Back in Control (Mandalorian Dominion of Aeten II)

[Darth Libertas]

(3/20)


Well, there was plenty of slaughter everywhere. Explosions, blaster fire, the cries of the wounded as they lay there in agony or were dragged to safety by their comrades. It was all very dramatic and undoubtedly perfect for an action flick. The Mandalorians seemed to be gaining ground and were driving enemy forces back.


Sumiko had fought herself through enemy ranks, relying on blade, bolt pistol and the occasional outburst of telekinesis. Souldrinker hewed down enemy soldiers and the blade's pleasure was all too evident for her due to the bond they shared. The sheer bloodlust of the sentient blade animated her as she cut down enemies.


Admittedly she did not need the motivation, but it was always useful! Unfortunately for the Atrisian, she did not have fancy beskar'gam. Presumably she had some form of armour. Probably not that super high-class! Ah, well, she could always adjust or go raid restricted materiels somewhere. Further ahead was supposed to be a factory complex along with a warehouse that might contain stygium. Assuming th restricted materiel guide was correct.


So, seeking cover behind rocks as blaster fire swept towards her, she pulled at the tangled web of the Force to wrap herself in a cloak of shadows, rendering herself invisible. Thank you, [member="Mirien Valdier"], for teaching her this cool skill. Then she pressed on, taking care to avoid blaster fire and explosions. She would not be able to maintain the cloak for a long time, but it would suffice.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

“Next set.” I said over the open comms. Through the Meld I could feel Draz was seeing or sensing danger from the basement. “We are gonna hold off on the basement until we can rally the full group.”

The next set of rooms was an open foyer with a balcony overlooking it and sever side rooms and hallways leading to it. If the enemy was half intelligent they had set up this area to be the strongest line of defense. Only a few ways in from where we were, and plenty of fire points to attack from.

“Missiles Live. One per team, hit major targets.” I said, letting the warriors adjust to these new orders. The small wrist missiles weren’t big enough to bring the building down, but they would cut some of the stiff resistance out. “Be ready for an E-Web emplacement.”

Gorran hefted his hammer and brought it against the double doors with as much force as his hairy arms could manage. The bolts locking them in place shattered against the power of a wookiee wielding a power hammer, splitting them open and blowing them wide. He rolled out of the way letting the first four soldiers through with their shields to let the rest of us return fire from behind the relative safety of their dinu’uls. Slugs and bolts barked out from rifles, and missiles streaked out from wrists at the emplacements of their opposition. Small explosions sent bodies flying. Conservation was the key in battle. He who survived the longest won.

“We are dealing here Betna, clear to go forward while we mop up and move towards the roof. Basement is bad. Better to stay out until we can group up and hit it.”

[member="Arrbi Betna"]
[4/20]

 

[Shane Sisko Skirata]

Location: Aeten II Factory Complex (Hallway)
Objective: Conquest
Allies:GR Mandos [member="Strider Garon"]
Enemies:
Post: 2/20

They were docking, the ship was a beast to handle but that was the old baktoid systems and now here he was looking at getting an overhaul with new technology and new information. Maybe looking at some of those other manufacturers that are around and making a killing before he was letting his attention go to the bay doors and existing in the silvery beskar'gam the wide shouldered captain was hefting his river rifle with a small kama trailing behind him before he was motioning for them to move and join the others. "Alright people lets get to work and back up the field marshal." He hadn't been in the field as it were for years and he could admit his armor was a little tight but this was exhilarating.

 

[Werdla Dardalab]

Location: Aeten II Factory Complex (Hallway)
Objective: Conquest
Allies: [member="Strider Garon"] [member="Briika Hokan"] [member="Shane Sisko Skirata"]
Enemies: Ennui
Post:6/20

"Jidte?"

"I'll see."

Jidte, none of his specialities relevant until now, dropped into a crouch and began fiddling with the advanced tech built into his armour. Harampr and La took a knee in front of him, keeping up suppressive fire. Beraga and Sasctyr had stepped back to integrate themselves into the general firing line.

The Ori'ramikade had dropped a fair number of the combatants, breathing and droid, before a bark of laughter escape the crouching Mando.

"Got it. Sloppy work."

Jidte, as well as having better scanners and being an excellent tracker, was also the squads slicer. It was at this moment, one of the droids turned and opened fire on it's one time allies and masters, causing chaos in the ranks.

"PUSH, OYA."

Rising, La was up and moving forward, taking advantage of the opening Jidte had caused.

 

[Arrbi Betna]

"Solid copy," Betna responded over comms. "Things look clear up here, though. May send some guys back to.."

He felt himself trail off as the air around him began vibrating. The ground began to tremble as debris and rubble, tossed here and there in the fighting, began to slither off and clatter to the floor. Betna felt the shuddering through his boots and knew that there was only one thing that could cause that kind of rumbling. Either some Force user on the enemy side was trying something desperate, or...

"TANK!" he shouted, running, as the outer wall of the courtyard they'd found themselves in collapsed inwards. Upon the rubble of bricks and mortar, the armored monster trundled, the main cannon and secondary weapons traversing. In a moment, the automatic weapons opened up and Mandalorians fell to the ground, riddled by blaster-fire.

He slid behind a low wall just as the main cannon fired, the concussive force sending dust and debris into the air and deafening anyone without hearing protection. As the armored vehicle rumbled forward, enemy troops poured in behind it. He deactivated his Dinu'ul and sheathed the beskad, they were useless for now, and pulled the pump action shotgun from the back scabbard.

"Nevermind," he said panting in the comms to Draco. "They brought toys. We may be a bit."

[5/20]

[member="Draco Vereen"]

 

[Laith Varad*]

Aetan II
Hillside overlooking battlefield
Allies: Mandalorians
[4/20]

​

...debris and smoke from the artillery strike Laith had called in was thick, it made it hard to see while it was dispersing even with the enhanced optics of his helm making the sniper rifle he was using less useful. No matter, the Mercenary was not without his options which is why he set the rifle down and transitioned to sit back on his haunches. Digging into one side of his bandoleer he'd remove some of his canteen while muttering..."Hey a guy has to eat."...like he could hear some criticism from leering eyes watching him through the debris. No matter, Laith was never big on the opinions of others...

...laying his canteen down across one thigh Laith would reach for his helm and slide it backwards revealing his mouth, then his eyes as the helm came to rest back on his forehead easily. Taking the canteen in his hands again he opened it to discover a few seasoned meal replacement bars which he took, unwrapped from their tinfoil and started to chew on. Disgusting but he wasn't someone to complain about what he was eating so he kept chewing, biting off another piece and ripping away at the rations. Burping after he finished the first bar Laith noticed that the debris had largely cleared causing him to comment between mouthfuls..."Well I guess that's my cue."...he finished eating a second bar and then pulled his helm down before attaching it to his beskar'gam again and activating the advanced optics...

...shifting back down onto his stomach Laith picked up the rifle, butt to shoulder just like he'd been doing and looked through the rangefinder across towards the adjacent area where the enemy sniper had been hiding himself. Nothing was likely to survive the devastation he saw wrought on that landscape so with a satisfied grunt the Mercenary turned the scope back towards the battlefield proper and started marking targets for more shots. Initially he tried to pick out someone of importance but with a brief shrug of the shoulders Laith settled on another Vong Warrior before squeezing the trigger again...​

 

[Mantic Dorn]

Location: Crash site
Objective: investigating distress signal
Allies: Jedi, Mando, GR
Enemies: Sith
Post:7/20

---------------------------------------------------


There got to be something here... Mantic went through the equipment inside the tank. It was an outdated version, just like the troopers who had been driving it. there was food and water, some rifles and extra clips. Medical equipment, a navigation chart, sweaty socks and.... wait... a chart!

Mantic pulled it up but it was deactivated. Naturally some sort of code was required. Maybe, went. DNA signature required? Ah, that simple? Nah.. Well worth trying.

Mantic went outside and walked over the corpse of the dead storm trooper squad leader. He took a deep breath and silently begged for forgiveness as he reached down and removed the mans glove.
His hand was already growing colder but there was a feint warmth to it yet.
He pressed the fingers unto the side of the chart and held his breath.

The screen lit up. A myriad of circles and numbers started to run across the screen and for a moment Mantic did not understand squat.

but then he finally realized that it was stuck and he had to tilt it to view it properly.

Yes. He could use this. He could connect it with the tanks internal computer to map out from where it had driven in the last couple of hours. It would be enough.

 

[Lavania]

4/20

They were continuing forward to enter the main facility, the nightsisters hearing the click of docking before they were moving through one of the ports and at the ready to meet the others that were on the main station. An open hanger gave way to the nightsisters as she held the bone leaving it around her neck dangling in favor of the staff. The whirring charging it as suddenly someone was ashes on the floor and surprised gasps came from them before Lavania was pointing. "Anything not with the mandalorians, kill or maim for them to deal with understood?" The blades that had been being retrained nodded as they started moving and energy bow shots broke out.

 

[Marcus Itera]

Location: Aeten II Space
Objective: Interdiction, law enforcement.
Post: [06/20]

A few more Weequay popped out from their duty stations, a co-pilot, a gunner, and a pair of cargo handlers all assembled themselves in a fashion similar to their captain. Each one of them wore raggedy-looking clothing, bore more than a few scars and bruises, and all had that sunken-eye look that told of a long, hard life full of toiling and constant strife. Had Marcus not been pumping adrenaline, he would have felt a bit of pity for them and their states.

"No sudden movements either. I don't want to cause any trouble and I don't want anyone to get hurt." He let his eyes travel across the ragtag crew, "Just cooperate and everything will move along smoothly."

They gave him the slightest of nods and seemed disappointed with life, if not fearful and nervous of the situation at the same time. I mean, who else wanted to have an armored stranger carrying a gun come onto your ship and wave it around, demanding answers? Nobody.

"Like I said, we are merely traders and cargo haulers." The Captain attempted again, guiding the rest of his crew and their neighborhood cop down the corridor to their cargo bay. "We haul natural resources, people, equipment, you name it. All we're trying to do is make some more money so's we can go back home. That's all."

The Ranger was quite astounded at the amount of freight they had managed to stuff into their cargo bay. It ranged from wooden building materials to bacta tanks and a variety of other cargo. "Looks like you have quite the variety of materials. How come you haven't been able to sell this stuff yet?"

"Nobody has much money anymore, sir. The Mando boys have been fighting the star-killers from the northeast, the Republic has been battling the Sith." The Weequay surveyed his freight. "These wars are affecting all of us."

 

[Strider Garon]

Location: Aeten II Factory Complex (Hallway)
Objective: Conquest
Allies:GR Mandos [member="Werdla Dardalab"] [member="Briika Hokan"] [member="Shane Sisko Skirata"]
Enemies:
Post:7/20

Strider would unholstered his grenade launcher and load it with a ion grenade. The moment The hound saw one of the droid's shields deplete by the heavy fire of the two Mandalorian squads he would fire the round at the robotic soldier. The droid would limp lifelessly as the ion grenade struck home. Such was replicated by the other fireteams and the droids were falling almost just as easily as their fleshy counterparts.

"OYA!!" The old man endorsed the carnage with his battle roar. This was to be a battle of inches, as it seemed the prime leftovers and their hired guns were not going to let up easily. So be it, this was war and the mandalorians excelled at it. Not just they excelled, the longed for the battle and the glory.

The exchange of fire kept up, the tight quarters made the firefight vicious and the commandos had to keep up the tenacity in order to keep the edge in their favor. "PUSH!!" The old man barked, once again getting up and moving forwards in a tactical game of leap frog where one fire team would cover the advancing team with surpressive fire. Once the advancing team moved forward they would lay down supressive fire and allow for the next fire team to leap forward. It was aggressive and kept the Mandos on the offensive and prevented them from being pinned and bogged down.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

The presence in the Force, the shock and awe from Betna’s troops let me know they were dealing with something they weren’t as prepared for as we would have liked. Hearing that the enemy soldiers had called in armor wasn’t surprising so much as early. We hadn’t been here long enough to warrant a full response force already in place. “Roger. We will try and get to you and support with some Acid, but its gonna be a minute.”

A soldier dropped, hitting the ground with a thud as a blaster bolt seared through hi, striking a weak spot. Aten’s lightsaber wooshed nearby, deflecting some bolts back towards our opposition. This was taking too long, but a charge now would be messy and gory. “Draz, find me another way in.” The confirmation echoed through the comms and the Force as the Barabel went backwards, back tracking our movements and climbing up a dumbwaiter shaft looking for a back way through the building to strike at their positions elsewhere.

“Nay, there is a way, but it is too small for people.” He said, noises coming over the comm like he was on his way back.

“Then send Hunter and Destroyer probes through.”

A single order, and eight men pulled off the firing group, clicking buttons on their control panels. Each one carried a single probe that activated and followed the simple orders. Move through opening. Move eastward down hallway, engage enemy forces.

[5/20]

[member="Arrbi Betna"]

 

[Mantic Dorn]

Location: Driving a tank! (popo would have been proud!)
Objective: investigating distress signal
Allies: Jedi, Mando, GR
Enemies: Sith
Post:8/20

---------------------------------------------------

How the frak did this happen? He pushed a handle down and the vehicle turned and shifted its weight around. Trees were torn from their roots and tossed to the side like sticks. Boulders were moved and he even ran straight through a stone house. With his heart stopping for a second he quickly threw open the hatch above the driver seat and looked back. He could breath out as he realized the house was a mere ruin of sorts. But stil.

Who built these monsters and for what freaking species was the handling constructed to fi!?!?

Mantic sighed and kept going. the chart and the tank computer was working well despite Mantics clumsy handling. It took him about twenty minutes before he decided to stop. He was getting closer to the place from where the troopers had left about an hour ago, While still a bit of a walk left to handle he decided against the tank. It would most certainly ruin any chance of stealth.

Stealth... right.. oh how he wished he knew how that worked. But no time for regretting lost lessons.
Mantic stopped the tank and jumped outside. With steps mixed with excitement and concern he moved forward to his destination.

While at first he was almost looking forward to learn what this was about he suddenly stopped.

That feeling... Mantic lowered his head and inhaled. the dark side teased his senses. Someone, or something, evil was waiting for him....

 

[Shane Sisko Skirata]

Location: Aeten II Factory Complex (Hallway)
Objective: Conquest
Allies:GR Mandos [member="Strider Garon"] [member="Werdla Dardalab"]
Enemies:
Post: 5/20

Push... Well that was all the encouragement he needed while he was moving and the horak rifle came up while he looked down the sights at the droids. The multi firing weapon switching to ionic disruption as he let loose for a moment and then the air sparked and it looked like arcing lightning as circuits and shields on the droids in front of them were fried with a second volley of blaster fire coming when they switching. The underbarrel microgrenade launchers detonating for the moment while they lost the element of surprise but were moving into cover. The reflective helmet searchign and scanning the area around him as he spoke to his small fire team. "Push forward, ionic shots first for shields and second wave blaster." Nods of agreement while he was makign his way towards strider and his team.

 

[Darth Libertas]

4/20


Cloak of shadows had been enough to allow her to slip past the guards and battle droids and infiltrate the facility. This was good. Judging by the noise she could pick up on the battle was still ongoing. Explosions, bloodshed, the usual drama that you expected in a battle.


Already Mandalorians and renegades were fighting within the tight quarters of the factory. The Mandalorians were advancing steadily, better equipped and armed, but their opponents were clearly making them pay for every inch of ground they got and showed no sign of wanting to yield. Sumiko was happy to bypass all this due to a space magic cloak of invisibility that prevented from organics and droids from detecting her. Alas, using it for a longer period of time was also quite draining since it cost energy.


So she was quickly heading towards a ventilation shaft, intending to drop the cloak once she was in. Then, just as she had gotten close, she felt ripples resonate through the Force. It was a warning, though it did not come quickly enough for her to defend herself against the powerful grip that seized her throat, holding it in a crushing grip and throw her into a wall. Gathering her will she managed to crush the mind pincers trying to choke her and managed to kick herself off the wall rather than crashing head-on into it, but impacting upon the ground still bloody hurt.


Ouch. She felt like she had broken a rib or two. Out of the shadows stepped her opponent, clearly a force-user, wearing the usual Sith attire. Dark robes, dark trousers and a silly mask. Well, that was dramatic. Letting loose with her rage, Sumiko unleashed a powerful Force Scream amplified by the dark side, causing a shockwave to slam towards her attacker.

 

[Marcus Itera]

Location: Aeten II Space
Objective: Interdiction, law enforcement.
Post: [07/20]

Marcus took his time to check out the massive amount of cargo in the single freighter. Nothing seemed too out of the ordinary but the whole diverse scale of these things made his mouth gape. A medical droid here, a few spare parts to a headhunter, some survival gear, and even a salvaged Event Horizon engine from the old RZ A-wings, that old Rebel Alliance type stuff.

"How did you come across all of this stuff? You've got everything in here." He said, picking up a piece of flimsiplast to peer beneath it. A few bugs went skittering as his eyes came to rest upon an old flimsi poster that read, "A New Hope." Behind the words flew a flight of X-Wings with the iconic silhouette of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Princess Leia Organa sitting beneath them.

Before their Captain could speak, Marcus turned and addressed it. "Are you part of the Rebel Alliance?"

The Captain looked as flabbergasted as the rest of his crew. His eyes widened as his mouth formed into a thin line before he spoke. "No, but we are trying to become members. The Sith have taken everything from us." He glanced at the durasteel hull as a fire blazed in his eyes, "I'm sorry I lied to you. We have been collecting the most useful and valuable things we could so that they might deem them worthy and let us join."

"Are you carrying any stygium ore?"

The man solemnly nodded. "Not a lot, but I am."

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Right, so this was happening. Coren didn’t really care for the Mandos. They should’ve seen that when he was at the meeting with them and the Silver Coalition. But if they were going to take action against the Sith? Why not help them out a bit? But he wasn’t really here to help them. No. He was here to help others. A bit of a training camp. And Starchaser was… hopefully a decent attempt at a chaotic neutral character. He worried about the balance, and the Sith sure as hell weren’t balance. So teaching everyone? That helped.

Grabbing the pistol from the Primeval folk, he nodded. This was his bread and butter. Not that he’d get to show in a controlled environment, with the ship overhead. His new arm, one of the Phade Prosethetics from iBorg was under his Vanguard armor. Looked, and felt like time for action.

“What’s the call?” He wasn’t a Jedi. Jedi would try to talk. “Where do you want them hit?” Did he ever take a break?

Yes, when Spark Finn tied him down.

[member="Catalys Maijora"]

 

[Laith Varad*]

Aetan II
Hillside overlooking battlefield
Allies: Mandalorians
[5/20]

​

..."That's five."...the familiar monotone call went out over the comms after he watched the Vong Warrior fall once he'd squeezed the trigger on the rifle. Interestingly after the Vong fell his body would twitch, spasm and then Laith watched as he placed his hands down on the ground underneath himself and started to climb back to his feet prompting the Mercenary to state..."Wait, what?"...before he let the rangefinger zero in on its target again causing the rectile to turn green signifying a clean shot. Squeezing the trigger of the rifle a second time Laith felt the recoil crush into his shoulder as he watched the Vong fall down again, twitch and then eventually fall still..."I said that's five."...he muttered once into his comms slightly jilted that the Vong Warrior had attempted to cheat him out of his kill...

...then Laith ducked his head, he started taking fire on his position meaning someone from the battlefield had located him and silently the Mandalorian cursed himself for taking that second shot on the deceased Vong Warrior. A Blaster shot and ricocheted off his armor leaving a faded burn mark that smoked. Maintaining his concealed position Laith took his rifle and started to crawl backwards through the tallgrass while the blaster fire continued targeting his former location. Eventually Laith sat up but...

...BOOM!...

...a grenade he either hadn't seen or that had been fired up at his position exploded not more than a dozen yard from him. Concussion from the blast threw the Mercenary backwards, ruined the rifle he'd been using and left him with a bit of shellshock. Landing on his back Laith looked up at the sky, ringing filled his ears subtly despite the noise dampeners of his helm and raising his arms he saw his hands with a blurred tint surrounding them. All he could think of was how much this really pissed him off as he lay back in the grasses that surrounded him but shortly thereafter it seemed the fire on his position stopped. Likely the enemy had thought they'd killed him which was a mistake....

...laying there, looking up Laith started to roll over onto his side so that he could carry on...​

 

[Mantic Dorn]

Location: an old outpost
Objective: investigating distress signal
Allies: Jedi, Mando, GR
Enemies: Sith
Post:9/20

---------------------------------------------------

There had been a fence surrounding the small outpost but weather, nature and time had washed over it and made them useless.

There was however energy in the structure Mantic could see the lights around a landing pad blinking clearly through the rain. Another squad of storm troopers were guarding it.
And even though they were a problem Mantic was on total alert regarding something else. In the troopers midst stood a man dressed in an imperial brown uniform. A vibrosword strapped over his back, with the hilt sticking up from over his left shoulder.

He seemed to be occupied investigating a crate of sorts. And hopefully he had not sensed Mantic the way Mantic had sensed him.
going low Mantic sneaked further ahead. He wanted to try and hear what they were taling about. but there was a lot of distance to cover and he felt an urge to hurry his steps on.

turning around a large boulder he put his head out to get his bearings. He stared right into the eyes of the officer.

the officers face went all dark as he raised his hand toward Mantic and pointed.

"Kill the jedi!"

 

[Lavania]

6/20

They kept going and Lavania felt the magics as the bone was one her neck. With looks at the others she moved towards a small team of battle droids in the hallway as she almost screamed leaping into the air and her body rippled. The transformation talisman sh had been creating wanting her to let it out before her skin tore, thick black carapace like shell tearing at the skin violently while other parts of her were tearing tranforming. She could see once again with the force and actual sight from six more eyes as she came down landing on one of the droids with her new bulk and fangs piercing his chest.

 

[Arrbi Betna]

Betna risked a peak over the lip of the wall. Enemy soldiers poured fire from defensive points, trying to push forward and drive the Mandalorians off. Meanwhile the tank trundled onwards and forwards, enemy troops piling in behind it and letting it act like a mobile wall.

"You know what," he said after a moment as he pulled his head back behind the wall. "I think we've got this. Just gotta do a little finagling for a minute. One second."

With that, he pulled an object from his gear and palmed it. Shoving himself upwards, he started running full tilt at the tank. Small arms fire poured out, some trying to target him as he ran hard. Dirt and dust kicked up around his feet as he hauled tail to the armored vehicle and, for a brief moment, he didn't think he'd make it.

Sliding to a stop, he laid hands on the hull of the tank and launched himself upwards. Desperate hands and feet found holds in the metal hull and pulled him upwards. Atop the hull of the tank, he did his best to keep his balance and move towards the main cannon. He threw himself atop the barrel and slung the shotgun once more before slowly inching his way up the cannon barrel, his arms and legs wrapped around it like a pole.

He slowly slid his way up to the barrel when it fired again. The concussive force numbed everything form helmet to boot on his front and, for a brief moment, he was worried about Anija's reaction to a lack of future children. The moment passed after a second when he reminded himself he was clinging to a cannon barrel in the middle of a firefight. A few more inches and he pulled up his hand, the small orb in his palm. He thumbed the detonator and tossed it down the barrel of the cannon. As fast as he could, he slid off the barrel and swung himself once, twice, three times and leapt to the side of the tank, desperation lending him wings as the timer counted down. He made it a few meters before the turret of the tank disappeared in a flash of fire and light, the concussive blast throwing him to the ground.

"Okay..." he coughed into the comms, breathing heavily and feeling as if someone had taken a hammer to his lungs and torso. "I think... I've got the tank dealt with... How are you?"

[6/20]

[member="Draco Vereen"]