Larvee

Jude was stirred by the navigators soft pings, he sat up straight as the McFerrin dropped from Hyperspace. Taking a moment to drink in the sight of Coruscant, the giant cityscape visible from orbit, and the scar still left in its crust. With a gentle hum, Jude began plugging away at the console, transmitting ID codes, making contact with Tower, and preparing for the ride in. He turned back to the cabin where his client slept. The privacy curtain was closed, but could hardly muffle the man's snores. "Hey, Jaque! We're coming down now, should make surface in less than Five!" There was a stir from behind the curtain, Jude turned his attention back to his flightpath. A few moments later, a slightly short human stepped up behind the helm. "Well? Were we-." "Nobody's behind us, or waiting at the port for us. Try to enjoy the ride, we'll be on solid ground again before you know it." Jude interrupted. Jaque had been stressed for the whole flight. To Jude it seemed irrational, that for some reason his co-researchers would send an assassin, or bounty hunter to steal his work before he could present it. He shrugged, thinking to himself that he maybe just doesn't know this persons working environment. Jude chuckled gently, the thought of some sort of Scientific Thunderdome sounded funny to him. Jaque jumped as Jude brought the McFarrin down onto the landing pad a little less than softly. He laughed "Don't Worry, Be Happy!" Jude smiled wide, standing from his seat and gesturing to the airlock. "C'mon, I'll see you to your shuttle and make sure you're off safely, alright?" Jaque frowned, mildly annoyed at the Devaronian. "You're not helping." The man turned to the airlock, the ramp had already come down for them to step off to the pad. The shuttle wasn't far from the port that was burried under the city that sprawled infinately in every direction. The sky was thick with traffic and noise. Jude couldn't help but lose himself in the sights, a feint feeling of pride washing over him as he stared into the increadable progress that this planet has experienced. Jaque waved gently as his shuttle departed, which Jude repaid. He'd stand and watch the shuttle disappear into the distance before turning back towards his landing bay. He had the day to spend, and intended to stop for something to eat before leaving again. On his walk he checked his communicator, not having realized he missed a message. His face lit up as he listened, and he smiled wide. He wasted no time responding to Azael, reminiscing about the friendship they'd shared. Hey!! I'd absolutely Love to come mess up some bad dudes! And by chance I just happen to already be on Coruscant for business! Shoot me your local and I'll be there ASAP. With excitement in his breath and a skip in his step, Jude made his way back to his pad, eager to hear back from his comrade.

Through the grainy scope he watched the craft drift along the road. Unfortunately, it seemed, while the pedestrians gave the IFV and its guard a wide birth, though showed a fair bit of outward aggression. Hopefully once the shooting started they'd know to scatter, for now he had to be sure to check fire before each shot. The display flickered, and tension built up as his sweaty palm held the remote for the EMP. He scanned the occupants again. Their target, so proudly atop his throne, three slaves around him, including one in his lap. Her young, blue figure obscured his shot, he certainly wouldn't take the chance of the shot. Especially with the thick collars they wore, there was no doubt there was explosives embedded in them. The EMP would easily have the strength to disable them, at least for long enough to deal with the entourage. Very slowly, and very deliberately he reached for his communicator, and whispered to his companions over their secured line. "As soon as we hit the switch, if you have a clean shot, take it. We'll mop up the grunts afterwards." The vehicle made closer to the device he'd carefully laid, and Jude flicked the safety from the detonator. He continued waiting. Just as the dust began to clear from the device, Jude hit the switch. There was a flash of white and blue, lights popped and sparked as they died, near everything that ran on electricity fried abruptly. He laid, near motionless, tracking the target, waiting for either an opening, or for one of the others to take the shot. The enemy would be startled, but he still had some surprise up his sleeve.

IEDs always made Jude feel uneasy, his thoughts dwindled on an ambush he'd laid many years ago. Civilians had been caught by the planted explosives on the roadway, their intended target simply went around the attack. Similarly there was a large civilian presence here, in this street, he simply couldn't take the chance. Jude finished linking the EMP to his detonator before scanning the rooftops, making special note of the window he'd asked Azael to watch through. A mix of dust and debris covered the make shift device, concealing it against the trash of the streets. He pulled the strap of his rifle closer to his shoulder, securing the large frame of the IQA-11 in place as he made his way down the street. Roughly a block down was a brilliant vantage point, overlooking the area. He made his way past the tripwires and simple alarms as he climbed the stairwell of the building. On the rooftop of a two floor building he laid, the barrel of his rifle only barely poking through a small hole in the stone wall. There were paths that would lead through buildings and dip into allies. There were fallback points, flanking routes, redundancies upon redundancies. Azael was to be behind the craft when the EMP goes off, with routes that lead past and eventually linked with Jude's building, Tilt was much closer to the action, being set up in the basement of the building two down from the EMP. The window on the lowest floor was at shoulder height, perfect for a mounted emplacement. The stage was set, Jude's breaths were slow, controlled, and calmed. They were ready, at least as ready as they could be.

Jude's eyes widened as he watched the Jensaarai fall into the sands, lifeless. His thoughts circled his mind as he continued back, how a man so defiant and full of life could just fall limp, like any other inanimate object. Their arguments and back-and-forth at the speeder shop taunted his memory, the charade that he'd put on dropping with him into the hot and indifferent sands. His focus was snapped as he heard his comrade shout out. "We need to go now- this op is blown. Pull out, get to the speeders. When you get on, bolt in a different direction. We'll meet back at the ships, and go from there." Alarms blared both here and in the distance ahead of them. She was right, there was no way they could finish this safely. Especially not without putting innocent lives in danger. As the last guard dropped she made a sprint for the speeders, launching a bolt at one of the cameras, out of spite perhaps. Jude's heart hang heavy as he remembered the offer to reminisce together after this was all over. They had such high hopes, so prideful. Now one of the men that he might have called friend, would never share his stories. Jude followed not far behind Azael, keeping his blaster rifle close as he made the climb back to the his speeder. At the top of the hill he keyed on the speeder, but turned back to the crest of the hill and crouched down, refusing to leave before the last man made his way back. He couldn't lose another.

Jude's attention shifted through his surroundings like lightning, his heard thumped heavily in his chest as a bead of cold sweat dripped down his forehead. As guards poured in, weapons drawn, the tension rose within him. Azael was doing everything in her power to keep things from escalating any farther, there were still people inside counting on them for rescue. No such luck. They raised their weapons and demanded surrender. For a moment he froze, waiting on a signal. He scanned the faces of his new comrades, the tension in his muscles now almost unbearable. In his mind he begged for Azael to give an order, a sign, something. She'd done so well as lead of the operation so far, for a moment Jude was excited to see how she handles combat. The moment the Jensaarai shifted the tension broke, and with a twitch Jude drew his pistol from its holster and aimed a bolt at their initial greeter with practiced efficiency. He shifted his finger to the second trigger, lifting the pistol level to his eye as he pointed to the farther group. The pistol jumped back as the heavy, explosive bolt left the second barrel. Jude slid the pistol back into its holster with a grin as he reached for the rifle on his back, steadily walking back to put some distance between them and his DMR, letting loose a volley at the guards by the gate. He had faith in his omen, nothing would bring him down, nothing could slow his drive.

The dust kicked up and Jude flinched away, he grinned widely as he looked over to the others. "Freq is One-Three-Three tack Seven; Try to keep up!" He let out a loud, bellied laugh as he zipped off after Azael. The wind in his face was exhilarating, if space was his sea then the desert plains were a raging river. Twisting and turning, zipping through canyons and over rocky dunes. There was no matching the freedom between the stars, but the rush and finesse of speeder travel had no rival. He couldn't hide the childish smile for even a second in the excitement. He let out woops of thrill as the speeder jumped along the ground; He could never get used to it, and could never get enough of it. Up ahead in the distance he could make out Azael's scouting point, though just a dot on the horizon he knew he was catching up fast. Gradually he let off the throttle, letting his own speeder slow to a stop next to hers. The plume of dust caught up to him as he killed the whining engine. He reached into the saddle and retrieved a rangefinder before making his way over to the lookout. They had set up on a tall hill, overlooking the compounds main gate. It seemed quiet enough, but there was surely someone, or something looking back. Jude felt a little uneasy, like someone was staring daggers into the back of his head. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment. letting the practiced training overtake him. A façade took over him, his face contorted, taking the appearance of a grizzled veteran, he had a thousand-yard stare when he opened his eyes; so focused and unflinching, his shoulders rolled up and forward, he was already big, but nothing shouted merc like looking bigger. He wasn't himself, and that made him ready.

Jude's toothy grin never left his face as he shrugged and awkwardly scratched the back of his head at the denied handshake. He had no issues with the men on a personal level, even with guns drawn on him he understood 'it's part of the bit.' But as Azael interjected he felt himself put in the middle. While he didn't have any trouble with the help, she had a point. The Sith uniform wouldn't help our situation. Then it became personal, and he finally got a glimpse past her snarky façade. She'd been through a lot, she really was fighting for the cause beyond 'we're the good guys.' His heart sank as he stared down into the dirt, imagining himself in her shoes. Seeing the chaos, experiencing such incredible loss. His eyes watered, not quite enough for a tear to form, the lump in his throat was hard swallowed. Jude looked back to the young woman as she gave her last remarks, bringing a genuine smile back to his lips, he turned to their allies. "We can all be friends here, I say be damned with first impressions! I really look forward to working with you all, better yet, getting to know you over a drink when this is all over." He spoke with a calm, yet enthusiastic attitude. He sat comfortably in the Barc speeder next to Azael's and kicked the starter, but before they would take off he leaned towards her, giving her a look of honest concern he quietly asked. "Are you alright? If you need to talk, before or after this op, I'm always free." It was a rough start, but Jude knew well enough that just because the meeting went sideways, doesn't mean the whole op is fried.

Jude stood patiently, if a little cramped in the tight allyway. The morning sun spilled in from the open plains on the horizon. A sense of freedom came over him as he stared into the distance. Azael was hard at work, debating prices for their rides when a commotion drew Jude's attention back to the streets. There was caution and unease in the air, Jude smiled and turned to confront whatever might be there with open arms. His heart sank when he saw the Sith insignia on the person's uniform, but before he could reach for his blaster pistol a citizen cried out in panic. "It's the Sith! The Sith are here!!" He bolted, dipping out of sight into a distant and dark alley. The frenzy spread like wildfire as refugee, citizen and gang member alike stampeded away from the speeder shop. Two of them stole speeders and sped off into the plains, exclaiming "You won't blast me off this planet too!" Jude's guard dropped when he recognized the man in the uniform. His smile came back to him, and he chuckled as he holstered the blaster. "Funny meeting you here!" He gave a nod to the man beside him that wore a clone's armour so fittingly. There was a sense of pride in his heart, having warn near the same armour for so long. He was internally a little uneasy, having seen how people have responded to the man's uniform, but he maintained an open mind; everyone has their reasons, maybe he went under cover aboard the ship, then mutinied to take it. He offered a sincere smile as he reached his hand out to shake. "I'm Jude, Not sure I caught your name?" Things might have just gotten a little more difficult, more variables to take into account, but with as many as they had now Jude was convinced his omen still held strong.

Jude nodded along, taking mental notes as Azael laid out her plan. It was exciting to see her mind at work, it was a welcome contrast to the brute force tactics he'd usually been a part of. And she had it all too, wanted posters and history she could just repurpose at a whim. "Let's do it! This is gonna be Great!" Jude smiled wide as he got up to check his own equipment. Really leaning into the 'hired help' vibe he threw on mismatched pieces of his armor, chest rig, heavy left shoulder pad, an extra holster here, bandoleer there. He started making sure to look the part, for a moment he'd wished he hadn't shaved that morning so he could grow out the stubble, but its not like there's no such thing as a clean-shaven mercenary. He grabbed the final touches, detonators, spare trip-wire, a couple of spare cartridges; wrapping it all together with a sheathed kukri strapped to his armored shoulder. He turned to sit back down as they just started scrapping the upper atmosphere. "So, how long until we touch down at the spaceport?" her impatience starting to crack through. He'd be lying if Jude said he wasn't feeling it too. "Only another couple minutes, I'm calling up the tower now." He replied spryly before flicking over to the comms. "Lessu Tower, Y-Wing Victor 933." A short break of static before their response. "Go for Lessu Tower" Jude smiled as he flicked the comm again. "Requesting landing clearance and refueling at bay 0-2." The moment was a little longer this time, but that's to be expected with traffic about. "Y-Wing Victor 933, you're clear for bay 0-2, Lessu out" The craft twisted, putting the planets surface beneath them on approach. The outer rim was abuzz lately, people misplaced by the new Sith campaign tearing through it, smugglers hiding what they could salvage, crime lords moving to protect 'investments'; even massive merchant ships moving with relief supplies for taken worlds, refugees without a home, struggling to break free of the iron fist. The thought began to sadden him as he followed the buoy in, but maybe it was part of why there were there, to facilitate safer trade, safer places for those refugees. The idea gave him hope, and his smile quickly returned. The landing gear touched down and the ship rocked with a hiss of the hydraulics. His char swiveled and he stood, crossing his arms and standing as tall as he could in the cramped space; his face was a most exaggerated tough-guy frown. It didn't hold long though, as the silliness broke through into an airy laugh. He hoisted the A280-CFE's strap over his exposed shoulder, and with a wide smile said to Azael "Let's go have some fun, shall we?" He offered a hand to help her from her crowded position on the seats.

The drop from hyperspace was smooth, a good omen, perhaps. Jude had become all too familiar with the bumpiness of long range missions, time spent out of port, station to station, system to system. For the first time in a long time he sat truly comfortable in his seat, the dashboard lit with dials and readouts, the drone of of sounds repeating around him. To him it was more than a ship, it was a home, caring for him, protecting him. It was the least he could do to show the same respect every chance he had, and he did everything he could, from regular tune-ups to simply keeping tidy, the McFerrin deserved his devotion. He smiled, comfortably in his chair, as he felt the Y-Wings beating heart pulse life through its body, the way its every panel, every screw and every wire flowed together with the current. Certainly this was a good omen. The sun had just crested the planet, rays cast through the wide, lightly tinted windows. Jude began bobbing his head to the songs lodged in his mind, his hand idly tapping on the warn leather stick. He adjusted the course, putting the planet above them. The chair slid back and twisted, Jude relaxed back, the padded leather jacket stretched as he rested he hands behind his head. He smiled genuinely at the lady to accompany him, it had been quite a while since last he traveled with anyone, and he was glad to have someone to talk to. "We've got about fifteen minutes before we make it to the spaceport, Is there anything we need not covered in the briefing? I've got a half-stocked armory, it's not much but it'll be good in a pinch." He spoke with an up-beat attitude, He wasn't just happy with his line of work, but proud of it. After all, today they will topple invariably terrible people. The mere thought of slavery put a bad taste in his mouth, that anyone would, or even could exploit another living, thinking being like that was despicable. He had met some that tried to justify it as a 'necessary evil', that maybe these people had no other choice, their life in ruins with the only hope being the mercy of a slaver. As far fetched as it sounded for him, desperation could drive people to the very extreme. But there was no excuse for the treatment they receive, the harshness of their living conditions, the regular threats. Their malice masked with the 'mercy' of "I could do worse." It was well passed the time for them to have a taste of their own medicine, a side serving of harsh justice would go a long way too.

JUDE LARVEE'S CHARACTER SHEET Identity Real Name: Jude Larvee A.K.A: N/A Homeworld: Devaron Species: Devaronian Physical Description Age: 37 Height: 8'2 Weight: 360 lbs Hair: Bald Eyes: Red Sex: Male Equipment Clothing or Armor: Custom Fit Katarn-Class Commando Armor Weapon: A280-CFE Blaster Rifle, 223-BFDS Blaster Pistol Common Inventory: Canteen, Vibro-knife, Paracord, Medkit, Communicator Faction Information Force User, Force Sensitive or Non-Force User: NFU Alignment: Lawful Good Current Faction Affiliation: Rebel Alliance Current Faction Rank: Veteran History Force Side: N/A Trained by: N/A Trained who: N/A Known Skills: Guerilla Warfare Tactics, Hand-to-Hand combat, Militia Training, Marksmanship Background: Raised with humble upbringings, the son of a great hunter, Jude tries to maintain an easy-going, positive attitude no matter his situation. At the age of 23, after seeing the state of the galaxy, opted to join a local militia, exclaiming to his parents "I'm goin' on my great adventure, and when I get home, I'll be a man worthy of your kindness." Not long after joining the militia, they were recruited by the Rebel Alliance for their bravery in the defense of Koridder Station. Ship Registration Name: McFerrin Class: Long-Range Support Shuttle Model: BTH-Y4 Heavy Y-Wing Manufacturer: Koensayr Manufacturing Length: 30 Meters Armaments: Duel Laser Cannon top turret (manned), single laser cannon bottom turret (remote) Armor: Light, Partly stripped Anti-Personnel Defenses: N/A Modifications: Custom Black and Gold paint