World Tree MUSH

    The briefing began with Thane asking the group assembled, "Do any of you have any affinity for wine?" That's the first indication on what the mission's about.

    The Claudius Vintage vineyard was a massive installation in the countryside, in the closest Balmorra had to idyllic hills with plenty of green imported. The plants themselves used for making wine were imported too, from some other system Talia doesn't remember. The important thing is this is Garo's hobby, and he's very attached to the place. The blow to enemy morale would be immense if it were destroyed, not to mention make Garo look like an idiot when it came to the fancy parties he loved to throw, wining and dining his offworld friends and socialites.

    The plan is simple: Break out laborers, break machinery, steal wine. A few vans are pulled up at the vineyard, when guards approach. "Present your identification immediately." The guard says.

    Commander Thane, dressed in overalls, simply shoots him in the face with a blaster pistol. "Wrong gate."

    Leaping out of the hovervan's back, Talia's lightsaber flashes to life as guards jump to action, firing on the van. The Jedi swiftly blocks laser bolts while Thane snaps "GUN IT!" at the driver.

    There are two here who are unfamiliar with the universe they've stepped into. While not a native of this particular galaxy far, far away, Lian Kamoya is familiar of it to give them a brief rundown - both on the ongoing Republic-Sith war, and on... well, herself. Herself and Talia both. Today, the agents of SHIELD learn the basics of the Jedi: They are trained warrior-monks skilled in using a universal energy they call the Force. The invaders use what Lian refers to as the 'Dark Side of the Force', a power born of dark emotions. They are strongly steeped in these emotions - anger, hate, fear, malice - and likely to be both cruel and dangerous. If the group has the misfortune to meet one, they will probably be able to do most of what she and Talia can do, and more besides.

    That's about all she has time to explain, because the raid is just about to begin. Clad today in her Jedi's robes, the elder Master has left behind her staff for ease of maneuver. When Talia leaps out, so too does Lian Kamoya, sky-blue lightsaber flaring to life. "I shall begin searching for the laborers," she calls out simply, whipping her blade left and right as though she can see the blaster bolts coming before they're fired. The task of deflecting blaster fire is almost automatic - she can devote most of her attention to reaching out with her mind, trying to find where the laborers are being held.

>> SUMMARY[Lian Kamoya] >> Trying to find the laborers through the Force.

    The discussion with her mother had not taken long, and was decidedly one-sided. General Garo had made the mistake of annoying the Stojespal family, leaving them out of promised business "agreements" that had been carefully and delicately made. This annoyed Dragana quite a lot, and the near-centenarian matriarch of the family decided a reckoning was due for the good general.

    Hearing, through various means that go unsaid, that Commander Thane had an operation laid on to deal with him led to Irja's pressure to join the plan. It was also high time Rusalka learned how to dip her toes into the family way of life.

    The plan is simple. Shoot first, drive fast, ask questions later. Rusalka wears coveralls matching those of Thane's, looking like everyone else in the assault group. She had her own set of orders in addition to Thane's, and remembered her mother's words - the dagger on her hip to be left behind in a suitably serious place to remind the general of her visit.

    Just where she can get away with that at the moment, Rusalka doesn't know. But she can be creative, she thinks; trying to pay attention to Lian's lessons while driving. Right up to the point where Thane shoots the guard, and even as someone yells floor it she's already accelerating the van to charge through whatever poor substitute for a fence there is. A triumphant "Hallo!" as it splinters into nothing, the van charging forward.

    Piera Forta, a baseline* human from another world, sits as a stark contrast to the local rebels. She might make them think of the Jedi with them, or those Keepers of the Wills from Jeddah. The white robes, glint of metal beneath and the various weapons strapped to her body give a very juxtaposed image. A quiet scholar and a deadly threat.

    As the hovervan kicks up into high gear and the sound of blaster fire rings out beyond the hull, she shifts to stand, grasping something to steady herself before heading to the door in the back. "I will infiltrate and secure the wine stocks. Make sure you keep them distracted." As the van blows through barricades, Piera opens the door and jumps clear, rolling to a crouch before donning her hood and skulking into the facility.

    Somewhere high above, a tiny pinprick dances in the sky. Aquila is on overwatch for her partner, the little robot holding a long las-rifle and sighting down at the facility, following the human's movements.

>> SUMMARY[Piera Forta] >> Baseline, from a certain point of view.

    The Mandalorian is here.
    Silent and stoic, and carrying a baby.
    He has The Child with him, of course.
    Mando doesn't even blink as Thane shoots the guard in the face point blank, but The Child; Grogu, flinches, causing him to peer down at the little bundle slung under his arm.
    "You okay, kid?"
    Grogu burbles affirmatively up at him and he seems to be okay with the answer he gets as he hops out the back of the hovervan, blaster drawn.
    What blaster fire does come his way spangs harmlessly off his armor; the beskar holding up without so much as a scratch as he pelts off a few shots back here and there.
    "Distraction is my middle name." He says blandly to Piera as he...
    Climbs aboard a tractor and spends a moment fiddling with the controls.
    "How do I work this..." He mutters, futzing with levers and switches. "Dank farrik thing, piece of..."
    Grogu burbles and reaches out to press a button. The tractor jerks to life and starts rumbling... Towards another tractor.
    Mando leaps free of the first, as they crash into each other.
    "... Not bad, kid."

  Keeping bizarre hours is a well-known problem to Anneka Stojespal. The nature of her assignment as a pilot has her operating around the clock, and she often has to be ready to fly at a moment's notice. All that to say: The one-eyed pilot is a lot more alert and responsive than some people are at such an hour of the morning.

  In the front seat beside Rusalka is none other than Auntie Anneka. Today, the woman isn't here as a representative of SHIELD. She's off the clock and wearing civilian clothing: A battered bomber jacket and white shirt tucked into jeans. Combat boots. She has a sterling chain around her neck and two battered, charred dog tags that are stamped in Cyrillic, mostly illegible. The pistol holstered at her shoulder, under the jacket, was kindly provided by House Stojespal. So is the satchel of grenades over her shoulder. House Stojespal wanted to send a very clear message.

  The explanation about Jedi is listened to impassively, although Anneka does not so much as raise a skeptical brow. Honestly, they're not too far removed from the superheroes of her own world. They do things that are just as inexplicable to her -- so the pilot's pretty accepting, all told. Anneka does stare for a second or two when Lian disembarks. Not a single blaster bolt gets through to the Jedi. Not one. How does she do th--

  Everything happens all at once. Thane shoots the vineyard guard in the face. Talia's lightsaber flickers to life at the same time the Jedi leaps from the back of the hovervan.

  Oooh darn time to get moving.

  Muttering curses in no less than three different languages under her breath, punctuated by an abrupt "SALLY PETROVNA WATCH THE DAMN FENCE!", Anneka tightens her grip on the armrests.

  She's still muttering curses as she leaps from the van and lands heavily, gaze swinging left and right. All right, they're probably here to commit rampant property damage and vandalism; what looks like it's really expensive or inconvenient to repair? Off goes Piera past her, and the SHIELD agent lifts a hand to wave the Assassin on. "Good hunting!"

  "Sally Petrovna, there is processing machinery over there. Let's go scratch the paint." The pilot's grin is ghoulish, owing to the burn scars disfiguring the right side of her face; a patch covering the eye. She pulls the pistol smoothly. "Great God, these people have really pissed Grandmother Dragana off, haven't they?"

    The guards up front go down one by one thanks to blaster fire, whether it be fired by the Mandalorian, or deflected by Talia and Lian. "That won't be an issue!" Talia calls out as Piera asks for a distraction. The Mirialan Jedi rushes after Mando, driving her lightsaber into one of the wine mashers up front, briefly using the Mandalorian's beskar for cover while bolts bounce off him harmlessly. Ish. One imagines he's a mess of bruises under all that gear.

    Meanwhile, as Lian looks for Laborers, she winds up running into one of them! A terrified middle-aged man in worker's gear practically bumped into her, eyes wide. "You...you're one of the Jedi here! Please, they've had us here for weeks without end working. I haven't seen my girls for two months! Please, master Jedi you have to get us out of here!" He'll cry about his situation later, for now he motions for Lian to follow him deeper into the facility, where guard droids begin to level blasters. The worker ducks behind a crate, and huddles for cover while he mutters to himself, "I just want to see my girls again...please." Sniff.

    The wine containers are either casks or crates, and there should be a few hovering carriers available for Piera to commandeer.

    The man's panic gives him away to Lian before she even properly meets him; when he starts to speak, she reaches out and places a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Be at ease. That's precisely what we're here for. Lead the way, and I shall have them free."

    Of course, it's not going to be as easy as cutting a lock; she'd probably (gently) chastize any Jedi who expected otherwise. As the man moves into cover, the older woman settles into a stance, lightsaber high and back, her face utterly calm as she sinks into the Force. "Don't worry. I'll see that you do." And then they open fire, and Lian is smooth, fluid motion. There are enough droids that simply rushing them down isn't going to be an option, so Lian doesn't even bother.

    Her lightsaber style has an answer to this. Form V, Shien variant, the style of not just defense, but counterattack. The style that does not just brush blaster bolts aside, but returns them to sender where possible. And if there is any style which Battlemaster Kamoya could be said to call her 'personal' style, it is Form V. The bar of sky-blue light moves from block to block, batting aside blaster fire like child's play - and while not all the blaster bolts are being reflected towards guard droids, enough of them are that the droids' numbers will probably thin out quickly.

    The Mandalorian and his...child? Pet? And Piera Forta as well; Sally's got no idea what to make of those two, but they're the silent stoic type that she recognizes as a gunman-for-hire. She's grown up around them; the Beskar-clad warrior isn't much of a surprise at his laconic and stoic nature. Their work with a laser pistol, well...if she had any respect for firearms, she'd appreciate it.

    Anneka yells, and Rusalka laughs - maybe just a little like a hyena - as she manages to get her aunt to finally respect her skills as a driver. By respect, she means be afraid of, but she'll take whatever points she can.

    Processing machinery? "Yes, that ought to do very nicely. Let's go." A quick turn of the wheel and a jab on the accelerator and the van careens toward the processing facility. She's out of it right after Anneka, looking around - there's no guards yet, not that she can see.

    "Plenty," she adds to Anneka's observation. She talks while she works, looking over the processing hardware to see...ah, perfect. "Great grandmother wanted to partner with Garo on selling his wine on our world. He...was impolite in his reply." Her hands dance across controls, activating the machinery - and setting it into overdrive, hopefully to grind gears and start sticking internal appendages where they don't belong.

    Just how impolite does a reply have to get to get a reaction like this? Well, to be fair to Garo, not that impolite. Dragana and Irja simply have very high standards of behavior, and the coward of a general failed to meet them.

    Things are getting a little heated. Sparks fly off beskar armor as Mando's body jerks now and again from a blaster bolt winging him.
    But the Beskar holds.
    A few more shots are returned at the guards before The Mandalorian decides things are a little too hot for the kid.
    So he storms his way over to what looks like a small bunker and unslings the pouch carrying Grogu from his side.
    "Don't move. Stay here. You stay. Got that?" He says very firmly to the tiny green youngling before turning to handle something else--
    Well, see, it turns out it wasn't a bunker. Grogu, left to his own devices immediately starts pressing buttons.
    The old hovertank that was repurposed into combine putters to life.
    And starts driving off on its own, with the kid in it.
    Mando pauses.
    Mando turns to regard this.
    Mando is silent a moment, reflecting upon his life decisions.
    "Dank farrik."
    All while Grogu starts driving the damned thing around crashing into... Just about everything in his path.

    The Assassin finds the storage units easily enough, avoiding contact with rushing guards by way of simply looking uninteresting as they pass to reach the 'real' threats.

    Looking around, she finds a hovercart dolly and starts loading casks onto it, pushing it right to the weight limit, before finding another one and repeating the process... best to get multiple ready so that anyone following her can push them out without having to load them first... all the while she keeps an eye out for anyone coming to investigate. "Aquila, any movement my way yet?" she asks, pressing the little stud in her ear that the Shinki provided for communications.

  Only belatedly does Anneka realise that the big armoured man has... some kind of alien child with him. Her head whips around to stare blankly, blinking owlishly with her one eye. What? In fact, she stares until the sound of Sally's voice snaps her out of it. Anneka's gaze tracks back around with clear reluctance.

  Now, it's the pilot's turn to keep watch. She scans the immediate grounds as Rusalka searches for an appropriate target. Sidling closer to listen, the pistol is levelled to point out toward the open plaza, gaze in constant motion as she tracks the area in search of alerted guards. He...was impolite in his reply. Her response is spat, low, tone like a curse. "Idiot. Well, I guess it's his funeral. Or his wine's. Oooh, turn that wheel, there," she adds, leaning over to glance over Rusalka's shoulder. "Sally Petrovna, your penchant for wrecking shit scares me a little."

  There are sparks. There is smoke. There are urgent computerised alarms for the immediate piece of equipment actively being ruined. Anneka arches her red brow, slowly.

  "Great God. What in hell did he say to Grandmother Dragana...?"

  Leaning over, she takes the butt of her pistol, and smashes it into the nearest vulnerable-looking part of the processing equipment. A display panel would do nicely.

    Thane and Talia both stare at the chaos Grogu causes as the little green tyke rides a combine. They exchange a glance. "Where the hell did you find that thing?" THane asks over comms, before returning fire at guards. Talia meanwhile is back to breaking stuff, deciding to get creative as Thane covers her. She uses the Force, grabbing a cask off its mountings, focusing deep as the Force carries it and then flings the barrel down toward a squad of enemy troopers. One could almost imagine bowling pins being knocked over as the men either scatter or are bowled over by the cask.

    The writing might not be anything legible to Piera, Anneka, or Rusalka, but the flashing red and yellow is easily deciphered. Whatever they're doing, keep doing it!

    The worker leading Lian meanwhile stares in awe as the Master Jedi cuts down droid after droid. "The stories didn't do you justice, young lady!" He calls out, as Lian fells the squad. Up ahead is a door that's been locked up, and the worker begins to fiddle with the controls as it opens up. Inside are laborers, all terrified and awestruck at their savior, and a few guards. They open fire upon Lian and the worker.

    Aquilla picks up a patrol that storms into the storage area, "She's stealing the wine! Kill the intruder before she makes off with it!"

    Silent and stoic as he is, and it's easy to take him for the gun for hire type Mando may actually be but...
    That is his kid driving a runaway combine.
    "Wait! Get back here! Come back this instant!" He calls out chasing after the hovertank before kicking in his jetpack.
    Lifting into the air with a burst of speed, he lands atop it, reaches in, and plucks Grogu from the command seat before hopping off.
    "... I can't leave you alone for a minute." He mutters, heaving the most put upon sigh imaginable.
    Before he reaches for something at his belt.
    He then casually tosses it into the still-moving combine and turns to walk away, Grogu in his arms.
    He doesn't even look back as the thing explodes thanks to the explosive charge he hucked into it.
    Cool people never turn to look at their explosions, after all, as he makes his way over to join up with Rusalka and Anneka.
    "Having fun over here?"

    There's a brief glance to one side as Lian slowly pushes forward, and she remarks with an amused, "Flatterer. I'm likely a few years older than you." Once she's seen to the droids, the elder Jedi takes up a ready stance at the door as the worker opens it for her. As soon as it does, she's weaving a defensive tapestry with her blade once again for both herself and her temporary companion; but this time, she sends the blaster bolts upward so as not to endanger the workers. It's fine, though. She has other ways of dealing with the guards. Rather simple ones, really.

    As soon as the Force clues her in to a safe gap between blaster bolts, the woman reaches out with a hand, and makes a sharp, tugging gesture - and all the guards will find their weapons suddenly yanked at hard, a surge of telekinesis aimed at disarming them safely. Well, it might hurt their hands, anyway.

    Rusalka hears the hovertank activate, and start going through the fields. A quick glance at the thing, and she frowns a moment before cursing something short and mean in Ukrainian. "Damnit, he'll tear up all the plants too soon!" But she has a job to do at this particular station, and the next.

    Anneka points out a particular wheel, and Rusalka peers at it momentarily - a red one, always a sign of danger. Good. It's also big, which makes it better. A tap on the screen in front of her, one of the few buttons that exist on it, bring up the best part of it all. "Aunt Anneka, I think you might be better than me at this job. That's the emergency fuel vent. You have grenades, yes?" Care to take a three point shot, Anneka? Sally's already at the wheel, tugging hard to get the thing to spin open.

    As for what Garo said? "Mom would not tell me."

    While Anneka does her thing, Rusalka moves on to the next station and sets it into overdrive as well. That puts paid to the processors, she thinks. Now comes the real part of things, as she finally has time to look at the fruity carnage left by Grogu the Malevolent's harvester rampage. "Great-grandmother wanted one of those plants." Sigh. Maybe she can find a cutting somewhere.

    The Mandalorian takes care of the former tank, and she gives a sigh of relief as he lands near them. "Almost done."

    There's still the dagger at her hip, and she watches Lian and Talia shred through the guards. They're distracted...maybe now is the best time. "Aunt Anneka? We have a job to do. Something for mother." She draws the knife, a svelte blade with the black wyvern of the house of Stojespal at its hilt. "A message must be left behind for the general. This is to be left in his office, hilt-deep in his favorite chair. Shall we?"

  "Grandmother Dragana made sure to send me off with party favours," Anneka replies, serenely. Digging into the satchel at her side, she produces one, pulls the pin, and dances several paces back. 

  "Hmm... I will have to find out from Irja Grigorievna later." Eye widening to gauge the shot, Anneka hucks the thing, grabbing Rusalka by the wrist and sprinting; both away from the impending explosion, and towards the nearest thing that looks like an important office. "Oh, Sally Petrovna, don't forget to tear up the upholstery first, too. Grandmother Dragana would like that touch, I think."

    "Patrol coming in... I count, six-- no, eight soldiers. Closing on you now." replies Aquila.

    Piera sets the last cask on the hoverpallet and moves out of the storage room. "You men aren't being paid enough to fight me... but if you are foolish enough to try, then be my guest. I have plenty enough blades for each of you." calls the Assassin as she strides confidently into the open. One hand open and held to the side, the other holding a slightly curved saber. Far from a stoic sword-for-hire, though Assassins aren't adverse to taking jobs for pay.

    Piera ducks behind cover as blaster bolts come flying in, then leaps out at a different angle and goes in to run one of the guards through with her sword.

    The guards in the laborers' quarters are swiftly disarmed, and having little else in the way of means to fight back they decide to throw up their hands. "THey locked us in here with the laborers, is it too late for us to defect?" One guard says, the other two shooting him the mother of all dirty looks...before thinking better of disparaging him. "Actually yeah we're with him. Screw Garo!"

    Before long there's a chorus of "SCREW GARO!" and other things better left unsaid about the Governor-General in polite company from both the ex-guards and the laborers.

    Meanwhile, Talia is about to say something before massive footfalls alert Thane and Talia to one of the barracks. A four-legged war droid with blaster cannons and rockets skitters out, massive in size, broad and heavy in armor with a holographic projection of a man with a moustache and a very overly fashioned beret. This in fact Governor-General Claudius Stefano Garo, sneering in disgust. "You who would DARE destroy the only pleasure I have in life, who would subvert my regime. I shall make a show of destroying you all, as a display to all who would dare defy my rule!" He says, voice enhanced by very bass-y speakers, before opening fire on Talia directly, who zigs and zags.

    Thane dives for cover near Mando, "I was wondering when he'd show up. Figured he'd use a go-between." He says with distaste for the dictator, and opens fire. "Cover Kyras." It's not like the Mandalorian needs to be told twice.

    Meanwhile, Piera shanks through one of the guards in the storage hall, blood staining his ornate dress uniform as he struggles to keep standing. The others open fire upon the assassin, not noticing the Shinki who likely has a shot right now.

    Piera pushes the man away, and ducks back behind cover as more blaster fire comes lancing out in her direction. Piera then gives a piercing whistle which is the signal for her partner to open fire.

    And open fire the shinki does. The lasrifle spits blue-white lances of actual laser light, not processed plasma bolts. The lancing beams rain down like deadly hailstones, but easily give the Shinki's position away as they trace all the way back to her... but that might give Piera another chance to take out another guard.

    Lian looks between the trio of guards, one eyebrow arching, before she quips a simple, "Good a time as any to unionize, I suppose." Turning, the Jedi leans and looks back out the door for a moment, watching the battle and all the others involved. Everyone else is largely involved in the fracas; she'll trust in that to provide enough distraction that she can protect them from what danger they do face. "All of you, be ready to follow me. We'll head for the motor pool, take as many vehicles as we can, and get you all out of here. Keep moving, unless you're sheltering from blaster fire. I'll deal with anyone who tries to stop us."

    Quietly, Lian watches the battle, a few seconds longer, waiting until the Force tells her the right time to move. And when it does? "Go. Now!" And she'll be running right alongside them, watching the battle carefully.

    And then comes the war droid.
    The Mandalorian sighs once again.
    Right up until it starts firing in his direction while Sally and Anneka head in another direction.
    Taking cover with the kid, Mando drops behind a few crates of grapes and considers his arsenal.
    The blaster won't scratch that.
    The disruptor rifle might scratch it.
    His explosives... That'll do it.
    Reaching for a charge at his belt he peeks over the crate and hucks it. It sticks on contact, beeping a few times before it explodes.

    There's a momentarily surprised noise from Rusalka as Anneka grabs her wrist and yanks. She's got no idea of just how big a bang that grenade could set off, but Anneka's experience with fueling stations and fighter jets implies they should beat a hasty retreat.

    And then the mother of all battle droids appears, blasters akimbo and holograms on display. So that's what General Garo looks like? Too many medals, Rusalka sniffs in disdain. "Go. Take care of that...robot thing. I will be fine; all his guards are out-" She waves her hands around not unlike Kermit the Frog flailing. "Back before you know it."

    Instead she's looking for an office as well, and spies something that looks like a manor. Or at least, something more opulent than servants' quarters; it doesn't take long for her to pick a building and make a sprint for it, ducking from corner to corner trying to stay out of sight. There's not a lot of guards around, most of them following after the war droid, and it doesn't take long to find her way to the big room that overlooks the fields.

    Maybe she can still find a vineyard's sapling in his office, Rusalka thinks.

>> SUMMARY[Rusalka] >> ; runs off and does something dumb

  The big guy in armour is causing an awful lot of racket, and Anneka can't help grinning over her shoulder at the wake of destruction that the Mandalorian leaves. It might be a nervous grin. It might be an impressed grin. Probably it's closer to a little of both.

  Go. Take care of that...robot thing. Rusalka manages to Kermitflail a little. Back before you know it.

  "Wh--" Hey, Anneka didn't sign up for that. Before the pilot can lodge an appropriate protest, Rusalka is gone.

  "God damn it Sally Petrovna...!"

  Rusalka can probably still hear her aunt cursing above the din, though.

  "THREE HUNDRED HAIRY BEARS...!"

  From the corner of her eye she does note where Rusalka goes running towards, but handling a highly aggressive and well-equipped giant robot thing is way above her pay grade.

  Anneka looks down at her pistol, then back up to the robot.

  Pistol.

  Robot.

  "NOPE!"

  That would be the sound of Anneka sprinting full-tilt after Rusalka. "Wait--!" Huff, puff. "--Grandmother Dragana is going to KILL ME if anything happens to you; do you hear!?" Puff.

>> SUMMARY[Anneka Stojespal] >> NOPE!

    There appears to be a unionization strike, as Lian finds herself with several dozen maltreated workers and three turncoats following her. "This way, we keep a motor pool of speeders, I'll go get the keys!" One of the ex-guards says, rushing off and grabbing a blaster pistol. About six security droids greet the group, opening fire, two of them abandoning blasters in favor of an energy shield and a vibro-ax each, rushing Lian. Some of the laborers grab discarded blasters from the previously wrecked droids, and return fire to help with Lian.

    The office will be through the admin wing of the compound, and Sally and Anneka will find Garo's office to be easily identified by the incredibly tacky and over the top colors and decor. That font alone just screams arrogance.

    Speaking of arrogance, Garo's war droid swipes a power-claw at Talia, who leaps above it before she strikes along the droid's armor plating. It's too thick for her lightsaber to cut through in one swipe, but her saber cuts deep enough for sparks to be left. The Mandalorian's detonator also causes damage, leaving the droid staggering while Thane lays down cover fire.

    Meanwhile, over in the storage wing, Aquila's shot snipes one of the guards, the others rushing to cover and trying to identify where it came from. "Up there, up there!" A guard shouts, and returns fire at Aquila.

    And with a distraction provided, Piera breaks cover and reengages. She throws a knife at the guard actively attacking Aquila. Another at one who turns to fire on her and leaps onto a third to introduce his neck to the sharp bit of her Hidden Blade. Her movements flow unnaturally fast... some of the guards might even think her a Jedi without a lightsaber.

    This is getting bad. Anneka noped out. Mando can't really blame her as she goes after Rusalka. This leaves him and Talia to fight the droid.
    But what Garo doesn't know is that Mando has a secret weapon up his sleeve.
    Mando kind of doesn't know this, either, as Grogu slips out of his harness.
    While Mando is busy trying to take cover, The Child ambles out of cover and just... Pads on over towards the big old war droid of doom.
    Mando glances down. He realizes the youngling isn't with him anymore.
"Oh. Oh no."
    He glances over the crate.
    There's Grogu. Right there. Out in the open. Holding out a tiny little hand.
    This is when the droid suddenly, slowly, lifts into the air.
    Talia and Lian will feel the little guy's tremendous use of The Force as he hoists the droid up... Up. Up. Uuuuup. Uuuuuuuuuuup...
    And then just lets it drop like a toy he's gotten bored with.
    "..." is Mando's typical, stunned, dumbstruck father response.
    Sigh.

    The laborers leading the way is good - but it also puts them in danger. Lian hustles up to the front, keeping pace with the front-runner until the group comes under threat. She takes a step out in front of the group, prepared to start sending blaster bolts back, but two of the droids abandon ranged fire in favor of becoming melee walls. "Well, that complicates things a bit." She calls out to the workers over her shoulder, "Take cover! I'll sort this as quickly as I can."

    The Battlemaster shifts her lightsaber to a right-hand grip; her left flicks out, and from the small of her back, a second saber leaps out, jumping right into her grip and igniting. With a saber in each hand, Lian can focus on turning away all the blaster bolts more effectively. With those two shield-bearers in front, sending the blaster bolts back at the droids is going to be difficult. So, she'll just change the equation, and force them all to look right at her. And maybe deal with those two melee droids at the same time.

    Continuing to defend herself, Lian breaks into a dead run, charging at a speed faster than any ordinary human can manage. The Force lends wings to her feet, rendering the woman a glowing blur; at the last second before she'd collide with the melee-equipped droids, the Jedi vaults over their heads, lashing out with downward lightsaber strikes at each - and when she lands, she whirls, unleashing another flurry at their backs.

    In all that, the elder Master finds time to glance across the battlefield, eyes settling right on the tiny form of Grogu. One eyebrow arches, just faintly.

>> SUMMARY[Lian Kamoya] >> Going dual-saber style, charging the droids at super speed, going buzzsaw from above and behind. (Also, watching Yiddle do his thing.)

    Well, she meant it. Back before anyone realizes she's gone. It just so happens that Anneka pays a lot of attention to the young Stojespal scion, and it's not hard for Anneka to keep up. Huffing and puffing of course, but Rusalka's looking around for the right room.

    Just what Anneka means about three hundred bears is left to wonder, but she can only imagine what the pilot might be thinking. /Sorry, aunt/, she thinks, /but mother will punish me if I fail./ It's not like Rusalka's got a lot of say in the matter in all honesty; she has things she enjoys that require family approval for...and her family is dead-set on making her one of them.

    The search takes even less time than one would expect, as the violent riot of gilded and hand-carved architecture announces what is very clearly the door to the general's office. The sign in cursive announcing his name doesn't hurt one bit. Rusalka, expecting nothing, simply opens the door and goes in, knife drawn.

    Fortunately for her, there's nobody in the room. Medals aplenty. Photos aplenty-er. She snorts derisively, having heard the term "I love me wall" before in derogatory fashion. In this case, it seems all three walls are covered in them...including, curiously, some photographs with the commander they'd come to this raid with.

    How about that.

    But the chair is beckoning, and the dagger waiting. A quick move to slide it into the seat, burying the blade in the richly apportioned chairback. After that, it's simple enough to gather up a small potted sapling...and what might be the gaudiest firearm she's ever seen.

    It's not just engraved, it's carved; it's not gilded, it's half solid gold. A blaster pistol for an ego his size gets pocketed.

    Anneka appears at the same time there's a tremendous crash outside, and Rusalka waves. "Hi auntie~ Shall we go?" The sound of blaster fire from the droid died off with the crash, and cobalt-blue eyes glance outside the window. "Oh my..."

>> SUMMARY[Rusalka] >> it's not a horsehead in bed, but it'll do

  "There is no accounting for taste." Anneka eyes the door of the office with a bland expression, although she's quick to turn her attention outward, scanning the corridor. "I hope you know what you are doing, niece. They are bound to notice us sooner or later."

  She shifts impatiently, muttering under her breath. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon..."

  Anneka side-eyes the photos with Thane in them, mouth twisting in thought. The detail is filed away for later consideration. For now, she's too busy keeping watch to permit herself any distractions. The chair's expensive upholstery rips with nary a sound, so sharp is the Stojespal steel. Even Anneka looks a little impressed when the hilt quivers from the backing. "Nicely done. Now may we go?"

  Yeah she's totally antsy because things are crashing outside. She's already fetching up next to the window beside Rusalka, narrowing her single eye. "Oh, for..." The string of trilingual cursing isn't really worth reprinting, but it's volatile and vile and Irja is going to cuff her for teaching Rusalka something so uncultured later.

  Crunch goes the war droid, meeting the ground and looking kind of like pancaked durasteel.

  "Ohhh, holy damn," Anneka observes, blandly. Her brow arches; she looks duly impressed. "Remind me to bother Lian Kamoya later for a lesson or two. All right, Sally Petrovna! Van! Let's go!"

    The droid continues to fire blindly, its targeting systems damaged by the explosion. "Argh! Damn you! Curse you all you terrorist scum, I will have your bloodlines erased from-" Garo's ranting is stopped by something. A small green thing, it'd be so easy to smoosh. He almost goes through with it, and pays for the mistake as his droid is lifted up by Grogu.

    Talia, long since stopped short of screaming for Grogu to get away, is awestruck by Grogu's display of awesome Force might, and even Thane stops firing to gawk. "By the Force..." He breathes. Some days in this job still manage to take his breath away.

    The droid is absolutely pulped as gravity takes over, and Grogu drops the droid onto the ground. It's pulverized, a scream from Garo interrupted by impact as the droid explodes. The Governor-General sits in his throne room, in the capital city of Bin Prime, dumbstruck by what just happened. And he buries his head in his hands.

    The guards will find that Piera might not be a Jedi, but she's damn close, as they're taken down one by one by nimble bladework and a handy sniper shinki. "She's too fas-HURK!" A guard gurgles out as his throat is cut by a hurled dagger, the others silenced before they even squeeze the trigger.

    Those still alive decide to cut and run like hell, abandoning the wine for now.

    Lian meanwhile finds herself in her own duel with the droids, and Talia sees her from a distance. Rushing to aid the Battlemaster, she jumps into the fray and slides like a pitcher reaching home plate, her lightsaber deftly severing one of the melee droids' legs just it rears up to strike Lian with its axe, staggering and wide open for the Battlemaster to finish it off.

    "Master Jedi, Master Jedi! We have the keys, the vehicles are ours!" The laborer, the one who ran into Lian in the first place, rushes over, having seen the tail end of the Jedi's display. "Oh, there's two of you? My goodness...you really are as good as they say."

    Talia smiles and chuckles modestly, "I'm just happy this mission worked out." She says, dusting herself off and getting to the transports. As men and women pile into each of the hovertrucks and vans, stolen wine loaded in, Talia and Thane hop onto one of the trucks. "Smile, Commander. We just made off with the score of the decade."

    Thane just glances to her, "I am smiling." He says blandly...before the faintest hint of a grin creeps on his weathered face, "You're the one who should be smiling, this was your idea. Good work, kid." He claps her shoulder as they zip off.