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This is the story of a fighter, a being who will never give up. He survived his planet's pacification. A lone Iotran struggling to stay alive, he will make the Empire pay for their crimes. This is the story of Droz Meerfus………
The rain hadn't let up for at least six hours. As the Iotran hid amongst the shadows, he studied his surroundings again. The Imperials had sent a patrol into the area and Meerfus had just barely avoided them. The armored car would definitely be equipped with scanning equipment. Meerfus knew that there was nothing he could do if they had life-form scanners. However, if they only had motion sensors he could avoid them by remaining still. Hopefully, staying stationary would help to deter detection by infrared sensors. Meerfus looked at his chronometer and found that twenty moments had passed since he had last checked the time. The chronometer was one of the few luxuries that Meerfus had and he appreciated it. Meerfus had been sitting amongst the shadows for over an hour and felt it was now safe to move to shelter to wait out the night. Meerfus was very cautious about leaving the alley. This area had been thoroughly bombarded and little of the structures that were left standing. The roads were merely the boundaries between the piles of rubble. Meerfus didn't wish to sleep the night out in the ruins. If he were detected in the ruins, Meerfus chances of survival were slim. Meerfus preferred to avoid all-out firefights with the Imperials, unless they were on his own terms. Meerfus had survived in this urban wasteland for five months since it had been subjugated. Things had been different before it had happened. Meerfus hadn't lived a luxurious lifestyle on his police payroll, but it beat the hell out of being hunting. Meerfus had few belongings now, but like his chronometer he prized them all. Meerfus walking through the remains of what had once been a multi-level apartment. Meerfus pulled his trenchcoat tighter to his body to protect himself against the biting cold. As Meerfus continued his trek, he began to feel the weight of his weapons. On his right hip was a massive scabbard that held Meerfus's prized weapon-a Jengardin Double-Bladed Vibroblade. Meerfus was a very formidable soldier at close range, but it was rare that Meerfus got a chance to use the Vibroblade. Meerfus was still fully capable of defending himself in a firefight. Meerfus packed a T-21 Repeating Blaster Rifle he took from an Army Trooper's lifeless body. After an hour of searching through the ruins, the rain hadn't let up but Meerfus finally came across a safe place to wait out the night. Meerfus entered the small abandoned factory cautiously. Meerfus checked out the two-story building for any possible threats and found none. The small power cell factory was almost completely intact, except for a portion of the south wall, which had crumbled down. The building had two entrances besides the gap in the wall, a large hydraulic door for repulsor-trucks and a workers entrance right next to it. The building even had its own small power generator. Most buildings didn't have their own power supply and relied on the city's power grid. The power grid had been obliterated in the first hours of conflict with the Empire, leaving the majority of the city without any power at all. The building even had a primitive freight elevator, which still worked. The second story was simply a large cargo platform that had guardrails. Accessible only by a metal ladder and the freight elevator, it overlooked half of the factory. It was a good strategic position for Meerfus to be in if someone invaded the factory. Meerfus decided to bed down on the second story of the factory to avoid the gusts of wind coming through the gap in the south wall. Meerfus rolled out his bedroll and laid out all of his possessions for inspection. On the bedroll was a myriad of equipment: The Jengardin blade in its scabbard, a T-21 Repeater, 3 power packs, 41 ImpRat bars, a small knapsack containing a variety of explosives and tools, his chronometer, a mini-flamer, and a small heating unit. Meerfus inspected all his equipment and cleaned his rifle and blade. One of the power packs anodes was dented; Meerfus discarded it rather then risk destroying the precious rifle. Meerfus chewed on one of the bland confiscated ImpRat bars as he went through his demolition knapsack. In it were 2 fragmentation grenades, a concussion grenade, and 2 homemade pipebombs, along with an assortment of explosive components and tools. All in all everything besides the power pack was intact. Meerfus plugged the heating unit into an outlet on the wall and sat down next to it. Meerfus got comfortable and got out a small handheld laser cutter from his knapsack along with a piece of pipe and some chemicals. Meerfus spent a half-hour making two more pipebombs. Meerfus looked at his chronometer and decided to get some shut-eye before he got up at dawn to move out again. Meerfus laid down relatively warm, thanks to his heating unit, and finally went to sleep. The sound of human voices woke Meerfus wide-awake. In a single motion, Meerfus rolled out of the bedroll, grabbed his T-21, clicked off the safety, and got into a crouch. Meerfus stared out at his surroundings and listened. There were three human voices and from the crisp Mid-Rim accent, they sounded Imperial. Meerfus crawled to the edge of the platform to peek onto the ground floor. Meerfus saw three Imperial Army troopers standing just inside the building, they had entered through gap in the south wall. One of soldiers was smoking a tabbac cigarette, while the other two soldiers relaxed with their rifles slung and their packs at their feet. "I hate this patrol duty, the damn lieutenant shouldn't have volunteered us for this duty," remarked one of the troopers. "Nobody likes this crap, but secure your gear. Jemmert, you get the watch while Crabawski and I get some sleep before we have to check in at Outpost 9B," retorted the second trooper, who was obviously in command. Crabawski continued to puff on his cigarette and snickered at the fate of his comrade. Meerfus cursed to himself, now he had to get rid of these three troopers. Meerfus wanted to kill them quickly, grab any valuable equipment, and get out of the area before more Imps came looking. Meerfus reached back to grab a pipebomb. As he did the platform underneath him creaked loudly. Meerfus muttered another vehement curse at his misfortune. He heard one of the Imperials bark out an order for Jemmert to check out the second floor on the double. Meerfus pulled his body back away from the edge and waited for Jemmert to come. Suddenly the whole room lit up to daylight conditions, as one of the troopers hit the illumination switch. Meerfus wondered if things could get worse. Meerfus pulled his belly tightly against the floor and pointed his T-21 towards the ladder he anticipated Jemmert to climb. A rumbling noise filled the building, as the freight elevator began to slowly climb to the second floor. Meerfus was suddenly disappointed at the Imperials lack of tactical skill. Meerfus took his mini-flamer and ignited the fuse on one of his pipebombs, then rolled it towards the elevator. The sparkling explosive rolled over the edge and clanked onto the elevator platform. Jemmert screamed out just as it exploded, giving the building a shake. Jemmert was still alive and he howled in pain. Meerfus decided to put him out of his misery. He ripped the fuse of another pipebomb down to the three-second mark, ignited the fuse, and tossed it onto the wrecked elevator. The small bomb went off seconds later, finishing Jemmert off and further destroying the elevator. Meerfus grabbed a grenade out of the knapsack, along with his T-21 and got to his feet. The metal floor beneath Meerfus began to get ripped up as the two remaining Imperial soldiers started blasting at it. Meerfus chucked a grenade over the guardrail in the hopes of stopping the Imperial's blaster fire. The fragmentation grenade went off sending shrapnel into the machinery composing the factory's main floor and forcing the two soldiers behind cover. Meerfus took the opportunity and rushed to the edge of the platform. Meerfus saw one of the soldier's torsos popping out from behind a metal counter, while the other remained fully covered. Meerfus sent a 5 shot burst into the Imperial. The enemy trooper recoiled in pain as two of the blasts pierced his shoulder. Meerfus grinned in satisfaction and plugged another burst out onto the first floor. Meerfus dropped to one knee and scanned the floor waiting for an Imperial to show themselves. The injured trooper called out for Crabawski to help him. Crabawski yelled back, "Stay down, where's the fraggin sniper?" The wounded soldier hollered something incomprehensible, which only provoked Meerfus to send another blaster burst into the counter. One of the Imps hurled a grenade towards Meerfus. As Meerfus saw it arch towards him, the Iotran turned around and dived towards the wall. Meerfus hit the metal platform's deck as the concussion grenade detonated. The immense shockwave smashed Meerfus into the wall. Between the concussion grenade, two pipebombs, and the barrage of blaster fire the platform just wasn't strong enough. One of its supports gave out and the platform went crashing down. Meerfus found himself bruised, infuriated, and on the first floor behind a large pylon. Meerfus stumbled to his feet and ripped off a burst in the remaining Imperial's direction. Crabawski ran towards his wounded comrade, which placed him out in the open for an instant. Meerfus drew a bead on him and fired. Of the 5 remaining blasts fired, 2 tore into the enemy soldier's armored vest while the another blast charred the trooper's face. The soldier was blasted backwards and instantly dead. Meerfus ejected the empty magazine and let it fall to the dura-tile floor. The realization that his remaining power pack was in his knapsack struck Meerfus and resulted in a loud curse. Meerfus looked around him for the knapsack and found it. It was hanging by its strap just out of Meerfus' reach, however his Jengardin blade lay at his feet in his scabbard. Meerfus pulled his impressive weapon out of its scabbard, activating it, while placing his T-21 on the floor. The powerful sword hummed vigorously as the weapon's edge vibrated. Wielding the massive melee weapon, Meerfus peered out to find the last wounded soldier. The soldier tried in vain to avoid crying out in pain, giving away his position. The remaining soldier had crawled up against a pylon that was about 16 meters away. The last soldier, the one that had been in command, still had some fight in him. The last living enemy soldier send 3 blasts in Meerfus' direction with his sidearm. One shot rang dangerously close, sending a shard of metal ricocheting into Meerfus' arm. As the shard drew blood, Meerfus winced in pain and flew into a rage. Meerfus sprinted out towards the pylon firmly grasping his Jengardin. Meerfus ran right by the left side of the pylon and fiercely swung the double-bladed vibroblade around. The blade cleaved the wounded soldier's helmeted head right off. Meerfus grabbed the fallen soldier's sidearm and surgically placed a blast into its original owner along with his two prone comrades, not risking the chance that they could be "playing dead." Meerfus knew that the whole encounter took less then three minutes and although chance of reinforcements arriving soon was minimal, it wasn't wise to stick around. Meerfus grabbed his knapsack and weapons then he began to check the dead Imperials for gear. All the Army troopers' armor was compromised in one way or another, especially Jemmert's whose corpse was riddled with shrapnel. Meerfus opened up an Imperial medpac and used it clean up his wounds and threw another into his knapsack. Meerfus grabbed 8 power packs and tossed them into his knapsack along with the Merr-Sonn blaster pistol he took from the dead trooper. Meerfus picked up another 2 fragmentation grenades and a concussion grenade from the dead Imps. Meerfus nabbed a few more ImpRat bars and put them into his bulging knapsack. Meerfus looked around the battle-scarred factory to see if anything was overlooked. Confident that he had done everything, Meerfus checked his chronometer. The chronometer face was cracked by the concussion blast and ruined. Meerfus undid the clasp and threw the useless piece of machinery to the floor and snatched up an Imperial standard issue chronometer. As Droz Meerfus walked out of the factory, he lowered his head and wondered, "Wasn't it enough that they trashed the city, why did they have to break my chronometer? I really liked the damned thing." Droz Meerfus' tale is one of many whose life the Empire has ravaged. He will continue to kill the Imperials until his planet is liberated or he is dead…and Meerfus doesn't plan on dying. Name: Droz Meerfus
DEXTERITY 4D
KNOWLEDGE 2D
MECHANICAL 2D
PERCEPTION 3D
STRENGTH 4D
TECHNICAL 3D
Another submission regarding Droz Meerfus and his struggle will hopefully be included in next month's journal issue. I am interested in your opinion, please send feedback to Ssilver@eticomm.net. |
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