Contract 031: Celevon Edraven

Contract Bureau Offices
Arcona Citadel

"Never satisfied are you, brother?" Talos Erinos as Celevon Edraven strode once again into the office of the House Galeres Commissioner and Aedile.

"As long as our Lord Consul remains a prisoner...then no." was the assassin's simple reply.

Talos nodded in silent admiration at Celevon's determination.

"That's what I like to hear. Well here you go" the Commissioner said after a moment's pause, in which he riffled throught the stack of holo-files on his desk, before tossing one to the Jedi Hunter.

"Give them no quarter, brother" the Aedile ordered as Celevon flipped open the file.

:: Contract 031 ::
Assault, A-Class

*Target: Death Walker Remnant Encampment
*Location: Eastern Watch Settlement, Selenian Plains.
*Restrictions: None
*Assets Available: Two (2) Platoons of Army Cavalry

Pretty straightforward here, Celevon. The Death Walker threat hasn't really gone away, especially now that the One Who Is The One's involvement is suspected in the Lord Consul's capture. One of the camps that the Death Walkers based themselves out in their last attack is still in existence, apparently skipped over when the inhabitants of Estle City took the torch to the rest of the monsters encampments. Now, DIA agents believe that the encampment is abandoned and nonfuctional, but the Summit doesn't quite agree, as the Walkers have proven to be very territorial. Whether it's abandoned or not, Proconsul Entar wants the place demo'd, something I'm all to happy to facilitate. I know this isn't your usual cup of caf, but I thought it'd be a good prep contract as we get you into the realm of...more "overt" assignments. Good luck!

"I'll take it, vod" Celevon said, a cold smile playing on his face.

"I thought you might. Now, one mor--" Talos started to say, but then his head perked up as the Force alerted him of an approaching presence.

Celevon Edraven and Talos Erinos looked at each other and spoke in unison:

"Apophis" they said.

The Jedi Hunter fell back on his training as an assassin and wrapped his black overcloak around him and withdrew into the corner of Talos' office, just as the door "whooshed" open and admitted the lean figure of Apophis Undomiel, Protector of House Galeres.

"Greetings, Aedile Erinos! I'm here for my contract!" Apophis said loudly, striding right up to his superior and bowing low.

"Ah, good evening, Protector Undomiel...I'm glad you're here" the Aedile said warmly, shooting a glance over the Journeyman's head and giving a tight smile to the lurking figure of Celevon Edraven.

The Soulfire sniper merely inclined his head before raising a finger up to his lips, the universal gesture for "quiet".

Commissioner’s Office, Arcona Contract Bureau, Sublevels, Arcona Citadel
Selen, Dajorra System, Unknown Regions
0751 Hours

Celevon remained standing in the corner of Talos’ office, where he silently observed the Protector getting his first ever assassination mission. He could see that the younger man hadn’t given himself time to fully recover from their fight in the Antei Combat Centre. Celevon noticed the Protector’s hands were shaking and narrowed his eyes as he listened to Talos verbally explain the contract. After a moment of thought, Celevon mentally agreed with the Commissioner’s assessment that this would be a perfect mission to start Apophis off. It took several more minutes, before Apophis himself was dismissed. After Celevon watched the Protector leave the office, and having received instructions as to where the Platoons were and the highest ranked officers names, Celevon excused himself to quickly catch up with Apophis. He didn’t even need to try. The Protector had stopped not far beyond the office door and was reading over the contract over again, likely trying to memorize the details as he mutter to himself, varied profanities entering his words every so often. As he passed the Protector, Celevon smirked and spoke up, “You really should attempt to be more aware of your surroundings, Apophis. Not taking note of what’s around you, or who could be lurking in the darkened corner of the room could get you killed in missions such as these.”

The Jedi Hunter purposely didn’t bother to look to see if the Protector had gotten the message. He had a mission to take care of that required his full attention. And (after looking back at the holo-file to make sure that his eyes weren’t deceiving him) would have to lead at least fourteen Army Cavalry soldiers into this mission. Celevon mentally calculated as he walked quickly to his quarters to get back into his armour. A platoon can be anything from seven to fourteen men, so I can expect anything from fourteen to twenty-eight soldiers on this mission. It’ll be tough, but I think I can pull it off. Just have to remember to never mention my rank. That would certainly [Expletive Deleted] off the platoon leaders.

Celevon entered his quarters and immediately was going to grab his Dar’Verd armour, when he paused and looked at his copy of the holo-file once more. Death Walkers. That cinched it. He reverently pulled out the crate he had recently picked up from one of the talented armourers in Estle City. After taking his designs to the armourer, the man had scoffed and told him it wouldn’t be any trouble and would be done within the week. That had been two weeks prior. Celevon opened the crate and donned the armour within. It was a remake of the modified Mk. II Clone Trooper armour that the Jedi had worn during the Clone Wars. Theirs had been white, with the black undersuit, and brown pieces from a Jedi style robe. This one was black and dark silver. Celevon admired the armourers work before he began to slide his weapons onto the spots he had made built-into this. His varied daggers were slid into their individual sheaths; the VibroCombat knife was slid into the sheath in his boot; the pair of push daggers were slid into their individual sheaths placed in the area of his lower ribs; several of the frag grenades that exploded on impact; His SSK-7 Heavy Blaster Pistol holstered in the tactical thigh holster he had purchased with the armour, the Silencer left on his desk (along with three full clips); He almost went for his lightsaber before he shook his head and grabbed the katana instead, which he slid into the sheath built into the back of the armour. Celevon stretched to check the maneuverability of it and found it acceptable, before he grabbed the last item he would need for this mission. The KX-80 Blaster Rifle along with several modified clips to hold more rounds than normal.

He walked out of his quarters and almost ran into Apophis again. Evidently the Protector had realized that Celevon had been in the office the entire time and likely was frustrated with himself for not being more aware of his surroundings. Celevon felt Apophis’ gaze upon him as he walked off towards the shuttle area to catch one so that he could meet up with however many would be helping him on this task.

After a short shuttle ride and a walk to the gate, Celevon handed a guard his identification. He idly noticed that the patrols were different than the last time he had been here before he was admitted entrance. He automatically headed in the direction of the area where the platoons were supposedly waiting for him. The moment he entered the room, he heard a bellowed, “Attention!”

He mentally cursed Talos when both platoons stood at attention and saluted him. Celevon nodded, and spoke up. “At ease, men.” After a quick head count to discover that it was two full platoons of twenty-eight soldiers, Celevon adopted a stance that he had seen multiple times: his legs shoulder-width apart, his hands clasped behind his back. “I don’t know if you’ve been briefed on our mission,” Celevon noticed a few of the soldiers idly shaking their heads before he continued. “We have been tasked with assaulting and destroying a Death Walker encampment that was overlooked when the citizens took the torch to them after their latest attack on Selen. Our intel says that the encampment may be abandoned, but I’ll take that with a few grains of salt.” A few of the soldiers chuckled while Celevon continued speaking again. “These Death Walkers are territorial [Expletive Deleted]. Once the area is clear of tangos, we are to set demolitions charges and remove its taint from our lovely planet. The ROE are to raise the black flag with our colors. You have been chosen because you are the best damn Cavalry unit still stationed here. I want every one of you to stay frosty and keep alert at all times. I absolutely detest losing soldiers on missions, especially from the Army Corps, as we are the best there is.” Celevon let a smile slip though his cold exterior when he saw the troops’ backs straighten with pride. “Sergeant Exarn, Staff Sergeant Black.”

The two stepped forward with a “Sir?” in unison.

“I want each of you to pick one of your best men and have them assigned six men from your individual platoons, preferably the best with planting demolitions while under stress. Unlike the original plans, I think we should go in with four armoured transports and attack the enemy encampment from four corners. If you think this should be planned differently, I’m more than happy to hear suggestions.” Celevon explained patiently to the two platoon leaders.

The two platoon leaders smirked at one another (giving Celevon the impression that these two, in particular, loved a good challenge) before Staff Sergeant Black spoke up, “It won’t be a problem, sir. When do we move?”

Celevon thought for a moment before he responded. “Have your men ready by 1130. Once everyone is present and accounted for, we will depart to the target area. Understood?”

The two platoon leaders saluted with a sharp ‘Sir!’ and stepped back with their platoons. Celevon looked over the troops for a moment before he announced, “If there are tangos at the encampment: the platoon that racks up the most confirmed kills will be having the first round on me. Dismissed!”

Celevon smirked to himself as he exited to the cheers, while both platoons jeered at each other.

~()~

Circling the Enemy Encampment, Selenian Plains
Selen, Dajorra System, Unknown Regions
1149 Hours

Celevon was running last minute checks on all of his weapons when the Gunner alerted him on the comlink for the mission, “Yes, what is it?”

The gunner spoke up calmly, if a bit eagerly. “Enemy movement from the target area, sir. When do we engage?”

Celevon thought for a moment before telling the Gunner, “Switch to the open frequency.”
Once he had done so, Celevon announced, “This area just became a free-fire zone. We have enemy movement in the target area. Lock and load, boys.” He heard the cheers from the entire unit both through his comlink and from the transport he was in. Once it died down, Celevon continued. “We initiate the attack in t-minus… Ten minutes and counting. Initiate radio silence until I give the signal. Trust me when I say that you’ll know it when it happens.”

While he received affirmatives, Celevon ejected the clip from the SSK-7, put a round into the pipe before he slammed the clip back into place and returned it to the tactical holster. He pulled out the KX-80 off his back moments later as he got out of the transport he was in and got into position. Once the time counted down to the last five seconds, Celevon threw all three of his frag grenades where the Death Walkers were grouped in quick succession. Seconds later, hellfire reigned in a hail of blaster bolts.

~()~

Awaiting the Signal (Sergeant Exarn)
1159 Hours

One of the six men that he had chosen to escort him on this mission asked, “What the hell do you suppose he meant when he said we’d know the signal when it happens?”

Sergeant Alex Exarn went to shush his NCO just as he heard three explosions detonate, one after the other and all seven of them rushed into the camp and opened fire while he heard a yelled “Let’s get ‘em, fellas!” from a voice that he absently recognized as Staff Sergeant Black. It was an amazing sight that met the Sergeant’s eyes as he entered the camp: Volleys of blasterfire from five different directions, the fifth from an elevated position. He focused on the Death Walkers he could see closing in on them. A scream of fear made him turn away, just in time to see a blur of black and silver pass him.

~()~

(PFC Alphard Jackson)

PFC Jackson was excited as he rushed in unloading bolts into the lizard-like targets, when he was suddenly shoved to the ground, a white hot flash of pain and a loud crack as his leg broke. He screamed when he saw a Death Walker leering at him hungrily, and went for his gun, which lay right behind the creature. It walked towards him rather than ran (its limbs hindered by something, probably one of the explosions from earlier).

He was praying silently to himself and whimpering as the creature bore down on him, when he heard a loud roar immediately followed by two shots being fired and felt warm liquid splash onto his face. The Death Walker lay feet in front of him, face-down when he opened his eyes. On the back of it’s head were to holes from a slug shooter, if he had to guess. It had the hilt of what he recognized as a katana in its back when he heard gunfire from nearby. Looking beyond the Death Walker’s considerable dead bulk, he saw an armoured dark figure firing his blaster until the clip was emptied. That’s when he saw the figure pull a pistol from his right leg, which was fired several times. He fell into darkness as the figure walked towards him.

~()~

Celevon pushed healing energies into Private Jackson’s unconscious body before he returned to the bloodbath at hand. He summoned his KX-80 from where he had been before he saw the young man being pursued by the injured Death Walker. Thankfully, there were only a few left. However, he could see three soldiers laying among the corpses of the Death Walkers. His senses told them that they were still alive, but barely. He yelled for a medic while he popped a new clip into the KX-80. Once he was sure that they were being attended, he crouched and fired the entire clip into a Death Walker he had seen sneaking up behind the medic out of the corner of his vision.

He ejected the magazine and had just popped another in when he heard cheers. The last Death Walker on Selen had just fallen. Celevon yelled “Set your charges in the designated areas.” to the people among the cheering soldiers who carried the explosives. He saw four men rush off in different directions. Assured that the orders were being followed, Celevon turned to the medic and asked, “How’re they doing, doc?”

The medic kept at work, nodding his head as he indicated the patients as he spoke, “Those two are stabilized. They’ll be fine after several weeks of rest and rehab. This one won’t be so lucky. He’ll have to be fitting for a cybernetic replacement right leg from just above his knee. Is there anymore injured?” The medic asked once he finished with the third trooper.

Celevon nodded his head in the direction of the soldier he had saved earlier in the skirmish. “There is a Private Jackson in there with a broken leg. He’s unconscious, but looks to be fine.”

The medic nodded and went to check on him while Celevon commed the transport to let them know that he needed someone to help him move the injured to the transport or to bring the transport to him.

Celevon had just carried the second injured man that the medic had said would be fine when the medic returned, assisting PFC Jackson towards the transport. The young Private held Celevon’s katana in his right hand. Celevon rushed forward to help him after he sheathed the katana the private handed him. They had put the man who would need a replacement leg on the transport when the two platoon leaders let Celevon know that the explosives were planted. Celevon ordered them to get their uninjured soldiers onto the transports that would head back to camp. They had just taken off when Celevon clicked the button on the detonator, setting off the explosives which decimated the camp and likely vaporized the bodies of the Death Walkers.

Not long afterward, they returned to base camp. After Celevon double-checked the injured troops, he pulled out his personal comlink and contacted Talos, who likely was going stir-crazy from too much time spent in the office. “It’s done, vod. I should be back shortly.”

:: Contract Review ::

Technical - Very well done overall, Celevon. There were very few errors in the text, stemming from some slight grammatical mishaps, but nothing worth mentioning and nothing that took away from the overall story. Another area you improved considerably in was finding a nice medium between a short story and long story; this one was nearly right on the mark (I would have liked to see a bit more action, especially since you were leading such a large force). All in all however, this was very well done, especially for your first ever (and the CB's first ever completed), Assault Contract.

Story - Again, you show your usual flair for writing mini-masterpieces, brother. The story was well done and displayed your usual balance between action and character development, though as said in the section above, I would've have enjoyed a bit more action (maybe a paragraph or two, but no more than that). Also, while this can't be called an error, in the future of your contracts, I would advise you to look up some shuttle/transport class names (i.e. Lambda T-4a) and use those in your fiction, as it adds more depth to your environment and also the state of Arcona's military.

In relation to that request, I must apologize that the AAC wiki page doesn't have any info, as our vehicle classes got wiped in the Wiki Crash of '34.

So in conclusion, very well done with the story aspect; I'm a big fan of Celevon's pro-military stance and seeing him have a tender heart for the men under his temporary command was refershing (so many Dark Jedi these days think it's cool to laugh at the pain of their subordinates. You can care without being a wussy Lightsider ).

Grade/Point Allocation -Therefore, it is with great pleasure that I stamp Contract 031 with a grade of 'Excellent' and bestow upon you another three (3) points. This brings you to a total of 11. Congratulations!