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[CNS][HMR] Into the Fire - Night Hawks Battleteam Runon

LockeSonjie

(This is the Runon thread for the Night Hawks competition of the same name. It includes a fiction, followed by a copy of the rules as they appear in the competition details.)

Ruuria
Naga Sadow FOB
Landing + 4 Hours

Despite the many worlds he had traveled to, Locke still found the more unique aspects of them to be captivating. Here he was on Ruuria, predominantly a jungle world, interlaced with wide swathes of grassland that were bisected by the occasional river. He looked down at the river that separate the Sadowan camp from the nearest of the jungles. It’s waters flowed a bright, almost fluorescent pink. It was strange, but hardly important.

“Augur Sonjie!” a voice called.

Locke turned around, looking toward the source of the voice. A Warhost officer was waving in his direction. The officer pointed to a hill behind himself, where the Clan’s Consul stood, conferring with members of the Summit. Approaching slowly, Locke nodded as he passed through the ring of guards that watched over the hill.

Smoke rose in the distance beyond the hill; the only visible remains of the destroyed Collective base that had stood here hours earlier. Locke swung his head as he approached, noting a sense of order to the camp. Troopers were cleaning their weapons in one area, while a group of prisoners sat on the ground apart from the rest of the camp, carefully watched over by Warhost guards.

Finally, Locke settled his attention on Sang as he arrived at the top of the hill. The Consul moved apart from the others he was speaking with for a moment, only the Quaestor following. As the two approached Locke, he tried not to make a show of examining the Seer. Kojiro Keibatsu certainly seemed to give off a certain air that the Keibatsu generally did, and he gave Locke the sense of someone who would not be easy to cross blades with. Locke only nodded at the man, never having spoken to him much.

Sang, as Consul, was the first to speak. “I have need of Tasha for something. As such, you will be working with the Night Hawks for now. Koji will bring you up to speed.”

“That’s it?” Locke asked. “Not even an explanation?” Somewhat uncharacteristically, Sang turned away and was back to his conversation with Bentre, leaving Locke and Koji alone on their side of the hill.

The Quaestor didn’t waste any time. “We detected a considerable Collective presence in that jungle across the river. The Night Hawks will investigate and eliminate any Collective presence. You will be coordinating, and have military reinforcements, if you need them. This data chip has your full mission orders.” Koji held out one gauntleted hand. Locke took the chip from it and slipped it inside his datapad. He flipped through maps of that area, as well as a listing of more specific objectives, as well as what exactly he could expect to receive for Warhost backup.

“Challenging us will be a fool’s ruin ,” Koji finished, then turned himself back to Sang’s conversation, leaving Locke there alone.

“Well, time to put a team together,” Locke said.


Competition Details

Information: The Night Hawks have landed on the world of Ruuria, and helped Naga Sadow establish a foothold on the planet to serve as a base while they take care of the remaining Collective forces and prepare to return home.

The Night Hawks have been tasked with investigating the Collective presence in a nearby jungle and destroying the suspected base located there. The Collective are suspected to have constructed a partially subterranean bunker and are likely to be firmly entrenched and heavily armed.

Prompt This runon involves the actions of Night Hawks members (as well as the House Summit) during their time on Ruuria and after. It will last throughout Inferno, and into the next CNS event. While the idea is to stick to the current 'Hawks and House activities, judging will be based on the Run-On Rubric, as well as factoring in how well a member’s posts interact with and includes other members.

To count for participation, a member must make at least two posts of at least 250 words each, and not post back to back.

LockeSonjie

North Coast of River Alha
Ruuria

Locke held on tight as the LAAT gunship descended on the northern side of the river, his focus fully on the jungle ahead. The craft came within a safe distance and hovered just over the ground, allowing Locke, other members of the Night Hawks, and a contingent of Warhost troops to exit the transport. Once they were clear, it ascended and began to strafe side to side, weapons trained on the forest.

Just in case.

Immediately, two Warhost scouts took off at a run, disappearing into the thick foliage. Taking a look at everyone gathered, Locke glanced to the south, across the river to where the Warhost camp was. It was a short distance away, but the Sadowan military had other priorities, so Locke didn’t think they would get much help here.

He fished out his comlink, and keyed it to the Team’s frequency for this mission, watching the forest.

“Varuk, do you copy?” Locke asked, identifying one of the relatively new members of the team. They had formed two squads for this mission, so as to cut off the Collective’s escape. Varuk was with the other one, to the west of the jungle.

“Rancor is in position,” the reply came, using that squad’s designation for this mission. “Is Nexu ready yet?”

Locke paused momentarily, dismissing the twinge of disrespect and impatience in Varuk’s voice. “Nexu is ready. Remember the plan. Move in, cut off their escape, expect heavy fighting.”

The only reply was a click of acknowledgement.

It didn’t take long before one of the scouts came rushing back. “The Collective are entrenched just inside…but it’s not just them, there are some creatures. They look like rancors, but smaller, like the size of a speederbike. Their skin is green, so they blend in kind of well.”

“Ah,” Locke answered. This would complicate things a little bit. “Let everyone know.” Despite his past experiences, he wasn’t really one for leadership, so he ignited his lightsaber and held it overhead like a beacon, looking over his shoulder at the others.

“The Collective think they can hide from us, but we’ll clear out every last one of them!” he shouted, loud enough for the group to hear.

Then he charged toward the forest. It was probably foolhardy, but it was the best way he knew to begin the attack and convince the others that he was serious about this.