Bloody Swarms - The SJO Dominion of the Roche Hex

[Audren Sykes]

Location: Nickel One - Corridors
Objective: Defend Nickel One, negotiate contractors
Post: 2
Allies: SJO and Verpine
Enemies: Sith and their soldiers

Just before Audren and Ze'tre arrived at the meeting room, the Jedi sensed a wave of death, well over a hundred beings dying in near proximity within a short time. A transmission alert sounded from their comm units. He frowned somewhat at that; the alerts had been simultaneous, which meant someone was reaching out to both of them or a broadband transmission. When growing up, he'd been taught it was impolite to interrupt a meeting for a comm call unless it was a high priority, and this was not coded as such. However, the insectoid clicked a brief apology - translated by the droid - and answered the comm, allowing the action to be mirrored. Thus the transmission from the Sith was heard by both, at least in part.

To the Sephi's surprise, Ze'tre did not immediately shift into a panic and instead shifted back to the holo hovering over the meeting table. When commented on, the Verpine simply replied that they'd faced invasions before, and this wasn't one of them. The nests' defense fleet would prevail. Besides, he wasn't able to do anything about the ships from here on Nickel One. Remarkably logical, but the other two hadn't sensed the deaths. It was not the Sith way to simply blockade and it would take time for word to filter out of the Sith ships at the hyperspace junctures. Until that point all incoming ships were in danger, as were the inhabitants of the asteroid field. He wouldn't put it past the Sith to have some infiltrators already inside the asteroids and assault ships on the way.

The Jedi resolutely turned back to the holo as well. Ze'tre was right, it was up to others to stop the ships. The better he knew these systems, the better he could help once the fighting got inside. It always did. The Verpine had indeed faced invasions and fights before, time and time again, and their defenses reflected that. However, the Nickel asteroids were not fortresses...and the defenses reflected that.

It wasn't but minutes until he sensed something inside the asteroid's rocky crust. Whatever it was gave way to the Force presence of a few Sith and more than a few soldiers. It was time. Two words were presented to the native - they're here - then he turned and walked from the room. The Verpine was surprised, he'd been in mid-sentence, and hurried after the Jedi. He protested that they would have heard breach alarms and other indications. He had no reply, however, to the point that none of those would happen if the Sith came from inside. Instead, he paused for a moment and his sense shifted like he was having a conversation, then he hurried off towards the nearest guard station if the schematics had been right.

Unlike many of the others Audren knew to be present, he was not armed or armored for battle. He'd not come to this place expecting to fight or to train. All he had was his lightsaber and a single long dagger with him. Other weapons and armor were secured aboard his ship...in the opposite direction of the threat. But he didn't need them, he had the Force. Too much confidence would be just as fatal as too little however; he was still mortal. With unerring accuracy, the Sephi headed to intercept the enemy. It wouldn't be long now.

_________________________________________________________​

The Verpine systems were well-organized. Once the alert went out on Nickel One it was broadcast to the other inhabited asteroids through their internal communications. For each one hunk of rock it spread to, that one spread it to three others, and soon all of them were on alert. They started bustling with activity, drones and intelligent defenders alike pulling weapons and setting themselves into defensive positions. Defense Fleet ships scrambled, not to the front lines but to optimal positions to defend the inhabitants.

Guests, including Fenn and Magre, were ordered and sometimes even escorted to sheltered positions. These were not command hubs, nor did they contain critical equipment. Instead, they were essentially hardened bunkers with life support systems designed to sustain basic and varied populations. They were the closest things to emergency shelters in the habitats, and it was only non-Verpine present.

Both contractors would be adding hazard pay to their invoices if they survived.

 

[Sky'ito Yumi]

Objective 3: Nickle One
Objective: Talking Nicely
Peps: [member="Charlie"] [member="Sko'saht"]
Sus: [member="Arlen Rossi"]
Post: 4

[SIZE=10.5pt]Racing forwards herself and Carlie soon came to the royal chambers, bot Jedi screeching to a skidding stop against the polish metal floor, alarm now blaring due to the impending Sith attack people running around like wild animal locking down places to contain any threat. Looking back briefly she saw Sko trailing behind the poor verpin not having the same abilities and the two women but just close enough to not be lagging in any way. Still they had to hurry, the feel of the dark side becoming increasing stronger and stronger with each passing second, her body tense as the sick feeling began to waft through the hallways. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]It was the same feeling like during the several invasions she had served in, the hate and anger, uncontrolled and primal, the dark side controlling its users, not the other way around like the Sith though. At the sudden sound of an exhale Sukai turned her head to face Charlie, in time to hear her proposed plan, "if you believe that is for the best, but there is no certainty that the Sith will target you at all... never mind, I agree just do not do anything reckless". She beckoned Sko to follow her giving the girl one last look, "after all I'd hate to tell Jyoti how her student ended up a sliced Sith meat, and may the force and warriors spirit guide to victory Padawan".[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Turing back to the task at hand Sukai ran to the Queen, her garuds ever on edge which was to be expected, though Sko's presence making them simmer down, "you majestic, the Sith have entered the system with a fleet of battle ship and are on their way here now". "What is more it is seeming some Sith agents had infiltrated the complex, we need to get you safely out and away from danger", her voice calm but also carrying a sense of haste with it. "The Sith attack only because you Jedi are here; do you mean to bring death to my people"? [/SIZE]"With all respect your majesty the New Sith Order would not care, sooner or later they would have attacked this place, it serves as a hyperspace route and is next to our space". "As such it is more beneficial we are here, I do not thing your people would be able to take on a massive Sith fleet that size, but we can discus things later, now I need to see you to a secure location".

 

[Gir Quee]

Location: Krakana-class Tactical Command Ship Obi-Wan Kenobi, near the Roche System
Objective: Fight back
Allies: [member="Sentus Olan"] | [member="Varindar Asyt"] | [member="John Locke"] | [member="Tanaski Yumi"]
Enemies: [member="Joon"] | [member="Corin Zanith"]
Post #3

The Space Operations Center was abuzz with activity as his command staff began to plot out the locations and positions of various ships and direct them onto the battlefield. Holographic visages of fighters clashing among the tumbling rocks of the Roche Belt and steadfast ships absorbing shots and shots of turbolasers filled the room. Gir stared at the warcruiser an felt a familiar surge of primal fear that threatened to corrupt and harry his train of thought. Battle meditation. He had felt that feeling dozens of time before, most frequently during the war against the One Sith. He concentrated on the war cruiser's visage, noting that it had absorbed some noticeable damage, even as the Sith-led fleet threw itself into a frenzy against the Silver Jedi's defenders as they tried to claw their way towards the emerging Shining Path. He watched one asteroid explode amongst a midst of Silver Jedi fighters, and dryly wondered if one of their tacticians had studied Zsinji before. His headset comlink buzzed as [member="Tanaski Yumi"] contacted him.

"Protecting the Verpine with their colonies as well as the Shining Path are our highest priorities. Everything else is secondary," started Gir, recalling a brief commentary on lightsaber forms, "think Soresu, but if an opportunity presents itself to hit them where it counts, take it."

Another voice called to him.

"Sir," said Mors, "the Shining Path appears to be having sensor issues, I'm not sure if its enemy ECM or ship problems."

Gir briefly nodded. The fog of war never was a sure thing that was only excabrated by the issue of exceptionally old and new equipment. The old stuff tended to be too worn down, while the new stuff didn't tend to have all of the kinks worked out either way. But the base issue is that they don't have accurate sensor information. And we can fix that. He seemed to briefly recall that [member="John Locke"] or at least members of his company were working on the vessel.

"Have our sensors and comms division work together some sort of protocol to feed the Shining Path our sensor feed through a tightbeam transmission. It won't be the greatest thing for minute detail at close ranges to them, but it should get the job done until they can fix it."

"On it."

Gir turned his attention once more to the sith armada. In throwing so much forward, they had not appeared to take into account that the enemy could push back or attack from other angles than the front. That was advantageous to him from an offensive angle, even if that meant that he couldn't place the Obi-Wan in quite the right place to block a direct push forwards towards the Shining Path. He contemplated the tools available to him as he spotted the wreckage of a hapless freighter ambushed by the sudden emergence of the raiders. If they weren't careful, the wrecks and debris would eventually enter the belt, potentially damaging the colonies and causing even more navigational hazards.

"Let's try to kill two birds with one stone," said Gir, flipping a switch on his headset, "weapons, tractor all uninhabited wreckage and send it at that war cruiser."

With that, the Aura Tractor/Pressor beams of the Kenobi began to grab hold of the errant debris and hurl it back at the enemy warcruiser, even as the ship's guns continued to rain down fire on it.

 

[Vertigo]

Location: Nickle One, Sewerage
Objective: Dumpster Diving
Assets: Two Houk Ranger Fire team, Fire Support.
Direct Allies: [member="Valkren Calderon"] | [member="Tyrell Caphey"] | [member="Roona Osmari"]

Posts: 8



Staggered column was a good zig-zag line of fire, offering them plenty of ways to respond to possible ambushes. Slugging through the mud and worse. Thank ‘ouk for the armor being sealed. Slugging through the mud and worse. Switching his own hud to multiview, to track what they were seeing behind and in front via any motion detection.

Following the hand signals, sensible formation, sharp senses, sharp equipment and good training. All this made the team very aware before they ran into trouble. “Sensor contact,” the Houks halted “roger that, let me know what you’ve got” Dex said aside, keeping covering his own direction.

No sound. Maybe it was nothing.

Bunch of sith troopers came around the corner, but the rangers were ready for them, using the sides of the tunnels for cover out of sight. “Movement 300 meters. Looks like a platoon.” The houks had all the training of the other rangers, discipline when it mattered, waiting for the call to light them up. So far they'd spotted the Sith but the Sith hadn't spotted them taking cover. Katarn armor and its equipment paying its dues. Wouldn't be long till the Sith platoon spotted something. [member="Tyrell Caphey"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

LOCATION: The Sith Fleet; En route to the Roche Hex
OBJECTIVE: Extract revenge on the Silver Jedi
ALLIES: NSO [member="Maria Bentley"] | [member="Arlen Rossi"]
ENEMIES SJO [member="Valkren Calderon"] | [member="Roona Osmari"] | [member="Tyrell Caphey"] | [member=Vertigo] | [member=Charlie] | [member="Jyoti Nooran"] | [member=Sko'saht] | [member="Sky'ito Yumi"]

Joon waited for a while as the first Sith and her troops ventured through the rift. They could be pulverized or sliced apart from the unstable portal if they wanted; Joon would wait until their signal came through as active. And in a few seconds after passing, it did. They were through.

The Sith Knight turned to the familiar face of [member="Corin Zanith"] on the ship, united by their passion in the Dark Side that transcended Empires and Orders, and nodded. She was going in.

"At the expense of your life if you have to, and mine, you destroy the Silver Jedi if you have to."

It was the last thing said as she walked into the red portal. The energy bristled over her skin for second like a mild electrical current, and then she merged in a dark, dank area that was wonderfully pungent and disgusting, just like the Jedi. Joon wrinkled her nose and looked down at the damp mess under her boots, trailing her fur lined robe in it. With a grimace and shake of the head, her amber eyes narrowed and looked up into the unknown destination. Her black and white hair was tied back, loose strands hanging by her pale cheeks.

She didn't need to reach out with the Force to know there were others present. She could hear them. Feel them. Light and dark.

"TIMES UP, SILVER JEDI!"

Joon shouted loudly, her voice carrying down the narrow passageways and vents where she stood. She walked forward, the disgusting sound beneath her feet from whatever the hell she had passed into.

"THIS DAY WILL BE YOUR LAST!"

Stalking down the narrow passageway, Joon walked towards the noise she could hear, senses alert, feeling little trace of Force energy. Good. More parasites to kill.

 

[Tyrell Caphey]

Location: Nickle One, Sewerage
Objective: Dumpster Diving
Assets: Two Houk Ranger Fire team, Fire Support.
Direct Allies: [member="Valkren Calderon"] | [member="Vertigo"] | [member="Roona Osmari"]
Posts: 6

When they made sensor contact, corporal Caphey transmitted through their internal comms, making the squad halt. The only sounds that could be heard was their own breathing and drops from the roof of the damp sewers hitting the shallow water they stood in. Moments later they picked up the menacing sound of sith forces marching towards them to penetrate Nickel One from bellow. They must not be allowed to, he thought.

With a whispering voice over the comms he prepared the squad to make the first move. ''Cover. Flashlights off. Wait on my command.'' The moment of surprise was with them against whatever it was marching in their direction. The squad made use of the dark areas closest to the sewers walls, their black armor made them completely disapear out of sight.

There were only two ways out of this - either forwards or backwards. Well drilled by colonel Calderon, the Rangers watched their rear as good as the front. Having one of Dex's pals there and the other one placed in the middle, ready to advance to either side and wreak havoc. Standing by the other wall, opposite Dex, his eyes was fixed thru the HUD and into the darkness where the noices grew louder and louder for each second, arachnid chatter making it clear it was their foe...

''Fire!!''

As the command were picked up by every member of the team, Caphey and Dex would begin fireing along with two other rangers kneeling beside them. Keeping the center of the tunnel clear, making use of what cover they had. Blaster fire lighted up the tunnel, revealing the enemy forces identity. A trooper in the middle of Capheys line transmitted up to the colonel.

''Ranger team to colonel Calderon! We've made contact with enemy forces about 100 meters west of the hangar! Still holding, I repeat we are still holding the position!''

 

[Gi Gregain]

Objective: Enemy Fighters

She was moving, ships had appeared and the stealthx's had moved quickly, avoiding contact outside of the force with the other pilots, coordinating with one of the jedi on the ships before she was reaching out. 'Move.' She left it go into the meld she was opening with the pilots as they started flying in quickly. Boosters going and the tibannax keeping them unseen for the b=moment. The bafflers of the ship sending them into a line of the area. She turned towards the fighter and buzzed an area, they had weapons ready to be used but the ships that had brought the sith and charon were something to go after. 'Engaging.' She said it while running the scanners an d narrowing her eyes as the metal spoke with her, driving her forward and pushing to smash and smite whatever Darkside feelings there was all around them

 

[Tanaski Yumi]

Objective: Hellgate
Location: Charros IV space
Allies: [member="Gi Gregain"] - [member="Varindar Asyt"][member="Gir Quee"]
Enemies: [member="Joon"] - [member="Corin Zanith"]

Tana had finally made his way to the front lines just as Asyt had finished her attack run, getting the unfortunate news that her wing men had been shot down, and the Sith where only just starting their attack. "Roger that hotelier, you want to form up and make another attack run on one of the lesser sh- oh crap never mind". On his radar several more enemy interceptors had been deployed to keep the Jedi pilots busy while they mad an attack run on the SJO complex and colonies, a large swam that was much bigger then Tana had faced before. "Look out Asyt we have incoming fighters, and I have no idea where this Gregian chick is", apparently was supposed to be flying a new stealth fighter of sorts, maybe going for a surprise attack?

As the Sith fighter approached Tana slammed on the accelerator of the craft, making it fly back into the asteroid field, the Jedi interceptor, moving at the slightest touch of the joy stick, enabling him to duck and eave through the thigh spaced floating rocks. This made the enemy craft take a dispersing action to avoid crashing, a smart idea, but it just meant Tana could pick them off one by one, "Oh you shouldn't have gone does that". Quickly pulling around in a loop the young Jin came up behind the last few to break off, sending a small salvo there way before pealing off to the side, ducking back into the belt once again before the enemy could react. Simple hit and run tactics, using the terrain to your advantage, something that was just as applicable in space as it was land.

 

[Beltran Rarr]

Location: Inside Nickel One, corridors – heading toward hangar
Objective: The Queen Mothers
Allies: Debbis Endo, Obsidian Star operatives, [member="Valkren Calderon"], @Roona Omsari, [member="Tyrell Caphey"], @Rok Dex
Enemies: Sith, [member="Maria Bentley"] and her forces, [member="Joon"]
Engaging: Sith forces under the control of [member="Maria Bentley"].

Post #3

As Beltran led his team throughout the labyrinth corridors that made up the vast majority of the asteroid colony, his portable HUD was filled with telemetry. This was the first time he’d ever used the “Oracle”, as the personnel at Obsidian Star’s R&D division had named it, in battlefield conditions and the Lorrdian had to admit that it took some getting used to. It’s facial movement recognition and command interface was naturally intuitive for him, and in truth it provided him with some abilities the heads-up display in the Antarian Rangers’ Katarn helmets didn’t, but it did so at a much lower range.

The trip through the Verpine colony had, up until this point, been fairly uneventful. He and his men were making, somewhat slow, progress through the churning masses of Verpine-who all seemed to suddenly have somewhere to be. Through the built-in comlink on his HUD, he was listening to the Silver Jedi frequencies-in particular those used by Colonel Calderon and the ‘Radama Rangers’ along with the third infantry.

Yet it was a voice, not carried by the com frequencies, that first reached Beltran’s hears.

<”TIMES UP, SILVER JEDI!> It cried, seemingly coming from nowhere and everywhere at the same time. <”THIS DAY WILL BE YOUR LAST!”>

Holding his fist up, Beltran signalled to the rest of the team to stop. “Weapons, now.” He ordered. Behind him, operatives Aura-one and Aura-two both pulled out sleek looking blaster pistols and a moment later, Beltran followed suit. It seemed that today was going to mark the battle test of a number of Obsidian Star’s products.

“W-we’re not going toward that…are we?” This was the, now quivering voice of Debbis Endo.

“That’s where the hangar is,” Beltran replied calmly, keeping his eyes forward. “That’s were we need to get to.”

“But isn’t that where th-they are?”

It was true, from what he’d managed to gather, Beltran and his team were located on the other side of the Sith forces staging area from where the Ranger forced seemed to be. They were effectively sandwiching the invaders. Now that might have proven tactically useful if
Beltran had a company of well-trained soldiers with him. But he had only two men, and whatever Endo constituted.

Through his “Oracle”, Beltran overheard [member="Tyrell Caphey"]’s report. <”''Ranger team to colonel Calderon! We've made contact with enemy forces about 100 meters west of the hangar! Still holding, I repeat we are still holding the position!''>

So Calderon was definitely here. That complicated matters somewhat. While Beltran had underwent some minor physical changes-mostly the quick surgical addition of reddish hair and a beard and a change in eye color from green to blue-he hadn’t expected to run into Silver Jedi personnel who knew him personally. He’d fought with the Colonel on Alaris Prime, Nefilheim and Kashyyyk. The man knew how he fought, how he moved and how he thought. If they were to run into each other, Beltran wasn’t entirely sure his disguise would hide him from [member="Valkren Calderon"]’s eyes.

Beltran’s musings were to be cut short, as the sound of skittering feet began to enter his perception. Moments later, three creatures appeared on his HUD-less than one hundred meters from his position. Through the scanners, they seemed to resemble an arachnid of some type.

He could feel his operatives tense-they saw them too.

“Firing line.” Beltran ordered. The two men didn’t hesitate. The stepped up, each taking up a position on either side of Beltran and raised their pistols to the ready position. Doing likewise, the Lorrdian spoke once more. “One shot, super-charged, to each creature. Center mass.” He stated, his voice never wavering or changing in intensity. “Then switch to three-round bursts.”

Moments later, just as the Lorrdian had begun to hear Blaster fire coming from down the hall-indicating that the first of the Sith forces had already met the Rangers-the three spider creatures rounded the crest and came barrelling down on his position. Raising his pistol, he flipped the safety to the “super-charged” position and took aim.

One of the advantages of the “Reaper” was the ability to fire a super-powered shot-one that equalled the intensity of a much more powerful weapon. It’s drawback however, was that it was severely depleting to the weapons power cells, could only be done at close range and that the weapon would lock down if the function was over used.

The creatures had neared to approximately fifty meters now. Behind them, Beltran could see the humanoid shapes of Sith troopers as they followed behind the vanguard creatures. They were still about fifty meters behind, which meant if the Lorrdian could deal with these creatures quickly he might have enough time to get the team out of the corridor before they arrived.

Once the arachnids were at twenty paces, Beltran fired his weapon. The powerful bolt of super-charged energy ripped into the centermost creature, cutting right through it’s hardened exo-skeleton. The force of the blast brought the charging monster to a standstill. From either side, his men did the same and Beltran was glad to see it had the same effect.

While the creatures stood stunned, Beltran switched from the super-powered shot to three-round burst of regular bolts. He then started pumping fire into his target while his men did the same. Moments later, all three spiders lay on the ground-much of their thorax missing as smoke rose up from their ruined bodies.

Turning his attention to his next problem, Beltran began searching for a way out.

“Aura-two, the vent-there!”

The operative, following his finger as he pointed immediately ran over to the ventilation grate located near the fallen arachnids and began working with a small multi-tool to unscrew the cover.

“Aura-one, on me.” Beltran said as he advanced further up the corridor to give his operative some cover. The first of the Sith troopers was just now rounded the crest that the arachnid’s had only moments earlier. “Shields now!”

Fresh of the line from Obsidian Star R&D, the energy buckler was a wrist mounted personal energy shield. Both Beltran and Aura-one activated theirs, which provided each man with a circular orangey-reddish shield approximately 45cm in length. Holding it in front of them, each man began to fire with the pistol in their other hands.

The Sith soldiers retaliated in kind, but the buckler was able to deflect the first few shots that came in. Beltran knew that as the Sith grew closer, the usefulness of the small shield would diminish, but he didn’t plan on being here long enough for them to approach.

“Got it!” Came the welcome voice of Aura-two as he pulled the grate off the wall. “Mister Endo, inside now.”

Beltran was gratified when the Denon businessman didn’t ask any questions, make any objections or otherwise do anything to hinder their withdrawal. Instead, being uncharacteristically obedient he got in the ventilation shaft and began to crawl. He was quickly followed by Aura-two.

Next came Beltran’s turn. As the Lorrdian began to back-pedal, Aura-one stepped forward to cover him.

Bolts of plasma flew overhead as the Obsidian Star operative manage do drop two of the Sith troopers. The man was a good shot and cool under pressure, Beltran mused as he grabbed the vent grate and fixed it back on the mount behind him.

He was certainly sorry to lose him.

“Uhh..sir?” Aura-one keyed through his comlink, apparently having noticed that his escape route was suddenly blocked off.

“Keep firing,” Beltran ordered, already turned and crawling away from their position. He didn’t bother to see whether Aura-one would comply, simply the time it would take for the Sith to kill him and get to their position would give the rest of the team time to get away. Using the facial and eye interface of his Oracle, he keyed in an override which would immediately lock out Aura-one’s device from their shared telemetry. A moment later, the Lorrdian could hear a small but powerful pop-bang as the device exploded.

Idly, he hoped that Aura-one had been smart enough to take the device off as soon as he noticed the lockout. Even if he didn’t, the resulting chaos would only serve to slow the Sith down even more.

[SIZE=11pt]It was lucky, it seemed that the shaft they were in ran parallel to the corridor. If they continued on this path, they would be able to-hopefully-emerge behind the Rangers’ lines and then make a beeline for the hangar. And if he was really lucky, he wouldn’t run into [member="Valkren Calderon"] or any of the others while he did so…[/SIZE]

 

[Arlen Rossi]

Location: Space ---> Roche
Objective: Activating the Hellgate
Allies: Sith ([member="Corin Zanith"])
Opposition: Jedi ([member="Gir Quee"] [member="John Locke"] [member="Kei Amadis"] [member="Varindar Asyt"] [member="Tanaski Yumi"])

While Jedi and Verpine defenders were distracted by the Sith fleet mustered by Darth Animus, Greyjoy emerged in another corner of the Roche belt from a microjump, previously transiting along minor neutral lanes to avoid early detection.

On the surface, the Harrower appeared like any other, but it had received significant modifications under the hood to fulfill its role for special operations. Dozens of fighter-sized pods were stuck to the underside of its hull, their ebony surface glowing dully with the same red energy as the marbles used by his master aboard Nickel One.

On the walkway of the cruiser’s bridge, Sobek stood as still as a statue as he communed directly with the ships of the Animus’ fleet for a sitrep. It only took a minute, then he craned his neck left toward the crew pit below where his officers huddled over consoles (aside from his master, he didn't like sharing the walkway with any frail meatbags).

“Activate the overshield, and begin assembling the rift array.”

The large hangar bay had been almost completely converted to house a second reactor and a modified DSS-02 shield generator. Already spooled up for use, the generator quickly produced a powerful planetary grade overshield that would extend in a 15km radius from Greyjoy.

Meanwhile, tractor beam operators started to dislodge the pods from the hull and begin the careful process of assembling them all in a circle within the coverage of the overshield. Canisters of anti-laser aerosols were also dispersed within the area to counter the use of solar ionization cannons so favored by the Silver Jedi.

As the pods were aligned, they started to glow brighter, channeling ever-increasing levels of Dark Side energies and creating dangerous large-scale warps within surrounding hyperspace. It was all very easy to detect, and Sobek could probably count on the heat coming his way very soon.

It was no matter, the droid commander would see his master's plans realized, even if that required self-termination.

 

[Darth Centax]

Aboard The Iron Onyx - A Wyyrlok Class Star Destroyer
Objective: Mine.
Posts: 9
Enemies|Allies: ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7qQRssfFNc​

Aboard the bridge, watching outward. Hyperspace. The waiting allowing crushing pressure of a deepening force connection, focus and purpose. Refined after his defeat at Coruscant, all their deaths a part of him. In his blood and bone. His old self dead, the Galactic alliance had killed all he once was. Only Centax remained, and the directives to execute.

The Iron Onyx jumped in a long distance from the engagement, its shields were up but its weapons were down.

Could it be?

Strange markings. Odd ID signatures, not matching that of the enemy fighting the Silvers. Those who had lived through the One Sith would recognize them but nobody else. The ship was not responding to any hails or doing anything much. What then was the purpose of the fighters that were launched toward the battle. Four aa class fighters, their weapons were also powered down, their shields were up and they were on approach. Then they would turn, circling as if not engaging anyone or anything, staying well out of weapons range.

Maintaining their distance and pulling back if anything headed their way. They were the obvious things to be watching. Communicating back and forth to themselves.

What wasn’t so obvious? A Shadow Class corvette was high above the engagement, away from anything else. Stealth systems fully engaged. The corvette was very hard to detect. There was no reason for it to be there, so they probably were not even looking for it. The ship was assessing both the Silvers and the New Sith Order together, watching how they interacted, tracking their ships, their designs and relaying that information to the Iron Onyx which was staying safely out of range. Gathering valuable information.

This force observing both sides an engima which still refused to even acknowledge either. Not an enigma to those who have lived through the horrors that the One Sith had unleashed. Darth Centax raised his hand into the air and crushed the life out of the man nearest to his chair. “Thank you for the location of the silver fleet.” He released his hand, and let the body fall. Its use to him had ended.

 

[Varindar Asyt]

Objective: Hellgate
Location: Charros IV
Allies: [member="Gir Quee"] [member="John Locke"] [member="Tanaski Yumi"] [member="Sentus Olan"] [member="Gi Gregain"]
Enemies: [member="Joon"] [member="Corin Zanith"]

I've got interceptors on my tail: perhaps I can attempt some maneuvering that will thrust them into some nearby asteroids. It's risky but, with my wingmen shot down, it's the only way I can make it to Nickel One, she thought, but even if the enemy interceptors did survive either Tana or her, or even Gregain, the enemy would be dispersed and hence liable to be picked off individually. And yet the Force-energy tethered to the enemy pilots was slowly fading, making their reaction times slower by the day. Here she had to make a loop, a very tight one but since her inertial compensator was still functioning, she could do it without fear of G-forces. She was steadily gaining in confidence, at the cost of near-misses, and perhaps a few firepower-killed or mobility-killed enemy interceptors that were trailing her. And then, once she killed one or two of those interceptors, she swiftly retreated into the vastness of the asteroid fields, swerving through asteroids to get closer to Tanaski, with enemies still trailing her and draining her ray shields while her particle shields were absorbing micro-asteroids.

"Got some interceptors on my tail, trying to shake them off with near-collisions"

 

[Gi Gregain]

[member="Tanaski Yumi"] [member="Darth Centax"]

She could feel it, when the ships came out of hyperspace and her eyes flicked over the screen in her helmet. "Engaging." She said it to the armor more then anyone else, they were picking up com traffic across the system and someone had mentioned her. She sent towards the one a jedi a nudge with the force to let them know she heard them... but stealthx's were designed to better decrypt and pick up com traffic then send it out from the ship. The act could compromise the fighter which was why it normally piloted by jedi. Gi was loking toward the ships as she waited and sent the message to the droid. GLiding the stealthx into a barrel roll and igniting the performance booster to send them forward quickly. Her approach vector arcing over the ships, to get behind and she cut thrust turning quickly before coming back around to activate and bring back up the systems. Her sensors tracking and searching for the best moment when the stealthx's were going for the target lock with shadow bombs they could drop on a bombing run.

 

[Valkren Calderon]

Location: Nickel One - Corridors​

Objective: Fend off Sith Forces​

Assets: First Ranger Special Tactics Unit,​

Third Ranger Infantry.​

Post count: #5​

Direct Contact (Soon): [member="Maria Bentley"]​

___________________________________________________​

Colonel Calderon, Specialist Lowder, and Lieutenant Harris all raised their weapons towards Osmari's call-out. The team of specialized operators would be at the forefront of a group of Third Infantry rangers and Verpine, so Valkren had planned they'd spearhead into the sudden attack. Valkren's weapon went to work straight away, the special forces operator letting out several three round bursts down the corridor they had been halted in. His rounds traveled to several of the spider-like creatures that scurried toward their end of the corridor, each body stumbling over themselves when the slugs found their marks.

Lowder and Harris went to one side of the corridors walls', the specialist crouching down so the lieutenant could get shots off above him. Valkren did the same, except he moved to Clark and Echo's position, taking up behind them so the team could lay down enough fire on the hallway. After several more arachnids collapsed onto the piles that began to form, Valk' patted Osmari's shoulder plate, letting her know that he was retreating into cover to reload, but that they should keep their fire on the enemies that were now pouring in.

The transmission from a ranger in Caphey and Dex's group came through Valk's helmet while he checked his ammunition. The sixty-round box magazine still had a good thirty rounds left in it, according to his HUD, but double-checking the ammunition himself always assured him that those rounds existed.

"Yeah, we've got company up here too! I need you guys to find whatever they're using to get in here. They're coming from those sewers so push if you can! How copy?"

Valkren sent this transmission after the statement from the ranger directly to Vertigo, hoping that Tyrell would be in close enough proximity to hear it. He was getting ready to follow up on the question to get a solid answer, but was cut off before he could.

"Boss! Sith soldiers!" Lowder yelled out as enemy rounds began to fly toward them, red blaster bolts and slugs bursting off the cover they were using to fend off the waves of arachnids.

The colonel pulled himself away from the conversation in his helmet, coming out of cover just enough to raise his weapon in response to the new kind of enemies that showed their faces.

"Cover me!"

Valkren shouted this just as members of the third infantry and their verpine counterparts began appearing behind the Raiders, forming 'line' that the rangers would attempt to hold in the different corridors. After firing two more rounds, he went to advance between pieces of cover on each side of the corridor during lulls in the enemy's fire. He could only advance as far as the arachnids and Sith soldiers were being held back, but if he was aggressive, he figured he could make enough wiggle room for the rest of the soldiers to advance behind him.

He had no doubt in his mind that the rangers of the third infantry were experienced warfighters, that much they had proven on Kashyyyk. However, they were infantry: trained to fight on battlefields, not in tight corridors of stations and ships like marines. Valkren knew all too well how terrifying close-quarters-combat is after his first time with the republic marines. Tight spaces let you see everything up to the ranks on enemy's armor, which made firefights rather personal.

Valkren moved out of cover once more, lifting his weapon up in preparation to fire again while moving forward. Before getting a chance to fire, from an open 'doorway' to a section of bathrooms came a Sith trooper, practically shoulder bashing the colonel to knock his weapon away. Taken by surprise, Valkren had to act quickly. If he remained in the hallway in-between two parties exchanging rounds, plus a swarm of arachnid-like creatures rushing them, he'd be killed in no time.

Had to think fast.

Valkren regained his balance and dug in, rushing to push the Sith soldier back towards the stalls so he would be away from the fire.

"Wasn't expecting a karking fist fight today!" He'd grunt this quickly to himself, using all his might to regain power and toss the body to the other side of the room.

[member="Roona Osmari"] | [member="Vertigo"] | [member="Tyrell Caphey"] | [member="Joon"] | [member="Beltran Rarr"]

 

[Audren Sykes]

Location: Nickel One - Corridors
Objective: Defend Nickel One, negotiate contractors
Post: 3
Allies: SJO and Verpine | Aura-one ([member="Beltran Rarr"])
Enemies: Sith and their soldiers

Audren could hear blasters firing ahead now, he was close. He cut through a meeting room into and adjoining hallway, then across to a small maintenance closet. It was a dead end, but the fighting was just below him. In the darkness of the closet, an orange lightsaber blade ignited and began cutting through the floor. In his target hallway, he could feel the Sith soldiers and four others. Three of them suddenly split off from the fourth. Fatalism - along with a sense of betrayal - blossomed in that fourth's mind. Just as the Sephi managed to open enough of a section to see through, a small electronic device came spinning through the air from the man's direction, along with anger.

It was immediately obvious that the device - whatever it was - wouldn't make it to the Sith soldiers, so the Jedi gave it a push. Without warning, it exploded, not quite having reached the soldiers. There wasn't much to the explosion, maybe enough to kill a person if they were wearing it. But there was fire...and suddenly there was exponentially more fire as pyrokinesis was brought into play. It was enough to startle the armored soldiers, not enough to do significant harm though. This fourth person was unknown to the Master, but if he was fighting the Sith invaders he'd be given the benefit of the doubt. Hopefully he saw things the same way.

With a crash, the Sephi fell to the floor of the hallway below, riding a plug of rock and metal, the edges still glowing. The first of the blaster bolts started flying, and his orange blade blurred to intercept them. Now, the elfin Jedi had rarely practiced Form 3, the optimal form against blaster assaults. In fact he had no formal training in the form. What he did have knowledge of was Form 5 though, the more aggressive version. With the numbers facing him he couldn't do much in terms of accurately reflecting the shots at targets, but in the confines of the hallway he only had to send them in the rough direction. The ricochets did the rest of the work, assisted by the blasts from the one who'd been left behind.

More arachnid creatures rounded the corner. If this continued, the two defenders would be overwhelmed; this meant either pulling back to a more fortified position or pushing forward and ending the assault. Since this was only one of the avenues of assault, Audren opted to shut this one down. A glance was directed over his shoulder at the fourth. He wasn't even breathing hard.

"Try not to shoot me."

With those words, the Sephi surged forward. His lightsaber never stopped moving, but shifted from a double-handed grip to a single as the left hand pulled the dagger from its sheathe. Seeing his approach, what was now the first rank of soldiers intensified their fire. An invisible wave of telekinetic force bowled them over, then he was in the air above the rest of the bolts. The landing was a shoulder roll that brought him to his feet, and both blades started whirling. Body parts flew. The soldiers hadn't been prepared for melee combat but for a gunfight, and only a few were able to pull vibroblades before it was over. Not a single blade had touched the robe-clad Jedi. Carapace parts were littered alongside body parts, and while most of the floor in the area was slippery with gore there were some sticky sections that looked almost like webbing. That was one of the downsides of using a normal blade, albeit one preternaturally sharp and durable.

The blond directed another look back at the one who'd been left behind. He was still standing, though at this distance damage couldn't fully be assessed.

"Lets stop any others from getting in from this direction, yes?"

Audren moved forward without waiting for an answer. More would come, he could already sense them forming up.

 

[John Locke]

​

Location: Bridge of the Shining Path, Roche Asteroid Field

Objective: 3: Take the Shining Path into battle

Post: 6

Allies: [member="Kei Amadis"] | [member="Jyoti Nooran"] | Various Engineers | Jefferies | [member="Gir Quee"]

Engaging: [member="Corin Zanith"]
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Sir, Admiral Quee's ships are forwarding us their sensor data now." The relieved sounding technician at the comms console seemed to slump in his seat as tension flowed out of his body, his fingers flicking across the controls as the sensor data was rerouted to their systems. It took a moment as a static fuzz of the screens to clear out, replaced by an image of the system in front of them. The picture didn't update as fast as it would have if it had been generated by the ship's own sensors, but it was more than enough for what John had in mind. Swivelling in his chair he stared at the holographic presentation of the system in worry, noticing the fresh wave of fighters flooded out towards the system, specifically targetting their starfighters, holding them back before the inevitable bombers snuck by, targetting the Shining Path.

The cyborg grabbed at the armrests of his seat as the first wave of bombers arrived, their attacks sending a wave of sparkling lights skittering across the surface of the shields. "Shields are taking damage but holding for now, we can't hold forever though" came the call as the engineer turned towards his comms station. "We have two of the new Argonauts in the system, have them move up to hold position, one just above us and one below us." The ships were designed for just this, to protect a capital ship from attacks by fighters, and it was a good time to run them through a field test. As the next wave of bombers came in, blue-white packets of ion torpedo's sped out to meet them followed by the wave of fire from the anti-starfighter weapons.

"Now for the capital ships, target the lead ship and fire two of the Mass Drivers." The resulting vibration almost rocked him out of his chair as two streaks of light shot out of the prow of the ship, racing across space towards the lead ship in the Sith Fleet.

 

[Vertigo]

Location: Nickle One, Sewerage
Objective: Fish in a Barrel
Assets: Two Houk Ranger Fire team, Fire Support.
Direct Allies: [member="Valkren Calderon"] | [member="Tyrell Caphey"] | [member="Roona Osmari"]

Posts: 10

Dimming the lights, they all went dark. Tyrell was smart, probably going to keep them alive. Keeping tight to the wall, he waved another Houk to stay back and wait. Keeping the weapon braced ready. Maybe the large Houks could be stealthy after all. If there was anywhere that was true, it was here in a dark sewerage tunnel, tight to the walls, black armor blending them in.

Fire!

Didn't have tell angry Houk's twice. Muzzle flashes in the dark showing brief glimpses of their helmets, the sound of outgoing fire piercing the air. The Sith returned of course, whistles at first as they fired in surprise and the eventual crack as it hit the nearby walls, showing they were getting closer. The Verpine rifle was alright, not great in the Dark even with the hud. Vertigo downed one, tagged another, but the Sith was still moving, Dex firing two more rounds at him to be sure.

Shouldering the rifle, and picking up the grenade launcher. It was a slower weapon to fire. Took time to line it up. A burst of shots just missed his helmet, fragmenting small pieces of metal from the wall across him. Another glanced one of the Houk’s armor, deflected off harmlessly. Dex rumbled something and tried to concentrate on getting the aim right, to aim through the target. The time he took paid off, the first shot was short but it stopped any heroic advances. The second shot was a “good hit” One of the Fire team called, registering as a kill. He lined up a third...

Looks like the Silvers had them well pined.

“Spiders.” Dex called. A rush of a few hairy Charon pushing forward over the Sith, making their way along the ceilings and walls. His next grenade shot right by them. “60 Meters.” Spiders chanting and carrying weapons of course, just another day in the Rangers.

 

[grammaticus]

Objective: Kill Them All
Allies: [member="Joon"]
Enemies: Many

Darth Animus paid [member="Joon"] little mind as she departed to take the battle to the Jedi directly, his mind focused entirely on the task at hand. He watched every little detail of the battle developing around him, his mind noting the minor changes here and there. He was losing more fighters and ships than he expected, and the arrival of the new ships to defend the Shining Path through a temporary wrench into his plans. The coming debris and driver shots were not helping matters though. Sending a silent command through the force to a Star Destroyer at the edge of the fleet, Animus had the debris the enemy had redirected towards him pushed once more, throwing it just slightly off its original course. Moments later, the driver shots collided with the debris, shattering it into numerous smaller pieces that bombarded the Warcruiser. Damage was sustained, but it was far less than it could have been.

The battle was not going as well as he had hoped for. The Jedi were using the asteroid field to greater effect then had thought they would. As he watched one of the carriers erupt in flames, he began sending orders across the fleet, redeploying his ships in a large wedge with the Warcruiser at its center. As the heavier ships continued to pour their fire on the Silver fleet, the lighter ships at the front began to open fire on the asteroids, beginning the slow process of caring a path through them. He doubted it would work, but he needed to give the pirates a goal to keep while he dealt with other matters.

Sending word to the bombers attacking the Shining Path, Animus ordered them to break off their attack, and begin launching raids against the Verpine colonies within the inner belt. He needed to divert some of the Jedi's attention.

 

[Charlie Nooran]

Location: Nickle One
Objective: Take out as many Sith as possible
Allies: SJO
Enemies: NSO; [member="Arlen Rossi"]
Music:

Spoiler

https://youtu.be/Du1wdeNqO8o

Sky’ito responded and listened to what Charlie had proposed. It made sense and Charlie was grateful for the Jedi Knight agreeing with her. Arguing would have been time consuming and then the life of the Queen would have been in danger; more than it already was. The concerns of the Knight were considered, Charlie knew she didn’t seem like a threat to the Sith, but she had to be some sort of distraction so that the Queen could escape. Looking over towards Sky, she gave the girl a smile a long with a little peace sign. “Everything will work out.” Charlie didn’t want her to have to tell Jyoti that she had been turned into deli meat. Shuddering at the thought, Charlie moved away from them to head off one of the exits.

She felt them, the Sith that had come along infiltrating the entire area. Rounding the corner, she met a straggler. Charging forward, there was no hesitation. Boots hit the ground and sped up as the lightsaber ignited. The crashing sound of the blades crackled along the hallway, locked into melee Charlie focused her mind. She had been practicing the basic force manipulation and here fueled the need to get through – the force pushed back the Sith enough to stumble him on his feet. With that moment, Charlie drove the green saber through his gut. A kill, and she blinked watching the form fall limp as the light blade disappeared.

That feeling, the one she felt back on Charron and Kashyyyk returned in full force. Her mind felt like something other than her senses were taking over. Looking back up, Charlie could hear voices of the others that had come along with the straggler she had killed. Without hesitation she moved forward and in a blurr the others were thrown aside with the Force and she sliced each of them down. The group was small, just three others – the last coming at the very end. Standing in the hallway she saw other government members murdered by the Sith. Images flashed in the back of her mind reminding her of something she pretended was only her imagination. Shaking her head, she continued through the hallway to the outside of the building where there was more.

Inhaling deeply, the flash of the green blade moved quickly in front of her as she fended off those that moved to attack.

 

[Tyrell Caphey]

Location: Nickle One, Sewerage
Objective: Dumpster Diving
Assets: Two Houk Ranger Fire team, Fire Support.
Direct Allies: [member="Valkren Calderon"] | [member="Vertigo"] | [member="Roona Osmari"]
Posts: 7

''Loud and clear, sir! Out!'' the privates voice called out over the comms to the colonel.

Corporal Caphey looked over to Dex, signaling that he had heard the transmission. The HUD constantly feeding him with information about his weapon and the suits supporting systems, telling him how he were doing. The screetch from the critters and blaster fire filled the small space.

As Dex were switching weapons, he aimed the beam rifle at the stinking creatures and started fireing one to two second bursts, lighting the tunnel up with the blue beam of plasma that burned through their exo-skeletons without a hassle. One down. Another one down. At some point he could take two of them down by drawing the beam sideways. They had the numbers on their side, though!

Two other privates rushed up to reinforce the Ty and Dex. This was when Dex got his grenade launcher in order. It was sweet to see! It halted their advance for a moment. What the ranger team lacked in numbers, they made up for in firepower. Ty lowered his weapon and threw himself back against the wall to prepare a Merr-Sonn C22 fragmentation granade, to make sure they were having the high ground in the battle. Still, they were too far. Just waiting for the right moment. 50 meters... The squad of rangers kept up their continous fire. Weapon failure on one of them... The private quickly threw the primary weapon onto his back and drew his sidearm. 40 meters... 30 meters...

''Frag out!'' he shouted and tossed the granade down the tunnel. Making a splashing sound when it landed into the shallow water beneath the Charons. 3... 2... 1... Explosion filled the space in front of them, taking with it several of the critters... But was it enough?