Objective: Evacuation
Location: Coruscant System
Equipment: Wayward Samaritan Full Gear
Accessories: Bracelet,
Echo Stone
Weapons: Lossa's Lightsaber,
Turmoil - Lightsaber,
Concealed Blaster,
Nasty-Stabby
Tools: Fusioncutter
Aboard: Ballarat
Allied Tags:
Zaiya Ceti
Denn Verdan
Vianca Mecetti
Amelia von Sorenn
Kol Ambo
Company Tags:
Onrai
Enemy Tags:
Marlon Sularen
Bo Vuto
Kaine Hamilton
Post #: 5
The Wallflower climbed from beneath the clouds. Rising to meet the group as the chaos above made itself known to the crew aboard the pocket carrier. Another display happened to further confuse and disorient them as the Senate building began to tear itself apart before their eyes.
"Holy chit." An offhand remark from one of the deck hands as they finished retrieving the final armored transport that had managed to limp back to the Wallflower. The bay doors closed with a finality that demanded their alacrity in getting the crew underway for high altitude deployments as helmets and security lines were deployed across the landing bay.
The Hilltop lorded over the small deployment of vessels now as it kept an eye on the skirmish just above them. Reports of the Mecetti fleet in retreat bringing with it worry. Evacuations were still underway, but the enemy now had the potential to be a problem for their small group.
"Mecetti is retreating. As per protocol, we should-" Discipline began to explain as Kalfyr snorted.
"We will remain. Prepare the Upstart, Sledgehammers, and the Hilltop for combat. That battlecruiser is a problem. Keep the Aegis in close proximity to the Dawnbreaker and the rest of the group as we adjust. Deploy marines to the Ballarat to secure the vessel." Kalfyr did not look away from the viewport, staring at the emerging vessel as his hand rose to scratch at his chin. A surprising development in the battle for sure.
But it was a development, not a full stop to the conflict.
His gaze eventually settled on Ballarat once more as the A.I. hologram visibly flinched. Orders sent from a third party nearly making it through the new comm lines that the Queen Artificial Intelligence was overseeing. The streamline of data interrupted by the errant, single use orders that appeared and were held in limbo while Discipline examined the breach. Pulling the first instance of communications to the Droid starfighters to examine the source of the orders alongside the newest set before the issue was brought before the captain.
"Cease fire on the Ballarat. Third party orders have been detected. They have our communication codes." Discipline informed the captain before the projected hologram disappeared. Beginning to peel away the order communication to find the initial source of the copied codes. Stripped away to the bare nothing and revealing the origin, the A.I. engaged in it's own bit of ECM fun as it constructed it's own code in response with a simple message attached to a
program to activate upon opening.
The message simply read as -
"I see you."
Attempting to pull data from the enemy computer before engaging the bio-hexacrypt systems. The A.I. would pull the communication system back once more, filtering even further access through the integrated security system to check the authenticity of each comm-burst in real time. The source of the code triangulated with previous scans of the planet and the surrounding systems, a droid squadron alerted to the suspicion of an enemy vessel interfering with the fleet and deployed to track down the source of the disruptive orders with haste.
That deployment of Droid Starfighters came from the Hilltop directly, entangled with the Queen Artificial Intelligence as they gathered before engaging their boosted engine systems to clear the space quickly.
All the while the captain was left to make a decision in those scant few seconds of sudden information overload.
<All vessels cease fire on the Ballarat. False Flag operation by the enemy.> Kalfyr grit his teeth as he wondered how the outsiders had gained access to the information network. Which meant the disappearance of the A.I. was likely tied to the same issue. The deployment of the droid starships made him pause, hands flexing at being circumvented by the A.I. in the defense of their vessels.
The surrounding vessels now waited for further orders as the Bootstrap and Ratcatcher sent warnings ahead of time for their arrival. Space cleared inside the Dawnbreaker for the incoming bodies as hangar space was cleared for the large transports. The Breeze and Tailor touching down to begin loading beings in place of the two vessels as the Keeper and Deliverance checked in.
<Affirmative, deploy your support ships and then descend to begin loading as many as you can before returning to the formation>" Kalfyr rubbing his temple now as the four sledgehammer corvettes finally ceased firing upon the Ballarat. A mess of a ship now as two of the larger engines fizzled out. With no doubt further internal systems being knocked out. It was a warning about future attempts to knock out one of their own ships.
A difficult task and one that needed a far swifter solution. His thoughts lingering on the absent A.I. as the armed transports of the Keeper and Deliverance broke away before the two larger vessels slipped out of formation to find suitable landing pads and begin to evacuate those trapped below. The swarms of Droid Starfighters still circling the fleet protectively as the A.I. aboard the Hilltop continued to work.
-Ballarat Command Deck-
The mutterings of the green robed jedi did not sit well with the small being. Carving deep ribbons on the floor in protest of the Jedi Mantra at its feet.
“Not now. Help me.” Her diminutive form spat, the empathic connection a whipping cord that denied access to others. The emotional whiplash that came from that desperate flailing was one of pain, loneliness, isolation, and a deep seated anger that would potentially threaten masters. Glimpses of memories behind those emotions are fleeting. All of them centered around the same little form that dared to stand before Onrai. And all the memories carry with it a sense of loss. A loss of identity, of compassion, of friends. All compounded by a loss of family that lingered in every single snippet of memory that was seen.
The tiny figure was still standing as tall as it could against Onrai while Lossa struggled. Feeling as if she had been sent back in time. The helmet display dark now as the systems tried to integrate into the disarray of her mind. Images floating across the screen in a chaotic blur. Feeling once more like a small child trapped inside the hospital as she tried to push away from the hands around her. Tried to free herself from the mental cage she'd placed on herself. The images of Zaiya and other crew replaced by nurses and doctors that closed in around her.
Her whole body tensed, another rolling wave of pain taking the wind out of her again as she tried to curl around her stomach. Something beneath her shifted as she felt the cold plating of the deck. Tears streamed as the helmet peeled off her head and her eyes stared at something far and away from where they were.
The flecks of light from Zaiya catching her eyes. A wobbly smile appeared as her hand rose as if to grasp at the strands of light. Confusion behind them as she stared. Entranced as the hitch in her breath steadied from the young girl's words. A few hiccups as tears continued to roll down and hit the floor plating. A shout from the communications pit broke through the deluge of noise.
"Hilltop requests a sitrep!" The deck officer that was cradling Lossa's head at first ignoring the hollered command until another pinched him. Eyes wide and trying to process as he glanced back and forth before nodding sharply to himself.
"We need med-evac for Knight Aureus. She's. Labor. Emergency. Call medbay to dispatch a stretcher and whoever they can spare." The man shuddered at the thought of help arriving too late.
Onrai stepped forward until she was before the small being. Declaring her singular word of denial as she began to drain the force essence contained within the image of Lossa's subconscious. The draining of force energy was no doubt an easy one, but the little figure was intent on sending the spirit away quickly. She didn't fight the drain, instead concentrating all of those vile feelings into her tiny hand to form a weapon. A concentration of the remaining feelings in an unseen weapon that she struck out against Onrai with. Intending to gut the false-god with the long handled spear made from, and sharpened by her malevolent feelings.
Even being drained did not completely remove the being or the traces of the dark side. The illusory image eventually faltering and blinking out of existence with one final act of vitriol shared in the form of a single, extended finger from that tiny hand before it became unable to sustain itself.
The communications officer had relayed the deck officers orders, as the crew around them were ordered for immediate return to stations and for engineering crews to begin work on securing their systems and repairing what they could. The Hilltop received the orders, dispatching the Marines in question to secure the vessel as the Deck Officer looked to Denn.
"Get her to the Dawnbreaker. Now!" A handful of crew moved to secure the door as they all began to move without further instructions. Confirmations of what systems were down and what was needed thrown about between the officers. Three crew men coming from beyond the door to help carry Lossa out.