The Lookout

[Heimdall Surtr]

It had been a long day, and Heimdall Surtr was, for the first time he could remember, truly tired. Norko lowered the ship into the hangar bay and powered down the engines.

Heimdall turned to Norko, "It has been a long day. You have brought honor to our clan in battle. I haven't slept in over two days. I need you to stand watch at the gate to watch out for any enemies, but more importantly more allies."

[Norko]

*Norko nods at Heimdall and says*

"Right away, sir, you take your rest... you're going to need it"

*Nork Salutes and walks out of the ship, into the hangar bay, where he continues his walk through the rest of the building, in a matter of minutes arriving at the main gates, where he sat down besides another guard and eats a meal.... half an hour later, he was practicing his martial arts skills a little in front of the gate, having placed several targets at the side of the building, he shoots and trains. in the meanwhile waiting for enemy or friendly contacts*

[Rynech Viatl]

Rynech landed on a landing pad outside of the Mandalorian base on the planet of Talrus after gaining permission to land from the docking control. Stepping out of his ship, he was wearing his golden beskar'gam except for his helmet, which he held at his side. Seeing two guards at the gate, he noticed that they wore the newer Mando armor. This didn't surprise him.

While everyone else wore the newer armor, the clans on Dxun prided themselves as being descendants of those who had fought in the Mandalorian Wars. As such, rather than moving on to the new armor set, they were too stubborn, for the lack of a better word, to move on from the Neo-Crusader armor. That wasn't to say Rynech was wearing upwards of 300 year old armor. His armor simply held the Neo-Crusader design, but had all the upgrades the new sets had, plus any he had deemed necessary during his time as a mercenary. His armor was also made from a shipment of beskar from the planet Mandalore.

Even though one of the guards at the gate was practicing his combat skills, Rynech felt that he was the one to talk to. Approaching him, he said,"I wish to speak to Mandalore Surtr about pledging myself to his allegiance, and joining the Champions."

[Norko]

*when Rynech spoke, Norko stopped training, he put off his own helmet and looked at Rynech from top to bottom, when Norko spoke he spoke with a strong voice, saying*

"Many wish to speak with Mandalore Surtr, most without good intentions, some with good intentions... You'll have to leave your weapons with my colleague here, if you were to speak to Mandalore, and I will have to escort you through the base, are you ready to do this?"

*Norko's blue eyes looked serieus, as was his face... He was still studying the new man that stood before in him in primitive armour, with his hand at his holster*

[Rynech Viatl]

From the look on this guard's face, Rynech could already tell that he was judging a book by it's cover. But he knew that that the seriousness in his voice really stemmed from his duty; that which was to keep Surtr safe. And while Rynech thought in his head that it was inconvenient to have to be disarmed, he did not voice his concern. Instead, handed his blaster rifle to the other guard and said,"Hold this. But do not break it."

The guard simply took the weapon and nodded. Turning to the guard he was speaking to before, he replied,"Very well. Lead the way."

[Norko]

*Norko knocked on the gates six times in a weird rythm, in a few moments the gate opened and he said to Rynech*

"Come walk besides me, I prefer having you next to me rather than behind my back"

*Norko and Rynech walked into the base, walking through the hallways, he used his commlink to contact Mandalore Heimdall and said through it*

"it seems were in luck, sir, there is already a man who claims to want to join us, where would you like us to meet you?"

*Norko walks on slowly, keeping his eyes on Rynech*

[Rynech Viatl]

Judging by this one, this lot's pretty paranoid, thought Rynech, But they have reason to be so. The rest of the clans aren't so happy that we've decided to not serve the Sith.

Walking along with Norko, Rynech noticed that the base was bigger, much farther along, than Rynech expected it to be. This Mandalore knew how to get things done. He continued walking slowly next to Norko, waiting for the guard to tell him where they were going to meet Surkr.

[Heimdall Surtr]

Heimdall had awoken about an hour earlier, showered, and put on his armor, pistols, and put his compact disruptor rifle across his back. He knew a lot of work needed to be done today. Word had gotten back from Talron, who was on a reconnaissance mission on Concord Dawn, that the Surtr clan had found the base's location and was planning an attack. The Champions had to prepare.

"Meet me in the southeast observation tower. It's above the hangar replied. We have to finish wiring these anti-air turrets. I've gotten word from Champion Darklen that my former plan may be planning an attack on us," Heimdall replied.

Heimdall continued to wire the southeastern anti-air turret and waited for Norko to arrive with the potential recruit.

[Norko]

*Nork replied to Heimdall*

"We're on our way, Norko out"

*Norko looked at Rynech and said with a smile on his face*

"It seems you are getting the chance to prove yourself soon enough, follow to the hangar, from there we'll make our way to the tower"

*Norko beckoned to rynech and ran a bit in front of him, waiting underway if Rynech got behind, when they got to the tower Norko saluted and presented Rynech*

"here's our new recruit, sir, his weapons are still downstairs, must I give him a pair of weapons from this room? I'm getting a feeling we're going to need him*

*Norko waited for the reaction from mandalore*

[Rynech Viatl]

Rynech, finally meeting with Surtr, put his right arm across his chest, tilted his head downward, and said,"Mandalore, I wish to join the Champions of Mandalore, and to serve under you against the Sith." Looking up at Mandalore, he added,"And from what I hear, my service in combat may be required."

[Heimdall Surtr]

"Combat will not be necessary yet," Heimdall replied, "Talron has informed me that they are gathering a small contingent of about 15 soldiers to eradicate us. I like our odds. However, they will likely not strike until tomorrow... the weather is very rough right now on Concord Dawn. In any case, it is good to meet you Rynech. I am eager to see how you do in combat. Just in case, you better go retrieve your weapon."

[Rynech Viatl]

"As you command, Mandalore."

Seeing as how he had gotten Mandalore's okay to go retrieve his weapons, he assumed he no longer needed an escort, so he turned and walked back to the gates alone. Entering his ship, he retrieved his two vibroblades, on long and one short, that he had assumed that he wouldn't need at the base. Returning to the other guard, he simply held his hand out, and the guard gave him his blaster rifle.

After retrieving his weapons, he returned to where he had met Mandalore, and said,"Is there anything you wish me to do, Mandalore?"

[Heimdall Surtr]

"Our defense systems are still lacking," Heimdall said.

Heimdall showed Norko and Rynech a schematic of the base's ultimate plan. When the base was complete there would be over two dozen anti-air turrets and sixteen anti-infantry turrets placed strategically throughout the base. However, as it stood there were only four anti-air turrets, which were positioned at the southeast, northeast, southwest, and northwest corners of the hangar. Construction on the Barrack's defenses had not even begun yet.

"We need to finish the turrets soon. I just finished the south-east turret... it should be fully operational. We still need to finish the other three. I will prepare the northeast turret. Norko, I want you to take the northwest turret, and Rynech, take the southwest turret."

Heimdall ventured north through the hangar and began his repair work on the northeast turret.

[Rynech Viatl]

"Yes, sir." Moving southwest, Rynech eventually found the southwest turret. Placing his helmet on his head so his armor could scan to see what was to be done on the turret, he began to work.

Several minutes later, Rynech heard,"So, what exactly do you think you're doing?"
Looking away from his work, he saw another Mandalorian in full armor looking at him.

"I'm getting this turret up and running by the command of Mandalore. You know, so we all don't die?" replied Rynech, irritated. Looking back at the turret continuing to work, he said," You could bring it up to Mandalore, if you want. I'm sure he'll take the time out to explain to you, while there are more important things to be done."

The other Mandalorian simply walked away, and Rynech was pretty sure that other he was fuming. Laughing to himself, he refocused his attention on the turret, bringing it close to operational.

[Norko]

*Norko Saluted again and walked through the hanger to the northwest and looked around, he saw the turret that was to be repaired, he began his work and contacted Mandalore on his helmet comm-system*

"there seem te be some cut wires within this turret, but these aren't normal cuts, it's like it's cut by a knife or some other piece of equipment, I believe we have a breach in security, Mandalore, I'll repair this one and then I'll make sure it is locked for any to touch it,I don't want our defences to be offline when the attack hits"

*Norko repaired the wires making the turret operational, somehow the turret starting firing at Norko. Norko evaded the first blast and closed the blastdoor behind him, he walked to the nearby control room and set the turret to fire on hostiles.... he contacted Rynech on his comm by scanning the frequention Rynech's commlink was on, he said*

"sorry, that we hadn't any time to normally introduce... I would first want to congratulate you on becoming one of our brothers, I welcome you to the champions of mandalore, My name is Norko Vonus, what is your name, brother?"

*Having that said Norko heard footsteps behind him, a Mandalorian in a purple armour was standing in front of him aiming at Norko, Norko decided to wait, when the first blast hit Norko's armour, Norko got on his knees, he felt the heat of the bolt that just hit him, the pain. the mandalorian got closer, when it seemed that Norko would do nothing, the mandalorian tried to kick, Norko blocked the kick with both his arms, catching the leg of his opponent in mid-air and throwing him against the nearby wall. Norko Got up and walked towards the Mandalorian who seemed to have something shiny in his hand, when norko looked closer he saw it was an activated thermal detonator, Norko didn't hesitate and jumped as fast as he could through the overlook window, when the blast hit Norko was just behind cover and discovered his opponent could never have survived the blast...meanwhile Norko's commlink was still on on the channel of Rynech, who must have heard everything that happend, Norko tried to get some breath while he rested between the rubble, the turret still being active, but not firing*

[Dax]

Dax had not slept his first night at the base. Though Mandalore Surtr had welcomed him into the clan, he could tell that many of the men did not yet trust him. He had stayed up meditating on his situation – listening to the slowly worsening state of the galaxy.

In the morning, he overheard two Mandalorian’s speak of a possible strike on their outpost. They had mentioned a possible fifteen man strike force.

‘Only fifteen? Surtr must feel insulted.’ He thought to himself with a smile as he looked at a suit of red mandalorian armour, taking pieces of it and adding it to his wardrobe. Though he took a blaster pistol, he kept his lightsaber in plain sight. He was proud of who he was, even if a few of the others were negative towards the Jedi.

http://i519.photobucket.com/albums/u360/deaconx/DaxJediArmor.jpg

Walking around to familiarize himself with his new home base, Dax suddenly heard a blast go off. He rushed into the hangar with lightsaber in hand but not ignited, just in time to see the damage. An officer who was considered a respected Warrior in the clan was buried under some rubble. He had not met the man yet, only knew of him by name and reputation.

Quickly surveying the area and finding no eminent danger, Dax focused his mind and began to free Norko from the heavy stones with the use of the Force.

“Are you alright? What happened here?” he asked, taking note of the area of explosion and the online turret. Through the force, he could feel the man was alive and strong, but somewhat wounded.

[Norko]

*Norko looked up towards Dax and when he was free from under the rocks he got on one of his knees and thanked Dax for getting him out of the rubble, looking at the remnants of the controll-room that overlooked the turret. he grabbed his weapons and stood up. he stepped into the rubble that once was the controll-room, everywhere there was sparking of conduits and old computers, then when Norko was in there he saw that his opponent was still alive but badly wounded, He loaded his Pistol and set it for kill. he looked at Dax and said*

"this may turn a little nasty, you may not want to watch this"

*having that said Norko walked towards his opponent who was sitting against the wall... around that area the whole room was covered in blood, as was the traitor, Norko got on one of his knees and sticked his pistol into the mouth of the traitor, ready to pull the trigger*

[Dax]

Dax walked with Norko, watching the Mandalorian ready to execute swift justice. Though his training as a Jedi and conscience wanted to save the man’s life, he understood the kind of justice which would soon take place. Even if he had tried to save the man, his injuries would soon prove fatal.

Resting a steady hand on Norko’s right shoulder, Dax lowered himself.

“Hold your fire. I believe this saboteur could still be of use to us.” He said to Norko before looking the dying man in the eyes.

“Tell us who sent you… and what their plans are. Are there more of your agents amongst us? Tell me… and I’ll ease your pain.”

The traitor spat blood at Dax’s armour before hissing something he couldn’t understand in Mando’an. It was obvious he was willing to die in pain without revealing anything.

Daxter’s face was without emotion. “There are other, less kind ways…” he whispered, placing his hand on the traitor’s forehead and focusing.

Suddenly, Dax’s eyes shot wide open.

“Mandalore’s in danger!” he said as he sprang up run out of the hangar bay, leaving Norko behind to do as he wished with the saboteur.

[Norko]

*Norko get's an angry look on his face once the traitor says his words in Mando'a and when he was done speaking Norko shot a blasterbolt through the mouth of the traitor, and runs after Dax who is now a few meters away from him... Norko ran after Dax and manages to keep up to him, but with difficulties, he's breathing heavy and walks with a little bit of a limb, he says while running*

"the turret *cough* that Mandalore is repairing has been sabotaged to go haywire once he brings it online, it must*cough* be shut down, but not destroyed*cough*, or else we'll risk our*cough* defences to break"

*Norko slows down to a rate at wich he can handle and sees Dax run ahead of him, Norko stops and tries to walk on, wich was difficult since he was lightly injured, after having tried to move on, he falls to one of his knees and sits down against the wall and tries to relax*

[Dax]

Seeing as Daxter did not wear a helm and had not gotten around to applying a comlink to his left gauntlet yet, he quickly turned to Norko who was obviously in some discomfort.

“Contact Mandalore!” He pointed at his hear indicating the comm. System in Norko’s helm. “I’ll deal with our would-be assassin!” he yelled before running off. He could only hope that Norko’s suit was not damaged to the point of knocking out its comms unit.

Racing off through the corridors he made his way towards the kitchen nearly stumbling on a body in the doorway. Leaning over it, he checked for a pulse but there was none. Quietly, he continued to investigate. Hot soup was simmering, ready to be served to everyone soon.

Suddenly, a ripple in the force caused Dax to twirl without thought, but it was just a moment too late as a large mandalorian wrung his throat tightly, forcing him up on a counter.

The man was obviously much stronger than Dax physically but couldn’t have expected to be pierced by a lightsaber. Dax struggled to remain conscious under the grip of the mandalorian as he positioned his lightsaber hilt to the man’s abdomen and ignighted the blade. The golden humming energy cut right through the armour, killing the man almost instantly as Daxter shoved the hulking mass off himself.

Coughing to regain breath, he looked to the soup.

‘That’s it. He was trying to poison us all…where is the honour in that?’ he thought as he shook his head and quickly dumped the food before running towards Heimdall’s position.

‘I hope Norko got through…’

[Norko]

*Nork while sitting activates his comm. system trying to contact heimdall*

"Mandalore, *cough* come in, sir *cough*, if you can *cough* hear me, the turret is *static*, I repeat *cough* the turret is *static*..."

*hoping that his message came through Norko tries to relax again*

[Rynech Viatl]

Rynech was about to reply to Norko when he heard blasterfire and the sound of a thermal detonator going off over the comm. Forgetting about the turret, he ran in Norko's direction, fearing for his new brother's safety.
In the distance, he saw Norko put a blaster round in a near-dead Mandalorian's mouth, then run to follow someone else.

Reaching the body next to the turret, he crouched down, and was surprised by what he saw. Purple armor. It was the very same Mandalorian that was giving him grief earlier.

Moving towards where Norko had gone, he eventually found Norko hunched over, obviously in pain. Bending down, he asked,"Norko, what happened?"

[Norko]

*Norko looked up to Rynech and tried to sit straight.. his voice was filled with coughs as he spoke*

"we had a traitor in our*cough* midst, when I was activating my *cough*turret, the turret seemed to be sabotaged, *cough* I got it up and running again and then *cough* he attacked me. I managed to defeat him, but he *cough* blew himself up, he was still alive when we got information from him, he sabotaged the turret that mandalore's *cough* fixing right now to go haywire and blast*cough* him away...."

*Norko takes some breath at the moment and then continues with less coughs*

"the jedi who recently joined us is on his way to save Mandalore.... he might need your help, go! I will get myself to the medical bay, make sure Mandalore get's out this, I'm counting on you"

*Norko pulled himself up (with great difficulty) and Saluted, then stumbles on through the hallway, pointing to the corridor leading towards the kitchen*

"there you need to go, you will have to find Mandalore before it's too late, good luck, brother"

*Norko waited for Rynech to go on*

[Rynech Viatl]

Quickly taking in the information Norko gave him, he thought over what to do for a split second. It looked as if Norko could barely stand, much less walk, on his own. But Norko was a higher rank, and had his orders. Mandalore was in danger, and as such, his duty was clear.

Rynech saluted Norko and said,"Yes, sir." Turning to leave, he said,"Take care of yourself. We don't know how far this treachery spreads." He sprinted down the hallway, trying to catch up with the Jedi that Norko had spoke of. It was then that it struck him. A Jedi?

The Champions were allied with the Republic, but he hadn't expected that, seeing how things were, the Jedi Council would spare one of it's Jedi for the Champions' cause. He stopped thinking about it at that point, reassured by the fact that, if Mandalore trusted the Jedi, then he would as well.

Seeing another dead Mandalorian in the kitchen, he noticed the fatal wound had come from a lightsaber. Another traitor. He continued running, and finally caught up with said Jedi. He stated,"I've been sent by Norko to assist you."

[Dax]

Daxter had just been leaving the kitchen when the unknown Mandalorian in yellow had shown up. He nodded quickly as he passed by the man and began to move towards Heimdall’s location while explaining what he knew.

“It seems that one in there was attempting to soften the Champions of Mandalore. He killed the cook and had most likely already poisoned what was to be our meal. I’ve taken care of that but we must make sure Mandalore doesn’t activate that turret. I believe there are no other traitors amongst the ranks – at least none the other traitors knew of either.” He spoke quickly as he ran making a mental note to himself.

‘When this is settled, I’m getting that com link applied to this gauntlet immediately!’ he thought to himself as the two rushed to save their leader. Hopefully they weren't already too late...

[Heimdall Surtr]

Heimdall tried to interpret Norko's message. The message was almost pure static. Heimdall tried to contact Norko again, but it was no use. Heimdall decided that he had better start working on the turret, knowing that his former clan would strike soon.

Heimdall started to work on the turret, but he was soon interrupted by the screams of Dax and Rynech...

[Rynech Viatl]

"Mandalore!" Rynech called, as he and the Jedi arrived at the turret that Mandalore Surtr was working on. Catching his breath, he said,"Please, don't activate the turret. It's been sabotaged. The turret that Norko repaired fired on him, but he wasn't injured by it. What he was injured by was a traitorous hut'uun of a Mandalorian. It seems your former clan isn't content with merely attacking us from the outside."

[Heimdall Surtr]

Heimdall was not surprised. The Surtr clan had become cowardly, just like the Sith. They relied more on deception than combat prowess now. One thing was for sure; what was left of the cowards must be defeated.

Heimdall was almost ashamed to have once been a member of the Surtr clan, but was determined to bring his clan honor, after all, they had once been fierce and noble warriors. The cowardice of the Surtr clan only begin after Heimdall's former leader, Antoan, had been usurped by Jaskr, the Surtr clan's new leader. Ever since that day almost two years ago the nature of the clan had changed for the worse.

"Thank you, Rynech. You may have a saved my life," Heimdall replied. "Get some rest, it has been a hectic day. We will reconvene in the war room in the Barracks in four hours."

Heimdall reprogrammed the turret and finished his repairs. He then went back to his quarters to polish, clean, and service his weapons and armor. He had a feeling he would need them soon.

[Rynech Viatl]

"Mandalore," Rynech said as Surtr started to walk away,"I must say that I'm not the one who deserves any honor. It is Norko and..."

Rynech suddenly became aware of the fact that he didn't know the Jedi's name. "Norko and our Jedi ally who quelled the threat. They killed the spies. I simply caught up after the fact to make it aware to you."

[Heimdall Surtr]

"We'll thank you for warning me. Thank you Daxter, once again you have come through for me. I will be sure to thank Norko when I see him," Heimdall replied.

Heimdall sent out a message on his comlink to Norko telling him to report to the war room in four hours.

[Rynech Viatl]

Rynech nodded to Daxter and opened a link with Norko.

"Norko, can you hear me? If you're getting this, the situation has been resolved, as you probably already know. You there?"

[Norko]

*In the meanwhile Norko managed to drag himself into the medical bay, where he was now being treated by the clan's medical officers, while being treated he managed to link his helmet commlink to another wich he picked on the way to the medical bay, first he received the message from mandalore, shortly after that he received the transmission from Rynech and reacted through his commlink*

"Well done, I would like you to come to the medical bay so, you can watch the people here while I go into a kolto-tank, just to be sure, I'll be waiting for you, Norko out"

*then Norko looked at the medical officers who were preparing the kolto-tank, Norko waited, but was prepared to fight if anything would go wrong*

[Heimdall Surtr]

Heimdall limped into his private quarters. His right leg was still wounded from the previous battle in Coronet (http://teamsdforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57), and he had not been able to spend time in the kolto tank due to the hectic nature of the day. Heimdall removed his armor and weapons and immersed himself in the kolto tank for two hours. He felt refreshed after his time in the tank, but his wound was not quite healed so he applied a kolto patch. Even though there were only about fifteen troops being sent by the Surtr clan, they were dangerous; these were not Sith soldiers, but Mandalorians.

Mandalore knew that he would need help in this battle, so he contacted an a fellow bounty hunter; Mur'ott Gilamar. Gilamar was over twenty years older than Heimdall, an extremely efficent and skilled bounty hunter, and a fierce warrior. Mandalore had learned much from him in the past. He could not reach Gilamar directly, but he left a sent him a message with the coordinates of the base and made sure he knew it was urgent.

Heimdall sat down to service his armor and weapons. He knew the battle ahead would be intense and he could not afford any faulty equipment. He polished the scorch marks off his armor from the blasters the day before. He cleaned polished and changed the engery cells in his trusty silver-plated Mandalorian blasters, sharpened his sword, and changed the energy cell is his disruptor rifle. When he was finished he put on his armor and weapons and headed for the war room.

Continued in "The War Room (http://teamsdforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=325#post325)."

[Norko]

*In the time that Mandalore recovered his strength so did Norko, and when his wounds were healed, he and Rynech walked to the war room*

*o.o.c. continue at the war room*