[IC] The Beat (Star Wars Stormtroopers RP)

[Sloth]

Rian couldn't exactly say he was enjoying his first assignment. Maybe it was the nerves, but when you've been on a planet for not even ten minutes and the experienced members of the team are already preparing for some kind of shit to go down in a rinky-dink slum bazaar, maybe mild paranoia wasn't unexpected. Rian had moved to be directly behind Triple Nine and was doing his best to focus on illegal merchandise rather than seeing a blaster every time a Twi'lek reached in to their cloaks. So far it just felt as if everything was happening around him, from Norman moving past him to the rear to Campo's erratic fidgeting with his rifle.

That's when he saw something. He'd grown accustomed to Twi'leks huddling into huts and tents in the past five or so minutes, so he wasn't exactly sure what was so extraordinary about this one. Something just....bugged him at the back of his head. Maybe it'd be better to dismiss it rather than get embarrassed and probably ridiculed by his squad mates. I mean, out of the ordinary is it for a rookie to be stupid and report something that happened to be nothing of import? Oh, what the hell, better safe than sorry, and if it was nothing, no harm done, right?

"Hey Trips, I've got some suspicious activity at 4 o'clock." It'd just be a short diversion from their main objective anyway.

[Austronaut]

"Roger that Nines," Myrinda spoke into her commo. She dropped back slightly so she could cover the rear if this went south. As innocently as she could manage she unsafed her weapon. Trash blew and billowed in the alley ways, these aliens lived like animals. Even an animal might be able to pull of an ambush in a rat warren like this though. The rear ward elements of the squad were forming a rough diamond, the better to contact trouble from the rear.

She didn't worry about what was going on up front. He might be an ass but you didn't worry about Nines, or Blue for that matter, at the sharp end. If the enemy crushed the front elements the rearward groups could close up. Maybe with Smiles covering them they might even make it out.

[vietmyke]

Within the crowded Bazaar, the masses of bodies had slowly forced the two fireteams to merged into a single large mass- the lack of manpower on the ground was also sort of forced them to combine, lest troopers be singled out. With both Smiles and Kent up on the rooftops, only seven of them remained on the ground to face threats. Blues and Campo took the front of the formation, while Triple Nines and the rookies made up the center, Pips was closer to the back monitering communications, and Norman was their rear guard. Up from above, Kent and Smiles watched over them with high powered blasters.

As the squad slowly pushed its way through the bazaar, Blues could easily feel the tension building up. Not to the point where he had to shoulder his blaster and start pointing it at people who stood in front of them, but enough that he had to keep his head on a swivel, scanning the crowd for any sort of trouble. It was doubtful that the natives would start a shootout in the bazaar unless absolutely necessary, after all, this bazaar was one of the slum's lifelines, where all of their miserable poor folk got food and supplies they needed to live. Shooting up the bazaar to get a handful of soldiers was more detrimental to the livelihood of the slums than it was the Empire. Of course, natives and guerrillas were never known to be particularly bright or tactical.

Their new kid piped up on the comms, reporting something suspicious going on nearby- not that the entire bazaar wasn't already filled with suspicious activity. Well, at least they knew he had eyes. Blues casually replied over the comms.

"Keep an eye on it, mark it on the map. But keep moving- we're not here to investigate the bazaar, we're here to find a smuggler. 1st Squad will come around later to check everything out."

The Twi'lek that had caught Winoda's eyes seemed to grow increasingly agitated in the distance, seemingly arguing with another native. He pointing angrily at the squad with one hand, the other never leaving the inside of his cloak, but he appeared to be in the middle of drawing something out of it. The two tails- upon being spotted by Norman immediately stopped moving and retreated backwards towards the crowds. They split up before leaving Norman's field of view. As they walked, Pips noticed the loud comm chatter quickly fall off, becoming eerily sparse for such a crowded location.

"Hey Blues, Nines," Campo called out nervously from the head of their formation. Looking ahead, Blues saw what had gotten Campo's attention. Near the exit of the bazaar, stood four burly looking Twi'lek men. The men stared the squad down as they approached, arms crossed. The one who was obviously in charge had a vibroblade at his hip, and held a blaster pistol confidently in one hand.

Opening a private channel between himself and Triple-Nine only, Blues spoke. "That's Rerark, one of Sarr'Khan's lieutenants. He might be able to take us to Sarr'Khan, or he might just shoot at us. How do you want to handle this?"

[Sep]

Triple Nine moved to the front of the formation as they neared the guards after getting Blues message. He already had an eye on the blaster and vibro-blade and just nodded. He flicked on his comm to Blue. "Let's see how far a friendly face gets us." With that he pressed down on the release and pulled his helmet off his head putting it under his arm. Taking a helmet off during an op wasn't exactly regulation but then again back in his day a squad of misfits wasn't exactly regulation either, so who cared about regulation? He put it under his arm and slung his gun though kept his other hand down near his side-arm incase this didn't exactly work. Of course his head was now a more suceptible target though he just had to hope that his squad would cover him or whoever shot at him wasn't a good shot.

If you're going to gamble, go big or go home. He nodded at the two guards. "Afternoon gentlebeings. We're here to see Sarr'Khan. We don't really have an appointment but I've spent a lot of time on Ryloth in the past and was thinking that we could maybe get an exception to get in and see the guy? Couple of minutes tops, we'll probably ask a question and then he can ask a question. We'll be out of your headtails in no time."

[Heat]

Smiles watched silently from above, so often how she did it in previous missions. This situation was no different, though there wasn't anyone shooting at her (yet), which was a positive change. She just eyed the inhabitants of the bazzar through the scope of her rifle, watchful for any sudden actions that would need her immediate attention. She would ultimately be the one to make the call on who to shoot if the mission called for her to do so. But there was so much tension in the air before a shot had even been fired, the bang of her rifle blasting a bolt of plasma into some Twi'lek's face would just kick-start a chain of chaotic events. She would just wait for one of the natives to make a move before she made one, if one was made.

She didn't notice any eyes look upon her through the scope, she highly doubted they didn't know she was up there. A prone soldier in noticeable white armor clenching a long rifle would always catch a few eyes. It was just a matter of them not wanting her to notice them noticing her, enough paranoid quick glances at her said enough about a person. Her thoughts changed as she noticed Triple Nine pull off his helmet before a group of armed natives. A bold move, but with some thought behind it, it would be easier for the natives to talk face to face, not helmet to helmet, it was also much easier to put a blaster bolt through a face rather than a helmet.

[Austronaut]

Myrinda cursed under her breath. The last thing they needed was to hang around in the square with hundreds of possibly hostile locals. She leaned back into a corner between two flimsy prefab shop fronts and flicked on the sensor attachment which was under-slung on her rifle. With seeming nonchalance she swept the barrel across the square. The holocam in her sensor package began mapping the square in minute detail.

"Bravo one four," she murmured, tripping the com-link to the sharp shooter.

"Transmitting the site," she reported. Uploading the three dimensional map of the square to the over watching sniper. Having an accurate holo map allowed the sniper to pinpoint locations that might be dead space from her position. The comm-link scanner didn't register anything out of the ordinary. She had done all she could. Leaning back, she tried to stay alert.

[Heat]

The Twi'leks looked at each other cautiously, the leader of the group, Rerark, had turned his head to the others as well before he glanced back at Triple Nine. The blaster still noticeably clenched in his hand, for a moment the look on his face gave the impression that he was about to order his men to shoot at the Stormtroopers, but then he broke the nerve racking silence by speaking to the un-masked Imperial that had approached him.

"You and your men may go in, but you only speak to Sarr'Khan, and for as long as he says you can. When he says he's done with you, you leave." The Twi'lek said, apparently unhappy about the idea of it, none of them liked the Stormtroopers and liked even less allowing them into their territory.

All four of the aliens then stood aside, allowing the squad entrance into Sarr'Khan's hideout after moving through some alleyways. The tension did not cease at all as they moved on, every so often one of them could see a Twi'lek watching them carefully, many of whom had weapons visible on them. But the group made it through without any incident and stepped out in a clearing. Underneath a makeshift tent sat Sarr'Khan, surrounded by several of his men. More Twi'lek's milled around the area, some in windows above the clearing.

There was also not very much cover, two abandoned market stands nearby, an empty vehicle on another. If anything happened then they would have needed to think of a plan quickly. Sarr'Khan watched the group from his seated position, as he waited for one or more of them to approach him, a blaster pistol holstered on his hip. From above Smiles and the trooper accompanying her had moved along the rooftops, the female Stormtrooper scoping out the area below.