Invasion &nbsp; BLOOD GULCH | Bryn&#039;adûl Invasion of SJC held Chalacta, Alee, Sarka &amp; Roche

Galak | Sethrak |

Osam | Ostak Cl'mana
Silver Jedi Concord:

Gir Quee | Val Drutin |

Vexander Graves |

Ala Quin |

Kaleleon |

Caltin Vanagor |

Laertia Io

Jyoti Nooran · Mar 20, 2021

Location: Jungles outside Salyrini
Objective: Siegebreaking (Coagulation)
Allies: SJC + Friends (

Laertia Io , Val Drutin,

Vexander Graves ,

Ala Quin ,

Kaleleon ,

Caltin Vanagor , Romi Jade)
Opposition: Bryn'adul (

Tathra Khaeus ,

Galak ,

Sethrak ,

Primarch Drek'ma ,

Keldothera ,

Udomek Seker ,

Osam , Ostak Cl'mana)
With: Alakor Allyson Locke

Gir Quee
Directly Engaging:

Sylok'Vanari soon
Personal Equipment: Silver Shadow Armor, Sitara (Lightsaber), Avalanche Power Sword, Chakram Lightshield

It was a bittersweet experience for the Concord troopers and Sarkan soldiers cruising toward capital to say the least.

Hilly verdant jungle lands abruptly gave way to clearings of flattened scorched fields created by the impact of the falling Bryn assault transports, each barge as huge as a small island, followed by artillery strikes by Silver ships and Sarkan ground batteries. The whole scene was illuminated by hellish red light cast by glowing bubbling slag in place where a great mountain used to stand, its battered remains seeping across the ashen surface in molten rivulets.

Beneath the hovering vehicles, the whole earth trembled, not from the massive diggers but from falling debris from the subterranean ceiling of the city, and chunks of the glassed mountain. With the shield area reduced, several outlying districts were now vulnerable to this fallout below, on top of the murderous Bryn hordes that came for the peoples’ heads.

Sarkan soldiers had rushed home in defense of their treasured capital, only to find little of it left.

From her impromptu command center, Jyoti pounded her fist against a makeshift ops table. The whole frame rattled, a deep imprint left where her hand met the rounded edge. A fellow knight beside her jolted from the sudden flash of frustration.

It was happening again. Just like at Yurb and Nar Kreeta. Carefully laid out plans being quickly unraveled by the overkill tactics of the Bryn. Hyperamming, city wrecking worms, and now battlecruiser sized excavators that could punch a whole army through and under the toughest theater shields.

Worst yet, the stalled diggers they had been originally targeting had continuing burrowing down as the shield shrunk, calling into question whether or not the earlier airstrikes she had called in had connected. For such massive vehicles, the diggers moved with surprising speed, cutting through soil and bedrock like water.

Gir had pulled a ballsy and controversial move suddenly shrinking the shield before it was totally lost (and exposing the outer sections in the process) but in the end it was just a stalling tactic.

It was only a matter of time before the xenocidal hordes churned through that last bastion…

Maybe

Laertia Io had been right. It wasn’t like fighting another army. Rather more a force of nature – a twister, and the Concord was just the latest twig caught up in its gales...

“No,” she hissed to herself, shaking her head as if to brush away the morbid thoughts.

She straightened up, breathing deeply while gripping the table.

When there is no emotion, there is peace.

The Bryn’adul represented legitimate danger to the highest degree, but giving into her fear of their brutality would do no one favors. There was still a way to pull out of this, it was time to put that Echani battlemind to good use. Old tired tactics wouldn’t do.

For a few moments, she studied the battlefield overlay, noting how many enemy units continued to converge on the shield emitters and other critical locations. They wanted the shield down for good, so that the real massacre could commence.

If the Bryn’adul want the shield...then let them have it.

She hailed Gir again.

“Admiral Quee. The Bryn’adul put their eggs all in one basket with this subterranean assault. They blew past our fleets in orbit, and didn’t even establish a rear guard for the breach points through the surface. They practically gifted a killbox to us.”

As a last resort, if the Bryn overtook the city, then they could be buried alive under proton fire and magma life fish in a barrel. Take out their war chief, and their best officers and warriors in one fell swoop. It was a ruthless but logical move. One she was guessing the Bryn didn’t expect them to make given their audacious entrance.

Sacrifice a whole city to save the system? The entire galaxy?

Not there yet. There were still more cards to play.

“Let our shield become a sword. In the end, it’s just one giant array of beam emitters, shaping energy into barriers. We can overload the shield to eliminate the ground units massing to take them, and blow away the entire enemy air corps with them.”

With no airpower, the remaining Bryn would be easy pickings for the Silver fleet, most ships still stationed in orbit, and the Sarkan mechanized division she had just brought with her.

“I’m not sure if that would be enough to take down their diggers, but I still have demolition teams ready to handle those.”

It sounded like a workable plan, one she was the Bryn would never see coming, but there were complications. Even in the best case scenario, the remainder of the city would be without a shield. The outer sections now exposed would almost surely be obliterated,d but at this point, many of the civilians had been evacuated to the emergency tunnels and falling debris had cratered the outer city anyway – the line had already been crossed.

“Otherwise, I can come down with the army…I could take them that way, but I don’t know if there would any city left to save by the time I got to the inner districts...they don’t seem to care about anything but moving forward taking it all down. We've never faced an enemy like this.”

There were no easy choices here. People were going to die no matter what the decision was made.

She was just hoping with her crazy idea, maybe it would be much less.

Tathra Khaeus · Mar 20, 2021

BLOOD GULCH

Objective: Coagulation
Location: Southwest Quadrant
Allies:

Sethrak |

Seer Kalanthir |

Hrajlmak'Natok | Ostak Cl'mana |

Primarch Drek'ma | @
Enemies:

Caltin Vanagor |

Travot Ravenna |

Jyoti Nooran |
Axe | Gauntlet | Armour |
Mount: Dreddikkast |

He managed to back up several metres, receding steps with gauntlet and Axe raised as the bodies began to rise from the ground. Solid bodies and limbs toorn from ice-made shells, like crystal coffins began to rise into the air. They had became intermingled with the ground, cracking violently as ice-blue flame engulfed joints and pieces of flesh from carcasses were tossed at him from every direction. Tathra raised his right arm, gauntlet in front as a flames of ice disappeared as they drew close - their energy absorbed as the pieces of corpse struck against his body. The high speed velocity of the darting pieces of flesh thankfully only lasted for a few seconds, forced to back up a few steps to retain a strong stance. At the same time, he felt a tug at his left forearm and specifically his elbow; enough to denote acknowledgement but not enough to even be considered painful., a mixture of sheer physical composition far beyond that of a human and the fact his bones and armour were built with condensed force resistant material would make any accurate attack on his body of such precision an incredibly difficult task. He shrugged it off, a nuisance.

But the efforts of both had been enough to distract him long enough as the lightning strike came down; his reflexes granted him a saving grace - moving his head out of the way as the strike slammed down into his chest with a thundering roar, all around them the storm had worsened as it charred Bryn'adul soldiers alive, scouring the battlefield for his troops. The lightning curled around his chest, denting smaller confined sections of the exterior Verikast plating; lines of charred scorches across the middle of the breastplate as Tathra was forced to his knees; grunting in pain as the lightning tingled his entire body violently.

The ground churned beneath his feet; torn apart by the sheer force of his multi-ton body being pushed back. Lightning, turns the legs to jelly. But he'd dealt with such things before, gauntleted fist on the ground as he kept himself steady. He didn't rise, aureate orbs of gold stared back at the two as the Jedi's fist slammed into the ground releasing a dense telekinetic wave of energy through the ground toward him. His gauntleted paw formed into a fist as Tathra drained the telekinetic power of the wave's middle section directed toward him; all but consumed it into the gauntlet before it reached him with a snarl of exertion as the rest of the wave cut through the rubble around him.

Across the battlefield, the two Obaliscs that previously been charging their blasts unleashed multiple torrents of incredibly powerful continuous beams into the shield around the Command Centre the Debaucher was now feeding upon, blasting from all across the city as the others continued to fire paths and holes into the ceiling in accordance with Tathra's plan.

All throughout Salyrini the continuing fall of debris did not deter the battle hardened warriors of the Bryn'adul as their fatigued and battered forces were replenished with the new arrivals whom had come from the half of their force that had been stuck behind the barrier. Not all had made it however, others destroyed by the new Echani devices and the subterranean tanks deployed by the city defences, the outnumbered had suddenly more than doubled their forces across Salyrini as they fought tooth and nail to destroy the place. The Reavers deployed throughout the city used concentrated magnetic blasts from the Reavers to knock away as much of the debris and aerial fire from the infantry as they could whilst the newly arrived Quilxyn provided personal shielding for their infantry. However still, any would a keen eye would see that they were giving a wide birth to the centre and nearly a straight line through Salyrini. As to why, no visual sign would able to indicate why.

Earthquakes didn't warn you first but by more than the deep rumbling of the Guardians.

The Titan rose to answer the approach of the Jedi, feeling returning fully to his legs. The air he exhaled became visible as the all too familiar chill of the cold made itself apparent in their environment. His body, suddenly working harder to keep itself moving. But even the freezing cold augmented through the force dulled its affect on his protected body. But not enough that he didn't feel the sting, muscles tensing reactively to the sudden increase in difficulty to move and breathe. The Jedi swung from the left, aiming for the head.

Tathra shifted his stance, standing on the ball of his left foot, heel slightly raised off the ground, right foot a half-step forward. He had the advantage of range, proximity and size. It took him less effort and time to cross a distance than it did someone two heads shorter than his shoulder. He shifted his left-handed grip into a reverse, holding the Axe's bladed head at his waist as the right moved to the lower-length of the Axe's shaft toward the pommel, the open palm of his right gauntleted hand against the interior of the shaft; guiding rather than touching it as he raised it with his left at an angle to block the path of the Jedi's blade, subsequently aiming the bladed end of the Axe downward.

The blow was a feint, as the Jedi ducked and rolled to the right, Tathra's left side. Even if Tathra had put an unnecessarily large amount of physical force into a block, his Draelvasier reflexes were much sharper than that of a humans. The Titan simply turned where his stance and weight lead him, left knee turning outward; using the ball of his foot to easily shift it as his heel came down, right foot sliding backward slightly in synchronisation with the left. His torso turned slightly to his left also, with the mere shift of his body bringing the Axe's blade directly into the mid-momentum roll of the Jedi. His right hand simply clamped down on the pommel end of the Axe as the Jedi moved to strike at the knee, essentially bringing the two into same path, Tathra thrusting the angled Axe's blade downward at the Jedi to impale him.

Sethrak · Mar 20, 2021

Post: 8
Objective: Coagulation
Allies: Bryn, @Tathra
Foes:

Caltin Vanagor

Laertia Io
Inventory: 1x Barad Kukri X Theron Armor X
Location: Northern Quadrant

The battle was intense, the girl was apparently unaffected by Sethrak's attempts to block her emotions as she threw bodies, Bryn and Jedi alike at Tathra. Meanwhile the large male Jedi had pulled several tricks out of his bag. First the Storm was more intense, the strikes were stronger, more rapid. Sethrak watched as The Titan was struck, brought down to his knees by the storm. Then the male Jedi launched a wave of Force Energy at Tathra, this attack was absorbed by The Titan's fist. Finally the Jedi feinted an attack, then rolled away like an insect.

Sethrak was moments away from joining the fight when he felt something in his mind. Something unnatural, some thing spawned by or through The Force. It was as if his mind was cold, clouded by an icy mist. It was getting stronger, even beginning to ache. It had to be the girl. The Warlock quickly commanded The Force to completely sever any connections he had. Any troops he was enhancing now returned to normal, and any foe, the girl included, now had no way to assault his mind. Sure enough the cold eased off, then died out completely.

This trespass into his mind would not go unpunished. However, he didn't want to give the girl another chance to poison his psyche. He would attack her head-on somehow. He turned all the pain he had endured into rage. All the frustration of this battle, from being buried, to losing half of his garrison, to the skirmish he had to pass by on his way to Tathra, now intensified. His blood boiled with anger. In his fury his eyes turned to a darker orange and his hands began smoking. He stared at the woman, he saw nothing but her.

At last his hands were ignited, bright red flames covered them up to the elbow. He brought them back as if to throw something underhandedly, then with all his might he threw them forward. First his right, then his left as two large balls of flame approached the girl. If he was lucky and his aim was true, she would be incinerated, though he knew better than to let his guard down when fighting a Force User. He readied himself for the result of his attack....

Osam · Mar 20, 2021

Objective: Chase The Weak
Allies: The Bryn'adul
Enemies: Engaging

Mathieu Brion |

Ki'an Vizsla
Equipment:
Kukri
Verikast Drone Armor
Assault Carbine
Pulverizer Sidearm

Osam observed from the narrow view of the tunnel as an individual shot directly upwards into the sky and out of sight. He'd become acutely familiar with a surprising number of warrior cultures, organizations, and entities throughout his tenure as a soldier of the Bryn'adul. Whilst he had spent a majority of his life as nothing more than a measly drone, he had survived a greater number of conflicts and battles than many of his peers. That experience and old-age granted him insight into the nature of this gallivanting skytrooper, and while his exact armaments were uncertain from this distance, it was clear enough that he wore the armor of a Mandalorian.

Supposedly they were talented combatants if the stories surrounding their creed were to be believed. Yet, the Noghri of Honoghr too had carried a reputation of brutality and efficacy in warfare, and they had been slaughtered until only a scattering still lived anywhere in the galaxy. The piratical groups that had worked alongside the Hutts had also carried reputations of terror and fright, only to be sent into an abyss from whence there is no escape. Would these Mandalorians prove to an exception to the rule of weakness that had perpetrated itself?

The Risen-Sraelvun's attention was directed back to the battle at hand, his eyes gazing out into the dust-choked air, his mouth curling with a wicked grin of delight as the chunk of tunnel revealed itself to have been blown outwards by the force of his Pulverizer. He took a moment to reload the heavy arm, massaging his wrists in the process - the recoil of the firearm was immense - and then stowing it back at his side for later use. The greater opening provided them with more maneuvering room within the tunnel system, but it also meant a greater angle of attack for their enemies. Nevertheless, the chilling shells they continued to fire were still being eliminated by the Quilxyn Protectors, unable to cause casualties through their frost, though still coating the ground in slick and icy substances which made movement a more dangerous proposition.

Those blaster bolts which launched through the air towards the Draelvasier were more effective, though even these were deflected to a decent degree by the Verikast armor worn by the Sraelvun. The armor had been designed to soak up these blaster bolts in great quantities, providing a significant amount of heat protection in the process; if the enemy had been armed with slugthrowers, the casualties would have mounted much more severely, but as it was, they needed to rely on chance head-shots and blows to exposed portions of the body to inflict serious wounds.

A sudden stinging stench of charred flesh and steamed viscera promptly reminded Osam that such events were not as unlikely as one might expect when faced with concentrated blasterfire. The Draelvasier beside him slumped to the ground, their facial wound grievous enough to have been instantaneously lethal.

This perpetual back and forth could not last forever, considered Osam, recognizing that the retreating civilians would be gone by the time they had managed to break free from this stalemate. They needed to act with speed and violence if they were to succeed, putting trust in their creed as members of the Bryn'adul to attain their victory. Osam had long ago decided that he would do anything at all to achieve his survival, but secondary to that objective was his desire for glory, his desire to attain recognition for his work... to never cease in his advance whatever it cost.

If the lives of a few of his men would be wasted, or a limb might be lost, or an eye, then so be it. Sacrifices would be made in devotion.

He suspected that the blasterfire would be fierce if they were to charge, and the loss of footing would slow them too. They'd be in an enemy killzone for several seconds, jumping from cover to cover, and the losses might be tremendous - but every Draelvasier carried devastating weapons and the persistence to see themselves through to the end. Those that survived would fulfill the objective for the ones who died in the process, and make the Titan glad with their work.

"Advance. My squad, covering fire, suppress the enemy as best as possible. All of the others - move forward, shoot and walk. Every new piece of cover you reach, take a burst. We will push them back. For the Bryn'adul! In the name of Khaeus!" The Sraelvun were vicious and relentless by nature, cunning and fierce to a degree unmatched by their kin. The first squad began their push with a speed that other sapients might've found reckless, those who fell treated their new exposed positions as "cover" and promptly provided firepower meant to protect their kindred, knowing that their refusal to move made them easier targets.

Death would not hold back the Bryn'adul.

Primarch Drek'ma · Mar 20, 2021

BLOOD GULCH

Objective: Agoraphobia
Location: Burrower > Shield Exterior
Bryn'Bois: Ostak Cl'mana |

Sethrak |

Kelmor |

Galak |

Seer Kalanthir |

Kad
Enemy:

Travot Ravenna |

Caltin Vanagor |

Syd Celsius | Caedyn Arenais
Equipment: Staff | Cuirass |

Everything, had been building up to THIS moment.

The city weakened, the Debaucher struck and the Titan's Obalsics, the weakened integrity of the city from the Burrowers and the orbital blasts.

It was everything they needed.

The Bryn'adul would see Salyrini destroyed, their world crushed in upon itself and the weak, pathetic naves turned to dust. All would die her to today, and become children of Khaeus.

The Primarch called on all the energy he had at hand as the Guardians continued their work. The Draelvasier force users of note poured their power into a well of energy he could draw upon. Ostak aided him, Hrajlmak aided him, Sethrak aided him and the great Seer Kalanthir sharpened his focus through the immense battle meditation put forth by he and his delegates. Drek'ma strained with intense fatigue pouring through his body as the Guardians cavern deepened, earth quakes cutting through the under city as the plan drew near.

He could his heart, booming in his chest as the Staff fell from his grasp. His hands, curling inward into tense and stiff claws as he imagined the two great serpents in his grasp. The earth above them, decimated by the sheer power of the Servitors. The combined abuse of the smaller Servitors, the Excavators and the Burrowers and now the weakening of the structure as those who had sworn to protect it fired down upon it with orbital fire.

Salyrini was weak, its stand strayed at the edge of the knife. The final move was his, combined with the might of the Obaliscs as they cut open a fine mirroring of lines across what remained of the ceiling above that worked in tandem with the Guardians below. The once silent crack in the centre of the city shook and trembled.

Everything the city had suffered, finally reached its pinnacle.

The pinnacle of destruction, of chaos. Calamity. Everything the Titan wished to bring forth upon the fledging Galaxy before them.

The ground shook and trembled as that line through the centre of Salyrini exploded into a massive gaping crack forming above an immense cavern cutting through the city from one end to another. From it, the sheer weight of the entire city applied intense pressure on the isolated supports underground that remaining. They were crushed - potentially even sacrificing Ostak's Servitors as tunnels were decimated in seconds as the entire city of Salyrini would begin to crush in upon its many tunnels, escape routes and caves. A loud awful moan escaping from the massive chasm as dozens of smaller earth quakes would explode throughout the city from the epicentre of the Guardians work.

The landscape would begin to fall into two steep slanting inclines on either side. The sheer force overwhelming Drek'ma as his arms went limp at either side.

Blood oozed from every orifice as Drek'ma gave his all. This was his duty, his show of power. He was devoted to seeing the task done and would stop at nothing but the halt of his own beating heart before he allowed himself to fail the great Titan.

IT.... IT HAS BEGUN!

He cried out telepathically, speaking to all of his kin across the battlefield through the connection of the Mind Stones.

Gir Quee · Mar 20, 2021

Location: the Emerald Undertow, Task Force Undertow, near Salyrini City
Objective One: The Siege of Salyrini
Allies:

Jyoti Nooran

Syd Celsius
Enemies:

Galak

Tathra Khaeus

Keldothera

Kelmor

“Let our shield become a sword. In the end, it’s just one giant array of beam emitters, shaping energy into barriers. We can overload the shield to eliminate the ground units massing to take them, and blow away the entire enemy air corps with them. I’m not sure if that would be enough to take down their diggers, but I still have demolition teams ready to handle those. Otherwise, I can come down with the army…I could take them that way, but I don’t know if there would any city left to save by the time I got to the inner districts...they don’t seem to care about anything but moving forward taking it all down. We've never faced an enemy like this.”

The admiral pressed his lips together tightly and crossed his arms as he listened to the Jedi Master's thoughts. He frequently found her to be one of the more practical and less idealistic Jedi within the Silver Jedi Order when it came to military matters - being a commander who would have to knowingly send people to death was a hard job, and one he thought was doubly more difficult as a Jedi who could telepathetically experience such losses on a much greater magnitude. On an emotional level, he hated to agree with her on those courses of action, let from a strictly logical standpoint, she was right. The Bryn'adul had pushed forward headlong into the city, charging forward into prepared defensive positions manned by thousands of troops and hundreds of vehicles, even as his war fleet behind them had continued their barrages and airstrikes into the enemy's mists. They know only the offense. And yet he was loathe to admit it - loathe to admit that they were likely on the brink of defeat even as the defenses around the tower buckled under the sheer weight of the Bryn'adul numerical superiority. I might not ever see Dav again...say what you will of that man...

Yet even he pondered that thought, the debaucher slashed into the command center itself. Even under heavy attack, the engineered creature was single-minded in its purpose. Fear tugged at him, battle-experienced soldier that he was. The Starlight Scutum shield flickered in and out as energy was siphoned away from it and then replaced by fresh energy from its geothermal power source. Could the energy come quick enough to replace the loss from the Debaucher? He didn't know, but he knew that a faltering shield was not the bedrock of a good defensive strategy, especially when the troops protecting that tower were rapidly dwindling under the intense pressure of newly arrived Bryn'adul reinforcements. He briefly flicked his comlink channel to the one he shared with Dav. Do we really have a choice? His heart sank and leveled out as he came to acceptance of harsh reality.

"Dav, turn the city shield off and try to make it look like it's entirely out of commission. Have everyone evacuate and try to get to our lines. But I need you and or a few others to try and turn the generator into a weapon."

"How am I supposed to do that?"

He briefly considered Jyoti's thoughts.

"The shield faces on a Starlight Scutum are disintegrating fields. If you program it to suddenly boot up at full strength and expand outwards sequentially to a set distance at our lines, we may be able to wipe them out. Timer or remote control activation would be best. If we can't do that, overload the capacitors and turn it into a makeshift electrobomb."

"Ah...all right. I have this Jedi knight here to protect me, but I don't think I'll be able to do this, not with that many troops converging on our location..."

"With the shield off, we'll have more room to work with the fleet."

"Oh....oh. Should be off...now."

The Starlight Scutum shield briefly flared up to an angry red which bathed the ruined city in an oddly warm if forbidding glow before flaring out to patches of orange and then nothingness. With the shield down, the nearby Silver Jedi fleet had nearly no impediment to targeting any Bryn'adul troops or vehicle within the city itself. Thunderer Heavy Particle Beam Cannons from the Emerald Undertow immediately lashed out at the Debaucher that had assaulted the command center. The twin burrowers near the command center found themselves under a hail of rapid kinetic shell fire by the Undertow's Ragnarok-class Batteries while the Ra'maks and other large Bryn'adul vehicles found themselves the target of almost available gun on the fleet, from Tyrvald II Variable Turbolasers to the much smaller Rhongomyniad Mass Drivers while battleweary and depleted squadrons of starfighters and starbombers swept in to engage the fresh Bryn'adul reinforcements. He turned his comlink back to the channel he shared with Jyoti.

"The shield is down, and we're attempting to turn it into a weapon. It would probably best if we make a security cordon around the city to prevent any of the Bryn from escaping and to better affect the rescue of our own forces...speaking of which..."

He flipped his headset microphone up before turning to Ariela, "Signal all of our organic forces and the native Sarkans to immediately abandon their positions and evacuate, whether by tunnel, vehicle or ship. Have our dropships start pulling people back too, first priority. We'll leave our droids to keep fighting and cover our retreat."

"On it."

He switched the comlink back to the one he shared with Jyoti, "Any other big plays to make before our careers are ruined forever?"

Kad · Mar 20, 2021

BLOOD GULCH

OBJECTIVE: COAGULATION

LOCATION: Southwest Quadrant
EQUIPMENT: Glaive | ~~Shredder~~ ~~[2]~~ | ~~Splitter Bow~~ | Armour |
ALLIES:

Udomek Seker |
ENEMIES: Caedyn Arenais

Gredak was filled with joy as his strike made purchase, striking the Jedi with such force that he was thrown to the ground. The Zealot nodded to the wounded Udomek as he moved in for the kill as the orbital bombardment continued once more above them. However at the same time, the ground shook and shifted as a incredibly loud rending sound came from somewhere toward the middle of the city.

It seemed as though their plan was finally underway. The ground became slanted slightly, shifting like a massive pendulum swaying from side to side as the ground beneath his feet cracked. Shattering cracks stretching like roots all around them. Gredak smiled as he lunged for the Jedi, caught in some sort of stasis as his movement was slowed.

Gredak writhed and struggled, trying to free himself from the cosmic influence as the Jedi came for his head. Through sheer desperation the Zealot pulled himself through the stasis as he attempted to strike the Jedi mid air with the right armed swing of his Glaive.

Searing red pain fuelled every sense. His eyes, watching as his arm fell from his body on the ground in-front of him, still clutching his Glaive. His eyes looked to where his arm ought to be, back and forth as he seemed to freeze in place for a few moments. There was no sound, nothing at all for a split-second as the ground shifted again.

The ground shifted again, steeping as at the end of the city great puffs of ash flew from crushed tunnels. Sound and feeling returned to him as Gredak felt such immense pain. He'd been beaten, humiliated. He sacrificed the protection of his own for glory and even then - he failed.

"Gaaaaaaaaah!" He fell to one knee, writhing in pain.

Ki'an Vizsla · Mar 20, 2021

Mathieu Brion & the SJC
Enemies:

Osam

Ki’an didn’t look up at Mathieu until the injured man had been stabilised but returned a similar comment once his attention was not split. “Think you’ll do more than provide lunch and stand there looking pretty?” He replied in a similarly light-hearted manner. “Why be afraid of something that prefers to target all the juicy Force users around you?” He responded jokingly, though he couldn’t deny the beings were incredibly unsettling. Still, the point was taken and he considered that maybe he had been playing it too safe for someone who was supposed to be a trained warrior.

Once the injured man had been retreated to a safer distance, the pair who accompanied him returned to the stalemate of a battle. He returned to Mathieu's side and stood with his hands on his hips, watching the exchange fire at what he seemed to be a relatively safe distance. "I don't have anything that can contend with weapons that size." He told Mathieu. "It doesn't look like you can afford to take a hit with your lightsaber with bullets that big either." His gaze momentarily following some of the attacking projectiles.

With most, if not all, of the immediate refugees out of the vicinity then they stood a good chance at depriving the Bryn from what they wanted, though it had not been without the cost of some of their own men. It was in the Mandalorian's nature to save lives, not take them, but the latter had been ingrained into him through his culture and made it a normality. In any case, he had no qualms in aiding to destroy the savagery that was the Bryn, especially for the people who stood no chance against them.

It seemed like there was a stir from within the tunnel, though it was hard to make out given the noisy and chaotic nature of the raging battle. "I think we've got some action." He said as he slipped a blaster into each hand and began approaching the danger zone. Upon peering down the tunnel to return fire, it became apparent that their opponents were opting for an offensive attack. Their suppressive fire would help them but it wouldn't save them as several fell before reaching the outside.

"Uh oh." The Mandalorian began backing away as their foes came ever closer to reaching them, not inhibited enough by the allied attack to prevent them from growing closer. As they neared the entrance, Ki'an took to the air to hopefully gain a vantage point and aid his allies from behind, at least briefly as it would likely be an unsustainable position and could make him a target. He fired on those below from behind as they exited the tunnel, striking a couple but alerting others to his position.

From his position, he could witness the battle in its entirety and while he wanted to watch out for his allies, he had to ensure he didn't get shot either. At first, it seemed like they had the advantage with the position they had but the fight was growing more equal which was concerning. His thoughts and gaze turned to his younger companion as he moved about the group. Ki'an hoped the young man wouldn't get killed in such a senseless and needless battle and so swore to protect him as best he could.

Hrajlmak'Natok · Mar 20, 2021

Objective: Agoraphobia
Post: 8
Allies:

Primarch Drek'ma / Ostak Cl'mana
Enemies: Gone Home
Location: Ostak's Burrower, city outskirts
Equipment: Warlock's Armour / Battle Staff
_______________________________________________________

Bit by bit, the world above the tunnels was deconstructed. The Bryn'adul had arrived on this planet in the height of its glory, and were to leave it a smoldering shadow of its former self. When the Nimscalls and Barricas arrived, they would transform the tapestry as the Gods that they were, remaking Salyrini in the Bryn'adul's image. An image held by all sentient troops that fought for the Bryn'adul's future. They knew their purpose. The strong came, cleansed the weak, and furthered the natural order. That was how all things changed. Just as the forest fire ravages the old, giving way to new growth. The Bryn'adul had taken it upon themselves to burn the old. Destroy what was entrenched, to make way for what was to come. They could not lose for nature never does. They would only prevail. And if they lost, still, their victory would come in another form.

The rhythmic one-two of the tunnel army filled the darkness with deafening noise. But even that could not drown out the carnage of the surface. The newly-laden tunnels ached and shed dirt under the weight of the surface war. Many of the troops peered uneasily at the walls that surrounded them, quietly paranoid that any moment, they would all be buried alive. No glory, no fight. But still they marched unimpeded. The iron grip of their leading Warlocks bade them on whether they willed it or not. At their head, Hrajlmak and the other Warlock set the pace. Both were silent. The mission was clear and their window for making a difference closing rapidly. Like a voice on the wind, Ostak's urgent tones floated into the pair's minds. Time was running out, the fight was coming to a close. Hrajlmak glanced at his second, and the pair broke into a jog, the army following suit. As he ran, icy fluid dripped from his chest. Hrajlmak's looked down to see his chest plate littered in gaping scorch marks and cooling fluid draining. He looked straight, anger boiling in his throat. A gutteral growl bubbled up from his lungs. The tunnels were hot, and their heat beat down on him. He ran, but his legs were heavy and tired.

Near the back of the army, a battalion of Drones kept pace with their brethren, silently wishing for victory. If only to escape these godforsaken tunnels. "These aliens live like.. I don't know. But it disgusts me". One drone, fresh from the vats, spoke mindlessly to his brother-in-arms. The other scoffed, "what do you know, Tak". Tak looked to his comrade, his eyes squinted. "More than you. I've heard stories of Draemidus. I imagine it's bathed in red. Towering megastructures. And standing armies everywhere you look. Mightiest world in the galaxy I bet" his eyes drifting off into the backs of the next row of drones. "What do you think, Vaak?" Vaak's brow furrowed as he spoke, "I don't think about it. I'm Kessel. Vatted only a few weeks ago. Probably for this invasion" he gestured around, "by any standard my home is that gangrenous pit, Kessel. That's enough for me". Tak sniffed, seemingly disappointed with the answer. He jogged silently for a moment, contemplating. He turned his head, about to speak, when a jet of magma burst from the tunnel wall beside him, engulfing the pair, and tens of other troops immediately. Shrieks rang out across the darkness, reaching the helm soon enough. The pair of Warlocks spun their heads to see, the faint glow of the lava confirming the erratic thoughts in their minds. Hrajlmak's second looked to the First Warlock, urgent thoughts telepathically conveyed. "If I feel a neuron in your skull consider stopping, I'll remove it, along with the rest of them." Hrjalmak's blazing red eyes converged on the running Warlock's. They said no more.

But that was only an echo of what was to come. Soon, the length of the tunnel dripped molten rock. Shouts and animal shrieks rang out across the army. Large chunks of the walls collapsed, some with pools of magma behind them. The army was in a sprint, racing to a finish line that was life or death. The chaos on the surface was no longer a distant rumble, but noise on the other side of a thin wall. They felt as if they were there, under the bombardment themselves. Tensions ran high and legs ran fast. When light emerged at the end of the tunnel, those who could see it felt as if they were moments from death themselves. The metaphor far too real.

Hrajlmak burst from the tunnel exit, mud and stones flying from his figure. Close behind him the rest of the army came hollering, their voices indistinct. Just ahead, Ostak's Burrower sat like an outstretched arm offering salvation. The walls were caving in, drones came sprinting from the tunnel's mouth with lava dripping from their heads. Hrajlmak beheld a situation no better than what they had escaped. The Burrower was sat under a cavern held together by string and supported by fading Aeravalin magic. Hrajlmak glared at the Juggernauts, then beyond them to Ostak. He said no words, only conveyed reassurance, and the utmost urgency over thought. He sprinted past the Baedurin perimeter, barreling toward the Burrower's entrance, fumbling to a stop near Ostak. "Overseer, let us waste no more time." His breath was strained, eyes sharper than blades.

Galak · Mar 20, 2021

BLOOD GULCH

Objective: Coagulation
Location: Shield Generator Tower Exterior
Bryn'Bois:

Sethrak |

Primarch Drek'ma | Ostak Cl'mana |

Osam
Adversary:

Travot Ravenna |

Syd Celsius |
Equipment: Triad | Armour | Shredder | Bryn Shot |

Keldothera's Gunboat was shot down in a blaze of fire. The Warlord felt his heart stop in his chest as he pushed against the tide of water, searching as the wreck sunk into the pools. He swayed through the thick as the overwhelming forces of the Bryn converged on the enemy. They had them outnumbered, outmatched.

"Kelda!!!" Galak called out. His thoughts searched through the mind stone. He couldn't find anything, there was nothing. He couldn't help her, save her.

Another warrior failed and it was on his hands. He had allowed her to take on the task of guiding the Debaucher and now she just like Pavium was gone. This time, the Warlord didn't buckle - he didn't collapse. The battle meditation fuelled him as he charged into the fight, cutting down the enemy droids as the syphons more and more drained the enemy forces, fighting his way toward Kelmor.

"Kelmor, I lost General Keldothera." The words were sombre, but he had to keep their forces aware of the military structure on the field.

"For now, you have her place. As Warlord, I name you acting General of her forces!" The conversation didn't go any further as Galak looked to the sky.

The interior city shield shimmer out of existence at almost the exact same time as the ground began to shift unnaturally. He nearly lost his footing, an unimaginable amount of weight shifting below them as the entire half of the city became slanted - the sound of crushed tunnels and shifting rubble. No doubt crushing hundreds of thousands of fleeing civilians in the process. It was deafening to anyone but him to the obvious. He knew the Debaucher couldn't have taken out the shield that fast. He could see the damn swarm of ships peering through the holes in the roof.

"Quilxyn, switch to hex-grade defence shielding. Now!" As clear as day, the cowards had abandoned whatever people were still in this part of the city.

The Quilxyn deployed throughout the battlefield around them quickly diverted their shielding into a formidable defensive dome above their forces - encompassing the Debaucher as well. But not before it had killed hundreds more of his kin in just a few moments, and no doubt thouands more outside. Just like Kesh, the orbital fire came crashing down from above, blunted by the Quilxyn's formulated defence shield above them. The Reavers deployed throughout the city, no doubt defending others.

He wasn't sure how long it'd hold - it was already flickering, but it'd have to do for now.

Galak could see it, Quilxyn orbital shields forming around Burrowers and large forces all across the battlefield. But the fleet was the least of their concerns now. The ground beneath their feet was only temporary now.

Keldothera · Mar 20, 2021

BLOOD GULCH

Objective: Coagulation
Location: Shield Generator Tower Exterior
Bryn'Bois:

Galak |

Seer Kalanthir |

Kelmor |

Sylok'Vanari |
Enemy:

Syd Celsius |
Equipment: Armour | Splitter | Crippler | Carbine | Dual Shredders

The water rushed around her, the earth around them swaying to the left as the half of the city they were in came crashing down on itself. She had no time to think of why or how as her vision was blurred by shades of water. A mixture of blood and tanks, beasts and her own soldiers had been thrust into the water. In every direction, water stretched out into such density it was simply a deep black as far as she could see. The shapes of Excavators nearly a kilometre down filled her with such terror that she could only internally plead against the water pulling her own.

Her nostrils filled with water, her bodies instinct to sneeze, to writhe and drain the fluid became almost unavoidable as she fought against all her bodily instinct to open her mouth. Her armour felt a hundred times heavier on her broken body, pulling her down slowly as she squirmed for help. In a gush of dirt, Sarkan bodies flooded the water as tunnels collapsed under the weight of the city and its collapsing exterior. Hundreds of bodies, making a wall above her; limp crushed flesh dragging her down further. She saw their faces, and remembered that it was her sacrifice that saw them dead. This was her duty, this was the price of her devotion to the Titan.

If she had to die in one of the most horrible ways possible, so be it.

But she so dearly didn't want to. She swam as well as she could toward the Excavators fighting against the water as it seemed to begin to settle; grabbing hold with one arm onto one of their drilling fins. Another explosion of pressurised rock and dirt, more bodies flooding into the water - but it also gave some of the water somewhere to go. Now seeping into the precious escape tunnels, otherwise now drowning or crushing thousands all across Salyrini.

Her air was all but gone, cheeks tensing as her strength whittled. The edges of her vision, darkening. With what strength she had left, she pulled up her broken arm - jamming her broke fingers into the drilling blades as a gush of black blood escaped.

Finally, she gave in - screaming into the water as it flooded her body. The Excavator went up and up, powered by an instinct to survive as the General drowned.

-

Topside, the Debaucher continued to absorb the Generator's pulse even as they deactivated it. The energy was still there, the creature couldn't be fooled. It used the Shield Generator as a catalyst to drain on the geothermal power - strengthening itself as it poured out its accompaniment of six hundred with its larger drilling sockets into the fourth through sixth floor. Nearly two hundred Juggernauts flooding each, firing at anyone still inside.

Luckily for the Debaucher, Galak was protecting it as best he could. Though the gas continued to slowly chew away at its hide on the right side. It couldn't stop the beast, almost nothing could now with so much power at in its grasp.

Seer Kalanthir · Mar 20, 2021

BLOOD GULCH

Objective: Coagulation
Location: Salyrini City
Allies: Ostak Cl'mana |

Sylok'Vanari |

Osam |
Enemies:

Caltin Vanagor |

Long corridors of thought extended out before the uncontested Seer as he manipulated the storm to his own devices, the skies growing red as the Mind Stones of the Stonesingers and Ashaka around him compounded to extend the length of his telepathy and battle meditation. He could feel the fear of his own kind, and the intense fear of the civilians of Sarka. The ground shifted, the city seemingly crushing them as the broken Salyrini destroyed its escape tunnels under its own weight.

So much death, so much suffering. No doubt the Jedi had promised them safety as they scrambled to defend the capital city of the planet. No doubt, those who saw light at the end of those tunnels felt the smallest glimmer of hope before the walls caved in around them. Thousands now drowning in terror, the fear - it fuelled him. Using the stonesingers and Ashaka as a catalyst. It was too late for them now, realising that the Seer was indeed draining them of their life energies as they slowly turned into withered husks. His power, growing immensely as the storm became violently and powerful - spreading across the now almost entirely open ceiling of the city.

A vision came to him in that moment, so close to the apex of his power. This was the strongest he had ever felt, whispers came as the few words of those above came to his mind. They wished to escape, to run. He would not let them. Black veins, fuelled by the immense fear around the city of the drowned and dead fuelled his power as the storm began to strike out at enemy civilian or military transports docked, striking at retreating forces in sporadic and incredibly violent streams of red lightning.

This is MY hour!

He turned the tendrils of the storm against the invading aerial forces of the Concord. His battle meditation and control of the battlefield dominating as the city fell apart piece by piece. Slowly, slanting more and more as the Burrower at his back rose - floating slightly above ground. One might've forgotten, but Burrowers were capable of flight.

Ostak Cl'mana · Mar 20, 2021

POST: VIII
OBJECTIVE: BABYSIT DREK'MA AGRAPHOBIA (II)
LOCATION: CAVE HOLLOW, CITY OUTSKIRTS
DRAEL ALLIES ON OBJECTIVE:

Primarch Drek'ma (in close proximity) /

Hrajlmak'Natok & co (in relative proximity)
HOSTILES: SJC |

Laertia Io 's NPCs | Open to engaging up to 2 more Jedi opponents
EQUIPMENT: Traditional Shaman robes
BEASTS: 1x 3x Servitors (2 supporting Guardians in city destruction, 1 hunting/defending), 4x Sirracus Wyrms (hunting/defending)

Their time was up.

Ostak's bubble shield was now holding up nearly five hundred tons of solid rock, straining his mental reserves to their limit. Hundreds of Draelvasier rushed through the hole in his barrier, followed by molten rock rising from an unknown source. It was truly a race against time, a race rapidly entering its final leg.

Hrajlmak'Natok said:
"Overseer, let us waste no more time."

The Shaman-Overseer barely registered the commander's words, simply gesturing to the Burrower behind them to indicate their destination. He was reaching his limit much as his Primarch was, his barrier starting to crack under the weight of the rock and the heat of the magma. After watching the last Drone rush past him and into the Burrower, Ostak let out a sigh of relief. His burden would soon be relieved, his supervisory duties fulfilled to their conclusion. Seeing the Primarch collapse and bleed, the Shaman-Overseer diverted a portion of his energy into using telekinetic force to lift him up, placing him in his stretcher, which was promptly rushed into the Burrower by two waiting Juggernauts. Now completely alone, the Shaman-Overseer begun his final task.

While one of the Primarch's newest actions had been to redirect the Guardians, Ostak still had the lesser worms under his control and in danger. In an attempt to reduce his burden for this urgent task, the Shaman-Overseer greatly diminished his barrier, which now only covered a meter radius around him and a Draelvasier-sized pathway to the Burrower entrance twenty meters away. A great storm of rock tumbled downwards, completely destroying the area which the evacuees had entered a mere minute prior. He now stood on a platform surrounded by magma, with minutes to act. With absolutely no time to waste, Ostak recalled his units.

The Sirrracus arrived within seconds, leaping across the shattered caves and safely into the confines of the Burrower's massive beast hangar. The defensive Servitor followed about twenty seconds later, the hole left by its mass temporarily creating a new hollow. But the two offensive Servitors would take up every remaining ounce of his energy. The Guardians had inflicted massive damage on the underground city, and major collapse had already begun. Sensing the primal panic and urgency of the Servitors, he borrowed their ears and noses to maneuver them at angles that pressed their bodies to their limits. Great chunks of skin peeled off as they shot upwards, burnt by magma, crushed by rocks, and harassed by soldiers. Yet just like the Primarch and their present master, the great worms persevered. As the pair propelled themselves into the Burrower, Ostak gave in and dropped the last remnants of his barrier. With a Force-propelled leap, he landed on the side of one of his Servitors, flying into the beast hangar with them. Upon arriving inside, the hangar doors closed behind them, ending the Shaman-Overseer's external involvement.

Safely insulated within the Burrower, Ostak let out a deep breath. The dropship's engines roared to life in reverse thrust, slowly but surely rising through the caverns and back to the surface and space beyond. Despite all that had happened in the great battle kilometers underneath the ground, the Shaman-Oveerseer had succeeded in keeping his unit and his Primarch intact. He had provided sufficient protection and leadership to his subordinates, who in return had completed their tasks admirably.

Finally, Ostak rode a wave of pleasant satisfaction and decided to sit down in the comfortable silence of the hangar.

- OSTAK PAUSE -

SARKA OUTER ORBIT
FLEET OF DIVINE BRUTALITY
VANGUARD DETACHMENT: 3 CONQUESTORS

SHIPMASTER MELDERA

The naval vanguard had arrived to pick up the wounded on the ground.

At the bridge of the sectional flagship Inquisitor, Shipmaster Meldera reread the order given to him by the Chieftain himself.

As the vanguard of the distinguished fleet of his superior, Fleetmaster Ver'kad Inuk, Shipmaster Meldera was tasked with retrieving Burrowers that were carrying Draelvasier survivors evacuated from the collapsing and dangerous underground of Sarka. They were advised not to engage what would likely be a superior Jedi fleet, instead setting up a minimal Phedrak screen and concentrating the energy of the Conquestors on outrunning the Jedi defense fleet. If the evacuation could be completed only a few minutes after the Burrowers entered orbit, then the Conquestors could then safely depart and move just out of range of the Silver capital ships, leaving direct engagement to Fleetmaster Ver'kad's larger, slower force currently occupied in glassing Chalacta. After the fleets combined and struck down the inferior foe, then the Burrowers would be redeployed on the planet with a modified planetary occupation force, making Shipmaster Meldera's operation distinct from a true evacuation.

The three vessels shot forwards like comets, almost all of their power devoted to their resilient shields and capable engines.

OOC: Meldera's fleet is a medvac force that is not intended to inflict serious damage on SJC naval forces. Its goal is to pick up the Burrowers carrying Draelvasier wounded and trapped and then move outside space combat range until Shipmaster Ver'kad's larger segment of the Fleet of Divine Brutality arrives. This is not an evacuation fleet - The Burrowers will be redeployed once the planet’s surface stabilizes

Ver'kad Inuk · Mar 20, 2021

BLOOD GULCH

Objective: Agoraphobia
Location: Chalacta > Sarka Atmosphere
Allies: Badar | Ostak Cl'mana |

Osam |

Galak |

Sethrak |

Sylok'Vanari |
Enemies:

Jyoti Nooran |

They had been called, and they answered. The world of Chalacta was left behind in the vastness of space, its surface like brimstone as the Divine Brutality itself left with a small detachment of its fleet. Standing on the bridge, his hands were clasped behind his back as Sarka appeared ahead. The fleet of the enemy entirely focused on the ground battle below. They had came with as much as they could spare, a mixture of Conquesters, Butcherers and Debauchers dropped out of hyerspace directly behind the enemy fleet.

The Divine Brutality was at the head of the formation, already slightly damaged. Their forces were heavily spaced out, almost sporadically arriving in a massive semi-circular position around the backside of the enemy fleet.

"Well, at least we have the element of surprise." Ver'kad had a confident look on his face.

They had arrived, already battle worn and in fewer number than the opposing fleet. But, at the very least they had enough ships to match them blow for blow for a short while, if the Concord fleet ignored them however, it'd spell death for them all. At least until the rest of his fleet arrived from Chalacta. Ver'kad could see the orbital bombardment being delivered below, anger stewed in his stomach. What cowards they were, no different than at Yurb or Nar Kreeta.

There was no honour in their actions, no glory to their battles.

"Shipmaster Badar, this is Fleetmaster Inuk. Bring down the hammer of the Butcher. Spare no expense. Target their capital ships."

They intended to draw the enemy fleets attention away from the battlefield below. There would be no rescue for those on Sarka. The city, and its inhabitants were doomed.

"All ships, fire at will."

The Debauchers moved to attack the capitol ships via boarding and draining as the Butcherers would power up to attack the enemy fleet under the command of Badar. Ver'kad had his Conquesters open fire with their main ballista's, the first salvo of hundreds of shots coated in Radesh oil to boot. He hoped that would sting a bit.

"That will certainly get their attention. Shipmaster Meldera, we have engaged the Concord's fleets orbiting the city of Sarka. See you soon."

Laertia Io · Mar 21, 2021

"Laertia!" One of the War Knights said through her comlink. "We've intercepted transmissions from Admiral

Gir Quee and

Jyoti Nooran . Their gonna overload the emitters on the shield beams, try and turn them into weapon or bomb."

Not-Yet-Xiphos grimaced. The fools!

"They might as well just hand the damn city to them!" Not-Yet-Xiphos swore.

She observed the way Tathra held the Gauntlet as the cold flaming debris pelted, how he clenched his fist, absorbing the cold flames, felt him focus, felt the strain required.

Jedi, they're turning the Shield Generator into a bomb or something! General Evac has been ordered! Target his Gauntlet, attack it however you can! The Warlord CANNOT be allowed to escape! she called out to her temporary ally with telepathy.

While

Caltin Vanagor battled

Tathra Khaeus , Laertia was set upon by the flames of

Sethrak .

Both of the deadly blades Not-Yet-Xiphos wielded protected her, as both were enchanted with intense counter flame measures. She felt only slight warmth, as her armor partly singed. The Sword and Spear's combined defense against flame, not only did no real damage, the Sword Of Cinndurr's enchantments caused the flames to heal lingering internal injuries. Both caused her to virtually ignore the flames as she strode forward to Tathra, unharmed by the blast as she sent an intense, screaming, heavy wave of Cryonic Blue Flames back at Sethrak, followed by yanking a Crashed Bryn'adul Gunboat and hurling it towards him also.

Not-Yet-Xiphos began her attacks on Tathra as he fully commited to his counter manuevers against Caltin, blasting at him with intense blue flames channeled from her down the tip of the silvery shaft of the spear, whispering something unnatural Syd had taught her to increase the potency of the intense cryoflames, trying to make him over strain himself absorbing the intense energy she directed, which raced to bathe his exposed arms and head, and would try and hit the scorching blow she had managed at his shoulder earlier, ripping chunks of harder material and metals and hurling them lethal speeds aimed for both sides of his head and arms, plenty of small shrapnel flinging itself at his eyes to try and blind him . What the flames might fail at, pure kinetic force might accomplish. Not the frozen corpses of earlier, hard, dense chunks of crashed ships with jagged edges, huge chunks of the ground, all aimed for his face, each catching alight with blue fires to try and ward off any attempt for him to dodge the flames, knowing how fast he was. But even if he did managed to power through the debris, she would be ready to dodge any axe swing or charge attempt as she approached. He had a very efficient style, used his body weight effectively and moved with his armor fluidly, but Not-Yet-Xiphos charged as he commited to his kill move on Caltin, her spear wreathed in cryonic flames racing for his damaged chest armor, though highly wary at this point given how much he had tanked.

But Xiphos was determined to kill him, or, failing that, at least severely injure him, and utterly willing to use any means at her disposal. The lethal chunks continued to pelt his face and sides as the spear gripped by her grew ever closer at blinding speed to his scorched chest as his ax came down in Vanagor's direction. Hopefully Vanagor would take advantage...

Meanwhile.

Syd's Fire Demon got within point blank range of the Debaucher, breathing red flames on it even as the protectors gave it extra shields. It then breathed on the Protectors, burning many of them away as the Debaucher tanked her poisoning the shield energy, allowing the particle cannon shots to possibly do more damage to it, breathing the powerful red flames towards its hide.

Then,

Syd Celsius got the call.

"No. NOOOO!" Syd yelled in frustration.

She got out her comlink. They would soon shut the shield off, she tried frantically to get through to

Jyoti Nooran or

Gir Quee

"LISTEN TO ME!" Syd yelled on her comlink. "You cannot shut this thing down! You HAND them Sarka if you do! DON'T DO THIS! If you lose this System, Kashyyyk is next on the Menu! THEY CANNOT TAKE SARKA!"

But the shield shut off. There was no defense now. The city was lost. Worse, the artillery began.

The SJC had all but assured the extinction of this planet's people.

Syd understood in a painful moment that the Jedi's way was not going to work. Not against The Bryn'adul.

In that moment of despair, as the Debaucher drilled in, depositing troops, Syd found herself questioning every misgiving she had about Laertia's path.

Didn't what was happening confirm everything Laertia had been saying was necessary? Didn't this confirm that anything that didn't help stop the Bryn'adul at all costs was part of the problem? How could The Order justify not teaming up and ending hostilities when if, at this point, their own Silver Rest would soon be at stake if the Bryn'adul took this place? (Laertia had predicted the Bryn'adul would eventually attack Kashyyyk, if she recalled correctly.)

Had Laertia been right? Was everybody who refused to focus on just The Bryn'adul part of the problem. Worse, this desperate last tactic...

Syd had no words for her horror at the failure here. Her failure. Nothing she had done had ceased the relentless assault. Nothing. Just like Nar Kreeta. The Jedi seemed like fools in that instant more than ever, and felt most of her remaining respect for them start to vanish save for her Padawan

Starlin Rand .

It had just been moral handwringing after all. Picky-ness on The Order's part. Delusions of strength thinking they could not devote every single resource to defeating the Bryn'adul. Yet more refugees. What they could rescue anyway.

It was a panicked evacuation in all but name. All those brave defenders, dead for nothing.

"NOORAN! GODS DAMN YOOOOUUUU!" Syd yelled in despair at the sky.

Syd felt sick, nauseated, as she made one last go of it, deliberately smashing her Fire Demon into the ground, grinding it in a vicious swath around the entire complex, killing hundreds of attacking Bryn'adul, breathing deadly red flames upon them and their reinforcements, killing hundreds more as it ground through the battlefield, trying to buy time for any remaining defenders to evacuate and retreat, before erupting in a terrible explosion that stretched high into the sky, red flames raining down and burning through hundreds of Bryn'adul, no matter their natural fire Resistance, red flames continuingto kill and spread, nearly impossible to extinguish. But the Demon was gone. Syd rushed back into the tower itself.

The Bryn'adul were already in. Tapping into her ancient font of power, Syd's blades activated, determined to save whoever she could. Some Juggernauts were survivors of Nar Kreeta, and they felt the tinge of Mortal Fear at seeing the Witch who had raised their dead, coming at them yet again, breathing flames from her mouth, using the enchanted white and gold catsuit she wore to make the flames almost invisible as she engaged them with vicious strikes of her Split-Saber, igniting her foes as she ripped and tore through them, the near invisible flames, going through mouths and noses as she dodged, parried, and evaded, striking through dozens of Bryn'adul like a living buzzsaw, flesh shuddering hideously as she brutally rampaged through the facility against the attackers, the tower shuddering as much from nearby artillery impacts as the drills in the tower. Syd gave staff precious time to escape however they could as she beheaded and delimbed the largest and strongest, fighting her way to the ones trying to alter the shield generator, subsequently eliminating many of the ones coming to attack them.

When she at last arrived, having murdered swarms of enemy troops to reach them, she wasted no time with introductions, knowing the Bryn'adul would sieze the planet without the most brutal measures that could possibly be taken. She knew it now. Sarka had re-convinced her. While there was a lull she whispered something particularly unnatural in the fighting.

It was a spell that would greatly enhance the destructive capabilities of whatever they were attempting. The entire area she was in shuddered invisibly with the force as the spell spread through the whole building.

"You're all coming with me." she told them as timers were set. "You can't do any more good here. If we leave right now we can escape."

She reached out to Laertia through their bond.

My Love, the city is lost. Flee. Please.

She then tried to reach out to Starlin, and couldn't hide the deep despair and anguish in her at failing the people of Sarka.

Star. I...I failed. Sarka is lost. Get the hell off of Kashyyyk and stay off it. Once they take this system, that planet will be next, likely very soon. I don't know what that says about the Jedi Way. I just...I just don't...

Syd broke off the contact, walling off the hurt and guilt of failure. She defended them viciously from the hoardes that attacked, blades never ceasing their movement anymore than her hideously shuddering flesh on her constantly moving body did as they made last minute adjustments, then began fighting her way back out, cutting through and burning up the warriors they sent. Hopefully they'd be smart enough to follow to a point and find their own means of escape. Whether they followed her or not, soon she was shooting towards the sky, moving across the city to escape to her ship, powerful red lightning raining down across the city at the hands of

Seer Kalanthir . She used the Force to dodge his lightning strikes, keeping him out of her mind at the same time. She didn't even have the time to try and find and engage him, the need to escape so dire...

She finally found her Star Courier, half buried by debris, but still flyable. She got inside it via phasing through and activated it, the ship pushing the debris off even as heavy lightning continued to reign down from the sky.

She felt Kalanthir's mind struggling to get in and demoralize her even further than shutting off the city shield had.

Syd hissed an ancient spell at the mind. A curse really. One that would be very difficult to fight off as it leapt from her mind to his in an instant before whatever tentative connection he had tried to establish was forcibly cut off completely from her.

The curse was designed to infect those who relied on telepathy. Ancient, and pernicious. Not easily defeated or suppressed. Psychic poison that would try to brutally bash and burn through even his strongest mental barriers, and spread to his connections to others if he did not immediately find a way to stop it.

But the thing about that type of curse was how difficult it was to resist. It would try and infect the very molecules of his living consciousness with pain and insanity, which would hopefully make him loose control over his focus and concentration. Even now it was starting ti very easily destroy his first barriers, eager to corrupt and warp the psyche beneath...

If there was one thing Syd knew, it was effective curses. Even if he successfully resisted, it would likely take all his might to push it out of his skull, which would be excessively mentally taxing. It might buy a few precious moments for others as she raced to retrieve Laertia from her battle...

Meanwhile...

The flowing lava bursting through a weakened spot in the underground structure where

Primarch Drek'ma was continued to fill at an alarming rate. The whole cave system above him shuddered as more sheets of magma poured out from everywhere...

Ostak Cl'mana

Keldothera

Hrajlmak'Natok

Mathieu Brion

Ki'an Vizsla

Udomek Seker · Mar 21, 2021

BLOOD GULCH

OBJECTIVE: Coagulation Bloodsport
LOCATION: Burrower > Southwest Quadrant
EQUIPMENT: Verikast Juggernaut Platform 12A (Back plate gone | right greave and knee plates gone) | ~~Assault Carbine~~ | Shredder | Glaive
ALLIES:

Kad
ENEMIES: SJC | Caedyn Arenais

Strength is something that can not be accurately measured by any simple means. One can say they are strong because they put their brethren before themselves. One can say they are strong because they have survived a thousand battles at the cost of their fellow brethren. One could count every scar on their body and the scars on their souls and say they are strong because they live on. One can die in their first battle and be heralded as strong in their deeds. Strength comes in many forms and was recognized differently by every individual you come across no one could decisively determine what exactly strength is. Maybe it was all of those things and maybe strength was none of those things.

The ground shook bellow the weary Juggernauts feet buildings crumbled all around him. Bodies of both friend and foe had piled up mixed among them killer droids. Destruction and carnage, it did not really matter if the Bryn’adul necessarily won this day the people of this world would be feeling the aftermath for a very long time. As the ground shook from the bombardment the ground beneath Udomek’s feet crack and slide and his heavy legs gave out as the Jedi came for him.

He saw his death for a second and he had to wonder if he would be remembered as strong, if future Juggernauts would tell the tale of the Udomek who faced down one of the famed Jedi. Hell fell to the ground again as the Jedi leapt for his head, then Jedi narrowly missing as the saber grazed the side of Udomeks helm leaving a burn just below the right eye all the way across the right side of the helm. The sparks flew up as it grazed his helm and the sparks got in his right eye causing his vision in that eye to go blurry.

He fired off three blind shots in Caedyn Arenais direction with the Shredder he had just picked up off one of the Dead. When he fell, he managed to only fall to his knees and used the glaive in his other hand to help him from falling face first in the dirt. Leaning there for only a second he pushed himself back to his feet blood was just pouring off his back, but his inner rage and adrenaline kept him going. As he pushed himself to his feet he was going to turn and charge for the Jedi once more that he had just blindly fired shredder rounds at. He stopped though as he saw the glory seeking old hound

Kad laying on the ground his arm not too far from him.

Udomek breathing heavily took one deep breath looked behind him with his one good eye and fired some more shedder rounds in the direction of the Jedi but moved toward the old man on the ground. He fired the last of his rounds in Caedyn’s direction he tossed the weapon to the side approaching Gredak. “So much for your glory, Old one.” Udomek grunted as he reached down to pick up the Aeravalin to pull him back up to his feet. “Pick up your damn arm and get your ass to the Borrower, I will hold off the Jedi so you can hunt for your glory another day.” He growled out those words as he waited for the old man to take off as he told him as he grasped the only weapon, he had left a glaive was being held tightly in his hand and keeping him steady. Udomek knew he didn’t have long himself eventually he would probably bleed out, but it would be enough for the Old one to save himself.

Caedyn Arenais · Mar 21, 2021

Battlewear: Knight-Errant Armor.
Weapons: Staff Lightsaber | CS.38 Tactical Side-Arm.
Opposition:

Kad &

Udomek Seker .

The shots from Udomek's shredder tore passed the Jedi as he twisted through the air, somersaulting overhead and clearing the two Bryn'adul, landing upon his feet behind them and further retreating several paces in order to prepare himself for a follow-up attack that never came from the behemoth warriors. The Jedi Knight stood there panting under a staggered breath as he watched the two,

Kad who had lost his arm in the exchange, and

Udomek Seker who seemed to arrive at his peers' aid despite the hatred and anger that Caedyn could sense flowing around him for the Jedi.

In every past battle, the Bryn'adul had proven to act like brutes, climbing over one another to bring pain and suffering upon their opposition whatever the cost, yet the sight of the two that Caedyn was bearing witness to gave the Jedi Knight a different perspective that made them seem far more sentient, almost relatable in that the Jedi Knight had felt the same for Squad Lykos and those within the Order of the Silver Jedi.

Beneath his feet the ground quaked violently, some of which came apart around them, their battlefield becoming too unstable for Caedyn to imagine their fight lasting much longer. The Bryn'adul had brought this battle to the Concord's doorstep, they had asked for this, and yet Caedyn couldn't remove himself of the compromising mercy that he felt whilst seeing the camaraderie between the warriors.

"This fight is over. Leave while you still can" Caedyn yelled across the clearing to both Gredak and Udomek; He himself needing to find a way to safety, somewhere stable where the earth beneath their feet wouldn't bring them down and bury them in the depths of the world.

He didn't wait around for the enemy to argue, expecting them to bark back out of wounded pride, Caedyn instead backed away further and reluctantly turned with his lightsaber still in hand, picking up his pace to run in the opposite direction back towards the Silver Concord's last line of defense where he hoped there would still be some form of transport to pull him out of the hell the Bryn'adul had unleashed upon the city of Salyrini.

Perhaps it was unwise to spare the lives of these warriors, they who had never shown the same courtesy to others in Caedyn's experience or knowledge, yet so many had been killed on both sides already and the suffering that had been dealt against one another had not been without grave cost. Caedyn had lost his entire squad at the expense of meeting the horde on the frontlines, the Jedi himself whose face was smeared with his own blood, the force of his helm taking the blow from one of the drones having rocked his senses and left a significant gash across his brow.

If ever there was a time to take advantage of a lull in the violence, this was it.

Bryn'adul:

Primal Architect |

Galak |

Sethrak |

Osam | Ostak Cl'mana
Silver Jedi Concord:

Gir Quee | Val Drutin |

Vexander Graves |