelping and snarling angrily in her support.
Taniar ignored it all, collapsing to her knees next to Bithisk.
"I can't," Bithisk mumbled through his foamy mouth. "…tortured you. I would have told them anything."
"GET HIM AN ANTIVENOM!" Taniar yelped, tears in her eyes.
"He's dead already. I've told you a million times, there's no kriffing antivenom to Synox," Zovir grunted. "Please let one of our medics tend to your hand."
Blinking the tears out of her eyes, Taniar looked down at her hand. Her fur fell flat as she gasped.
