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Location: Space Allies: The Sith Empire ( Darth Athora
, Viktor Goetz
) Enemies: The Silver Jedi Order ( Cenric Marus
, Kiso
, Mig Gred
) Forces:Harrowing Defiance, Tachys-class Pursuit Corvette Tag:Cenric Marus
Murao's position had been held for far too long in his personal opinion. There was no action on this flank and as the battle raged on he gripped the armrests of his command chair "Ensign." he began "We are maneuvering. Under the my direction in what I believe to be the benefit of the battle for our Empire." the Harrowing Defiance's crew looked at each other with glances as they had rarely heard the Lieutenant suggest anything, including maneuvers, without the express permission of fleet command "Aye sir, read to maneuver on your headings." the Ensign turned to the navigational terminal and awaited his orders. The heading was given and Murao emphasized that they would be on an interdiction mission against the Mandalorian bombers and the escort ( Cenric Marus
) starfighter.
As the ship moved forward with great speed the external turrets surfaced and began to swivel to face forward "Weapon systems nominal, Lieutenant. Out of locking range. Stability is good." reported a deck officer. Murao sat stiffly as they began to penetrate the immediate battefield. They were not unhindered however as stray turbolasers threatened their course which elicted evasive maneuvers.
The Imperial push was going unhindered as the Jedi's defense fleet continued to fall apart. The fire from both Battlegroup I and II was a hail of fire unleashed on each of the Jedi ships. Despite the small Mandalorian intervention, Athora's fleet powered on. Once the Jedi were brought down, the Mandalorians would surely be next. The added support from Battlegroup Elidibus certainly helped keep the Mandalorians occupied.
"Is the Helios cannon ready to fire?" barked the XO on the bridge of Legator II.
"Yes, sir. Jedi flagship has been re-acquired. We are prepared to fire on your command," replied a weapons officer.
"Then fire!" commanded the XO.
After a brief warm-up of the cannon, the Helios then fired once more upon the Jedi command ship. A massive beam of light shot from the Legator II, roaring across the battlefield, to hit the Tatsuta. Along with this, fire from the Legator II's forward guns as well as fire from the many starships of Athora's fleet continued to batter down the Jedi as they moved closer and closer to Kintan. "Lord Admiral. We have the Jedi falling back. Orders?" the XO called through the comm unit to Athora.
"Leave none alive," Athora responded coldly.
Meanwhile, towards the rear, the fight against the Mandalorians grew slightly more interesting. More of their ships exited hyperspace on another side of the ongoing battle. As more targets appeared, the strategy began to change slightly.
"XO, more Mandalorians have joined the battle. Some of their ships have cloaked from sight and sensors." reported a bridge officer. "Activate the Refraction Sensor. They won't be able to hide then. Once we have them located, send the data to Task Force Rae Sloane so they won't be surprised by those rats." ordered the XO. At his command, the Refraction Sensor sent out it's pulse revealing masses throughout the battle, thus revealing the stealth ships location and trajectories. This data would then be transmitted to Task Force Rae Sloane as commanded. "Sir, the Longbows weapons are offline and they aren't responding to my hails," reported a comms officer.
"It matters not. We're basically on top of the Jedi fleet now," responded the XO.
"Also, sir, the Velox frigates are barely holding. However, Task Force Rae Sloane is holding the attention of the Mandalorians. There are bombers making their way to us."
"Lord Admiral, we have several bombers en route to the dreadnought. Our missile launchers are prepared to fire should they get close enough. However, your assistance would be superbly valuable."
"Very well. I was prepared to board the Mandalorian flagship but this new fleet has gathered my attention."
Zahori swiftly turned her ship around towards her fleet and turned her trajectory towards the recently identified bombers. "The bombers fly with only one escort? This is almost too easy." Zahori boasted.
Position: Enroute to New Kalandra Spaceport Objective: New Kalandra - Assault the Spaceport Allies:Darth Bellum
; Karina Lowe - The Sith Empire Enemies: Lanik Dawnstar
; Wyatt Morga
; Aaran Tafo
Spaceport defenders - Jedi Coalition Equipment: Sith-Imperial Airborne Armor Mk. III 'Vishnu' Military Shield[Active] SIF-57s Claymore II Repulsor Tank
------------------------------------------------------------
With Master Morga's advance into the city the Jedi ambush broke in the wake of greater Sith numbers and firepower. The artillery batteries were held but in no due part to a stalwart effort by Tavlar's troopers and the arrival of support from the Lord General Kor Vexen. Though there was no sight of his superior, his helmet comms flicked to life with the foreboding voice of the Anzati on the other end.
"Yes sir." Was all the Major General could muster in reply to his superior ; wasn't much more would be needed in this moment however only recently 'awakened' from the isolated encounter he'd faced in the trenches the General had only just grasped the reins of command once more. With a flick of his comms he began to speak with one of his subordinate officers manning the armored spearhead which had just pierced the ramshackle defenses of New Kalandra.
"Major. Report." Tavlar sounded out, levying a pale green gaze over his own position with eyes of faux exhaustion. Only a token force of his guns remained of the thunderous assault he'd deployed with. Though they still rattled off rounds on target coordinates transferred to them from the recon elements of Ravager Battalion. Though with each passing moment the Jedi defenses whittled further into nothingness.
The troopers charged with defending the position were in complete disarray, piling up dead and wounded as they waded through mud and gore. Eventually taking up the positions before as field engineers sought to repair the vehicles that needed it and sent for recovery maneuvers for the guns and armor which was far from salvagable. Perhaps the most grisly sight was the crewmen who couldn't escape their knocked out vehicles in swift enough action only to be left as blackened and charred piles in their scrap metal coffins.
"Copy Major General. We've secured our position in the city and linked with 'Red Legion' awaiting further command."
"Copy. Relay the command triad back to my position then we'll make a push toward the spaceport ; there should be a large hold-out of resistance. Get observers covering ground ahead if you can. Move out." Tavlar sounded off with a word of command before he recieved an affirmation from his subordinate.
Not within the course of ten or so minutes at full throttle his command formation appeared at the siege lines, the Major General embarking aboard his marked Claymore II yet conceding the commander's position to the man he'd charged with it before. Knowing well in his condition he couldn't properly command any vehicle.
Now formed up once more the armored spearhead began its advance on the spaceport as the other supporting Sith units swept the streets in assuming direct control of the city.
"Artillery batteries ; take aim on the spaceport. I want shells on it until you've the all clear the shields are knocked out." Tavlar sounded out on the approach.
----
Accompanied by several platoons of infantry ; Claymore and Glaive class repulsor tankes sought to close in and encircle the position leaving the cataphract class repulsors to drop back, unfolding their heavy landing gear to shift their power supply to the turbolaser cannons in their turrets, beginning a crushing volley of fire unto the shield to support the spearhead as they choked in around the position.
The commander was quite satisfied at the length of time he kept pressure on his rotary cannon's trigger, the hail of blue bolts finding its mark into Lirka Ka
as Beltran separated himself from the melee rather expertly. A satisfied grin grew across his face as he released the pressure, the red-hot barrels slowing their rotation until they halted to a steaming stop.
Unfortunately, when the smoke cleared again, it was revealed to the rangers that the beast still lived. As the mass rose again, Valkren let the weapon hang slightly in annoyance. Letting a groan escape to himself.
"Karkin' Sith." He'd activate his communications whilst this Hellish enemy began to go on another seemingly revenge-bound speech onto her challengers.
Just as he patched back into their channel, he could hear another ranger from hades pipe up.
"This thing sure does talk a lot!"
Even if it elicited the smallest smirk on his face, they'd still have to buckle down. Enemy soldiers were beginning to push the wall breach, and they wouldn't be able to hold it for long with half of their ramshackle team taking care of the much larger foe within the wall breach.
"Look alive rangers, keep up the fire on it! If we can't kill it- we push it back!" With a single hand motion from the commander, the few rangers that were focused on Lirka Ka
aside from himself and Beltran Rarr
shouldered their blasters, looking to take several shots at her direction as soon as she was done with her details about how they'd all end up dead when its all said and over.
He'd motion for Beltran to help the ad hoc line of soldiers as much as he could, not acknowledging him fully in the heat of the combat. He knew battle was different, war changed people..But this was the first of this side of Beltran the commander had witnessed. He couldn't judge it, not yet at least..He knew the bloodlust that sometimes came with combat better than the next man with a rifle- but something still threw him off about it. It seemed like something darker.
The commander would have to wait a moment before his rotary cannon cooled down, but he kept his eyes up in case their opposition began to cut through their people once more. At the wall breach, two Nikto soldiers crumpled down the rubble that was being used as cover. Their bodies were quickly pulled away by the rangers that had split from Valkren's unit to reinforce the breach.
It seemed like some of the local Kintan fighters at the breach were panicking at the slaughter, the rangers had to keep their heads about them and hold their ground as best as possible.
Things were looking bad, real bad, the Sith just seemed to be getting more and more ships while their own force was only getting weaker, but that is what one has to expect from a war machine that's only focus in conquest and annihilation and an army of slaves constantly pumping out weapons and vehicles. Still they were not done yet, though the cutting of communications was somewhat a problem it did do one thing, lack of messages from this system would no doubt be suspicious. To a close friend, if they were thinking the same such a lack of communication would no doubt mean danger, perhaps it would also be a nasty surprise for the overconfident Sith fleet, if she knew anything from past engagements when the Empire started to get the upper hand they usually got cocky, very cocky.
"Admiral, our sensors are picking up incoming ships from hyper space on our side"! With a small grin Kiso relaxed back in her seat, "so they are here, better late then never, pull our ship back to act as a carrier, it won't be taking part on the fight anymore and get ms a shuttle". As the Tatsu pulled back behind the other 4 ships it's place was promptly taken up by a 3 Alloy Class Star Defender followed by a series of other ships, just as large and smaller reinforcing the battered fleet in place. "See if we can get communication between the lead vessel but for the mean time I trust their commander to do what's needed, Jessica knows how to handle herself even if she is a little green in this role".
On board the lead Alloy Defender's bridge Jessica glared at the opposing Sith fleet as the Tatsu went full aft, the damage onto it's hull being plain and easy to see. "How does she keep getting into these messes, I swear the number of times I've had to act as bail.... never mind, each ship fire at will, show them that the Silver Jedi cat pack just as much a punch right back at them"! Soon a hail of fire from the new fleet smashed against the Sith formation, each ship engaging with one of equal or similar size. It was now more of a pitched battle, though the enemies flag ships still was an imposing enemy one that was once more proving it's worth.
As the Tastu made it back behind the formation it was once again stuck by the massive beam, being hit directly in the engines. A chain reaction of explosions dotting the craft as it was ever slowly taken by the planets gravity. "Shit, report on the crew, did Kiso make it out"?"Scanners show an incoming shuttle with the Admiral on Board, also confirmed escape pod jettisons from the hull". "Not everyone made it out but it's better then nothing". A sigh of relief escaped the commander before their focus returned to the battle, "make sure a hanger bay is open to accept the admiral on board, in the mean time take out their artillery ships and bring us in closer so that karking solar cannon can't get us again".
Fleets Actions
Reinforcements Arrive Screening the damaged ships
Drakens Open fire upon the Longbows
Alloy's engage Tormentors
Centurions engage Eradicators
Mirial engage Mar
Location: New Kalandra. Objective: Slay or capture the Mandalorian. Equipment: Cortosis-weave Vibrosword, Sith Lanvarok, modified Legionnaire Armour, & a ritual dagger. Interacting With: Taozi Fuyuan
---
She had spirit, he had to give her that. She would do well as a slave gladiator should he see fit to spare her life.
"Slaughtered like livestock!?" Laughing at the absurdity even as their weapons clanged together, he let go of his sword, allowing her to fling it from his grasp... but even as it fell from his left, his right surged forward, telekinetic energy crackling as his gauntleted fist struck for her centre of mass.
"Look around you, behold as we cull our livestock!"
With a twist of his left hand, the blade was called back into his grasp, a showy wave pointing towards the distant spaceport - and the artillery hammering into it. "Kneel, slave, and I may spare you yet." Knowing her answer, he lunged forward even as he spoke, seeking to strip her of that ridiculous blaster-sword.
It was agonisingly slow work. With each inch of the saber working through rock he was certain he could feel the tunnel starting to collapse. At least a thousand tonnes of rubble would be a quick way to go. It just seemed so pointless to have finally listened to the Force and have been led to this fate.
He felt a flash of fear, met by a wall of determination. It was not his own. Acaadi turned his head as if his eyes or ears could confirm the source. It was Kyra. Something dark had arrived and she was making a stand.
"Kark," he swore under his breath, trying to send back a note of reassurance through the Force. In such subtle arts he was a child fumbling in the dark.
Eventually the path was finished and the weight was lifted from him, both that trapping his hand and the one bearing down on his mind. He turned off his saber and lifted the rock from his hand.
He gasped in pain as the pressure sent a million nerves firing once more. Sliding his hand free he tentatively flexed his fingers. Nothing was broken, just bruised and cut.
A snort came from behind him. Acaadi turned sharply. Nothing moved in the darkness. It must have been his imagination. To make sure he flicked on both of his sabers. Dark things recoiled from the bright blue light, unfurling in the recesses of the shadows.
Sithspawn. Monsters coming from below and lost in the same labyrinth of tunnels he had found himself in.
His left hand shook as it tightened around his short saber. His pulse raced and he felt a spike of fear deep in his chest.
She felt it more than saw it, through the constant bombardment, the shifting and struggling bodies of the Silver soldiers and Sith Legionaries, through the dust and rubble. Fighters and bombers warred in the skies, flames and debris raining down to further create a scene of chaos and death. She felt her wife's temporary panic at being buried alive once she came to, followed by her fierce determination to break her way out. Pain radiated through the bond they shared. Eyes that had until now remained purple flowed to amber within a heartbeat, edging towards the crimson of the truly enraged among the Sith.
"Shatria," she hissed, her fist clenching towards four Silver soldiers. Each screamed as their blood was ripped from their bodies, their limp forms collapsing into the blood-muddied ground of the trench. Her gaze fell on more of the enemy soldiers, some of them nervously stepping back from the enraged Sith. A few tried to fight, blaster bolts racing towards her. Lightsaber intercepted them, and she clenched her fist again, uttering her spell again. None of them escaped its reach.
Sith Legionaries surged forward, the Sithspawn roaring and feasting, the Ravagers using their scythes to start scaling the standing walls up towards where snipers and droids were picking off people with sniper shots. A Terentasaur crushed an emplacement under its foot. The earth rumbled as the Heri to the Throne and her forces breached in the lower levels and destroyed the geothermal shaft. Father and son fought, the rage of a Queen faced against elite soldiers. But she ignored all of it. She was still utterly angered, hatred flowing freely towards those who DARED try and harm Fio. Who DARED resist. They would need to pay far more than they had already.
Battlefields were a Sith sorceress' delight. So much death and destruction, so much agony and raw emotions. Blood spilled in hatred, spilled to avenge losses, spilled for ideals. The fortress positively echoed with the hearts and souls of those that had gone on to the Netherworld... their fear, their... darkness. She was usually not one to use it, but that did not mean she had not studied necromancy and its various offshoots.
At her command, dark energies started gathering to her, an orb of black, red, orange, and purple power growing in her hands. She was pulling on and amplifying all the raw and negative emotions within this war, fueling her spell with the death and pain around her. Through their bond, Fio would be experiencing a massive surge in dark side energies as Taeli drew upon more and more power, more and more suffering. It was cyclical. For every soldier killed, maimed, wounded, triumphant in their individual fights, the dark grew stronger. Jedi and Sith would feel it growing, a tidal wave contained in a sphere of sheer power, waiting to be unleashed.
"Hadzuska iw ri Arika, Kanasazi ir ri Kata. Asarsi ri Jin' Tnirma ai Doryumi diâ tuti nuri Andijki," she screamed, unleashing the spell. Waves of darkness raced across the ground like moving shadows, spreading further and further out... touching the fallen and drawing their spirits, their darkness back to the realm of the living. Pools of inky blackness blossomed from the corpses, and they started to crawl out, eyes glowing yellow. They would have one command from their mistress.
Cara remained standing as she communicated with the Id10, "Aidee, are all the remaining Rumblers in position?" Connection with the droid had been reduced to garbled tones, perhaps a result of being too deep in the cavern, and concern for the machine had begun to tempt her thoughts. A ribbon of blue streamed across the shield and Cara looked towards the bolt's direction.
Crack.
A large caliber slug met her gaze. The bullet had caught her wholly off guard, causing her to stumble back as ruptures snaked over the first layer of glasteel. The new disk of metal ping-ponged between the rocks at her feet as she tripped over an outcrop of stone. The attackers had been beside them in a bunker of rock, the SJO allied soldier and 6th infantryman possibly having been cut off from a larger group. The one lifted his sniper rifle again, firing another almost point-blank shot at a legionnaire. It caught the trooper in his arm which pulled his own shot to the left, striking the sniper's ally. Two other legionnaires fired upon the lone enemy and another had begun to kneel at Cara's side.
"It's fine, I'm fine," She rose to her feet while her hand explored the new spiderweb of fractures on her visor, "Damages?"
The black-helmet bobbed as the trooper spoke, "Muen's hit in the arm and the slugs still in there. Frist is helping him." "They'll have to work on the way. Move it." Cara turned, more than ready to leave the rocky valley.
The trooper motioned for the others to follow, "Yes ma'am."
Having swallowed that embarrassment, Cara radioed back to the Rumblers in an attempt to comply with the Sith Lord's orders. Success. Her order echoed the General, "All subterranean units, start clearing paths to the surface. We need to move this topside."
She gave another attempt to raise the ID10. Still, no signal. Gaining higher ground or moving to lower ground; what difference did it make in this cavern? While in the process of gouging out a Kintan Strider's eyes a sharp whistle came through her personal comms. A string of anxious binary poured into the air of her helmet and she clamped down on the Strider's skull, "Aidee? Sl-- Okay, slow down. Ai-- Blast it, shut up!" The beeps and whistles paused. "Now," echoes of metallic footfalls were picked up on her helmet's aural sensors, "There's droi-- First of all where were you? I hailed you several times."
More droid speak. Cara listened, but between the uproar of fighting and sudden appearance of a legionnaire battle droid, it was difficult to focus on translation. The vibroknife she brandished sunk into a soldier's back and through their spine, "You WHAT? No, you're not supposed to just electrocu-- I don't care if he was putting it on the wrong way you tell them first then fix it yourself afterward. They should have shot you outright instead of a bolt. We'll talk about this later; go with another team and make your way to the surface."
She locked eyes with the battle droid as the soldier's body was tossed aside. The sheath of the second vibroknife clicked as the blade was pulled, the weapon then held in a reverse grip. She knocked duraplast knuckles together in both tradition and challenge; the droid raised its assault cannon. How many of these were there again?
JJ could feel he was close. Every boulder he removed was one more toward removing the obstacle that was letting him have a visual on the people he was trying to save. Judah knew the other lives mattered, but he was frantic because of one.
Kyra.
Their bond was deep, and with each passing moment the Knight feared the pain of sensing it break. Evil was close. The light became stronger, but the emotions and feeling radiating off of the Zeltron Padawan were not giving Judah any hope that they were going to make it out alive. Naturally he could not hear anything that had been said. JJ was not aware she had been told to run, but knowing her the last thing she would do was obey. He had to get there fast.
One final boulder. Judah pulled it out of the way with all the force he could muster before running off in the direction he knew the Padawans to be. The sight had been more than he could have imagined. They were finally in the open, a fellow Jedi stood battling a Sith Lord, and Kyra was trying to save her friend.
Judah shouted.
"KYRA! GET OUT OF THERE!!"
His mind pressed to hers.
"I will help your friend..."
Judah was determined if one of them was going to be in harm's way, or in danger, it was going to be him.
Kat grunted as she pushed the boulder off her leg with the help of Kyra, using the Force to aid them in removing it. The leg was beyond simple repairs that she could perform right now, but it wasn't broken entirely since it still had some motion. She looked over to Kyra with a thankful smile to her friend for the help. She heard the Sith Lord was rambling on about Jedi being failures and other nonsense that Sith usually spouted when they were attacking others, at least that was Kat's experience with Sith and other bad guys, they tended to lecture her. However, this was different, this was someone that Kat did not want to stick around for once since this guy was terrifying in the Force.
"Kyra, we need to go. Like, now." Kat whispered to Kyra as she rose to her feet, limping on her crushed leg, she could sense that Acaadi was close by as well. "Think it is time we got out of her, I need your help Kyra." Right now she would not be the fastest person right now, she did ignite her Lightsaber pike ready to defend the both of them against the Sith best she could.
“It isn’t safe here. You’re caught in the middle of a war zone, and I know for a fact there are occupation forces about to move into this sector. If you want to stay safe, you’ll have to come with us to the Arena, where you’ll be processed and held while the city is secured.”
“Hand over your weapons and we will be on our way,” said Karina. “There is no time to waste.”
He stepped out onto the street, being sure to keep his hands open at his sides to show he was unarmed. “I think we should all listen to the Sergeant here.” He slowly stepped toward the cowering civilians and the lone Jedi, who thankfully didn’t have her lightsaber out. That was a good sign.
“Kintan is blockaded, the last thing you want to do is trying to blast your way out of here.” Slowly, Aerarii unclipped his helmet and removed it in a sign of good faith. He directed his attention to the civilians. “Sith Lords are descending on the city as he speak. The arena is a safe space - come with us, and we promise that no harm will come to you.”
Elise observed the growing crowd calmly, her relaxed posture not to be mistaken for inattentive. Before her stood a scattered group of sith soliders, their numbers thinned. She took in the tensions of the crowd, her gaze drifting across the white-knuckled grip on guns. Reluctance echoed from Aerarii Tithe
as he waited almost anxiously for her next move. The fear and mistrust coming from the bodies hovering behind her spoke volumes of the citizen's restrained response.
But above all she sensed Nick Dragovalor
, the hunter cloaked and unseen by both citizens and sith soldiers alike. The force kept tugging her attention in his direction, promising her a bit of hope if she only just listened.
She took a deep breath, tempering herself against the fear radiating from behind her. She felt the mother's the strongest, the babe clutched close to her chest.
The Force always had a way...
She nodded to the soldiers, straightening from her protective stance. "Very well." She waved her hand through the air, her cloak flickering... rubble around her fluttering...
Her saber shot out at a blurring speed, hitting the ground and skidded to Karina's feet.
Another nudge hit the soldier's mind. This was definitely her saber.
Elise crossed her arms, her cloak folding back around her. "Lead the way." Citizen's protested behind her, murmurs of dissent and gasps of fear. As much as they might trust a jedi, they did not want to willingly walk into sith control. She soothed peace out into the space behind her, a single thought pressed into Nick Dragovalor
's mind.
Vexen flicked his saber as the speederbike hurled at him was summarily sliced in half with ease. The sensors in Vexen's helmet paired with his innate awareness of his surroundings through the Force gave him full tactical advantage of the situation at hand; that and he did not need to worry about inhaling smoke or suffocating, a luxury the Jedi would not be able to afford for too long. The only worry he faced was keeping the little Jedi still.
As even more smoke was pulled to cloud the area Vexen simply seemed to be shifting his gaze to follow after Wyatt, not intent on giving the Jedi a chance to take a hit at his exposed areas without a struggle. His saber would swing backward as Morga tried to clip at the back of his knees once again. The Jedi was starting to become predictable in his intent and target. The wail of saber meeting saber would be heard as a bright flash followed as Morga attempted to scurry into the darkness like a rodent.
Vexen would raise his hand up as Morga tried to use the smoke as cover, reaching out with the Force. The Sith, however, was not aiming to grasp Morga with it, rather he intended to make it hazardous for the Jedi to try and maneuver around, using the Force to rip up the concrete and ground as jagged stone and twisted metal was lifted to impede movement in the area around Vexen while leaving the immediate space free. Perhaps he was toying with the Jedi, or perhaps he was growing tired of them running around like the vermin they were.
Location: Atop the Rubble Objective: Stop the Dark Lord by Any Means Necessary Allies: Silver Jedi Order Enemies: The Sith Empire - Darth Carnifex Equipment:Armor | Blade | Left Arm
Vaulkhar's eyes narrowed as his father bounded closer. The earth itself shattered beneath the monolith's each step, sending thunderous echoes racing down to those still trapped below. Vaulkhar knew his father would close the gap in the blink of an eye, he knew his father would strike first, and he knew the intent behind it was to kill. The Emperor had trained and prepared his son for two decades not to kill Jedi and wage war against the light, but instead to kill Sith and break shadow itself. For the bastard son of the emperor once stood within his shadow, dubbed his Wrath. No enemy of the Dark Lord was safe while they remained in reach of their legacy's grasp, and there wasn't a place in the galaxy outside of it.
Summoning the force to swirl around his body, the Jedi master dropped to a knee in a blur and rolled around his father's right side. A series of swift thrusts were sent to the back of the emperor's knee before he leapt up into the air. Still, no more than a blur, Vaulkhar somersaulted back and landed semi-crouched. Vaulkhar's left hand held tight to the snow-white saber in a reverse grip behind him, while his right maintained a traditional hold on the vermilion blade. The only advantage the halfbreed held was the speed and agility he honed over those two decades to compensate for his lack of size and strength. Beyond that, Vaulkhar prepared for this day for longer than he consciously realized.
While Carnifex was the undisputed master of Djem So, Vaulkhar poured his attention into Shien. Though the art traditionally lacked answers to a single opponent, his father was not the usual foe. Behind each swing of the Dark Lord's saber was the strength of ten men. He moved with the speed of someone far smaller with the aid of the force, aiding the duel bladed style he had spent decades mastering. Vaulkhar could only fall into a stalwart defense and dance along the edge of death, hoping his speed would win the day against his father's overwhelming power.
"<Take cover!>" an officer ordered as the world around the soldiers seemed to erupt into flame and shrapnel. The ever-disciplined troops reacted swiftly and promptly, following standard procedure and protocol, just like the countless times they drilled, just like the countless other battles they fought. Those vehicles not in the immediate vicinity of the explosions, endured well. They were designed to operate in an environment battered by super-blizzards, who's wind speeds regularly reached six hundred kilometers per hour. And the soldiers, secured as they were in their trenches, were spared the worst of the shockwaves and shrapnel. The Eternal Army knew artillery, perhaps better than any other military force in the galaxy. They knew how to react to enemy artillery barrages.
The Imperial positions were hit by a barrage of thermobaric warheads, although the strength of the enemy artillery had been diminished. Casualties were a bit higher than previously, but it was clear that the Imperial barrage had taken its toll. The Eternal Army's positions held, preparations for the impending push into the city continuing unabated, aside from efforts to shield ammunition stores from detonation. When the enemy salvo ended, the Imperial response was swift and deadly.
The time for the assault upon the city, had finally come. Now, the Silver Jedi would feel the full force of the Eternal Army and its unusual battlefield doctrine.
First, the Viper anti-air vehicles extended their defensive screens to the limits of their range. Silver Jedi starfighters and ships up in the airspace above the city, were pinged by sensors, then fired at with the full force of the Imperial anti-air arsenal. Over a hundred interceptor missiles and dozens of larger cruise missiles, the latter aimed at the larger ships evacuating civilians, streaked across the sky, cutting burning paths towards their targets all over the city's airspace as the Imperials sought to establish an area denial perimeter over the battlefield.
"<Fix bayonets!>" came the second order, as flag bearers advanced to the front trenches, while the soldiers already present there all drew their blades in a single, fluid motion and fixed them onto their rifles.
A massive artillery and rocket barrage aimed at the remaining Silver Jedi artillery and anti-air positions, along with the unshielded areas around the evacuation points, was the first stage of the assault, intended to suppress the enemy forces and soften them up. The artillery then shifted, targetting positions in front of the Imperial forces to provide cover, a tactic known as a creeping barrage, which would advance with the assaulting troops as two thousand ultranauts rose up from their trenches and a sizeable contingent of armored vehicles crossed the Imperial fortifications, advancing in a two-pronged assault upon the city.
Back amongst the Imperial positions, as the assault began, the four Sigma-class dropships which had, so far, been sitting motionless at the center of the improvised fortifications, lifted from their positions, opening fire upon distant targets, adding their considerable power to the barrage. However, it was the thing they were shielding between their metallic hulls, that was the most horrible of the weapons yet deployed by the Empire.
Standing at one hundred and fifty meters tall when lifted upon its colossal legs, a mechanical monstrosity turned its sights upon the city. Driven by an Isotope-5 reactor and equipped with firepower comparable to that of a cruiser, the TX-1 war droid was a devastating engine of destruction. First, its heavy laser cannons unleashed a withering barrage upon the Jedi positions, while its anti-personnel blaster cannons scanned for targets.
It was the droid's main weapon, however, that was its most devastating feature. Ground shaking under its legs as it advanced, the war droid turned its main turret upon the city. A twin-barreled, capital ship-grade heavy turbolaser screamed and launched a pair of green bolts towards the city, towards a concentration of Jedi artillery units. Whatever city block it would hit, would likely disappear in a mushroom cloud, leaving nothing but a blackened crater behind.
Several more arrows impacted upon the ATDM, which was, by now, struggling to advance as several of its legs and rotating propeller rings had been damaged, slowing its progress even further while engineers rushed to perform ad-hoc repairs and keep the massive machine moving. Several more soldiers were hit, however the Sith Lord reacted quickly, reaching down into the churning currents of the Darkside and seizing several of the explosive arrows in an invisible, vice-like grip. A second volley of arrows slipped through his grasp, evidently designed to resist the Force, exploding amongst his troops like hand grenades.
The Sith Lord was quite frankly shocked at the recklessness of using explosives inside a tunnel, a dangerous, perhaps suicidal tactic that could cause the underground cavity to collapse, likely also destroying whatever buildings were above them, probably also killing whoever was inside. Then, finally, his opponent revealed himself, blocking his unnatural lightning with a pair of lightsabers.
Quickly changing tactics, as he was well aware that lightning could be redirected back at him, Tacitus instead drew upon the rubble already piling up within the tunnel, twisting it and turning it until it swirled like a tornado between him and the Jedi. Readhing even further into the Darkside, he seized upon the three lightsabers still clipped to his belt, which sprung up as if held by invisible hands, one by one igniting with ominous red blades. The Eternal Emperor was a master of several techniques, telekinesis being amongst his most prominent abilities, along with necromancy and Darkshear.
"Funny you should say that," he responded in a cold tone which managed to be both sarcastic and condescending at the same time. "Preaching to me about the sanctity of innocent lives while using explosives within a tunnel, threatening to collapse it along with the buildings above. Buildings quite possibly filled with civilians."
The Sith Lord advanced slowly, the whirlwind of debris keeping pace with him, closing in on his opponent. "You damned Jedi are all the same, a bunch of self-serving, virtue signalling hypocrites who coddle the weak and corrupt, who teach people that laziness is acceptable, that it is acceptable to live meaningless lives and expect others to solve their problems for them. You, who preach galactic peace and the stagnation it brings, condemning trillions to die in galactic calamity after calamity, just like you did before the Yuuzhan Vong invasion. Just like you did before the Gulag Plague."
"You style yourselves the defenders of the innocent, yet do you think we have forgotten what you did to our people? You speak to me of atrocities, when it is your Silver Jedi Order who provided support to the Hand of Light in carrying out their genocide against us, a crime for which you will pay a million-fold in blood," Tacitus spoke his condemnations.
"And you accuse my people of being evil?" he asked, speeding up his pace. "And who made you the supreme arbiter of morality!" the Sith Lord shouted as he broke into a run. With a flick of his wrist, the tornado of debris exploded outwards and from the rain of sharp rocks and rubble, emerged Darth Tacitus, Eternal Emperor of Kalidan and self-proclaimed Autarch of the Unknown Regions, propelling himself through the air with a Force-enhanced jump, lightsabers twirling as he crashed down upon the Jedi in a flurry of blows.
Location: Kintan System
Objective: Clear the Void / Elimination
Allies: Darth Athora
| Murao
Opponents: Kiso
| Mig Gred
Fleeting: via Vice Admiral Imara Sentongo, Battlegroup Elidibus
"Activate molecular shielding," Sentongo ordered with the Sloane her escorts activating their shield system. The Mandalorian's energy weapons would do nothing to the big three. Hyper particle cannons would have issue chewing through the multiple shield systems, let alone the hull plating system, the Sloane shuddered but it was all she would do. "Change target to secondary lead, let Denko take care of the main group." The Rimon and Yage would shudder but kept on the move, escorted by their swarm Task Force Sloane changed their targets.
The group broke toward the flank of odd ships, visually they did not appear to be the traditional Mandalorian builds but something far more disgusting. Sentongo scoffed, "and they can't properly show their own creed, what dar'manda we have here." Sentongo ordered a shift in the battle formation as the Bolts and Daggers were dispatched ahead of the three lumbering giants.
Across the void the ninety ships would make their way toward the enemy formation. "Begin sensor jamming, enable scramblers."
The big three ships along with the swarm of at least seventy-five ships the Bolts, in particular, began their sensor jamming, which should make the enemy's ability to target a lot harder. The damage report from the HPCs arrived the shields were down but had only dropped ninety percent and thus shifted for polarization mode so that on the next volley they would heal themselves. "Target lock acquired, Admiral."
"Fire, all weapons." The Sloane, Rimon, and Yage were still in the process of turning as they lashed out toward the Skira. Mass driver cannons, solar lance and other long-range weaponry stretched out across the skies. The two Yage-class escort carriers suffered more so than the Sloane dropping down to seventy percent but again would switch to polarization to heal themselves on the next volley. Secondary shields came online, and as the weapons from Task Force Rae Sloane painted their target so too did the swarms arrive. Their target would first be the artillery cruisers with roughly twenty ships targeting each of the four.
Mag-pulse warheads from the Daggers followed by standard range weaponry, including the seismic charges. The Bolt corvettes would close and unleash plasma torpedoes followed by their turbolaser and ion cannons in close quarters. "Enable repulsorfield generators." Sentongo ordered so that they stood a better chance at healing on the next volley, the HPCs would definitely be the ire of the Task Force. The generators at the very least would buy them time, and hopefully, Denko could finish off at least one of the enemy fleets. More reinforcements, somehow - managed their way in spite of the communications jam. No matter, Sentongo would help finish them off once she was done with the Mandalorians.
TF Sloane moves to intercept Mandalorian Reinforcements.
High-speed swarms of Bolts, accompanied by Daggers move swiftly.
Sloane's shields are rocked by the enemy's HPCs, shields drop to 90%.
Rimon and Yage shields drop to nearly 70%, Polarization enabled for next volley.
Molecular add-on is on cooldown.
All long-range weaponry are fired toward the Skira, this is from the Sloane, Rimon, and Yage.
Location: Kh'aris Fortress - The breach
Objective: Defend the breach, directly engaged with Lirka Ka
, likely about to be engaged by Taeli Raaf
(if I'm reading her last post correctly) and her forces.
Callsign: Icarus-1-1
Personal Assets: Icarus Platoon, first squad
There was a primal sense of satisfaction as Beltran watched the beast stumble forward into Valkren Calderon
, and his men's, concentrated blaster fire. The bloodlust which had all but consumed him only seconds before began to dissipate, as the mixture of rage and adrenaline gave way to the waves of pain that radiated from his abdomen. The force of Lirka Ka
's sword strike had driven a jagged piece of armor plating into his gut.
Blood trickled from that section of his armor, a little at first but more as time went on. If left untreated, it wouldn't be long before he became compromised by the blood loss. The growing pain brought the battle-crazed Lorrdian back to himself and he saw Calderon waving him back to the line.
Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to move-running down the rubble to rejoin the Rangers' line. From behind him, he could hear the sounds of battle growing louder and louder. More Sith were breaching the wall now (Taeli Raaf
's forces). He sheathed his sword and bent down to pick up a Bonesplitter rifle from one of the many dead Rangers who lay strewn about the battlefield. The motion caused the armor piece to push even further inside of him, and he struggled not to cry out from the pain.
With the weapon in hand, he also relieved the soldier of a bandoleer of extra charge packs, which he slung over himself like a sash. He then stood and turned, taking several steps forward again to join the Rangers' push. "Calderon!" He called out between pained gasps. The pain made him forget his usual formalities. "There's.... ...more Sith....about to...breach! Can't....let..them....through."
He then shouldered his weapon and began to fire, directing his blasts at Lirka Ka
, hoping against hope to drive her back before the next group of enemies arrived.
Karina had just stepped forward to retrieve the citizens' weapons when the Jedi's hands moved again, some manipulation of the Force causing the woman's cloak to ripple, and a moment later, sending the Jedi's saber flying towards her, skittering across the ground and landing with a clatter. Karina blinked down at the thing, and hastily placed the weapon into the leather satchel secured to her thigh.
Her lips pulled into a severe line as she leveled her gaze at the Jedi, words spilling out of her mouth with malice.
"Keep your tricks to yourself, Jedi. You should be thankful we're taking you to the arena with the rest of these citizens. Don't give us a reason to shoot you here and now."
The civilians were harmless, really. It would be cruel and needless to dispose of them here. The Jedi, on the other hand, well, any Sith-Imperial soldier worth their salt knew there was nobody more dangerous than a Jedi.
"From now, you'll keep your hands by your sides and your eyes front. You will walk at the back of the group where you can be observed. Try anything, and we'll shoot you without a warning. Am I clear?
She paused, looking the woman up and down, her ocular sensors dutifully recording biometrics and taking snapshots of the woman for later analysis, before turning back to the officer behind her.
"Treasurer-General sir, should you choose to accompany us to the arena, I've taken the liberty of organising a suitable route for your repulsortank. It's a little lengthier than ideal, but I can assure you it is quite clear."
Karina stepped aside, taking a few moments to transfer the information from her battlefield map to the tank's crew. While she did so, two Legionnaires moved up the line of civilians, frisking each one in turn, which the rest of the squad waited dutifully on either side of the road, watching and waiting for trouble.
In the distance, the barrage continued to rain down on the spaceport. From here, it was impossible to see if its shield system was holding, but if it was, it would only be a matter of time before the force of the assault overcame the barrier. Soon the last means of civilian evacuation would be gone. Soon the fleet would dispatch the Silvers' navy, and then, the net would close on Kintan for good.
Looking over the ragged line of fearful people, Karina wondered what they thought of her. Was it revulsion she saw when they looked over her plated head and her jagged, metal spine? Did they fear her, did they want to run? Her gaze met the eyes of a haggard, dirty woman and she stiffened, looking quickly away. Karina sighed.
She shook her head sadly. Perhaps one day they would understand why they were here, but now was not the time to lament over Kintan's lack of perspective.
One of the soldiers waved her over, and Karina strode towards him, accepting the singed strip of cloth he offered and using it to wipe the worst of the dried blood, dust, and grit from her face and faceplate as she could, thanking the private when she had finished.
Having cleaned up as best they could and rechecked their meagre stock of ammo and supplies, the soldiers were ready to move out, and divided themselves along the line of civilians, with Karina taking the position at the back of the marching order, taking up the rear behind the Jedi. Once in position, she keyed her comms.
"We're ready when you are, Treasurer-General, the arena should only be a few minutes away."
Another snarl came from the warrior as her foes retreated to engage at range, they had the benefit of numbers on their side...for now. Lirka had fought many battles whilst being horribly outnumbered, and had that obnoxious rotary cannon not shredded some of her armor she’d rush it and rely on the Duranium for support. But alas, it was compromised enough as it was and the post-battle repairs would be immense. Though, she hadn’t lost her speed. She danced, as well as she could. Bolts pinged into her armor, clawed gauntlets reached for the ground. She could play this game too.
One of the ruined chunks of Ferracrete on the ground went flying at the line of Blasters, and another soon followed. She was in essence...throwing rocks. Large rocks, to be fair. But had now jumped for slicing men to ribbons to trying to just take them out with the sheer kinetic impact of a chunk of ferracrete to the head. She allowed herself a small chance for amusement, this thing would be quite the story once it was done. Eventually, she grabbed one of the wrecked corpses of the soldiers around her and flung it wildly at the assailants. It didn’t matter if it caused damage, she just needed to give them enough of a pause to allow her to advance.
”A breach your own forces created! I should really be thanking you before I crush you!”
She really did talk a lot. But Lirka never missed a chance to ”banter with” her opponents. Or whatever the freakish beast actually counted as banter.
Location: Inside New Kalandra City
Objectives: Attack last SJO Forces and route them
Allies: Irveric Tavlar
, Darth Bellum
Enemies: [Target] Lanik Dawnstar
[Nearby] Wyatt Morga
, Ryv
, Elise
---------------------------------------------------------
As Voyance’s transport took a pass over the city, the side door slide open and with the Force she leapt down in a forward flip. Coming up to the ground she braced with the manipulation of the darkside to crater the earth before her. Landing in a loud crash, she stood up and ignited her double-sided lightsaber. She marched forward and eyed the evacuation and resistance efforts.
Speeding her march into a launching sprint, the Force propelled her feet as it carried her to a defensive line of the Silver Jedi screening the evacuation efforts. Throwing her saber in a crimson arc it slashed through the first line before it returned to her arm as she leapt into the crowd of remaining fighters.
She threw out her hand blasted them away. Coming down she planted her feet and strode forward, residual fire showered her. Spinning and whirling motions of saber deflected them. She pressed onwards.
Darth Athora
,
Viktor Goetz
)
Cenric Marus
,
Kiso
,
Mig Gred
)
