The cold void of space stretched endlessly as the stealth drop skiff, Vorn-Skar, slid silently toward Forge-Hell 3V's atmosphere.
Inside, the Raptor Squad sat in tense silence, faces painted with the familiar ochre and crimson of the clans, hands gripping weapons sharpened in tradition and necessity.
The Squad
Dren Vheyla — The Mand'alor's trusted lieutenant, spearheading the rescue mission.
Taren "Ghost" Viszla — Silent scout and infiltration expert; the squad's eyes and ears.
Sira Korkai — Tech specialist and codebreaker, clutching an Ori'ram slicer device in her gauntleted hands.
Kade Venn — Heavy weapons specialist, lugging a flamethrower rig modified for electronic warfare.
Atmospheric Entry
The skiff plunged through clouds, electronic countermeasures engaging as the Disruption Tower's shadow flickered below. The squad's comms hummed softly with encrypted chatter.
"Eyes on target. Estimated ingress point marked," Taren whispered, scanning with thermal visors.
Dren nodded.
"Remember — speed, silence, and precision. We get Jarn out alive and we bring the hammer down on Vornyr."
Infiltration
Inside Forge-Hell 3V, cold metal corridors stretched like the veins of a great beast.
The squad moved like shadows, hacking into security grids. Sira's fingers danced over her slicer, weaving a path through layered AI firewalls.
"Logic Nexus defenses are adapting," she warned. "They're learning from our tactics."
"Then we'll have to be unpredictable," Dren replied.
Confrontation: Clash in the Steel Heart
The dim corridor was illuminated only by flickering emergency lights and the cold blue glow of the AI uplink nodes lining the walls.
Suddenly, a figure stepped forward from a side alcove — the Vornyr prototype.
Its armor gleamed with an eerie, polished sheen, Mandalorian markings interwoven with droid tech. Glowing crimson eyes scanned the squad, calculating threats with inhuman precision.
Vornyr's voice, modulated and chilling:"You will not take what is mine."
In an instant, it lunged.
Dren barely raised his shock-axe as the hybrid's plasma-tipped beskad sliced through the air, sparks flying as metal clashed against energy blades.
The corridor echoed with the metallic ring of combat — Dren parried, spinning with practiced fluidity. Each strike was faster than the last, but the Vornyr moved with uncanny grace, blending human unpredictability with machine speed.
Behind Dren, the squad moved into position.
Taren "Ghost" Viszla vaulted onto a high catwalk, pulling his wrist-mounted disruptor pistols and firing rapid bursts. The plasma bolts scorched the Vornyr's reactive plating, but barely slowed its assault.
From the side, Kade Venn unleashed a torrent of superheated plasma from his modified flamethrower rig. The flames licked the metal walls and forced the droids advancing down the corridor to retreat — the heat wreaking havoc on their circuits.
But the Vornyr was undeterred.
It activated a retractable sniper scope mounted on its helmet and fired a deadly pulse shot at Sira.
The blast knocked her against the wall, sparks flying from her slicer as she struggled to reboot its code interface.
Seeing her fall, Dren roared, spinning to intercept the next assault.
The hybrid pressed forward, blade flashing. Dren blocked with his shock-axe, feeling the vibrations through the haft.
Suddenly, the Vornyr's arm shifted, and a wrist-mounted disruptor discharged in a wide arc — a blue plasma wave that sent Dren staggering back, armor sizzling.
"Keep it together!" he growled into comms.
Sira's fingers flew over her device, uploading a viral spike meant to scramble the Vornyr's targeting matrix.
The hybrid faltered for a heartbeat — its movements stuttering.
Taren seized the moment, dropping from the catwalk with twin pistols blazing. Two shots found the Vornyr's helmet visor — cracking the reinforced polycarbonate.
The hybrid staggered, shielded by reactive plating, but the damage was done.
Kade charged forward, swinging a heavy vibroblade salvaged from old battlefields. The blade met the hybrid's arm, sparks and grinding metal filling the air.
With a screech, the Vornyr switched tactics — jetpack thrusters igniting. It vaulted backward, then surged forward, blade spinning in a deadly arc.
Dren twisted aside just in time, counterattacking with a heavy strike to the droid's chest plate.
The armor buckled under the force, systems sparking inside.
Suddenly, alarms blared throughout the corridor — the squad's presence detected.
Waves of Striker-B2 droids and Araknos walkers emerged from side passages, plasma mortars charging.
"Fallback to extraction point!" Dren shouted.
The squad pulled back, firing as they retreated.
Sira tossed a small EMP grenade — a brilliant flash knocking out several droids.
Taren covered their rear, shooting down incoming walkers with well-placed disruptor shots.
Kade fired his flamethrower in sweeping arcs, driving the enemy back through the smoke and flame.
Rescue and Retreat
They reached the stasis chamber where Jarn was held.
Dren quickly deactivated the field, pulling Jarn free, who coughed, disoriented but alive.
The retreat was brutal — the droids pressed hard, but the squad's training and teamwork saw them through.
As they blasted through the atmosphere, Dren looked back at the burning Forge-Hell 3V.
"This war is far from over," he muttered. "But today, Mandalore prevails."