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The sun sets on Dal Sempora, the dry air moving in after a sand storm. The spaceport is relatively quite with the exception of some customs staff and a military shuttle with two Imperial Guard officers standing watch over it - a recent incurrsion into Idaran space has forced a large contingent of Imperial Guard troops offworld, lowering the security on Idar Prime. In the distance, a small group of Imperial Guards enter the starport through a secure facility, with them is a man shackled and being proded along.
"You don't have to go through with this. There is still time." Xiq'Vuular says softly, as the shackles around his feet drag on the ground. He raises his shackled hands to adjust the makeshift patch on his right eye, underneath it nothing but an empty socket.
A short woman in black plated armor walks alongside the man, looking attentively around the area, missing nothing. She carries a large energy rifle against her right shoulder, her finger on the trigger and prepared to fire in an instant. She ignores the man's words except for saying aside to him curtly, "Shut it, Authority dog..." She doesn't even meet his gaze.
It would seem that somebody doesn't want to see this man in shackles shipped off by the guard, as placed in windows of abandoned buildings, or on top of populated ones sit assailants in wait, all hiding from plain sight, and all wearing clothes to allow for blending in. There are eight in total should anybody actually be able to find and count them all. In one of the window rests a man who is wearing slightly more than any of the others as he has a mask on, complete witha black body stealth suit. Into a PDA he whispers "Alright, we use stunning force, only unless we find that it cannot peirce through the armor, in which case you are authorized to switch to lethal force. Aim for those with a gun in his back first."
Enter one sultry Virn lady who leans artfully against a building to watch, oh yes Saeeva is interested in these lizard people.
Finding that it's rather difficult to disguise their bushy tails, four Myini wait, hidden in the shadows close to Xani. Seeka is one of them, and by the odd, out of place looks of the others, the rest are Druid-kind as well. All of them are used to hiding, though none of them quite so used to such suburban terrain. "We have no stun weapons." Seeka mutters into her PDA. "Idaran blood will be spilt this day."
The Mercantile prisoner grumbles as he is pushed along. "I will not be silent. There's a war coming. You know it, and I know it. Just don't be caught on the wrong side when the hammer drops." Vuular says, sighing. He knows he cannot get them to defect, but he has to try.
The lead woman in armor snaps her head over to Xiq, saying fiercely, "Your people have killed many of my friends, do not pre--" but she notices movement out of the corner of her eye, a furry tail in fact, and falls silent, crouching and giving a few hand signals to her squad, consisting of 3 men and 1 woman, two carrying energy assault rifles and two carrying dual machine pistols. They fan out, the assault troops moving in front of the two armed with machine pistols, Xul moving to the back and taking aim at one of the Myinis with her sniper rifle, her helmet's targetting system snapping to life as she does.
Xani'Ulun says into his PDA to the troops he commands, particularly the ones who haven't yet been spotted "Alright, open fire while they're distracted. At least one of you at the one with the sniper rifle." With that the Mercantile Authority mercs creep out of their respective hidey holes to take aim and fire at their targets, two with rifles, while Xani and another underling carry a pair of pistols.
Seeka's eyes apparently don't miss a trick, "Shit, we've been spotted. Open fire! Open fire!" And with that, the four Druid Myini launch themselves from their respective positions, techno-bows springing into action with a mechanised whirr. These aren't your mother's bows. Four arrows made of metal black as night slice through the air, all jagged spikes and edges, designed to puncture organs and be near impossible to extract without further damage. The four Myini hopefully find some form of cover before they encounter any return fire.
And this is where smart Virn hide, yup when gunfire begins, attractive Kirvir get lost. Although there is lots of wide eyed watching
Not as if he was paying enough attention to begin with, but as the first guard drops from the weapons fire and as arrows fly all over, Xiq'Vuular shouts, "They're shooting at us!" As he shouts, he throws himself on the ground, trying to avoid being hit. He slowly crawls across the ground, slowly though, as he is still shackled.
Xul'Quaras opens fire on the Myini she's aiming at, missing by a little, and both her shock troops open fire with similar results, the machine pistol ones having gone down already. She curses loudly at that, lowering her gun for a moment and pressing a button on her helmet, yelling out into her built-in microphone, "Come in, actual! We need back up immediately! Repeat, we need back up NOW!" She pulls her discharge pistol out and aims for Xiq, however, shooting at him to try and stun him, keeping him from getting away. After that, she surveys the situation, and sees not one, but two familiar faces, people she THOUGHT were friends. With that, she curses even more under her breath, standing up and dropping her rifle, pulling both pistols from her hips and yelling, "You TRAITOROUS bastards!" Anyone who knew her MIGHT be able to discern that it's her voice despite the distortion, just because of how loud it is.
At the sound of gunfire, the two officers by the ship unholster their rifles and come running in that direction. A few customs officers about the area pull weapons as well, though the majority of them get the heck out of there, leaving only 4 to help.
Xani'Ulun has been lucky to not be taking casualties just yet, but says into his com "Alright, guys, flip the switch to lethal. The stuns aren't working. Try to not take killing blows if you can...Aim for the chest." With that his own pistols are kicked up to a higher level as he takes aim at the sniper's chest. The rest of his men aim for mooks.
Black arrows are flying through the air, the Myini druids are ruthlessly good aims, and their bows are infused with technology perfected throughout the ages. Seeka's ears flatten completely against her head and she grimaces as she hears the cry for traitors. She hadn't expected to run into Xul so soon, if at all. "This changes nothing..." She mutters, drawing her bow back, the weapon all smooth metal spikes and hinges. With another sharp twang she launches another arrow through the air at any of Xul's squad left standing.
Not wanting to die with his face in the ground, Vuular gets to his feet - with some difficulty. He shuffles along the tarmac of the spaceport with no real direction in mind other then out of the line of fire. He isn't going far, shackled at the feet and hands.
After a few more moments of relative silence other than the gunfire, the warning sirens start up in the distance. Although no more troops arrive, overhead flies one of the Imperial Guards atmospheric attack ships. It circles the spaceport, waiting for instructions on what it is shooting at, assuming it isn't shot down first.
Xul'Quaras gasps as Vala goes down with an arrow to the stomach next to her, and rushes over to her side, crying out, "Vala!" She throws her helmet off with a force strong enough to break the visor, allowing her hair to fly out, covering her eyes a little, giving her a bit of a crazed look. "Vala, talk to me!" The woman is unresponsive, except for blood coming up in her mouth, and a hand to Xul's shoulder, a bit of a dying moment shared between them right then. With that, she stands up, muttering a few orders into her commlink to the ship, telling it to aim for the mercenaries, that she'd take care of the Myini. With her only head protection laying on the ground beside her, she looks up again and yells out, absolutely enraged, "Seeka, you Spirits damned traitor!" running in that direction with her two pistols blazing, aiming for her 'friend' first and foremost. The Guard officers have just arrived behind the Myini's position and open fire, flanking them on every side as they fan out to surround the Myini position, and the customs officers have started to open fire on the mercenaries with what look like large stun pistols.
Xani'Ulun loses a man, but is a bit too worried about his new group of friends to notice it very much. With that the order to his troops go "Take out the customs agents. Once they're cleared out we're grabbing Xiq and getting the ever-loving fuck out of here." With that he looks to Xul and with only a fraction of a second's hesitation he fires at her aimed at the chest, once more, while his men aim at the customs agents.
Saeeva continues to peek from behind a crate wide eyed.
The Myini give a primal roar of fury as they find their position flanked by the officers that had been guarding Xiq's ship. Laser fire sears through the four of them in a storm of plasma and raw energy. One of the druids fall, a female Myini dressed in black robes has her head taken off by a shot, leaving her to stumble and collapse in a heap of smouldering fur. The others scatter to find better cover, returning fire in kind. All except Seeka. The roar of the gunship overhead goes unnoticed as she meets Xul's eyes. "Sorry." She mouths, and psionic energy pulses within her as she attempts to biokinetically paralyse her foe.
The attack ship hovers for another moment as it takes note of the location of the various groups. As it gets its orders from the ground, it turns towards the general direction of the enemy forces and opens fire with its main weapons - an energy machine gun.
Tears form at the edges of Xul's eyes as she tries hard to push forward, her muscles frozen in place. She manages to get out, "Sorry...my...ass...you killed my best friend!" She is visibly shaking to break free, trying hard to power forward. Now tears are streaming down her cheeks, and the feeling of betrayal shows through the rage in her eyes, and she murmurs, over and over, "How could you...how COULD you...how could you..." Meanwhile, the Guard Officers dodge all the arrows fired at them, and grin a bit at their success, opening fire again with another burst of red bolts. The Customs Officers aren't doing so good, however, as one loses a hand to the mercs and goes down clutching at it, the others persisting in a fury of nationalism.
Xani'Ulun notes Xul not able to move in the slightest even after being shot at and then switches back down to stunning shots, opting to aim at her now unhelmeted head to put her down for the rest of the fight, his men still under orders to take out those customs agents.
"And you killed mine!" Seeka shouts back, psionic energy pulsing through her body as every nerve below Xul's neck freezes stiff. For the Myini, it wouldn't take so much to push that a little bit further, to stop the heart from pumping blood. She frowns, glances at the sky, utters an oath and runs off across the spaceport, moving towards where Xiq is still trying to crawl away. "Idaran! Circe knows why they want you alive, but it's imperative we get you up, and with us."
The shackles prisoner looks back at the Myini, "We need to get out of here!" Vuular shouts, shuffling across the spaceport slowly away from the preoccupied guards, towards one of the private shuttles.
Xul'Quaras goes down as the shot catches her in the back of the head, panting hard as she drops her pistols. Soon, however, she's pushing herself back up, tripping a little as she does. The pain is great, but she's not about to let those Myini and Authority traitors get away just yet. With heavy damage, she stoops down to pick her discharge pistol back up, her movements considerably slowed. Her voice is less enraged, more tired now, as she asks, "Seeka! Why? Why did you come here?" The Guard officers aim for the last druid first, noting that her friend runs away but opting to deal with that later. The two surround the last enemy as best they can, opening fire from two different directions. The customs officers continue to open fire, having avoided further casualties for now. They yell out in their own primal screams, "For the Quorum! For Idar Prime!"
The attackship hovers for minute as it repositions itself over the Mercantile forces. It opens fire down towards the mercenaries, it's engines firing up as the firing stops to evade any potential fire as it reloads.
Xani'Ulun is shot in the shoulder, by the strafing, but at least for the moment it's just a superficial wound. With that however, he's running, heading out the opposite side of the building that he'd been occupying to shoot from, and begins to cling to alleys to remain out of sight as he heads somewhere far away from the action.
The remaining druid still fighting notes that Seeka has left to finish the mission, but that doesn't make it any easier on her as she finds yet more officers circling around to surround her. Her bow works with all the grace of a Druid of her people, famed warriors among the Myini. "Circe take you!" She screams.
Seeka pauses, turning to the staggering Xul for a moment. "You have your orders, I have mine." She says, though whether her voice reaches above the roar of gunfire and death is another thing entirely. The wind is heavy with blood, drenched in it, the scent so overpowering Seeka looks like she might gag. But she has a job to do. Using a blunt part of her bow she pushes Xiq towards the private shuttle. "Get in. I'll distract Big Bird once you're in the air." Throwing her bow around her shoulders, the Myini stretches arms with feathers that grow into wings. In one motion she's off the ground, no longer a Myini, but her totem animal, a rather large, nasty looking bird.
The spaceport has become a battlefield, and in a matter of moments. The ground is torn up from the bullets of the gunship above, plasma fire flies freely through the air, and smoke billows from holes in the ground.
The prisoner, so close to freedom, boards the private shuttle. After a moment, the engines fire up and it rises from the ground. It's engines ignite, and the ship flys like a banshee across the spaceport and into the sky, not looking back. Vuular looks out a window at the fighting below, hoping the others escape without issue.
Xul'Quaras sees the escaping vessel, and says into her commlink, "Attack vessel...break off and pursue that ship...warn orbital defenses to disable the craft if possible, but do not let it get through. Take it down, at any cost." She drops her pistols as she looks up into the sky, saying loudly to Seeka, "You may be an oath breaker, Seeka, but I am not. I will not shoot you, even though I should, by all rights." Instead, she turns to the remaining druid and presses a button on her wrist to activate the wristblade, moving up behind the distracted Myini and trying to grasp her around the neck. The Guard officers hesitate for a moment, but then aim at the bird, setting their weaponry to stun, and the customs officers follow suit.
Everything was going well. Well, almost everything. Seeka could feel the wind through her feathers, freedom from the fight and the sounds of conflict below. She sees Xiq's shuttle take off across the sky, and knows her mission was a success. Of course, that's probably her last thought for the moment, as a bolt of stunning energy travels across her body and locks up her wings. The creature even falls majestically, though when it hits the ground, it hits it with a wet crack, and does not move. The last druid gives a startled roar as she's taken from behind, but succumbs quickly, losing consciousness in moments.
Xul'Quaras sighs and sheathes her blade again, giving the girl over to the officers. Then, she moves over to see if Seeka's still alive, putting a finger to her neck and assessing the damage. After discerning that she'll be fine with time, she moves over to her fallen comrades. One's forcing an arrow through his leg, another's patching up an energy wound, and the last is unharmed but for a headache, rubbing his head lightly. "Damn, this hurts." one of them says. "Bleeding Myini," says another, "I hope they all burn.." Xul just collapses next to Vala, holding her best friend's head in her hands and weeping over the body, though the only indication of this would be her heaving shoulders, as her face is covered by her currently frazzled hair. The attack ship breaks off in pursuit of the shuttle, a transmission going to any orbitting ships to be on high alert, giving a description and designation number, etcetera. To Xul, this mission was a horrible one. Far too many deaths here, on both sides. She wonders to herself when it will all finally end...