Bringing Heaven to Hell (Firemane)

[Tempest]

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

High above Gehenna, Tempest was peering out the glassteel portal, trying to see if they were clear of the creatures.
Suddenly a shape appeared menacingly on the porthole and she stumbled back in shock before realising that it was one of the locust creatures.
Moving closer she peered at it. She had been wondering about them; how would insects live on Gehenna? What would they usually eat and how did they cope with the heat?

Now she knew.

The thing was made of metal, a dull brass colour in the yellowish light. Mandibles and pincers filled a lethal looking mouth.
Tempest understood at last. They had been made by the Bando Gora as yet another weapon in their unholy arsenal.
This gave her an idea.

“Captain Taldir, turn off all electronic systems. The insects are mechanical, so fire won’t damage them. I’m going to use ion and lightning to blast them if I can. If you can sweep them up in a storm wind I can zap them.”

The problem was, of course, that they were still on her own transport’s hull, possibly gnawing into vital systems. It probably called for measured and cautious action, but she’d learned from Siobhan that boldness and daring were key. Perhaps the wrong message, but still.

“Pilot! Level us out. Seal the doors as soon as I exit.” She took a deep breath. This was either insanely clever or insanely stupid. The result of the next 5 minutes would determine which.

 

[Eyrecae Alzari]

[member="Delila Castillon"], [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"], [member="Mirien Valdier"]

There were few better ways to go to war than on the back of a tank driven by a redhead. All those qualities which made them crazed drivers and lunacidal opponents combined to create ten tonnes of aggressive, explosive machine.

And so once Delila started laying waste to the city, Eyrecae stood on the tank and watched in approval. Explosions filled the grim and dark air with wild shadows.
When a couple of cultists had come to try and sneak up on the tanks she had given them a short and fatal lesson in the merits of large hammers.

Dropping down from the top of the tank, Eyrecae walked across the pitted and uneven cave floor. Like the fields outside there were the signs of the previous battle everywhere.
Spying a lurking figure leading off, Eyrecae set off in pursuit, leaving Delila to her explosions in peace. However, as she trailed deeper into the tunnels Eyrecae lost sight of the figure, even with her helmet’s vision enhancement. Shrugging, Eyrecae turned and headed back the way she’d come…and almost into another figure blocking the path.

It was her…possibly. It looked like her, but there was something different about her. The face was the same, though paler, but the eyes were a deep blue with a golden glow in the iris. She wore not armour but a tight costume of black with a white star on her chest. She carried no weapon though she wore fierce looking gauntlets.
“Is this what I have become here, a caricature? A mindless beast filled with rage?” it asked.
“Speak for yourself, tits. I know you’re just an illusion.” She stepped forward, but was shoved back by a very solid blow.
“You could be so much more, Eyrecae. You are a creature of rage, of war, of eternal and endless passions. I am those things as well, but I am more than that. I am Dark Star and Eyrecae Alzari. You do not need to be guided by Raik’aro anymore. If you never look beyond your horizons you will always be someone’s attack dog.”
“I’m happy how I am now. I don’t need some stripper version of me giving me orders. What, you never heard of armour where you come from?” Eyrecae asked mockingly.
Dark Star laughed. “I don’t wear armour because I don’t need it. I think about what I do, I don’t just bull-rush the first target I see.”
“It’s always worked for me.”
“Has it? The worm outside had other ideas.”
“I had it licked. What would you have done, Starry?”
“Well, for a start, I would have waited for the airstrike. Bravery and courage is not the same as reckless fury.”
“I don’t have to listen to myself. You’re just a Reaver trick anyway. You’re not even real. Now get out of my way.”
Dark Star stood aside. “Just think for once, Eyrecae…think about things.”
“That’ll be the day. Cya later, spandex.”

When she emerged back into the city-sized cavern Eyrecae looked as belligerent as normal. However, deep inside her, a doubt had been planted.
Is this what mother would have wanted?

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Tempest"], [member="Coryth Elaris"]


Understanding dawned upon Kaida. Not just from hearing Tempest but because since the bloody swarm was getting ever closer to the APC she got a better view of them than when she had been running across the war-ravaged plains for her dear life. So now as she peered closer and looked out of the window she beheld the dull brass colour that glinted in the yellowish light. Mandibles and pincers were filling a lethal looking mouth, in some cases pieces of flesh were still visible upon them, sickening her.


"Things can never be simple can they? I guess some toys of the Machine Cult's toys survived Kerrigan's 'grand purge'. No time as any to finish the job. Turn off electronic systems," she snapped at the driver of the vehicle, who at first looked dumbfounded at what she probably thought was a pretty insane request. Given the fact that the expedition force was filled with lunatics, like that woman who thought going on a space walk while tethered to a shuttle to chuck debris with her mind was a good idea...or that white-haired woman who charged a massive sand wurm screaming like a banshee, this was probably a rather reasonable assesment. However, good is not nice and so Kaida was not particularly patient.


"Just fething do it! There's about to be a lightning storm," the likewise slightly mentally unstable frost elf snapped at the minion, quickly comming Ariane's Fist to keep their tanks away. Oh, wait, Kaida is the moderately nice one who does not refer to her soldiers as minions. That's what Siobhan and Moira do. Ah, well, we can talk about alignment disorder later.


And so, as the APC had put a good deal of distance from its prior location, though the massive locust of insects wasted no time in swarming it, all electronic systems were powered down and the vehicle came to a halt. Across the ground were strewn the bodies of Reavers, Bando Gora cultists and soldiers, most of them by now stripped bare of all their armour and flesh, for the insects were efficient and apparently could tear through a man within mere moments. Soon the APC was surrounded and the insects began gnawing at it viciously - and ineffectually, though it obviously was rather unnerving to be surrounded and have your entire vision blocked by an enormous swarm that had just quite literally eaten your buddies.


For her part Kaida took a deep breath as she sought to sink into the Force and gather her powers. Unlike Kerrigan she was not an infinite fountain of force energy who could seemingly topple building after building without tiring and even chuck battleships around. Truth be told, she should probably be in a medcentre recuperating, but determination saw her through. Suffice to say Tempest would be getting her storm wind. Kaida had an idea of what the woman was planning. It was either extremely brave or extremely stupid, though oftentimes you could not tell the difference between the two. Then again the woman had been trained by Kerrigan, so yeah, no surprise really...


She drew upon the energies of the Force as she visualised a powerful storm wind sweeping across the plains, and then violently lashed out. Aeromancy was her forte next to cryomancy, and so, though her head felt like it was being beaten by hammerblow upon hammerblow, she conjured up a powerful wind. A storm raged and she was at the epicentre of it as the air currents shifted and grew violent, all her will being poured into unleashing the wind that blossomed into a raging tempest. She struggled to control the powers she had conjured up, for if there was a loss in concentration it could easily engulf the APC and sent it flying to devastating effect. Rather she sought to focus and drive it towards the massive locusts of insects, willing it to grip them with great force and send them flying upward through the air. If she was lucky some of the insects should be broken by the storm wind as they were thrown across the plains into hard rocks. However, in any case they should be swept up in a storm wind to where Tempest could target them.

Well, it probably was not that big, but this writer likes the gif, even though it is in all likelihood not that accurate. Concentration and strain was etched across her features but she sought to keep the powerful vortex going and engulf them so that there would be no escape from the torrent of lightning as the maelstorm of power embraced them. Even though her headache felt like someone was taking a rather large hammer and bashing her over the head with it, but as her old Host Leader had said, it was just pain and that could be overcome. Mere mechanical insects, no matter how deadly and lethal they were, would not stop the subjugation of Gehenna! They would be destroyed like any other fiend that was had been spawned by this hellish world. A powerful howl was heard as the raging storm blazed across the land.

 

[Vaena Askari]

Space:


The time has come for another post with our bitchy space elf! This is a bit ironic because Lady Tarissa Cadalthor was still aboard the Valora's Blade on its bridge, still reading through reports and drinking starcaf. Sure, she could have taken a dropship and gone planetside to fight the savage hordes of the Bando Gora as an avenging angel of the Great Goddess Ashira would...or a common grunt. But that was not classy at all and so she had elected to stay at her post. Likewise the prospect of boarding the dark and foreboding space leviathan, where even now [member="Mirien Valdier"], Kerrigan and the Angelii under the command of their heroic Grand Seraph were fighting a massive horde of technobeasts, did not appel to her either.



After all, there had to be some people who concerned themselves with tremendously boring but important things such as organisation, logistics, supply lines, the clearing of the last chunks of debris that were floating around in space - and supervised the salvage efforts on those derelict ships that were not infested with hordes of monstrosities. Doubtless this was not the sort of work that would result in anyone gaining medals. Likewise those involved in it would not be remembered in the epic ballads of Angelii Warsingers, but it was still a vital task and someone had to do it. So she kept herself busy with that sort of thing and left the dramatic heroics to others.


Speaking of the Space Hulk, just before the big battle began the corpse of the technobeast they had found in the hangar was evacuated. Likewise strange starfighters and gunships found in the hangar were on the list of things that would be removed. Assuming our dashing heroines prevailed in their mission and wiped out the barbaric monsters that had been spawned by the darkest of Chaos magicks, there should be plenty of loot for them to abscond with. Assuming they did not wreck the entire ship whilst in the process of purging it. That would be tremendously awkward, especially if they managed to do so while they were still on it. Dramatic escapes might be good fodder for cheesy holovids that somehow always appealed to the peons, but they were extremely uneconomical.


Ground:

While we're on the topic of dramatic heroics and awesomeness in general, Coryth's valiant actions against the evil Bando Gora Sorcerer, along with the whole taming a wild, alchemised Reek and conjuring up a legion of illusionary Coryths charging the Bando Gora sorcerer had not gone unnoticed. As had been said a while back, the short stack of fire had been in the process of healing an injured soldier on the way to a dropship when suddenly the mage and his war beast, enslaved to the whims of a cruel master before she liberated it, showed up and rudely interrupted them.


Well, said soldiers had obviously taken off while the redhead covered them against the beast's charge with her protective bubble. They had seen her face the beast on her own and the dark sorceries the Bando Gora mage attacked her with. Then...they had seen her break the sorcerer's control over the beast and suddenly it was the short stack of fire riding on top of the Reek's back as she charged the mage. Well, as a matter of fact it was not just one Coryth charging...the entire plain was filled with illusionary Coryths and their Reeks stampeding across the hill towards the mage.


"What the feth...does someone have a holocam here? Film that, man!" one soldier exclaimed. Quickly one of his comrades hand one in hand and so the glorious moment was caught on camera as the real Coryth, swinging her green lightsabre that was the embodiment of truth and justice, cleaved the dark mage in half, sending back to the realm of Chaos that had spawned his Dark Gods.


"You got it all, Jaina?" another soldier asked. "I wasn't dreaming, right...there was like...forty redheads riding on Reeks? And that girl was, like, less than five foot tall!" Clearly this was the coolest thing ever. The Private called Jaina nodded and passed over the holocamera. The resolution was perfect and the zoom when the mage was split down from the middle, from head to groin, was just perfect. The same went for the view when the redhead propelled herself onto the Reek in a gesture of valour and awesomeness and then rode...at dawn. Rode to ruin and the world's ending! Alright...maybe not that because this post is getting a bit vaguely plagiaristic now.


"I'm so putting this on Galaxytube. It's gonna get so many likes," Jaina declared. As everyone knows, Galaxytube was the best way to spread news. Hopefully the server would not collapse from the sheer onslaught of views and likes. "Y'know...maybe I should dye my hair red."


Even the wounded soldier, who had probably been saved from a gruesome death by the heroic redhead and presumably had now been bandaged by an actual medic as he lay on a stretcher, seemed to find the energy to watch as one of the troopers was kind enough to pass over the holocam to him. "Anyone know what her name is?"


There was a moment of silence as and some discussion before finally one particularly attentive soldier provided them with the enlightenment they needed. "Coryth...[member="Coryth Elaris"], I think. Some sort of Jedi. The bosses like her a lot. My girlfriend works at the hospital...she says rumour is Coryth yelled at Kerrigan once."


"And survived?" the wounded soldier exclaimed with an expression of pure surprise written upon his bruised features, coughing a bit. "Damn. My wife's expecting a baby girl. We wanted to call her Mara...but after today I'm definitely going to suggest we change that to Coryth." And so, upon the war-ravaged, hellish plains of the deathworld of Gehenna, a little, redhead Jedi Master was transformed into a cult icon and a celebrity. In due course the holonet would be graced by a new site: shortstacksoffirereign.net. Poor Coryth would soon have to deal with a flood of fanmail! Perhaps Delila and Siobhan could help her, since they had fan clubs as well and ample experience with slightly obsessive fangirls.


Oh, and since there were still soldiers with actual work to do dropships had landed at the now secured landing zone bringing in reinforcements. Loud rumbles of tanks were heard across the plains as armoured columns of mechanised infantry and behemoths of steel advanced. [member="Delila Castillon"] would herself backed up by several armoured vehicles and Reaver-class tanks, all joining her in the noble venture of tearing down the unholy monuments of the ruins of the Bando Gora city and plowing Reavers until the vehicles were slick with their blood. The roar of engines was heard through the air and enormous shadows could be seen upon the ground as flotillas of Gunships swept through the air, eager to dispense justice upon the guilty and the wicked through the use of the time and tested tactic of blowing them to pieces. Obviously they kept away from the enormous, creepy dark cloud of evil that was spitting out mechanical locusts of doom.

 

[Mirien Valdier]

So many things were happening at once, for the former spook, the fray in the middle of a battle proved to nearly overwhelm her senses, her attention to the finest of details that gave things away. All the things that made her a great spy, a great Inquisitor, were now the same things that could get her killed here.

With her senses nearly hyper-aware of the details, the the way the blood spattered on the floor as a soldier near her was attacked by one of the technobeasts that had gotten through the line, the way the sounds echoed within the hangar, just all of those simple details her mind was trying desperately to compartmentalize for later use. It was something she'd done for years, and now, it was a dangerous matter to be so focused.

For a moment she too turned to the wounded being beside her, a quick bolter shot, to end his life most mercifully. A thought that made her cringe internally, but the fact of the matter was, not everyone was going to make it out alive, and some deaths, were better than others.

The entire situation, felt far too foreign too strange to her. The pressure was something that started to weigh heavily on her mind, wondering if she could do it, doubting she'd make it out alive. It was a line of thought she'd visited before, the same line of thought that could lead to the most dangerous of mistakes, not just for her, but those around her. Right now, she couldn't let doubts eat away at her mind, no. People would die for certain if she allowed for that.

Siobhan's words snapped her out of her thoughts and back into the moment. Which was exactly where she needed to be, fear after all would kill her, and many others too. With a deep breath, Mirien pulled upon the fragile web of the force, drawing in as much of the mystical energy into her body as she possibly could manage.

Now, holding onto that much energy, having perfect control over it when it was released would be another matter entirely. She glanced back to Siobhan, "Ready at your call." She shouted over the deafening noises of the battle that surrounded them.

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] [member="Anya Venari"]

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Anya Venari"], [member="Mirien Valdier"]


Hopefully one day a Philip the Fair like Star Queen would not arise to purge the Angelii if they were like the Templars. Then again, they did not own property or invest in the banking sector and were directly beholden to the Star Queen. One might compare them more to Janissaries, but that would only work if they were foreign slave-soldiers.


In any case, unfortunately Siobhan did not have much time to admire the lethal, violent dance the avenging angels of Ashira played out as they faced the horde of technobeasts. Their sarixes blazed acrosss the darkened corridors and reaped a bitter harvest much like the Scythe of Death, along with the onslaught of elemental powers the metal demons were subjected to. She might have taken time to wonder what else she could accomplish with such a force, especially if it was fully trained up to galactic standards to face modern warfare. The clouds were darkening, war, once a distant prospect, loomed over the horizon as the 'Coalition of the Willing' proved itself a resounding failure.


YOU PROLONG THE INEVITABLE
EVOLUTION CANNOT BE STOPPED
THIS DELAY IS POINTLESS


"Pleasure to fight at your side," Siobhan said very dryly, her voice modulated by the speaker integrated into the beskar helmet that covered her entire face, giving it a somewhat mechanical quality, as the imposing mask of Grand Seraph Shaytara turned to face her. As the Firemane troops pulled back the horde of technobeasts followed, eager to claim them for the Unity. For all life must be assimilated into the Collective so that it might spread like a virus until there was nothing else left. An onslaught of bolter rounds and e-web fire greeted them, red beams of laser fire lancing through the air at the charging horde. They came through the walls and the large hole in the ceiling but as the mercenaries and Eldorai warriors pulled back towards the hangar entrance they would have a smaller area to defend. More to the point, the horde of technobeasts, though far superior in number, should find itself bottled up in a kill zone. Further covering fire came from the platoons that had been left behind in the hangar, rotary cannons and e-webs creating a hailstorm of fire that streaked through the air towards the horde as the soldiers dug in behind cover sprung into action.


Yet there were casualties upon the retreat. Here a Firemane soldier got run by the blade of a technobeast or an Angelii had their mask smashed to paste by an enormous hammer. By now the lesson of how to deal with the infected had sunk through and so when a mercenary was badly wounded, pierced by the claws of a technobeast, the man behind him put him out of his misery with a merciful blaster round to the head. Screams and mechanical screeches were heard, wounded were dragged back by their comrades to medics, by now the corridor was littered with dead bodies.


Yet Siobhan was calm as the next wave came. Calm against the raging sea of darkness that seemed to have engulfed the space hulk, like a leviathan of blackness. The Eldorai might not be her people, but she still defended them. She heard the siren call of the dark side, it seemed like the hall was filled with a thousand whispers, all full of threats and alluring, seductive promises. Siobhan was no Jedi, as a matter of fact she had never been one in spirit even when she was one of their own. She no longer feared the darkness inside her.


And she would purge the entire vessel. Perhaps she would never be able to give up of battle. There had been times when she thought of doing so, deep down she knew that sooner or later she would end up charging into an early grave and lose everything, yet she could not deny how much it excited her entire being and how the lust for battle animated her. She wordlessly acknowledged Mirien's call to her. "Now!" she shouted loudly to make herself heard over the deafening noises generated by the battle that was all around them. She had greedily lapped at the seemingly infinite fountain of energy that was the Force and now was so filled with energy that it felt like she was about to burst and spontaneously combust if it did not find an outlet right now. Fortunately there was a massive wave of technobeasts just begging to be annihilated.


THE KERRIGAN
YOUR ASCENSION IS AT HAND


Yes, that's me. Sword of the Protectorate when it was worth serving, defender of Kaeshana, no matter what its people may think of me. Here to finish the job I started years ago. You want to know why they call me the Butcher? Let me tell you...well, as a matter of fact, why don't I show you right now? Gods have fallen to me!


Then she exploded in a massive outburst of force energy, reminiscent of the eruption of a volcano. Siobhan alone could summon whirlwinds of such strength and vehemence to grip tanks and toss them through the air as if they weighed nothing, storm winds of such power that they wrecked havoc and produced terror across the battlefield. Now she was being backed up by a host of Angelii with their leader and Mirien. What came into being was, as the air currents shifted and the gust of a wind blew through, a raging maelstrom that soon blossomed into the equivalent of a localised tornado. The angry, raging winds filled the hall as the technobeasts charged with reckless abandon. The walls and indeed the very foundation of the ghost ship shook under the sheer overpressure as if struck by tremors and over the howl of the wind it felt like the structure would cave in and collapse. From across the entire strike force grenades were pulled into the air in one swift motion and engulfed by the wind, which propelled them across the distance through the air towards the mechanical abominations. Gripped tight by the swirling forces of the tornado that refused to yield and swung around with such force to crush even machines, the monstrosities were thrown across the wide corridor. Many were crushed by the sheer force of the raging, merciless winds, others plain and simply thrown through the walls as they gave way, such was the force of the impact.


Likewise dead, broken bodies were gathered up as the winds swept through, being propelled at tremendous speed and velocity. Then came the impact of the grenades as the deadly balls of explosives hit home. The detonation of the Eaters, as the metal-eating insect grenades were known, unleashed parasites channelled by the magicks of the dark side that quickly leapt upon the beasts and tore through their armour. Where there was metal they were drawn to and their hunger was ravenous. To be sure, many were killed by the explosions that seemed to shake the whole corridor, but enough managed to claw their way into the machines. The creak of metal was heard as they bit and clawed their way through them, tearing technobeasts apart from the inside out. Enormous, thick clouds of smoke and dust rose up into the air from the explosion of thermal detonators, blasting the technobeasts into foul-smelling chunks of metal, electronics and rotten organic flesh. Amidst the overpressure generated by the explosions walls and a good portion of the ceiling above were shredded and torn apart, leaving naught but chaos in its wake as the devastating winds died down. Before the eyes of the invaders lay a scenery of carnage and destruction. The onslaught of technobeasts had been halted, but doubtless more threats would await them.

 

[Darth Libertas]

Naamah Aesham could have perhaps sympathised with her former owner, [member="Mirien Valdier"], as she found herself a fish out of water, an elite spy thrust into a full-scale combat situation. Unfortunately, Naamah sort of hated her...except in those moments when she still wanted her approval. Moreover, at present she was slumped over on the ground in a thoroughly wrecked Bando Gora prayer room. Her rage had torn through the chamber with earth-shattering force and destroyed the shrine, but been impotent against the apparation.



Oh, and earlier whilst fighting the beasts conjured up by the foulest Bando Gora magicks and alchemy, she had lost hand. Needless to say that hurt a lot, along with the burning pain caused by the blasts of acid that had struck her and against which her armour had melted in places.


There was pain, so much pain as the apparition of an old woman touched put the open palm of her hand upon the former Inquisitor's forehead. There was no gentleness, no attempt at holding back as the apparition weaved the tangled webs of the Force and unleashed a mind blast upon her. To Naamah it felt as if a thousand knives were suddenly stabbing at her and piercing her flesh at the same time. Her mind reeled against the onslaught as she found herself helpless to stop the brutal mental intrusion, with what mental barriers she had being dropped.


What coursed through her mind was an onslaught of images, so many that it felt like she would lose herself from sheer overload. Images of power, murder and pure darkness. All of them centred upon one woman alone, Mirien Valdier. It took Naamah a while to process this, but then she understood that these were of a time Mirien had never spoken of...the time before she had been Rebecca Nova.



When her former slave owner and superior had been...


"A Sith," she all but spat the word, all but panting as she breathed in. They were what she had been trained and conditioned to hate from the very start. It had been an article of faith on Atrisia that they were to be loathed and despised, even before she had been 'persuaded' to join the Inquisition - well, either join and swear absolute obedience or be killed. But what meaning did any of these rules now have? The Atrisian Empire had been exposed for the lie it was and turned on her kind, her twisted little family had been wiped out. Even Mirien was working with what would have once been called 'the enemy'.


"Not just one them...child. She was one of us," the spirit hissed, her eyes like those of a serpent as she looked down on Naamah. Then there was..even more pain as she quite literally slammed her knowledge into the mind of the girl. In the state she was in, Naamah would obviously be unable to tell how much of it was the truth or whether the spirit might be toying with her. In the world of magicks, separating truth from illusion is perhaps one of the hardest things to do.


"See what we saw. Feel what we feel. The Inquision was a lie. Our Great Prophet Abaddon...was one of them! The old Inquisitorius. Ah, the irony..."

An image of the Tyrant flashed through Naamah's mind and the onslaught forced her down to the ground. She saw the Bando Gora bring oblivion to entire worlds as they butchered their victims by the thousads, performed dark rituals to strengthen themselves via sacrifice. And again and again she saw her old mistress as she delighted in cruelty.


CHAOS IS EVERYTHING


"She would've been magnificient. The one to pass His knowledge on to. But...well, you know what happened. How ironic that the Inquisition should get in the way."



CHILD OF CHAOS
EMBRACE THE TRUTH
REALISE YOUR PLACE


Naamah felt...well, she was not sure what she felt. It felt like she was drowning in an ocean of rage, chaos and darkness. She found that she did not want to resist. Her owner had been the very thing she had been taught to fight against, the very thing Atrisia reviled - may that planet burn in the fires of Chaos and may its people be slaughtered by the thousands. Chaos....beautiful chaos. The very thing she desired so strongly. It felt almost hilarious so that she felt like bursting out into laughter, but she did not have the energy. She no longer tried to blot out the searing pain that was coursing through her body. Rather she embraced and welcomed it. The pain brought clarity, the sort only the mad could find. "Iam her...legacy....I understand now...I understand it all...the Inquisition...it is all meaningless. There's only...chaos. I can...carry it on where she went astray..."

 

[Tempest]

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

She was ready. As soon as the door opened Tempest called on her powers and levitated into the hellish sky. The creatures took wing and flew at her but Tempest was ready and she unleashed an actinic bolt of lightning at them, tearing them to smoking pieces.

Next her attention turned to below where Kaida had helpfully started a raging whirlwind to suck the locusts up. This would be her moment, and so Tempest let the Force guide her and she flew, just like her Master, and with her came lightning and storms.

As she passed through the storm the lightning raged and tore between the metal insects, frying and destroying each in turn. A cataclysmic chain reaction of terrible power. Soon, once the buzzing had stopped, Tempest slowed her descent and landed on Kaida's vehicle.

"Kaida...locusts gone. Position clear. Need...help." Again the expenditure of power was too much and she folded up on the roof of Kaida's machine. Hopefully she would be collected and taken safely inside.

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Tempest"], [member="Delila Castillon"]


And then there was lightning. Lightning everywhere! If the path to mastery in the Force lay in overcoming one's fears ans going beyond the bounds of what one thought was possible, then Tempest was surely going into the right direction. Whatever one might think of her teacher. As is well-known, Kaida's opinion tended to strongly be on the scathing side.

A cataclysm chain reaction of awesome, destructive power tore through the skies, the combined onslaught of the whirlwind and the lightning storm tearing through the locusts of metal insects. Against such force they had no chance and so they were ruthlessly shredded.

And then at last the buzzing had died down, though it would obviously take a bit of time for the storm to dissipate, though that should soon happen now that the two mages were no longer driving it. "Get...her...inside," Kaida spoke haltingly, pure exhaustion evident on her as she slumped inside the APC. It went without saying that conjuring up a massive whirlwind was a pretty draining experience. Especially if you had just survived almost being killed by a Bando Gora sorcerer who liked to screw with people's minds.


Oh, and she predictably had a queen of a headache now, which made it even more difficult to bloody focus. Regardless, one of the minions inside the vehicle had the presence of mind to open the hatch and quickly drag Tempest inside before closing it, so that the amazon would be safe. "Take care of the wounded...comm [member="Coryth Elaris"]...she's there somewhere. Comm command that the path iis clear." Kaida managed to order one of her minions before things went dark around her eyes. The path into the mountains seemed clear now, though there was no telling what might await them as they dug in deeper. Further waves of reinforcements should soon be arriving to aid the vanguard of the Firemane and Eldorai forces that had led the initial push.


((In other words anyone new who wants to jump in now, feel free to say you're second wave and stuff. Push into the city and smash things! Will be moving into soon))

 

[Aeda Shaytari]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"], [member="Mirien Valdier"]

After the winds, the screams, the explosions had finally settled, Aeda Shaytara sheathed her Sarix and let the fire die from her other hand.
"I guess that ends round one," she commented dryly.

Looking to her Angelii she went to each, exchanging no words, but her helmet met the eyes of each Eldorai. Something passed between them, but it was unspoken, encouragement without grand speeches and elaborate gestures.
Finally, Aeda was done and stepped back. "Kaeshana expects that ever Angelii will do her duty." And that was that.

Now they came to a branching path in the space hulk, leading deeper into the vast ship. There were three paths, so perhaps Siobhan, Aeda and Mirien should take a different way. Alternatively, to be genre savvy, they could take the same path, but in doing so they risked going the wrong way and wasting time.
Aeda looked to Siobhan for orders, and would accept whatever was demanded.

 

[Darth Libertas]

[member="Mirien Valdier"]
On Space Hulk, far away from Firemane/Eldorai group



"Now you know the truth...the truth will set you free...or so they say," the ghostly apparation of an old woman said in a voice that could be considered caring. Like that of a kindly old grandmother. For that was the guise she had adopted. Yet she was a malevolent creature of evil, a devotee of the ways of Chaos, for Chaos Was Everything. "The Bando Gora are broken and scattered, as they have been before. But remnants survive. For Chaos never dies."


The apparition sensed that the horde of technobeasts that assailed the Elves and Firemane soldiers had been wiped out, but no matter. The intention was not to hold the ship. Let the elves and their human friends spread slaughter across the vessel, for this pleased the Chaos Gods, and let them loot and plunder. How ironic that they fought the Bando Gora with such righteous fervour, yet if the Eldorai were given even half a chance they would prove even crueller than the Empire as rulers.


"Yes...y-yes I understand. She was one of the Sith...of the Bando Gora. So shall I be...and will break her...do what she could not..," the girl spoke haltingly, clearly pained. The improvised bandage that covered the stump of her hand was coated with blood. In vain she tried to stand but failed and collapsed to the ground with a loud thud. "I need...healing..."


"Pain is just weakness leaving the body. So they say. It's nonsense. You know what pain is? Pain is a gift," Naamah shuddered as the ice-cold hand of the apparition touched her forehead again but the ghost grabbed her shoulder tightly to hold her in place. "Pain is clarity."


Naamah screamed in agony as excruciating pain shot through her entire body. The embrace of pain, dark side healing as it were, filled her with the most intense pain as the Bando Gora spirit healed her body, fixing and mending bones that had been brutally smashed in her fights with the beasts, filled her with the malevolent energies of Chaos. Every moment of healing was agony, brute force as she healed her like Freedon Nadd had done with Exar Kun so many millennia ago. She felt as if as if she was being torn from the inside out and ripped apart. Each moment of agony was clarity, filling her with a sensation of rage and anger. Finally it was complete and Naamah lay there upon the cold, hard ground. "Use the trinkets you can find in this chamber well. Then go to...well, if you cannot figure that out yourself, you are not worth in our time." For an indeterminate amount of time the girl just lay there, unable to move. Then slowly, still evidently strained and very shaky on her legs, she arose. Her eyes glowed a sulfuric yellow, the expression written upon her features could be described as feral as she stook her first steps forward, eyes falling upon a datacrystal lying in the ruins of the Bando Gora shrine that the outburst of her rage had destroyed earlier.

 

[Eyrecae Alzari]

[member="Delila Castillon"], [member="Kaida Taldir"]

It was in a thoughtful, even pensive mood that Eyrecae made her way back to the battle. Delila's tanks were still laying waste to the opposition, an opposition who was growing more and more feeble all the time.
However, there were still enemies. Eyrecae's seemingly distracted air caught the attention of an enemy. A cultist, hidden in some fallen rocks, sprung out and rushed at Eyrecae from behind with a great axe.
The blade swept down and deflected harmlessly off her armour plate. Turning with a ferocious glare, Eyrecae's up-swing of the hammer caught the man under the chin and mangled his face. Stamping forward, she crushed his throat and led him to die.

So powerful. So brave. So wrathful. You will be my champion!

Were the words in her head or in the air?
"If that's you again, tits, I'm not listening." A couple of Firemane troops gave her a puzzled glance, then hurried by to reinforce the forward positions.

All that you want. All that you desire. I can give you.

"I bet you can't," Eyrecae said, attaching her hammer to her back again. "You can't undo what Raik'aro did and send me back to my home. I am what I am now."

You are mistaken, Daughter of Ashira, I can give you back your life. Do you want to be mortal again, to experience every emotion?"

Eyrecae stopped, Then she laughed, earning more odd looks from the soldiers. "Shit no! I like being immortal, and my mother was quite happy to pony me up. This is much better. I have more than just Kaeshana's narrow confines ahead of me. I will be known throughout the galaxy, and I don't need to whispers of a dying cult to do that!"

You will serve me, one way or another, willingly or unwillingly.

"Give it up, head-voice. I want Tits back again. At least she was me."

"Uhh...Ms Dark Star? Are you alright?" a Firemane soldier asked cautiously.

Eyrecae's helmeted head turned, regarded the young human. "You're the only one who dared to ask, are you? Wondering if this hammer wielding psychopath had gone mad? Well, fear not, human, I have never been saner and better. I have got a lot to think about. Let me know when I need to hammer anything else, will you?"

The relieved man nodded. "Yes, ma'am, as you say."

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

"Report?"
"Lieutenant Tempest and Captain [member="Kaida Taldir"] have driven off the last enemies, and are following Major [member="Delila Castillon"] into the mountain. Resistance has largely come to an end for now. We'd received word that [member="Mirien Valdier"], Lady Kerrigan and Grand Seraph Shaytari have pushed farther into the space hulk."
"Excellent. Status of the salvage operations?"
"Proceeding well. We've discovered some active mines which we're deactivating and collecting. There's also some good scrap found in the locations near the moon where the Bando Gora had a base."
"Very good. Continue."
"Oh, and there's a call for you, Lady Alcori. Your...pirate friend," the bridge officer said disapprovingly.
"I'll take it in the comm room. Call me if anything happens."

Tegaea left the bridge crew to it and headed with Maerys, who was acting as her temporary assistant whilst the battle lasted, to the communications room. Once there she worked the controls, eventually connecting.
"About time, Teggy! I was just about to have a nap!" Kalinai Soluza said. The blonde was looking annoyingly chirpy.
"I am dealing with something major, Kally, what do you want?"
"Well, it took me a long time to get through to you, but now I know, I wanted to offer my services to fight the demonic demons...and maybe stop Sibby getting spaced again."
"You're too late...but she's fine. What exactly are you offering, and do you know where I am?"
"Sure, you're at Gehenna! Not a nice place. But, I've heard there's salvage there. I can find you a market, you know, and I have a ship which can do some pretty awesome salvaging too."
"Well...alright, but try not to destroy anything from our side. And I want the profits split fifty-fifty for anything you suck up."
"You drive a hard bargain, Mistress V, but sure. I'll be there soon! Oh, and the reason I called originally...I wanted to bring around Rocky XXX."
Tegaea knew she was expected to ask. "What happened to XXIX?"
Kalinai teared up. "He died valiantly and nobly. But you'll be pleased to know that because of him the Shadow Empire will never conquer the galaxy."
Tegaea frowned. "The Shadow Empire are a bunch of incompetent wet hens. They'd never conquer their own lavatories."
"Don't devalue Rocky's sacrifice. He died for us all!" Kalinai said sulkily.
The call ended.

"Lady Alcori...what was that?"
Tegaea rubbed her head. "That was the second most infuriating woman in the galaxy. Come on, Maerys, let's make sure she doesn't crash into anything."

 

[Tempest]

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

Tempest came to with a medic leaning over her. "You're alright?" the medic asked.
"Fine...is Kaida...."
"The Captain's recovering well. You did well...the locusts are all gone."
"Good, take me to Kaida. We need to push on."

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Tempest"]


Far as this writer recalls the last post, Tempest was pulled into the same APC as Kaida, though presumably she might have been taken out for better medical attention. Regardless the Angelii Captain was standing again and as acidic as ever. A hellish houthouse Gehenna might be, but its temperature was not succeeding in defrosting her.


She put a datapad with reports on both casualties and reinforcements aside as she saw Tempest. As usual Kaida was not much in a mood for small talk. "Captain [member="Delila Castillon"]'s already pushing in. Alzari is charging off into somewhere and probably drawing everyone's attention," she said very dryly. At least Tempest and Kaida shared a mutual dislike of the hammer-wielding lunatic who seemed to be hearing voices now and was being visited by alternate versions of herself from parallel universes, which ought to give her something to bond over with Siobhan.


More and more reinforcements were coming in as dropships descended from the sky now that the path was clear, deploying scores of Firemane and Eldorai soldiers, fresh and not yet spent upon the field of battle. The rumble of tanks and APCs was heard as they advanced across the broken, war-ravaged ground of this benighted world. "Ariane's Fist Second and Third Company will be with us. The tunnels are wide enough for tanks to drive through. Saddle up, we'll take the APC. Mine sweepers will advance to scan the area for mines." With these words Kaida made a gesture to Tempest and quickly boarded the armoured vehicle, passing on commands to her soldiers. An appropriate message would have been sent to the flotilla of Gunships Tempest had been leading, so that they would know their commander was alright and that they should likewise deploy the contingent of soldiers.


The earth was shaken and clouds of dust billowed up into the sky as the columns of soldiers advanced into the wide tunnels beneath the mountain. Signs of battle and destruction could be seen everywhere as they made their approach into the Bando Gora city. The tunnels were barely illuminated, the ground was covered in rust and debris and in the distance the frenzied chants in the Dark Tongue could be heard. Arcane symbols of the Bando Gora covered the walls, or at any rate those that still stood. The invaders surmounted piles of dead bodies, skulls and bones, both from sacrifices and from the great exterminatus. Speaking of the old Bando Gora city, for the most part it lay in ruins. See, during the last round Siobhan tore down a good portion of the mountain ceiling and the Bando Gora had never really gotten around to repairing the damage this exterminatus had caused.


Thus the sight that greeted the invasion force were broken obelisks and pillars, smouldering ruins of temples and factories. The great Citadel that had once demand such a high tribute in blood from the Omegan soldiers and their allies was a massive pile of rubble. Indeed, a good portion of the mountain ceiling seemed to have caved in. Obstructions of this nature were removed through the time and tested method of just using the cannons of the armoured vehicles or demolition charges to blow them into manegeable pieces. Crunches were heard as the armoured vehicles plowed through the corpses of Reavers and cadavres of massive arachnids.


Even the towering smoking spires of Bando Gora factories had been brought low as they reached what had once been the industrial district of the city. In the far distance one could make out an opening, further into the tunnels, though it was actually a large entrance into a maze, shaped like the metal skull of some lizard, presumably an image of the Mechanical Dragon Siobhan and HK-36 had slain.


Kaida steeled herself as she surveyed the ghastly sight, remembering this battlefield all too well. "Two turns to the left, one to the right and then straight forward for a bit, and then we'll be in view of the Skull Throne and can take pictures. If it's still standing," she said dryly. "Paid a large price in blood just to get through these tunnels. Even more when the ceiling dropped on us. There was a Bando Gora lab not far from here." The sight had been sickening when she beheld it, so that she had summarily executed a Bando Gora scientist who had moped about how she had just been following orders. The prisoners, some of the captured Omegan soldiers, had been experimented on to turn them into Reavers. They had been too far gone and in any case there had been no time, so they had been mercy killed.


"Alright, halt here. I want a perimeter established in this district. Anything hostile, gets shot," she barked out over the comm as the APC came to a halt close to what had perhaps once been a factory building, one of the few that still seemed intact. "Guess you can start your survey. Keep your eyes open, the tunnels are wide and perfect territory for an ambush," she added to Tempest before the hatch was opened and emerged from the armoured vehicle. Soldiers were already swarming out to set up defensive emplacements and secure the perimeter, e-webs, rotary cannons and such. As Kaida looked over the scenery she beheld a magnificient monument to chaos and depravity, a massive statue that seemed to tower even over their tanks. It was the image of a being of pure lust and destruction, of a woman with a dark brown mane who seemed to bestride the area like a colossus and beneath whose feet scores of enemies were crushed. A monument to The Kerrigan, as the single word inscribed upon the base of the statue showed.


No surprise that they think the queen is great, Kaida thought to herself as her cold blue eyes locked upon the statue. "Banner Leader Elara, do go over, place explosive charges and blow that damn thing to bits," she gruffly ordered an Eldorai soldier who was close by and specialised in demolitions. Eldorai ranks were a bit complicated and diverged from the galactic standard somewhat, but Banner Leader was the rough equivalent to an Army Sergeant.


"Ma'am?" the noncom queried, a bit perplexed by the order.


"Just do it, soldier."


"Yes, ma'am. Right away. That'll really piss her off!, you know" The voice of the soldier was modulated by the speaker integrated into her helmet, which gave it a bit of a mechanical quality, but even so a measure of wry amusement could be detected in her tone. Crushing the statue herself would have been fun as well, but she did not really have the energy at present. Besides, explosions were sort of hot.


"I am aware. That's her problem. But we would not want people to think that we approve of barbaric idolatry and human sacrifices. Impressions are important these days," Kaida said in a deadpan tone. After all, the massive statue was adorned with mutilated human bodies, innards and such. The stench was as bad as could be imagined, but self-mutilating death cultists probably had no clue about hygiene. The Banner Leader quickly grabbed a few explosive charges and hurried off, setting them at the statue and preparing them properly.


Then she quickly hastened into cover. "Get into cover. Fire in a hole! Detonating in three...two...one...," at that she pressed the detonator on her remote control and triggered the explosives. What followed was a deafening boom as the charges detonate and the massive statue was blown into chunks that were sent flying across the district, clouds of smoke and dust billowing up into the air. The massive tunnels shook under the pressure generated by the explosion, as did the already badly damaged ceiling above them, though fortunately the demolitions expert had not overdone it and so what was left of the roof did not drop on them. Thus another obstruction had been removed on the great crusade to purify Gehenna of all evil. It was truly regime change at its finest.

 

[Delila Castillon]

Being left to her own devices was probably a terrible idea for Firemane. Delila (and Brrtyrr ) were rolling through the small city, destroying everything in and out of their path. As they literally blew up poorly constructed buildings, Reaver parts came raining down upon them. Arms, entrails, eyeballs....it all was flying into the air, creating a sickening scene. This writer could describe much more but is fuzzy on what PG-13 actually means. Anywho, things are getting leveled. Consider it a two-for-one special. Reavers die, ratty buildings come down to make way for new.


Tanks rolled through the small city but soon her comm crackled. There was some interest in the North quadrant. Laughing and carrying on was going over their communication systems. Quickly, Delila dispatched herself to the center of the action so to speak. They were in tanks, Reavers could bang on the sides all they wanted and still not affect them in the short term.


Rolling upon the scene, it was clear it was some type of religious shrine. There was a large statue of a topless woman, hair about her, looking feminine yet fierce if such thing was possible. Maneuvering closer, it was clear this shrine with its wanna-be fertility goddess was none other than [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] . Brrtyrr's little face pressed close to the screen, looking over the statue.


ORCFACE? ORCFACE NO IMPORTANT.


Delila chuckled and patted the little Jester. Where his hatred of Siobhan had come from she had no idea. Still....the shrine was amusing. There was no doubt this was Siobhan and there was also no doubt that Siobhan never resisted the opportunity to get naked for guests. One would think she was permanently drunk. A part of her was tempted to leave the shrine as embarrassment. Yet Dells doubted the woman would be embarrassed over such a thing.


"Lets roll back a little and have some fun firing at this thing. First one to knock off her head yet leaving the body gets a nerf steak dinner on the house."

 

[Mirien Valdier]

As the storm of telekinetic power died down, and the technobeasts came to a just end, the terrible trio moved onward, into the depths of the ship, all until they came to fork in the path. As Mirien stepped forward, in front of the others, a wave of familiarity hit her like a ton of bricks. Her eyes widened a moment as she glanced left to right. "This cannot be..." She mumbled, though it was still likely the others heard her. Even her aura in the force could not hide her surprise, the woman had been here before in some capacity. But, what exactly did that mean for her? Why? Why in a million years would she have ventured here? For the life of her, Mirien wanted answers. Would what she received in the end, be truly that? Or just more endless questions?

A most puzzled expression spread across her features as she glanced back to Siobhan. Biting at her lip, she had a good idea which way to go, but how'd she explain how she knew it? That she had been here before? No. Even Mirien was not willing to accept that reality.

Taking one more step, a flash of a memory came to her, pain, agony, torture... She grimaced as she looked about an old lab, looking over test subjects. An older woman watched over her, guided the teenaged Mirien to what she was supposed to be doing, helping her every step of the way. For a moment, Miri grabbed at her chest, not quite able to breathe as the scene played out before her. No... I'm not ... I can't be... I can't.

Taking a few deep breaths, Mirien took a moment, to try and calm herself. Right now, she felt every bit the wrong person, in the wrong place, at the wrong time. Surely that flash didn't belong to her? An illusion? One more glance to the people behind her, and Mirien unclipped her saber from her belt as a sense of danger started to creep up on her.

"Main lab, is to the left." She said coldly, a little afraid that she simply just knew. So many things were wrong with that thought.

"Be ready, something is out there, I can feel it now, drawing closer now." Her saber ignited with that familiar snap-hiss, lighting the way in the dark, though she realized now that perhaps it's reddish hue gave more clues to her past than she ever realized. Was this the same saber I was captured with? Or given to me later? She honestly couldn't remember right then.

Walking further in the faded and flickering light, something wasn't right, she could feel it. "They're watching us." She spoke quietly among them. This she really didn't like. Not at all. It was the feeling of a few powerful beings growing closer and closer. Their dark intentions rippling through the force, making it impossible to ignore. Pausing she turned around, that growing oppressive feeling that something was wrong would not leave her. And now, every danger sense she had was going off. For a moment she surveyed the group, and then it was there that she felt it before she saw it, clinging to the shadows as it moved to pounce upon Siobhan.

Lightsaber still activated, without a moment more of hesitation, Mirien lunged behind Sio, plunging the blade into the mysterious alien creature. But the fight wasn't over, it caught her across the chest and sent her tumbling down the hall away from the others. Rage flared up within her, and a single hand lifted as she ripped upon the power of the force. This time she was in no way being delicate or careful with it as she brought a heavy invisible hand smashing down upon the creature, watching as darkened blood splattered about the walls and anyone standing nearby. Unfortunately she could feel more closing on them, how many she couldn't be sure but right now she was closer to them than she wanted to be.

"There's more coming! They cling to the shadows!" She shouted as a man from the back of the grouping screamed, pulled away from the others. Just like you, they are just like you.. Scrambling back to her feet, her eyes searched the dark corners, and places where she herself knew she could hide, for they would be there too... I'm not a monster... Oh, really now? I know someone who would disagree...

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] [member="Aeda Shaytari"]

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Mirien Valdier"], [member="Aeda Shaytari"]


The winds, the agonised screams and the deafening explosions had finally ceased, and they were alone. Left with the question of which path to take. Siobhan was pondering as three paths were laid out before them, which made her think that the rule of three was tremendously cliched. Splitting up to cover the greatest amount of ground was tempting, but something she rejected as foolish given the fact that the mass of monsters could easily swarm them. Safety would only really lie in combined force and firepower.


However, it seemed that while she was thinking and stretching out with the Force, trying to get a reading upon the vessel, though when it came to perception her powers were less than advanced, the decision was made for her. Focused upon she was on the battles ahead of them, Siobhan was not privy to the internal turmoil raging inside Mirien. However, once the brunette spoke laconically a frown creased Siobhan's features, suspicion building up inside her like bubbles inside a sea. How does she know where to go? Siobhan wondered to herself, unable to keep the suspicion from her thoughts.


The flood of memories that she had been given from Mirien told her...nothing about this ship. Well, admittedly they were not fully assimilated yet given that it had been a big flood, but she was certain that Mirien could not have known of the ship from her days with the Inquisition. After all, the Bando Gora had never been a problem the Atrisian Empire had to concern themselves with. Maybe you're just avoiding the obvious answer because it's not what you want to hear, the treacherous inner voice inside her mind spoke in a whisper, but she forced it down...for now at least.


"Follow her. Don't get cocky. There's bound to be worse than technobeasts" she ordered the Angelii and the Firemane troopers, laconically. Her tone of voice had turned....rather cold and frigid. "Valdier, you're the guide." With that the troops fell into formation, soldiers providing mutual cover and checking every corridor with their weapons ready to unleash hell, as they moved further into the darkned hallways of the vessel. One could not shake off the suspicion that they were being watched, that something vile and malicious was lurking in the shadows. What lighting existed in the hallways was dim and flickering, something only increased by how shadows fell upon the walls illuminated by the soldiers' headlamps. The fact that they were stained with dried blood and here and there with human innards probably made things even more creepy.


Something was out there...but she could not quite place it, as if it eluded her grasp whenever she sought to stretch out with the Force and sense it. What Siobhan did not know was that these alien beasts were rather resistant to being sensed in the Force, though it was not impossible if one specialised in this field. The oppressive feeling of there being a presence of malice, drawing closer, was impossible to ignore, as if they were wading through a sea of darkness and sharks were circling them, getting ready to strike and devour them.


"Get ready for battle. Grand...," whatever words Siobhan might have said were stopped dead in their track as the alien beasts were suddenly upon them. Some charged the group head-on as they pounced at them from the shadows, others came jumping down from the ceiling or by contrast suddenly leapt through cracks in the floor. Pure malice and hunger could be felt radiating from the mysterious beasts as they came upon their prey, spitting blasts of burning acid. Everything happened almost in a blur. Siobhan only noticed the alien beast leaping at her from the rear when Mirien suddenly leapt behind her and plunged her crimson lightsabre into it in a flash.


Siobhan would have thanked her but there was no time for that. No time for doubt, combat training and will took over. "Shaytari, keep our rear safe. Bolter gunners, load buckshot. Bring up the flamethrowers and blast them!" Screams were heard from the back of the group as suddenly one of the soldiers was grabbed by an alien beast and pulled up into through a crack into the ceiling, being viciously mauled and brutalised. Loud booms were heard as Firemane soldiers opened with their boltguns, pumping out buckshot round. Others, forced into close quarters as aliens suddenly manifested, drew their vibroswords and hewed at them or fired with their boltpistols.


An alien beast leapt from the ceiling at Siobhan, announcing itself with a malicious hiss, and in a flash she spun around and raised her right hand, pressing a button on her gauntlet. As she activated her wrist-worn flamethrower, a scalding wave of flame and heat leapt out of the weapon to sweep towards the alien creature and embrace it in a sea of flames. Caught dead in its tracks the vile creature screamed in agony as the flames began burning it to a thorough and rather foul-smelling crisp Siobhan had little time to savour her triumph for suddenly an alien beast was coming at her from the flank, another came from behind and her and above. First there was a powerful blast of head and acid that was sprayed across her armour, making her experience a burning sensation though thankfully her beskar'gam seemed like a good defence, then there was the force of the impact that sent her flying and crashing against her wall, with Siobhan biting down upon her tongue as the large, spiked tail was swung and came crashing down upon her, sending surges of pain through her body. Sheer, overpowering rage flared through her being as the two beasts charged, their demonic mouths full of massive teeth and dripping with acidic saliva. Rage found an outlet as she telekinetically gripped the charging aliens as they came at her and plain and simply smashed them together with brutal force like a thunderclap until they were almost like paste, with darkened, acidic blood splattering across the walls and the floor.


She heard screams as a Firemane soldier's armour melted under the onslaught of acidic saliva and beasts pounced upon him, tearing through his weakened armour to bite his head off. Her boltgun had fallen out of her grasp while she was knocked around but her bolt pistol was still there and in a flash it was in her hand, force-enhanced strength letting her wield the weapon in one. Her free hand, the organic one, found that sparks of electricity cackled around her palm, then bolts of lightning shrieked from her fingertips as she sensed alien beasts coming at them again. Lightning. Lightning everywhere! Exerting herself she sought to drag the torrent of lightning across the halls, effectively creating a wall of lightning to fry beasts.


"If they cling to the shadows, bring them into the light. Load flare rounds and shoot them into the air, then blow the suckers to pieces. Angelii, have your pyromancers give us light with fire. Hew the beasts down we have clear sight," she called out some of the soldiers from fireteam one. Being a very modular and versatile weapon, the MK1 bolter was also capable of firing flare or rather illumination rounds. These fired a brightly coloured flares that could be shot either into the air or at a target. They provided illumination, but could be used as an incendiary as well if needed since they burnt incredibly hot. Needless to say it was rather unpleasant if someone blew up a flashbang in your crotch and the same held true if you got shot with a flare round. It stood to reason that if the beasts were so attuned to the shadows and thrived so strongly in them, being so abruptly pulled into the light should be disorientating if not painful for them and the Angelii pyromancers could help out with blasts of flame. Siobhan had to shout to make herself heard over the chaos of battle for the halls were filled with the sound of blasterfire and bolter rounds accompanied by screams and alien screeches. Heavy weapons troopers had brought up flamethrowers and blasts of blazing heat leapt from the nostrils of the weapon, but the beasts were smart and after several of their brethren had been slain they withdrew, coming at the invasion force from diferent angles.


For just a moment there was a flash in her mind, a memory...one that was not her own. Truth be told it was a rather absurd incident involving Mirien being invisible while some silly admiral with delusions of carrying out a coup d'état postured a lot. "Valdier, make yourself invisible and hit them in the rear after the flares hit!" she shouted at the woman, raising her voice over the chaos. She was not sure where Mirien was, but would have sensed it if something had happened. The woman would understand what she meant. They could have words later. "Avert your eyes, firing!" Dull cracks were heard as two soldiers armed with boltguns fired, letting loose flash rounds. Siobhan averted her eyes as they detonated, casting the hall into a blazing flash of light. A number of the Angelii would be pyromancers and the blasts of flame they unleashed would both provide illumination and roast monsters.


As the flash rounds brought light into the darkness and briefly provided a reprieve from the onslaught of beasts, the Firemane soldiers let loose salvoe after salvoe of blaster fire and a brutal bolter bombardment. Now seeing the beasts, who were no longer shielded by the darkness, Siobhan directed her brutal torrent of lightning towards them, unleashing the power of the storm upon them. Angry, agonised screeches would be heard as the blasts of blue-white lightning tore through the creatures to fry them and burn them to a crisp.

 

[Vaena Askari]

[member="Tegaea Alcori"]


On the bridge of the Valora's Blade Lady Cadalthor continued overseeing operations in space. "Progress report!" she demanded imperiously from a minion while she watched tactical dislays of the situation. Whatever said minion's name was.
"Our forces have penetrated the mountain and are setting up a base inside the former industrial district. The Grand Seraph, Lady Kerrigan and Colonel Valdier are pushing further into the space hulk, facing heavy resistance. The bodies of technobeasts have been recovered and run through decontamination."
"Make sure our people follow proper safety and control protocols. Salvage operations?"
"We lost a starfighter to a stealth mine, but largely proceeding as planned. Mines are being deactivated and collected. Salvage operations have been initiated on the Golgotha moon. Our team reports that all occupants are dead. It appears the Bando Gora fell upon each other in a suicidal frenzy, judging from the camera feeds."
"Like the savage beasts we know them to be. Good work. Keep it up. Slacking will not be tolerated." Tarissa was probably not a very nice person, but it seemed her minions were doing as they were told and so she did not have to chew them out, which admittedly was also a bit disappointing because it left her with little to do.
A beeping sound on her datapad informed her that one of the foreign news programmes she regularly looked at was running. Since she had nothing else to do she pressed the button. A particularly belligerent man appeared on the screen. He was the Chairman of the Alliance For Democracy, which had given itself the mission to 'expose un-Republican activities'. Apparently it had a mandate from the people to do this, though no one had ever asked them. "In this time of war, the Phantom Menace of the Sith threatens the entire Galaxy. The Republic has shouldered the burden of resisting the tide of darkness and our brave troops have fought valiantly, but where is our help? The Protectorate came to Coruscant claiming to liberate our capital, but retreated in disgrace and dropped a battleship upon the city. The Silver Jedi are cowards and traitors who are merely biding their time until the torch of freedom has been extinguished in the core worlds so that they can claim they're the new Republic. The Levantines selfishly stick to their own corner of space. And what are our senators doing? Debating while millions of our people suffer under Sith tyranny. Just days ago it was proposed that we should merge with the Protectorate. Have we forgotten our self-respect, our commitment to liberty? Have we fallen so far that we must bow down to a military dictatorship that tolerates darksiders and threatened us with war? What we need is not politicians and false promises, but leaders! We need an Attack of the Clones, the Jedi, everyone, to stop the Revenge of the Sith and the Vong. Sometimes the tree of liberty must be watered with the blood of patriots and tyrants. We need a decisive campaign to root out the traitorous worms and parasites that have infested our great nation. But who will step forward and lead this Last Alliance against the Forces of Darkness? Who will be our New Hope to bring about the Return of the Jedi...?"

Tarissa pressed a button and turned the broadcast off. "Absurd," was her only comment. "Now we see once again why democracy is a silly form of government," she spoke in a lecturing tone, for she as the sort of person who liked the sound of her own voice.
"Unification in the middle of a galactic war? I hear the Protectorate has forty-eight Exarchs these days, though I for the life of me can't recall their names, except two of them," the bridge officer said, apparently deciding that now was a good moment to chime in.
Tarissa sniffed slightly. "Absurd as well! Perhaps they should all 'return to the shadows'. It did wonders for the Sith. Get back to your duties. I want to be updated on our progress constantly." Apparently the moment for small talk was over.

 

[Coryth Elaris]

The swarm came quickly and truly Coryth had ventured a bit too far from the landing party to get back to the ships in time, not to mention she had a Reek to care for. She'd liberated him, and now he was her responsibility. Using a protective bubble of the force, she managed to keep the mechanical bugs off her for a little bit, but there was a dawning realization of a need for shelter. Racing the Reek, laid against it's back, she allowed for it's instincts to take over and lead them both to safety. Soon enough the duo skidded into a cave's entrance. From there, she shifted the force to move a few boulders over the entrance to keep them from harm's way.

Her datapad vibrated incessantly in her pocket, to the point it was simply starting to annoy her. "Who in the fething seven hells would be messaging me now?" After all, the rest of the people on the ground had her direct com channel. They'd never go through her datapad. Since she had nothing but time for the moment, she pulled it out and started to have a look at what the annoyances were.

Her eyes widened as she realized all the messages came from Spacebook. Nearly a thousand new friend requests! "Drop me in the middle of the desert on Tatooine, bury me in a goddamn cave on Endor, and somehow.... Spacebook can still get a message to me?! Or a thousand messages!" She shook her head in disbelief, not quite understanding how this had come about. Who in their right minds would make a friend request for a hermit Jedi master, who was generally very crabby about her nomadic and quiet life being interrupted! "My com has never even been that good, nor reliable!" Groaning, and complaining every inch of the way as thunder and lightning could be seen through the cracks between the boulders at the entrance to her safe little cave.

Since she had the time, Coryth sighed once more as she used her free hand to scratch the Reek gently upon it's shoulder. Urging it silently to lay down as she herself knelt to the floor to wait for the storm to pass. Slowly Cory looked to the source of the messages, soon stumbling upon a Galaxytube video. "Oh god... oh god! I'm going to personally shoot the bastard that caught that video!!" After a huff, Coryth laid her face in her hands and sighed, "So much for flying under the radar for the rest of your life..... That's soooooo out the window now."

Coryth felt a slight rumbling within the cave she'd taken shelter in. Something was off, that much she could tell as rock began to fracture beneath her. Oh boy, this can't be good... She had little time to care about what was outside anymore, it had to beat was happening in here. Before she could really draw upon the force, the stone beneath both her and the Reek gave way, sending them both sliding down a lengthy tunnel.

After some distance both came tumbling to a halt against a stone door. For a moment, Cory could only blink, unsure of how the heck all that worked out. For the most part, she was just glad she was still mostly in one piece. How much longer that would last? There was no telling. After a long while on the floor, stunned, the redhead slowly climbed to her feet, turning slowly in place to get a feel for where exactly she'd ended up.

[member="Tempest"] [member="Kaida Taldir"]