New Alderaan, Old Enemy (Open, Jakob) (Delete This Thread Pls)

[Arya Cognito]

Atlas, The Luxury 5000, was a yacht manufactured by SoroSuub Corporation. The ship was ordered by Arya years ago in order to help groups of Assassins complete missions together. It could carry up to thirty passengers. It came standard with many luxury items, such as gourmet food processors, whirlpool tubs, dance rooms, and an extravagant dining hall. The cabins of the yacht were large and luxuriant, many times with expensive stonework refresher, genuine carpet, expensive lace and silk beds, and large, open closets. The yacht had every accommodation that the rich and wealthy would desire. In addition to this, the ship itself was fairly fast and highly maneuverable. In its forward struts, it had two hangar bays, one per strut. Each of these hangar bays could carry up to three fighters. They were also the access point for the cargo hold and were protected by ray shielding.

Arya was one to lavish in the finer things and she spared no expense in the vessel that would carry the Assassins to victory across the galaxy. But all that luxury meant it wasn't suitable in space combat. The vessel merely served as a large, mobile base/mission transport ship for the lesser fighters in it's hangars.

This mission had Arya, Zenaia, Horus and newcomer Jakob Kane Raio meeting in the ship's holo conference room, which Arya had setup with the same holoscreen display from the Blue Star Assassin's Sanctuary. Arya's silver servant droid, TC-34, was carrying out Arya's directives via the holoscreen's command console.

Arya opened up the datapad containing pertinent data on their mission on the holoscreen:

+ Outer Rim Territories +
+ Ash World Sector +
+ New Alderaan System +

The Planet of New Alderaan was located by the remaining Alderaanian governing body as a safe haven for the refugees of the first Death Star's complete decimation of the original planet of Alderaan. It was established by the Alliance Support Service, including Lieutenant Deeve, founded by the Rebel Alliance in the period preceding the Battle of Yavin. The planet was once home to 60,000+ displaced Alderaanians. They strove to make a new life of it in a planet far from any Imperial radar. The planet's location was known only to a select few top-level New Republic leaders, making it a perfect safe world.

Imperial Warlord Zsinj has utilized spies to infilitrate the New Republic ranks. It was through those spies that he discovered the location of New Alderaan. Subsequently, Warlord Zsinj has enacted a campaign of terror against the people of New Alderaan.

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Arya's Personal Datapad Entry 002:

+ One Year Ago +
+ Orbital Level Above the Planet, Thyferra +
+ The Bacta War Prelude, 3-6 ABY +
I, Arya Cognito, have tracked his movements since his involvement in the Bacta War. I tracked Zsinj's movements after being captured by the Empire on Thyferra. Corran Horn infiltrated Ysanne Isard's Super Star Destroyer Lusankya which had left the planet's surface hours before something called the Krytos Virus had been released. Corran set about releasing the prisoners of the Empire. I had been pegged by the Empire for CoMu, Inc. and it's armament of the Republic forces elsewhere in the galaxy. Thyferra had been a stop of mine to arm a friend of mine's human militia against a race known as the Vratix.

I had no inkling of what the Imperials had planned for the local population as I was been launched into an Imperial Super Star Destroyer's cell. I only hope that my friend, Stassa, survived the viral attack. It was a few years into the conflict between Republic forces, Rogue Squadron and Ysanne Isard's Imperial forces came to a head. It was after those few years of chilling in a Super Star Destroyer's cell block that a notable figure, Corran Horn, came to the aid of the prisoners, which was sparked by his desire to free famed Rebel General Jan Dodonna. Corran failed because Jan Dodonna had been moved by Isard from the ship. Rogue Squadron rapidly entered the fray and picked up the pieces. They lead all of us from the ship that had been orbiting over Thyferra.

I discovered the culprits behind the virus and the capture. Ysanne Isard and Warlord Zsinj were the two names that came up. Now, Isard was a woman to be dealt with in time. Zsinj was put at the top of my list and o.k.ed by the Master of the Order to track down. He had proven elusive for a number of months until word came from my New Republic Rogue Squadron contact that Zsinj had been making a move to New Alderaan.
------
"There has been a change of plans, you three are heading down to New Alderaan. The situation planetside has grown worse. Zsinj's forces have gone about systematically murdering the local populace en masse. No person is spared as they all run and hide on their journeys to the space port. Evacuation shuttles are permanently grounded after being overwhelmed by Anti-Air troopers garrisoned in, on and around buildings in the vicinity of the spaceport. Those will be our first priority. With the current count of the dead being around 15,000 at last record, We need to save as many as possible. The Republic forces are fighting a very close quarters battle right now. They are held up in the spaceport guarding refugees and defending the shuttles. Republic forces are also trying to help the refugees get to the spaceport through back alleys and other back ways. If the spaceport falls, Zsinj has won.

In the meantime, Jak and Horus, I will attempt to find out if Zsinj is on the planet.

Zenaia, your mission does not change. I want you to get to the space port roof and serve as lookout for Jak and Horus as they contend with the A.A. camps that are patrolling the area around the space port. Horus, hacking into the weapons from a remote location should allow you to disable them. Jak, do what you can to hold off the Imperial ground forces that will be swarmed across the area and namely the areas around the A.A troopers. Zenaia, do what you can to help the refugees get to the spaceport, as well."

"Understood, Sister Arya." Zenaia stated sternly as she placed her fist on her heart diagonally upwards across her torso.

"Jak and I will take care of the A.A. troopers, Sister. Don't you worry about us." Horus assured as he, too, placed his fist over his heart.

"As for logistically getting down to the planet's surface, Zenaia take the Cutlass-9 fighter. Jak, you and Horus will take the Drexl-class starfighter. The only way I see this happening with the greatest efficiency is if you three skydive. Take your ships out of atmospheric range of the A.A. guns and dive into the outskirts of the capitol. Consider carefully what equipment you will need for this mission. Take the ship remotes with you for when you complete the mission. I will be taking the Atlas further out of the atmosphere to avoid any entanglements. Your ships are programmed to auto-pilot back to the hangars below after you dive from them. I will be monitoring the situation from up here and relaying any valid information.

May the Vision of the Avians guide you in this mission."

Arya placed her fist on her heart. She turned back to the holoscreen. A flick of her fingers changed the screen to the situation on Onderon to track Gregoire.

[Guest]

Jakob strode through the tiled halls, rooms, and chambers of the luxury yacht that doubled as their mobile base. In Jak's mind, the Atlas was nothing more than an overtitled richmobile that served little purpose. Still, here he was about to save some people from the Empire, and that was enough to settle his mind.
Once he entered the conferece room, he was happy to see that there was at least one purposed room on this ship. He stood beside Zenaia, deciding the attractive Zabrak was better company for the time being. He listened to Arya's briefing and wordlessly followed suit with the gesture exampled by the other two Assassins. He was new to the board, so that kind of respectful gesture was unusual and almost uncomfortable for the man.

When they were finally dismissed, Jakob felt a bit of relief at not having to be so formal. He looked to Horus and motioned for the man to follow.

"I'll keep you covered while you work your tech magic." he said while he walked with Horus to the hangar, "I can't guarantee that I can help you rewire or sabotage anything, but the Imps will be hard-pressed to get near you, that I can promise you."
Once they reached the hangar, Jak strapped himself into the passenger seat. He already told Arya that he was not to be trusted behind the stick of a ship. He waited for Horus and then let them be off on their new mission.

[Arya Cognito]

[Mindfields - The Prodigy]

Horus took his seat in the front Drexel's pilot seat. Quickly, Horus lowered the cockpit and smiled as he heard the seal hiss and snap together. "It's good to be working with proper fighters again. Those Hutt mercs are ridiculously bad comrades. I hope you enjoy the nice relaxing freefall, mate, because once we hit the ground, we're going to have to roll into immediate offense."

Zenaia approached the Cutlass-9 fighter near them. Once inside and idling, Zenaia waved at Horus and Jak giving them the ready signal. Horus reciprocated.

"Arya, we're all ready to go, babe." Zenaia stated over the comlink.

Arya clicked a few keys on the console. The blue translucent barrier to separating the hangar bay from the orbital space around them faded into nothing.

Zenaia stared at Horus as the barrier dropped. She gestured that she was going first. Swiftly, Zenaia gunned it left and out of the hangar bay towards the planet's outer atmosphere.

"Hold onto your balls, Jakky boy!" Horus shouted as he swiftly chased after Zenaia. His body became glued to the seat for a while as he took the ship faster and faster in order to catch up Zenaia in the impromptu race to the inner atmosphere of the planet.

Arya smirked at the almost blurred exit from the lower hangar. She reactivated the hangar barrier and moved to the cockpit where she would take the Atlas further out from the planet.

________

+ Ten Minutes Later +
________

"Zenaia, you owe me several drinks at the Blue Star for pulling out that win. We're within range of the dive zone. Time to jump, Jakky!" Horus shouted happily as adrenaline started coursing through him. He placed the Drexel starfighter into a hover mode and opened up the hatch. The winds around them whipped around rapidly. New Alderaan's refugee city was nothing more than a series of tiny pinhole sized dots on the landscape to the north of their location.

"Like hell I do! The race isn't over, boys! First one to land-n-stand on the outskirts wins!" Zenaia shouted out to Horus and Jak through the loud winds.

Zenaia knelt down on the edge of her opened cockpit. She inhaled deeply and exhaled. Closing her eyes, Zenaia let herself tip over the side of the ship. Whilst freefalling, Zenaia pressed the ship remote on her wrist comm and twisted around to see above her that the Cutlass-9 was indeed auto-piloting as it should.

[Guest]

[Daft Punk // Aerodynamic]

Jakob didn't wait to listen to whatever the other two were talking about. This was going to be fun. He unstrapped himself, strapped on his gear, and swept over the side of the starfighter without a second thought. He took a few spins as the air buffeted him, then he narrowed his body into a bullet-shape. He rushed past the cloud layer and saw the battle going on below. Lasers blasted in every direction and it created quite the light show... of death.

He gripped his landing assist thing's (whatever it was) switch as he got further and further to the ground. Once he was within 'pull your chute you moron' distance, he ripped the cord and opened the strange parachute. Electrostatic-looking surges danced across the surface before he felt himself falling with a crazy inertia. He landed quickly but softly, and he couldn't help but stare at the parachute as it coiled back into the backpack.

._)*(_.

Up above, while Jakob was about a third of the way to the planet, Horus exchanged looks with Zen before they both shared a wicked grin and jumped too, in near-perfect synchronization. They raced, pretty much neck-and-neck, through the air, clouds, and the dense fog of war the battle had created. They landed close to where Jak did, and Horus went over with a little laugh, saying

"Keep up the tricks, Jakky! You'll be a pro in no time at this rate." he flashed the newest member a kind of 'good job' look before both the man and the zabraki female took on a more serious expression. This wasn't the time for fun and games anymore. They had a mission to complete. Jakob was always light-hearted, so he didn't look as stoic as the others. Rather, he had a certain grin and spark to the eyes that wasn't ever there before. A mixture of 'get things done' and... well, 'muahahahaha' kind of sums it up.

[Arya Cognito]

Zenaia eyed Horus and smirked. The two had made it equally, but Jakob had taken the lead. "Looks like we're buying Hot Rod Jakky drinks. Where did that come from, Jak? You in a hurry to kick some....?"

[I'm Sorry from Mass Effect 3 Soundtrack]

Zenaia's playful tone slid into silence as they entered the madness engulfing New Alderaan. Blood, guts, laser markings and smoking corpses littered the streets all around them. The Warlord's contingent seemed to be centralizing their attacks on the spaceport all ready.

Her eyes narrowed and she removed her scoped rifle. Clicking it up to a higher zoom level, Zenaia took a position behind a solid metal barricade that had laser pock and burn marks from a failed Republic hold of the zone. She did a quick recon sweep of the immediate area. "Area's swarming with the Warlord stooges. I don't see a viable direct approach to the space port from this vantage. I'm going to have to back alley this. I will get to the zone and let you know where you guys need to strike."

Zenaia left the boys to their own devices for a moment as she slithered from cover to cover with her golden Assassin's dagger in one hand and her pink DL-44 side arm, 'Pinkie', in the other. As she grew closer, Zen started to hear the laser fire exchanges coming from the large entrance of the space port. Zen walked back down the alley and to the side of a three tiered residence. She knew she had hit ground zero. Zen slunk down to a kneeling position, grabbed a couple ordinances from her belt and rolled the incendiary grenades into the street in front of her.

Swiftly, Zen performed a backwards somersault back into the alley and ran towards the...BOOM!....spaceport. Flames flew everywhere and troopers were alarmed as they looked toward the source. Zenaia found a towering, taller residence that faced the spaceport scene below. Zenaia felt a chill as she defensively entered the home. That would suffice until she could get to the roof of the spaceport. Blood splatters and burn marks dotted the five floors of the housing complex. Zenaia slipped up to the top fifth floor. She placed her wrist against the door control panel and broke the control panel, but there was no need as she discovered the door was partially ajar. She tapped the door open with her blade and rose her gun to center mass as she charged into the room. To her horror, Zenaia had accidentally charged over a body of a young human child lying in a pool of blood with presumably his mother next to him. Zenaia jumped back roughly against a wall and let out a quiet whimper. Her eyes bulged in horror. The idea of innocents, especially children being the targets of violence didn't sit well with Zen. She began to tear up for a moment before attempting to shake it off for the sake of saving others. 'I have to...ignore it. To save the living. These people cannot be helped now. I must move to the window.'


Zenaia inhaled and exhaled deeply, withdrew her scoped rifle and pinged Horus and Jak. "From this vantage point, I see three anti-aerial trooper garrison zones of the four that Arya was talking about. I see masses of troops hovering around at least two buildings directly adjacent to the front of the space port with the other two being behind the spaceport just outside of the massive metal wall that protects the hangars. I am trying to figure out a way to get into the space port from here. If you two have any ideas...I'm game...and NO I do not have a freaking grappler!"

Zenaia clicked off her mic, lit a cigarra and eyed the bodies behind her as she waited for a response. The room was dark enough that the only things illuminating the room were daylight streaming through the horizontal rectangular window slits and the occasional redness of Zen's cigarra cherry. The cigarra's cherry showed a single tear strand coming down her face.

[Guest]

[DICE Orchestra // Fire From the Sky -- Battlefield 3 OST]

"Hey, it was something new" he played off the thrillseeker attitude with something more innocent, and soon Jakob found himself calming grimly from the atmosphere of the area. The acrid stench of seared oxygen permeated the area, and the wind only seemed to carry more. There was a low fog thickening the closer you went to the battle, possibly from destruction or as an after-effect of all the blaster fire. He looked around and began to notice the bodies. It was hard to distinguish who, what, or how old they all were, but the corpses scattered across the city were enough to make even Jakob feel some sorrow.

He nodded in reply to Zen before she took off to find a good vantage. He took one more look over the area then turned to Horus. When Jak opened his mouth to speak, Horus raised up a hand to wait and then Zen's voice crackled through their earpieces.

"Area's swarming with the Warlord stooges. I don't see a viable direct approach to the space port from this vantage. I'm going to have to back alley this. I will get to the zone and let you know where you guys need to strike." her voice flickered and faded, but Horus continued to make Jak hold his tongue. Still, this new information wasn't unknown but it was good to have confirmation on the numbers they were up against.

A couple of minutes later, Zen popped up again on the comms, "From this vantage point, I see three anti-aerial trooper garrison zones of the four that Arya was talking about. I see masses of troops hovering around at least two buildings directly adjacent to the front of the space port with the other two being behind the spaceport just outside of the massive metal wall that protects the hangars. I am trying to figure out a way to get into the space port from here. If you two have any ideas...I'm game...and NO I do not have a freaking grappler!" to Jak, she sounded a bit perturbed, but he didn't think too much into it.

Horus looked to a few streets, motioned for Jak to follow, and ran down to a more covered position. There, he knelt down, placed a small spherical object on the ground, and then a switch on its side. The sphere opened to let out a small aerial device resembling a tiny mynock. It flew up, over the buildings, and out toward the battle. The sphere also sent out two little orbs. One landed right next to them, and the other blazed through the air, homing on Zen's position. Once (Jakob assumed) both little orbs were in position, they turned on and displayed a three-dimensional holoprojection of the area that their mynock-thing had scanned. It was quite remarkable, and Jakob felt himself staring at the replica city. He snapped out of it and looked up to Horus.

"So.. that's very nice and fancy, but where are we actually going?" he said, his voice a bit irritated but it may have just been tension from the area. Horus just grinned.

"You'll see" was all Jak got from his current partner in mischief. Then the map rotated as the drone continued on its path, then it scanned the AA emplacements and those areas of the map glowed red. Then the holoprojection created paths based on what needed to be done and what it knew of the three and their roles. It showed a path for Zen to find a better vantage point and it showed a crazy mess of paths that Horus and Jak could take, but most-if-not-all of them were deathtraps.

Horus tapped his comm and spoke out to Zen, "Is that better, or should I giftwrap it for you?" he said with a laugh, then he turned to Jakob.
"Come on, we need to see what we can do to at least get closer." he then collected his things and trotted over to a backalley, which he subsequently slipped down. Jakob was relatively close behind.

[Arya Cognito]

"Thank the goddess! A path!....What?!" Zenaia had been reveling in the new found path, but was startled as she watched through the scope of her rifle as Horus and Jak disappeared into the alleys as she had done. She was startled by a group of four guards investigating the alley that Jak and Horus were sneaking down. Swiftly, Zenaia slid her scope's 'Assassin's A' reticle over one's head. They seemed alarmed by something. Zen pulled the trigger and a laser bolt dropped the first guy. She continued down the line as the last couple attempted to cut and run as they saw their comrades fall. Zen was compromised after that showing. Goons that had caught sight of the stray laser bolts had started firing on her position and running towards her location. "Shit! Well, boys, I helped you a little by diverting them to my location. Time for me to run!"

[Guest]

"Okay, what the actual fuck?" was Jak's first response, followed by "Wait, what?" when he heard Zen over the intercom. He gave the two corpses a quick once-over, shrugged, then peered over to see the female member of the trio escape from imperial-looking soldiers.

"Should we help her?" Jakob asked Horus, who swatted him on the back of the head.

"Are you dense? She diverted them so we can do our job of taking out the AA. The sooner we do that the sooner we can help her without it being wasted effort." then he paused and chuckled with "Besides, Zen's a big girl. She can handle a few warlord lackeys." he gave Jak a 'let's go' nod and the two took off toward the nearest AA emplacement.

[Arya Cognito]

Zen was soon rushed at the five stories of stairs. Eyes bulging for a millisecond, Zen took steps backwards narrowly escaping a barrage of laser fire whizzing past her face.

She wheeled around and ran back into the room. 'Trapped! Shit!' The six goons rushed in the fifth floor hallway and into the room she had entered. Zen dropped two smoke bombs down into the room. While diving into the smoke, she withdrew her side arm as the smoke began to engulf the entire room rendering Zen invisible. The goons began to fire on her position while moving in. Swiftly, Zen ran into the circling goons. She grabbed one and used him as a human shield as she fired on another. Zen slit the neck of her shield and dropped him. Moving forward to the searching goons, Zen dropped to a crouched position and kicked out the legs of number three. Quickly, her blade plunged into the back of the head of number three. Four and five ran towards the noise of the blade's contact and grabbed Zen's upper arms as she rose to greet them. Zen flipped herself backwards abruptly causing them to lose their grip. A swift DL-44 shot to their heads ended their plans. Zen's head snapped to the door. Her eyes flickered in anticipation as she heard the boot stomps of more troopers on their way up. In the dense smoke of the room, Zen rolled an incendiary grenade out into hallway. She braced herself behind the living area's seating.

Moments later, Zen stepped out of the room to the sounds of troopers writing in fiery pain. She hated causing pain, but always felt that those that strove to cause her, her friends or the galaxy pain deserved to die. Zenaia noticed a detail she'd lapsed on before. A hatch at the end of the hallway with a short ladder leading into it.

Through the hatch was a steep dome style roof. Zenaia carefully stepped out onto the roof. With all of the care, she still slid to the edge and nearly off. Bracing herself by placing her feet in two round ventilation sockets. All of that bracing was for not. Across the way, a Zsinj controlled encampment spotted Zenaia. A rocket from the infamous AA troopers rang out and struck her position.

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