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Location: Executioner
Allies: Alliance, [member="Aryn Teth"]
Enemies: Order, @Seiger Ren and friends, or slaves, or whatever
Coren Starchaser had gotten almost used to not flying with an stromech. He would need to fix that. Porter, his own unit, was a great help with many of his missions. Coren wasn’t the one to busy himself with hacking and slicing systems, and when Porter was around, well, it was a huge help. Trick was, the Rassilon doesn’t… or in the case of his potentially doomed fighter, didn’t need one. Still, he was flying with an X-Wing pilot, and that meant the BB units. Terrific.
The thing with Teth though, was that the Commander liked the way the General thought. Coren had served on a few Imperial vessels in his time, but not for this… not the Diet Empire, the First Order. They were plucky, but they weren’t the Order he had known, the one modeled off Palpatine and Thrawn, Imperial commanders of lore and the past gone by. But when he followed Teth up the ready room, it was almost nostalgic to see the evolution of the TIE pilot uniform.
A quick move and he was changed into the stolen uniform and nodded. “Ready, willing, and able.” He looked around. “Yeah, so long as they’re not looking for us, y’know, in the Force.” Coren wasn’t the type to hide in the Force. On the contrary, he screamed. The Light Side came out of Coren like one would expect, though, it wasn’t perfect, but neither was he. Falling in stride, Coren grinned. “Let pick up the pace, they’re on alert. Maybe we can get through.”
Location: Space Operations Center, Union-class Assault/Colony CarrierOcean Tide, docked at Station Hapspir Objective: Board Station Hapspir and suppress its defending forces: Reenact the Battle of Mylae ? Allies: Galactic Alliance & friends: [member="Cedric Grayson"] | [member="Mirax Eygan"] | [member="Tiland Kortun"] | [member="Alyson Halle"] | [member="Zanza Hijikata"] Enemies: [member="Cyrus Tregessar"] | First Order
"Admiral Quee, our Sowas have detected an outbound communication's signal from the station."
"To the Ravager?" questioned Gir.
"It doesn't appear to be to any ship on the battlefield."
Gir frowned. A communication's signal...but to whom? He had assumed that any command communication to the rest of the sector would likely be transmitting through the Ravager. Most militaries operated in a top down fashion, and from what he had seen of the First Order, he doubted it would be any different. What kind of communication would need to be sent from the station to the outside? That piqued his interest.
"Dispatch one of the Sowas to track down the signal, let's see if we can triangulate its target destination. Inform me when you find something."
"Understood."
Another disembodied voice to Hopkins caught his attention.
"Port full-spectrum transceiver Number 4 is offline..."
Gir winced as he tried to mentally filter out the incoming damage reports filtering in to Hopkins. More and more energy weapons fire had been burning through the ship's weakened ray shielding. The hasty battlefield repairs by his space-bound mechanic droids and internal damage control teams faced an increasingly sisyphean task. There already were several areas on the hull where there simply was no shielding, nor much of hope of getting back anytime soon. As much as he had prized the Tide, he had begun to understand that the battle held a significant chance that neither he nor the Tide would be coming out it at all. But even if he died and the Tide vanished in a fiery explosion, they could still accomplish their task. Assuming that he could maintain a measure of self-control. He took what measures he could to enable that, whether by shuffling power from one system to the next or by laying down even more mines around the Tide.
His eyes scanned across the holo-graphic map, watching the tortured Starstruck's remains spin out of control and dissipate into a cloud of expanding gases and dust. Let us hope we did not sacrifice that hull in vain. He turned his eyes back to the holographic visage of the intertwined station and assault carrier. He flipped a switch on his headset, turning to one of the tactical channels used by one of Colonel Panib's droid controllers. A clinically calm tenor voice began to relay updates from his droid control station deep within the Tide.
"Fire team Mern Cresh 7 has achieved breach. No lifeforms encountered yet. Area appears to have normal gravity and life support..."
Gir pursed his lips. More good news...another successful breach. Directorate marines wore armor that allowed them to operate in zero-G environments or in a vacuum setting, but that also meant that if their armor was pierced, they were less likely to survive the battle. One never knew what you would find entering an unknown area, which had been while the heavily armed droids had been first through the boarding tubes, and the marines would follow in his wake. He wouldn't hesitate to sent the automatons to their doom or even have them use their heavy weapons to their own detriment if meant securing an exploitable beachhead into enemy territory. Almost immediately behind the L1 Marinus droids transported through the tubes were dozens of Droideka Mark IIs, captured material from a would be warlord on Selvius II. Gir spared a glance his wrist chrono. Royce and his people should be there soon too. Hopefully they can find the Jedi...or the remains of their ship. He tapped a button on his headset.
"Panib, I need a distraction for Royce's rescue operation."
"Understood. Platoons Mern 1 and Osk 3, demolition duty at your locations, stat."
Demolition duty almost needed no explanation. Yet a civilian contractor or actual demolitions engineer would find their use of that term insulting as applied to the Directorate Droid's Force uses. The Marinus droids began to indiscriminately fire forward from their positions, using whatever weapons they had on hand. The typical light weapons carried in the droid's gauntlets would be almost useless in damaging a station as large as Station Hapshir, but the initial vanguard had been explicitly equipped with PLX-1s and Plasma Projectors specifically for this purpose. Proton missiles jetted forward to smash into bulkheads and blast doors, while the droids utilized the plasma projectors to burn through bulkheads to reveal internal circuitry and powerlines, which they promptly began to destroy with their gauntlet weaponry. Gir doubted that such damage would immediately be catastrophic to the station, yet he doubted that whoever was on the station could continue to allow them to wreck the station's internals unchecked. All a vessel's internals existed for some reason. He longed to go to the Ground Operations Center to see the live streaming feed from the droid's photoreceptors, not so much to see the damage wrought, but to see what he was destroying. It was a painful thing to try and destroy what he didn't understand, especially when some technological insight could be gleaned from it. Yet he found himself reluctantly willing to sacrifice that opportunity if meant the station's destruction and his consequent survival.
Brilliant holo-graphic weapons fire from the Ravager caught the corner of his eye. He eyed the starship curiously as he attempted to divine its latest maneuvers. It was a thing of deadly beauty. If I only had a ship that I could take you with head-on. But no matter, I knew going into this battle that it wouldn't possible to directly outfight a Darr Itah. Gir turned his eyes from the Unforgiven-class Battlecruiser to another group of nearby ships. He flicked a switch on his headset.
"Line Captain Dossk, I need time."
"You need a shield."
"Precisely so."
"Understood, moving to intercept."
Gir watched as the mixed group of Directorate heavy cruisers and frigates swung to physically place themselves between the Tide and Ravager. Individually, a single Tercel-class Heavy Cruiser stood little chance of standing up to a mighty warship like the Ravager. But combined as a single group, and in such tight formation with overlapping shields, Gir knew that they could at least buy him more time for their operation. He spared a glance at Captain Hopkins, who paused and let out a sigh of relief. As the Directorate warships placed themselves between the assault carrier and the battlecruiser, the Tide's crew would have a brief chance to affect repairs to the ship's systems without being subject to the brunt of the battlecruiser's assault. He eyed the warships as they began to take on the Ravager head to head. We all do our part.
He turned his attention back to the rest of the engagement, noting that there were several less light corvettes in his formations. The Libertés didn't really handle as conventional capital ships, and acted more like oversized strikecraft. The light warships promptly jetted away in trios and quartets from their initial targets as they encountered focused enemy fire, Gir noted that the light corvettes had managed to grab the attention of their First Order counterparts, which he had a better understanding of from intelligence reports taken by Galactic Alliance's SIS division. He typed in several commands, ordering the light corvettes to take potshots at the Baneblade's engines as the corvettes withdrew in disparate vectors, just as much away from the First Order warships as from their compatriot corvette groups. Several of the Libertés activated their boost function, rapidly accelerating away from their previous attack runs. Neither his artillery cruisers nor corvettes had superior firepower against most of their counterparts, but they did have superior speed. The smaller and quicker Drakken-class Artillery Cruisers sightly altered course, shooting away from the engagement to increase the gap between them and the Marauders, even as bursts of fire continued to erupt from both sides. That engagement barely held his attention though, as he thought that the scattering of the Libertés would prove to be more interesting in possibilities to exploit. It seemed that his corvettes were faster than the escort frigates but the enemy's corvettes were equally as fast and even more maneuverable than the Libertés, but they also didn't have the firepower of his strike corvettes. I guess we'll see how they choose to pursue the strike groups...and if they give me the opportunity to do something, I will take it...Hit and fade...death by a thousand cuts...
Directorate / Law Enforcement Task Force Liberté-class Light Corvette Red One Shield / Hull:40/50 Hangar: None Actions: Potshots at Baneblade's engine block, withdrawing away from central engagement & firing at Bolt Corvette Liberté-class Light Corvette Red Two Shield / Hull:45/45 Hangar: None Actions: Potshots at Baneblade's engine block, withdrawing away from central engagement & firing at Bolt Corvette Liberté-class Light Corvette Red Three Shield / Hull:50/50 Hangar: None Actions: Potshots at Baneblade's engine block, withdrawing away from central engagement & firing at Bolt Corvette
Liberté-class Light Corvette Blue One Shield / Hull:50/50 Hangar: None Actions: Potshots at Baneblade's engine block, withdrawing away from central engagement & firing at Bolt Corvette Liberté-class Light Corvette Blue TwoShield / Hull:40/50 Hangar: None Actions: Potshots at Baneblade's engine block, withdrawing away from central engagement & firing at Bolt Corvette Liberté-class Light Corvette Blue ThreeShield / Hull:50/45 Hangar: None Actions: Potshots at Baneblade's engine block, withdrawing away from central engagement & firing at Bolt Corvette Liberté-class Light Corvette Blue Four Shield / Hull:50/50 Hangar: None Actions: Potshots at Baneblade's engine block, withdrawing away from central engagement & firing at Bolt Corvette
Liberté-class Light Corvette Gold One Shield / Hull:45/50 Hangar: None Actions: Potshots at Baneblade's engine block, withdrawing away from central engagement & firing at Bolt Corvette Liberté-class Light Corvette Gold Three Shield / Hull:40/50 Hangar: None Actions: Potshots at Baneblade's engine block, withdrawing away from central engagement & firing at Bolt Corvette Liberté-class Light Corvette Gold Four Shield / Hull:40/50 Hangar: None Actions:Potshots at Baneblade's engine block, withdrawing away from central engagement & firing at Bolt Corvette
Summary of Actions
-Sowas detect outgoing communication's transmission from Hapshir Station to relay; one Sowa dispatched to investigate signal's destination
-Ocean Tide lays down more Fracture Gravity Mines and Cometburst Mines to blunt attacks on its boarding operations
-Ocean Tide's initial Marinus Droid and Droideka II boarding parties enter the station: two platoons begin to indiscriminately 'demolish' the station's internals as dictated in post
-Captain Royce and two squads of Sector Rangers attempt to infiltrate Hapshir Station to investigate/rescue what happened to the Jedi and their corvette.
-Phalanxed group of Tercel-class Heavy Cruisers and Protector Frigates move themselves between the Ravager and Tide, acting as a shield/screen. Group fires on Ravager and takes some damage originally intended for the Tide.
-Tide's damage control teams and repair droids attempt to use respite to repair their vessel
-Drakken Artillery Cruisers stop circular movement, attempt to vector away from the engagement using their superior speed
-Light corvettes take potshots at Baneblade's engine block, vector away in their own color groups while firing on Bolt corvettes as described in post
"Movement!" Lieutenant Dornan barked at the top of his lungs, "I want karking movement!" He bellowed to the stormtroopers, who now scrambled across the hangar deck. To Private Barris "Chubs" Hadley, it was a damn surprise he could even hear the cantankerous officer over the howl of TIE fighters returning to their nests for the necessary refuelling. However, Hadley's unit had been mobilised to defend against a now missing X-Wing pilot. and orders like Dornan's were necessary for operational effectiveness.
"Order sir?" Chubs' sergeant, Heinz Morten asked, raising his fist. The squad of stormtroopers tailing behind him obediantly stopped, recognising the body language. Without needing to look at them, Morten lowered his fist, and stood to attention.
"Hold the hangar with Sergeant Hewit, and make sure we get no more boarders." Dornan barked, "I'll form up a search team with the other platoons on board, and we'll make sure we root out this rat, and burn him."
Morten nodded his head, before making a swift one hundred and eighty degree turn, "Alright, fan out." He barked, "Those of you with MPL's, train them on the hangar door, in case we have any more unexpected visitors." The sergeant barked, "Rest of you, be ready to shoot whatever the hell comes in here, back out!"
Chubs slid his DE-39 Rifle onto his back, and reached for the missile launcher, having loaded it with the launchers anti-armour missile variant. The stormtrooper took point behind a work bench, and trained his weapon on the door. Whoever was going to try and burn through these stormtroopers, wasn't about to have an easy time.
Location: No Man's Zone - > Alliance Battleline -> The 'Excubitor.' Primary Objective(s):Board the "Excubitor" and Assassinate Admiral Cathul Thuku. Allies: The First Order | [member="Emilia Ravel"] | [member="Xenro"] | [member="Khonsu Amon"] Enemies: The Galactic Alliance | [member="Kiyron"]
Knelt down behind two thick vent pipes feeding the ship, Connor was pinned down by blaster fire from Alliance soldiers. He rested an arm casually on bended knee as he looked left towards the large hangar, his smouldering Silencer resting there, and then peering to the right down the corridor into the ship where the Alliance had him pinned.
It was as if she was right beside when the voice came. [member="Samka Derith"] from all across the battle zone, wherever she was, had felt Connor. He heard her voice. It was judgemental. It made him feel small – couldn’t stay away? Hell, she was right, but what choice did he have? Without purpose, he’d wither and die. Since his return from Maena, he had done little; progressed little. Become little.
His brow furrowed slightly and his cybernetic hand clenched around his cold lightsaber hilt at the honey-tipped words fed from her to tap into the Dark Side.
As if on command, as the blaster fire had died with his distraction serving their purpose, two Alliance soldiers dressed in crimson and gold slid across beside him, pistols raised.
”Don’t move! You’re under arrest.”
Connor looked up, and all around them, the world slowed down. Heartbeats could be heard, sweat droplets identified, tendrils of smoke wafting gently. The Alliance soldiers were frozen in their stance as Connor rose and punched the lightsaber hilt into the first man’s chest and ignited his crimson blade whilst pushing back with such a violent force that he carried the man, impaled, across the corridor and back into the metal wall with a shower of sparks.
He resumed his normal speed after the Force burst, and continued to hold the soldier to the wall as he turned with his good arm stretched out. The remaining Alliance soldier, taking a few seconds to assert himself as the prisoner had suddenly vanished, span around to meet a wall of energy clamping on his throat which went vice tight in seconds and snapped his bone with a sickening crunch.
Retaliation came from a small accompanying unit of men down the hall providing back up, and Connor sliced his saber through the body of the soldier that fell in two to repel the blaster fire. He had a face set in stone as he effortlessly did what he had done a thousand times – sending the bolts back to their bodies one at a time.
One-two-three-four.
They all dropped in seconds. Six Alliance soldiers dispatched. It was good, but it was too easy.
Connor surveyed the gloomy corridor he was in, hangar behind him, and had no idea where the routes led, but he opened his mind to find the bridge. The hub of activity and the Force aura of [member="Cathul Thuku"] on the ship. There would be no compromise in this show of force and raw strength in finding his target and proving that Connor was not one to take orders anymore – he was one to give them and not the pushover many thought.
"Khonsu – I’m heading to find Cathul. Get to the bridge and stop letting them distract you from the objective!"
He spoke into his wrist-com with a hint of malice and stalked through the bowels of the mighty Alliance ship, crimson blade glowing, to meet anyone or anything in his way from getting to the bridge. He would show Samka. He would show them all. Connor Harrison was back.
The Force swelled around them both, Caehl Ren and [member="Elensa Jari"] both moving in great stride down through the corridors of the Resurgent Class Star Destroyer en-route towards the Engineering Deck. Ahead of them both, he had ordered "Iron Mantle" to take the lead, to sweep out the decks leading down towards the heart of the great vessel that they might not miss any of their intended prey yet larger than the presence of the special forces unit was their dominion over the Darkside of the force, malevolent and strong, enough so to pull the attention of their Mandalorian intruders should any of them be sensitive to the force's calling.
Raising his left hand to the side of his helm, his gaze turned to be cast upon his apprentice, the black of his visor hiding his features yet doing little to shield the direction of his study while he spoke through the internal comm-link to his other student of darkness, [member="Xiomar Ren"]. "Have Omega Four-Five-Nine sent down to engineering. Sensors are picking up hostile forces below, remain behind with the Supreme Leader, his protection is paramount", rounding the corner and into the next junction Caehl Ren would lead Elensa towards the Turbo-lifts, those that would lead them down into the fray. The final moments of peace before they would walk confidently into battle. Somewhere below were the meddling enemy forces for which would incur the wrath of the Supreme Leader, they his hand that would deliver swift judgement, absolute and final.
"Should you have any final preparations, now would be the time to make them..." he offered the advice to his apprentice, she whom had once been Sith, powerful in the Force and pre-trained before her entrance into the Disciples of the Order of Ren, her testament to the influence of the Darkside had been admirable even despite her borderline insubordinate attitude of her new Master. Caehl Ren was not above the impression that she would be a learning curve to benefit them both, especially since having come into the essence transfer, his clone body empowered by the Force and reckoning of the Dark Lord of the Sith. It was thanks to [member="Ara Zambrano"] and [member="Darth Carnifex"] that Caehl Ren would soon unleashe the full might of his power in service to [member="Sieger Ren"].
Commander, Alia Fedahkin and her Squad stepped swiftly, their formation tight and rifles pointed in all directions covering their partners blindspots whilst moving to secure the deck. They were quickly coming upon the main level of Engineering, having cleared out much of the port side of the Executioner en-route to their objective and the SB-U01 Wrist Datapad's readout on their enemy.
On their way however, the most unexpected presence of a Praetorian forced Alia to order her people to move ahead, crouching nearest to the corners of the junction leading towards the main room for which controlled the momentum of the great Resurgent Class Destroyer. The Whisperer was far from the Supreme Leader, Alia looking the Elite Guard up and down though refusing to show any hint of uncertainty, speaking up firmly in acknowledgement of his suggested company.
"As you wish, my Lord" she responded, the Praetorian superior in the chain of command and stature than they of the Special Forces unit. Force users in her experience were bad news, the last of sorts you wanted to anger and those among Sieger's personal entourage were often considered to be among the strongest known across the First Order. "Caehl Ren has given us command to secure the area...-Hostiles number close to a dozen judging by what our scanners are picking up" she continued to speak whilst moving to tap the back of Sergeant, Kulon Otheym's shoulder sending him moving on and leading them all forward.
Rifles lifting, they Special Forces unit moved to enter into the vast area, the Hyper-drive within the center, accessible by the upper catwalk a floor above them yet explosives would no doubt remove the need to ascend to the second level where the base of the reactor could be reached from their position. Searching for any sign of movement not familiar to their own personnel, her voice had become silenced and instead they moved forward.
Nothing but tense silence remained, the calm before entering into the storm.
Objective: Survive standoff with Alliance pilot Allies: [member="Chubs"] Directly Engaging: [member="Decker Willo"] Enemies in the vicinity: [member="Dorn Skirata"] Special Note: With permission from Zark, fleeting actions will be noted in a subsequent post
Morro straightened up, but faltered again.
Am I ever going to get out of this utility closet? Each second that ticked by seemed like a lost opportunity to crush the Alliance.
The Chiss remembered her wrist comms which connected her to Captain Sloane should they be separated due to an emergency on the Minotaur. She pressed the button and his familiar voice came through after a painfully long minute. Off the bridge, their exchange took on a more conversational tone:
“Where are you? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine…it’s just. I’ll be back soon. What’s the latest?”
“We have another uninvited guest. Mandalorian War Droid by the looks of it.”
Morro considered lockdown on the hanger for time being but that may mean certain death for some of their pilots. The losses would not be worth the extra security.
“I’m deploying an extra squad of troopers to secure the hangar in the meantime.”
“Yes that sounds-”
A noise behind her caught her attention, though she expected to see another maintanence droid and not the Alliance pilot with his blaster drawn and pointed at her. The Chiss officer was also armed with an SE-14r pistol, but did not dare pull it out. Instead, she slowly raised her arms up so he could see that for the time being, she planned to remain stationary.
Her red pupilless eyes glowed in the dim light of the closet. The small droid below her went about its mopping duties. Swish, swish. In case of capture, Morro kept small cyanide pill in the pocket of her uniform to ensure that she a quick death over a painfully drawn out interrogation.
The pilot’s hand was clearly trembling.
She planned to keep the wrist comms open so Sloane could hear the exchange and send a rescue team, but his distressed voice crackled through the comms: “Captain Morro. Are you there? Captain Morro!”
“Should I turn this off?” she asked the pilot,indicating the wrist comm with a tilt of her head towards that specific gloved hand. Something was not right with his leg.
Location: L2 (Barrini Station) Objective: Boarding Allies: Galactic Alliance and Friends Opposition: First Order Directly Opposing: [SIZE=11pt][member="Cyrus Tregessar"] (fleeting)[/SIZE]
There was a crescendo of action within the L2 station as boarding parties had breached, but on the outside, the two opposing battlegroups had yet to engage each other in any serious fashion.
<The primary breaching teams have completed boarding, so Nightshade, deactivate GAMs so we can continue an analysis on the strength of the interdictor fields.>
The stealth frigate cut off its GAM, allowing sensor operators across the strike group to complete their secondary objective on the mission by gathering valuable information.
<Sir, our ELINT and ISR assets have detected high levels of comm traffic between the station and several points within the area.>
The Subutai unit generated a rendering over the main holo display to provide a visual representation of its findings. Naturally, there was regular traffic flow between each station, and the known FO forces in the sector, but the traffic his strike group had just detected seemingly went to nowhere.
<The First Order already knows we're here, so engage active sensors and sweep those areas for stealthed objects. They're not going to get the jump on us with hidden forces.>
Powerful active sensors like quantum radar were activated aboard Luxanna and R'hllor (Nightshade and the Sowa unit kept to passive to avoid detection), capable defeating all but the most advanced and exotic stealth schemes.
Sure enough, several small objects were detected as the ELINT frigates conducted their sweeps. On passive alone, they would have been hard to pick up on, especially as no one initially knew to look for them, but they couldn't hide for long from an active scan by an alert enemy. Stealth wasn't a silver bullet that could keep one invisible forever, but only delay detection.
"Hello there," Noa muttered himself as his display was populated with rough renderings of the objects, looking awfully similar to satellites.
<Let's see how our quiet friends respond to us breaking their toys. Target UFOs with Torrent batteries, two cycles.>
Lament ceased its deployment of anti-beam canisters momentarily while it rotated slightly and swiveled its turrets of plasma torpedo launchers on designated targets. With two volleys, the heavy destroyer fired on the unidentified objects with about a half a dozen plasma torpedoes a piece. Travel time would be near instantaneous, each torpedo streaking outward from their launchers at a blistering .2 c.
<Share our findings with Admiral Quee and the Alliance forces at L4. If there are objects like these here, then they're likely present at the other locations.>
Noa didn't understand the function of far out objects, but he was certain there would soon be some kind of noticeable effect in the event of their damage or outright destruction.
The interior of the station was in a state of uproar, the air now filled with a cacophony of gunfire and explosions as assaulting forces drove deeper inside.
The brunt of the fighting was being done by YVH-2s, supplemented by L1 Marinus units especially created for shipboard combat. All methodically sweeping each room and corridor of opposition. Common stormtroopers, enemy battle droids, and turrets were targeted for termination, while officers and support crew were knocked and captured where possible as valuable troves of intelligence. Operational efficiency was greatly improved as map data from Ondizi began to be disseminated.
Reviewing the station layout from her little nook, Jyoti was surprised just about how small interior was, the space dominated by its gravity well generators and supporting systems.
"Only two thirds of our forces made it here, but that was still overkill according to this information. Their crew complement is little larger than some frigates."
She designated a specific point on a map rendering, then shared it with them. "This is their operation center, looks to only be a couple decks up. We'll work our way to the nearest lift and get up there to take it over."
Her thoughts drifted back on Allyson as she spoke about their mission. She pulled back from the nook for a checkup on the SIS agent. Allyson hadn't been looking too hot on their way from Sullust to L2, even vomiting at one point.
Seeing her in such a poor state, she started regretting bringing her along on a personal level, no matter how much she needed the technopath as an operative. Once again, the mission had won out over personal desires.
The path of the Jedi is one of duty and sacrifice.
Much to her relief, she found that Allyson had stabilized, and seemed to have full command of her Force abilities. While she had no understanding of the intricacies the Mechu-deru, she could still sense Allyson interfacing with the dead trooper's helmet through the Force. The dark origins of the power had discouraged Jyoti from ever making an attempt, but she felt nothing insidious from Allyson as she used her powers. It didn't seem too different from how she used her own cybernetic augments to communicate with machinery. A future topic of discussion.
As she waited for Allyson to finish her work so they could speak, her mind was wracked by a sudden outflow of the Dark Side within the station.
Like a spotlight, she focused her attention on the origin point this new disturbance. She perceived it as a black pit, drawing upon the residual energies of the dead. The sensation left her with a small chill as she felt the draining effect all around her. Not unlike a Force Wound, but not nearly as severe.
It was just one person as far as she could tell, but they could become extremely dangerous if left to their own devices and put the whole mission in jeopardy. Before the latest development, chances of success were already slim to start.
"Specter 01 to Raider 01 (Valkren), there are Ren about. I felt at least one hostile Force User within the Engineering section where you're headed. Kill or capture the FU on your way to Engineering before they can cause us too much trouble. If you pass any dead, I recommend head shots or decapitation. Looks like we may be dealing with the usual Dark Sider antics."
"Alright, we need to keep moving." She said now addressing her own team. "I'm going to clear a path to the lift with the breaching team. Specter 09 (Liuna) upload malware through the terminal to start stressing their systems. Once you and Specter 10 (Allyson) are finished, regroup with the rest of the team on my position. And Specter 10, if you can, please lock each blast door you come past in an open position to keep our primary exit route clear."
She holstered her shatterpistol, and unclipped her lightsaber hilt from her belt. With the flick of her thumb over a capacitive switch, the lightsaber came alive with a brilliant blade of silver.
"Now let's move," She bounded forward into the connecting corridor, agility enhanced by the Force. The Ysanna operatives that made up her breaching team were quick to follow in a similar manner, the quartet becoming black blurs.
No other troopers had dared tread into the nearby hallways and corridors as they were still filled with nagnol, waiting for the ventilation system to filter out the sensor baffling gas. So it was just the turrets Jyoti had to worry about, all which had a hard time tracking she and her counterparts in their stealthy armor through the nagnol gas.
She crushed each turret she came across into a crumpled heap of durasteel with an outstretched hand. Around the last corner to the lift, she could feel another mass of stormtroopers engaged in a firefight with Marinus droids down the hall.
She skidded to a halt, and threw her palm back to make the hand signal for the Ysanna to stop as well. Then she communed with the Marinus battledroids over their shared secured network, informing them of her impending flanking maneuver.
"Take them down."
She took a knee before the Ysanna right before they let loose with their underslug mass driver launchers, curving shots of 20 mm Salamander rounds right around the corner into the stormtroopers. First came the crack of hollow-points smashing into the backplates of the troopers' armor, then a few moments of screaming as incendiaries bore right through the base of their necks seconds later, and finally the thud of corpses hitting the floor.
The path to the lift was clear. She grouped up with the Marinus droids, then directed them to cover the halls while she waited for the rest of her team to catch up.
Side Quest: Seize control of the ship engineering deck
[click me holo to hear the tunes]
It was then once he was a few corridors away that he then reaches down to open his secured com back to home base one. Figured it would be best he gave them a bit of a heads up on his plan of action before head out at the same time. Open himself to the force he reaches out to a few his fellow Jedi of which he sent out a brief obscure message.
'....going to the belly of the beast if anyone care joins in?'
And with that said to raise one hand, he then notion to the few men with him to move out. Which then dis spreading to cover his flank they then went forward. Covertly tagging and scout the path ahead before sneak up to dispatch the enemy till eventually, he felt confident they cover their track well enough. Before launching on an all-out assault towards the engineering deck which seems became all the more apparent as they are met with some resistance or push back from the enemy. As the deeper, they went that although the enemy might have expected such an attack they were either too spread out or whatever reason. That the fighting was not that heavy at first till they came few more halls down one alley. That the fight began to heat up as they had dig in a bit more as they fought push forward. As he exacted the plan he had in mind that of either buying the other Jedi time to get things done on their end or simply wrestle with the hulking ships control to maybe get more their on board.
Location: Exubitor
Objective: Distract Samka from her meditation
Enemies: First Order, their allies and [member="Samka Derith"]
Allies: GA, their allies, @Ronon Wendigo, [member="Asaraa Vaashe"], [member="Yuroic Xeraic"] and Cathul Thuku
The older woman felt each strand go out to reach for the intended targets of Samka's meditation. Jairdain while sitting on her bench, attempted to intercept each one to prevent them from reaching these people. Her main focus was on the girl though.
Without the sphere halting Jairdain's mental advance, she would strike. Even the words attempting to dissuade her from involving herself in the fight fell on deaf ears. Some of what was said did make it through.
It is too late to not be involved, girl. You and your order started this. We will end it.
In her brief contact, Jairdain could pick up on the type of person she was dealing with. A bully. However, a bully that was entirely devoted to her leader and Order. Like a soldier that didn't know any better. Perhaps the yet unnamed girl had been brainwashed much like Jairdain had been by the Sith. The difference between them, she had broken free from it. Having the feeling there was no purpose in trying, she never would attempt to talk Samka away from her chosen path. In time the girl may see the error of her ways.
She also knew this girl was no stranger to battle, but hopefully had never faced off against another mentalist like herself.
As she made these observations, Samka would be able to read her just as easily if she attempted to do it. Jairdain never attempted to hide what happened to her in her life. It may even be picked up on that Jairdain was no longer fully Jedi, that she followed her own path even while siding with the Alliance and Jedi.
Her initial pass done, she now moved in for her attack. A mental hand would attempt to reach out and snuff the lines connecting Samka to those of her allies. That meditation needed to be stopped first before their own battle could really begin.
Location: Medical shuttle
Allies: Sjo, Ga and allies (Immediate: [member="Ronin Wendigo"] [member="Jairdain"] )
Enemies: First Order and allies
Objective: Rendezvous with Ronin
Sefain anxiously tapped her foot as her ship sped through hyperspace. She had received Ronin's telepathic invitation, and was all too eager to get back into the heat of battle after being cooped up in the temple. She had needed to wait until the next medical deployment to do so though, as she still didn't have a personal starship.
"Wouldn't be a bad idea to try and get one of those." she said out loud to no one in particular, receiving a strange look from one of the medical assistants. Sefain sighed. After what seemed like an eternity, the small medical shuttle finally exited hyperspace, and Sefain found herself in the middle of the attack fleet. The shuttle pulled up next to what Sefain presumed to be the Excubitor, and a few medics hopped off, along with Sefain, before leaving to go dispatch units elsewhere. She connected her mind to the force, and spoke to Ronin,
"I'm here, where are you?"
Hopefully he would respond soon, Sefain looked a bit suspicious just standing around.
"The Executioner is turning tail!" First officer Lok reported, while the aft arc of the enemy battlecruiser was moving away. "The Supreme Leader's flagship is retreating; if we kill it, we may as well kill the enemy morale along with it"
"Let the Executioner go, we have other targets to go after. Begin slicing the enemy missile magazines! Priority targets: Reprisal and Conqueror"
"Roger, roger" the slicer droids acknowledged, while starting to work.
The Reprisal and the Conqueror would be in for a most unpleasant surprise, as the slicing droids attempt to jam enemy guidance frequencies in an attempt to cause the warheads to detonate or to be dumped. If they elect to dump them, they would be headed towards Triaxis, too. As were the 192 heavy proton bombs which, by now, were headed dangerously close to the station at speeds that could be now described as higher than even those of standard interceptors, given that they were gravitationally accelerated along the way by the very gravity well generators they are intended to hit. Even though the Dauntless didn't have much hardpoints left pointing towards the Excubitor, thanks to repeated bombardment and its support ships' point-defense hitting buzz droids and taking hardpoints down with them, it still fired what it can on its aft quarter. But at that range, it only amounted to a few hits that did only a little more damage than necessary to prevent shields from replenishing. Meanwhile, the limited remaining firepower of the Daggers prevented them from dealing any significant damage at the assault frigates that have been firing at them. The enemy commander in charge of the Dauntless would soon realize why the First Order put so much effort in attempting to kill her: she wasn't simply a tailhead therapist (even though, as a therapist, she wasn't very good). She was causing trouble to the First Order Central Command as far back as Kaeshana, where she somehow fought [member="Cyrus Tregessar"] to a stalemate, from which the then-Contempt left with no functional hardpoint.
"Receiving data packets alongside a transmission" Carmen sternly communicated back.
"Patch it through"
<Share our findings with Admiral Quee and the Alliance forces at L4. If there are objects like these here, then it's likely they're at the other locations.>
"Running a sensor sweep for hostile UFOs" Tanith communicated back, while the Metellos initiated scans around the area. "Scan complete"
"Picket corvettes, target one hostile UFO each, fire energy torpedoes at it"
Most disturbing: regardless of what these hostile UFOs are used for, I had to fire at them. They may be responsible for enemy ECM for what I know; in fact, it's possible that EWAR is their purpose, she thought. With twelve energy torpedoes being fired at each UFO in the distance, in a near-instant travel time, thanks to the obscenely high muzzle velocity of 0.2c, these UFOs are getting hammered, the same as the station. She might be worried that she may have spread herself too thin trying to fight so many different enemies on so many different fronts, but she knew missiles were not going to work against Robogeber and not simply because of the escorts they used to protect the enemy capital ships against them. At this point, however, several windows of opportunity were closing, and she had to be quick in exploiting them before said windows could close. If she could destroy more ships among the Dauntless cruiser group, then it would no longer overturn the starboard flank, or so she would be left to think. And yet, if there were enemy reinforcements coming in to support the ailing Executioner, she could deal with those reinforcements the same as she could deal with everyone else. However, the Butcher of Skor ([member="Connor Harrison"]) would find himself with glop fired at him.
"We have only one volley of missiles to destroy the Harbinger before it can return fire again" Amica commented.
"By that logic we would have only one volley to hit the enemy attempting to overturn our starboard flank"
"Aft batteries, fire at the Dauntless aft quarter!" Carmen ordered.
"I have a little surprise for the station: HVCs full of buzz droids!"
First, came a total of 350 proton torpedoes towards the Harbinger, 100 of which inside MIRVs, which should overwhelm the enemy point-defense, causing the remainder of the warheads to fly towards various areas on the ship: command tower, engines, superstructure, to name a few. Also, it didn't escape their notice that the missiles fired at the Harbinger ended up detonating all over the place last time, so perhaps she could apply the same logic to the next volley of buzz droids. Meaning that some of the 58 MIRVs containing a total of 290 discord missiles and its associated buzz droids fired at thr Harbinger will end up detonating on other ships, and the cycle of using point-defense to kill them would be renewed with what hardpoints are left. And also, three more of those humongous stealth MIRVs, containing a total of 21 assault concussion missiles, were headed towards the carrier's hangars, unseen and undetected. That enemy fleet will likely be swamped with buzz droids by the time it reached [member="Lily Kuhn"] and the Red Fleet, and continue falling prey to the auto-immune maneuver. Of which Triaxis will soon be a victim, with roughly 3,000 buzz droids being fired at the station inside HVC rounds, ranging from 88mm to 420mm in caliber. Of course she should hold no illusion of all of them surviving such brusque maneuvers, but that ought to keep the station's fighter screen busy. So 204 turbolaser shots and two HVCs firing a total of 180 buzz droids were fired in Dauntless' direction. In addition, the C-9980s were hard at work firing at the escort frigates, with each of the three frigates firing everything they got at their designated targets, the Cutlass, Staff and Dirk respectively, having an entire salvo of turbolasers and MIRVs fired at those escorts.
"I believe we caused enough damage to the flanking fleet for the flanking maneuver to be compromised. We ought to save the Itsukusk and its escorts" Amica commented.
"These enemy escorts are within fighter earshot of us: I want one squadron of Chiloon-IIs targeting each of the Chargers, and three Chiloon-I squadrons each at the remaining cruisers, with two more squadrons at the Vengeance. All other squadrons, remain around the fleet as a screen. Otherwise, fire at will!"
With that said, six Chiloon-II squadrons were flying a short distance and targeting the Trepid, Brigand, Guardian, Aggressor, Pursuit and Bespin's Pride with one squadron each, dropping heavy plasma bombs from new bomblet generators that can drop plasma bombs with twice the power of normal plasma bombs. Also, flying under covering fire under the form of buzz droids, there were three Chiloon-I squadrons headed towards the Relentless, three more towards the Interceptor, three more towards the Fearless, and finally, two more at the Vengeance, all executing dive bombing maneuvers in order to drop those massive bombs whose blast radius was so big, over half the ship would be included in it and, in the Vengeance's case, the entire ship. With most of the remaining enemy point-defense still busy shooting down buzz droids, the most annoying interference will come from the remaining enemy fighters. Meanwhile, over 1200 turbolasers' worth of heavy direct-fire weapons were fired at the Conqueror, 360 turbolaser shots each at the Inflictor and Firestorm from the Excubitor's trench batteries, and, from the Providences, 168 at each of the Restoration and Interception. At later stages, they may attempt to break the enemy escorts apart... and then the Sixth Fleet along with it. Provided the Itsukusk survives, of course.
"Here, Jairdain. You may use my own Force-batteries if you need it, but don't go overboard: I feel I might need it at some point"
Continued tampering the missile magazines to cause premature detonation using buzz droids [member="Sieger Ren"] [member="Dako Asturo"]
Used the Providences' ECCM to counter the sensor jamming and target painting
Started slicing [member="Robogeber"]'s missile magazines in an attempt to provoke premature explosions (FIV Reprisal and FIV Conqueror)
Used the picket corvettes' energy torpedoes to fire at relays
Fired heavy weapons at the Conqueror [member="Robogeber"]
Fired short-range, rapid-fire batteries at the screening ships [member="Robogeber"]
Fired proton torpedoes and then discord missiles at the Harbinger [member="Dako Asturo"]
Had several squadrons attack corvettes around [member="Zark"] (the Chargers deployed by [member="Robogeber"], and also the Vengeance)
Had 9 extra squadrons attacking the remaining cruisers [member="Dako Asturo"]
Fired HVCs laden with buzz droids at Triaxis [member="Cyrus Tregessar"] [member="Sieger Ren"]
Side Quest: Seize control of the ship engineering deck
[click me holo to hear the tunes]
"I'm here, where are you?"
It was at that time just as they were meeting their first wall of resistance that from out the blue a reply came back from his earlier force message. To which he quips in reply in between exchange fire and receiving them in the midst of the battle. Which has seen his share of battles but not one as intense as this one for quite a while. Being that his duties lead him elsewhere he had been bit more discreet work within the enemy lines so to speak.
'Well nice.....can't say for sure given they might be listening in. But I guess just follow where the noise the loudest and me the troops sure be there.....'
"Very well, take your positions around the reactor chamber upon the upper gangways and on the lower level around the Hyperdrive. We must not allow the Alliance to damage it."Whisperer's voice is but smooth and spoken with a soft tone reactor's exhaust manifolds steadily open and close high above those on the bottom floor inside the Executioner's massive engineering section, Whisperer carries herself and sizzling double-bladed glaive to a position directly in front of the Hyperdrive; Obscuring view of it from the entrance to ensure the first thing the lawless brigands would see upon entering Engineering was her; a Praetorian Guard in startling scarlet red armour wielding one of their ubiquitous weapons. Whisperer makes some sharp gesture with gauntlet's open hand at the large imposing Engineering bulkhead door and immediately it begins to slide shut behind the Praetorian and Iron Mantle, that would take some time to cut through.
Pursing both of her eyes closed behind the visor her head lowers and the Praetorian focuses; reaching out steadily to grasp the ship's activity, feet pounding against the floor of hallways but finally reaching her target. The Dark Father, a ringing briefly fills Whisperer's ears before she feels pulled from her very body sending a message to him, unheard in word to be received in mind across the winding tendrils of the Force that connected the Praetorian to her Dark Liege. "My lord, The Alliance come for the Executioner's reactor and hyperdrive endangering us all. If I should fail here I would see the Knights of Ren spirit you to safety." Eyelids fluttering before peeling open, Whisperer bends her knees focusing sharply upon the Engineering Section's door with her plasma glaive clutched in a crushing grip. The Praetorian's eyes and gaze cranes up for a moment and spots something interesting; One of the durasteel gangways loomed above the entrance on the second foor. Whisperer's lips curl inwards into a wicked smirk that would make itself of some use when the fools finally breach the bulkhead door only to be crushed or pinned by heavy Durasteel Whisperer knows it might not catch all especially if large party is all committed here but slow their advance and allow the Shadowtroopers an opportunity to rain fury upon their Lords enemies? It would do.
Whisperer would not risk the possibility this team of scoundrels had brought with them some kind of explosive or launchers to aid in the destruction of the Executioner's Reactor or Hyperdrive to have the Dark Side of the Force as an ally though the Praetorian Guard had resolved to not see the Reactor be any easy target for any projectile while only a novice insofar as force adepts went Whisperer had been afforded a standard of training available only to the Guard. Whisperer's eyes and gaze shifts to the right and up a floor inspecting the catwalk; an excellent perch to leap at after confronting the Alliance, opening them upto a storm of Blaster Fire from the Shadowtroopers. "Shadowtroopers, engage your cloaking devices. The Alliance must assume I am all they face, we shall engender arrogance and overconfidence of their victory and proceed to exploit it in a vicious display of firepower and violence."Whisperer's voice raises to challenge the ambient hiss and whine of machinery and she spares a glance over right-shoulder to ensure the Troopers comply with the command to cloak, it was important that the deception atleast be initial Whisperer inwardly hoped to catch them off balance betraying perhaps a sound mindset towards tactics. Whisperer's gaze returns to the blast door restlessly waiting for sign of their quarry's arrival hands tightening even further around the Glaive its plasma filaments crackle and sizzle in the air giving rise to visible air bending and screeching around them.
Location: Aboard FIV Minotaur, heading towards the main hangar Objective:[background=transparent] Locate and assist the capture of the x wing pilot[/background] [background=transparent][background=transparent]Allies: [member="Morro"] @Chubs[/background][/background] [background=transparent][background=transparent][background=transparent][background=transparent]Directly Engaging: [background=transparent][background=transparent]Decker Willo[/background][/background]http://starwarsrp.net/user/15508-decker-willo/[/background][/background][/background][/background] [member="Morro"]
Aurora's blood pulsed as she ran towards the main hangar, clasping her lightsaber. She'd been twitching in her chambers, impatiently waiting for orders when they finally came through. An enemy X-wing pilot and a Mandalorian had boarded the ship and those engaging them desperately needed support.
Sprinting through the corridors, Aurora couldn't help but grin from under her helmet. Finally she'd get a taste of a true battle, though it would still be a challenge to her.
She was nearly at the hangar when she heard fragments of dialogue echoing from a nearby janitor's closet.
[background=transparent][background=transparent][background=transparent]“Should I turn this off?”[/background][/background] the voice said, identifiable as Officer Morro's.[/background] [background=transparent][background=transparent]Aurora's mind flitted through every scenario to why she'd be in the closet, unless...[/background][/background] [background=transparent][background=transparent][/background][/background]The Pilot. Aurora's mind connected the dots. Silently Aurora approached the cupboard, back against the wall as she tiptoed along, her head tilting as she noted the specks of blood that trailed to the closed door. The pilot was wounded... Or Morro was. Either way she needed to act fast, who knew what his motives were or what he intended to do with Morro. In one swift move, Aurora flung the door open and ignited [background=transparent]her lightsaber[/background] into its blood orange hue, the end purposefully digging into the ground, hopefully blinding them with the bright sparks. Her own visor could just about grant her sight into the cupboard and as she watched the pilot she spoke, her words in an intimidating low pitch from the helmet's voice modifier. "Step away from the Officer." She commanded [background=transparent][background=transparent][/background][/background]
Location: Excubitor
Faction: Sjo
Allies: Ga and friends (Immediate: JairdainYuroic Xeraic @Asaraa Vaashe [member="Ronin Wendigo"] )
Enemies: First Order and allies
Objective: Assist in the securing of the Engineering Deck
"Just follow where the noise is loudest"
Before Sefain could complain about the vagueness of the message, an explosion wrang throughout the starcraft.
"They're attacking the ship!" Sefain realized with a jolt of fear. She had to get to the others. Attempting to remain calm, she managed to detect a large mass of life forms on another end of the ship. As the rest of the volley of missiles hit the ship, she began to sprint throughout the corridors. Minutes ticked by, and she slowly drew closer to the decreasing number of life forms as the battle for the port raged on.
Finally, Sefain drew near enough where she could clearly hear the fight. Every blaster shot, every kill, every cry of the wounded. At last, she rounded a final corner and arrived at her long awaited destination. Not bothering to waste any time, she ignited her lightsaber and leapt into battle.
Now that she could see the entire hangar clearly, she began searching for Ronin to, if nothing else, to inform him of her arrival. She hadn't been in a major fight in quite some time, and this combined with her multitasking led to some sloppy lightsaber combat, but at least she was holding out just fine on her own.
Location: FIV Minotaur
Objective: Escape
Allies: GA forces
Enemies: FO Forces
Ships: Mynock Squadron Mynock Rock
Decker held his blaster as steady as he could, while his hand was still shaking which made it hard. He glanced down to the maintenance droid, just now realizing that this officer must not have been well. He thought about just stunning them, as it seemed they were having enough trouble. That was until the comms on the officer, a voice came through. Decker's gaze went straight to that. He nodded silently to [member="Morro"], watching as he waited for her to switch them off.
Once he was sure, the pain was becoming too much and he had to sit down. He was about to go to lock the door when it opened, he froze as the orange hue ignited, glowing around the user. He had never seen a lightsaber...and now he wish he never had. Caring for his own life, he tossed the blaster aside and raised his hands, despite how much pain the wound cause while standing. He made no sudden moves, didn't even speak, and even attempted to shuffle aside, out of the other's way. He was getting a light tingle in his head in this other person's presence, and he could not figure out why.
As the brawl came to a close and the Mando'ade began to advance, he took heed of Karsan's words, he better than anyone would have some idea of what they'd be facing as retribution for their less than polite entrance. Shimmering denoted some sort of active camouflage, which he couldn't say left him all too surprised, the First Order seemed to be masters of deception both politically and on the battlefield. Wouldn't save them though.
Staying close to the group, Silas withdrew his Westar-35 from its holster, Little Wolf in his off hand whilst he squeezed off a shot into the squad of troopers which had gotten in their way. The first shot caught a trooper in the shoulder, his weapon clattering to the deck as he called out in pain, the second and third punched straight through his chest piece and send him to the floor in a heap. Another two squeezes, another trooper, and in an instant it seemed their only real resistance was gone.
As Silas stepped over the corpses, he noticed a single trooper still breathing, reaching for his weapon. Silas felt a sense of respect towards the soldier, in spite of his wounds the man did not grovel or try and play dead, he made one last futile attempt to fight. A true warrior. Silas put a blaster bolt through his head and moved on without a word.
"Good question." He responded to Calnov, looking to Baiko for some indication of how close they were to engineering. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't concerned for her, every time she reached into the mind of one of the fallen something changed in how she carried herself, as if guilt had just dropped anchor in an attempt to drag her down. He knew that feeling well, not for the same reasons he assumed, but he knew it all them same. "What's our ETA Baiko?" He inquired, hoping to snap her away from whatever thoughts consumed her mind.
Objective: Take over Hyperdrive, engage enemy forces.
Assets: Ranger Special Tactics Unit, 'Radama Raiders'
First Ranger Infantry.
Colonel Calderon retreated behind a wrecked door frame in one of the many corridors of the First Order station his own team and other ranger units had just previously boarded. He took a breath before heaving up his Z-6 rotary cannon back around the corner, spinning the barrels up before he popped back out of cover. Another stream of blue blaster bolts was soon to follow, suppressing and forcing back several groupings of First Order troops. His weapon unleashed it's furry for a solid seventeen seconds, before it abruptly stopped, coming to a halt soon after filling another white-armored soldier with bolts.
"Kark!" Valkren yelled this as warning signs flashed across his HUD, informing him that his weapon was dangerously overheated. As he glanced down from behind his visor, he could see the cannon's barrels were red hot, making him toss the weapon down at his feet. After discarding the heavy suppression weapon, the colonel would skillfully reach behind him, pulling the sling-attached assault ripper around and flicking the safety off in one quick motion. His heads-up-display detecting the change in weapons, and re-syncing his aiming module as he raised the rifle up to let off several three-round bursts against the oncoming enemies.
"Lowder! Tell me you've got the location of that frickin' hyperdrive!" He'd yell this over comms as he backpedalled to a position directly behind a crouched member of the Raiders special tactics ranger group.
"Working on it, boss! Not exactly familiar with First Order specs!" Lowder yelled back his response, ducking as a red blaster bolt skipped across the wall directly above him.
Lieutenant Harris crossed Valkren's field of view, passing by Lowder and others as he dragged a wounded ranger to cover past them, after assuring that the injured comrade was safely in cover, he'd fish out his own assault ripper, leaning out of cover to resume sending rounds down range. "Looks like we need to find a new specialist?"
"Feth off!"
Suddenly, Valkren's comms buzzed to life, as the familiar voice of the avatar Jyoti came through. As weird as it was to hear and take orders from her, what she sensed was a serious threat. "Raider One copies, Spectre one. Moving to engage."
"I got it! Directly below us, two levels down!" Lowder spoke up just as Valkren cut the communication with Jyoti, the specialist moving to his data pad as he began to transmit information to his team's HUD. "Shadow's are sending us a full layout of the station, we can take the turbo lift three corridors from our position, or rappel down the maintenance shaft two down, should take us right to the front doors!" He'd tuck the pad away, lifting his rifle up as he prepared to move on his team leads' orders.
"We take the maintenance shaft! We'll take a small team to control the hyperdrive. I want the rest of the raiders to meet us there. First Ranger Infantry can handle the fight up on these levels! Sergeant Plexico, you copy that?" Valkren leaned back of cover after stating this, pumping a single round into the chest plate of a trooper that got to close to their position, the hostile crumpling before the group just as the colonel retreated back into cover.
"I copy sir, I'll meet you all there." The sergeant's voice came through on comms, having gone off on orders from Valkren to locate the remaining teams of rangers that boarded along with their formation.
"Right! Let's move, I'm covering!" Valkren would grasp his Padawan friend Jerit by the shoulder after removing himself from cover, turning him around to make him run in that direction, hopefully to follow Lowder, Harris, and two other raiders to the maintenance shaft. Valkren remained facing forward, firing off more rounds down the corridor they were previously holding to cover his retreating team. Once he was sure that his own rear would be safe from blaster bolts.
As Valkren hustled to keep up with his team, they'd pass all sorts of destruction. First Order troopers laying slain, along with few rangers corpses riddled with slugs and blaster burns. It was a brutal sight, to say the least, but it was war. As he turned another corner, a pair of rangers would cross directly in front of the colonel, breaching a room. Flashes of blue and red shined out from the doorway as they entered into another firefight.
He could only pray for them.
Up ahead, Lieutenant Harris had yanked off the hatch to the maintenance shaft, hooking up two rappelling wires for the small team. The two extra raiders went off first, zipping down quickly past the tight stairs, making for a speedy descent to the hyperdrive. The LT and Lowder were soon to follow, quickly clearing the corridor around the door to the hyperdrive before they stacked on it. Valkren grabbed Jerit once more before they descended.
"Kid, there's something in the hyperdrive, something dark. I'm sure you can sense it. If you can handle it, then handle it. We'll slave the hyperdrive to our systems while you take care of it, but if you need help...The others have yslamir in their suits, so they can subdue the hostile with ease if she's weakened. Got it?"
What Valkren hadn't told his friend, was that his armor didn't contain the same anti-force-user repellant in the mold of his combat armor, for the sake of fighting along side the Padawan. He knew he'd be beside Jerit for most of the battle, so if the ysalmir bubble was active, Jerit wouldn't be nearly as effective in this fight.
// 23x 'Radama Raider' Special forces Rangers. 56x First Ranger Infantry units. //
Location: 'The 'Excubitor.' -> Ventral Hangar Bay -> Central Access Corridor. Primary Objective(s): Board the "Excubitor" and Assassinate Admiral Cathul Thuku. Secondary Objective(s): Capture Alliance Personnel, Sabotage the Procurator X - Designate; "Excubitor." Allies: The First Order, The Golden Company, Reanimated Alliance Corpses. Enemies: The Galactic Alliance, [member="Cathul Thuku"], [member="Kiyron"], [member="Eralam"], [member="Ronin Wendigo"], [member="Jairdain"], @Asaraa Vasshe, @Sefain Gatholil Equipment: See Thyrsian Sun Guards NPC Entry. Complement: Two Phaethon-Class Assault Transport's (Departed), Fourty Thysian Sun Guards (One Legion) - Three Wounded.
When the voice of Connor Harrison had echoed within his helmet, Khonsu made the mistake of reaching up towards his crown, believing himself safe from harm - as the embattled Alliance forces were pinned down within a tightly packed corridor. They wouldn’t last much longer, thus, what did he have to fear from them? In that moment of boisterous overconfidence, a stray shell from the Alliance’s holdfast streaked outwards and tore through the Sun Guard’s shields. The impact smashed into his breast, and threw the mercenary back, nearly causing him to lose his balance as he attempted to roll with the impact. A flower of pain blossomed within his chest as the bolt slid across the golden armour plating, buckling the surface and warping the integrity into a twisted mass of molten metal. Sucking in a heady mouthful of recycled air, and seeking to reclaim command of his senses, the Mercenary dropped behind what remained of his makeshift cover and clawed at his helmet’s release latch. He needed to breathe, and the air within his helmet wasn’t enough. Releasing the pressurized seal after several attempts, the Sun Guard tore his helmet free and greedily gulped at the corpse-stained atmosphere like a starving fish would devour his food.
“Kark me,”Khonsu cursed aloud, as his fingers gingerly touched the warped plating of his battle armour.“I don’t get paid enough to deal with this Sithspit. Thuku’s head better be worth the price.”Though his words were spoken aloud, they were meant for none. His men couldn’t care less what the man had to say, as they were more concerned with the seemingly unkillable Alliance forces that gathered against them. When his senses had returned, the Tribune smashed the edges of the broken breastplate, an act that both flattened the warped piece enough so that it would be serviceable - but also endured the agony that rippled through his bruised flesh. It was far from the smartest idea, considering the situation, but with the way the plate had warped - it would’ve limited his range of movement and denied him the mobility he would undoubtedly need as they progressed through the corridors of the Excubitor. Taking one last breath of the revolting corpse-stench, Khonsu adorned his sweat-kissed scalp with his golden crown once more and sealed the connection with an atmospheric hiss.
He had missed his opportunity to reply to the first transmission, for as soon as he replaced his helmet, the man had made another transmission - this time goading the Sun Guard to complete his mission. That was cute, Khonsu thought with a pain-flecked smile stretching his lips wide. As static echoed across the connection, the Sun Guard depressed the activation panel and responded in kind.“Bold words, Harrison. We're Oscar-Mike.”The Imperial was right. He had allowed the Alliance to distract him from completing his objective, by throwing all of the Sun Guard’s accumulated might at an armoured bottleneck that offered no timely advancement. That had to change. He had known that several of his Cohort’s had moved into the ship through a secondary blast door, and as his eyes peered out at the blockade that impeded his mission’s success, Khonsu rationalized that it was in his best interests to follow their lead. Let the Alliance reclaim their fallen kin, he thought with a knowing sneer.
Nothing but the walking dead awaited them here.
Without a moment to lose, the Sun Guard were ordered to tactically withdraw from the Ventral Hangar bay and follow after their golden kin. They moved from one piece of cover to the next, ensuring that their armoured brothers were covered as the maneuver transpired. It was done with the precision expected of combat veterans, and former members of a distant world’s special forces. Thus, the movements were fluid and practised, each step carefully placed so that the other would follow swiftly behind. It was an awe-inspiring sight, though it was unlikely to register with those that had populated the Hangar. The Alliance would, without a doubt in Khonsu’s mind, believe that they had forced the band of mercenaries into a forced retreat and cause their overzealous morale to skyrocket. That was to be the price they would have to pay, as a protracted battle within the hangar bay would only invite disaster, especially when the Golden Company was unsupported so far behind the enemy lines.
As they had made their way towards the distant, destroyed blast door, the Tribune’s attention was drawn towards a pair of newcomers that had ascended from the bespeckled abyss of space and shook his head at the seeds of discord they sought to sow. The way their bodies shined in the artificial light had denoted them as droids, doubtlessly some advanced variant - but what was curious - was that it matched none of the known droids that the First Order had encountered in their myriad battles against the Galactic Alliance. The Sun Guard half expected the notorious HK-36 to be counted amongst that pairing, but alas there was naught but a tall nightmarish droid and it’s companion. Sighing with vague interest, the mercenary tore his gaze away from the two droids and altered his suit’s aural receptor’s to tune out the irritating concert they elected to play. It seemed that the Alliance, in its darkest hour, had seen fit to throw musicians at the forces of the Order, instead of soldiers. Khonsu chuckled softly at that thought. It mattered not what the Scions of Sullust had thrown in his way. He had a mission to complete and a bounty to collect. Nothing would stop him. Not even death, if he could help it.
“Agent Ravel,”Khonsu commed, allowing his voice to be carried across the encrypted channel as his crimson lenses locked onto her position. “If you’re done staring at corpses, we’ve got an Admiral to assassinate. Let’s get out of this hellhole and leave your friend to his work. I have a feeling they’ll be busy dealing with these walking corpses for a spell.”After the transmission was sent, the mercenary pressed his armoured back against the blast doors sundered housing and began waving his men through the breach. One after the other, the Golden Warriors swarmed into the shattered corridor, storming across the fallen corpses of freshly-slain Alliance marines with the sound of one armoured surface meeting another in a resounding, if not deafening chorus. As they crushed the broke forms of their enemies beneath their iron-shod boots, the crimson waters that once bespoke of sentient vitality, coated their armour in generous splatters, dulling the shimmering gold into a blood-soaked bronze. It would do little in terms of assisting the Sun Guard’s in skulking about the fluted corridors of the Excubitor, but it would be a cause for alarm within the fresh units of Alliance marines they would be likely to encounter.
Blood was a rare sight in modern warfare, as the carbon scoring from blaster bolts offered nothing more than a clean, cauterized wound and the foul stench of burning meat. So, they would adopt their blood-bathed armour, and utilize the untapped psychological potential to strike fear into the hearts of the weak… Now only if they had the time to flay the flesh from their fallen foes. Then, even the strong-willed would recoil in disgust as they bore witness to the screaming faces that once belonged to their friends adorning the armour of their would-be killers.
“Tell us the authentication codes,”Centurion Batiatus said again for the seventh time. The Alliance Officer that they had captured was resilient, the Sun Guard could admit, but even the staunchest of rocks eroded over time. He was curious to see where this Duros’ limit was. Where he would abandon his training to save his own azure hide. “Tell us, Commander, and I shall let you walk away… relatively intact.”They had captured him crawling away from the battle in the corridor, with a single quarrel impaled through his meaty thigh and another embedded within the palm of his hand. It seemed, that he was the only survivor of the skirmish, and lucky enough for the Centurion, he was the only one in their direct vicinity that had access to the nearby terminal. A sad realization that had come to pass when one of his Legionnaires sought to bypass the authentication protocols in vain. While the First Order had a more complex system in place, the Galactic Alliance’s more rudimentary encryption protocols proved to be an annoyance that the Golden Company could ill-afford.
“Your deal,”The Duros Officer spat.“Stinks like poodoo. You’ll finish the job as soon as you get what you want.”
Batiatus smiled, darkly, in return.“You’d be so very right, I would kill you after you’ve fulfilled your end of the bargain. However, I’m not an Imperial, nor am I a lackey of the Sith. I’m a mercenary, and cutting deals are my bread and butter. You do this favour for me, and I’ll get my Medic to patch you up. We both win.”
“Alright,”The Duros said, seemingly agreeing to the proposition.“Before I agree, what do I get in return? You’re asking me to betray my commanding officers and give you the access keys required to get through this battlecruiser. I’d be giving you everything, for nothing in return.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, friend.” The Centurion said with an all-knowing smile behind the unmoving, golden facade of his winged helmet.“We’re getting paid a hefty sum for your Admiral’s head. For aiding us, we’ll make sure you’ll never have to worry about your payments again. Your entire family will be safe under our protection, and better yet? We’ll set you up in the First Order too. You know just as well as I do that they treat their people right.”Reaching a pair of golden fingers into the Officer’s blast vest, Batiatus removed the folded picture of the Xenos family and held it before the man’s bulbous, crimson eyes. “Your sickly daughter will be nursed back to health, and your wife will want for nothing.”
It seemed that he had taken the bait. As his ruby-stained eyes narrowed in an unfamiliar gesture of compassion or remorse, something that the Centurion had little experience with, a heavy sigh escaped his lips.“Promise me that you’ll keep my family safe, and I’ll give you what you seek.”He had him.“Of course,”The Centurion replied, allowing his venomous tongue to curl into a serpentine approximation of a smile.“You have my word.”
Without a moment to lose, Batiatus gently lifted the wounded Officer from the deck and carried him over to the terminal. It was there that the Duros had set about inputting his access codes and following through the two-staged authentication process. The terminal chimed in acknowledgement as the enforced lockdown remotely engaged by security was deactivated, allowing the Sun Guard’s unhindered access to the central database, and the schematics thereafter. Voicing his approval with a chorus of chuckles echoing behind him, the Centurion gingerly placed the Alliance Officer on the deck and beckoned his unit’s medic over with a wave of his golden digits. As the armoured Sun Guard knelt beside his commander, and his newfound charge, their twinned suits of armour clicked - as their internal communicators activated. The Duros felt a shiver of trepidation and terror crawl down his spine. What had he done? These men weren’t in any position to honour their part of the bargain! They were nothing more than sellswords. Damn them! Dam-
Before he had time to finish his train of thought and give voice to his protest, the serrated edge of a vibroknife dragged along his neck - exposing the truth of his biology to the recycled atmosphere of the terminal room and painting the Mercenary Medic in the vibrant hues of his life’s water.
Rousing himself from the deck, and the dying corpse of the Alliance Officer thereafter, Batiatus turned towards the terminal and began working on copying the schematics. With these designs on hand, the Sun Guard would be able to safely navigate through the holds of the Excubitor and swiftly arrive at the Command Deck without having to worry about getting lost. Once the task was complete and the files were transferred to an ejected dataslate, the Centurion began uploading it to his armour - an act that would shift the files from one database to another - and allow for the Golden Company to share in the spoils.
“There,”The Sun Guard stated after the encrypted transfer was complete,“We make for the Engineering Deck. Slay any that seek to deny us our prize.”
That is what all went through Jerit's head as he was battling for his life against the First Order Stormtroopers. One was under cover, trying to hit the boy. Jerit deflected the bolt and hit the solider in the forehead. Jerit breathed heavily. Sweat was running down his arms and cheeks. It all seemed like a workout, but it was much more than what met the eye to the boy. He was having fun, getting to be a fearless Jedi. The only thing that did not reach his mind were the consequences if he or his friends were to die. But there was no time to linger on that. Another bolt flew past the padawan's face, almost hitting him in the thigh. Jerit looked to the origin of the shot and noticed three troopers behind a crate for cover. Jerit pushed to crate with immense force and it hit all three troopers. But that did not stop them, except for one. The remainder two were focusing all their fire on Jerit now, and the boy's face grew into a sneer. He ran and met the first trooper's arms and legs accompanied by an elbow to the second trooper. The two dropped and Jerit stood tense. His eyes widened.
A cold flooded over him. Jerit's hairs started standing on end. He felt sadness, and loneliness.
He sensed the place of origin was the hyperdrive. He winced. The pain was too real. He narrowly dodged more blaster bolts coming down the corridor. Jerit sat against the right wall, next to a big crate for cover.
Why?
That was the only question he could ask himself. Why were they doing this? Being an enemy of the light? Before Jerit could think anymore about that, he saw Valkren come up and grab him.
"What's happening!" Jerit would scream over the sounds of battle.
Is it about the presence he felt?
He followed his friend down the corridor, witnessing such horrid scenes undergoing. Only now did Jerit realize that this is real. He could die any moment. He saw a trooper with a lost limb, gasping air to try to stay alive. It scared him even more, but he had to keep going. Keep going.
There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no emotion, there is peace.
The boy recited this mantra until they got to a maintenance shaft. He saw Harris yank off the hatch with him, and the others, going down the staircase. As Jerit was about to follow them to the hyperdrive, he felt Valkren hand catch his shoulder once again.
Valkren Calderon said:
"Kid, there's something in the hyperdrive, something dark. I'm sure you can sense it. If you can handle it, then handle it. We'll slave the hyperdrive to our systems while you take care of it, but if you need help...The others have yslamir in their suits, so they can subdue the hostile with ease if she's weakened. Got it?"
"Of c-course. I can get it done." The boy's voice shook.
As everyone made their way down the stairwell to the hyperdrive, Jerit could feel the dark side presence more and more. It filled him with despair, but he recited his mantra.
There is no emotion, there is peace.
He finally pinpointed the presence in the station. The main reactor room. That's where they were headed. Jerit cut in front of everyone to take the lead. He spoke into his helmet, which would reach to everyone he is with. He kept walking.
"There's a Sith in the reactor room. Me and Valkren will handle them. I need Harris, Lowder, and Plex to complete the objective of slaving the hyperdrive. I put my trust into you soldiers to get this done."
The group walked for another 4 seconds until they reached the room. Everyone went inside with Jerit still taking the lead. Jerit saw a pale girl standing, absorbing energy. This bewildered Jerit. He decided to give this witch a chance to stand down. He order everyone to Halt except for Valkren. If his friend wanted to, he could follow the boy to confront the Sith. Either way, Jerit neared the woman.
"You know, you can stop all of this and surrender? If you choose otherwise, my friend and I will have no choice but to kill you and I do not want to do that!" The boy yelled towards the witch. he made sure she could hear him.
He sent her a mental message and not one that involved threats and a chance to surrender. But warmth. He sensed her suffering. Although Jerit did not know of the Sith's past, there was still a chance to turn her good before something terrible happened.
You don't have to do this. Let go of your anger! Please, I do not want to hurt you...
