10-17-2017, 12:35 PM
And so it began. Following five days and nights of long and arduous training montages, the stormtrooper 'veterans' under the tutelage of Takanomiya Hijiri & Sarah Watt, utterly exhausted, took one night off to rest and recuperate, after being told by Lieutenant Davion Calrime that Imperial Command had finally finished their preparations; the next day – Day Six of Kroll's Really Amazing Plan (acronym: KRAP) – would be a day of reckoning for the Northside Wolfpack, during which four squads of the Empire's finest most okay-ish stormtroopers would descend upon four compromised hideouts of theirs, and bring them down with extreme prejudice. This should, ideally, weaken the gang to a point from which they could never recover...
***
The stealthy approach had been taken once again, so as to prevent the guards and sentries of the various facilities from spotting them; after what had happened to their last warehouse, the Wolfpack surely would have made sure their people actually bothered to keep a lookout from now on... not that it would have helped them. The crappy old van with its black-tinted windows blended in on Tier Five like a tree in the Green, a cowboy in the Dunes, or an ignorant, racist peasant in Camelot. In short, it was the perfect disguise. As was the second one.
Davion now led a squad of twenty-nine stormtroopers and one Rabbit, in addition to himself. Even with two battered-and-old-looking (but actually fully functional and armour-plated) vans, it was a bit of a tight squeeze; the vehicles weren't all that big to begin with, and thick layers of armour didn't exactly make them any roomier.
Nevertheless, they put up with it, and despite the awful congestion which so often dominated the streets of Tier Five, they did eventually arrive at their destination; a casino. Or rather, a car park round the back of what looked like a dingy old bar, but was actually the disguised entrance to an underground casino...
No, not just an illegal casino (though it was one of those too), but an actual underground casino; the NSW apparently owned a few other buildings around this one as well, and had – according to Kevin's surely reliable intel – torn down the walls between the basements in order to find the space to build this hidden gambling den of theirs.
Davion's squad was the only one being sent after a casino; the other three were all targeting warehouses most likely filled with guns and explosives, just as the first had been. The reason for this special mission was that this place was sometimes used by the gang's upper echelons for their clandestine meetings; if they could take out even just some of the leadership then it could potentially be a massive blow. And as for why this place had fallen to them to face; theirs was the only squad with a Prime on board, so if the big shots turned out to be Primes, or had Prime bodyguards, Davion's people would have the best chance of coping with them.
The back doors of the vans swung open, and the 'troopers marched out.
“Sir!” said Hijiri.
“Yes, corporal?” the lieutenant responded.
“This place has a front entrance and a rear one, so I recommend splitting out forces, so as to prevent them from running. What do you say?”
Davion nodded. “Makes sense. I'll leave you half the men-”
A loud cough could be heard from amidst the gathered ranks. Followed by a sigh from their leader.
“-half the soldiers, to guard this back exit while the rest of us go storm it from the front. That sound alright to you?”
Hijiri hesitated a moment, trying to find the best way to word this, before shaking his head. “No, sir-”
“What?” Davion's eyes narrowed as he spoke up before the Battle Rabbit could continue; the officer's helmet he wore was open-faced, and so unlike the mere stormtroopers around him, the lieutenant's expressions could actually be seen. It also made him more vulnerable to headshots. Not like that was in any way at all relevant, though. Nope. Just a totally unimportant detail... “You want to lead the charge, is that it, Prime? Well tough luck, this is my squad and I've got no intention of just standing back like some rich ponce who bought his way into power just because Command saw fit to give me this stupid new uniform. Got that!?”
“Uh... sure, sir. That's not actually what I was going to say, though.”
“Oh. Okay, what was it then?”
“I don't need half the squad to guard a back door. Just leave me the vets, those guys should be skilled enough to help watch my back while I do this, okay sir?”
“You want me to go in with nothing but newbies and incompetents? Are you joking? No way.”
“I'll take Dodson too.”
“Done!” the lieutenant organised the squad's splitting in record time and was off like a shot with his recruits. Clearly he thought Hijiri had made a terrible mistake by agreeing to take the coward, and would surely realise that himself at any moment. Of course, not being aware of their late-night training sessions meant Davion didn't realise that Trevor was now actually useful no longer quite so detrimental to have by one's side as he had been previously.
No sooner had he left than Kroll tugged off his helmet and tossed it back into the van.
“So you really do plan to fight without a helmet?” Jallus asked in a tone which made clear how unimpressed with that idea he was.
“Yes. Recognition is important, Reiner. How am I supposed to act like I'm in charge around here if I'm dressed no differently from every other stormtrooper sergeant? Besides, it's not like this cheap-ass armour ever actually does anything anyway; I don't know if you noticed, but it isn't exactly bulletproof.”
Jallus grunted non-committally, obviously still of the opinion that weak armour was better than no armour, but smart enough not to waste time arguing about it whilst standing right outside an enemy stronghold.
“So, we're going to 'guard a back door' are we, corporal?” Kroll asked, turning to Hijiri with a smile.
“That was my suggestion, so unless a superior officer were to overrule me then I guess we'll just be staying outside to ambush anyone who makes a run for it, sergeant.” the Rabbit responded, smirking back.
“Oh, really? A superior officer, huh? Well, funny you should mention that, corporal, because I was just thinking I might like to lead my little squad into combat.”
“You don't say, sergeant? I never would have guessed.”
Turning to the other six, Kroll spoke up again; “Alright, everyone ready?”
“Yes, sir!” they chorused with varying levels of enthusiasm. Trevor, of course, being by far the least keen.
“Excellent. Our goal for the day is to rack up more kills and/or prisoners than the lieutenant's people, got that? Good. Then let's get going.” so saying, he turned and fired, blowing off the small door's lock with unerring accuracy. The hinges creaked a little as it swung slightly ajar.
Kroll and Hijiri took the lead, and the rest marched behind as they headed into the narrow passageway...
***
The stealthy approach had been taken once again, so as to prevent the guards and sentries of the various facilities from spotting them; after what had happened to their last warehouse, the Wolfpack surely would have made sure their people actually bothered to keep a lookout from now on... not that it would have helped them. The crappy old van with its black-tinted windows blended in on Tier Five like a tree in the Green, a cowboy in the Dunes, or an ignorant, racist peasant in Camelot. In short, it was the perfect disguise. As was the second one.
Davion now led a squad of twenty-nine stormtroopers and one Rabbit, in addition to himself. Even with two battered-and-old-looking (but actually fully functional and armour-plated) vans, it was a bit of a tight squeeze; the vehicles weren't all that big to begin with, and thick layers of armour didn't exactly make them any roomier.
Nevertheless, they put up with it, and despite the awful congestion which so often dominated the streets of Tier Five, they did eventually arrive at their destination; a casino. Or rather, a car park round the back of what looked like a dingy old bar, but was actually the disguised entrance to an underground casino...
No, not just an illegal casino (though it was one of those too), but an actual underground casino; the NSW apparently owned a few other buildings around this one as well, and had – according to Kevin's surely reliable intel – torn down the walls between the basements in order to find the space to build this hidden gambling den of theirs.
Davion's squad was the only one being sent after a casino; the other three were all targeting warehouses most likely filled with guns and explosives, just as the first had been. The reason for this special mission was that this place was sometimes used by the gang's upper echelons for their clandestine meetings; if they could take out even just some of the leadership then it could potentially be a massive blow. And as for why this place had fallen to them to face; theirs was the only squad with a Prime on board, so if the big shots turned out to be Primes, or had Prime bodyguards, Davion's people would have the best chance of coping with them.
The back doors of the vans swung open, and the 'troopers marched out.
“Sir!” said Hijiri.
“Yes, corporal?” the lieutenant responded.
“This place has a front entrance and a rear one, so I recommend splitting out forces, so as to prevent them from running. What do you say?”
Davion nodded. “Makes sense. I'll leave you half the men-”
A loud cough could be heard from amidst the gathered ranks. Followed by a sigh from their leader.
“-half the soldiers, to guard this back exit while the rest of us go storm it from the front. That sound alright to you?”
Hijiri hesitated a moment, trying to find the best way to word this, before shaking his head. “No, sir-”
“What?” Davion's eyes narrowed as he spoke up before the Battle Rabbit could continue; the officer's helmet he wore was open-faced, and so unlike the mere stormtroopers around him, the lieutenant's expressions could actually be seen. It also made him more vulnerable to headshots. Not like that was in any way at all relevant, though. Nope. Just a totally unimportant detail... “You want to lead the charge, is that it, Prime? Well tough luck, this is my squad and I've got no intention of just standing back like some rich ponce who bought his way into power just because Command saw fit to give me this stupid new uniform. Got that!?”
“Uh... sure, sir. That's not actually what I was going to say, though.”
“Oh. Okay, what was it then?”
“I don't need half the squad to guard a back door. Just leave me the vets, those guys should be skilled enough to help watch my back while I do this, okay sir?”
“You want me to go in with nothing but newbies and incompetents? Are you joking? No way.”
“I'll take Dodson too.”
“Done!” the lieutenant organised the squad's splitting in record time and was off like a shot with his recruits. Clearly he thought Hijiri had made a terrible mistake by agreeing to take the coward, and would surely realise that himself at any moment. Of course, not being aware of their late-night training sessions meant Davion didn't realise that Trevor was now actually useful no longer quite so detrimental to have by one's side as he had been previously.
No sooner had he left than Kroll tugged off his helmet and tossed it back into the van.
“So you really do plan to fight without a helmet?” Jallus asked in a tone which made clear how unimpressed with that idea he was.
“Yes. Recognition is important, Reiner. How am I supposed to act like I'm in charge around here if I'm dressed no differently from every other stormtrooper sergeant? Besides, it's not like this cheap-ass armour ever actually does anything anyway; I don't know if you noticed, but it isn't exactly bulletproof.”
Jallus grunted non-committally, obviously still of the opinion that weak armour was better than no armour, but smart enough not to waste time arguing about it whilst standing right outside an enemy stronghold.
“So, we're going to 'guard a back door' are we, corporal?” Kroll asked, turning to Hijiri with a smile.
“That was my suggestion, so unless a superior officer were to overrule me then I guess we'll just be staying outside to ambush anyone who makes a run for it, sergeant.” the Rabbit responded, smirking back.
“Oh, really? A superior officer, huh? Well, funny you should mention that, corporal, because I was just thinking I might like to lead my little squad into combat.”
“You don't say, sergeant? I never would have guessed.”
Turning to the other six, Kroll spoke up again; “Alright, everyone ready?”
“Yes, sir!” they chorused with varying levels of enthusiasm. Trevor, of course, being by far the least keen.
“Excellent. Our goal for the day is to rack up more kills and/or prisoners than the lieutenant's people, got that? Good. Then let's get going.” so saying, he turned and fired, blowing off the small door's lock with unerring accuracy. The hinges creaked a little as it swung slightly ajar.
Kroll and Hijiri took the lead, and the rest marched behind as they headed into the narrow passageway...
![[Image: Hijiri_Name_Sig.png]](https://image.ibb.co/k1H7Hd/Hijiri_Name_Sig.png)