Mission Ascendancy of Defiance | An Age of Strife Story

[Margo Liaeris]

Fortunate Son

Special Commando Advanced Recon

Objective: Operation Trident
Location: Nirauan - Tansen Dam Approach
Tags: Gavyn Berand | Lily Stevens | Hal Vaiken | Andro Stratus

As the explosions rippled through the edge of the forest, it would appear as though the Chiss troopers had fallen for Margo’s ploy. She could hear the commotion inside the heavy repeater emplacement, with several voices yelling incoherent commands/status updates. She could spy the emplacement articulate to the approximate vector of her explosives. As an added bonus, she saw several troopers emerge from around the hump concealing the jammer over to the bunker.

There it was - a small shack stood there approximately twenty meters away from her location. It appeared to be little more than a reinforced shipping container, with the Chiss likely placing it here via drop ship during their rapid advance. Sandbag barricades ringed the jammer with a handful of troopers manning the exterior perimeter. With the commotion of the repeater emplacement, the handful of guards appeared to shift to an increased stance of alertness.

One trooper stood nearest to her, his range of vision focused on the area to her right, near the approach she had just came down from around the emplacement. Another stood near the crest of the defilade, using a set of binocs to try and find any indication of incoming NIO troopers from the blast. A third soldier entered the shack and escaped her view. For all she knew, there was at least another soldier within the shack. She had to assume as much, and proceed accordingly.

But she was already running out of time a few minutes prior. She did not have the luxury to wait any longer. She slung her rifle across her form, attached the blaster silencer attachment to her pistol, and sprung into action. She rounded the tree trunk she was positioned behind and leveled her pistol.

One... two...

Two shots flew through the air, impacting hard into the sentry. The first shot landed in his midsection just below the right shoulder, with the second shot shattering his clavicle. While the silencer did much to mute the stopping power of her particle pistol, it was still strong enough to kill. Thankfully.

She rushed forward, clearing the distance between herself and the barricade just as the trooper with the binocs turned to descend the crest. She paused, and fired three more shots. A muffled grunt escaped his lips as he skidded down, blood staining the grass in a grotesque trail as he slumped to the bottom of the hill. She holstered her pistol and cleared her knife from its sheath as she ran to the entrance of the shack. She rushed forward, coming face to face with the third trooper as she did so.

While an instant of panic gripped him, cold precision directed her motions in advance of any conscious thought. Her knife blade punched through the seam at the base of his neck, a moist gurgling noise escaping his breath as she fell forward while he fell backward. She tumbled forward and rose to her feet just as - as she feared - a fourth figure stood there with his cerulean maw agape at what transpired in front of him. She quick drew her pistol and fired, and although her shots rang true, they did so just as he loosed a shot of his own. The bolt impacted hard against her breast plate, knocking her back firmly into the back wall of the outpost. She didn’t feel anything, for adrenaline rushed through her veins. There was no time to check the damage, no time to see if she had yet another problem to worry about. She pulled a detpack from her kit and set it onto the mainframe of the jammer. She keyed in a time sequence, giving herself twenty seconds from the point she pressed the start button.

Blaster shots rang out behind her, impacting hard against the durasteel paneling mere inches from her head. She punched the timer and turned, charging through the open door. The troopers who had left previously had returned, and rained down fire upon her as she ran. Several shots missed into the dirt, with her armor tanking the ones that hit home. She ran as fast as she could, diving into cover behind a bank of stones just as the massive explosion erupted behind her. As she hit the dirt, she wrestled her way back up to her feet while simultaneously pulling her rifle from its slung position. She leveled it down range only to see confusion erupt in front of her. The troopers that had fired at her were on their backs from the force of the explosion, with the bunker in complete disarray from the unexpected explosion.

Near instantly, the squad’s tactical huds and comm frequencies would intensify in strength almost ten-fold. Margo’s voice bled over the comm channel to Sgt. Vaiken, along with the rest of the squad. <”Jammer down, but we’ve made a hell of an entrance.”> Blaster fire would be heard near the tail end of her statement as she fired three-round bursts at what troopers had turned in her direction from the repeater nests. Several Chiss troopers fell from her fire, yet she soon had to duck for cover as exponentially more blaster shots scorched the stone in front of her.

She took the momentary respite to check herself, with a small sigh of relief escaping her lips. The charric bolts singed the plating near her sternum and rear-side, but thankfully remained intact. But she could not rest on her laurels quite yet. <”Relaying my coordinates. Right now, the troopers in the repeater nest are focusing on my location. Air support would be appreciated, mark Whiskey Six Three, Delta Two Seven - fire for effect!”>

<”Reaper, Berand; what’s your status?”> If the force was kind, they would have taken her distraction as the opportunity it was, and fallen the hell back

 

[Jordi Massad]

4th post

MISSION: ASCENDANCY OF DEFIANCE
AN AGE OF STRIFE STORY
OPERATION: DAMOCLES

Codename: Scimitar

Emir of the Massad Fedayeen

BELIGERENTS
(COMPNOR VS. CEI)

Sylus (Γ059) Kastav Volff Rika Hiro Yuna Kai

Kyros of Memnon

WAY OF THE SWORD: DAMOCLEAN BY NATURE - PART 4

C-Zone Life-Support Hub, Brask Oto Station,
The Redoubt (Early-877 ABY)

<"This is Vixen, to all Imperial units. We've just made our way into the base we'll make our way to the designated waypoints. Hopefully, we'll link up on the way.">

<"Sparrow to Vixen, I'm located on floor three? on my own right now, and I'd really love some support, I'll triangulate my coordinates to your datapad, sparrow out.">​

With eyes looking up toward the ceiling, Jordi muttered,'Hmmm.... If I find an elevator somewhere, fine. But no more maintenance hatches now.', to himself as he snatched up the last piece of his deceased opponent's trooper-armour. Slipping every last piece on for authenticity, Jordi would wait before placing his helmet on, hoping to find any identifying Chiss-Expansionist insignia that would complete the disguise to ensure safely-accurate coverage beyond that point. This wouldn't take long as the CEI-pin had been found lodged between two rungs of an interface-cooling grill, easily pried out and promptly magnetised to the cortosis-fibre Plastoid of the dead Chiss' trooper-cuirass, and with a little wipe, the small flecks of blood were removed before the Kandaran was assured enough for his own safety to proceed.

<"Rama Actual, this is Scimitar. I have an idea, but it will require you to stay off my floor until I succeed, and should you choose to try it for yourself, will require me to stay off yours in turn.... Wear - their - armour, play the broken-comms act, kill - up - close.">​

Then, as much it irritated Massad in that moment, Jordi was left with no other choice but to make one last use of the maintenance-hatch; dragging the corpse of his assailant to the opening he had climbed out from before, then dropping him into the hatch and down the ladder-well to fall all the way down to the loading-docks three levels below, a nasty splat in particular that would horrify anyone left wandering the station's lowest floor. Not Jordi's problem, not Jordi's obligation, all he required was covered tracks and time bought to work at his best, though there would be nothing Scimitar could do about the blood-spatters or dragging-smears he left uncovered, the timed depth-charge he left behind would cover all that mess well enough.

'Now.... To play mindgames on their coordinator, or not to play mindga-'

BOOOOOM!!!!​

'No sluggish timers in my inventory.... Like clockwork every time.'

 

[Kyros of Memnon]

STRATEGIC COMMANDER OF THE RECLAMATION
OPERATION DAMOCLES
COUNTER OPERATIONS COMMENCED

SPECIAL OPERATIONS GROUPS
ALPHA SOG [15/30]
BRAVO SOG [13/30]
CHARLIE SOG [9/30]
DELTA SOG [7/30]​

His headset rattled with activity as the battle behind the blast doors continued its pace. It was an annoyance, to say the least, to hear the constant chattering of men screaming their final breaths, and the ambient sound of blaster fire that echoed over the radio both prior and after their untimely departure. Some might've found the situation grim, and as a result of that in itself, depressing. Dac felt little in the way of despair in regards to the current situation, which was admittedly deteriorating as the minutes continued to tick onwards. What teams that had been routed to the defense were being overwhelmed, and taking losses that were depleting their numbers to an unacceptable amount.

What stratagems he had beneath his belt would potentially prove effective against the elements of COMPNOR present, but nonetheless he could not foresee a future which ended with a route of Imperial forces in his sector of the battle. Reserves were still flooding into the FOB, regular army units being called upon and massed together as he plotted his next course of action. He cared little for the many regular soldiers who'd perished in the defense already, but his SOG teams were a modicum of more importance to his plans moving forwards. As much as he wished not to cede ground or momentum, hard choices would have to be made if he were to preserve his echelon of praetorians for the struggles that were to come.

"SOG Alpha through Delta."

Their comms were brought to life with Dac's voice, who spoke across an open channel that the SOG teams had shared in instances such as these.

"Primary blast doors one and two will be opening in ten seconds. Regular army reserves will be taking your place; withdraw on me to the FOB immediately."

A familiar creak of the previously inactive blast doors would signal to the men on the other side that their orders were now a go. Klaxons wailed behind it as the reservists in and around the FOB were marshalled by their commanders, and streamed forwards through the now reopened blast doors in what amounted to a suicidal and fanatical charge into the COMPNOR forces on the other side. Charric weapons and standard tibanna-powered rifles spewed forth from the spreading horde of Chiss soldiers, who ignored the tactical coverage that was around, and instead relied on their zeal to send them streaming forwards at the defenders with everything they had.

With wasn't much, if Dac were to be honest.

Plenty of them were cut down in the initial charge, leaving stacks of blue-tinted bodies within the blast door's opening as a result. Dac's Special Operation Groups -- or what was left of them, at least -- withdrew over the mounds of corpses, utilizing their brethren fighting behind them as the fodder that they were to cover themselves thoroughly. Their retreat was pulled off successfully, yet as a result of the regulars themselves having thrown their ranks into the Imperial's lines of fire, their dead comrades were blocking the blast doors from being able to close shut.

This presented Dac with his first clear line of sight of the carnage that had beholden his men, to which he'd offer a simply blink of his crimson eyes before his attention returned to the present. His subordinates waited patiently around him, their men idling around in a defensive pattern in the meantime. Dac shifted his gaze back to the black-clad Chiss, and unholstered his pistol into the grip of his hand.

"We withdraw to High Command."

His men gave him a nod, and Dac led the way, moving with haste at the vanguard of his SOG teams, and hoping the Chiss that were thrown at the Imperials would die slowly to buy them time.

Jordi Massad | Sylus (Γ059) | Kastav Volff | Rika Hiro | Yuna Kai
​

​

 

[Nukth Kelga'an]

Ascendancy of Defiance​

---

THE EMPIRE
THIRD SECTOR DEFENCE FORCES
First Anaxsi Free Brigade -- Second TodHusars Regiment
'Banshee' Company​

---

- IV -
BERZINGUE FROM ANAXES
Er'kit Solutions -- Part. II​

Interacting with: Rose Dorce Faraak Apollo Kurze
— 876 ABY, New Carannia powerplant, Nirauan

Everything was different, now. The Chiss had begun their assault on the Imperial powerplant and all the Tods under Nukth Kelga’an’s orders were moving forward alongside several units of the Fifth Sector Defence Force, such as the Myrmidons. The captain had been prepared for a hard fight but he remained on his guard -- it was impossible to know exactly how would the Chiss engage the Imperial. The only element which was certain was that the Reclamationists didn’t intend to let Nirauan to their newly-created enemies. But the Empire wasn’t on the verge of letting Nirauan go with those dissidents. Within hundreds of worlds, Nirauan was an important part of Imperial culture, having been its capital city for a while before Bastion. Kelga’an knew that. He knew what losing their homeworld meant -- he already lost Anaxes several decades before this very moment. The Anaxsi would hold the line until the Chiss would go back to their home.

:: Bravo-Terrathree-Leader, this is Goldish-Actual speakin’! Chiss have deployed paratroopers around there! I repeat: paratroopers on Thorn’s position! Over! ::

The 1st and 2nd companies from the 2nd TodHusars Regiment had been leading the battle against the Chiss on board a couple of dropships deployed from the tarmac in the surroundings of the powerplant. If the beginning of their trip to the front of the Reclamationists’ columns had been easy, the fight seemed to radically change its form at this exact moment. The newly-come paratroopers from the Nirauan Battle Group changed the course of events in the plains of Nirauan. The captain took a look at the Chiss vessels that were carrying airborne soldiers. In the skies, before the arrival of the troops on Kawas’ position, the ships deployed a large number of leaflets made to discourage the Imperials.

« Imperial soldiers, » Kelga’an started to read aloud so his sons could hear it, « your defeat is inevitable. Surrender an’ your lives will be spared. Fight an’ you’ll be buried in unmarked graves. Is this foreign to you world worth the sorrow of your loved ones… »

« … Do not repeat Noris, » completed Forr who stood on his right. « Cap’… »

The captain shook his head: « This is nothin’, officer. Only propaganda. They’re tryin’ t’make us painful about their fate, but they’re the only architects of their destruction. » The TodHusar held his assault rifle, getting a look at the surroundings of the powerplant, where the Chiss had just begun to arrive. Raising his hand above his head, the Imperial-Anaxsi officer ordered a forced march to join the Chiss’ positions. Several officers nodded while hearing the instructions of the so-called sieur.

:: Bravo-Terrathree, here’s Kawa-Actual, speakin’! We’re drowned by Chiss paratroopers! I repeat: CHISS PARATROOPERS ON THE POWERPLANT! WHO COPY? ::

:: Here’s Bravo-Terrathree-Leader, Nukth, speakin’! Copy that Kawa-Actual -- sendin’ two combat sections on your positions! Try to make your way until they’ll be on-site! We’re movin’ forward for the moment -- the Chiss are tryin’ to encircle the powerplant’s perimeter. KEEP ATTENTION…! OVER! :: Kelga’an quickly answered as the Kawas were managing to find a way out. The survival of Operational Force Bravo-Terrathree was linked to the mortars under the protection of the 5th Support Company from « La Sagaie ». By the way, the Kawas were able and formed to defend themselves, but this lack of support from the artillery group during the time they would be defending their siege engines could have an impact on the Imperial advance.

:: Goldish-Actual to Bravo-Terrathree-Leader -- deployment of our paratroops! OVER! ::

Anyway, the Tods and the Myrmidons had a job to do, a mission to complete for the Empire. Behind the enemy lines, the TodHusars had been dropped to face Chiss Besh Command, trying to encircle their positions. Making their way within the blue columns, according to their renown, the Husars were savagely attacking the Chiss, using petty warfare and guerilla tactics so the Chiss would be bewildered.

:: Copy that, Goldish-Actual! Be sure to secure your troops before mowing those rascals down. Over! ::

The Imperial-Anaxsi troops had been organised by Captain Kelga’an: the Tods settled themselves all around the front led by Besh Command and the Captain allocated sections of Husars every 500 meters on the frontline to absorb the movement of the Chiss Army. With the support of the artillery which would come again soon, they would form an unbreakable line of defence against Faraak’s soldiers.

They waited for the moment when the Chiss would reach them.​

​

 

[Aoki-Barran Mira]

O P P E R A T I O N - K N I G H T F A L L
O B J E C T I V E - T W O
N O - R E G R E T S . . .

Primary Objective: Take control of the station.
Secondary Objective: Attack Zodt with Sahar.
Location: Brask Oto Command Station.
Equipment: In biography.
Friendlies: The Empire.
Enemies: Chiss Restorationists.
Allies: Sahar
Hostiles: Sinestra

Mira was gripped under immense pressure. Through the Force, her opponent crushed her in an iron grip around her throat. She choked, lifting one hand to grasp her neck while barely clinging to her sword. She was suspended in the air, looking into the eyes of a sinister Chiss. Through her visor, she gagged. She could not breathe!

It was then that she heard her speciest partner shouting loudly, demanding to meet their opponent. Mira embraced the moment. She took a breath, lifting her katana above her head. Lightning from her family sword crackled, the electro sword function activated. Shaking, she threw the sword at the Chiss, aiming at his chest while her partner's bellows distracted him.

Her body went limp. She gasped for air once more, wondering if she was to meet her family today...

 

[FN-999]

Spoiler: Theatre Map

Recent Actions
​

• All 908th units charge in an attempt to bring the Imperials and Chiss close enough together to ensure orbital bombardment by the Chiss will result in friendly fire​
• The 1st Spacetrooper Platoon (1st Space) is deployed from Fort Yularen en route into orbit​

N I N E S​

Operation: Phalanx
Operational Support: 709th / Aerys Fortan / Amiggie Lutih | Goidels / DECEASED Aron Gowrie | 313th / Asanté Tsilor
Opposing: 1st Chiss Expeditionary Army under Faraak | Chiss bombardment by Orn'om

FN-999 came to in a gray room.
​

He lay on what felt like a medical cot, the noises of medics and the wounded surrounding him. His puncture wounds were gone, the marks of the metal that had impaled his body little more than slightly pale patches of skin. His armor and arsenal had apparently been removed for the operation, and only his medical garbs covered his otherwise naked body.

It was by far the lightest clothing he had worn in months.

As his senses returned to him, so did a rising wave of discomfort. His Imperial uniform was like a second skin for him, and he felt incredibly vulnerable in his light garbs. If a spy was among the medical staff, all they would have to do is stick a knife in the right artery and he'd bleed out in an instant.

"Someone give me my uniform." ordered FN-999, leaning forwards to place himself upright on the cot.

"I'm afraid it's in no condition for you to wear." replied a medical officer who had been standing behind him.

FN-999 hadn't expected someone to be right behind him, and he instinctively reached for a pistol that wasn't there. Still, the medic appeared unfazed, and the legion commander took a moment to recall the incident that had landed him in the hospital in the first place. The metal from the annihilated command center had pierced both his armor and undersuit, leaving far too many openings to safely wear into battle. He supposed that a new set was in order.

"Is there a new set on its way?" asked FN-999.

"It's already here, along with your sword." replied the medic. "Look to the right of your cot."

Surely enough, a full set of new stormtrooper armor with an undersuit was on a repulsor-equipped equipment rack hovering not far off the ground. On top of the armor was Iustitia, his trusty sword spared from any notable damage. So too was his pistol, with an extra magazine generously provided.

"Thank you." responded FN-999. "Please excuse me."

"Of course." concluded the medic before leaving and closing a sheet of drapes previously bunched behind FN-999.

Almost fully revitalized, he got to his feet without much effort and began the routine process of changing clothes.

Several minutes later, he was fully clothed and armored, his bald head fully concealed by his helmet. He exited the draped area and entered the larger medical ward, passing by several medics and enlisted stormtroopers. Upon seeing a trooper with a major's pauldron approach, FN-999 knew his duty as overall commander would resume shortly.

"Greetings, major." introduced FN-999. "I assume you're here to debrief me on the 908th's actions while I was unconscious."

"Yes, sir." replied the major. "You're currently in a field hospital about a kilometer behind Bigfoot's command. Just as you ordered, Silvertongue, Bigfoot, and Bozo formed their own sectional commands and continued to execute Operation Pipeline. Silvertongue reached the furthest planned retreat of his command and is now holding the line with artillery support from the fort. Bigfoot is launching an incremental offensive with the strongest forces on his right flank. Bozo and the Goidels are making excellent progress pushing back the Chiss right flank. Overall casualties are estimated as moderate but manageable, and slightly lower than that of the Chiss."

Good. As long as Bozo and Bigfoot did not lose their momentum, the entire Chiss army could be dislodged from their initial offensive positions in a matter of minutes. Silvertongue was also a competent commander, and FN-999 was confident his defense would hold until reinforced by Bigfoot's divisions. Then, the third and most critical phase of Operation Pipeline would begin. It was almost too good to be true.

Suddenly, the entire facility rattled as a resounding boom drowned out every other sound in the area. At first, he thought the mobile hospital had been targeted. However, after a few seconds, the ground settled and the building remained intact.

"What's happening?!" asked FN-999 of the major.

"No clue!" replied the major, just as shocked as his superior. "This is the first time I've heard something like this."

"I'll be right back." muttered FN-999 before dashing to the end of the hallway, opening the main door to view the battlefield in the distance.

He emerged just in time to see a massive laser bolt descend from the sky a kilometer ahead, slamming into the already barren ground.

The resulting explosion was ten times larger than what even the heaviest piece of field artillery could produce. The blast was so loud that it traveled as a shockwave, nearly knocking the breath out of FN-999's lungs a kilometer away. Seconds later, a third explosion struck about two kilometers to the west, with similar devastating scale. Dozens of smaller blasts rained down from high above, creating a nearly nonstop stream of explosions.

Suddenly, a transmission came in through his helmet comms.

[Nines, this is - - foot. I heard you're up. - - need help now. Our entire line - - orbital bombardment - - our signals.]

[Bigfoot? If you can hear me, give me some sort of response.]

[Yes, - -]

[Okay. I want you to commit to a full offensive, don't bother with increments. Close the distance between the two lines ASAP.]

[- -. Big - - - -]

[All Imperial forces around Fort Yularen, this is Nines. We are being bombed from orbit. Evacuate the wounded to the fort and attack on every front. The closer quarters combat we have with the tratiors, the more they will be struck by their own bombardment. Nines, out.]

Just as he was about to retreat, FN-999 felt another idea enter his brain. It was a risky one, but it was even riskier to leave the bombarding vessel unmolested.

Two years ago, FN-999 had been on the board of engineers constructing spacetrooper armor based on Old Imperial blueprints. Since then, they had modernized the armor and figured out how to standardize its production, reviving the concept of the zero-gravity space trooper for the first time since the reign of the Old Empire over eight hundred years prior. As a key contributor to the suit's design, FN-999 had been gifted a hundred of the first spacetrooper armor suits to equip his legion. In the three months since then, he had drilled a hundred of his physically finest troopers rigorously, preparing them to be the ultimate heavy marines.

Now, these novice spacetroopers were the only soldiers in the entire 908th capable of ending the bombardment.

For the first time in over eight hundred years, spacetroopers would take to the sky and the stars above.

[Fort Yularen, this is Nines. Deploy the 1st Space into orbit.]

 

[Sahar]

Sahar|Imperial Knights|Operation Knightfall
Tags:// Aoki-Barran Mira Lucien Dooku Sinestra

Now she found the blue-skinned bastard, tall and terrible in all his might and stature, facing down Mira the novice little knight who was either brave or stupid to fight him alone. Sahar watched the Chiss and Mirialan-Atrisian square off, angrily turning her lightsaber off and watching with the same intense burning hatred she had reserved for so many of the Chiss's kin in the station. Her feelings were straightforward; Sahar wanted to see the little bird prove herself.

No niceties, no empathy for those of the empire, simply just no mercy and death for reactionaries. The little bird had to fly, and prove herself like Sahar had, like everyone else devoted to the cause, to this empire, to Imperialism. It was make or break, Mira had to show killer instinct, not mercy to this animal.

"Kill him and be done with it!"​

 

[Sinestra]

LORD ZODT
Lord-General of the Chiss Force Corps
Brask Oto Command Station
The Chiss Reclamation

I​

Zodt's attention had drifted to the new Knight on the scene, leaving the blade of the Mirialan Knight to catch him by surprise. Only the rigorously trained reflexes of a warrior saved him from a quick death as his body shuffled low and to the side. The electrified blade pierced through his shoulder like a pike and the behemoth of a Chiss staggered back, teeth clenched in pain and blood trickling down the scorching wound.

Rage engulfed his heart as his fists clenched in fury, nails digging deep into his flesh till small droplets of blood trickled down.

"You'll pay dearly, human!" he seethed at the two as the dark side clamored for revenge. Zodt sprung both hands forward and unleashed a storm of force lightning upon both.

He would revel in their agony as they screamed for mercy.

And there would be none.
​

ENGAGING: Aoki-Barran Mira Sahar
ENEMY: Lucien Dooku Rakaan Horne Matma Bernu
ALLIES: Tris

 

[DECEASED Aron Gowrie]

5th post

MISSION: ASCENDANCY OF DEFIANCE
AN AGE OF STRIFE STORY

WILDCAT_ONE

BRIGADIER-GENERAL OF WILDCAT DIVISION

BELIGERENTS
(IMPERIAL ARMED FORCES VS. CHISS EXPANSIONARY ARMY)

Saul Vandron FN-999 Aerys Fortan Asanté Tsilor
Amiggie Lutih Adenn Munin Alex Eldar Orik Dakari

Faraak Jett Orn'om

TRIBULATIONS OF THE WILDCATS: SONS OF HEROES - PART FIVE

​

KHISAT OUTSKIRTS, COASTAL WARFRONT,
NEW CARANNIA OUTSKIRTS, NIRAUAN (EARLY-877 ABY)

<"Myles to Wildcat One! All bridges leading into town have been destroyed as ordered, Milord.... The Expansionists you trapped, more-specifically the ones killing the local civilians, are now trapped in with the majority of the contingent you sent in.">

<"You've made your point, Echo Five. Just have a little faith if you can, as we need to believe they know what they're doing over there.... Its the only way, lad. The only way for now. Wildcat One out!">​

There was no doubt a lot going on within the village of Khisat, but in seeing how densely built up the area was, Brigadier-General Gowrie had no doubt in his mind that such settings held advantages in abundance for infantry-heavy arrays. Mulgrew was nodding in agreement as he listened in for as long as the correspondence was active, still sitting at the opposite side of the Holographic plinth, though he would still weigh in with a muttered,'I mean, we could use our MLVs as well but - I get the feeling this is a particular ace up your sleeve at the moment?', studying his commanding-officer through the blips and the map-lines floating between them. Receiving a light-hearted (though still somewhat smug) snigger in response, young Kier wound his neck back and responded,'Oh, is that how it is? Fair enough, but you'll still need to show me what I'm missing though.... Not keeping this to yourself, sur. Not even maybe.', with a particularly Woadish smirk offered in retort to the laughter itself.

'We never brought our MLRS-systems for the Chiss in Khisat, we brought them for the retreating Chiss up north instead, but we can't use them until the coastline is clear enough to roll 'em in.'

Mulgrew, as sound as the plan clearly was, couldn't help but laugh at the fact Gowrie had been applying another layer to his already-multifaceted battleplan, seeing the true skill for strategy appearing in all it's glory, and as a result, easily deducing the reason why such a contingent lasted so long in the first place. Mulgrew was serving subordinate to the real deal, as the real deal had with his generation's iteration of warfighting excellence, and in this revelation, the young officer felt assured in the knowledge that his life was in the hands of one who wouldn't waste or throw it to the wolves. A comfort of which Kier had never thought he would have the chance to know, a comfort the lad never thought was even possible for the sterner, stronger officers around him, and as far as 2nd-Leftenant Mulgrew was concerned, this guaranteed the fact he really was in the right place to make a difference after all - and at the right time.

'Pot's still tipping, so we keep our cards close to our chests for now.'

<"McLellan to Wildcat One! We've got a squad o' surrendering Expansionists, what's the policy here?">​

'Soon though- hold on a moment.'

<"No way to funnel them out now, only one thing you can do sadly. But do us a favour an' jus' make it quick - humane an' such.... Time's a-wastin' anyway, Sergeant. You know how it is out here. Wildcat One out!">​

 

[Tris]

Operation Knightfall
Nightdragon of the Chiss Ascendancy
Special Observer to the Chiss Reclamation

Allies: Sinestra
Enemies: Sahar | Aoki-Barran Mira | Lucien Dooku | Rakaan Horne​

Lightning? Tris sucked her teeth. She had thought these "Imperial Knights" eschewed the Dark Side. The attacks came in sync- the lightning from her left the Knight from her right. She danced between them, one blade swing to meet the lightning, the other deactivating as she spun away. Flicking her wrist she redirected the lightning at the second knight as she twisted away.

"I don't mind entertaining two at a time but at least wait your turn."

 

[Seydou of Thyrsus]

SUPREME COMMANDER OF ARMY GROUP NIRAUAN
THE CHISS RECLAMATION
BATTLE FOR NIRAUAN

Spoiler: Intel Log #1.5 - OPERATIONAL MAP

BATTLE FOR FORT YULAREN​

1ST CHISS EXPANSIONARY ARMY
3rd Mechanized Division [STR 4/5]
4th Mechanized Division [STR 0/5]
5th Infantry Division [STR 4/5]​

Spoiler: dice rolls

"Sir, with all due respect, but you cannot be serious. The 4th Mechanized's fighting strength is depleted, while the 3rd has recklessly overextended our front line risking an encirclement. We need to retreat from the offensive... fully." Naroth protested.

"I have been taught to win battles, adjutant, not to retreat." Faraak coldly replied, "Our people expect Nirauan on a plate and I shall deliver -- order the 3rd, 4th, and 5th to fall back towards the 1st and 2nd at the coastline. The Imperials are arrogant, they will pursue and abandon their entrenched defensive positions--"

"Sir, the risk is too great. With the coastline at our back, any mista--"

"--we will lure them out from their safe confines beneath the fort and destroy them and any false sense of hope they may have garnered so far."

"...understood, Supreme Commander."

Tactical Withdrawal vs. FN-999 Orik Dakari DECEASED Aron Gowrie

| RIGHT FLANK | 3rd Mechanized Division General Vinor Traits:
- Media Personality

Miraculously or not, the 3rd's fighting strength remained largely intact despite General Vinor's hubris allowing the division to fall in the range of the heavy emplacements of the Fort. While he protested Faraak's order of retreat at first, he was subtly reminded of the repercussions of not following superior orders and thus conceded. The 3rd began pulling out of the spearhead they had created and advanced towards DECEASED Aron Gowrie 's rear near the coastline.

Tactical Withdrawal vs. FN-999
| CENTER | 5th Infantry Division General Stini Traits:
- Cautious

With losses beginning to mount for the 5th Inf Division after the Chiss Navy carpet-bombed the front from orbit, General Stini was relieved to hear the order for a withdrawal from his superior the Supreme Commander. Wounded were swiftly abandoned while what remained of salvageable hardware was rigged by combat engineers to stall the expected Imperial pursuit of the withdrawing Chiss. Stini believed drawing the Imperials out of their entrenchments at the Fort would bring his men at more favorable odds than before even if they risked having no clear escape route at the coastline.​

BLITZ OF THE COAST​

1ST CHISS EXPANSIONARY ARMY
1st Armor Division [STR 3/5]
2nd Mechanized Division [STR 2/5]​

​

Relentless Assault vs. DECEASED Aron Gowrie
1st Armor Division General Aard Traits:
- Harsh Leader

Fuming at the Imperials' cunning, General Aard was jubilant to receive Faraak's new orders. He ordered the 1st Armor Division into a full all-out assault at DECEASED Aron Gowrie 's positions hoping to use his overwhelming numbers and guns to press the Imperial into the advance of the 3rd Mechanized from the Fort and overrun the Imperials at the coastline once and for all.​

2nd Mechanized Division General Jath Traits:
- Inflexible Strategist

Supporting Aard's all-out assault on DECEASED Aron Gowrie , the 2nd Mechanized follows the 1st Armor's advance despite the mounting losses.​

BLITZ OF THE POWER PLANT​

2ND CHISS EXPANSIONARY ARMY
AUREK COMMAND Objective: Cut off Yularen advance to the Plant
Encircle West of the Plant
1st Armor Division [STR 4/5]
3rd Mechanized Division [STR 4/5]
5th Infantry Division [STR 5/5]​

Spoiler: dice rolls

Spoiler: Visualization of Attack vectors

Aurek passes this round.

2ND CHISS EXPANSIONARY ARMY
BESH COMMAND Objective: Encircle East of the Plant
2nd Mechanized Division [STR 2/5]
4th Infantry Division [STR 2/5]​

​

Nukth Kelga'an

As the 4th Infantry suffered great losses to their strength in their engagement with Nukth Kelga'an 's units and with Supreme Commander Faraak's urgency to have the power plant taken to nullify any success the Imperials might have at the fort, General Tonr of the 4th sent a messenger to Captain Nukth Kelga'an and any other Imperial commanding officer responsible for defending the power plant that stated the following:

To the Imperial Commander of the encircled power plant. The fortune of war is changing. The Imperial forces in and near the New Carannia Power Plant have been encircled by an overwhelming force of Chiss units.Orbital bombardment has decimated your comrades and any hope you may carry for reinforcements. There is only one possibility to save the encircled Imperial stormtroopers from total annihilation: that is the honorable surrender of the encircled power plant. In order to think it over a term of two hours will be granted beginning with the presentation of this note.
If this proposal should be rejected I will have no choice but to annihilate the Imperial stormtroopers in and near the power plant. The order for firing will be given immediately after this two hours term.

- General Tonr​

​

 

[Hal Vaiken]

S A R G E
501st LEGION
IMPERIAL SPECIAL FORCES
SCAR SQUADRON
Margo Liaeris Gavyn Berand Lily Stevens

OPERATION: TRIDENT
​

The commander of the Chiss security detail had been killed by Margo's ploy and the Chiss soldiers protecting the jammer had fallen into disarray. Their objective had been to protect the jammer but its smoldering remains indicated the failure of their duty. The remaining NCOs, now certain of the numbers of Imperials in the vicinity, looked to solve their problem by throwing numbers at it. Reinforcements had been called from the dam itself and soon the jammer's perimeter would be flooded by Chiss soldiers seeking to have SCAR's heads on a plate.

Meanwhile, aboard the recon corvette Deceptor...

:: Copy that, Liaeris -- well done, SCAR Squadron. :: he replied over the comms where the signal had finally cleared up. Sarge muted the mic to draw a deep sigh of relief after a long period of blackout in communication between him and his soldiers. He scoured the tact-map table for any signs of his cigarettes but found nothing.

:: Sir, SCAR has fifteen minutes until exfil. :: the signal officer's face once more materialized as a hologram next to the map. His tone sounded grim.

:: What's... the bad news? :: he grumbled.

:: With the jammer destroyed, Warbreaker is going to fire at the dam. Orbit strike's ETA is five minutes. ::

:: WHAT? ::

:: I am sorry, Sir, but that's the window of time they have. The Chiss have been screening diligently the world at every vector possible. ::

:: God damn useless Navy!! :: Hal slammed his fist on the desk, the holograms shuddering in response. :: They're gonna fucking drown there! Why the hell's exfil so slow-- does no one in this good for nothing Navy plan ahead?!? ::

:: I'm sorry, Sir. :: Sarge cut the comms with the signal officer, nostrils fuming in anger.

He squeezed his fists repeatedly, forcing his usual composure to wash away the fury surging through his veins, before clearing his throat and opening a line back to SCAR:

:: SCAR... this is Sarge -- get to higher ground, stat! Orbit strike ETA is five minutes. Exfil - fifteen. Get as fast as hell to a higher elevation and await exfil. ::

​

 

[Sylus (Γ059)]

OPERATION DAMOCLES
ISB/COMPFORCE TASK FORCE​

Location: Brask Oto Station, in the tunnels
Equipment: BH-Specter Slicer Vibroknife, Hekler'Kok Survival Machete, DSP-61x Hybrid Pistol, CK-60 01x Disruptor Carbine, Hellion-class Commando Armour Mk I

Tags:
COMPNOR: Kastav Volff Jordi Massad Yuna Kai Rika Hiro @ISB in case i forgot
CHISS: Kyros of Memnon
​

"Sparrow to Vixen, I'm located on floor three? on my own right now, and I'd really love some support, I'll triangulate my coordinates to your datapad, sparrow out."

<"Rama-Actual to Vixen, monitor hallways B-62 passing by your coordinates. Possible retreating Chiss Operatives passing by.">

Sylus continued to crawl through the ducts, carefully monitoring his path on the HUD's map. He had lost direct signal with many of the other ISB agents, but some of their signals did break through from time to time as the agent cut through the station's tunnels.

Now inside a tight duct, Sylus halted before a grille, holding his body still as he heard loud footsteps trotting past him below. The footsteps matched the Chiss operatives' armour. A weak signal broke through into his comms.

<"Rama Actual, this is Scimitar. I have an idea, but it will require you to stay off my floor until I succeed, and should you choose to try it for yourself, will require me to stay off yours in turn.... Wear - their - armour, play the broken-comms act, kill - up - close.">

Sylus thumbed his mic by way of acknowledgement, waiting for the Chiss to pass. When the footsteps grew softer, Sylus continued his crawling, this time breaking away from his original path to tail the group. He set the auxiliary A.I. in his armor to record the new path and start predicting their path based on that.

His HUD lit up again. A CompForce squad had reached sensor range, and were on an intercept path with the Chiss.

<"Squad Forn-2, this is Rama-Actual. Retreating enemy forces at intersection 1-5-5-4. Recommend flanking maneuver.">

<"Forn-2-Actual, copy.">

Sylus sped up, pushing himself forward and lowering himself into a lower tunnel, just above the hallway proper. He could see the CompForce soldiers split up, one group parallel to the Chiss and the other following from behind.

Blaster fire echoed down the long, empty hallways, and the bark of charric bolts answered. Sylus continued, discarding any sense of stealth, rushing through the tunnel, clanging as he went. He was almost above the Chiss when a charric bolt blew a hole through the duct beside Sylus.

Too slow.

Situated above the Chiss was an exit air grate, and Sylus launched himself onto it from a few feet away. He led with his fists, using his enhancements and the crushgaunts to punch through the grate, then push it through, falling into the hallway and into the Chiss. The group scattered, some taken down by CompForce blaster fire, while three others engaged Sylus in melee.

The commando struck one down with his armoured fists almost immediately, dodging away from the blows of the other two. Sylus drew his pistol, but one of the Chiss was faster, knocking it out of his hand. Sylus retaliated with quick jab, blocking the blow of the last Chiss with his forearm. Grunting, he shoved both of them away from him. The CompForce troopers raised their blasters, ready to fire at the Chiss now that they were disentangled from the ISB agent, but Sylus signalled for them to wait, drawing his machete. He wanted to capture intact armor.

The two Chiss drew their knives and charged as one. They were good, Sylus realised. Almost too good. His enhanced reactions almost failed to block a rib shot, and a momentary lapse led to the other knife stabbing into his arm. He grunted through the pain that would send a man to his knees, feeling the unnatural Gamma enhancements working to dampen the pain. He lurched, acting as if he were falling, but stopping at the last moment. This unbalanced the Chiss with his knife in Sylus' arm, enough that Sylus reversed the motion of his parrying machete from the other Chiss and straight into this one's flank. The blade did not cut fully into the operative's armour, but the blow was enough to send him reeling, losing the grip on his knife.

Sylus rolled out of the way of the downward stab of the other Chiss, the one still standing. Before this one could recover, Sylus pulled the knife out of his arm and flung it. It impacted the Chiss' helmet with enough force to crack the optics. Momentarily stunned, Sylus made quick work of the Chiss with his machete into a vulnerable spot, before finishing off the first Chiss.

"Good work Forn-2," Sylus pulled the helmet off one of the Chiss, tossing his carbine to one of the CompForce troopers. "Cover me while I change."

<"Rama-Actual to Scimitar. On sub-level 2A. Plan proceeding as suggested. Rama-Actual going dark,"> he called into his helmet, before taking it off.

Klaxons wailed behind it as the reservists in and around the FOB were marshalled by their commanders, and streamed forwards through the now reopened blast doors in what amounted to a suicidal and fanatical charge into the COMPNOR forces on the other side. Charric weapons and standard tibanna-powered rifles spewed forth from the spreading horde of Chiss soldiers, who ignored the tactical coverage that was around, and instead relied on their zeal to send them streaming forwards at the defenders with everything they had.

As Sylus finished his disguise, he set up an explosive charge beneath his old armour, within which he'd stuffed one of the Chiss. Don't want people looking too closely.

Sylus kept only his machete, knife, and hybrid charric pistol, along with the complement of arms the previous operative was carrying. He was reasonably sure he'd seen other Chiss use it so far in the battle. He was still wondering if he could rip his communicator unit from his old armour when, over the sounds of the klaxons, he heard the footsteps of other Chiss coming down the same hallway towards the direction of the headquarters. They were too close. The klaxons had covered their sounds. Before he could tell the CompForce to scatter, they rushed out from a corner, entering this hallway. The CompForce troopers understood and began firing, some of them making half-hearted strikes at Sylus to keep up the deception, while he deflected their blows with the machete, as if he had taken the non-standard weapon off a body. Before this new Chiss group reached them, the troopers had scattered out of sight, away from the area. As they did, Sylus detonated the charge, sending himself falling backwards into a wall with an all-too-real explosion that threw dust and debris in the air, while destroying his old armour and the corpse of the unlucky Chiss corpse inside. As Sylus slowly got up, he saw one of the CompForce troopers was pinned under a corpse. The Chiss reached him and he saw their helmets turn to him as one helped him up. He knew the look from the way they tilted their heads: they were comm-ing him and he was not replying.

Sylus use the older Imperial hand signals, the ones Chiss would be familiar with, to explain his comms was out. Before they could ask more probing questions, the pinned trooper groaned out loud. Sylus whirled towards him, and as he looked into Sylus' unfamiliar helmeted visage, Sylus understood.

Sylus drew the charric pistol at his hip and shot him dead.

Chiss reservists poured into the hallway not a moment after, fanning out. Sylus pointed in the direction of one of the CompForce groups, but as he did, they popped out of hiding far down the hallway, firing at the group. The Chiss operative signalled to Sylus to return to... High Command?!

"We withdraw to High Command."

His men gave him a nod, and Dac led the way, moving with haste at the vanguard of his SOG teams, and hoping the Chiss that were thrown at the Imperials would die slowly to buy them time.

As a firefight erupted, Sylus ducked out of the way of a blaster bolt that flew much too close for comfort in his direction, before following the other operatives as they headed deeper into the station, past a set of blast doors...

 

[Matma Bernu]

OPERATION KNIGHTFALL

407th Regiment- "Hellions"​

Allies: Sahar | Rakaan Horne | Lucien Dooku | Aoki-Barran Mira
Enemies: Sinestra | Tris

Objective: Subdue Tris.

Matma cursed, cutting off his lightning as the Nightdragon deflected the emerald bolts at Horne, and jumping back to give the Knight room to work with. He was down an eye, and needed time to adapt his combat style to his change in depth perception.

But hey, you still had to be able to make light of the worst situation.

"I can't help that I'm holo-drama handsome and you look like a Hutt. The lady has good taste", Matma quipped, gathering the Force before reaching out with it to grab Tris by an ankle and yanking upwards, hoping to unbalance her long enough for Rakaan to subdue her.

 

[Rakaan Horne]

OPERATION KNIGHTFALL:-
Matma Bernu | Tris

He swallowed whatever snide remark flooded into his mind the moment the rest was uttered, even from Matma. His own blade had shifted across in defense as Rakaan fell onto the backfoot, a sudden blur to absorb the redirected bolts - a use of the Force the former Jedi had seen, but never dared to delve into. Too much left to chance.

Rakaan had rushed forwards with his white blade, a swift strike from one side to the other intended to cleave the Chiss in two. Either deflected or avoided, the Knight returned with another slash and swipe that harboured a killer's intent, whether left to do no more than probe at defenses or not.

 

[Jordi Massad]

5th post

MISSION: ASCENDANCY OF DEFIANCE
AN AGE OF STRIFE STORY
OPERATION: DAMOCLES

Codename: Scimitar

Emir of the Massad Fedayeen

BELIGERENTS
(COMPNOR VS. CEI)

Sylus (Γ059) Kastav Volff Rika Hiro Yuna Kai

Kyros of Memnon

WAY OF THE SWORD: DAMOCLEAN BY NATURE - PART 5

C-Zone Life-Support Hub, Brask Oto Station,
The Redoubt (Early-877 ABY)

<"Rama-Actual to Scimitar. On sub-level 2A. Plan proceeding as suggested. Rama-Actual going dark,">

Gooooood....​

'Krau'lak'an! You got busted comms or some-'

An interception of diverting troops was already being attempted by the time Sylus answered, and on floor 1-C, the general order to fall back would lead the dead Chiss' squad back in the direction of the elevator they had exited just a few minutes beforehand, back toward the explosion that had clearly gotten them all spooked in the first place. High-alert, but not high enough, as every last member of the missing operator's squad had still been assured enough of their own safety that every last barrel in the distance had dropped at the mere sight of Jordi's disguise in the distance.

Throw them off with some of the Cheunh-phrases you learned for the purpose.

It would seem that making the job a little easier for Dokal seems to have it's perks elsewhere too.​

Make-or-break time, and though the native inflections and dialect had been difficult to master, the Kandaran's accent would be a boon to the more difficult aspects when it mattered; and though it was still likely to be detected before long, it was still enough to close the distance and unleash the element of surprise, hoping to execute every last one of them before he was stopped in suspicion. All Scimitar needed was a perfectly close range to give automatic-fire to devastating effect, but not so close that the confused squad-members could grab the Emir's blaster-rifle in the struggle, something Jordi had already considered before they initially spotted him. Calm and collected he would need to be, but this was more to Massad's tempo, faking out and eliminating his adversaries before they could figure out his next moves, like a fisherman - calm like the stream until the fish bites.

*'Nah Basic sah csah, ch'ah ran'as ch'at bun nan'ei ch'itt'suvrecah ch'at ch'at ch'iticev! Vuct'san?'
**"No Basic here, I want to give nothing away to the enemy! Understand?"

Playing to the prudent nature of the man he killed in the C-Zone life-support hub, it seemed to have worked, especially in reference to the nature of the dead man's main reasoning for doubling back in the first place. All their rifles were pointing to the floor by then, with a few still being complacent enough to drop their guards further by turning away from Jordi, altogether too trusting in the abilities of their fallen comrade to survive the Empire's dark-hearted operatives, proven as such when the clueless reply instilled even more hubristic contentment in the others.

'Fine! Have it your way, Schizo'lak'an! *Vei non, han'ei?'
**"What now, genius?"

By then, it was already much too late for all the remaining Chiss on Scimitar's allocated floor-level, but Jordi still felt a little cocky, though just enough to conclude,'Vei non?', in an icily disdainful tone before unleashing blue trails in rapid-fire on the unsuspecting squad-leader first. Next, the others, and in a strafe from the hip, the hallway would resound with the panicked screams of his enemies, almost drowned out by the screeching energy-bursts as Massad tried his best to clear the hallway in one effective sweep. This wouldn't take long, which came as a great relief to Jordi in the realisation they were all dead after a certain point, and in seeing the red, rippling heat emanating from the rifle itself, the Kandaran quickly learned how close he had veered to the dangers of overclocking blaster technology - a moment that Jordi would refrain from repeating for his own sake as much as that of COMPNOR's.

Easily captured are those wounded by their own hubris.... Be smarter, Jordi.​

 

[FN-999]

Spoiler: Theatre Map

Recent Actions:​

• Phase Three of Operation Pipeline begins​
  • All 908th regional commands advance westward to push Chiss into the sea​
• 1st Spacetrooper Platoon is deployed ~1km below Chimera's Breath​
  • Spacetroopers move to disable masers & other heavy weapons onboard​

N I N E S​

Operation: Phalanx
Operational Support: 709th / Aerys Fortan / Amiggie Lutih | Goidels / DECEASED Aron Gowrie | 313th / Asanté Tsilor
Opposing: 1st Chiss Expeditionary Army under Faraak

FN-999 returned to the mobile hospital, setting up an improv command center.

All at once, the reports filtered in.
​

[Sir, we're facing orbi-bomb. Please send AS.]

[Sir, we're losing men fast. 40% casualties in my company.]

[60% casualties in my company! Requesting immediate assistance!]

[45% casualties in my battalion.]

[We're in complete disarray. Requesting orders.]

​

Amidst the confusion and desperation, a single message brought FN-999 out of his steadily growing pessimism.

[Nines, this is Golden Boy. Chiss are retreating on all fronts, travelling west to the sea.]

He let out an immediate sigh of relief, his worries temporarily evaporating, his support staff momentarily forgotten. Then, he continued.

[Golden Boy, this is Nines. Get ready to keep scouting for the main forces as we charge. Stay sharp, and maybe you'll get some of those babes you're so obsessed about. Nines, out.]

[Yay me!]

[908th Legion and all allied units, this is Nines. Execute Phase Three of Operation Pipeline. Charge as hard and fast westward as the desert winds.]

S P A C E R A C E​

Operation: Phalanx Contingency
Engaging: Chimera's Breath | Orn'om

Major Freefall was almost paralyzed with nervousness.
​

This was his platoon's first ever space operation in real combat. They had drilled in their massive armored suits for months, and yet he still felt so... unqualified. Here they were, a mere hundred spacetroopers, pitted against a vessel reportedly nearly four kilometers long, mainline battlecruisers that led entire Chiss fleets into battle. Even if they successfully bypassed the capital ship's defenses and landed on its hull, it was very possible that their drills, designed for penetrating corvettes and frigates, would be nowhere near sufficient. Freefall knew that Nines was desperate, that he wouldn't have sent off his most powerful special forces unit without excellent cause.

However, it still felt very much like a suicide mission.

One hundred stormtroopers were packed into five modified Excusor sloops sheathed in newly developed Space Armor, and hurled out of Fort Yularen, blasting off into planetary orbit. It was a miracle that Chiss fighters hadn't already intercepted them, perhaps more a testament to the chaotic nature of the battle than any clear Imperial advantage. In their bulky armor, so heavy under gravity that half of the troopers simply sat in their sloops, they were easy targets. However, the closer they got to space, the more comfortable they generally became.

As he too became more comforted, Freefall briefly lamented the irony of his feelings. Normally, terrestrial species felt justifiably nervous travelling into space on small ships, the threat of a cold and silent death just a thin layer of durasteel away. The difference between normal terrestrials and the 1st Space Platoon lay solely in their armor. Just by knowing that they had a natural zero-gravity barrier on their own bodies, the threat of death in space felt infinitely smaller. In fact, space was the best possible location for the spacetroopers of the 1st Space. In zero-gravity, the vast majority of their weaknesses quite literally vanished into the void, and their potential as killing machines truly shined.

That is, if they managed to penetrate the defenses of a four-kilometer long capital ship.

His nervousness temporarily kept in check, Freefall observed that the five sloops, travelling in a V formation, had safely entered orbit. The massive triangular silhouette of the battlecruiser loomed overhead, several huge turrets facing downwards at the planet below. Alarmingly, numerous smaller missile launchers and conventional turrets also littered the vessel's underbelly. Fortunately for the 1st Space, Fort Yularen posed a far larger target than themselves.

The radio inside each of the sloops suddenly came to life, and the wing leader spoke on behalf of Nines on the ground below.

[1st Space, we've gone as far as we can safely carry you. Just to review, disable those heavy guns ASAP and then break as much stuff as safely possible.]

Silent nods were their only confirmation.

The few spacetroopers who had not put on their helmets yet attached the apparatus, completely pressurizing their armor. Personal radio frequencies came to life one by one, as no sound could travel through the vacuum of space.

Then, the panel doors of each sloop opened, and all the air in the room instantly vanished.

Freefall delivered one last message to his men.

[As our predecessors did eight hundred years ago, let's make our Empire proud.]

One hundred spacetroopers entered the vacuum of space directly underneath the Chiss battlecruiser.

One hundred jetpacks roared to life.

 

[Tris]

Operation Knightfall
Nightdragon of the Chiss Ascendancy
Special Observer to the Chiss Reclamation

Allies: Sinestra
Enemies: Rakaan Horne | Matma Bernu​

The human was vicious and on the attack. It was clear what the two's roles were. now. The Chiss, an agitator and the human the threat. It became clear as the Chiss continued to jibe and when he attempted to twist at Tris's ankle with the Force. She batted away the attempt without a second thought. Despite the Chiss' foolishness though she was in a bad spot. It was always better to fight one than two. Trample the weakest one and escape to a better position. The memory came to her suddenly, all her sisters and the one brother clad in heavy armor from over a century ago. They were fighting in groups, the glowing eyes of their instructor watching from an alcove up above.

"Attack!" the voice boomed. "A Dragon surrounded by foes cannot defend himself. Try and the claw will take you in the back while you are parrying the fang. When faced with many enemies, choose the weakest. Kill them. Trample over them, and escape. Only then can you strike back with fire and tail."

Their blades clashed once and then again, her Jar'Kai strong against the Knight's single silver blade.

"I was talking about the human. This whole time, the human." She teased, giving the human knight a venomous smile before jumping back as if to retreat straight into the Chiss Knight before she pivoted on the ball of her foot and spun like a water dancer. Her crimson blades were no water torches though and she turned her attack to the one-eyed Chiss, focusing on the blinded side in her assault.

 

[Orik Dakari]

Operation Phalanx
908th Legion, 303rd Forward Security Battalion, 1st Company, 1st Platoon, Section 1​

Location: Nirauan, Fort Yularen, Left Flank
Objective: Survive

Tags:
FN-999 Faraak​

Spoiler: Roster

1-8 Heavy Weapon/Reserve Fireteam	SGT Orik DAKARI	PVT Jesamin 'Jes' KINALL	PVT Alborn 'Al' JASSAR
1-1 Fireteam 1/ EW-ALE Team	CPL Irican TEPH	PVT Sabe OLPHEN	PVT Mina LENDA
1-2 Fireteam 2	CPL Lara DENE	PVT Rine DENON (reassigned 1-8)	PVT Esac 'Snip' OLCRID
1-3 Fireteam 3	CPL Hysal QELL	PVT Bles HORNE	PVT Neremus SKOS

​

Orik pushed himself deeper into the dirt wall. Hellfire rained down from above, vapourising all that it touched. Every few seconds, the world around him became awash in heat and noise as the plasma. Even inside his Combat Armour, he could feel the heat that washed over the trench as the bombardment continued. Try as he might, the rattling of his skull inside his helmet kept him from forming a single coherent thought. All he could do was wait and pray.

[All Imperial forces around Fort Yularen, this is Nines. We are being bombed from orbit. Evacuate the wounded to the fort and attack on every front. The closer quarters combat we have with the tratiors, the more they will be struck by their own bombardment. Nines, out.]

The roar of bombardment stopped for a moment, and he could hear the shouts around the trench. The command went down the grapevine, the trench bursting into action. The long-range comms crackled with a single order, repeated: <"Close with enemy. Deter bombardment">

Orik got to his feet, stumbling over to the dugouts and the entrance to the hardened underground tunnels. He spotted the wounded MPs of his section amongst the sea of wounded being wheeled away or led away deeper into the tunnels, evacuating from the front. Corporal Teph emerged from the tunnel and nodded to Orik.

"Sergeant, Olphen is gonna make it. I asked after Jes and Horne too but couldn't find them."

Orik nodded.

"Let's find Neremus. We're going over the top."

The two returned up into the trench, and as they hurried over to their EW-ALE position, Orik could hear the shouts of the remaining commanding officers of this part of the trench:

"If you can stand and walk, move to the front NOW!"

"On your feet! We're driving them back!"

A stormtrooper brushed past the MPs, Orik's HUD indicating it was a captain.

"You joining us?"

Orik nodded. The captain continued down the line, calling for the remaining combat-effective soldiers to their feet before the bombardment returned to this section. Orik checked his roster for the hundredth time, though he was not sure why. Not like the dead would return. Orik found Neremus near their EW-ALE in the dirt, having been melted to slag by some explosion.

"On your feet, private. We have traitors to kill," Orik extended his arm to help him up. Neremus looked up and nodded, adjusting his helmet as he got to his feet. Orik spotted other MPs from his Platoon nearby, and some even nodded at him as they moved past him to their positions, recognising each other over their HUDs.

"What are our chances?" Neremus asked, his tone making it clear he did not expect an answer. The commotion in the trench died down as everyone waited at their positions, the wounded already evacuated. Some of the repeaters continued to fire in the vague direction of the incoming Chiss attack.

Orik looked out towards the enemy, checking his blaster.

"Better than theirs."

Their HUDs lit up in unison as the order to attack came on. A swelling roar that could be heard through his helmet went down the line as the men of the 908th Legion got out of their trench and charged into the teeth of the enemy.

Miraculously or not, the 3rd's fighting strength remained largely intact despite General Vinor's hubris allowing the division to fall in the range of the heavy emplacements of the Fort. While he protested Faraak's order of retreat at first, he was subtly reminded of the repercussions of not following superior orders and thus conceded. The 3rd began pulling out of the spearhead they had created and advanced towards DECEASED Aron Gowrie DECEASED Aron Gowrie 's rear near the coastline.

[908th Legion and all allied units, this is Nines. Execute Phase Three of Operation Pipeline. Charge as hard and fast westward as the desert winds.]

Orik lay back in his new foxhole, his blaster smoking, drinking from his armour's hydration tube. By some miracle, his part of the line had made it down to the forward positions they had vacated earlier in the day. The Chiss were shocked by the counter-attack and had fallen back several bounds instead of clinging to the ground they'd won. Clearly, they had not been able to make use of the defensive positions the Imperials had vacated, and had been caught in limbo between attack waves, forced forward too quickly. Friendly artillery had also helped, scattering armoured Chiss support and forcing them to break from formation.

"Sarge, any wounds?" Neremus asked as he dived into the foxhole. "LT ordered me to check on our platoon."

Orik shook his head.

"Doing fine. Corporal Teph got mixed into Section 3 just now."

"Yeah I saw him."

The pair sat in the foxhole, laying against the dirt wall. He could hear the rumbling of armour and fresh infantry moving up from the Fort.

<"1-9-0 to all Sec Coms, do you read.">

Orik tapped his comms. It was the Company Commander.

<"1-1 to 1-9-0, read you loud and clear.">

<"1st Coy will provide supporting fire from current positions for upcoming attack. Do not advance with main attack, repeat, do not advance with main attack. Provide covering fire.">

Orik breathed a sigh of relief.

"We taking a break, sarge?"

Orik shook his head, getting to his feet and dragging the EW-ALE abandoned in this foxhole to the lip of the foxhole.

"Just taking turns. Help me with this."

 

[DECEASED Aron Gowrie]

6th post

MISSION: ASCENDANCY OF DEFIANCE
AN AGE OF STRIFE STORY

WILDCAT_ONE

BRIGADIER-GENERAL OF WILDCAT DIVISION

BELIGERENTS
(IMPERIAL ARMED FORCES VS. CHISS EXPANSIONARY ARMY)

Saul Vandron FN-999 Aerys Fortan Asanté Tsilor
Amiggie Lutih Adenn Munin Alex Eldar Orik Dakari

Faraak Jett Orn'om

TRIBULATIONS OF THE WILDCATS: SONS OF HEROES - PART SIX

​

KHISAT OUTSKIRTS, COASTAL WARFRONT,
NEW CARANNIA OUTSKIRTS, NIRAUAN (EARLY-877 ABY)

Spoiler

• Word comes through from the frontline
• Expansionist attacks are intensifying more noticeably with every passing minute
• Nines patches through on all frequencies, warns of impending bombardment
• Gowrie rallies the Engineers to build a bridge and make efforts to either relieve or evacuate his troops
• Elements of Faraak's 3rd Mechanised attack from the east, catching Aron by surprise

<"McPherson to Wildcat One! Heads up - Chiss are gawn all out this time! Suggesting urban guerilla tactics now, unless-">

<"-No, this is perfectly fine. Just get their heads in the game, Wildcat Five! They're infantry, facing off against heavily-armoured firepower - it only makes sense to act accordingly. Wildcat One out!">​

They could feel it beneath their feet by then, as the all out sallying attempt from within the infantry-led cordon would have been implemented eventually, especially with all the other Expansionists' predicaments considered at that point in time, all but one contingent in particular, slipping just beyond the detection of both the Kellas and 2nd-Leftenant Mulgrew's eyes at the time. Altogether much too wrapped up in the happenings within Khisat to know or even remotely care about the gathering threat in the east, altogether much too invested in the survival of the Goidels trapped within the Black Cauldron of Gowrie's own creation, a Hell of his own design, a crucible of which all would need to endure until it's natural conclusion - or so everyone thought.

'We're making good use o' these alleyways an' blind-spots though. Especially in an' around East-Quarter there, seen?'

Nodding in the spirit of full deadpan seriousness, Lord Aron responded,'Seen, but - you do realise they're still pushing east from every other direction, right?', searching the gaze of his subordinate for any signs of unhealthy denial as young Kier held in drawing directly into the path of his own. To mention the successes of the eastern sector was a pertinent point to put across, but leaving the obvious issue unaddressed would not meet with such approval, lending further gravity to their predicament as General Gowrie continued,'We have quite a lot o' lives at stake o'er there, Leftenant.... We either bridge East-Quarter, or we watch the Chiss punch a clean chunk out of our wee cordon here. An' I'm sure we both know what happens next in that scenario, though that should've gone without saying.', calming in the process of seeing Mulgrew's slow and steady acquiescence to the situation.

But the strange hand of circumstance was still playing games, and with the quickest sleight of hand imaginable.

<"All Imperial forces around Fort Yularen, this is Nines. We are being bombed from orbit. Evacuate the wounded to the fort and attack on every front. The closer quarters combat we have with the traitors, the more they will be struck by their own bombardment. Nines, out.">​

'I hate these Expansionist bastards already.... Right, I'm calling dibs on the grenade-launcher straight aff the bat, you're on the rotary cannon action. Soun' like a plan, Mulgrew?'

With little more than a stone-faced nod of his own in reply, the silence would consist chiefly of pointed directions and the metallic shunting of weapon-storage lockers opening and shutting for the officers ransacking them around the rifle-loading crewmen of the ACV, all hurriedly pulling out whatever they could in urgent anticipation of the incoming orbital bombardment. Usually an officer would be the slowest in this scenario, but in being the only one among them to experience and survive such destructive firepower, the Kellas would have past traumas spurring him on, chiding Gowrie's thoughts with the brassiest of proverbial heel-kicks at his flank for every second he spent pocketing ammunition for his part in the fight for the Black Cauldron.

'ALRIGHT, WE MAKE FOR THE OVERHANGING CLIFFLINE!!!! TRY AN' KEEP UP!!!!'

Everyone was ready, so keeping up wouldn't be any trouble - or at least for as long as the skies remained clear above them.

Though this wasn't fated to last, as with the unavoidably-late warning from Nines came the unforgivably short grace-period of that infamous calm before the storm that Lord Aron's generation knew too well for their own liking. The Engineer cadres were already much closer to cover than the command-vehicle crew were at the time, and with the relevant carrier-speeders already nestled out of harm's way, the only ones who would be tested for their mettle and their agility alike would be those sprinting northward with the Kellas; and when the skies eventually opened to the mayhem from above, there was still some distance yet for the Tuath to cover, raining down around them with ground-shaking force for every impact that landed on the surface area nearest to their sprinting routes through the madness. All would be fortunate, but as for Gowrie's fifth total ACV throughout his career, not so much, as they would see in looking back that virtually nothing remained of it.

'Good show, lads. Prepare to move as soon as this,"Storm", passes.... Take a breather for now.'

And despite all they had endured to reach the cliff's edge, everyone looking out across the settlement's outskirts knew (and without even needing to look out northward to confirm it) that the forces engaged in the pot-tip manoeuvre wouldn't be so lucky, and this consisted of many armoured and living assets that the Kellas considered vital to their future efforts. Irreplaceable, but none on the ground could ever stem the tide of fire wrought by the orbital rains of destruction, none ever had, and none ever would in Lord Aron's lifetime.

But the storm would eventually pass, and in the clearing of the smoke, the Tuath would find his small window of opportunity, slapping the arms of all the nearest subordinates as he started walking eastward again. Then, after a quick look behind him, Lord Aron exclaimed,'Its time, gentlemen! We're bridging into the cauldron together!', resting his newfound grenade-launcher over his shoulder and lighting a cigarra as he went strolling into the smoky haze beyond. Ready for whatever awaited them, the Kellas would laugh on his way towards Khisat's eastern canyon, continuing to chortle heartily as the bridge was rapidly built by the same individuals who wished to cross; and by the time they were done, only then did Galidraan's new Lord-Commander decide to get serious, picking up depth-charges and putting them into the hands of the smartest among the engineers with the intent to lock out their only route of escape.

All were aware of what this meant, what would be expected of them in the minutes (or perhaps hours) following such a choice, but when the nearest lookout roared,'MILORD!!!! WE GOT WESTWARD MOVEMENT, LOOKS LIKE WE'RE IN THE OL' DURASTEEL SANDWICH THIS TIME!!!!', the Kellas immediately set the demolition-plans to work. Shunting and shoving everyone with explosive charges in their hands, and in the direction of the bridge he so desperately wanted to see destroyed, but this time (as much as it seemed to carry risks all on it's own) Lord Aron wanted to see the bridge collapsing with enemy vehicles still crossing it, a small but time-buying action if he timed it right.

Its enough for time to whittle the cauldron down for now.
An' just in time for the arrival o' these fethwits.​

Stuck between a rock and a hard place, but Lord Aron didn't mind a little dose of white-knuckling, heart-thumping tension, and even though the remaining subordinates would be none too keen on this idea, the Kellas felt he was in the right place at the right time to make a proper difference. There was purpose finally guiding him as much as the challenge to the east would test his resolve, and for as long as he was able to continue hearing the guiding whispers of fate, and for as long as he was able to meet such challenges with guile and cunning, General Gowrie knew he would prevail every time. Lions never needed much in the way of cunning, not from stances of strength and strategic dominance, but the Kellas' Wildcats, strong and stubborn though they had been from the very offset of their Imperial tenure, would no doubt have the most earnest of tactical preferences on their side - slyly dictating their every move.

And in adherence to the doctrine of warfighting guile, especially in these moments, Lord Aron was loving every last second of it.

'When the explosives are set, I'm going to time this demolition, so I only need two small fireteams to remain behind.... The rest can set to work in East-Quarter, I'll be along shortly though.'