The Corproal looked confused for a moment, especially given what Kira had been saving.  But then she shrugged.

"Sure thing.  Can't wait to hear about this 'advanced crossbow design' of yours.  I'll go drop these medical supplies off and report to Nine first as per my orders.  Could someone PLEASE tell me where to go?  I am kind of new to your camp and as your invisible friend did point out I"m kind of noticable."

"Hmm, I'll go speak to the captain, see about getting some disguises. I have a feeling we're going to need several in addition to one for you."

As the first soldier's head pops out of the tunnel nearly four hours later, Troggog is hardly surprised.  The excavation work had been far from silent and the Ithorian had been sure to keep his own noise levels high to help cover the work.  He watched the man look around and considered the work they'd achieved.

Heigren had taken responsibility for clothes and a large pile of cloaks and wraps sat near the hole, ready for their 'guests'.  When the soldier looked his way he pointed to the pile.  The soldier nodded and ducked back down the tunnel taking the pile with him.

He stopped and admired his own work.  His catapult was coming along slowly but surely.  The tools Slattery had brought him work a godsend, making life much easier.  But even with them, making his weapon was proving difficult with a lack of quality raw materials.

His thoughts turned to the corporal and he wondered how she was going.  They'd spent nearly an hour poring over Troggog's plan for an 'automatic crossbow' and Slattery had been intrigued.  Initially it had seemed impossible given the lack of machined parts but Slattery had had an epiphany and had assured the Ithorian she had a probable workaround.  He hadn't checked in on her for several hours as she was set up in one of the buildings to keep her out of sight.

Kira, still manning the hole, looked around at the work, and as the man popped his head out, she allowed herself a little smile. "Nice work boys" She muttered to herself.

She activated her radio and spoke. "Talon 2 to 4. Do you copy? Request update on suituation, over."

Heigren's voice came over the comm, full of humour.  "Update?  Thought you'd be giving the updates Two.  One still looks like he should have died a week ago despite the stuff the Corporal pumped him full off, Nine is still hot despite needing a few expensive dinners and I'm still sitting here with little to do.  How's that?"

While the soldiers are still waiting for orders from Dohr, a M4 pops out of the hole and hovers there for approximately thirty seconds.  Then without approaching anyone it pops back down the hole and vanishes back towards the jungle.

Troggog decided to check in on the Corporal to see what she had accomplished so far. He walked over to where she was working.

Kira smirks at Fiarr's comments, knowing all too well the Bothan was up to something. She was about to update Heigren, but now She had heard from Fiarr, she was more satisfied.

"Four. Update as follows. Tunnel has been widened and ready. Backup has been helping your Ithorian friend."

She audibly sighed on the comm, then continues. "Received request from Six.  I need eyes on the camp....a distraction. The bigger the better. A riot, building fire, whatever...but we need something and we need it at 2215. We need all eyes on the camp."

Heigren chuckled.  Sounded like Fiarr.  He wondered if this 'distraction' had been authorised by Devon and the captain.  Former was possible but he highly doubted the latter.  Still the Bothan had never been one for protocol.

"Well unless you want me to run naked through the camp or perhaps try to whip our people into a frenzy and send them on a rampage this is probably something you or Three will need to handle.  You're the sneak and he's good with blowing stuff up!  Make a plan, wait until it's dark, get out there and raise some hell!  That's what we do.  Six probably considers it part of your training."

His tone turned serious.

"If the relief team is through, will you tell Eight to kindly hurry the fuck up?  Whatever meds he sent through hasn't seemed to have done very much.  He's still breathing which is something but he still looks like a death sandwich served with a large side of how the hell am I still alive!"

Crawling through the tunnel wasn’t exactly Dohr’s idea of fun, but the whole trip hasn’t really been either and he wasn’t looking for amusement anyway. Dressed in the garbs provided by the people in the camp and delivered by one of the soldiers, the Kel Dor pushed himself up from the hole. He’d agreed with Dyre and Trycson that they should each wait for a couple of minutes before following Dohr through the tunnel. The same applied for the four soldiers who’d been digging the tunnel. It was best not to move in a big group and since the Captain hadn’t really called them back for anything else, the Doc decided to take them with him inside the prison compound.

The Doc nodded and smiled at Kira. ”Hey Two. I will head to Talon One right away, but Private Trycson will follow in two minutes and Three right behind him. Then four of Svivren’s finest will join us too. Have one of the Alphas replace you here and find an observation post from where you can keep an eye on the “enemy”. Three should move in to assist Talon Nine and Slattery in building up the defences. The rest of the Alphas are at their disposal too unless Nine has other work for them. Three and the soldiers will be bringing in spears with them. I have assigned us all new Epsilon callsigns to avoid confusion. Talons will maintain the current numbers, so you will be E-Two and Three will be E-Three. Trycson is E-Five and Slattery E-One. Once the Alphas are through give them each a new E-callsign from E-Ten to E-Thirteen.” Dohr patted Kira on the shoulder and headed off.

With Fiarr’s description of the camp fresh in his mind, Dohr limped to the tent he knew Sheppard to be in. Once inside he quickly saluted Zyra. ”Major Dohr Veen, formerly of Dorinian Armed Forces, currently Epsilon or E-Eight, reporting in. Pleased to finally meet you in person, E-Nine. I am sure you have been kept up to date by E-Four of what is happening outside and what will take place right after 22 hours. E-Three and E-Five will be here in a few minutes followed by four soldiers. I will now attend to Talon One. If you have any queastion, it would probably be the best if you aimed them at E-Two or E-3. I will need to concentrate completely on the patient. ” With a bow, Dohr moved to take a look at Mr. Mark Sheppard for the first time in his Talon career…

---

19:07, Today: Dohr Veen rolled 32 using 1d20+15.  Treat Injury to assess Mark's condition.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:08, Wed 29 Mar 2017.

Dyre took his instructions and moved off to where the Ithorian called Troggog was located.  He found the Ithorian easily and offered his hand.

"Name's. . .well call me Three.  I've been instructed to work on the defense of the friendlies in the camp.  Could you supply me with a strategic overview of the camp and your defense plans.  I can then put our people to work."

Zyra returned the Kel-Dor's salute.  "I'm very glad to see you Major.  The Admiral's in there.  I'll let you do your work.  If you have any questions I'll make myself available."

Dohr moved in the mentioned direction and quickly found the Major.  Even with his filtration systems he could easily followed the smell of necrotic flesh to the room.

Sheppard was still in a bad way, in fact Dohr was secretly amazed he'd survived this long with such primitive medicine.  The antibiotics he'd sent in a few hours ago with Slattery didn't seem to have done much but he hadn't really expected it to.

He began his scans.  Visual observation told him he couldn't save the leg.  It was way too far gone and it would have to be amputated.  Assessment and scans told him what he'd expected.  Septic shock had set in and multiple organs had been compromised, most noticeably his kidneys and lungs.  There was only so much he could do about those before he got him into bacta other than chemically support them and hope they didn't fail.

He focused on the leg and was still thinking when Trycson came through the door.  The medic didn't even wait for Dohr to provide instructions.  Instead he began inserting lines and preparing the small medical and surgical kits they'd brought.

Seeing Troggog was busy with his work, Dyre looked around the immediate camp himself.

"Hey Troggog, I've looked around but I can't see any defenses.  Are you planning a pre-emptive strike?  I'm guessing you're playing offense since you're building siege weapons.  Personally I was thinking a more defensive posture."

An hour passes quickly and dawn quickly approaches.  While Troggog continued working on his catapult and Slattery her crossbow, the Ithorian noted how quickly the new arrivals worked.

Dyre quickly had a team of volunteers arranged by Zyra accompanied by the soldiers and the group was quickly set to work.  While some of the soldiers trained prisoners in the use of the spears provided, others worked on building defensive barricades, mainly spike barriers.  Dyre had decided against trenches in the short term given the timeframes but considered the idea for later in the night.

Kira meanwhile had handed over her scout post to one of the scouts from Alpha team and was off handling other duties.

Dohr and Trycson continued to remain with Sheppard and had not been seen since.


OOC: The Talons know the skyhook raid is due to start soon.

Dyre tried to oversee both sides of his operation.  He had three main teams going.  One group was continuing to make spears for him as quick as they could.  Group two was training to use those spears in tight formations.  His third group (overseen by engineers) was building mobile barricades with spears that could be moved quickly into position.  All three of his teams were out of sight inside a building or buildings.  He didn't want any potential enemies seeing his work.  But the advantage of the barricades is a few people could quickly move them into position.


OOC:  Thinking of numerous 'chevaux de frise' style barricades.  Essentially a long plank of wood with long lines of double spears attached to them.  Easy to build, easy to move and will prevent mobs charging.  Stick guys with long pikes behind them and you have an effective defense.

Dohr had known what to expect, but he had hoped the non-medical trained people would have exaggerated Sheppard’s condition as sometimes people can appear to be worse off than they really are. But they hadn’t. It was indeed a miracle that Talon One was still alive as his leg was as good as gone. Only a full operation and a bacta tank might be enough to save it… Might. Very unlike him, the Doc didn’t even nod to Trycson when the medic came in. But he did nod to the soldier a few seconds later as the younger man started to prepare the surgical kits they’d brought with them. Trycson was a professional and knew what had to be done.

Dohr shook his head and began his own preparations. The way he saw it, they had two options: Stabilise Talon One and hope that the skyhook assault was successful and over very, very, very soon and that there was a full-blown medical department with a bacta tank present up there. The proper gear would make saving Mark easier even if the wait might make it harder to keep the man alive long enough to try… The Kel Dorian shook his head again and called out to Zyra. ”Ma’am. We have no option. The leg must be amputated to save his life. Please make sure no one disturbs us during the operation… Oh and the assault team is expecting some kind of a distraction at 2215 sharp. I would appreciate it, if you could take care of it… And keep your fingers crossed and send your prayers to whatever gods he may believe in, it will be touch-and-go.”

Once the equipment had been prepared, clothes changed, surgical scrubs done, Dohr went through the operation with Trycson. It wasn’t exactly the most difficult of operations under perfect circumstances, but in the prison camp and under the terribly humid and hot jungle weather, it could still prove to be lethal for Mark. And the lack of proper equipment didn’t exactly help either. Well they would soon know which way it went. The amputation itself was not going to take very long even if Talon One’s life would still be in danger for quite some time after the operation.

”Ok Trycson, lets save the Admiral.” His mother had always told him there was only success or failure and no middle ground. ”Do not try. Do.” It was the time to do.

Kira quickly handed over to the scout with a quick update on the situation, and shouldering her sniper rifle, moved out.

...Her next task was going to be more difficult.

She knew that Fiarr was relying on her for a diversion, and she needed it at simple as possible so as to not alert others there were other people here. But she also needed attention away from the others.

She could think of one of two options.

One was a brawl.  To get a mob going would take time and likely involve her being noticed...something she didn't want. Her second option seemed more plausible.


.....fire.

She sighed to herself and walked up to the ithorian. "Is there any stashes of chemicals or flamable liquids within the prison?" she asked quickly.

The Ithorian was too busy to assist Kira but he directed one of the prisoners to help.  Hearing Kira's request he snorted.  "They hardly leave us with the comforts of home lady.  Even the wood here takes ages to burn.  Best we got are the fibrous material we use for clothes and bedding.  Oh and there's a sap we get from one of the trees, acts like a slow burning lamp oil.  Enough to keep a campfire going but it's nothing special.  Hell we don't even have a still!  Maybe then we'd have alcohol you could burn."



OOC: Please note I am pushing to 2215 local time (i.e. time of Fiarr's requested distraction) two days from this message.  Any distraction is bound to create issues locally as well as hopefully attract the Imperials attention.  So be ready.

Dohr/Trycson are busy 'sawing and sewing'

Dyre has a dozen prisoners training with spears and others working on his defenses.  You have 3 x 2 metre barricades at this point.

Troggog, your catapult is around ten minutes from being ready to test, but you have no ammunition yet.  Slattery is hours from having her crossbow ready.

Kira has stuff to do.

Zyra and Heigren are serving as the coordinators of the various groups.

Please not, the other prisoners can see what's going on, especially Troggog's and Dyre's work.  You can't hide giant barricades, men practicing with spears and a giant catapult that easy.  Any 'rivals' are going to know you're gearing for war.

Map of camp is still available at https://app.roll20.net/join/877053/k0VXCQ
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:26, Mon 10 Apr 2017.

OOC: Dyre should also have the help of the four Alpha professionals or at least three as one is guarding the tunnel. :)
This message was last edited by the player at 05:17, Mon 10 Apr 2017.

He does.  That's who is supervising the weapons training and barricade construction.

Oh and one is working on transporting new supplies of spears into the camp as they become available
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:25, Mon 10 Apr 2017.

Heigren had not remained idle during those precious hours.  Working with Zyra and various prisoners he had arranged for the bulk of friendly forces and supplies to be moved to the structure just north of the one containing Zyra and Mark.  He hadn't dared move them in to Zyra's tent in fear of disturbing Dohr in the back room or putting civilians at risk should the enemy go after Mark.  It was a toss up if they'd see a hut full of 'meat' or Mark a more viable target.  Either way he had planned accordingly.

"Three this is Four.  Transfers complete.  All the non-combatants have been moved to the tent north of ours with some in with the Admiral too.  They're packed tight but they're used to hardships.  Recommend you concentrate defences on these two buildings."

Dyre moved from job to job and likewise with his comm, he flicked from conversation to conversation.

"Understood Four.  Note I plan to use the building to the south as well as the one as north as defence points.  If we can build enough barriers we'll create a perimeter to lock down the whole southeast corner of the prison.  I'll be distributing defenders accordingly so do the same with your non-combatants and supplies.  Don't want overcrowding."

Two, this is three.  Where's that distraction?  It's nearly time."

He split his spear defenders into two groups, one with a soldier each to lead.  Each group took up position at one of the two houses to north and south of Zyra's.  He meanwhile kept with the group building barricades.  He recruited as much help as he could then went to start shoring up weak points.

"All teams, remember, no blaster fire in the open.  If an enemy gets into a house then hopefully the roof will shield it.  If we're overwhelmed fall back to the houses where we can use our blasters under visual cover."

Everyone moved around on their various errands.  Dyre's barricades slowly began to move in place and two of the Alpha Team soldiers assigned to him took half the spearmen they had and moved to a building each.  Dyre had their comm frequencies but hoped not to have to use them.  Instead hand signals had been agreed on.

Inside the tent, Zyra and Heigren sat quietly.  They didn't dare go check on Dohr lest they disturb him and they'd done all the could to protect the non-combatants.

Zyra glanced at Heigren's chrono and frowned.  It read 2216 local time.  She looked to Heigren.

"Kira's distraction should have started by now.  I've heard nothing."  She picked up her comm.

"Two, this is Nine.  We are time plus one for your distraction.  Please advise."

Heigren snorted.  "She's probably just delaying for dramatic effect.  Like the person who deliberately arrives late to a party just to make an entrance."

"Maybe Troggog could do something with that giant toy he's built.  Nothing would get attention like a giant, preferably flaming missile dropping on somebody's house!"

Focused on his task, Troggog continued working on his creation. With the issue of needing projectiles to launch, Troggog searched for stones, as small as he could find, and began piling them. Once he had enough for a test shot, he returned to the catapult to put in the finishing touches.