Amongst the Dead

[Asharad Graush]

The Dead City​

​

Battles with the Galactic Alliance would continue, Graush knew that much, but until then, more and more assets arose within the Order's military ranks. The ones that drew his attention this day were the first truly successful Death Troopers.

Anyone who didn't know their history would've assumed they had been created in his image, but Graush cared little for creating an image that he didn't directly influence. They were likely the most lethal creations he had ever organized and sanctioned for the First Order, and years after his own appointment to a position of real authority, they were coming to life.

The blast doors cycling open before the armoured Sith Lord, and Graush entered.

Amongst the scientists, Graush extended his cybernetic hand out first. "Their profiles."

"Of course, Supreme Commander."

[member="Luther Ando"], [member="Kyli DT-6767"], a dangerous profile. Pouring over them, he says, "Are they ready for today's mission? It'll be their final one here before I unleash them."

"Yes, my Lord, they are, uh," the looming form of Graush, almost seven feet tall dwarfed the scientist. "Ready," the scientist said with a gulp. "They should be ready now." Or close to it, Graush thought. The facility had been designed by him, funded by him. Doubts, there had been when he didn't produce results, and combat with the Alliance forced his attention away.

Peace... Had been the greatest thing for this pet project.

Twisting on his heel, he headed to the troop quarters. Dozens of stormtroopers he had come across, and they saluted, per usual, none were who he wanted to see. Glancing down to the profiles again, there was one name that brought about amusement.

"@Rexus Wenck..." Beyond the helmet, there rested an amused look. Despite their history, Graush didn't hate the disgraced Stormtrooper, but he led through fear and respect, not from love and loyalty to one's nation. Whether the man knew that or not, Graush expected to be hated for the murder of his Gunners.

And then they were there, a heavy blast door, reinforced thrice over.

Stopping before it, Graush typed in the access code, removed the gauntlet from his left hand, placing his hand onto the biometric as it read his hand. Twisting his head to look at the head scientist that had come along, he said, "You can return to your lab." And the moment the Doctor hesitated Graush's form visibly tensed, before he scurried off, and as soon as the man was around the corner, Graush's helmet was opening before the door, and his eyes were scanned for an additional level of biometrics, and then the door was cycling open. Heavy locks could be hard within rotating and moving around as the helmet snapped back into place over his face, concealing what he truly looked like.

When he stepped past the door, it cycled shut behind him, and he entered.

​

​

He didn't think of these troopers as anything other than weapons, assets to be thrown away on a whim if he wished it, but when he came through the tight, winding corridor and into their ready room, there was a sense of... Excitement, a pride that they had come this far.

His heavy steps should've announced his presence to them long ago, not to mention the heavy door opening.

"Are you ready to serve your Order?"​

 

[Kier Grey]

Staff Sergeant Kyli DT-6767
Mephout, First Imperial Research & Medical Facility, The Dead City.

Kyli sat clad head to toe in her ominous glossy black FO-XD Death Trooper Armour atop a hovering chair; it would become ubiquitous with ALPHA before long. The First Order's first true death trooper and her body had been so turned and so eviscerated by the augmentation process she'd been bound to a repulsorchair with fears that Kyli's body would reject the augmentations on the part of the many physicians who feared the potential reprisal from Supreme Commander Graush for losing one of the expensive Troopers. No more, Kyli's ears hear the Supreme Commander's distinct weighty footsteps rumble through the floor preceding Graush's arrival into their ready-room lined with weapons in wall-receptacles surrounding a central holotable, springing up out of the Repulsor chair with a great force with limbs sluggishly obeying their master's reconstructed and augmented nervous system while twitching violently; Kyli's right arm swings around with her palm facing Supreme Commander Graush into a textbook crisp salute. "Sa!" The distorter was disabled albeit the distinctly feminine tone of Kyli's voice is still clearly audible identifying the Six and a Half feet tall armoured Trooper as Kyli DT-6767 to Supreme Commander Graush, holding the salute with overt pride in her posture staring at the Supreme Commander with her shrouded Hazel Spheres visible with her own transparisteel visor raised upto into the 'brow' section of helmet. Kyli was the only born-and-raised soldier within the entirety of ALPHA and it was reflected in her service recorded; awarded three times for injury while performing her duty one of which included a miraculous self-amputation performed in the field while resisting the effects of shock, she'd survived the crash of the FIV Wrath on Kaeshana. Psychologists and even her own peers have remarked on the enemy's inability to kill Kyli, surviving where ostensibly tougher Troopers had fallen or become inconsolable Psychological wrecks, the latter of which Kyli had come dangerously close to. Supreme Commander Graush's question prompts a response from Kyli though initially she was taken aback by his face; less scarred and war-worn than she'd expected and was attractive in its own right. "It's what we've been created and trained to do Sir." Kyli answers Graush's answer, now waiting for the Supreme Commander to release her from the respectful Salute she yet still offered.

[member="Asharad Graush"] [member="Rexus Wenck"] [member="Luther Ando"]

 

[Luther Lewis]

Luther thought that when he finally recieved his armour, that would be the point that he no longer considered himself a just a simple soldier. With that armour he would be so much more, a part of a greater whole and the vanguard for the First Order. But clothes do not maketh the man. Oh sure, he had the equipment and he had the training but what the point of all that without a test ?

That was his best theory regarding his orders to travel to the Mephout City. The report said that 99% of the population were infected with the Blackwing Virus, which was enough to make anyone pause. But where better to forge Deathtroopers than the city of the Dead?

He looked around at his comrades, the other members of Alpha. The was something in the air, not tension but almost...reverence. Each of them had been through an ordeal and each had been reborn under the knife. New bodies, new equipment but yet unblooded. Yes, this wasn't just a test. This was a rite of passage.

Luther often felt like the man that he was before surgery had died on Dagobah. He didn't lament over the fact, instead he felt like he had been cleansed. The Luther of old was not a simple man, plagued by fear and distractions. The new Luther had one clear goal. To serve his order.

His ruminations were interrupted by the arrival of the Supreme Commander. The man looked fairly young, but his eyes carried the weight of experience. As Luther snapped to attention he swore he could see a flicker of flame in those golden orbs.

"Are you ready to serve your Order?"

"To my dying breath" It was all he need say.

| [member="Asharad Graush"] | [member="Kyli DT-6767"] | [member="Rexus Wenck"] |​

 

[Rexus Wenck]

Rexus' chest clenched as he stood before the First Order's Supreme Commander. A mixture of emotions ran through his mind. Fear. Admiration. Hatred. From behind the helm, his eyes locked with Graush's form. Unable to look the man in the eye. A man who he had once admired. Who had served with. Had seen combat with. Had held in esteem. Rexus' heart pounded, and wrenched within his chest, as he stood to attention. His arms behind his back, with his palms curled into fists.

Silently he sat, in the shadow of the now hulking juggernaut, Dergan Twigg. He could almost sense his compatriots uncomfortably. The two of them had watched this very man slaughter his men. His comrades. His friends. His blood brothers. The screams. The blood. The slaughter. Rexus watched and listened as his new brothers now began to inform the Supreme Commander of their ability to serve. "Y-yessir." Twigg rambled, shuffling a little in his new black armour.

Rexus now finally looked up, his eyes matching the Sith's gaze. "Always ready." Wenck bitterly glowered as his orbs starred into the yellowed, predatory eyes of the Sith. His voice low, and venomous. "Always ready." He repeated, in a quieter tone. Almost to himself. He would not fail. He would not let history repeat itself again. He would not fail them.

[member="Asharad Graush"] | [member="Luther Ando"] | [member="Kyli DT-6767"]

 

[Asharad Graush]

Graush appraised each one of them, one by one.

Soldiers, that came from his own mind, ancient ideas stripped straight out of history and reincarnated in this form.

The trial run for the scientists had finished.

Now it was time for his... Creations to go forth and wreak havoc across the Order's enemies... No, my enemies.

There was a tsss sound, and then the helmet sealed itself on his face again, the energy shield coming to life and concealing his features with its artificial shroud.

"You are not the first of your kind, and you won't be the last." The Supreme Commander said, his head rotating around to settle on [member="Rexus Wenck"]. He could sense the... Anger, the former stormtrooper had, the rage, and with concealed features, his lips parted into a grin. By the grace of Graush, Rexus still lived. It hadn't been his idea then to decimate, but he projected as if it were. Scanning them again, he continued. "Earlier expeditions had set out from this garrison, all on the same path, but they were stopped at different points," he said.

In the ready room, he stepped to the holoterminal, his organic hand traveling over the console before it pressed onto the datapad embedded into his cybernetic wrist, and slid across the screen, sending what appeared to be a map of the ruined Mephout City, into a much larger projection.

Three highlighted positions were shown and a metal finger raised to point at the first, nearest one, then to the second, and finally to the third. "They were teams of scientists and troopers, gathering data for this project. Swarmed by the dead outside of these walls... Reports said the dead are adapting, using recovered weapons from our initial operation on the planet." Graush figured Graush and Dergan would've recalled. Dozens of troopers had died on that first day, but there were hundreds more over the months, though, those deaths were wiped from history. Mixtures of MIAs and KIAs, it was easy to fabricate, what with all the battles of the previous year in their first bout with the Alliance. Meaning, the dead had many more weapons than he was letting on.

Dragging and flicking another point from his wristpad, transferred to the projected map, "Right here is our Forward Operating Base from Day One. There is a science lab there, backed up information on the Blackwing Virus and what the Navy had encountered in the Red Nebula. When you've gotten the data, activate your beacons, and your Evac will bring you back here."

Crossing his arms across his armoured chest, he watched the Death Troopers.

"Your shuttle is landing now. Complete the mission, and I will unleash you."

[member="Luther Ando"], [member="Kyli DT-6767"]

 

[Kier Grey]

Staff Sergeant Kyli DT-6767
Mephout, First Imperial Research & Medical Facility, The Dead City.

Kyli's arm came down after a long pause waiting patiently for a relief that never came; it would seem the Supreme Commander did not respect her or perhaps more accurately the entirety of ALPHA it wasn't entirely unexpected, they are untested and have yet to prove themselves in the eyes of Central Command. Kyli had once overheard some senior officers after the Operation talking and arguing amongst the cost-benefit of multi-million credit sueprsoldiers which could have been referring to none other than themselves. Kyli's visor slides back into place from its' perch sealing the woman's armour hermetically before she takes note of the glare sent from Rexus towards the Supreme, the tall seven foot man seems to return the look though from his body language it doesn't appear to come from a place of Malice. Kyli concludes that Rexus and Supreme Commander Graush might have been friends once and the breaking of their friendship was part of the source of Rexus' Anger perhaps? Supreme Commander Graush presses some button on a wrist-mounted Datapad and a Ghostly representation of Mephout City glides forth atop a Holotable in the center of room significantly magnifying the Image, Kyli carefully steps closer towards the representation with hands folded behind back in a display of humility and politeness before the Supreme Commander. Kyli's gaze watches the projection shift through several different positions and waits for the Supreme Commander to finish speaking before asking the question. "Will the shuttle deploy us at the Forward Operating Base, Sir?" Kyli waits for an answer before pivoting in boots and walking over towards the weapon receptables with each step seemingly painstakingly measured as if driven by anxiety or fear. "We will not let you down, Supreme Commander Graush, you can count on us My Lord." Kyli adds while pulling a G6E Light repeating blaster from a hexagon-shaped receptable that lurches forward from its' buried position within the room's wall covered with yellow and black hazard stripes to alert others to the weapons contained within and the fact the receptacles were sensor-activated by organics in close proximity.

Kyli finishes holstering the G6E Repeating Blaster before picking up her G-12A Blaster Rifle up off a nearby Durasteel Table, looking towards Rexus she marches over to him and goes to place a sympathetic hand gently on his pauldron and give him a gentle shake; she'd noticed the tension. "Hey, Rex are you alright? Come on now we need our close-quarters death machine on his game." Kyli insists in a demure tone attempting to pull her 'Brother' out of the malaise which had seemed to have gripped him during the briefing, Kyli hooks her G12 rifle over shoulder and slides it into the scabbard; she wouldn't be needing her sniper on this deployment sounded like the Forward Operating Base had subterranean levels within it how couldn't it? To have survived for as long as it evidently had on the surface of the planet before being overrun either by a containment breach or undead attack she could only speculate at this point.

[member="Rexus Wenck"] [member="Luther Ando"] [member="Asharad Graush"]

 

[Luther Lewis]

Location: Mephout - First Imperial Research & Medical Facility.
Equipment: FO-XD Armour, G-12A Blaster Rifle, G-6E Blaster, Blackwing Electro-Sword.
Supplies: 4 x Project I71A anti-virus, 4 x Lullaby pill.

​

He moved with Kyli towards the area were their weapons were stored, the Supreme Commander's heavy gaze pressing him down as he did so. Like Kyli, he holstered a G-12A and G-6E blaster, but added his electro-sword. The Blackwing blade shared the same name as the notorious virus, so it seemed apt to use against its twisted hosts. He'd also been training in using it in conjunction with the G-6E in his off-hand.

He turned to the others as they all donned their equipment. "The dossier on the virus says that it is connected to each body like a hivemind. We should therefore assume that any host that can see us will summon a greater horde. There is also this" He passed out blackwing vaccine stims to each member of Alpha. "This is the vaccine for the virus. Due to our heightened immune system it'll be purged from the body quickly, so hook it up to your auto-adrenal system and it'll have a slow release". Twigg looked at the stim, confused, so Luther helped him attach it to his suit.

"The virus is reputedly aggressive" Luther said, his voice muffled behind Twigg's bluk. "And I'm not sure how far our innate immunity from Afterlife extends. Better safe than sorry" He finished installing the stim and walked back around. His face became grim as he considered what he'd say next.

"There is no cure for the infected however, which is why you'll need this". He handed a small box to each member. "A lullaby pill is inside" Again Twigg looked confused. "A suicide pill" Luther clarified. "Five times the regular dose in fact; the normal amount wouldn't work on a hulking giant like you, Twigg". He placed his pill in a secure pouch attached to his chest. "Use it only if there is no other option" he warned.

With his armour and weapons secure he added: "Ready to move out when you are".

​

| [member="Asharad Graush"] | [member="Kyli DT-6767"] | [member="Rexus Wenck"] |​

 

[Rexus Wenck]

Wenck's steely gaze watched the Supreme Commander with some contempt. He remembered Mephout, and the Red Nebula all too clearly. He'd been there for them, watched the Blackwing virus first hand with Twigg. At the mention of it, his blood ran a little cold. But he nonetheless hid his emotions. No use letting his comrades know of his distaste, and discomfort for the missions, and his intimate past with the virus in question. But the objective was simple, and Rexus would ensure that the Gundark Gunners would live on, even as ALPHAs. "Understood my lord." Wenck affirme between gritted teeth.

Twigg snarled at the pill, and batted it away, "Dun need to neck myself." Twigg growled from behind his helm, "If I go down, I go down on my terms, and my way." He glared intensely at Luther, "And 'at ain't gonna be through swallowing some magic, poison pill." Rexus shared the sentiment, but pocketed the pill anyways. Pragmatism ruled he'd keep it. If the beasts they were hunting were anything like the Supreme Commander said, intelligent and able to adapt, he wouldn't like to imagine what a fully augmented Death Trooper could do.

Keeping his rifle close, Wenck turned off the safety, and then looked around at his compatriots, before standing tall and to attention. "You take point Luth-" He paused, "ALPHA-2." He corrected himself, professionalism had to be upheld, even if it were as mundane as using a code phrase. "ALPHA 4 and myself will back you up and ALPHA 3 can take vanguard." Rexus continued, before allowing a silence to settle amongst them, "Come on, lets get our pretty little arses into the field."

[member="Luther Ando"] | [member="Kyli DT-6767"] | [member="Asharad Graush"]

 

[Kier Grey]

Staff Sergeant Kyli DT-6767
Mephout, First Imperial Research & Medical Facility, The Dead City.

Kyli pivots her helmeted head over left-shoulder to study Luther as he spoke, listening intently and trying to suppress her tremoring body; a problem she'd had since the augmentation procedure which hinted that the Trooper's neurology was struggling to adapt with its' newfound acuity. Kyli receives the stim auto-ejector into her left-hand in silence and offers a nod to Luther hooking her hand over shoulder and tapping the cylinder against the back of cuirass she asks Luther for assistance. "Luth, put the stims in my system panel for me?" Kyli continues to stand holding the stim Cylinder waiting for Luther to receive it and open her environmental control system containing the auto-adrenal delivery stim resevoir that he'd need to add the inoculation to. Kyli stashed the Lullaby pill into one of her belt pouches and quickly forgot about it; if she found herself in that situation she'd prefer to put a blaster bolt through her own skull, she'd sliced her own arm off before nobody could say that when alarmed or necessary Kyli wouldn't go to what would be considered extreme lengths to stay alive she is a strange combination of a Survivor and Loner on the field, preferring to work alone and somehow managing to survive situations that many others would dismiss as suicidal although that might have been why her nomination for augmentation was quickly accepted by the Death Trooper. "I'll blow out my brains before I can turn into one of those things, won't give them the satisfaction of taking me the shambling freaks." Kyli comments through her disabled distorter, turning after Luther will finish with placing the inoculation into her auto-adrenal system feeling the cold stim steadily flow coldly through her veins. "I can move faster on my own, I'll take off and find a position where I can provide overwatch over the FOB and pick-off any corpses while you three go inside, sound good?" An icy chill shoots down Kyli's spine; the thought of being alone amongst a city absent life filled with only the rotting corpses of its' former inhabitants turned the woman's stomach loudly enough that Graush might perceive her fear and anxiety through the force, the members of ALPHA might discern the same message from Kyli's gimpish gait as she turns to leave the room. "It's probably best if we move to the FOB on foot now that I think about it, they'll see us coming otherwise. Meet me at surface elevator Bravo and we'll go up."

[member="Rexus Wenck"] [member="Luther Ando"] [member="Asharad Graush"]