As ordered, Mika is on perimeter duty, looking for any approaching threats.  She's moving along slowly, not wanting to draw the attention of the gangers as she looks over the situation.  She's almost certain that there's got to be an easier way, utility tunnels maybe, but of course that'd make it a challenge to keep the swoops.

Idaya clearly says something through the comlink inside his helmet, then turns on the external speaker again. "The reason I said what I said is, if we do not do a proper reconnaissance, we might get in but lose most of our numbers. It will take only a while, but it will be worth it."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:32, Thu 03 Apr 2014.

"I'm sure they appreciate your input Idaya.  But you can ease your mind, this isn't the first time they've done this.  They may appear eager to rush in but you can trust they'll allow us much time for recon as they can."

Idaya's datapad lights up as her droid sends her information.  From the sound of explosions it seems there's audio feed as well as visual feed.

The battle droid clanks up to Idaya.  "My mistress has a message.  If you are willing to connect your datapad to one of the M4 droids via a wireless LAN hyperlink it can use its holoprojector to display the data your DRK-1 droid is sending you."

"Then tell one off them to start broadcasting", she replied, preparing the transmission for viewing. More than one pair of eyes would spot more in the picture than just one.

Waiting for the droid to finish its scouting, Dohr stepped out of the vehicle and did a 360 with the scope. He hadn't noticed anyone observing them yet, but that didn't mean the gangers weren't out there. But at least no one had taken any shots at them so far. While he was looking at the surroundings, the Kel Dor considered their options of entering the spaceport. He'd gathered from what had happened to Three, that the understreets weren't safe, quite the opposite.

Dohr then considered the subways. One of the lines had a major station at the spaceport and the nearest one outside of it was only five minutes away. But he knew that wasn't any good either. If he'd thought of it as a way of entering the port, then probably the insurgents and definitely the security troops had thought about it too. So even if they would be able to enter the tunnel via the subway stop nearby and reach the spaceport, they'd have to fight through the gangers underground and force their way through the station's blast doors. It was a no go.

The only way was through the main entrances guarded by the security force inside and the insurgents outside. PIece of a cake.

Kyvarr stayed close waiting for the recon data.  Since ground warfare was her speciality she imagined her input would be needed.  Most of the people here, based on their idle chatter, were used to planning space battles.  The two were vastly different.

Watching the feed from the droid, Idaya seemed to adress Heigren in a tone that borderlined motherly. "Mr. Teckla, have you ever really served in the military? If so, there is a thing concerning going on the offensive. A military commander has two alternatives - to either attack and hope to win, or to win first and attack only when the victory is ensured. Once we have at least some intelligence on the enemy, we make a diversion and strike where the enemy least expect us to - preferrably right at their artillery."

The M4 droid, connected wirelessly to idaya's pad once the Chiss sets a connection port, lights up its holoprojector.

The group is treated to a scene of some considerable mess.

The front of the spaceport rises up, high and solid, several dozen floors high.  It has many entry floors - all of which are firmly closed with blast shielding - and the carbon scarring across the facade of the building shows many points where the gangers have tried and failed to gain entry.

The droid has neither the height nor the angle to display the roof or breadth of the whole spaceport.  It focuses on the battlefield that is the street in front of the spaceport itself.  The space is strewn with crashed speeders, mangled corpses and errant chunks of building.  The gang members look like they've tried everything to get in and have killed anyone trying to get past them.

The spaceport doorway is a huge set of double doors that have been smashed and destroyed, a pair of sturdy blast doors having slammed down to take their place but even these have sustained heavy damage.  A blue shimmer over the front doors of the space port show that a shield generator must have been set up to give the security forces time to regroup.

Across the road, against the building directly opposite the spaceport doors, are two roughly semi-circular barriers about five feet high made from rubble and pieces of broken speeder - hastily-built sangars, or rifle pits.  Within those two defensive positions the group can see twelve gang members - six in each hold-out point - wielding a variety of weapons.  There are at least three rocket launchers and a tripod-mounted gun of some ad-hoc description, as well as several heavy blaster rifles and numerous smaller guns.  The tripod weapon - definitely a custom-made job by someone who knows their guns but doesn't have the time or facilities to make anything more compact - is long and bears several battery packs at its base.

From the looks of the situation the gangers are well equipped with weapons and know how to use them - but they aren't equipped with breathing gear and only a few wear low-tech riding goggles, possibly more for show than anything.

There is a clear space between the two semi-circular rifle pits, big enough to park a speeder in.  The rifle pits themselves are built probably for four people each; they're getting quite squishy with six apiece.

The street itself is not barricaded and while it is strewn with mess any repulsorlift craft can easily pass over the debris.  From the look of the crashed speeders, however, the gangers haven't given them the chance.  A line of damage down a neighbouring building ends in a crashed swoop at the bottom; it seems the gang members are quite capable of shooting at vehicles attempting to pass over the buildings and good enough to hit.

As the group watches the tripod, manned by a huge humanoid of some rarely-seen species, powers up with the distinct sound of a high-strength generator.  White-blue energy blasts out and sprays across the doorway; the shield holds against the onslaught... but only barely.

There are whoops of delight from the gangers.  The gunner seems annoyed, powering the weapon down again, but one of the others slaps his massive shoulder and the droid is close enough to pick up what is said.

"Hey, don't worry, big guy!  The tank'll be here soon and then we'll blow the front off the whole damn building!"

Time is running out.

Heigren gave Idaya a very sexy grin and flirty grin.  When he spoke, he used a similarly paternal tone to the Chiss.  "I think we both know I have never served in a formal military structure but that does not mean I have not fought in battle all my life.  I served on a different front.  A front where all warfare is based on deception.  One where intelligence is clouded, altered, made chaotic.  For in the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity."

As the intel came up Heigren grinned.  "Now a tank.  THAT'S where they'd least expect an attack!"


OOC:  You're not the only one who can quote Sun Tzu!  :P

Devon had completely ignored the back-and-forth between Idaya and Heigren; and instead was wearing a grin perhaps better suited to an eye-patch wearing, cutlass wielding scourge of the shipping lanes.

"They have a tank?" he asked almost gleefully. "I bet you any money you like they had to 'jack it.  Which means they had to breach its security to begin with.  Change of plan - I want that tank.  We're gonna take it off them and use it to blow those gun nests straight into a black hole."

Devon looked round at the others.  "If we can stop it, I'll get us control of it.  So tell me how we stop it."

One thing was for sure, Devon shared the usual Corellian ability to come up with insane ideas.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:37, Sun 06 Apr 2014.

Sheila had found another heavy blaster that had  charged powerpacks.  "Well we need to see what they have sitting on top of it.  Take them out with a sniper. If we can clear the hatch and drop a flash bang in there, we can take it."

Kyvarr considered Sheila's proposal.  "You'd never succeed with such a ploy with a military tank crew, but given this is likely gangers, a modified version of Ten's plan could work.  Need to know the type of tank before a plan can be made.  For example, not all tanks even have a top hatch to speak of."

Kyvarr was surprised at the suggestion that a group of poorly armed infantry take on a tank.  Any such attempt against her tank would have been almost certainly destined to fail without careful planning and high explosives.  This team lacked both the time and the weaponry.  Still if they could pull it off she knew she was in the right team.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:39, Mon 07 Apr 2014.

"This change of plan is illogical.  Any tank will likely have an escort at least.  Military or not it makes no tactical or logical sense to leave such an asset unguarded and vulnerable.  In addition, to take a tank from the enemy carries one major issue - they have a tank."  CC9 remains where he is, the droid's electronic voice flat and emotionless.

"I agree with the droid. There is no point in delaying our entry to the spaceport until the tank arrives. If we wish to get off the planet, then doing so before it arrives is our best alternative", Idaya said. "I advice the following. We strike at the firing positions with gas, make a quick stop there to remove the heavy weaponry from the unconscious gangers, and head inside. We deliver the heavy weapons to the ACE, warn them about the tank, and in exchange ask for them to let us leave the planet. I also advice sending one of the messenger droids in advance to tell the ACE, we are not hostiles."

Whilst maintaining his patrol, Flash clicked on his comm.  "Want me to go take a look boss?  Can't make any decisions about the tank if we don't know where it is.  Maybe if I find it we can use the 'Barloz Maneuver' on it.  Whaddya think?"

Flash grinned to himself, knowing only Devon would get the reference.

She turned to Idaya, her tone was not rude, just factual and measured.  "Now a minute ago Idaya you were talking about the importance of good intelligence, now you want to ignore a potentially dangerous threat in our rear?  That makes no tactical sense.  That tank could arrive in one minute and blow us to pieces before we've even launched the gas.  It could equally be an hour away and be of no concern to our plans."

Her manner clearly indicated she was no novice to ground warfare, particularly armoured warfare.  "Now Idaya, it's clear you've never served in the Army, definitely not an armoured unit so I'll explain that an infantry commander hoping to take out a tank would never wait for it to arrive unless he had a very well prepared ambush.  If we were to try and neutralise the tank it would need to be before it gets here."

She swung to Seven.  "Sir, I respectfully suggest we get eyes on this tank.  Range, ETA, tank layout any any support vehicles.  I need to see all this so either I need to go or Idaya's droid needs to be taken and relay a holo feed.  I can't recommend a plan for capturing it without more information.  Even if you choose not to attack we need to know how far behind us it is.  It need not delay us attacking the entrenched position.  We can do both simultaneously Sir."

Dohr listened to Devon's change of plans and shook his head slightly. Despite their apparent experience in combat situations, it seemed like Seven had never before come against an armored frontline vehicle like such as a tank. Dohr limped to the human and took a deep breath. He had already thought against giving his opinions about how they should deal with the oncoming fight, but he could not let the mercenaries charge head first into a battle they could not hope to win.

Iday was apparently going along the same lines as Dohr himself was thinking, but with one major difference.

"Rian. Listen. While I do can appreciate your idea about having a tank to help us deal with the gangers, this new plan will not work. The chances of us seizing a fully armored and armed tank would be next to none with the gear we have available right now. With our blaster pistols and couple of rifles we can not hope to damage the thing."

"Then there is the getting to the tank part. While I do not have any knowledge on the tanks this world may have, I would imagine it will have at least an anti-aircraft blaster cannon and possibly a turret as well in addition to a heavy laser cannon. It will shred any speeder or bike into pieces long before we reach it thanks to the radar and targeting systems installed. And trying to halt a tank's approach using hovering vehicles would not work either. And even if we would manage to get past its defenses in one piece and had explosives or mines in use, setting those up to blast open the hatch would be very, very difficult."

Dohr kept a pause and turned to face Kyvarr. "I agree. It would be most beneficial for us to know where the tank is, what type it is and what its ETA is. However… The tank could be anywhere. 'Soon' is too vague a definition for a period of time to help us at all. Like you said, it could be two minutes or it could be an hour. Finding out could take us too long. The droids cannot cover too much ground in five minutes or even ten… However, it would seem to me the ganger does not know how long it takes for the tank to arrive either. So maybe it is not behind the next corner, yet… Maybe. Please bear with me for a minute and I will get back to this."

Dohr turned back to Devon.

"So while I too agree on how having a tank on our side would help us get into our target, I too will strongly advice against trying to capture it. I think we should stick to the original plan and use the gas grenades mounted on the M4s against the barricades. And I would still suggest we make use of Idaya's skills as well. She could have her droid look up good positions for a sniper and move into place. Dropping the big boy and perhaps a ganger with a launcher would definitely cause chaos and panic in the untrained insurgents."

"Idaya, your idea is good. But we cannot count on the grenades to stun the gangers completely. As much I dislike the idea, I believe we will need to use more force to disable them."

"Therefore my proposal would be as follows… Idaya gets quickly into position while whomever has the control of the M4's sends them into place as well. In the meanwhile the rest of us mount the vehicles and move as close to the barricades as we can without exposing ourselves. At 'go' Idaya will start by trying to take out a couple of gangers. It should send them scrambling for cover and allow the droids to approach unnoticed via either the high route or by using the debris as cover. After the grenades have been deployed Idaya can cover our approach by laying down suppressive where needed. Since timing and speed are of essence, I believe we should mount as many as possible on the faster vehicles. The truck can slow down enough to pick our sniper up on the way. Once at the barricades, we take any resisting gangers out. Permanently if need be."

---

OOC: I totally missed Kyvarr's post. Sorry.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:34, Mon 07 Apr 2014.

"Oh, I did consider not all of them falling unconscious. Snipers, preferrably at least two of them, will take out the ones who remain standing. The blaster rifle, you took from the station and my rifle are both equipped for longer range shots, but we still need to be close enough and take outthe biggest threats - the gangers with rocket launchers and the one manning the cannon. And distracting them while the snipers line in their shots would not hurt either."

Dohr nodded to Idaya. "Ah my bad then. Yes two is merrier than one and distraction would be nice too. However should we be the source of that distraction, then that would eat away the element of surprise… Unless it would come from the opposite direction…"

"It could be a bit far-streched, but what if we rigged the truck to drive on its own, slowly, to the space port entrance or past the building? They would certainly concentrate their attention and fire on it, would they not? That would of course leave us with one less vehicle, but I believe we could all fit on the remaining ones for such a short distance. It would not give you much time to get in position, Idaya, but if you had the route and place already selected, it should be enough."

Turning from Idaya to Kyvarr and Devon, Dohr continued: "I think we all agree now that we do not have much time on our hands, so we have to make a decision right now. In my mind the options are:

One. We send out the droids to locate the tank and wait here until they have, or until we have concluded it is not close enough to get here in time to spoil our attack. But would we lose the use of our droids in that case as they are not very fast? Or we send out Forim to look for tank, in which case we can only cover one direction at a time, but a lot faster.

Two. We keep the tank in mind and move in as soon as we possibly can and take the gangers out and then head inside hoping the big gun will not reach the spaceport before we do.

Three, which I do not really consider an option anymore. We make it for the entrance at full speed and take our chances with the heavy weapons."

CC9 speaks up on Dohr's last point.  "Correction.  The calculated risk was never to 'take our chances' with the heavy weapons.  It is to lay down a smokescreen and suppressive fire as the convoy accelerates toward - and presumably through - the front doors of the spaceport while the enemy is otherwise detained.  As long as their vision is occluded the enemy does not even need to be incapacitated by the gas, though no doubt some will succumb and the rest will be busy trying not to succumb."  He pauses slightly.  "There is an element of risk which I calculate as still far lower than assaulting a tank with unknown capacities using a team which has not even full knowledge of its members' capabilities and limitations.  Irrespective of that, however," the droid adds, "if Seven does not decide quickly how to proceed then waiting for or even finding the tank will be irrelevant as it will be upon us.  He is in command; attaining the advice of experts is tactically wise but the decision is ultimately his."  With that he turns to Devon.  "Your orders, Team Leader?"

Mika gets on the comms after seeing the latest round of the gangers assault on the blast doors.  "Look at those doors.  Tank or no tank, they're getting close to breaching 'em.  My vote is we continue with the plan we came up with."

Devon looks at the holo sent from the droid again and grits his teeth.

"Agreed - damn.  But we DO need to know where that tank is and what its doing - how long we've got before it arrives.  So Two - can you and Vyn take two of the bikes and the spybot and go find that tank - keep tabs on it for us."

Devon gets off his bike and checks his pistol.
"The rest of us are going to hit the gun nests.  I'm betting the defenders wont be willing to lower their shields whilst theres rocket launchers out here... which means gassing them probably aint gonna be enough.  We gotta take 'em out.  Six guys per nest, and eight of us.  So we hit both at the same time - one M4 into each nest and gas them, keeping the third M4 in reserve.  Then we get in close and burn em down - they're tightly packed, once we're in range and with them gassed, it should be easy.  Once the nests are dealt with, maybe we'll have time to launch before that tank arrives... or maybe we use the heavy weapons to set an ambush for the tank.  CC9 will lead the assault on the left nest - we'll call that Alpha - and Kyvarr you'll bossing the assault on Beta.  Three, Ten and Fiarr - you're with CC9.  The rest of us are with Kyvarr.  Everyone clear on what we're doing?"

"If you are referring to my droid as 'spybot', I must remark, it is not exactly built for speed but rather for stealth. I doubt, it would be of much help finding the tank - far less than speeder bikes. However, I must say, there is little point in trying to find the tank - it can be virtually anywhere and, as you have quite often pointed out, we are short on time. So, if you ask me, which I suspect you do not, our priority should be getting in quickly and off the planet. Finding the tank will not help in a way or another, nor will it speed our departure. Even if we know, how soon it will arrive, we have no means of stopping or even slowing it down."