The Tip of the Spear

Slowly shaking his small head, as if clearing the fog from his head, the Sugi criminal turned his discerning and cautious gaze upon Ani who was making an attempt to calm the rapidly intensifying situation. Holding the detonator out like a weapon, Epukang's eyes shifted between the pair of Republic officers, straining in the darkness, the other arm wrapped around the whimpering Senator.

"Talk! ... talk?," the cornered infochant exclaimed nervously, "What do you want to talk about?"

Slowly he made an attempt to maneuver around the room's small table, another barrier between he and they, nervously he looked towards the door, the flashes of the battle outside the room perhaps causing indecision on how best to proceed.

"You want my guest no doubt," he stated quietly, the cadence quick, "But they would never allow it.

"No. No. Better perhaps ... to blow my warehouse. Better. Better than failure."

Out on the warehouse floor, Epukang's goons were organizing, as the alarmed and nervy shouts were now becoming confident and more commands that fearful warnings, the beams less erratic and more coordinated as the slowly began to hone in on Wals location.

---

WIP

Upon Ani’s comment and look Knuckles stopped but his eyes remained trained on the Sugi criminal. He steady his feet, pulled his DC15 tightly into his shoulder and slowed his breathing. For now he would let the Commander do as she is trained for but if Epukang’s finger moves more then two millimeters his would move six millimeters with three pounds of pressure.

Wals held on tight. The shower of blaster fire raining down around him, both the bright blue bolts from the clone trooper on the rail and the red-orange blasts were sending up showers of sparks that made him shield his eyes. He hoped everything was going better in the conference room, but the talk of bombs didn't give him much in the way of confidence.

Wals let out another hiss of breath, holding his blade out in front of him, perfectly vertical as he stood with his back to the crate. His ears twitched, finding the steady hum amidst the pops and secondary explosions of blaster fire. His brow furrowed as the blade wavered momentarily, the bright, straight pillar at its core buckling and swaying at the edges, before resolving again. He had to resist the urge to manipulate the tuning dials mid-combat.

Fingers curled around the edge of the crate he was crouched behind, and he took a deep breath. And then he launched.

Vaulting away from his cover, he somersaulted across the artificial corridor, skidding on the smooth deck plating until his foot braced on the stack of crates opposite, giving him another surface to rocket away from. He was low, crouched, glowing blade held high and behind him as he covered the distance between himself and the gunmen with startling speed. His tail flagged high for balance as his offhand grazed the floor to keep him steady and at speed, and maneuver him on and around the low obstacles that littered the floor.His charge into the line was diverted by the barrel of a blaster, round and threatening. Staring directly into the weapon, he gave up what little altitude he had and threw himself into a roll. The bolt cut through his hood as he tumbled across the floor, lightsaber roaring in protest as the deadly weapon left glowing scores in the deck plating. Thrusting out with a palm, he arrested his forward motion, harnessing it to flip himself to his feet without losing momentum, now in the thick of the fray...

Vaulting into the thick of things, Wal engaged the gang of toughs as Lucky sprayed the warehouse floor with bright, blueish bolts from his trusty carbine and effectively encouraging the thugs to remain clustered together. Through the night vision of his helmet he caught the brief flare of light, followed by a second, that quickly resolved into a constant pattern. Upon further inspection he could see an explosive device attached to a fuel canister below the mezzanine. Knowing that the Sugi crime boss held a detonator in his hand experience told him that this was probably one of many and a quick scan of the warehouse saw the tiny flashing lights spread evenly about.

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Lucky concentration was distracted by noticing one of the blinking light at the last moment and his generous blaster fire was more intimidating than impactful.

"Fuel cannister with blinking charge spotted under the mezzazine. More spread around the warehouse."

Lucky's mind was racing but his voice was calm and clear on the comm has he described his findings.

Picking up on a small part of the panicked crime lord's rant, Ani tries to get more information, de-escalate, and establish some modicum of trust or at least commonality, "Yes, talk. And, yes, we have come for the senator. But there's a lot to talk about... Like how we can help you with them. Are they coming here, right now? There's another way out of ALL of this.

But we have to talk."

The small alien's head cocked to the side, indicating his curiosity at the young Padawan's calming words, eyes widening slightly at her questions, "No. No. No one is coming ... always watching it seems but not coming."

Large dark eyes strained to meet Ani's over the glare of her glowrod, "Perhaps when failure is known ... they will come." The detonator in his hand wavered slightly, he no longer pointing at at them like a weapon as he took a firmer grip on the frightened Representative, the legs of his spider-like conveyance widening, making small clicking sounds on the metal decking. "What is it this other way you speak of?"

The hooded figure with bright amber blade in their midst and the alarmed shouts of 'detonator' from their attackers gave the hired toughs pause, a few nervous glances exchanged, before steeling themselves against the humming cuts of their alarmingly quick assailant, their blaster fire ineffectual against the Padawan's blade.

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After his quick scan of the compound, Lucky continue firing at the opposed forces. He is trying the neutralize them as effectively as possible. He expertly shut down the little inside voice calculating his odds of survival if those explosive are detonated and focuses completely on his task.