Avast and Belay (LS Dominion of Arkas)

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

Silver Mine,

[member="Delila Castillon"]


There was indeed shouting, plenty of it! Just when you were finally getting a break from skirmishing with other corsairs and got to boss slaves around, some foreigners had to trespass on your land, clearly intent on stealing your loot and silver! Needless to say, this was something that could not stand.


Pirates were fanning out in the forest, an area they knew well, in an attempt to surround and then swarm Dells' group. "Intruders, go get 'em, boys. Spread out." Whoever was in charge of this pirate patrol was not going to win points for originality or wittiness. The firefight began, opened by a pirate sniper who would be shooting at whichever soldier was on point, then joined by salvoes of heavy blasterfire.


A loud roar followed as a grenade launcher belched out explosives. Apparently these corsairs were terribly aggressive when it came to dealing with trespassers and very liberal when it came using their firepower. That said, neither their fire discipline nor their aim was that great, but then Dells had not been their drill sergeant!




Tripoli HQ, one of the many pirate bases on the planet of pirates!
Warehouse
[member="Nick Kahoshi"], [member="Coci Sinopi"]


Well, in a short span of time the warehouse had become a lot more popular! This gave Elpsis some breathing space since suddenly not every thug wanted to kill her. Even if it seemed, the new arrivals were Jedi. Or at least forcers of some sort! Elpsis...did not like force-users, which was probably just a bit hypocritical and contradictory since she was one herself.


Consistency? Who needs that sort of thing? Anyhow, thanks to the gas mask she was no longer at the risk of getting knocked by the gas sweeping across the room. One of the new arrivals, a woman, had also smashed the glass, meaning that the gas escaped into the air. Elpsis grit her teeth as she found herself being peppered by shards of glass. For the most part her armour kept, though in places she was cut and blood dripped down her cheeks as a piece of glass sliced into it.


Unfortunately, the big firefight also had the effect of attracting even more attention, as a horde of corsairs came charging from the now wrecked entrance. The corsairs seemed genre-savvy enough to realise that at least two of their opponents were space wizards, judging by the glowsticks, and so rather than doing the obvious and terribly stupid thing of using common blasters, they opened fire with shotguns and sonic blasters, along with tossing in concussion grenades. Buckshot, buckshot everywhere! On the bright side, at least they did not have bolters, though one thug had a disruptor and seemed awfully eager to carry out disintegrations. Of course, this did not change the fact that they were facing experienced Jedi Masters, but the Force had a habit of being a queen these days. Or a big troll; if it even still worked at this point.


Elpsis did her best not to get hit as she tried to move from cover to cover, shooting at scum as she went. It was time to get the hell out. Heroic? No, not really, but practical. Her shotgun roared, belching out a cryoban round, and a corsair was frozen in place, then shattered, another plain and simply got taken out when she used her weapon as a club to bash in his skull. That was always a good way to establish boundaries! Going through the door was a no-go with the horde assaulting the Atrisian looking space wizard.


Ah, well, if you can't go through the door, make yourself one! Seeking cover behind a crate, she grabbed a heavy duty explosive with one hand, whilst the other gripped her pistol and let loose a couple shots to keep attackers at bay. Priming the explosive, she tossed it through the air towards a wall that seemed slightly damaged.


BAAAM BAAAM BAAAM A thermal detonator was terribly handy when you wanted stuff blown up. An overpressured shockwave created by the blast tore a good chunk of wall apart. Well, and a couple pirates were likewise ripped apart since explosions have a habit of ripping off limbs, rupturing organs and such causing similar unpleasantness such as internal bleeding. Several crates were blown up as well. Elpsis winced as shrapnel and debris battered her, beating against her armour, though she could not resist the urge to grab some silver and stuff it before breaking into a sprint.


Unfortunately for her, the corsairs had grown quite attached to her and so abruptly her sprint was stopped by a blaster bolt shooting towards her leg. No space magic precog came to her aid, no sixth sense that gave her foreknowledge of the kill bolts and thus the chance to magically dodge them. The first bolt was bounced off by her armour, but the second broke through and, feeling a burning, searing pain, she fell over. Blaster bolts, slug rounds and explosions resonating everywhere, she tried to get up with a deep groan, but then was quickly thrust to the ground again when a burly Trandoshan pounced upon her, pinning her down. Using his strength to hold her down as he straddled her waist, he resorted to the time and tested method of repeatedly punching her in the face. Damn, this was so not her day! Never mind the fact that it bloody hurt and all that, whilst her hands were being pinned down by the Trandoshan's knees, her gas mask being torn off in the process when she had fallen.


Reeling under the blows Elpsis tried to struggle and wriggle her way out, but the corsair would not be dislodged. Trying to get some space, she violently bit into his scaly hand, then used her legs to push up her hips, in a thrusting motion that made her bridge to one side, making the lizard atop of her stagger slightly, just long enough to free her hands. Twisting a now free elbow, she rammed it into his forearm. Hand went for her knife and she slashed at him, finally kicking him off.


Groaning and in a good deal of pain she got up. The Trandoshan came at her again, a blaster was in her hand and shot him at point-blank range. Limping from getting hit earlier, she forced herself to run as she bolted out of the warehouse. Presumably her Kar'zun companion, who had not been helping because he was busy beating up other people and this post is already too long for this writer to detail that, was behind her. Ahead was the XS freighter, having taken off and swooping down all guns blazing, though it was coming under heavy fire from the corsairs' turrets, meaning the freighter shook and had to dodge wildly to avoid being blasted out of the sky, but it responded by raining down salvoes of laserfire upon corsairs and their turrets.

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

It was time for one of this writer’s patented ‘scramble to catch up’ posts.

This writer is responsible for any missed details, plot holes or mistakes. Reader discretion is advised.

[member="Kaida Taldir"] | [member="Galina Kerrigan-Alcori"]
The Queen looked pained, even when Siobhan and Galina entered she looked troubled.
“Kaida, I need you to trust me here, please.” She knew something, that was obvious, but it was something she couldn’t discuss, even with someone as reliable as Kaida.
“Please do this. Take whatever resources I have and go there. This is important.” She laid a hand on Kaida’s shoulder, a rare gesture of affection for her in public. She looked her in the eyes, then turned away, allowing the Angelii to leave.

Turning to Siobhan and Galina she put on a small, brave smile. “Thank you, Countess, I appreciate your assistance. When you have a moment, I have some urgent matters to discuss with you.”
The way she looked, she meant it, and this wasn’t code for urgent matters which Siobhan might have wanted! At least, not with Galina present!

[member="Delila Castillon"]

Lacking the numbers to attack Tripoli Base directly, Nantaris had dropped down to move on the silver mine. His small force was not large enough to take on a large enemy alone, but they certainly could make a difference here.

As Delila’s force ran into heavy fire, a gunship dropped from the sky to unload a full salvo of missiles into the trees where the fire was heaviest.
A cheery voice hailed Delila. “Sorry to interrupt your fun, Ms Castillon, but I thought you could use a hand! Nantaris here, could you use some backup?”
A volley of quad lasers into the trees drove the remaining pirates off…for now.

[member="Nick Kahoshi"] | @Elspis Kallikora | [member="Coci Sinopi"]

In the warehouse of all action, a sudden new arrival also appeared in the form of a Beskar clad figure with a boltgun and lightsabre. Gas was all very well, but against sealed suits it was entirely useless. As Nick ripped the door nicely open, Tempest emerged from hiding in the background with a squad of armoured soldiers behind her. Swiftly this group opened fire with bolters and with grenades to drive back the enemy forces as quickly as possible.
“This is Lieutenant Tempest, from Firemane. We’re breaking cover to give you guys some cover. Form up on me and we’ll get you out of here,” she comm’ed those around her on friendly frequencies.

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

Location: Tripoli Base
Warehouse cappers.

Visibility became very difficult, even with her heightened ability to see more then most through eyes uncanny, so Coci utilised the force, sparadic as it was. Blaster fire and some, peppered the room forcing her to dive behind a table or was it a desk, she did not have time to deduce but it provided enough thickness to shield her for the moment even though large chunks of it singed and splintered in the air.

The ripping of explosions filled the air with a cacophony of noise deafeing to say the least, and dust rained down on all in the room coating them in thick choaking particles. Coci struggled for breath, sucking in air as best she could to fill her lungs and now she is annoyed. An understatement to say the least.

The thermals had subdued the pirates to the degree that they would pause to save their own skins, some not succeeding and splattered around as various body parts littered the floor. A large gapping hole in the wall got rid of what remained of the gas and filled the room with fresh air for outside. A welcome relief. Coci pulled herself up from behind her cover, saber not much good in this tight environment having no room to manoeuvre she clipped it back on her belt and took in hand her twin pistols raised her arms in unison and unloaded the contents of the barrel, disarming several remaining pirates.

She could then go to find the girl, but would be stopped by arrival of Lieutenant Tempest, a curious name.

[member="Valiens Nantaris"] [member="Elpsis Kallikora"] [member="Nick Kahoshi"]

 

[Kaida Taldir]

Kaeshana,
[member="Anya Venari"]


In the interest of our band of intrepid heroines actually getting to the planet, this writer is using the authority granted to them by themselves to initiate teleporting!


Anyhow, Kaida was caught rather off-guard by the Queen suddenly laying a hand upon her shoulder and visibly stiffened. The gesture of affection was rare, especially in public. Besides, the Cryomancer had a reputation to uphold for being stoic all the time!


Whatever revelations the Queen was party to...they had to be very troubling. But by now the Seraph was too disciplined a soldier to push and so she nodded curtly. "Understood, I'll get it done." That was all that needed to be said. She had never been one for speeches in the first place. Rather she simply [member="Hevana Martin"] and [member="Coryth Elaris"] a nod. "We leave in an hour on the Thrax." The ship in question was an Illyria-class frigate, built by Firemane Industries during better days, before the entire Galaxy went to hell...quite literally in some cases, as seen by the case of poor Corellia. Shark-shaped, relatively fast and still potent in terms of firepower, it was the ideal ship.


And so, without a further word, the Seraph gave the Queen a salute in the traditional Eldorai manner, namely right hand over her heart, and departed. Needless to say she did not say anything to the holographic apparition of Kerrigan because she still intensely disliked the woman, a feeling that was mutual. Apocalypse or no apocalypse, mass disappearances, mad gods eating the Force, whatever. In a short amount of time, with typical Angelii discipline and precision, a small strike team had been assembled and kitted out with an absurd amount of firepower fit for bush wars. No speeches or words at all beyond telling them where to go and to kill heinous slavers, something every good Eldorai enjoyed, because Kaida was not the speechifying type.


Presumably that would be enough time for the former Imperial supersoldier and the master healer to join along with more Firemane minions, and so within a short amount of time everyone would be aboard and the frigate would jump to hyperspace. Since Arkas was on the other side of the Galaxy it would obviously take them quite a while to arrive. What does quite a while mean in practice? That they would arrive once the plot demanded it, in other words perhaps in the next post or so. Fortunately for our heroines, there were plenty of pirate bases left on the planet, so they would not run out of bad guys to slaughter.

 

[Coryth Elaris]

Truthfully Coryth needed very little when it came to missions like this. It was a simple assignment really and nothing she'd not dealt with before. At least her wounds of late had been given some time to heal and she wasn't needing a cane to limp around any longer.

It seemed a simple planet given the reports she'd been handed, slavers were an issue but no one expected slavers to have the best of weapons. Though the idea of dealing with the slave trade at all did get under her skin a little bit. It couldn't be helped given that she was formly a slave herself. Still, other than a small fight she expected little major trouble.

Though she had no idea that on the planet's surface was a young redhead. Her daughter that she'd put up for adoption eighteen years ago. The same redhead she'd been having visions of lately. That was bound to come up eventually. No doubts Coryth would feel the familiarity of the girl's presence upon arrival.

The tiny redheaded Jedi Master soon enough met up at the Thrax to meet with Kaida and Hevana as well as the strike team.

[member="Kaida Taldir"] | [member="Hevana Martin"] | [member="Anya Venari"]

 

[Hevana Martin]

Hevana stopped Coryth before they left the room and gave her a level stare. "Don't forget your armor this time," she said pointedly. The jedi never seemed to come back from a mission unscathed, yet she still refused to wear such basic protection. Going into battle without armor was like going out in public with out clothing, and even Hevana had so far managed to avoid that.

With one last I mean it look, Hevana went and grabbed the rest of her gear before heading to the Thrax. Whatever a "Thrax" was. The trip itself was plenty of time to suit up, so she had not bothered to do so before boarding. To Hevana, this was just another mission. And from the brief, not even that difficult of one.

[member="Coryth Elaris"] [member="Kaida Taldir"]

 

[Nick Kahoshi]

Twin sabers blurred in the air as Nick deflected the dozens of blaster bolts aimed at him, a handful finding their way back to their origin. Seeing the laser fire not working, one fool hardy pirate tried to charge the Jedi, only to be cut from shoulder to waist as Nick spun in place to block shots coming from a different direction.

As buckshot began sailing through the air Nick lept into the air and pushed the buckshot backward using his momentum to carry him out of the path of the sonics. The blasts from the concussion grenades caused his ears to ring painfully, but he pushed passed it throwing his sabers toward the attackers at the entrance.

Even as the first pair of sabers continued their flight sending those with quicker reactions scurrying out of the way, he had another pair in hand. Seeing the girl he had been following leave the warehouse he dashed after letting the newly arrived soldiers handle the pirates.

[member="Coci Sinopi"] [member="Valiens Nantaris"] [member="Elpsis Kallikora"]

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Coryth Elaris"], [member="Hevana Martin"], [member="Valiens Nantaris"]


Finally on Arkas,
heading towards Amari Base!


And so through the awesome power of faster-than-light travelling and judicious application of handwavium, the shark-shaped frigate emerged from the depths of hyperspace in orbit above the beautiful green and blue orb that was the planet of Arkas. So paradisical, so idyllic...really, this was the sort of planet to build a luxury resort on! Well, presumably doing that would come across as terribly patronising. However, Kaida was not in the mood to make commentary on its beauty. It was not a very Kaida thing to do. Having left Hevana and Coryth alone during the journey through the fathomless void of hyperspace, she had spent the time cleaning guns and hitting the punching bag in the training room before studying some very rudimentary maps the Levantine Rangers had sent them of the place.


Finally, when the frigate emerged from the void and she received word of this, she had headed down to the hangar bay of the warship and boarded a dropship. Coryth and Hevana would have presumably been notified. Kaida strongly doubted the short stack of fire would wear armour, even though she ought to, but would not press the point. After all, the Seraph had seen the eccentric Jedi Master in action on Gehenna. Say what you want about the short stack of fire, she was not a fragile flower that needed protecting.


Aboard the transport ship she was all business, as usual. It was a comparatively small crew, for though by now many had returned from the netherworld, a great many Eldorai were still missing, but most of those assembled were battle-hardened soldiers. As for those who were not, they would learn. Or they would die. Simple as that. At the press of a button a holographic map sprung into existence. It was rather basic because so little of the planet had been explored, but it would suffice.


One hot spot, marked in red, showed Tripoli Base, which was currently being torn apart. "Levantine intel indicates a pirate base in this area. It is being attacked with Firemane support. We shall be paying this one a visit," Kaida said simply, indicating another area upon the map, Amari Base HQ. It was home to the second largest corsair group, the Outcasts.


"It is located in an area of dense marshes and mangroves. Lacking a good landing area, we shall go in via speed boasts and hovercraft. Strike Force Ariane from the west, Strike Force Illyria from the east. Gunships wll secure air space and take out heavy defences. Standard ROE. Make every effort to spare captives - some are our people," she held up a gauntleted hand, forestalling any questions about that. "Shoot every slaver on sight. No pity with them." Eldorai tended to be more...grey than light side and, having for so long suffered under the attacks of slavers, they had a special hatred for them. Ergo before the day was over, every slaver would have been put to the sword. "Time is short. We will link up Firemane and local forces once the hit is carried out. Questions? No. Good Let's go."


Five heavily armoured dropships shot out of the belly of the Illyria-class frigate, sweeping towards out into the vastness of space and then piercing through the atmosphere of the planet. Before them, as far as the naked eye could see, was an image of what might come close to paradise, depending on how you looked. Wide blue oceans, tropical islands with sandy beaches, palms and lush forests, further swamps and marches. Truly a place to take a vaction on.


Like every idylle, its appearance was deceiving. Kaida stood calmly as the dropship rocked and swerved ever so slightly, apparently coming under enemy fire, though she gripped a beam above slightly. Apparently the corsairs had wisened up a bit and so swarms of corsair fighters were falling upon the Eldorai transports, though these were heavily armoured. A hailstorm of laser fire was opened up as the Eldorai craft unleashed their weapons upon the corsairs, an attack that was joined by the Silaqui-Class Gunships.


From the ocean pirate water craft were unloading laser cannons upon the invaders, a magnificient explosion blossoming into being when Eldorai missiles blasted what seemed like armoured an hovercraft and sunk it. As she looked upon the pirate vessels unloading heavy laser fire upon the dropships and bringing up missile launchers, Kaida concentrated intently as she sought to harness her Sciia. Sometimes...things were incredibly wonky, but maybe it would work properly for a change instead of backfiring on her! At first nothing happened, though the exertion could be seen written across her features, then suddenly the water seemed to stir and be thrust into motion, then it blossomed into a rising wave that swept towards the pirate watercraft. In desperation the corsairs tried to steer their craft away from the coming onslaught, but for many it was too late as they found the wave abruptly crashing into and drowning them. Pirates trying in desperation to escape their sinking craft where mowed down by repeaters unloading upon them. Kaida shook strongly from the exertion and strain caused by her space magic use as the heavy fire ceased and the quad lasers fell silent, with the tidal wave gradually dissipating.


Covered by the Gunships the Eldorai transport vessels swooped further down and at a signal from Kaida opened their bays. "Move it." Without a further word soldiers quickly boarded their boats and watercraft, Kaida herself taking one and motioning to the two humans to do the same. Out of the bays of the transports, the hovercraft shot out and landed upon the water, quickly forming up in formation.


Whilst lightly armoured, the hovercraft came equipped with nasty death dealers such as heavy bolters and shattercannons. The Gunships took off once again, gaining in altitude as they moved to secure the airspace and disrupted enemy response, with the watercraft swiftly proceeding to their target as they swept through the dense marshes and mangroves, ever watchful for sudden ambushes that might arise, for there would doubtless be more hostiles lurking inside the marshes or coming their way via speed boasts. The second squadron, which would be coming from the east, had landed further away in the swamps, meaning that in a way the first would be drawing the enemy's fire.

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Nick Kahoshi"], [member="Coci Sinopi"], [member="Tempest"] ((go post using her account, [member="Valiens Nantaris"]!))


Arkas,
Tripoli Base.


There was chaos, pandaemonium and plenty of slaughter! This was good because it meant that the corsairs had plenty more people to shoot at, meaning Elpsis was less of an interesting target for them. Still, her ears were ringing as explosions ripped through the air, causing a cacophony of sound that was deafening to say the least.


As she had made her exit through the gaping hole her thermal had left inside the wall of the now thoroughly wrecked warehouse, Elpsis had caught a glimpse of the new group that had suddenly swept in and was fiercely unloading upon the pirates. One of them, apparently a woman and their leader, clad from head to toe in imposing beskar'gam, said something about Firemane. Somehow that name sounded familiar, though Elpsis could not quite place it. However, she had more important concerns, namely getting the hell out! Well, at least that was the concern she considered important. Easier said than done when she was limping from suffering a hit to the leg. Still twin blasters leapt into action as she unloaded their contents, taking down scum along the way with a few salvoes of laser fire. However, blasts from concussion grenades caused her ears to ring painfully, with blood seeping out of her eardrums, and the effect of an explosive blast, though she had been quite far from the immediate blast radius, sent her flying and crashing into a crate.


Yay! Even more silver to plunder! What was less good was the fact that the impact had probably broken a rib or two. Still feeling very dizzy and with her vision hazy, she managed to roll to the side, trying to avoid bolts flying her way. She pulled a dagger from her boot and tossed it at an attacker, hearing a satisfying yelp that however soon passed, along with the sound of a blaster clattering to the ground. Hearing this she got up and bolted, well, as much as you could with a bloody limp, before stumbling over some wreckage, which obviously hurt as well.


Unfortunately for her, her attacker was faster and slimmed his fist into her face as she tried to get up. Shame about her nose, but it had been broken anyway, then he gripped her throat, tightening his grip till she was gasping for breath...before suddenly his vision was interrupted when she threw some sand into his eyes, then used the temporary distraction to deliver a hard kick into the groin. The corsair tumbled, freeing her for the moment and, grabbing a discarded blaster, she fired, taking him out.


Breathing rather heavily and bleeding she forced herself to get up, just in time to see a beautiful light show when what appeared to be a Firemane Gunship unloaded a pair of missiles to blast apart some corsair turrets, creating a nice fireball that consumed and roasted corsairs. Amidst all the chaos, it was no surprise that some slaves had managed to overpower their masters and grab their guns. It was equally unsurprising that they began to take brutal vengeance upon those who had tormented them for so long.

 

[Tempest]

[member="Elpsis Kallikora"] | [member="Nick Kahoshi"] | [member="Coci Sinopi"]

There was chaos everywhere. With the rather explosive entry into Tripoli Base of the Firemane troops, combined with the slave uprising and the wild cards of the former bar patrons, all was chaos.

Tempest herself now fully entered the fray. With the Force being so wonky recently she did not trust herself to call on her lightning, but she was well enough equipped to not need it. Her Beskar was proof against virtually any anti-personnel weapon and her bolter was a formidable weapon for all situations.

As the Warehouse was contained, Tempest fired her jetpack, Mandalorian style, to drop down in front of the redhead on the ground. Extending a hand, she probably looked quite imposing. “Come with me if you want to live,” she said.

Once the redhead had presumably decided she DID want to live, she took off again, landing outside the warehouse where her team had formed a perimeter.

By that time both Nick and Coci should be with them too.

“We’ve got about two minutes before a thousand angry Corsairs descend on us. If you’ve got ships I suggest we take them and retire. There’s a safe area in the forests where the original inhabitants of the planet live. We can regroup there. I very much would like to deal the death blow to the Corsairs, but without preparation and more troops we have no chance.”

 

[Coryth Elaris]

A blonde, a redhead and a brunette step onto a boat.... This totally seems like the start of a really bad joke. None the less this was the reality that our ladies were now facing.

Coryth needed no encouragement to follow right behind Kaida, for while she wasn't a fighter per say, she did decently on her own. And no, she wasn't wearing armor this time. There was little need for such in her mind. So she kept to the back of the boat, but with presence of mind enough to have her saber in hand. One of the rare times she ever drew it, if truth be told.

While she might have cared for lives more than the others did, slavers were still the bottom scum of the Universe in Coryth's book, with pirates just a smidge above them, but not by much. Seeing a boat fast approaching, knowing it wasn't one of theirs Coryth just reached out in the force, applying her telekinetic prowess to tear the craft in half.

She was simply just not in the mood to deal with them. And at least it shouldn't have been too lethal in regards to lives lost. But that was also assuming that there wasn't some creature in the swamps that would eat them on first sight. Coryth didn't let her mind stray too far along that thought, because the idea did bother her. Just not enough to do much about it ... this time.

Though the annoying feeling all along was still itching at the back of her mind. There was someone here that she knew, and knew well. Perhaps she could just push that feeling away, for a little longer and delay the inevitable. Plus, the source of said feeling was still a great distance away from her and in the cries of battle, that was the last place she needed to be focused.

Seeing a set of docks up ahead, Coryth frowned for there seemed to be a whole lot of pirates and a whole lot less of them. Blonde, brunette and a redhead storm the docks? Yeah we totally are still in the bad joke territory.

Even with the force being strange, Coryth spread out her sense, pulling on the invisible tendrils of infinite power and drew it into herself. Soon enough the men on the docks would stop, drop their weapons and leap off into the water. What they were seeing, and feeling was entirely a world of Coryth's making. For they saw a nice sunny day, just a little hot, very hot even and had felt the sudden urge for a swim. Who said Illusions weren't fun?

[member="Kaida Taldir"] | [member="Hevana Martin"]

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

[member="Coryth Elaris"]
Unfortunately for Coryth the wild Force so powerful at this moment meant that such an application was fraught with peril.

Suddenly ALL of the invading Eldorai troops would start to look at the golden sand, the gentle swell...why fight a war when you can just swim?

She had better do something quick unless she wanted this to become a beach party!

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Coryth Elaris"], [member="Hevana Martin"], [member="Valiens Nantaris"]


As a matter of fact, as has been outlined previously, since the Eldorai forces had been split up, not all of of them would be affected since Coryth would have only had line of sight with the soldiers that were in her group, this one being Strike Force Ariane. Of course, it was still terribly playing when your space magic onslaught went wonky because a mad goddess had been tinkering!


In any case, pure chaos and pandaeomonium raged. A good deal of the pirates' outer defences on these shores had been paralaysed when suddenly countless of them felt a strong urge to go for a dive and jump into the warm and inviting sea, which may or may not contain sea monsters. Heavy guns that would have punched out laser fire upon the small Eldorai flotilla fell silent even before the first shot had been fired, e-web emplacements were abandoned as were various pirate boats.


Unfortunately, plenty of Eldorai soldiers had the same idea and felt themselves experiencing a sudden urge to go for a dive. Someone else might have suddenly succumbed to a mad and ultimately futile rage. An irrational outburst against the universe or poor Coryth. Kaida was, however, simply too frigid for that."Elaris, make them see sense!" So what she did was very simple, namely act. In the same moment as the soldiers they would be pulled back by an insistent, strong wind that gripped them and forced them back towards the boats. Well, plenty of them at least!


She was breathing heavily under the exertion, strain evident, though she managed to set off a transmission towards Strike Force Illyria. It was simple, to the point and concise. "Continue assault. Do not use your Sciia!" she ordered coldly, in a tone that so frigid it could freeze a planet. Then the sea suddenly started looking a lot less inviting because, as she manipulated all that beautiful, lovely water inside it, it suddenly turned...very, very cold. Ice cold, as a matter of fact until it was freezing and had turned into solid ice, layers upon layers of it. Corsairs who had found themselves so eagerly jumping into the now frozen water found themselves encased, though there would undoubtedly be those amongst the Eldorai who hit a hard ice formation as well. And so scores of corsairs would die an agonising death as they found themselves unable to breathe and would freeze to death.


Unfortunately for Kaida, things backfired on her, as she had expected. For one. The wind suddenly decided to coalesce upon her and she was brutally thrust out of her boat and swept through the air. The Force was not with her, for the exertion demanded by her task had not allowed her to defend herself. The force of the wind was such that something broke when it impacted upon her. Maybe a rib or two. Ah, well, she was used to those breaking. As if this was not bad enough, the spirits of Chaos also decided that it would be fun to lower her body temperature to an absurdly low level and freeze her to the point she was encased, with ice quickly spreading and engulfing her. Most annoyed about this happening by now she thrust against the elf-sized ice block as she tried to get out before it extinguished the life inside her, before crashing through the frozen sea, which had the side-effect of breaking the block. Sinking further and further, she finally managed to slowly swim up and grip the side of a boat, clearly out of breath and very cold, to a point where even someone like she was shivering.


Meanwhile, Strike Force Illyria was already pummelling the corsair base. Silaqui-Class Gunships descended down from above and made an explosive entry by unleashing heavy blaster fire upon corsairs. By now some pirates had rallied and the attackers were greeted by heavy anti-air fire, but a hail of concussion missiles swept towards the turrets to impact upon them and bring forth beautiful fireballs as powerful, deafening explosions rocked the base.


In the chaos that followed, some slaves tried to grab the discarded guns of their captors. A great many of them were put down by their tormentors or found themselves spasming on the ground due to electrical shocks, but it was enough to cause disruption. A small flotilla of hovercraft swept towards the base, with troops disembarking and storming across the frozen sea, slug and blaster bolt pouncing off their Taegis energy shields, sarix and bolter cutting down corsairs upon the shores. The bark of bolters, the whoosh of missiles and explosions resonated across the isle.


Fire support would come from the water craft and Gunships through a hail of shell and bullet unleashed by shattercannons and heavy bolters. Whilst a far smaller force than assembled was attacking, the corsairs were similarly weakened and also lacked the training of the elite soldiers in most cases. The Angelii cortosis armour was still not ready to enter broader production, so the troopers had to make do with less advanced duraplast, but that was potent enough to even withstand a laser cannon, and the beautiful bolter mowed down infidels. With the Force being so terribly wonky, the Angelii in the group did not resort to it, instead relying upon Kaeshana steel and Kaeshana valour to fall upon the slavers as if they were the personified wrath of Ashira, moving in small groups as they pushed forward. For a brief interval the Eldorai would have the initiative, though they would have to move very fast unless they wanted to find themselves outnumbered.

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

[member="Tempest"] [member="Elpsis Kallikora"] [member="Nick Kahoshi"]

Not happy was the best way to describe Coci's mood. She followed the armour clad Tempest out the into the grounds completely covered in caked dust and debris her white shirt no longer white same for her cream trousers.

“We’ve got about two minutes before a thousand angry Corsairs descend on us. If you’ve got ships I suggest we take them and retire. There’s a safe area in the forests where the original inhabitants of the planet live. We can regroup there. I very much would like to deal the death blow to the Corsairs, but without preparation and more troops we have no chance.” The woman talked sense and looking down at the young girl on the ground she doubted she would argue with the imposing woman.

"Leuitenant Tempest, Master Sinopi" she began by way of introduction. "I will meet you at the rendezous point in ten minutes, will you take care of this young woman? or shall I. Care is needed, she is a danger unto herself". she threw the girl a wry smile. "You will kill yourself one day girl, you don't think". Although she had handled herself well enough her actions were more reactions than a set plan, but it is good to have the ability to think on ones feet. Regardless, she liked to girls spirit.

 

[Coryth Elaris]

Good intentions, the road to hell is paved with them, isn't it? Yep. Coryth certainly thought so. Go figure I try to help and it just makes everything worse. Universe I hate you! Just getting that out there before anything else happens cause I know you hate me.

As if Coryth's week could not have gotten any worse. Next time I'll take the sick bay bed with the pretty little Eldorai redheaded healer.... Even the cane wasn't that bad. That could be taken several ways, all of the minorly pleasurable expect for the need to use it to avoid limping on her formerly broken leg.

With a deep breath in, Coryth once more focused on the infinite strands of power to undo her sorcery. Illusions really are a queen .... She certainly thought so right about then. Especially when I have to undo my own damn work.

Still she quickly focused upon the Eldorai that were caught up in her tangled web, and interested in taking a dive in the ocean. With another deep breath, she pulled upon the strange of power and started to undo the imagery in their minds. You know I think there is a god.... and he's got one sick, twisted and depraved sense of humor. Cause the stars know I'd find this funny in any other situation. Any other time ..... you could have done this! But now?! Well played, Universe... Well played.

The work was not done without effort, as the tiny woman's body shook and trembled from the strain and a bit of blood seeped down from her nose, giving a small clue to her injuries that she was taking from the affair. Brain damage after all was no laughing matter.

And so our adventurers advanced with most the Eldorai back on the right track. So much for that less violence option. Thought as Coryth settled into the back of the boat, while the soldiers took over attacking the pirates on the docks. An occasionally explosion here and there would cause the small redhead a wince or two as lives were extinguished into the night. Such things could not be kept from the Master Empath, especially not now with the force so wonky. The redhead's attention soon turned to Kaida as she knelt beside her checking over her wounds. Mostly Coryth was concerned with the hypothermia, and the problems that could cause for even someone like Kaida. No words really needed to be exchanged. It was kind of her fault that Kaida had ended up in that situation to begin with.

[member="Kaida Taldir"] | [member="Hevana Martin"]

 

[Hevana Martin]

As they approached the dock, Hevana did her best not to glare and Coryth. Though given her helmet the glare probably would have been wasted anyway. Much as Hevana loved that redhead, the woman drove her up the wall as well. Always worrying about everyone else's safety and not a bit about her own.

The day of glue was coming, just a matter of time.

Once they were within weapons range Hevana's concentration switched to the matter at hand. Propping her missile launcher on her shoulder, she fired one directly at a turret that was attempting to shoot their boat. She saw a single figure bail from the turret before it was engulfed in flame.

Luckily for Hevana as they disembarked she was immune to most Force powers that affected the mind, so she did not suffer from a sudden desire to go for a swim. Though taking Coryth to the beach after did have a nice appeal to it. Though knowing the Jedi, that would be the time she wore her armor.

As Kaida and Coryth attempted to get the rest of the soldiers back on track Hevana led the charge pulling her repeater up and spraying fire to force the pirates to cover. A pair of grenades followed shortly after her bolts and landed behind some of the crates being used as cover. The explosions created enough confusion for her to get close enough to use her shoto and she used it freely in the close quarters of the shipping crates clearing a path for the eldorai nearest her to follow..

[member="Coryth Elaris"] [member="Kaida Taldir"]

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Coryth Elaris"], [member="Hevana Martin"]


Hypothermia was indeed a serious concern, Master Elaris was quite right in that. As attuned as Kaida was to the cold, it was still not something she could take lightly. However, the Seraph happened to be terribly stubborn, as could be expected. Never mind the fact that she had an obsession with not showing weakness. And so, shaking profusely and dripping wet with frosty water covered her battered armour, she got to her feet, breathing strongly and coughing, though she waved all offers of assistance aside.


She spared Coryth a look. "Have a medic look at you." That was it. Apparently the little incident had not changed her trademark stoicism. The pirates were resisting bravely the hal of shot and shell that was tearing into their ranks, but Eldorai soldiers had reached the shores of the small isle. Firestorms, conjured up by the aerial assault, were spreading, the bark bolters and the cry of the injured was heard. "Strike Force Illyria advance, we shall pincer them between us. Air Group, blast the heavy turrets and bring up suppressive fire," she spoke into her comm, having to shout and make herself heard.


"Acknowledged. We've broken through the perimeter. Ma'am...we have captured Eldorai in our sights!"


"Get them to safety. I want every slaver dead when the smoke clears!" Kaida barked into the comm as she steadied herself, grabbing her boltgun and her Taegis shield. The last words she spoke were transmitted into the helmet of every Eldorai soldier within both units and so she took her first, somewhat shaky and unbalanced steps onto the ice, and then broke into a sprint. Moving as a unit, a phalanx bristling with firepower and bloody-minded determination, the Eldorai soldiers charged across the isle, cutting down many enemies along the way with bolter and blade, breaking into small groups and pairs to defend one another once they had reached the shore. With their Sciia being unreliable, they would have to rely on Kaeshana steel and guns. It would, however, be enough. Taegis shields could, to an extent, bounce off slug rounds and even blaster bolts, so generally a soldier equipped with a shield and melee weapon would act as cover for a comrade, who would say use a bolter or a repeater to unload upon the corsair scum.


Kaida took up a shield, defending a fellow Angelii as she cut down corsairs with her sarix. As she moved across a corner, blaster fire came streaking her way but a spray of APEB rounds tore the pirates apart. Quite literally since the deadly Anti-Personnel Explosive rounds ripped their light armour and flesh around. Heavy blaster fire came streaking her way from gun emplacements in what seemed to be a bunker and Kaida hit the dirt, even as those crates she had sought cover behind were blasted to smithereens, though she could bring up her shield to shrug some off. Shield dropped for a moment as she rolled into cover behind some debris, she gripped a smoke grenade and tossed it through the air towards the bunker.


"Suppressive fire! Bring up flamethrowers!" the command would be passed to two heavy weapons troopers who, clad in specialised armour, would soon move forward, covered by furious bolter fire. As explosive rounds hammered against the bunker and cries of wounded pirates were heard, the flamers moved into position and unleashed fiery death, the waves of fire engulfing the bunker's occupants. As some tried to escape, rolling on the ground in an attempt to put out the flames, they were gunned down. Kaida winced slightly when a sniper from the rooftop of the warehouse grazed her helmet, but then the loud boom of a shatterboltgun silenced him.


And so she went on the offensive once more, leading the charge of her battle sisters. At close range she used shield and sarzmigar, working in conjunction with a battle sister who gunned down opponents with blasters. Her shield caught the sword strike of a Zabrak, then her sarzmigar caught him in a weak point in the throat, toppling him. As she had dispatched another opponent though her danger senses flared up, and she quickly ducked as a massive hammer passed over her head, wielded by, of all creatures, an enraged, armoured Wookiee. Its fury was strong and a soon a second blow came, which she managed to block, though the sheer impact almost broke her arm. She counterattacked with a stab to the creature's only seemed to piss it off more.


While Kaida was a good deal more agile, managing to dodge and evade many attacks, even deliver successful swipes. Likewise, sarzmigar and shield formed a powerful defence, but the furry was a lot stronger and cornering her. An Angelii companion unleashed a stream of fire upon the beast, but even that did not seem to affect it, perhaps due to protection from the armour. Again it came, bearing Kaida back, almost pushing her down, though she managed to evade a slam of the massive hammer that instead smashed into a wall. Exploiting the fact that the beast was temporarily a bit off-balance, she swept under it and bashed the Wookiee with her activated shield. The Taegis happened to be an energy shield and so the impact unleashed a strong electrical discharge, which hurt the Wookiee, but she did not have the strength to knock it down, though she quickly stabbed the beast with her polearm in the chest. The Wookiee staggered as the sarzmigar pierced its armour and penetrated...coming closer to its heart, then suddenly it abruptly grabbed Kaida's arm, breaking it and threw her through the air into a wall.


Blunt trauma. Lots of it. And suddenly, faster than his size would imply, the Wookiee charged her with a roar, his great hammer trying to smash her. Still reeling and with her vision hazy Kaida managed to get up. Her shield had been shattered into pieces from the impact. However...she did have a very nifty pendant slung around her neck, which actually was not a pendant, but a hold-out bolter. Loaded with an explosive bolt.


BAAAM The blast did not take the Wookiee's head off when it fired at point-blank range, but it lost a hand and its hammer clattered to the ground. Driven into a blind fury the beast came at her, not even bothering to pick up its hammer as its claws slashed at her and it kcked wildly, Kaida rolled to her feet, wincing at the intense pain in her arm, and leapt forward herself, rolling between the Wookiee's legs. Barely resisting the pain she drew her sarix and before her enemy could react, her blade had stabbed the Wookiee into whatever the equivalent of its groin was and hewed at one of its legs. The Wookiee, brought down by the force that almost sliced its limb off, fell down to one knee.


Grimly Kaida stepped forward and with a brutal flash of her blade hacked the Wookiee's head off, its horned helmet tumbling down into a pool of blood. Her enemy defeated, Kaida fell to one knee, just about able to keep the pain down, before she finally arose, supported by one of her battle sisters who had quickly rushed to her. Behind some debris a slaver twitched and tried to rise, bringing up a repeater and with a very shaky hand she grabbed her blaster, shooting him dead. Everywhere corsairs were being put to the sword, experiencing the swift and brutal judgement of Ashira's chosen, or simply being shot. Working in teams, the Eldorai soldiers methodically broke and entered the command centre and slave pens, killing corsairs as they went.

 

[Jorus Merrill]

Nantaris, the Eldorai and the rest seemed to have Arkas well in hand. Not that he wasn't itching to join the fight, but there were times when it was better to not go in guns blazing. Those times overlapped rather a lot with times when one had a limited view of the situation's complexities. Therefore, rather than assume he knew what was going on, he took the long view and sauntered out to the Oort cloud. Most systems had one -- a shell of comets on centuries-long orbits, stretching out a good quarter light year or more. Out here, a good distance from common sensors, his cloaked freighter took up residence on one comet among many.

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Nick Kahoshi"], [member="Coci Sinopi"], [member="Tempest"]



Elpsis' priorities were rather simple and straightforward: Stay alive, get medical attention, make a profit. Oh, and get the hell out. A bit self-centred? Undoubtedly, for she had not come to the planet to go on a crusade of liberation, though one might add that such ventures were a tad more complicated than going in all guns blazing, killing the bad guys and setting slaves free. Yes, this writer just deconstructed their own plot again.



So, suffice to say, she was quite eager to get on her ship again. One of the Force wizards, the Atrisian, seemed to be running after her for some reason. At least she had that impression before the Firemane commando woman suddenly gripped her tight and she was flying. Under other circumstances Elpsis might have made some lame flirtation about getting all close and personal, but she was not in the mood. What with having been badly beaten up and being shot in the leg!


Anyhow, soon she was deposited on the ground, hot commando girl said some things about bad things were and that more pirates would be coming, the female Jedi introduced herself as Master Sinopi and apparently wanted to mother over her. Elpsis, as a rule, did not like force-users. They...made her very uncomfortable. The fact that she obviously owed her life to them made her even more uncomfortable. This one thinks that Elpsis needs to sit down and seriously think about her issues, but presumably this was not the time and place for that!


"I can take care of myself just fine," she said flatly, which would have sounded more plausible if she had not been limping and her lips had not been so bruised. Teenagers these days! Always have to be contrary for the sake of being contrary because that's considered 'cool' and 'edgy'. In the old days...well, it was probably exactly the same! "And I'm not here for your revolution. I have my own ship. If the locals want weapons, I have plenty I can sell. Then I'm out." Her point made she turned away, limping rather badly, though she stopped briefly to turn back. "Thanks for your help," that admission was genuine. By now her freighter had landed and she limped over to it and over the landing ramp. Her smuggler buddies quickly rushed to her and helped her up, along with 'requisitioning' one of the crates of silver that had been abandoned by the pirates during the chaos, then the freighter lifted off into the sky and took off.

 

[Coryth Elaris]

"I am the medic." Coryth said with a sigh as she wiped away the blood from her nose. So who heals the healer? Cause the stars know I don't have time for this. Thought as she moved quickly seeing some slaves ahead.

The redhead raced forward to the a group of slaves, and one did step towards the Jedi, and spoke a language that for the life of her, Coryth did not know. Sighing, she knew things suddenly had gotten a lot more complex. Being a natural empath, without the force did certainly have its advantages, for feelings were at least mostly universal. Closing her eyes, she spread feelings of warmth, safety and welcoming among the few slaves before her. And carefully, she used her saber to cut the chains between them, giving them some freedom.

"Find Kaida." Coryth ordered to an Eldorai Angelii near her. "She is needed."

The situation definitely had gotten a lot more complicated in the last few moments and now the redhead found herself defensively protecting the slaves she had gathered. Anyone harmed them, laid a hand on them from here she'd kill them herself. For Coryth had no patience when it came to people who believed they could rightfully own another being in this manner. No, not when she had been on the otherside of such an exchange.

[member="Kaida Taldir"]