Capitalist with a Gun: Mandalorian Invasion of Roche (Mando vs Republic)

[Danger Arceneau]

Senate Meeting Posting Template
Location: In the meantime...
Senators: [member="Vaudin Miir"] | [member="Lady Kay"] | [member="Khyros Sunblade"]| @Danger Arceneau | [member="Khyros Sunblade"] | [member="Alyesa Organa"] | [member="Jack Sparrow"] [member="Popo"]

"Get me [member="Popo"]," Danger would tell Aeri, their heels clipping upon the polished stone of the Senate building. Whatever happened today would get cleared up one way or another. Her back was stiffened as she heard the cries of "Clone Lives Matter" outside the senate grounds.

"And find out what in tarnation is all that hollering about the clones!"


She had forty-eight hours to get to the bottom of this. She would use every one.

 

[Alyona Volkovna (Алёна)]

Location: Nickel One
Objective:
1) Determine the identity of her attacker

2) Defeat said attacker

Allies: The Jedi Order, The Galactic Republic, The Galactic Alliance, The Civilians of Nickel One
Enemies: Tralik U'rik

Alyona had intended for as large an explosion as possible but her opponent was forcing her hand. He closed the distance between them in nearly a single bound, his body propelled forward by masses of corded muscle. The body that came first he attempted to use as a shield or distraction of some sort; both came careening toward her a high speed from above. His angle was his mistake, coming in high enough for Alyona to dive back down toward the bow of the ship, tucking and rolling beneath her enemy and sliding down the metallic plating, her lightsaber deactivated for the moment as she focused on expunging the energy in the vessel's fuel cells and allowing them to explode. The armor plating of the ship just ahead of the newly unveiled Mand'alor would rupture and burst outward with great strength as flame and force would detonate within the vessel's fuel cells and engine blocks. Alyona herself was thrown backward another dozen meters from the concussion alone; she leaped back and flipped, allowing the force of the explosion to carry her before landing on her feet once more and searching out her foe.

 

[Naast'ika Laaran]

Location: Roche, Near Nickel One, Chasing Ali's shuttle,
Objective: Search and Destroy all Republic Assets in the Roche System, Fetch Ali Hadrix
Allies: Mandalorians and Allies
Enemies: [member="Ali Hadrix"], Republic and Allies
Neutral:


"The hazmana is-" Captain Tupu began as Naast'ika fired his primary weapon at the asteroid, giving away their position and that they were pursuing the target. "Oh. Well done Naast'ika, very smart." He said as he noted they had gained some ground.

"Commander Kain." Captain Tupu said, turning his attention to the young first officer that stood nearby. "I want you in the pilot's chair. It's going to take some very precise flying to catch that shuttle."

"Un- Understood Captain." Commander Talia Kain said before taking a deep breath and making her way to the Pilot's Den.


(OOC: Forgot the NPC was a Captain, not a Commander.)


------
"Rekali Lead to squadron, target on sensors." Lieutenant James Holden said into his helmet, comm laser pinging his voice to the other three fighters at his command in spite of the jamming taking place. "Hit the Nitro. We're going in weapons-hot. Zero Killshots."

James Holden yanked the control stick to his right, twisting slightly as he did so. Maneuvering thrusters burst to life all along his Rekali, forcing the ship into a corkscrew as Lieutenant Holden deftly dodged one of the chunks of rapidly moving asteroid that the overgrown tadpole had been so nice as to place in his way. G-forces shoved Holden deeper into his chair as the Rekali's overdrive engines kicked in, catapulting his heavy fighter to interceptor speeds. His sensors showed that the other three ships of his squadron had done the same and were keeping pace with him as he rapidly narrowed the gap between the Bio-Corvette and the stealthed shuttle.

Holden had seen the ship blow the asteroid. How could he have missed it? He had thought it was stupid, pointless, and a dead give-away that they were pursuing the target... But it had apparently done some good. The Republic Shuttle was showing a stronger reading on sensors than it had been before the explosion. So, apparently, the overgrown tadpole had damaged the it.

"Break formation," Lieutenant Holden said as he neared a large asteroid. His sensors were showing that the shuttle was on the far side, taking a leisurely path behind the asteroid and into a gap in the rocks beyond. "I want us coming in from four corners. Ion weapons on the hull, everything else on the wings." He said to his team of pilots. The astromech droid behind him beeped at Holden, asking him about missiles. "And no missiles." Holden added.

Holden deactivated the overdrive engines, instead diverting power to the Rekali's Etheric Rudders. Deftly, as if in atmosphere, Holden brought his fighter into a curving path around the asteroid. His sensors telling him that the contact had not changed speed or heading, Holden deactivated the Etheric Rudders and shunted power to Maneuvering Thrusters as the curvature of the asteroid disappeared from his view. A quick twist of the yoke and jets of maneuvering thrusters forced his ship to spin on its central axis, until it drifted (at high speeds) sideways and pointed its nose where the stealth shuttle should be. Vaguely, James Holden was aware of three other ships performing identical maneuvers as he and his three wingmen opened fire on the blank space where they shuttle should be.

It lasted only a few seconds before Holden had to adjust his heading and activate thrusters once more, to avoid careening into an approaching rock. But in that time, he noticed a distinct lack of explosions or even shield distortions. "Anyone have contact?" He asked of his wingmates.

"It... it's right there." His second in command said. "But we hit nothing."

"Oh Taung-kark-it." Lieutenant James Holden said as he flipped a series of switches on his dash. A high frequency ping escaped his ship. Almost immediately, the three other ships of his squadron broadcast their encoded ID profile, as did the Naast'ika Laaran, the ships leaving the tadpole's hanger, and a handful of civilian ships within range. What did not transmit an ID profile, was the would-be sensor signature of the shuttle they were tasked with subduing. "We ran down a decoy." James Holden announced.

"I've got a a scrambled signal. It's weak, barely getting through the comm blanket." Holden's second reported before a comm-laser data package was sent from his ship to Holden's. "Looks like Republic encryption."

"Alright boys. We're hauling sheb to that signal." Holden said as he spun his ship on its axis and kicked in the overdrive engines once again. "I want full power on sensors. Active scanning. This thing might be stealthed, but between the Astromech Droids and the Astro-Procesing Computer, we should be picking up something."

------

As the other focused on the shuttle, the fighters racing to intercept it, and navigating the space between here and there, Naast'ika watched Commander Kain step into the Pilot's Den. Metal-like flesh doors slid closed behind her as dim lighting illuminated the room. Slowly, cautiously, Commander Kain took step after step into the room and towards the Cognition Throne that dominated its center. Her head turned towards a darkened corner, sparing a glance at the small object that she knew resided there. Seated upon the floor, leaning against the curved based of a nearby wall, a tiny, fur covered figure sat motionless. Clad in a tiny beskar breastplate and helmet, it was the 'Teddy' of Naast'ika Laaran.

Naast'ika watched as the two stared at one another for a moment... before Commander Kain turned her attention to the Cognition Throne and began removing segments of her armor. Naast'ika watched as helmet was placed upon the floor, then chest plate, followed by a dozen other sections of armor. The armorweave underlay was slipped off and placed upon the floor, as was each boot and glove. In the end, only two strips of undergarment remained when the female Mando'ad placed a bare foot over the lip of the Cognition Throne. Slowly she slid herself into the throne, leaning her back against the cool, damp interior of it as she pulled the helmet over her head. Hundreds of cilia-like structures sprang out of the interrior of the throne, wrapping around her body. Each finger, each toe. Each hand and foot, arm and leg. All of her body was wrapped in neuro-transmitting cilia as a shell-like structure closed down upon the throne.

A moment later, Naast'ika and Talia Kain were one and the same. The voice of the other was gone, but his memories remained with the new being.

------

As her Beskad Starfighter roared from the hanger and into the void beyond, Lieutenant Daemona Demona's view of her surroundings exploded to life as the MMSHMD-A01 Flight Helmet she wore projected an uninterrupted view of the space around her fighter directly into her eyes. Without turning her head or looking at a monitor, she saw her wingmate, Junior Lieutenant Lima Fiora, keeping pace with her on her 4-30. Sensor readings overlaid themselves at the bottom of her vision, already she saw the pair of Cabur MkII Starfighters piloted by Lieutenant Moria Armande and Junior Lieutenant Lauren Talus as they raced to catch up with the pair of Beskads. Behind them, four Cabur Patrol Ships lumbered from the hanger and took up the rear.

Checking her sensor data once more, Daemona Demona shot a comm laser to each of the ships under her. "I'm showing Rekali Squadron as moving directly away from the target." She said to each of the five other ships. "Which means that they were chasing a decoy and are moving on a secondary target. I'm extrapolating a target point and moving us to intercept their new vector." She added as she typed commands into he console with one hand and manipulated the yoke with the other. Her beskar plated fighter twisted to the right briefly before she pushed the throttle to maximum and raced to catch up with the Rekali Fighters.

------

Talia Kain and Naast'ika Laaran were one in the same. They were strong... powerful... and dangerous. Nothing in this universe could defeat them. And yet, a flimsy republic shuttle was somehow managing to escape them. A slow, simmering rage built within Naast... Talia Naast. That is what they would call themselves. Talia Naast was furious.

"You will not escape me." Talia Naast said aloud, her voice echoing through the bridge speakers.

Talia Naast's surroundings were displayed within her mind in full three-dimensional glory. Smell... hear... taste... feel... see... each of these meanings dissolved and were replaced by simple awareness. She could hear the hum of ships and rocks and a stars as they vibrated in the fabric of the universe. She could feel the tug of gravity from her own Dovin Basals and that of the asteroids she passed. She could smell the chemical trails of her child starfighters as they left her and raced ahead. She saw the radiation of a distant star as it flowed over the shields that lined her hull. She could taste the tang of metal in the rocks that surrounded her and in the starfighters that left her to engage her prey on her behalf.

The universe was displayed before her not by mere eyes... but by each and every sense at her disposal.

She was aware.

She was aware that the Rekali had changed course. She was aware of the Interrogation Ping. She was aware of the scrambled signal that had come from elsewhere in the belt. And she was aware that her prey thought they were clever.

"I found you." Talia Naast said aloud. She could feel the predatory grin spread upon her human face, a sensation that was foreign to part of her.

Swinging her Dovin Basal created singularity like a club, Talia Naast adjuster her path and dove towards where the faint signal had come from. Slowly, she swayed her singularity back and forth, dragging her powerful body as close to each asteroid as she could, using every ounce of available gravity to accelerate her body through the void as quickly as she could.

<Soon... I'll have my prey.> Talia Naast thought to herself as she once more fired her Proton Cannon at a large asteroid that blocked her path. <And nothing will stand in my way.>

-----

 

[Arrbi Betna]

Location: Roche asteroids
Allies: Mandalorians
Enemies: [member="Juwiela Melec"], [member="Oddball"]
Objective: Engage and destroy enemy starfighters

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiZBffKZQ40​

​

He'd almost nailed the two starfighters in one pass. Unfortunately, he'd gotten a little too overconfident in trying to get both in one go. A mental shrug and a tightened grip on the controls was his only response to the missed shot.

Shots spanged off the beskar hull of his starfighter and he felt the controls threaten to wrench themselves from his grasp. He gripped tighter and angled straight at the two starfighters ahead until they fit dead center of his cockpit. As he lined up, a few more shots streamed in, one ricocheting off the hull near the cockpit the other leaving a scorch mark on the cockpit glass to his left.

He didn't have enough time to get off a shot, much less try and lock on to anything with his proton torpedoes, and he knew that. Thing was, this close in, he figured they had the maneuverability, sure, but he had the advantage.

Betna pushed the throttle as far forward as it would go and aimed straight on for one of the starfighters. It was a technique he'd used in a pinch over Teta against starfighters far faster and more agile than anything the Republic currently fielded and while it was risky, probably stupid, it worked well enough and took down two starfighters with ease.

The throttle maxed, he hit the stygium cloak once more. Once done, he yanked the controls up and killed thrust entirely. Screaming at high speeds at the enemy starfighter, armored ventral surface leading the way, he knew the enemy pilot would have mere seconds to dodge or wind up a cloud of spinning wreckage from a direct ram.

And with Betna's starfighter cloaked... it made it that much harder...

 

[Katalyn]

Location: Centeral Hub
Allies: Mandalorians and time
Enemy: [member="Valkren Calderon"] and his need to act

Arkrad quickly realised they where not going to agree to a mini cease fire, he looked over to Katalyn and his wound warrior and told them ​Withdraw down the corridor, and we defend their they only have one way in to that point. ​He did not have the men to hold this area, he still waiting for back up. This was not a retreat, but tactical withdrawal to a position that was easier to defended. The injured man went first, then followed by Katalyn, Katalyn took the mga1 up with her, leaving Arkrad with the repeating ripper to hold the fourght. They got to end of next corridor to stop them selves from being out flanked, and as they did the republic came up, and started firing at him, he took few hits nothing major, but ran down the corridor, firing as he went RAPAPAPAAPAPA. He got behind Katalyn, and started to inspect his wounds, minor shoulder wound.

Katalyn was on over watch on the corridor know, if any republic ame up she fire a few grenade down, to keep them at bay. She heard over intercom, that their wayward mandalorian was on his way back, with few medical supplies. Though no extra men at time being their was bigger fight to right of them some where and most where being diverted to that.

 

[Vorhi Alestrani]

Location: Nickel One, a hallway to hell. Near a door to the Hangar.
Allies: The Angry, Saddend Dead.
Objective: Justice
Enemies: [member="Ali Hadrix"]
Nearby: [member="Keira Ticon"] [member="Ryan Korr"] [member="Vilaz Munin"] [member="Elijah Rekali"] [member="Dish"] [member="Commander Lusk"] [member="Alyona Volkovna"] [member=Tralik U'rik]
Gear: Hands of the Master, Gourd of Doom (9/10 full of mulled wine, 8/10 at end of post), Flash-bangs (5), Thermal detonators (5), half a packet of vending machine cookies, a nice belt, and the silent screams of thousands of asphyxiated people.



(OOC: If any other force-wielders aren't too distracted and are on Nickel One, I am about to do some truly karked up things)

Spoiler

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VnZLp3qjpc[/youtbe]

Vorhi had hoped to find someone other than the dead. He had hoped taht another lving person could provide him with counsel, with succor. He wasn't certain he wanted to do this. He didn't know if it was right to give them what they wanted. The voices weren't unified, the screaming was getting louder. The edge between life and death....he'd been there before. When the underworld itself opened, and sent the dying into Cerea, he defended his home. His monastery. His monastery was now a tomb, the student who hadn't fled had died. He laughed bitterly. Nothing funnier than an archaeologist to whom only the dead can help. Ah, well. If that was the galaxy's answer, than so be it.



He focused, removing the bandage on his arm, pouring a bit of blood into a Vial, adding some of his wine to it. The wine and the blood--his offerings as a proper vessel. He smiled, weakly. "Dead of Roche," he began, painting a pattern on a wall, an old pattern from old datacron he'd flipped through when he was still the great Templar Archaeologist, Borther Alestrani. He roared the remainder. "Dead of Roche, I am sorry. Your fate could not be prevented. However, so as to give you peace, and justice, I will aid you. YOU WILL RECEIVE A VENGEANCE BEFITTING THE HALLS OF MANDALORE, AND A TESTAMENT TO THE POWER OF THE FORCE!!!"



He coughed, whispering the last part, his claws gloves etching runes, dipped in his blood and wine mixture. He gasped, watchign the runs glow, and redden. Was that the force, or simple oxidation reactions from mixing blood and wine and metal and white-hot rage? Nah, msuti've been the ghosts, definitely.




He focused his vision. The blood loss was a bit much. Still, he had an anchor now, and now amount of stealth-fighter technology coudl outrun the force. Ali's signature, her pain, her rage, were easy to anchor to. They were still anchored to the woman in the Hangar. And frankly, it didn't matter if she came back. Not now. "Foudn her," he said, grinning weakly. Her Aura...it was almost metallic. Not the shine of steel, but the sort of dull grey of a bunker floor, but hot. Angry, intense. He would remember this aura, this soul, fondly. It may be the last one he saw. "The price...has been paid...." he said, sinking down, sitting on the floor, next the blood-scrawled runes, etched into the metal. "Find your quarry. I shall remain."



He sat down, sighing, removing his respirator. There was enough atmosphere here, for now. He ate the cookies in his back pocket. You were supposed to eat cookies after giving blood, any good doctor would tell him so. Of course, she'd also yell at him for ritual bloodletting, but Vorhi had already been yelled at by enough dead people today. He blinked. "Why, of every person am I thinking of her right now? Do..."


He frowned as his train of thought was interrupted by another explosion. He replaced his bandage, and finished his cookies, replacing his respirator. "Can't die now, I guess I've got people who'd grieve for me again. Karking hell."


And with that, the Oracle of the dead cracked his neck, moving towards the hangar. One last battle, then maybe some peace and quiet for another decade, the blind man mused to himself.

 

[Ali Hadrix]

Location: On approach to Republic Fleet
Allies: Galactic Republic | Verpine Government | Civilians
Enemies: [member=[/FONT]Naast'ika Laaran] | [member=Lisette Kuhn] | [member=Keira Ticon] | Mandalorians
Objectives:
1) Return to Nickel One to combat Mandalorian threat
2) Locate and arrest Keira Ticon
3) Deliver Verpine delegation to trustworthy Republic authorities
4) Negate current threat
Equipment: Full duranium beskar'gam, EM protected helmet and weapons. Verpine Assault Carbine, 2 x DL-44 blaster pistols, wrist rocket, wrist-cable, various grenades (lethal and non-lethal), beskad, stun gauntlet, small-jetpack, bacta injection system.
NPC's (for narrative): None. On my own now.


Ali gripped the back of the two pilots' seats with both hands as she stared out the viewport ahead, trying to glean some hint of the Republic fleet. "Send a tightbeam, encrypted LOS transmission out to the Republic fleet to signal our approach. Ask them to scramble fighters if possible. After that, kill everything and drift through one of the small pouches of asteroids." The Sullust pointed at the scanner readout and garbled a question. Ali shook her head. "No, the smaller one, down below. The large collection is too obvious a hiding place, whomever's on our shebs will check there first." After the transmission was sent, Ali watched as the view ahead of her shifted and dipped down. The vessel crested a moderately sized asteroid before entering a tight bundle just as one of the larger rocks some ways behind them exploded. "There is activity behind us." The Human noted. Ali nodded. "Keep going, that's what I want to find out, but without using our active systems." Ali tapped him on the shoulder. "Kill the engines. Drift toward that rear portion of the bundle, that way we can flee out the other side swiftly if need be."
The pilot nodded and deactivated the propulsion. The engines themselves remained prepped but they emitted no signal at the moment. The shuttle drifted through the pocket of rocks, keeping the bulk of its size hidden against the surfaces of those asteroids larger than the Eidolon. Ali looked up out of the viewport, then told the rest of their passengers to do the same. "Keep an eye out for short-range ships. And something big." Geft and the others stood and looked out of the vessel where they could. Suddenly, Ali caught it. "There, right there." The Sullustan jarbled a response matching Ali's. The Human pilot looked up. There it was, a sleek looking starfighter of some kind; Ali didn't recognize its design.
"There's another," Abram commented. "Off the starboard side." Ali nodded, "Those are too small to have destroyed those asteroids. They must have a parent ship somewhere behind them, pursuing us. Alright, now put a pair of concussion missiles into each ship and launch the other probe, but with the holographic projection of the ship active. Trace its path alongside our own. With their scanners focused on the holograph, anything they pick up from us will signal too close to differentiate from the decoy." The Human nodded and flagged the next decoy for launch. The Sullustan armed and fired the four concussion missiles, which would split into pairs and target two of the incoming fighters. The Human jettisoned the decoy a moment later, then reactivated the engines and began pushing them back out of the pocket and onto the field's more middle lanes. The decoy deployed its holographic representation of the transport and tagged along near the side of the Eidolon. When noticed, what their followers would see would be a Republic Eidolon-class Transport with a damaged wingtip and its stealth systems deactivated, advancing through the asteroid field in the general direction of the Republic fleet. What they would not notice, was the Republic Eidolon-class Transport traveling alongside it, still cloaked. The readings from the Republic ship's damaged bow and wingtip would register close enough to the decoy's position, as would its engines, essentially transferring the identity of the true vessel onto the decoy by way of proximity. This would be a risky maneuver for the Republic pilots, as it would place them quite close to their followers' lines of fire.

 

[Julius Sedaire]

Medical Relief Efforts
Location: Medical Aid Station - Roche Asteroids (Not located on Nickel One)
Medics: [member="Vaet"] | [member="Kana Truden"] | [member="Avalore Eden"]
Protectors: [member="Gabriel Sionoma"] | [member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

Avalore had a way about her, almost an air of command, but without really being bossy or rude or condescending. Just a natural grace of carriage, some would say, that she expected to be listened to and obeyed. So he turned to her from the soldier he had been assisting with a sling, and nodded to her. Casually he clipped the solider on his good arm with a cuffed hand, a pat of reassurance, and when his hand moved there was a small pint bottle glinting from the shoulder pocket, the Whyren's logo barely visible, and the Rogue Jedi merely winked and nodded, laying a finger along his nose then pointing at the soldier before he turned to Avalore, the mischief still sparkling in his eyes, if not playing about his mouth in a wry grin any longer.

"Well now Ms. Eden, what can I do for you? I'm pretty much good at carrying heavy stuff at this point if i'm not acting in defense. Might be able to do some triage, seen enough war to know when a man is dead, or will be."

Still, despite the conversation, the Corellian seemed on alert after leaving the soldier. Like a switch had been thrown and something activated within him, that made him shift from smiles and jokes to something else, something with a hint of the deadly air that very few but 'Stali and his enemies had seen. There was a tinge of darkness in him almost, as he scanned about, stretching out with senses trying to see what could be coming. Nothing felt like an immediate threat to them, but in war like this it was such Chaos that unless it was actively shooting right at him, it was sometimes difficult even for him to discern things.

 

[Jaccer Ramirez]

Location: Nickel One
Allies: [member="Vahn Fett"]
Enemies: [member="Vilaz Munin"] [member="Elijah Rekali"]
Gear:

Spoiler

[SIZE=11pt]CAS – 5 Light Armour[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]HAED-L Slugthrower Riflehttp://starwarsrp.net/topic/63082-haed-l-slugthrower-rifle/#entry939771[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]X-60 Happy Boomerhttp://starwarsrp.net/topic/46608-x-60-happy-boomer/[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]

[/SIZE]

This was a very bizarre turn of events. Now it seemed that Vahn had joined the team of the Republic. A fair choice, considering that if he didn't it would've been likely that he would be at the epicentre of an explosion by now. Jaccer could also use the squad of soldiers that seemed to of found him as he was desperate for medical attention. "Patch me up men. Your with me now."

After a brief examination of his injured limbs and an injection of bacta, the soldier felt ready to rejoin the battle or at least make his way to the extraction zone. "This is the situation. The extraction hangar is on the other side of this city and we have an army of Mandalorians preventing us from getting there." It would've been an understatement to say that the odds of this battle were not in the favour of this single unit of Republic soldiers. The Lieutenant would then look towards the newcomer to the Galactic Republic, "If you want to earn my trust, this is the time to do it." If Vahn would aid in the transport of the soldiers to the extraction zone, Jaccer himself would guarantee the man a position in the military himself.

"Let's move out." During their journey through the city, Jaccer would re-equip himself with weapons and armour found on the battlefield. Hopefully they would not encounter any sizeable amount of Mandalorian resistance and instead would be able to find other Republic forces stationed in the area.

 

[Farryn Loragwyn]

Location: The Central Hub
Enemies: [member="Agamemnon"]
Allies: The Republic
Gear: Sig + 5 Frag grenades

The droid and his horde of undead were quickly closing the distance. Sofia was without the advantage of high ground which would have usually allowed her an advantage. From the little affect her bullets had on the undead; Sofia surmised that the droid must have done something special to them. Her fear increased with the closer they got. In close quarters combat, she knew she was no matched for them. Every second mattered. Sofia knew she did not have the time to reload her rifle and had to disband the horde as soon as possible. Desperate, Sofia switched her sniper rifle for the blaster rifle and opened fire indiscriminately at the horde. If it moves she had to stop it in its tracks.

As soon as one magazine ran out, she quickly changed it for another. Fire. Reload. Fire. Reload. Fire. Reload. Within several minutes, Sofia had eaten through half her total blaster rifle ammunition. Lowering her gun Sofia assessed the damage she had inflicted on the horde in her desperate final attempt at disbanding it. As much as she hated the idea of abandoning a battle she knew she would have no choice if the horde was not dispended and the droid severely damaged. It was too soon for her to die, at least for now.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Location: Central Hub
Enemies: [member="Sofia Annesley"]
Allies: None
Gear: In Bio

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpkeAQG6kQw​

Several of the dead were reduced to crawling, shambles, forced to continue forward by dragging themselves with their hands. It was the great wonder of the little Mindshackle Scarabs. They could be used to great effect against a poorly armed opponent, and without knowing what they were, as only Agamemnon used them, they were very difficult to disable fully. As the group approached the sniper, slowly she began to reload. Agamemnon made his move, powerful servos whined and spun, hydraulics surged, and the machine monster tore free from the group, running on all fours like some sort of ape, cloak trailing behind the rapidly approaching droid. The monstrous droid was far faster than a human, closing the gap quickly, and as it approached it could see the the woman calculating.

As she slapped another magazine into her weapon the droid skidded to a stop and sprayed a grey smoke from its right arm, the smoke choking the corridor between them. This smoke was made to disperse blaster bolts, and greatly reduce their effectiveness, but, it did slow the droid down some. Keeping it at a short distance for right this moment. Soon it would make its move if the woman did not flee from him, she would know the pain of being bisected and dissected shortly after her expiration. She would discover that the installation of the droid's programming had been flawed. Mercy.exe had not been correctly downloaded, and thus any search queries for it resulted in File Not Found.

 

[Commander Lusk]

Location: Nickel One hanger
Objective: Find out what's happening.
Allies: [member="Keira Ticon"] & [member="Dish"]
Enemies: possibly mandalorians, possibly republic.
Invasion gear:

Spoiler

Weapons/Grenades: Equalizer Pulse Rifle, Sith Killer Rounds, Kalso's Revenge thermal detonator, flash bangs, smoke grenades.
Armor/Gear: Exo Suit Olympian armor

NPCs: Unspecified amounts of clone soldiers, more than likely in the upper thousands but strictly background noise for PVP

Spoiler

Clone Trooper
Combat Engineer
Combat Medic
Snipers
Comm operators
Naval Personnel

With anger still in his heart Lusk knew he had to put that aside for the sake of the mission, and what exactly that mission was at the moment he wasn't entirely sure. He knew that the Republic that deemed themselves so high above the Prime Minister had just vented civilians out into the black void of space. So whatever that was, it needed to be handled like right now.

Lusk wasn't free of taking the lives of the innocent as well, the Moff and the civilians he had executed on Chazwa, the civilians and domain he had murdered on Yuuzhan'tar, but that was really what drove him here. He was just tired of it all, he was tired of seeing innocent people be caught in the middle of war and pay with their lives simply by being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

And it wasn't any one person's fault either. Ali may have vented those people, but they would of still been alive if the mandos decided to reach out with diplomacy first rather than invading on the drop of a dime, try to contact the other senators and realize that no ones assets were no longer at risk. This wasn't about doing the right thing on the mandos part, Lusk could see it was greed. So that didn't excuse them if Ali did what she did, it didn't excuse the republic, it didn't even make Lusk feel any better. The entire situation was a mess on all sides, and no one was the good guy. Just empires clashing and the people in the middle dying for it.

"Roger that sir." Lusk said to Keira as he pulled up his rifle and shouldered it.

Now that her and the clones were in the hanger it didn't appear that there was any fighting going on here, they had found the one hanger that seemed to not have anyone present. Lusk probably knew what that was, but he didn't want to think about it any more than he had to.

"We need to make it towards the central hub, that's where we'll find Ali most likely along with whoever is calling the shots for the mandos ground operations. Now I don't want to have to kill anyone unless we have to, mandos and republic will be able to recognize us as clones so unless we are fired upon first do not engage. If we are engaged do what you can to neutralize any threats." Lusk's forearm displayed a map of the area and he quickly pointed out to Keira the fastest route to the central hub.

"Does this plan of action sound agreeable sir?" Lusk asked Keira before they would step deeper into the station.

If Keira wanted to go left they'd go left, if she wanted to go right they'd go right, she was their commander and they'd gladly follow her to the bitter end.

 

[Azula Tindara]

Nickel One – The Central Hub
Allies: Thrukk Gulpdar | [member="Rigor"] | [member="Katalyn"]
Enemies: [member="Valkren Calderon"] | [member="Sofia Annesley"]
Objective: Data theft

"Alrecht, aam oan watch, droid dae yer hin'," Thrukk exclaimed. Right now he was having so much fun he could barely contain the urge to light a cigarra and start singing a little ditty of his home world.

The flechette cannon was slung over his shoulder and he moved to an intersection, mace in hand. He idly wondered if Rigor was going to just steal data or inject some errant information into the Republic intelligence system and breach its integrity.

Footsteps rang down the corridor, heralding the arrival of another squad rushing to stop them. They should have been moving more carefully. Guards who spent their time wondering facility perimeters were hardly the most seasons soldiers through.

As they reached the corner Thrukk stepped out and the mace came swinging. Three men went down in one mighty swing. With his claw he picked one of them up and tossed him into those at the back who were trying to raise weapons. With his bulk he shoulder slammed a forth into the wall. Something broke inside the little human and he slumped to the ground.

Ah but this was a good day.

 

[Subject 37]

Nickel One - The Central HUB
Allies: [member="Thrukk Gulpdar"] | [member="Laguz Vald"]
Frenemies: No Immediate
Objective: Steal Data

The droid moved forward.

Blast doors or not, Rigor saw no issue here. Organics maintained a certain level of control over their own systems, though they were inevitably flawed. Rigor was well aware that certain organics took advantage of this, Slicers they called them, but for some odd reason most governments and even major organization refused to cease their odd technological faults. Of course, for the droid this was only something to be taken advantage of, the small door panel next to the blast doors giving Rigor ample opportunity to utilize the mistakes of the meat bags.

With a series of clomping steps Rigor moved over to the panel, a small section of its hand falling away and a wire being pulled from it's palm. The droid plugged the wire into the panel, it's odd facial glow changing to a slightly more pale orange as it began to slice into the door controls. There was a soft glow between it's fingers, a slight spark on the panel of the door, and then suddenly the Blast Doors began to open.

"What th-"

A voice called from within the room, though it was already too late. The droid stepped into the doorway and fired it's disruptor, tearing into three Republic Soldiers and ceasing their protests before they had time to respond. The central server room was large, filled with computers and racks of data storage. For a moment Rigor simply surveyed the room, looking for the main access. It's faceplate once again shifted color, Rigor turning back to regard Laguz and Thrukk. [Reinforcements are on their way. I require fifteen minutes]

With that the droid stepped forward and plugged into the mainframe, intending on downloading all the information that the Republic Intelligence Service had ever gathered.

 

[Laguz Vald]

Nickel One – The central Hub
Allies: [member="Thrukk Gulpdar"] | [member="Rigor"]
Enemies: Nobody in the vicinity
Objective: Grabby hands

While Thrukk set up guard at the lip of the destroyed blast doors and Rigor started downloading the data, Laguz quickly scanned their surroundings for a more advantageous vantage spot. Sniping in the middle of a corridor was hardly utilizing the best xir arsenal had to offer.

To the sound of Houk and his mace crunching bone and splattering meat, the shifter slithered up the wall towards the entrance to a ventillation shaft. Xe tore off the grates and poured inside, fading from view as xe replaced the metal bars once more, leaving only the barrel of Tessie peeking out slightly. Xe had enough space to make the minute adjustments required to aim at anyone who came down the corridor, and that was everything xe really needed.

Thrukk could handle the right-hand side, and Laguz would fell anyone who came barreling down the main hall; between the two of them, fifteen minutes of fending off reinforcements would quickly turn into a colorful new paint job for the walls of the drab Intelligence base.

Annnd… here they come.

The sniper grinned, took aim, exhaled, and started picking them out one by one. Good gods, but this was fun.

 

[Darth Banshee]

Location: The central hub
Allies: The force
Enemy: [member="Vulpesen"] well I say enemy, more like prey

Sabine started to feel the rush of oxygen on her lips, as the regulator crumpled under his force crush. It came out with a slight hiss at first, then got louder and louder. She grimaced a little, and thought to herself who says you can`t teach an old dog new tricks. Her lips became cold and dry, as oxygen rushed across it pushing some the gas away from her. Her reserve tank of two hours, was know more like one minute as the pressure gauge dropped like lead balloon. She rose up back on to her feet, and continued to crush his knee, and began to walk towards the wall.

She waved at him, as she began to phase herself through the wall. On the other side was a bunk house, by looks of it, it was for maintenance team. Though she could not repair her rebreather, but she could repair her body here. She then looked at vulps force signature, used force sight to see through the wall. She had not gone far, and wonder what her prey would do next. As she did she began to concentrate her force energy on her sith amulet, tucked away in her bra. It would begin to heal her body. She would stop every few seconds just to get update of what her prey was doing. She also dumped the rest of the oxygen tank, as it was know just annoying, and useless till she had repaired.

She wonder, would he stay put and be captured, by the advancing Mandalorians. Then again would he try and fall back to republic lines, or would he give and collapse there. She also wonder, if killing was the best option, as he would make a valuable prisoner. Especially if any peace talks happened between the republic and the Mandalorians, it would give her side a bargaining chip. Though what happened to him know, was really up to her, as he was her prey, and she was the proven apex predator.

Spoiler

[member="Elijah Rekali"] [member="Gir Quee"] just so you know my reaction, please not I have left the duel, I am just going to stalk you

 

[Cloudburner]

Gear: Signature DL - 44 Blaster Pistol, Signature Republic Ranger Armor.
Allies: [member="Jaccer Ramirez"]
Enemies: Vilaz Munin Elijah Rekali
Location: Nickel One

As the intrepid two walked the wasteland Nickel One had been transformed into, Cloudburner resupplied himself with equipment found and it looked as if the Commander was too. Then it seemed Cloudburner had found something, something important.

"Parts of a lightsaber? I could use this to my advantage over the Mandalorian scum."

It was a lightsaber which belonged in the grasp of Cloudburner.

A part of his unit ran over to Cloudburner.

"Sir, we have spotted Mandalorian soldiers preventing us from extracting our wounded back to safety. What measures are we going to take, sir?"

Cloudburner assembled the lightsaber. It powered up, revealing a orange glow.

Spoiler

"Then kill them all. I will aid in the extermination of these Mandalorian rodents from their infestation in this city. Do whatever you can, follow myself and the commander's lead, do not surrender to them. They do not see the monopoly of territory the Republic has conquered over the past 800 Years, and when the Republic capture Mandalore, their vision will be destroyed, leaving only fragments of nationalism behind. Assemble units all over Nickel One, we have to destroy them."

As the soldiers followed orders, the Ranger walked over to the commander.

"Commander, do we take them by surprise or do we march in, taking their spirit by force and leaving Mandalore a hopeless wreck?"

[member="Vilaz Munin"] [member="Elijah Rekali"] [member="Jaccer Ramirez"]

 

[Vulpesen]

Vulpesen watched as she got up and simply went through a wall, seeming to leave him for the remaining mandos, or for her to come back to later. Hell no. His hands lifted up and issued a wide force push, forcing the gas down the hall and away from him as he focused his mind on purging his body. If he'd been completely without the force. This would have been useless, but he still had enough control over himself to fix this, something he'd learned how to do after a few nights on zeltros. After purging his system, he reached down and started to heal his leg while walking towards the wall where he would plunge his lightsaber. He was not going to let her get away.

He was particularly lucky for the Veran amulet around his neck, the object that allowed his force to be boosted. Of course, then there were the two kaiburr crystals he'd retrieved, one on a trip with Matsu Ike. Another form the belly of a tarentatek on Kashyyk. In short, it would only take him a few painful moments to mend the bones back together. "Coward...."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

LOCATION: Nickel One, Mando Quarter, hangar
ENEMIES: [member="Mantic Dorn"]
ALLIES: [member="Falcon Gyndar"]
GEAR: In sig

So the Jedi had countered the precognition of Ember's Force-enhanced aim, and countered it in kind. Ember grimaced as the mass driver round did little more than scuff the paint of what had to be some really durable armour.

As Mantic began to talk, Ember began to chant under his breath in Paecean.

"Wait! Wait and think.... I am afraid not even democracies are flawless. Neither i the Mandalorian government. But there are good things as well. The aid the Republic has given to people in need far outweighs any other power. And they are the only government that maintains a firm non-force user policy regarding their leadership. There is much sense in that, but it requires help and loyalty to endure."

The innate condescension of being asked to think set Ember's teeth on edge. So did the fundamental misunderstanding of Mandalorian government, the drastic overvaluation of the Republic's humanitarian aid -- SSC blew them out of the water and always had -- and the presumption of moral high ground when it came to keeping Forcers out of government. Some of the Republic's only worthwhile leaders had been Force-sensitive. Most of the useless ones hadn't. That meant he wasn't dealing with an oldtimer.

"Yet, the Republic has sent us to fight in your wars countless of times. They were your allies, not your enemies. Something has happened to your leaders, this invasion is serving another power. A far darker power." he shifted the focus of the conversation hoping it might appeal to them more.

Ember had been there for those wars. He'd never seen more than a token handful of Jedi show up, and never, so far as he could recall, the Republic military. Nor had the alliance ever been a formal one. But what really amped up his fury, empowering the ongoing chant, was the Jedi's need to invent an overarching conspiracy. A conspiracy to explain what had, in essence, been just another failure of the Republic's sense and collective wisdom. The chant intensified. If the Jedi was going to give him this much uninterrupted time to power up, Ember was going to do it.

"Think, the Mandalorian with the help of the republic has waged a war against the sith and their primevil allies for ages now. We stand on the brink where we can defeat the Primevil once and for all. At this time, the Republic is betrayed. Our Prime Minister launches a coup and an army of mandalorian stand ready to launch this invasion. This was not random, this was planned. There are traitors in our midst, fueling this mistake between our nations. I am only guessing, but I would say they exist on both sides to exploit our former alliance and make us turn on each other."

There it was again, the injunction to think, coupled with a presumption of worth from a government that had lost every battle of the last decade. The Primeval's weakness had not been of the Republic's doing; on the contrary, only recently the Primeval had decimated Mirial on the Republic's doorstep without interference. The Jedi's fundamental misunderstanding of Mandalorian policies and readiness levels didn't hurt, but it paled in comparison to this conspiracy that the Jedi had invented out of whole cloth to keep his side looking pure. Some people just couldn't face facts. The chant continued. In the back of his mind, the torrent of spirits unleashed by [member="Vorhi Alestrani"] -- the spirits, specifically, of those killed by the Republic -- added their fury to his, and the hangar lights flickered.

"Think, who has gained the most by a conflict between the Republic and the Mandalorians? This invasion must seize, we must help each other find the roots of this evil and remove it, together, as allies, not as enemies."

A third time the Jedi begged Ember to think, framing his litany of groundless, baseless idiocy in an injunction of staggering irony. A litany, to be clear, that had not engaged with any of Ember's points, merely shunted blame aside to an imaginary concatenation of Sith agents buried within the Mandalorians and the Republic alike. If Ember had been capable of empathy right now, he'd have made Mantic Dorn a tinfoil hat.

Instead, he brought the chant to a close. With his vocoder off, it was unlikely that the Jedi had even heard it.

Ember's specialty was physical enhancement. Strength, primarily, and also speed. He'd been known to rip open blast doors barehanded and arm-wrestle bull rancors for fun. So when he moved, he moved pretty karking fast, crossing the space between himself and the Jedi. Precog was great and all, but the Dark Side clouded everything, and precog started giving you a multitude of possible, divergent false positives when your opponent was also precognitive. In the space of a blink, empowered by the extended chant and the fury that Mantic had stoked, Ember was right in the younger man's face. He moved so quickly that his bracers' beskar hookblades -- Thorns of Ryloth, but longer -- barely had time to slip out past his hands. One hookblade, the left, aimed to snare Mantic's lightsabre and toss it out of line. The right hookblade aimed to snag the collar of Mantic's armor and drag him down for a beskar-clad knee in the face. A knee that, right now, could literally have dented starship armor.

 

[Naast'ika Laaran]

Location: Roche, Near Nickel One, Chasing Ali's shuttle,
Objective: Search and Destroy all Republic Assets in the Roche System, Fetch Ali Hadrix
Allies: Mandalorians and Allies
Enemies: [member="Ali Hadrix"], Republic and Allies
Neutral:


Rocks the size of mountains whipped through the peripheral of Lieutenant James Holden's vision as he raced through the asteroid field in search of his prey. He and the rest of his squadron had spread out as they neared the point where the partial signal had been broadcast. Cutting the overdrive engines, Holden slowed his Rekali Fighter to standard speeds. He had sensor ghosts popping up from multiple locations. "What can you make of it?" He asked the astromech droid seated behind him. A series of beeps and whoops responded to him as the droid ran the signals through the advanced astrological sensor processing computer that was installed in the Rekali's modular bay.

While the computer ran its calculations, James Holden let his ship cruise slowly through the asteroids, his eyes strained for the slightest hint of movement... other than the tumbling rocks. Not too far from his position, Holden caught sight of his wingman doing the same. "Anything?" Holden asked, a tight-beam laser transmitting his voice to the other ship. "Other than a few sensor ghosts... nothing yet." The other pilot responded.

A missile lock warning illuminated Holden's display and a shrill wail escaped his astromech droid. Reacting on instinct as much as training, Holden killed his forward thrust and launched a volley of chaff and flairs. At the same time, Holden yanked hard on the yoke and whipped the Rekali around as fast as it could turn to face the approaching threat. While the Rekali's shields could take an impressive beating, the primary thruster exhaust was the most vulnerable section of his fighter. If he was going to take a hit, he wanted it to be coming from the front of his ship.

A pair of explosions illuminated the void, painting James Holden's face in a wash of orange and yellow light. His shields shimmered briefly, catching only the edges of the blast, before they quickly began charging back to full strength. "Where'd that come from!?" Holden demanded as his eyes scanned the trail of quickly dissipating ions left in the wake of the warhead's exhaust. Vaguely, we was aware of a second pair of explosions in his peripheral vision. On sensors, he made a brief mental note that his wingman had likewise escaped the missiles by dropping chaff and flares. Though his wingman had, apparently, opted to duck his ship behind a large asteroid instead of turning to face the threat as Holden had. When he had a chance... Holden would have to remind his wingman just how durable these new Rekali truly were.

The astromech droid beeped as a new contact icon filled his screen. The republic shuttle raced from its hiding place among a cluster of asteroids, making its break for the Republic Fleet. "Oh no you dont." Holden proclaimed with a snarl as he twisted the Rekali's yoke and shoved the throttle forward. The Rekali raced forward, slamming Holden's body back into his seat as nine-G's of acceleration attempted to crush his body. Inertial dampeners did their best to minimize the effects of the ship's acceleration, but could only keep up with so much force. As the Rekali raced directly towards the fleeing Republic Shuttle, approaching from the side, Holden held down four finger triggers and a pair of thumb activated buttons. His Rekali spat forth a torrent of repeating mass driver rounds and light repeating mass driver rounds, a pair of deadly energy beams from two laser cannons and two heavy laser cannons, and a salvo of energy beams from twin light repeating ion cannons. All aimed at the engines of the Republic Shuttle.

His orders were to subdue and retrieve the VIP inside the shuttle. Gambling that said VIP would be in the crew compartment, and not in the cabin, Holden attempted to cripple the ship as best he could. Racing towards the shuttle with Overdrive Engines activated, Holden rolled his Rekali to port and aimed a solid Beskar-Tungsten Alloy Wing at the cockpit of the Republic Shuttle.

His Rekali's shields flared briefly, he felt a solid bump, but did not tumble into the distance as he had been expecting. A low series of beeps and woops came from his astromech droid as it told him that the shuttle was gone. A glance at his sensors showed a small amount of debris trailing behind his Rekali. <Another decoy?> Holden thought to himself.


------


Lieutenant Daemona Demona slowed her Beskad Starfighter as she approached the circling formation of Rekali Fighters. Beside her, her wingman and the pair of Cabur MkII Starfighters also slowed. A comm laser was pointed at the lead Rekali Fighter as it drifted slowly among the asteroids. "Status?" She asked.

"We encountered and destroyed a second decoy." The lead Rekali pilot proclaimed. "We're close to the actual ship though, we took incoming weapons fire before we spotted the decoy."

"Which direction was it heading and why are you holding position?" Lieutenant Demona asked.

"Towards the Republic Fleet." The other pilot answered, a brief holographic map transmitted alongside his voice showed Demona the anticipated path of the Republic Decoy. "We've got astrological processing computers analyzing readings from the encounter. As soon as I get the results, we'll know which direction the real ship was going."

"Towards the Republic Fleet idiot." Lieutenant Demona proclaimed as she jammed the throttle of her Beskad forward and raced along the highlighted path she had been given by the Rekali Pilot's astomech droid. "Everyone spread out and keep your eyes peeled."

Behind her, Lieutenant Demona was absently aware of the four Cabur Patrol Ships that were finally catching up with the Rekali Fighters as the pair of Cabur MkII Starfighters and her wingman in the Beskad raced to keep pace with her.


------


Talia Naast plowed through a cluster of smaller asteroids. They pinged against her hull and a feral grin escaped her human mouth. They were nothing to her. She dipped and dived through the belt, slinging herself dangerously close to massive asteroid after massive asteroid, using the subtle gravitational pull of each to accelerate her body forward at greater and greater speeds. Ahead of herself, she was aware of the explosions and weapons fire. She was aware that the Rekali Starfighters had paused and that the Beskad and Cabur Starfighters had continued advancing towards the main Republic Fleet. Talia Naast steadily closed the distance between herself and her prey as she dove through the asteroids like a shark through a reef.