I have returned! …Sort of. It's been almost a year and I am terribly sorry for it. Life just took a rather tumultuous turn for me. My grades were shit, so I had to focus on school, then came exams, then came vacation (in which I didn't have much time to write, like, at all). Now I'm in college, which is really busy. I also have to invade Cana- I mean, adopt puppies. I got slightly depressed/homesick, yada yada yada, sob sob sob, all very sad and all that.
Anyways, that's not important. What is important is that I believe I've found out where I want to go with this story for a couple chapters at least.
I wish to thank all of those who followed and favourited. You're the reasons that I haven't given up on this yet.
So that's that. I hope you enjoy this chapter and have an absolutely, undeniably, gloriously good day and, in the case I haven't finished another chapter on time, Happy Hollidays!
P.S. Not Beta-ed.
~Chapter 13~
"Soooo… now that the dramatic introductions are over and done with, can we move out? Unless, of course, you are going to pull a bunch more of your friends out of your ass." Villain said, breaking the tense silence that had fallen over the small group.
The Mandalorians, now numbering eight, looked positively miffed at the mocking tone the sergeant assumed. Usually no one would dare speak to them in such a manner - the fearsome reputation of their people took care of that - but Mesh'la couldn't see anything past the usual tenseness from being in a combat zone in the body language of the soldiers. Not an ounce of fear for them. Yes, there was some wariness, especially after the over-the-top entrance she and Tor had made, but not directed to the specifically.
She shrugged, "Fine by me," she motioned towards her troopers as the other mercs got ready to move. "Nari dayn, verde, revenge will be ours!"
Some of the Orions looked at her strangely- or at least, she assumed so, since they were wearing face covering helmets. It did give her the chance to properly size her allies up, though. She started with the humans. They were a mix of black and Khaki armored soldiers, toting a variety of weapons, ranging from sniper rifles to shotguns. Some of the 'Rangers' as they had introduced themselves carried throwing knives next to their regular gear, while the 'ODST' seemed to either be hiding their extra weapons, or just didn't have them.
The ones in charge, Villain and Greybeard, sounded a lot older than the rest, and while the ODST was somewhat jovial and sociable, the Ranger was harsh, to the point, and seemed to only get along with his squad and Villain.
Then there were the two tall aliens. They were unlike any being she had ever seen before, about as tall as Wookies, with a ruthless yet sophisticated feel to them. They carried themselves as true warriors, with grace and strength. They seemed like what every Mandalorian strived to be.
The last member of their party was a strange one, though. A floating creature with what seemed like sacks and tentacles that looked like it was about as able to do harm as a Hutt was attractive. By all means it seemed like the creature would just slow them down, but Villain had assured her that it would do no such thing, stating: "Damn, the thing's probably more capable that the rookie.", to which two of their allies, one in Black, and one in Khaki armor replied with and indignant "Hey!".
All in all, they seemed capable enough. She shot Tor a look, who replied by shrugging dramatically. Oh well, the captain assured me they were reliable. If he lied and they hamper me, he'll get them back in pieces.
3 hours later…
It was slowly turning dark when the command centre came into view, something that would probably be beneficial to the operation, Gus reckoned. He looked to his left where Songbird, Villain and Turtle were crouched behind a piece of debris from a blown-up building. It seems the flyboys've been here, he thought as he hid behind a slab of concrete.
To his right were the Sangheili brothers, wearing their black Spec Ops armour, both carrying an impressive array of weapons, the Rookie noticed. Grul was holding a large shotgun and had a plasma rifle, a Fuel Rod and a deployable riot shield on his back, while R'tas went with a regular assault rifle and a couple of needlers. Both had a pair of energy swords on their hips.
There was gunfire in the distance, the echoing cracks sometimes being substituted with the whine of blaster bolts. Every now and again there was a loud boom he assumed was the Scorpions firing. He wondered how the other marines were doing, but quickly focussed on the matter at hand when Halt's voice came over the comms.
*Enemy communications are down, we're free to engage.* this message was quickly followed by orders from Villain.
"Remember the plan kids; we go in quiet and start killing the shitheads." He smiled at the Gunny's words. I can live with those orders. Everyone blinked green and they quickly started moving towards the fortified building.
They stuck to the sides of the roads, sometimes cutting through the buildings when there wasn't enough cover. The plan was simple: the Rangers and two Mandos would approach from the north and would use their jetpacks to get on top of the building with Squidward, after which they would start working their way down while under sniper cover from Tug and Blaze to get the Huragok to the control panels.
The two other teams would come from the east and west, causing a distraction to keep most of the attention off the infiltrating team. These teams were Gamma and the other Mandalorian Shocktroopers. Both would keep one soldier on over watch.
Villain raised his fist and the squad piled up behind him. "Archer, what do you see?" he radioed their Designated Marksman. Or markswoman, I guess, Swanson thought.
When she answered a few seconds later Gus could feel the professionalism dripping off her voice, *I count a dozen B1s, but- Bollox, there they are. Five Death Watch guards as well. You guys take care of the droids, I'll deal with those bucketheads the best I can. Cadera may be sceptical about my rifle being able to penetrate the armour, but we'll see how well it'll protect them from my baby.*
"Affirmative, Archer. Happy hunting." He closed the channel, "You heard her, Gamma, spread out and get in position. Fire on my mark."
Once everybody was in position, a loud *Clank-whizz* pierced the silence and he saw one of the Death Watch guards fall to the ground, headless. "Mark!" Villain yelled and he opened up on the droids, which were almost non-existent five seconds later when they stopped firing to switch their focus to the Mandos.
*Stand still you bloody wankers!* Emma yelled over the radio, apparently getting frustrated with her targets. She'd taken out two, one by shooting a magnetically accelerated slug of tungsten travelling at 8000 kilometres per hour straight through the visor, while the other had died from it impacting against her chest plate. Miraculously, the plate was still whole, although heavily dented.
The others proved harder to hit as she lost the element of surprise, jumping and jetpacking around, firing back at Emma and not staying in one place long enough to get hit.
That is, until Grul started to fire his Fuel Rod at them. You can say what you want about Beskar, but it didn't much matter when you were hit with a massive ball of plasma. All that was left of the warrior after the impact was a smoking corpse wearing glowing red hot armour.
The last one stumbled when a near miss from Archer caused a shockwave near her, allowing the entirety of Gamma to fire at her. The Rookie fired a burst of explosive bullets from the lower barrel of his rifle, adding to the barrage. Safe to say, there wasn't much left of the warrior woman once they all ceased fire.
They all stacked up at a side door of the large government building, where Turtle started to apply a small block of C-7 plastic explosives. Before he was done, though, the door exploded outwards, knocking the Frenchman unconscious and trapping him under the heavy slab of metal.
Miranda rushed forwards to help him, but Villain was quick to pull her back when a missile was shot out of the doorway, exploding next to unconscious Turtle. Gamma had quickly retreated from the doorway, and not a second too soon, as half a dozen Death Watch rushed outside and started opening fire.
This is going to be harder than I expected… Gus thought as several bolts impacted against his shields, bringing them down to 40% before he could find cover.
One of the Mandalorians tried to use his jetpack to take off, but was thrown forward and soon enveloped by an explosion when one of Archer's shots impacted against his jetpack. To the Rookie's amazement, the warrior slowly stood back up, shrugging off the remains of the device. And rolling away under another magnetically accelerated slug.
One of his comrades had spotted Emma's perch, though, and started making his way over to their marksman.
He was about to start firing hardlight rounds at the female warrior, but he was suddenly tackled from behind. As he fell to the ground he saw the menacing T-visored helmet not inches away from his face. He struggled to get his knife, but the Mando had him pinned down.
A quick elbow to the face and a kick to the chest of his assailant gave him some room, but all he managed to do was draw his monomolecular edged blade from its sheath before he was punched. In the crotch. Hard.
He tried to ignore the hellish pain and roll away, but the Mandalorian quickly had him pinned again. She drew a sabre, fully intent of ending his life, but when she was about to plunge it into his neck she was thrown off him.
It Was Grul. There were scorch marks all over his armour and he had lost his helmet fighting the Death Watch soldier going after Emma in hand-to-hand. As Gus lay there on the ground, trying to collect himself, Grul turned around and engaged the woman.
It was a deadly dance between two masters of the blade. The beskad in the hands of the Mandalorian was deftly deflecting the plasma sword of the large Elite. Grul attacked ferociously, stabbing and slashing at his opponent, who avoided the plasma deftly.
In all honesty, the Mandalorian had underestimated the Sangheili. While normally she would have had the advantage in speed and agility against a larger foe, the towering lizard surprised her. He was way faster than his size should have allowed, causing her to have to fight way more defensively than she would have wanted to.
An upwards slash from Grul forced her to take step back. She retaliated by stabbing at his exposed chest, but the large Sangheili simply grabbed her arm and pulled her forward, his reach far outweighing her agility in this case. He punched her in the small of her back causing her to slam into the ground, where she quickly avoided a downward stab by rolling to the side.
She used her momentum to get back up, slashing at his legs as she was doing so. He danced backwards, breathing heavily.
She noticed she was quite out of breath as well and took a few steps back. They started circling each other, blades at the ready, two predators in their own right. "You are a good warrior. It has been a while since I have been challenged like this by anyone other than my brother." The deep voice, speaking in perfect Basic - although there was a slight accent - surprised her. "Who are you?"
The Mandalorian smiled under her helmet, "I could say the same thing of you. I certainly didn't expect a fight like this when Vizsla sent us to this shithole of a planet." They hadn't stopped circling, sabre and energy sword at the ready.
Grul spoke up again, mandibles spreading in a predatory grin, "Then remove your helmet and tell me your name and clan, so that we may end this face to face, blade against blade, master against master."
She hesitated, but after a few moments reached and freed her head, revealing a Zabrak with pale brown skin, "I am Zivle, of clan Ordo. Who are you, that you ask me my name and Clan, warrior?" she said cautiously, keeping an eye on his strange, two-pronged lightsaber. She pointed her sabre at him, her Kama fluttering slightly in the wind, "You act like a Mandalorian, yet you carry a weapon of the Jedi."
The Sangheili let out a throaty chuckle, "I am Grul, of Clan 'Vadum, and this is not a weapon of the Jedi, it is a weapon of the Sangheili." He rolled his shoulders, "Now, Zivle of Clan Ordo, let us conclude this."
Grul sprang forward with a roar, stabbing upwards. Zivle barely manged to knock it aside with her Beskad and slashed at his face. He drew back, but she could see purple blood coming from one of his mandibles.
Her small moment of victory was over quickly, though, as Grul intensified his attacks. She hissed in pain as the hot plasma grazed her arm and pierced her suit. She retaliated with a series of stabs that were deflected or bounced off his armour, leaving silver scratches.
She was about to try again, but the Sangheili once again went on the offensive. He slashed downward and she parried it, but was slowly pushed to her knees as his superior strength made itself known.
Her eyes widened as the plasma came closer and closer to her face. She tried to roll away, but in the process of doing so she was kicked in the stomach by Grul, causing her to double over in pain and out of breath.
The last thing she felt was a sharp pain in her head before the world went black.
As you can see, a rather Gamma-focused chapter, as well as some more of Grul and the Shriek Hawks (Mandalore the Freedom's OCs). I hope you enjoyed and may the Chief be with you!