30 Seconds to Contact [ORC Dominion of Saijo, Hex G-50]

[Janick Beauchamp]

Objective: 1
Allies: [member="Cinara Vencu"] [member="Elaine Thul"] [member="Kyle Farnes"]
Enemies: Shakurans

With ship debris falling, these debris threatened not only her own position, but also those Nagai trying to get to safety and the Shakurans herding them. It also gave her an intense, if temporary (as were most sources of hatred outside of a dark-sided nexus) source of hatred to work with. To leap out of one area with falling debris, with Shakurans on her tail. Yes, it caused the Shakurans to lose some of their vanguard in the collateral damage, but she needed to get cover, while she was already covering the Nagai's retreat. Thus she was kiting since the issue with bolts of hatred was that, with the amount of ambient hatred readily available for a payload, a minimum distance was strongly recommended. Yet, as much as she wanted some cover, getting to the cover was far from a straightforward operation: dodging their attacks, the shots the enemy fired, meant she needed to jump, leapfrog them even, at virtually every turn, causing her to suffer some near-misses. Not that she could actually hope for debris to fall on them rather than her, just that she began to accumulate so much hatred of so many sources that she feels it's dangerous to hold on to it for too long.

 

[Civil]

The little corvette would most definitely be inconsequential if it were to help in the battle. Despite its powerful weapons, shields, and squadron of fighters sitting in its hangar, the Sylvan-class couldn't help against the massed armada here to strike at the world of the Nagai. And it didn't plan to.

Alya was not a military woman, but she knew that much. Even so, she could appreciate the power the Shakurans had. From her position orbiting the southern hemisphere of Saijo, she watched through the transparisteel view port on the bridge of the ship, staring at the little lights of the Alliance ships' ion drives, and the little transports disappearing into hyperspace every few minutes. She could only aid these people by waiting, watching, analyzing.

Saijo was in a sector right next to First Order territory, surprisingly far from their previous targets. She had only been briefed with the basics of the situation and thought it might be an interesting experience to see it all, and perhaps offer her skills up to whoever might need it. She quickly waved her orderly over to open up a comms channel with nearby ORC forces.

"This is Vela Sipal of the Silvertongue, we are... technically a diplomatic envoy. If there's any way we can help, let us know."

She continued to stare out into space, waiting for any response.

 

[Atlas Drake]

Of all the sights Atlas had expected to see the day he signed up for the Kathol Republic Navy, none could compete with how strange this day had gotten.

He could still feel the rumblings outside of not so distant explosions, but the Nagai command bunker was filled with an unnatural sense of calm even as soldiers stripped down the equipment all around them. They had all volunteered to remain behind as long as possible to coordinate evacuation efforts in some of the more remote regions of the planet, and to hold off the Sharuka until the last transports were offworld. Lieutenant Zul had been in touch over comms, transmitting the channel frequencies he could use to make contact with any Coalition peace officers on the surface.

"Marshal Fyre, come in. This is Atlas Drake," he and [member="Dax Fyre"] had met before, they were very different people to say the least but the captain respected him, "The Utopia is in orbit, but I can't say how long she's gonna be able to hold her position. What's it look like out there? How much more time do you need?"

Just then his personal comm chimed, and upon seeing it was from his starship he answered at once. Captain Drake had been trying to make contact with the rest of his crew since he arrived.

"Ghast, report."

"Apologies, Captain," through the the static haze of less than ideal atmospheric conditions, he could make out the sound of his Kel Dor first officer's voice, "As soon as we detected a hostile fleet in system I ordered helm to plot an elliptical trajectory around the far side of Saijo's moon. Its gravity well blocked our communications."

"Quick thinking commander, you bought us some time at least. Try to stay afloat up there as long as you can, but if they corner you I'm ordering you to break orbit and jump whether I'm on board or not."

"Captain, I must protes-" Atlas ended the call before Ghast could even finish.

"Atlas the Drake," one of the Nagai's lieutenants approached him with a datapad. Many of the natives were still learning about foreign naming conventions, "Another message from your people."

"Let me take a look," he replied, not bothering to correct the soldier's limited worldview. To Nagai, all offworlders were of the same people, "The Silvertongue? Never heard of her."

Atlas and his crew weren't the only ones in the area who had responded to Saijo's distress call. Nor was this Silvertongue even the first civilian vessel to show up offering whatever support they could provide, but she was one of the biggest. That meant more room for refugees.

"Silvertongue, this is Captain Atlas Drake of the Kathol Republic Vessel Utopia. How many passengers can you take on? I won't ask you to risk your people on a run for the surface, but we can divert some smaller transports to your position." ([member="The Civil Wild"])

 

[Civil]

"Ah, hello Captain," the smooth voice of the young Pantoran coming over the comms. "I'm afraid that we aren't a passenger vessel. We might be able to store some people in our cargo hold, but our hangar and our passenger quarters are full. I realize my skills may not be the best for this particular situation, but I am simply here to observe. The Silvertongue can serve as a basic protection for any transports heading our way, but feel free to call on us if anything requiring a bit more of a gentle touch is needed."

Satisfied, she went over to her own little private sitting area on the bridge. The others were roaming around, with the crew in their respective seats. Her head guard moved into the seat across from her.

《I'm sure we could be helping more,》the other Pantoran expressed in their language.

《Of course we could be. We always can be.》The woman shrugged. 《We are here for Pantora, first and foremost. I shouldn't need to remind you of that, Toro.》

《Never.》

The corvette sat in its very same position, the captain not even having the engines active. They were far out of range of the Shakurans' weapons, even the ORC fleet's weapons. Once again, they were not here to fight. Observation was key, and she wanted to learn as much as possible about this new opponent of theirs. And of course, should any particular protest arise from their First Order neighbours, she would be there to smooth everything out. That's all she can do, really.

 

[Kimiko Taiyou]

Location: Saijo, ground side
Objective: 1, defend the evacuation center
Allies: Any ORC personnel on the ground
Enemies: Shakurans

Things had been hectic since the Akaran ground forces arrived. The commanders of both the Marines and Sentinels had done their best to integrate with the already established defenders. Two of the Akaran Naval figters and one of the Tanto-class Gunboats had remained to fill the gap of heavy firepower when and where needed. They were positioned in a gap on the northeast side of the defensive circle, taking the already established positions from grateful Nagai militiamen. The Sentinels quickly made work of improving the battlements, while the Marines posted hasty security. After what seemed like forever, the line was fortified with more earthen positions and overlapping fields of fire.

Field Marshall Matsuura of the Akaran Marines and Marshall Watanabe of the Sentinels dashed low from position to position checking on their troops and ensuring they were prepared. They both had made it back to the command center just in time for the first volley of enemy fire. The Shakurans had made landfall and were now rapidly advancing on the defenders. Comms erupted as the heavy machine-gun fire sounded from the line, the tracers and blue plasma arcing towards their targets. The two fighters vectored towards the incoming enemy and the heavy turbolasers of the Tanto began raking the opposite forces.

The two commanders looked at each other and nodded with grin before hefting their blaster rifles and dashing to join in the fun.

~~~Meanwhile...~~~

Location: Saijo, space
Objective: 3/4, ensure evacuation ships make it
Allies: Any ORC space forces
Enemies: Shakurans

Chika shuddered under the blow to the shields they took. They were holding well for now as the fighters provided a protective screen just forward of the formation engaging enemy fighters and more importantly, dropships. The Tanto was making regular strafing runs against the hostile fleet, surprisingly holding it's own quite well. The twin Razer Corvettes held their ground and provided accurate and ceaseless main battery fire. Surrounding them was the Coalition Navy and allies, and the line held. But she wondered for how long.

Another hit, and the officer at the helm sounded off about the shield integrity. It wasn't bad. They might be able to withstand the onslaught just long enough. Chika hoped.

She spotted a Shakuran heavy cruiser advancing on their position,"All weapons, focus on the advancing heavy cruiser! Bring it down!" she commanded and almost instantly multiple green arcs of super-heated plasma arced forward towards their target.

 

[Samara Raine]

Saijo system
Aboard the Dragoonceanoonean (Dragoon for short cause that's a mouthful. lol)
Allies: ORC/AIE
Enemies: Shakurans
______________

While [member="Kyle Farnes"] was getting their fellow clansman's sitrep from the moon over the comm unit, Cinara tried to get a handle on all the new traffic suddenly appearing on the long and short range scans. The Saijo system was blowing up with activity both in a good way, but more so bad.

"Yep.... Got 'em, cyar'ika. I'm tagging them friendly and not right now for you," Cin answered, then as soon as she was done with that task the weapon systems on the Pursuer-class enforcement ship were powered up and made ready to use.

"Sounds like [member="Kiyron"] might have his hands full on that outpost, but knowing him the ner vod can handle it."

Hopefully, Manda willing.

 

[Cathul Thuku]

Objective: Escort the evacuation ships
Allies: [member="Kimiko"] [member="Atlas Drake"]
Enemies: Shakurans

"It appears one of the enemy heavy cruisers has suffered a mobility kill" the sensor technician commented, upon the Cyaron firing a volley up that heavy cruiser's aft quarter.

"Shields at 30%; we're sustaining heavy damage!" the chief engineer of the flagship responded, while being thrown off his station by another hit.

"The enemy is not pulling away: prepare another volley!"

A mobility kill could often turn into a nightmare for the ship incurring it; it often was accompanied by a partial loss of power, which in turn made its weapons less effective. Nevertheless, it was the start of hull damage for some of their own smaller ships, as enemy fighters closed in on them, lured by friendly fighters that, unfortunately, not all made it to the hangars for rearmament. Once again, as with all heavy proton bombs, those fighters were equipped with two heavy proton bombs each; they were going to be attacking additional targets once they are let loose once more. In the meantime, the enemy fighters came under heavy point-defense fire, which caused some casualties, while others that survived hits tried crashing into the closest ship if it was feasible. With the result that one of the picket corvettes, not much larger than the enemy fighters, was destroyed by a fighter on a collision course. But for those hostile fighters whose hits rendered them mobility-killed, they were left adrift in space, flying along the last vector flown on prior to the mobility kill. This meant some enemies were on a straight line towards the planet's atmosphere, while others were headed towards another object altogether.

"We must press the attack! Repeat!"

Another volley of HVC fire caused the heavy cruiser to go kaboom. Its destruction sent shrapnel flying that ended up hitting other enemy ships and some of the debris penetrated their armor. It was funky to see how the destruction of a squadron flagship could, thanks to the rather orderly enemy formations, wreak havoc on their escorts, penetrating their hulls and sometimes reactors. In the latter's case, it also caused some losses, too. But it was of limited comfort since it made the attack run of the fighters much more hazardous to fly. And they also needed to be cautious of firing after the cloud of debris flew past their firing lines, as is the case when large ships explode, else the debris could absorb part of the fire (as was the case in the Metharian Nebula). But once it did fly past them, the shields were drained even further, and then the attack run could begin in earnest, with big bombs, whose blast radius is big enough to encompass the entire target (and then some at times). And enough to punch a rather large hole in the hulls of those poor targets, too.

 

[Dax Perl]

"Wolf 4, taking fire."
"Bank right 4, bank right!"
"Engine one hit, going down! I'm gonna ram their guns."
"Belay, belay, Wolf 4, eject and wait for retrieval"

The brief sound of an explosion followed by static filled Dax's ears among the other chaotic chatter of the battle going on overhead and groundside.

"Wolf 4 is down, repeat, Wolf 4 is down. Sharukan corvette's starboard battery suffered heavy damage."

The Marshal let his head fall before gesturing to one of the other officers nearby to mark the pilot for a posthumous commendation. Even if it meant little out in the Coalition.

Regardless, as other vessels, some Dax had fought alongside before, others he'd never heard of, all showed up to assist in the evacuation, the pilot's sacrifice had given Dax an idea.

"Patch me through to all of vessels." he ordered as moved to the closest communicator, "And move the Azalea into position, I want her, the Cyaron, and the Lily White to create a crossfire." If there were three vessels in the galaxy Dax was well acquainted with, it was the Razer-Class frigates that hung in the skies above Saijo. And their captains, he'd trust with his life.

The communications officer nodded and began to deliver orders, as well as link Dax's communicator to those in outer atmosphere. "All Coalition vessels, this is Grand Marshal Fyre. Target the Sharukan weapon batteries. Engines as well if you can get a good shot off. Our goal here is not to destroy their vessels. Objective is to get these civilians off-planet, make sure they can't fire or give chase. If you see an opening to blow the bosh'tets up, take it, but we're not here for blood. Maintain open comms. Fyre out."

Even as Dax finished speaking the building began to shake as Sharukan munitions began to bombard the planet from orbit. "All non-essential personnel, pack your things and make way to the evac shuttles. Take what you can, leave the rest and burn any information you think could help the Sharukans. Some find me Beauchamp! Tell her I'm sending a fireteam to assist her once we get ahold of her position."

"Sir, I have Captain Drake on the line for you."

"Patch him through."

"Marshal Fyre, this is Atlas Drake."

"Drake, this is Fyre. Go ahead."

"The Utopia is in orbit, but I can't say how long she's gonna be able to hold her position. What's it look like out there? How much more time do you need?"

"As much as you can get me, intel is still coming in, but it looks like a full battlegroup. Coalition vessels are still incoming, but I'm not sure we have the firepower to hold them off. As soon as we get the civilians away, we're pulling out. Let me know if you make any progress over there, Fyre out."

Another officer approached Dax before he could move on to his next order of business, "Sir, the Thul is arming any civilians on the ground and prepping them for combat. Should I tell her to cease and desist?"

The Rogue was taken by surprise that Elaine Thul was arming the civilians, but he couldn't say he was disappointed. It was the right move, he would've done the same. The Rogue shook his head at the officer, "No, tell her I want her in charge of groundside defenses, inform her I'm sending a fireteam to help Beauchamp escort the rest of the civilians to the shuttles and to expect them."

"But Sir! She's-"

"Now!"

"Yes, sir!"

The officer scurried off to relay the message to Thul as Dax turned back to his view of the orbital battle. A Mandolorian vessel was here. In fact two were, Skirata, one of Dax's Judges, and another vessel he didn't recognize, who was radioing command, "Outer Rim Command, this is Dragoonceanoonean. We're combat ready and able. Have any corridors we need to clear and open?"

"Skirata and Dragoon-see-ya...Dragon-kea-non...Dra-....feth it, All Mando vessels, this is Command. Prepare to sortie, we need all Sharukan vessels clear of our escape trajectory. Coordinates are being sent to you now." Brill wordlessly sent the coordinates of the sector that the Mandolorian vessel was meant to clear off before turning to her superior, "Told you you should've learned Mandolorian."

"Not now, Brill."

[member="The Civil Wild"] | [member="Davin Skirata"] | [member="Kiyron"] | [member="Kyle Farnes"] | [member="Cinara Vencu"] | [member="Cathul Thuku"] | [member="Atlas Drake"] | [member="Janick Beauchamp"] | [member="Kimiko"] | [member="Elaine Thul"]

 

[Kiyron]

[member="Cinara Vencu"] [member="Kyle Farnes"]

"Get me that translation protocol!" Kiyron called behind him as he slid a magazine into the rifle. It clicked into place and he flicked off the safety before stepping around the corner. For now, the listening post was secure, but he could already make out the shapes of Sharukan ships peeling off to approach the listening post.

"Hostiles inbound!" One of the sentries called from the observation room. "Three dropships. Corvette for heavy cover fire."

"Understood!" Kiyron called back, slamming the door hatch so it sealed shut. "I'll buy time. Get those protocols running and transmit those decryptions." He took cover behind a corner and crouched, tossing a wired booby trap across the entryway before falling back behind the next corner.

Already he could hear the dropships hovering close to the surface and the hammering of boots as they jumped out of the dropship and approached the door. "Breach incoming!"

Kiyron knelt down and switched to automatic. It would be rough, holding them back long enough for the decryption protocols to transmit.

"They're on the way here!" Kiyron called into the comms to his clansmates. "Could use some cover."

 

[Janick Beauchamp]

Objective: 1
Allies: [member="Cinara Vencu"] [member="Kyle Farnes"] [member="Kiyron"]
Enemies: Shakurans

"Some find me Beauchamp! Tell her I'm sending a fireteam to assist her once we get a hold of her position!" [member="Dax Fyre"] crackled through comms.

She just hated the predicament she was in: cut off from the rest of the ORC forces screening for the Nagais' evacuation, as a result of falling debris from Shakuran ships being fought in orbit, and also low on Force-based ammunition, she had to resort to firing her sniper rifle at incoming hostiles while her energy reserves were recharging. I guess, although I hate it when I am ordered to compromise my position, I have no choice but to have my allies mark my position. However, a flare will give my position away without fail. Now I could always use the flare to fool the enemy into thinking we are there, but this is extraction, so it might be better to send out a distress signal: the enemy will be less likely to pick up the location of a lone distress signal on a secure channel than a flare, and both fireteam and I will be more likely to make it to an evacuation shuttle, she thought, while waiting between two potshots. Plus she doesn't feel too good about this situation either: after all, she preferred to fight from the shadows when on the ground, to use stealth to her advantage when possible.

"This is Beauchamp: I have been forced to scatter when debris started falling from orbit. Mark my position for extraction, I will try to hold it until the fireteam arrives" Janick told over comms, on a damaged rooftop, trying to cover the Nagais' retreat to the nearest exfil position.

 

[Atlas Drake]

KRV UTOPIA​

​

"All ahead full," Ghast gripped the command throne tightly.

"All ahead full, aye, commander."

An armada of alien warships reflected off his glossy Kel'Dor eyes, and not for the first time the Kathol immigrant wished that it was him down on the surface and not the captain. This would be the crew's first taste of true combat, and they were down not just Drake but their senior tactical officer as well. But at nearly fourteen hundred meters and armed to the teeth the Utopia was the biggest hammer the Coalition had on hand, and the crew had trained for this. The entire history of the Kathol Republic was the little guy against overwhelming odds.

"Prime main agrocite turrets," the commander struggled to keep his voice steady. They were almost within weapons range.

"Agro turrets primed, aye."

They had picked up more speed than the destroyer's engines were normally capable of putting out due to the shallow course Ghast had plotted around Saijo's moon. The enemy battle lines were still scrambling to reform in the face of a large warship suddenly appearing in close proximity and closing rapidly on their sensors. He had seized the element of surprise, but the commander knew he had to press his advantage while he could. As soon as the Sharuka reorganized, they would almost certainly be the priority target. Just a little closer, and...

"Fire."

​

SAIJO​

"Understood, Silvertongue," Atlas sighed, "Stand by."

It wasn't the Pantorans' fault, they were good samaritans for bothering to show up to a distress call like this one at all. Organizing this evacuation was just like trying to patch a broken dam with nothing but spare parts. They didn't have the resources, and the Nagai were already out of time. The captain rifled through datapads, scrambling for anywhere he could direct them. Just when he was about to concede that recording their observations of what happened here today was the best way they could contribute, the answer fell in his lap.

"What about the lunar outpost?" Sheriff Cade asked, "They could help extract our people up there."

"What lunar outpost?" Captain Drake and the Nagai commander asked at the same time.

"Oh...this is awkward," Cade rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "No hard feelings, huh? Saijo and the First Order just happen to share a back yard, is all."

"We'll talk about this later," Atlas said.

"We'll talk about this now," the Nagai commander chimed in, taking a menacing step towards the sheriff.

Cade was one of Dax's boys, a hell of a fighter but like most Judges a little rough around the edges in matters of diplomacy. Until now Atlas had been glad to have him here for support, he just hoped that the two of them wouldn't kill each other and trigger a war with the Nagai.

"Silvertongue, this is Captain Drake. I'm providing you with lunar coordinates, away from the main fighting. There is a manned Underground facility, minimal personnel and valuable data. Think you can lend us a hand?" ([member="The Civil Wild"])

 

[Vela Alya T'Ser Sipal]

Standing by was exactly what Alya had planned to do, but she hadn't expected to be called on so soon once again. As Captain Drake's voice came over the comms once more, she frowned a little. It was in that moment that one of the pilots of the Silvertongue's complement entered the bridge. The young man turned and stared at Alya, the both of them holding each other's gaze for a moment before he looked away. It took her another moment to remember the young man's name, someone with that rather loud hair coloration was hard to forget. Her gaze swept around the bridge and she realized that everyone was looking at her. These people need a leader, she thought, as she slowly stood up and stepped up to the main area of the bridge to speak on the comms.

"Why of course, captain, I am sure we can be of assistance in this matter. And in my professional opinion, it seems that the crew and pilots of this vessel are rather eager to join the fighting as well." Her gaze swept over the bridge crew once more, and over to the purple-haired pilot. There was a pause as her words hung in the air, before the entire ship seemed to come alive. The pilot rushed off, and each of the bridge crew begin flipping switches and pressing buttons like mad. The engines flared, bursting to life, and she felt a rather familiar sensation of the ship cutting through empty space. Alya watched for a few moments, before spinning on her heel and heading off to her quarters.

To any particularly perceptive scanner operator watching the two-hundred-meter-long corvette, they might notice something odd: the previously unarmed ship was now bristling with weapons. Equally surprising was the speed at which it was now moving, accelerating nearly to starfighter speeds.

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On the listening post's scanners, a little corvette appeared, skirting far below the Sharukan formation before turning and making a beeline towards the listening post.

[Oh god,] Bob thought. [For once in my infinitesimally small NPC life, I SHALL DO SOMETHING USEFUL!]

He slammed the comms on his little computer console, announcing to all the ORC forces on the listening post. 《We've got a corvette inbound, one of ours, could be pickup!》

Mere moments later, another man's voice crackled onto the comms. 《This is Captain Dushane of the Silvertongue, we're here to get you out of there, ETA ten minutes, anything we should be watching out for on our way in?》( [member="Kiyron"] )

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All this fighting and calling on of others simply reinforced Alya's belief in the need for a more centralized power. Who's ever heard of a military who can't spare a corvette to extract some of their personnel during a battle? She was no military woman, but she felt it made no sense.

She simply sat, stirring her tea in the passenger area they'd refitted for her personal use. It almost felt as if they weren't moving at all, the rapid movement and maneuvering not affecting her tea-stirring experience whatsoever. She hoped it would all go smoothly, and perhaps she'd be able to find a few more allies among the greater ORC organization...

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Dante Alcanter had been in worse furballs than this. The Sharukans were just another group of bandits to him, and their fighters were merely paper for him to cut through in his Ivory Dagger. The small fighter zigzagged through a small Sharukan fighter squadron sent to intercept the Silvertongue. He hadn't even let the gunners on the corvette get a taste for the Sharukan's odd-shaped starfighters. The little starfighter continued to escort the ship alongside a small assortment of other support vessels launched from the corvette's hangar. This would be simple, he thought. Always so simple.

 

[Kyle Farnes]

The pilot was more than excited for what was going on. Sure, he had zero right to be, but it was that Mando blood in him. At least he suspected, nothing to do with anything else. Aside from trying to impress [member="Cinara Vencu"], probably. That had to be it, right? The ship was a Mando ship, and while his YT was faster, this could take the hits, and throw them back. Smirking as he gripped the control yolk, he pulled the ship around again.

“Thanks, Cin. Confirming with the BattleNetwork now.” He nodded, getting the calls from ORC and AiE ships in the area. He didn’t want to rip through a TIE and it be some sort of surplus ugly he was supposed to protect.

“Silvertongue, this is Dragoon, you headin’ to do pick up? I can keep your skies clear.” He saw the ship heading to his clansman. “I can grab their intention.” There was a weapon on this ship he was dying to try out, though he knew the maneuver was a bit aggressive, and maybe Cin wouldn’t quite care for it. "Or you got this?" He did have that order from Fyre, but... friendlies.

But this was just a Sharukan skirmish, they weren’t serious foes.

[member="Vela Alya T'Ser Sipal"]
[member="Atlas Drake"]
[member="Janick Beauchamp"]
[member="Kiyron"]
[member="Dax Fyre"]

 

[Cathul Thuku]

Objective: Escort the evacuation ships
Allies: [member="Kimiko"] [member="Atlas Drake"]
Enemies: Shakurans

"Picket corvette down!" the pilot of a picket corvette warned over comms before that picket corvette was destroyed.

"New orders, admiral"

"All Coalition vessels, this is Grand Marshal Fyre. Target the Sharukan weapon batteries. Engines as well if you can get a good shot off. Our goal here is not to destroy their vessels. Objective is to get these civilians off-planet, make sure they can't fire or give chase. If you see an opening to blow the bosh'tets up, take it, but we're not here for blood. Maintain open comms. Fyre out."

That simply meant the primary objective became inflicting firepower kills, and mobility kills as a bonus. However, M/F-kills were best achieved by using ionic ordnance, and whatever M/F-kill Therapy Command could inflict, for the time being, would likely punch big holes in the enemy ship where the weapons and/or engines were. Since there was one of those heavy proton bombs left on each of those fighters, and time was short, another one of the picket corvettes was taking heavy damage. Plus there was the matter of Cathul's own flagship getting hit on the forward arc. The enemy volley tore open a hole in the lower decks, causing some of those poor crewmen to be vented out, and may they rest in peace. And they incurred firepower kills right here, when the enemy hit a weapon hardpoint in their renewed attack. Here it became clear that killing one heavy cruiser was not enough to break the Shakuran morale, new priority targets had to be designated while the damage control teams were en route to the site of the hull breach, with repair droids in tow. And the damage to the superstructure was rather serious but perhaps a week or two in drydock would be necessary then.

"Hull breach on forward lower decks!" the automated engineering system shouted across the PA system. "We're taking heavy damage!"

"We're not ready to turn back now, until the Nagai have successfully left the system, we must hold the line! Target their heavy hardpoints, or their engines if that's more practicable for you. Hangar crews, stand ready to reload heavy ion bombs"

And then the counterattack came: now, rather than to just fire at a ship without specifying a subsystem, fire was concentrated at the heavy hardpoints. But Shakuran heavy hardpoints often came with their own auxiliary reactors, or, in the case of projectile-based hardpoints, the magazines, which meant that destroying one such hardpoint would also punch a hole where the hardpoint was. To make things worse, bombing runs targeted not only heavy hardpoints, but also engines, which, in the more extreme cases, left the main reactor exposed. Pilots whose craft have run out of ordnance began to fall back to their motherships while the hangar crews were busy preparing another set of ion bombs. In fact, it was the majority that ran out of ordnance, even as the enemy was left with a fleet full of ships that looked like half-eaten Emmental, if not outright destroyed in a chain reaction that set into their ammunition magazines or engines. And that some of the surviving ships' crews prepared to scuttle them, believing that the ORC would send boarding parties after them and feeling destroyed secrets were better than captured ones. However, there may be hope for a future clash...

 

[Frielle Kinniak]

Saijo

---

---

---

The Qi'ra

This wasn't Frielle's typical gig, she happened to be in a neighboring system when she picked up the chatter. Her ship couldn't hand the evac, but she knew what and who could. Three of the Syndulla-class armed transports had showed up. She noticed the Silvertongue first, before switching her communications on, "this is Qi'ra to nearby Coalition forces, I've got the Numa, Cham and Hera waiting to go just give me the signal." Revision into realspace wasn't nearly as comfortable as she liked but there she was, "we've got guns to help clear the air, Qi'ra out." These days she spent time building within the Confederacy or looking out for more rebel cells to tie into the network. Three Moons Supply and Development had a few places out here in Coalition territory, which explained her presence she shifted in her seat as she waited for the Coalition to reply. "Alright kids, we're headin' hot, yeah." Frielle remarked on a private channel, before switching back to Coalition communications.

[member="Kyle Farnes"] | [member="Atlas Drake"] | [member="Dax Fyre"]

 

[Atlas Drake]

SAIJO​

​

"Forcespeed Silvertongue, give those tyrants hell. We'll see you on the other side," Atlas glanced between mounting communique requests from local starships and a heated shouting match between the Nagai and Sheriff Cade that looked a knife's edge away from turning violent, "Drake out."

He cut the transmission with [member="Vela Alya T'Ser Sipal"] a little more abruptly than he would have liked, but these were extraordinary circumstances and no matter how hard he tried not even Atlas could be everywhere at once. If any of them survived this, the captain vowed that he would put in the request himself to make a stop at Pantora and apologize to their government in person for his brevity. It was not entirely a selfless fantasy, he would have preferred to try his luck wandering the streets of Nar Shaddaa unarmed than to give orders in a crisis like this one, to make life and death decisions from moment to moment.

"-saying is, if it hadn't been for that listening post we wouldn't even be here!" Cade was shouting, and the urgency in his tone forced Drake back into the present, "You're lucky we had an early warning at all!"

"Did you ever stop to think that maybe neither would the Sharuka?" the Nagai commander seethed, "They might have left well enough alone if your Coalition hadn't dragged us into this conflict with your impudent recklessness!"

"We weren't even spying on the Sharuka. We were spying on the First-"

"That is enough!" Atlas put himself in between them, physically restraining both from moving into striking distance of one another, "You want to go twenty rounds in the middle of a crisis? Fine! But take it outside, some of us took an oath to defend the innocent. Or maybe you could arrange to kill each other tomorrow, and help me pull off one of the biggest disappearing acts in galactic history. Either way, if you're not going to be useful you're just an obstacle."

"I'm all good, cap'n," Cade raised his hands emphatically in a way that implied he still believe he was the victim here.

"Your words shame us, Atlas the Drake," the Nagai bowed his head reverently, "If they were not borne of truth I would rip your spine out for such an offense. We will not forget the swords you have sworn to us...nor will we forget your Underground's deceit, but that is a battle for another day."

"Excellent," Atlas smiled, hands on his hips, glad that his appeal to their honor had worked. Mischievously, his brow arced at the thought of testing their pride even further, "Now, I believe [member="Dax Fyre"] is in sore need of some reinforcements. I think we should deploy cohort to strengthen his position, and I want you both to lead it."

KRV UTOPIA​

​

"Open a channel to Therapy Command!" Commander Ghast shouted through the smoke all around him in hacking fits, "Get me Admiral [member="Cathul Thuku"]!"

When the bridge of the Utopia appeared on the admiral's screens, it was obvious that they had taken a beating. The entire command deck was filled with an obscuring fog of smoke, so thick that the Kel'Dor executive officer's features could barely be made out clearly. Several small fires were still raging, and wounded crew were being hauled out on stretchers by Kathol med teams. Four of the star destroyer's six agrocite sustained beam turbolasers were still operational, but its shields were nearly overwhelmed and already secondary explosions like the one that had apparently hit the bridge were beginning to wreak havoc on operational discipline.

"I don't know about you admiral but we're not looking so good over here," as a trained diplomat and explorer every instinct screamed at him about the propriety of launching into strategy with a foreign officer he had never met, but there was no time for pleasantries, "We've got noncombatants on board, refugees from the surface. If you can provide the escorts, the Utopia will transfer our passengers to you and try to lead them away from the planet. Hopefully we can keep them occupied for long enough..."

Ghast trailed off, realizing there was no more to that sentence and that he was most likely volunteering his people for a one way mission. It was not the Navy's way to settle for anything less than uncommon valor, he supposed going out in a blaze of glory was one way to burn his name into the history books.

 

[Brooke Waters]

The call had come out to the Praxeum. And Coren Starchaser was off on yet another maneuver. He made the call out to a few of the other Jedi at the Praxeum, and that fell towards some of the others. The Witch-turned-Jedi was one of the first to pick up the call. Calling out to other Praxeum members, and getting who she could, the woman had set up a few ships, mostly some of the corvettes and frigates, and made her way to the shuttles. From there, it was a simple trip out to Saijo.

Moving quickly was part of the issue here. The ships did their time in hyperspace and the Jedi with her could gather into teams.

“So, Prax, we have civilians in the way. Outer Rim Coalition and Alliance forces are going to handle the fighting. We do what we’re good at. Get planet side, set up rescue points, get people off. For those of you like me, we’ll set up triage, and use the U-Wings, get where the fighting is hard, if we’re too slow. Or work the hospitals if we’re fast enough.” She bit her lip, stepping out to the shuttle bays on the frigates.

“Coalition Command. The Prax sends its regards. We’re heading planet side, see what we can do about the sick.”

OOC: For any Praxeum stepping in, lets focus on getting wounded moved out, those who are pilots can go for a swing at the Sharukans!

 

[Mishel Kryze]

Saijo

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Distraction
Aid the Evac

Having heard the Praxeum call, the Princess Leia made haste for G-50, or the Teriminus-Saijo hex. The Princess Leia revised back into realspace and was met with battle as ships from Saijo fled. "Alright Lav, time to show them a little Selonian magic." She remarked taking control of the weapons systems. The pyronium inflused bloodsteel hull raced through the void with the distinctive roar of a Corellian engine. Mishel watched as the targeting systems locked on to the incoming Sharukan fighters. The Princess Leia's weapons fire emerged from the gun barrels with a brilliant streak across the stars. Landing on their targets forcing the fighters to adjust their approach. Lav banked the Leia left squeezing between a set of Sharukan interceptors as Mishel lined up another shot and while engaging the Leia's missile systems.

"Coalition, this is the Princess Leia on behalf othe Con- uh, Praxeum." Mishel was gonna get these groups all straightened out one day.

 

[Elaine Thul]

Objective: 1
Allies: ORC

She had multiple contracts, with the enemy. Her troops where falling back, but they where doing so in good order. The Shakurans where losing much more than she was, though they outnumbered her. She turned to her housecarls, and said Move twenty of you to each sectors, and slow them down. As she said other transports, where landing as others took off, this was becoming a smooth operation, they just need to keep them back, for another few transport loads, and they will be clear. Then it would be all out fight with them, and she would rain hell upon them.

Her housecarls marched out, in there power armour. They where about to try and make breech in the compound, but then as they charged, the plasma cannons began opening fire, cutting there lines in little bitty pieces. They scampered, then scouts began to rain fire on them. The Thul infantry was getting ready for their signature maneuver, a bayonet charge. They well versed in this, and it was much better tactic than it sounded. They fire volley of grenades at the enemy, the run at them using there blasters on auto fire, as they closed on them. Then into close quarter combat, but before they did this. She needed the last transport to go up, and that would be soon.

 

[Dax Perl]

Somewhere on Saijo...

"Apex-1 to Beauchamp, we've got your position and are en route to your position. Hunker down and we'll be there for exfil in ten, over." Halzyn said into his comm unit as he pressed his back against the duracrete wall of a blown out building. A Sharukan round collided with the corner of the wall he was standing behind, a chunk of wall suddenly becoming debris and dust. "Apex, let's move!" The old Alliance trooper began to lead his team through the streets, avoiding the fight where they could. The twelve man fireteam was perhaps 5 minutes away from the building upon which [member="Janick Beauchamp"] was firing down from the worst happened. A huge explosion blew the soldiers off their feet, scattering them across street. Halzyn felt a sharp pain in his head as he struck the ground, his hearing buzzed loudly, and as he blinked, he found his vision blurry. As hearing slowly returned he could hear shouting, his man scrambling to their feet. One of the rushed over to Halzyn and pulled him behind the newly created debris and into cover. "-ir! Hey! Can you hear me?! Halzyn!"

"Yeah yeah. I can hear you." he replied, pressing a hand to his head. His helmet must've been blown off by the blast. "What the hell was that?" His question was answered far sooner than he would've liked and with a solution that made his blood run cold. A rumbling, rhythmic clanking echoed down the street. Halzyn poked his head above cover and his eyes grew wide as a monstrous, spider-like machine clambered slowly over some rumble, crushing the weaker remnants underfoot. A loud whirring sound could be heard as the head mounted cannon began to spin up, "Move!" Another explosion echoed through the streets, even as the remainder of the fireteam dove behind new cover, "Beauchamp, this is Apex, we're pinned down 300 meter due east! We could use a hand!"

Coalition Command...

New ships were showing up every minute, and much to Dax's relief none so far had been of Sharukan nature. [member="Atlas Drake"] had already put the Pantoran vessel to work, and five more ships had just reverted to realspace. Maybe they'd pull this off after all. "Leia, escort the Qi'ra and her party, you guys got a lot of firepower, so wreak some havoc on your way to pickup. We've got almost everyone off-world, but we'll need you guys and the Silvertongue for the last few," Dax radioed over the line, "Sharukan's are closing fast, we're packing it up, I'm taking any Judges I have to vanguard until you arrive, be swift." The Rogue turned to brill as he closed out the line, "Finish up here and get everyone to the shuttles, once everyone's boarded we'll bugger out. Make sure all the civilians get off the planet." The Rogue pulled out two of the three sabers on his belt as he began to walk past the blast doors, Brill calling after him, "Sir! Even with the rest of the Judges, you're not gonna be able to hold out long enough to-" Dax didn't hear the rest as the doors hissed shut.

[member="The Civil Wild"] | [member="Davin Skirata"] | [member="Kiyron"] | [member="Kyle Farnes"] | [member="Cinara Vencu"] | [member="Cathul Thuku"] | [member="Kimiko"] | [member="Elaine Thul"] | [member="Frielle Kinniak"] | [member="Token Waters"] | [member="Mishel Kryze"]