user :// THE_VULTURE
location :// FORT CARNIFEX, BASTION
objective :// SWARM
post :// vii
opposition status :// OPEN FOR ENGAGEMENT
doom_division_status :// 202/230 [alive] [ 93/93 ]
"NEST-ACTUAL, this is VULTURE. Send the VALKs and the rest of The Corps up the central boulevarde to collect the wounded. Roll tanks up the SOUTHERN APPROACH, over."
"Copy that VULTURE, dispatching now. The 15th is spinning up, over."
"Do not engage the group of Sith Imperials to my flank. We've grown, over."
"Understood VULTURE, we'll dispatch word, NEST-ACTUAL OUT."
Lord Halketh and his newly acquired forces surged over the wasted streets, moving as a cohesive tidal wave which swept everything in its path. He needed to get back to conflict else he risked Force exhaustion. The notion was a frustrating one, and perhaps the reason he typically chose to remain at command distance from the actual combat- but this was a special occasion, wasn't it? The collapsing of empires was something he had witnessed many times but never had it felt so... important. This was a landmark, wasn't it?
"Mm." The Vulture considered aloud as he moved, dodging and ducking behind the Force barrier his former Pureblood foe raised in their defense against what few Fortress guns remained in place. One hand tucked against the small of his back casually, while the other remained pressed to the wound he had sustained, despite the fact it was no longer bleeding, the pain was still very much real. His unusual gaze stretched behind him, taking inventory of the meager swath of undead troopers he had collected. How long would these last? It was hard for him to extend his reach to feel for the others which had pressed ahead, but he doubted he had suffered loss of those assets.
"Maintain this barrier, I don't care if it drains you." He said in casual passing towards the Pureblood, who offered only a stiff nod in response.
"GLADIUS-ACTUAL, this is VULTURE. We're moving your way now. If you see Sith Imperials on your flank, do not engage- they're with me. Out." He flicked through the frequencies of his communicator, offering the same information to FN-999 and
Ravraa Vyshraal
too, knowing the forces were establishing siege in the same area.
With warning issued, he turned his focus forward, taking in the blurred, red, and black illuminated silhouette of Fortress Carnifex before him. "At last." He remarked to his ghoulish squad, releasing a gentle sigh on the tails of his words. It was poetic, wasn't it? The traitors behind him were far more ravenous than those he had formed an alliance with, and it seemed a fitting end for them to be the ones literally ripping those within the Fortress apart. And as each blaster bolt and slug pounded the farside of their ethereal protection, his eagerness to see the fort in ruin was perhaps made more obvious in the quickness that overcame his tired stride.
"D.D, rally up and regroup, we're pushing into the fort." The command was issued to an affirmed response.
Minutes ticked by and finally, they were climbing. Back in the mix, Halketh extended blood-stained hands to his sides, soaking up the slipping essence as it seeped from the dead paving his path. He needed to feast if he was to be of any help whatsoever. Doom Division fell in step beside them, eyeing the ghoulish corpses he had brought along with some modicum of suspicion. But sure enough, they were accustomed to this song and dance by now, and simply combined formation with the ranks of the damned.
"Ready up, we're moving!" The Warlord shouted over the crashing sound assaulting their senses, sending himself forward with some sliver of renewal about him. And at once, the forces he had amassed charged with him, swarming around as a ravenous horde to assault the Sith Imperial defenses who had wrapped around to flank the infantry companies against the fortress.
The undead spearheaded the charge, soaking slug and blaster bolt alike for their living comrades with barely even stagger from impact slowing them down. Yelps of terror erupted from the lines at the realization the defenders were fighting their comrades... or some hollow shell of them at least. Helmets were ripped off, exposing corpsely features accentuated by stark, hellish eyes illuminated in red. Teeth gnashed, plasma flew, and blood was spilled in the decisive cut through the line and towards the festering wound gaping open the front of the fortress.
The forces of the damned flooded through this hole, ignoring their allies at Halketh's behest and plunged headfirst into the line of internal defenses.
Undead troopers on janky, stiff legs rocketed to aid FN-274, dog-piling the Sentinel under a battery of thrashing limbs and gnashing teeth. Unholy howls and screeches filled the corridor with dread, likely icing the veins of the living in proximity in a heartbeat. One after another, the corpses piled on, throwing the Sentinel's balance and toppling it.
And just behind them, The Vulture ducked through the door, Dark energy crackling wildly about his lofted hands. "Hm! I like what we've done with the place already- oh-" He seemed to sense the others closeby, "Hello!" he cackled, despite the fixation of his cracked helmet forward. The living troopers left in Doom Division poured around him, engaging the enemies around with the roaring thunder of scatterguns doing what it was they were meant to do at such close range- blasting limb from body and bodies apart in cascading showers of pinkish mist. Halketh growled with a sudden twist of his form, throwing both hands towards the array of defenders emerging on his left, and utterly decimating them with a blast of raw Darkside energy. It scorched the flesh of his already mangled hands beneath his gauntlets, but he didn't feel it.
He never did.
"There is no time to rest! No time to be merciful! Drown them all!" He bellowed, rallying his soldiers, and ushering the descent of necessary chaos.
Yet greater chaos tugged at the edges of his mind, pulling seductively from a distance. Something was coming... and it brought a wicked grin to his hidden face.