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As Wyatt Morga
left Voyance to her slow decay, he could hear her panting frantically and coughing as if each was an attempt to breath back life into her body. In her delirium, she looked about the battlefield. She looked across to New Kalandra. Although they were now entrenched in a battle in their own lines, the artillery shelling that had managed to go off and achieved a portion of its objective, parts of the city were smoldering blocks of rubble revealing gaps between the cramped urban sprawl. Voyance then looked to her lines, the Jedi and Sith were still entangled although it was clear that the Jedi forces would sweep what was remaining.
Voyance smiled. No strategy can ever be entirely complete without some sacrificial pawns, and the Assault Army did their sacrificial duty perfectly. The forces that emerged from the portal were now totally dedicated to the neutralization of the artillery lines and fully engaged, while the Silver Jedi forces in the city were preoccupied with evacuation.
The vile twi’lek’s smile grew longer and she whispered to herself.
“Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen…” Voyance said, as her hacking coughs became whimpering sighs, then a low humming snicker, then a loud chuckle and finally a roaring cackle.
Voyance threw back her head and raised her hands to the skies. She continued her venomous laughter as her body began to fade and become transparent. Force lightening spat from her fingers and whipped the Jedi around her, rattling their body’s with darkness and heat. Slowly she continued to vanish and disappear.
As if she was truly never really there to begin with. Indeed she never was, the power of Darth Voyance is always to be reckoned as lies and illusion. This was her Force Projection and her assault, a diversion. Finally, she completely disappeared, leaving no trace of her presence – either physically or in the Force.
Meanwhile Far Behind Sith Battle Lines...
Darth Voyance, Dark Eye of the Emperor and Oracle Empath of the Darkside, slowly opened her eyes and released a long heaving sigh. Small beads of crystal sweat dripped from her cheeks. She drew in a slow breath and then released it from her nose. She looked to her Dark Cadre, a league of Voss Mystics and Sith Sorcerers that supplied her darkside energy for her dark illusions and sorcery – as living batteries would. She then looked about the innards of the Sith-Imperial Atmospheric Infantry Transport she and her Dark Cadre were assembled in.
She was sat in a meditation pose, with her legs tucked beneath her thighs and her body rested on her heels. Breaking her chance fully, she stood up and marched over to the pilot cabin where she took control of the comms to the other several transports that awaited her commands. She flicked a switch and spoke.
“All transports prepare to attack the coordinates I will supply, we will be dropping into the city now,” Voyance said.
“Do not let anyone escape, do not let any Jedi live.”
The Sith transports, filled to the brim with Sith Trooper reserves, lifted off and flew out to enter the city where the artillery had flattened defenses and buildings. As Voyance’s lifted off, she left the cabin and returned to her dark cadre, where she sat back down and continued her meditations – shifting into a powerful and pervasive battle meditation. Soon she will catch the Silver Jedi in the city by surprise – and unleash true terror.
There was some problems with gladiatorial theatrics, they could break the flow of battle for the unprepared, leave you open for attack. But boy did they make for a nice show for the holos, the latter of the issues was what happened with Lirka. Whilst her sword was extended to challenge Valkren Calderon
, the roaring attack of the fellow Commando came. But there were things to know about one such as Lirka, these sort did not make their armor of simple material. Duranium was an obscenely expensive and durable material, it took one with a patience of a Sephi to truly see it crafted in a matter like the wickedly sharp armor on her figure.
There was a shriek as the metal of the Sith blade crashed against the rune coated armor of the Sephi monster, but a material that could survive even some Lightsaber blows did not yield easily to something like ancient weapons. She twirled around to meet the man, her burning blade swinging to try and slash across his body. A snarl piercing from her helmet, finally. There was a real challenger.
“You scratched my Runes, Maggot.”
There was a mixture of anger and amusement in her words, but that pause was not quick and just as before the Monster didn’t even wait to see if the first blow connected before launching a second one, two handing her blade with a vicious flurry of blows, putting the full strength behind her. Eyes maddened with drug-induced bloodlust, she hungered for slaughter. And she would have it, one way or another.
The blood of the general baptized Lanik as the shield bit through flesh, sinew and then bone. Blood coated the Jedi in a way he’d never been before. With a lightsaber it was always clean, you could rationalize why the one you maimed would live. It wasn’t as visceral a sight, Lanik saw the pain shoot across the officer’s face. He saw the paling of skin as his life essence fled him. Time in those moments moved at a crawl. The Jedi never sought to wound the officer to that point, why hadn’t they stopped when given the chance? The consequences were obvious. Lanik wanted to comfort the soldier but the Silver Jedi were at war. War was not the place where one often showed compassion to their enemy. All Lanik could hope for is that aid soon came for them.
The sounds of approaching soldiers as more were dropped onto the field, drew the padawan’s attention away from the wounded officer. He had no more time to waste, Master Morga was potentially waiting for him. An extension of Lanik’s will snatched his saber from deep within the mud to his blood slicked palm.
Continuing through the trenches Lanik was led by a trail of bodies and viscera. Soldiers that had been cut down by lightsabers, Jedi that had been shot and blown apart with grenades and concussion rifles. Death filled the air, its aura clinging to the Jedi as he limped through the trenches. Each second he could hear more legionnaire’s drawing closer.
Stumbling forward, Lanik caught himself on the wall of the trench before sliding down to the ground. At his feet the body of a milita soldier. Their eyes stared lifelessly up to the sky above. The one that was tainted with the color of destruction. Hating to be a scavenger the Jedi had no other choice. Before anything, Lanik closed their eyes. “Your sacrifice won’t be in vain.”
Reaching into the utility pouch Lanik drew two syringes filled with a thick viscous liquid, the color an aquamarine. Bacta. Biting off the lid of the first Lanik slammed it home into his abdomen wound. A surge of icy cold filled his core before quickly warming to its natural temperature. The sensation of flesh and muscle knitting itself back together was an odd one, not entirely unpleasant but still not comforting.
The second injection was far more precise the Jedi having to lower his boot enough to inject it into his heel. The sound of boots meeting ground drew Lanik’s gaze up where he saw Master Morga land once more in the trenches. “Master Morga, you survived. I fel-” Stopping Lanik shook his head. Of course, the more experienced master had survived. It didn’t matter what he felt.
“We can’t do much more here master, look.” Nodding his head to the flagship that sat in low orbit over the planet and the numerous dropships that made their way to the city. “We have to go back.”
"Spaceports have been reporting some artillery hits! Some landing pads or other spaceport equipment have been destroyed or set on fire!" a sniper on overwatch near a spaceport reported.
"Triangulate the positions from which enemy artillery have been firing! We need to draw enemy fire away from the civilians and their escape routes as much as we can; our priority here is to protect the civilians"
"The enemy artillery emplacements are already on our targeting computers! However, it appears the fortress has collapsed after it became indefensible"
"Artillery, return fire! Now! Have infantry cover the civilians' retreat!"
Once again, some anti-aircraft positions in the defense grid have seen explosives or incendiaries fired at them, and the same went for mortars and other artillery pieces as well, at least the most exposed of them. Of course, not all of them would be hit with the same type of ammunition: some would catch fire, others would explode, others still would be hit by chemical weapons. More mobile pieces could fire on the move, but typically concussion missiles, even triple-stage tandem ones, were fired at airborne targets, with some artillery or armor thrown in the mix. Such as the enemy fighters harassing the first wave of transports laden with civilian refugees. The first stage of the triple-stage tandem charge would disrupt shields, punching a small hole in them, just large enough for the charge to penetrate it, even partially. If shields were already down, then it would cause a small ionic jolt, but not much. Whatever would make it through the shields would then cause the secondary charge to either detonate ablative/reactive armor or to put a dent in the armor plating, and the final stage would then have the brunt of the explosive firepower.
All the while when proton rockets, also triple-stage tandem charges, were fired at a variety of artillery or armor. What became obvious was that, especially after the fortress became indefensible, the Order was fighting for its survival on Kintan, along with its residents, Nikto or not. And the main three threats to the civilians were, on the one hand, the artillery firing at the spaceports deeper in the city, and on the other hand, the four StarFortresses left. One shouldn't forget about enemy airpower, with the remaining anti-aircraft batteries operating in a target-rich environment, albeit somewhat less so than previously. And some quad-laser emplacements were hit by high-altitude bombs, destroying them upon detonation. Yet, there was a reason why not all of the currently outfitted missiles, rockets and so on were triple-stage tandem: they were brand new, and competing demands on different areas meant that production runs must have been spread among many different units across Silver Order border worlds. Even with more on rush order.
In the current context, better draw enemy fire to anti-aircraft, or even artillery, than onto civilians! By now it's clear that we're fighting to save whatever civilians can be saved from the city's wreckage. It appeared this enemy by the fortress did their heavy lifting, she thought, while the surviving mobile mortars were loaded with, and fired, thermobaric charges. Which would then be both an explosive and an incendiary, as well as ignite incendiaries caught in the blast. Usually the Order would have reservations about firing thermobaric charges. But here, outnumbered and outgunned, and the enemy staging areas being so large that some areas within them could be fired thermobaric charges at, it made sense to do so. What was targeted was typically the rear of their anti-aircraft and artillery positions (except for the northern batteries where Jedi were still operating, namely Wyatt Morga
and Lanik Dawnstar
, among others), and, given the blast radius of these charges, infantry and light vehicles forming up may well get caught into the blast as well. Even if the enemy anti-aircraft could somehow hit such a mortar charge, most likely at point-blank, it would cause the charge to detonate in mid-air, which would then turn the thermobaric charge into a superheated airburst. And the flames would then light up.
"Anti-aircraft, fighters, priority is to get the enemy aircraft, and missiles, off from the transports with civilians onboard!"
The Order's torpedo bombers were outfitted energy torpedo launchers; in the time it took to recharge the launcher, these bombers could temporarily act as interceptors, but their primary purpose was then to conduct long-range attack runs on both enemy anti-aircraft and artillery, with a handful of these concentrating their attack on a StarFortress. Energy torpedoes, while unguided, were much faster than even the fastest concussion missile being fired from the ground. With that said, bombing runs were performed essentially on "repeat" because there were still targets to launch such runs at, with the city under fighter cover, alongside anti-aircraft. Meanwhile, the aerial battle was joined by two Mandalorian squadrons (Mig Gred
) also intent on keeping enemy airpower off the civilian transports, albeit from a higher altitude. This is better than no help at all, we're going to need and take it, she thought, while realizing how the situation was growing more and more desperate by the minute, as more and more city blocks were razed by the enemy artillery at every passing second.
Also, some snipers were being... ensnared! But the enemy didn't ensnare all the snipers just yet. The remaining snipers had infrared vision on their helmets, and, because the snare came from a tongue, white armor-piercing rounds made of white Umbaran electromagnetic plasma began to be fired at these beasts ensnaring their fellow snipers. All the while when machinegun crews nearby fired a much more intense volume of these very same Umbaran EM plasma armor-piercing rounds at enemy infantry supporting these same beasts. And swoop-mounted mortars continued their game of hit-and-run, firing 60mm mortar rounds at densely packed infantry; they, too, had the benefit of IR sensory.
"We have received reports of... captured civilians?"
"The other Sith commanders have been killing more indiscriminately. They have their individual agendas, but regardless of what these agendas are, we have to rescue them from their captors and evac them as well! Infantry units, new intel: covering civilians' retreat also means rescuing captured civilians!" she transmitted to surviving units all across the city.
"Have infantry cover the civilians' retreat!" the order came on radio.
"New intel: We have received reports of the enemy capturing civilians!"
What was initially hull-down cover for the armored units became more cover than just hull-down as a result of more rubble piling up. Yet, the enemy armor was slow in advancing, presumably because of the need of the enemy to send squads to intercept civilians in their escape. This meant that surgical strikes were necessary to ensure their interception. Sure, some unlucky chap got a blaster bolt on its face when the enemy closed in on the civilians, but until the convoy arrived at that spot on the way back, staying hidden was their best bet. It was a very delicate engagement to rescue captured civilians, now that they received new intel about convoys of captured civilians. This meant infantry, supported by snipers and recon, were the key to ensure a distraction able to get them off Sith hands. As much as some of the Nikto soldiers would like to respond to that speech from the advancing Sith forces, and call them out on their hypocrisy, with the Sith having wrought a lot of death and destruction around their homes, trying to respond would cause their position to be given away. After all, lulling the enemy into a false sense of security was key for how they would go around rescuing the captured civilians on the move, with other units elsewhere in the city having different ideas, on different timings because of the layout of the city and how it evolved as the siege unfolded.
"Wait for it... stay hidden until a confirmation of the civilian convoy arrives!"
"Civilian convoy sighted!" a sniper announced over comms, from a window.
On the one hand, the enemy has been killing indiscriminately, on the other, they wish to capture civilians? Something's not right, and it appears individual commanders had their own agendas. Whatever these agendas were, there is no doubt they had malevolent intent to these civilians, ambushing their captors is our best bet to rescue them! the sniper thought, before opening fire at a captor. But once the Sith convoy arrived where the Nikto patrol was, then Nikto soldiers went out of the woodwork and started pelting fire at the enemy units escorting the convoy from windows, rooftops, and even old-fashioned piles of rubble. They opened fire on the enemy escorting the captured civilians while making sure only enemy combatants were targeted, and fired at, with firing rates unfortunately limited by the need to aim. Even armor-piercing rounds, fired by snipers wielding Chalacta sniper rifles and made from Umbaran electromagnetic plasma, would still be precise and confined enough to pick off individual hostiles, as previous experience on H'ratth and Svivren showed.
Had anti-aircraft fire at the enemy landing craft, StarFortresses and fighters
Had fighters engage airborne threats harrowing the civilians and their escape routes
Fired thermobaric charges from mortars, and proton rockets at nearly all enemy positions including but not limited to, anti-aircraft (both at the fortress and on the outer perimeter, except for Irveric's position)
Had field artillery conduct hit-and-run attacks on enemy infantry (all)
Had some infantry units cover the civilians' retreat and intercept captured civilians
Dropped plasma bomblets, large bombs as well as energy torpedoes on the besieging forces (except for Irveric's artillery)
Had armored units deploy in several directions along the main roads under hull-down levels of cover
It took all of his concentration to hold his nerve. In the darkness he imagined shapes moving, shadows detached from the walls and formed sithspawn nightmares. He knew that right now he was quite alone. There was a soft hiss of dust pouring through the cracks above. Thinking of how many tonnes of rubble were currently precariously balancing over his head sent his pulse racing. In his isolation his own breathing was worryingly loud.
He heard a call from Kat Decoria
. At least it sounded as if it was her voice. She sounded in some distress.
Acaadi yanked at his hand, which only led to him growling in pain. He could still feel his fingers, which he supposed was good. The panic spread out, trying to convince him to yank and pull and twist until he was free. Free to crawl and climb and run until he was out of this terrifying place. It was an animal instinct, the kind that could make an animal gnaw off its own limb if it felt threatened.
I am better than that.
Easier said than done. He had to place his own thoughts in a sensible order before he could even try and reach for the Force. Acaadi closed his eyes and focused on breathing from his belly. Each breath in turn was slower and more shallow than the one that came before it.
Acaadi opened his eyes. He tried getting the fingers of his right hand into the same crevice to lift the rough duracrete from his other hand. It didn't budge. With the palm of his hand next to the rocks he tried to lift them with the Force. They barely shuddered, only scraping the trapped hand. It seemed hopeless.
The Force drew his attention away. The slightest glint on the floor. His twin sabers covered in a thin layer of dust.
"I am down..." Acaadi stopped calling out as he coughed up more dust. "...down here!" he cried out. Unfortunately there was a maze of tunnels now between him and Niklasz.
Acaadi galvanised his resolve and reached for his sabers. One of them lifted from the ground, flying to his grasp. It left a waterfall of dust in its wake, slowly cascading down to the floor. The tunnel was suddenly lit in the fierce blue light.
Acaadi started to slowly cut his hand free, pushing the blade into the thick jagged duracrete. He had to slowly cut a wide arc through the debris to avoid the heat burning the hand he was trying to safely free.
Seeing that the flow of civilians wasn't how it was before, Reggie, Simon, and a squad of Rescue Rangers that were helping with the evacuation went into the streets to search for civilians themselves. They soon heard blaster fire, which prompted them to quickly head in the direction it was coming from. They arrived to see units that were escorting civilians being fired upon from the rooftops. "Draw their fire away from those civilians!" With that, the soldiers with Reggie went out to defend the civilians and the remaining units escorting them. Reggie himself jumped on to the rooftops, using the force to boost him up. He quickly withdrew his lightsaber and attacked the enemy forces, deflecting any shots that were aimed for him back at the enemy troops and closing the distance to cut them down. He noticed that the enemy had shields that seemed to deflect blaster fire, so he quickly moved to take them all out since his lightsaber was the most effective thing to take them out.
Once all of the enemy troops were defeated, Reggie jumped down to see if anyone was injured. There were a few Rangers that had taken minor damage, so Reggie used the force to heal them. One of the infantry initially escorting the civilians spoke up. "We just got information stating that what happened here is happening in other areas of the city. The enemy seems to be capturing the civilians and taking them to another building." What? Why would they be doing that now? Just a moment ago, the Sith had no problem killing the civilians. This didn't change what they had to do, but it did make Reggie wonder what the enemies plan was. "Alright, I want some of you to take these civilians to the evac. The rest of will come with me so we can intercept the enemy troops that are taking the civilians captive." Two groups of soldiers were formed, one continuing to take the citizens to the evac, while the other soldiers would go rescue those that were in danger.
With the civilians continuing to be escorted to the evac, Reggie and his group went out to intercept the enemy. Saving the other civilians that were being captured was now his top priority.
A horde of ten thousand boots had lined the trenches, Rangers and Legionnaires fought for every inch of ground they could gain. Blood ran through the trenches like water through a river bed. As judgment came time and time again as a million shells scarred the land around them. As if it had not been made clear enough part of the Fortress had come part of the rain of terror as cracked portions of walls and fortification flew down like the Hand of Death itself. A promise to kill where it landed, and as the Galidraani Eight and Fiolette Raaf pushed ever closer toward the Fortress they found themselves in the wake of hellfire's destruction.
Fiolette had been engaged in hand to hand combat when the shells descended breaking apart much of the Rangers before her. There would be no time to react as more shells made contact with the trenches launching legionnaires and Fiolette's Galidraani squadron high into the air. Feet overhead and the ground rushed up before her. Everything went black, she would not recall what happened afterward as the trenches began to collapse from the amount of firepower and the Fortress's own devastation running ruin to friend and foe alike.
When the Lord Admiral came-to her armor had been sundered, shrapnel had now lodged itself into her ears, lacerations covered her body, and her armor laid haphazardly across her body. A pocket of air made it possible to breathe but she found herself buried beneath the debris. The sound of the Black Talons that pushed forward brought some manner of comfort. Shouts were unintelligible to her and her ears continued to ring, and a searing pain in her chest reminded the Galidraani that she was still alive. What a terrible time to be alone she thought, a terrible to find yourself in death's grasp. A resounding sound within her mind the word no. She would not die here, she would not simply roll over here and perish, bollocks to it all. She pushed against the debris and felt the bitter rage that her wife now felt.
A comfort to know her wife still had some connection her to emotions. Although it would not be Taeli's face that Fiolette would see as the debris had been lifted it would instead be General Tarkin's face, "c'mon no time for lollygagging, Admiral." He remarked with a sardonic tone as he helped her up. He slapped a personal shield onto what was left of her armor and then handed her a rifle. "Let us finish this." Just as she had been helped out of the debris, the hands of those alive pushed out from the rubble like blades of grass. One by one those who survived stood upright and looked toward the Fortress Kh'aris. Fueled by rage, Fiolette once more took hold of the Force and wrapped it around her person. Vibrobayonets were affixed once more and the Black Talons continued, blaster fire, stab - move, blaster fir, stab - move. Heavy weapons were brought up to clear enemy boxes.
Pain from the contusions was ignored, adrenaline in combination with the Force bond became a source of energy for Fiolette. The shouts from other legionnaires in the area, along with communications directed the Black Talons toward the breech. The sight of rumblers up ahead created a morale boost that propelled the Black Talons, Fiolette and the Galidraani six toward its ramshackle walls and dilapidated doors. Collapsed trenches made for a makeshift ramp toward the inside of the Fortress itself.
Hotly contested skies above only added the blood bath that Kintan had become, where so many had perished, and died without ever questioning why. The sound of rotary cannons caught General Tarkin's attention, he directed grenades toward their sound. While the Lord Admiral directed the rest toward the breach, and the sound of ten thousand boots and thousands of soldiers could be heard. "BLACK TALONS!" General Tarkin shouted as he provided cover fire for the legion.
"C'mon General, no time for lollygagging," the Lord Admiral quipped as she urged him forward into the Fortress.
Diametrically opposed foes met in the caverns under the ruined Fortress Kh’aris; Sith-Imperial legionnaires versus yellow-clad 6th Kintan Infantry. Sithspawn supported the legionnaires with their nightmarish attacks, and rangers supported the silver infantry with tactical manoeuvres. The two fronts moved about in the caves, finding cover behind fallen debris and standing Rumblers, or around crooked corners and natural formations.
Festerers let loose piercing screams as they poured out of their holes and into the cavern, rushing the Nikto forces. While their carapaces regularly held fast against some of their slugs and blasters, Festerer bodies did collapse on the cavern floor, leaving their kin to swarm over their corpse. They wielded their scythes and deadly, acidic spray with a ferocity fed by the dark side of the Force. They slashed and tore, but took no time to eat the flesh they rendered to ribbons.
Joycelyn felt slugs hit her phrik armour, clanging loudly and knocking her half a step forward. Had she not been in a state of preparation, then she felt like they might have knocked her down. Instead, she turned toward her assailant and threw out her right palm. Bodies were flung through the air and crashed against a wall. She pushed another assailant aside with a vicious kick to his chest, then lifted her hand to pull the group seized in her telekinetic grip up into the air, then back down on the floor with a new, sickening crunch.
The Sith were the tip of the imperial spear, carving deepest into the enemy.
Joycelyn felt the bloodlust of Zaudraka, its thirst and impatience for more forceful meat, grow stronger by the minute. The pulsing hatred of the sword strengthened her, sharpening her affinity to the Force and her physical prowess, but it also fanned the fires of her aggression to a dangerous degree. Her sight narrowed as the rage encroached on her consciousness. The sithsword tore through flesh, bone, and armour.
A new salvo of slugs tried to penetrate Joycelyn’s armour, but this time she saw it coming. Pivoting out, she covered herself behind one of the crushed Rumblers. She then came back out. The Sith released the sword with her right hand and extended a hand. The scent of ozone gathered in the air as a torrent of blue lightning shot from her fingers, arching toward the metal and twisting her foes in agony.
The Sith indulged in her rage, letting her presence in the force grow ever clearer and more oppressive. It drew focus from teams like Tekkio’s, whose missions would strike a true blow to the defence of Kintan.
But in the caves, the sound of metal and electricity hummed to the tune of droids coming online.
With a solid thud, flinging mud in either direction, Wyatt landed with a heavy breath. The artillery was destroyed - some of the anti-air was as well; which boded well for their civilian evacuation plans. That, however, was only part of the issue - as Lanik had pointed out.
“We do. I fear Voyance yet lives - can feel it, and the other Sith breach further into the city.”, he said with a slow sigh.
“We only have a moment - collect yourself, Jedi. We need to move quick.”
Wyatt’s words were short and too the point; he had to conserve his energy if he intended to bring them back from a mission he never expected to live from. As shots rang out overhead, a few Jedi jumped into his circle at his command, and rested a hand on his shoulder. Wyatt closed his eyes - and just as an explosion cleared the Trench they were;
They were gone.
Wyatt opened his eyes and could feel that discomfort - still a novice with the Aing-Tii methods. He almost dropped to a knee as the others began moving to report what occurred; but he saved himself at the last second. The Jedi Master knew he couldn’t waver in the eyes of the men, not know - he had to press on until the many were saved from the Sith’s assault.
“Lanik, I need you to go out and assist with the evacuation effort.”, Wyatt offered as he pressed a hand on Lanik’s shoulder - partially to reinforce their connection, partially for something to lean on even for just a second.
“Go. If things turn south - Come back.”, he offered with a reassuring smile.
“Don’t be a hero.”
---
Wyatt ran through the streets - there were reports of the Sith collecting those civilians who hadn’t been able to escape. Collecting them in a single location was never good - not after he saw on Alderaan; Wyatt knew their corruption would reach no bounds, and despite the exhaustion from teleporting the Strike Team, he had to press on.
Weaving through the streets, Wyatt eventually felt a darkness in the distance he couldn’t ignore - but the owner he had never met before. On some level, it reassured him, he could be positive he wasn’t about to accidentally stumble into Voyance once again, nor even the Emperor himself; but there was a danger to it. It was a Sith Lord, fresh to combat, he imagined.
But one that needed to be held back from the evacuation points regardless.
Turning a corner, Wyatt came to an empty street besides the abandoned speeders and walkers that lay around. None walked this street any longer - which was good for him, he needed the room; but he could sense what was coming. Through the Force, through the Future, through the hairs on the back of his neck -
He knew what was coming.
A blue light bathed him in warm light as Kor rounded the corner, faced with the lone Jedi Master - wearing only robes, and a smile that seemed a mixture of welcomining, and knowing.
“A pleasure to meet you. My name is Wyatt Morga.”
Karina sighed, the slight smile of relief visible on her face even as they turned the corner, walking out straight in front of the group of civilians.
Her rifle jerked upwards instinctively, but Karina lowered it and stalked out to the centre of the road, the soldiers forming up silently behind her. Her gaze flickered from person to person, perhaps two-dozen in all, searching for weapons, but she saw nothing. Nothing, except for the unmistakable silver cylinder swinging from the hip of the blonde woman leading the group. Karina's head tilted, but she stayed still, her soldiers wisely following suit.
They stood in place, blocking the path ahead. Karina waited for someone to speak, unable to stop her foot tapping anxiously as the tension mounted.
Elise held up her arms, stopping the civilians short in the street. There was no time to warn them, nothing she could do to reroute their path and find a new way. The sith soldiers rounded the corner. Elise already stood waiting, her chin raising to their presence. She saw their fingers clutch at their guns, but there was also hesitation in their movement.
The will of the force, echoed her teachings through her mind. She took a deep breath and released herself to it. There was a peaceful way out of this.
She stepped forward, her posture protective with her arms outstretched. Like a mother hen holding her chickens. One man stumbled as a tug of the force took him off the fringes of the group and pushed him a little more into the shadow of her thin frame. Her doing, of course.
Her gaze skimmed the group of soldier's, alert yet calm as she faced them with equanimity. The tension was palpable, neither side willing to act. No doubt a jedi master could handle a group of eight, but could she do so without loss of life? The force told her no. There was another way.
It was Else's voice that broken the silence, her firm tone ringing out across the street.
"You do not want to harm these people." A tug of the force, a wave of her hand; her blue eyes flashed with determination as they fell on Karina's tinted visor.
He was a walking storm, the Dark Side pouring off of his body in palpable waves. Those that sought to impede his path found themselves quickened to a gruesome end, the Emperor's cruelty knowing no bounds as he tore apart his victims with precise sadism. Many were left to writhe in agony, their suffering suffusing the battlefield from which the Emperor drank deeply. He had just rammed his scarlet blade through the chest of a Silver Jedi soldier when a shadow crossed above him, drawing his attention sky-ward for a brief moment.
And his eyes burned brightly with hatred.
The Emperor stalked towards the one who had fallen from the sky, his mouth set in a grim frown as the smoke began to clear. Two lightsaber blades, one orange and the other one white, illuminated the field of battle around them. They were joined by the crimson blade of the Emperor, who reached down and unhooked a second weapon from his side and ignited it as well; a sickly green blade billowing with emerald fog bursting into being. "The wayward son," growled the Emperor, his eyes never wavering from Vaulkhar's; locked in a bout for dominance. "I am not surprised that you would have come here, to fight alongside the dead." He angled one of his blades towards Vaulkhar accusingly, the other was held off to his side. "Though I am surprised you still possess the bravado to face me directly, at least your death will be a good one."
Carnifex waited, sizing up his enemy, and stood prepared for the fight between father and son.
The Lord Admiral ripped through space in her fighter, dodging laser fire that flew at her. The hundreds of fighters were engaging the Mandalorians while Zahori was making her way towards the command ship. It's shields were still up, but she would make quick work of that. With the Shadow Fist on her tail, protecting her from interference as she quickly approached her target. The cannons from her fighter were ignited as she began firing at the turbolaser cannons along the Kero's Kad's hull. Explosions went off around her as those protecting the flagship chased after her, but they would be quickly killed or chased off by the commandos following her. As the Mandalorians focused their fire on the bombers and missile boats, the Imperial fighters and interceptors chased them down and fired upon them relentlessly. The bombers and missile boats started to take a hefty beating, however, many of them were able to release their payloads. A rain of bombs were unloaded upon the Kero's Kad as the bombers did their runs across the hull of the Mandalorian flagship. "Lord Admiral, we have incoming from hyperspace," reported an officer from the bridge of Legator II.
"What? Can't be. We jammed their communications," Denko replied.
And then in came Imperial ships on the flank. Nearly a hundred ships exited hyperspace and began to engage upon the Mandalorian fleet. A smirk grew on Zahori's face as she saw the might of the Empire at it's finest.
"Yvarro. Right on time," Zahori uttered.
The main force of Denko's fleet came closer and closer to the Jedi defense fleet. As they did, it was becoming even more clear that the Jedi were not prepared for this attack. The weakness they spread across the galaxy was so easily purged. The galaxy needing saving from their chaotic nature. It was sad that the Empire could only do it a few systems at a time. The main fleet continued to fire upon the Jedi fleet despite their attempts an escape.
It was only a matter of time before they would beg for surrender.
Ryv's eyes widened as he stared at Braith, a hint of confusion momentarily crossed his face.
"Holy shit, she's monologuing," Ryv murmured as he studied her. His breathing slowly falling back into some normality. His body still ached from the earlier artillery bombardment. He didn't have the stamina necessary to take on the Sith Lord, even if he had an entire bag of goodies to rely on. That left him few options. He could certainly flee back towards the fortress and seek allies to return with, but by then she'd of cut a path through dozens, if not hundreds of innocents and soldiers alike. There were so few available as it appeared the Silver Jedi kept a small garrison on Kintan. The surrounding area was leveled, for the most part, leaving a few buildings left partially standing. A retreat would mean a mad dash through enemy soldiers who'd pushed past. The likelihood of survival was low no matter what decision he made. "This sucks," he spit off to the side and gripped his lightsaber in his left hand.
Ryv reached up and activated the commlink, opening up a feed between him and Wyatt Morga
.
"I gotta say, you've sure got a lot to say, lady. I can't really say I agree with half of what you've thrown my way, but it's not like I've got a rebuttal either," the saber ignited at his side, illuminating the tarnished city street in a soft verdant glow. "I'll tell you this much, you're scary. Absolutely horrifying," as the kiffar spoke his eyes scanned her form. Her armor, in particular, caught his interest given he'd seen nothing like it before. Lightsaber resistant? Probably, but all armors with any mobility had the same weakness. Whether or not he'd be able to take advantage of it was a different story entirely. "I'll tell you something else, ma'am, you're severely overestimating me if you think I can feel the difference at all. You're cold and spiteful. That's all I got from you," Ryv switched the hilt of his blade from left to right before falling into the opening stance of ataru.
"My old man once told me it was a Jedi's responsibility to stand when other's wouldn't. Yeah, you'll probably kill, brutalize, and demolish me. Hell, I might only hold you here for ten to fifteen seconds," a faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips, even though the padawan was trembling before her. "But each second I keep you here will make a difference for my people to stop yours. And if that isn't worth dying for, what is?"
New Kalandra was burning and in ruins, skirmishes scattered throughout what was left as Silver Jedi troops were clashing with the fresh wave of Sith reinforcements. The Silver Jedi were retreating further towards the Fortress as the Sith were finalizing their surrounding of New Kalandra, locking down ground routes as the pressure was being kept up; they would only have so much ground left to give up to the advance with half a fortress standing. It was simply a matter of time before the iron fist of the Sith Empire and its military had crushed them.
In the blockade above Kintan, Vice Admiral Koruuna would stare at the planet below before speaking in a firm tone, " Open fire. ". The targets had been locked in as the fleet had finalized their firing sequences, turbolasers finally letting loose with a barrage fired with surgical precision, targeting the starports as emerald lasers rained down from the heavens. Whatever shuttles were being loaded and presently waiting for the opportunity to take off would soon find themselves in a tight spot as the barrage of turbolaser fire was halted by shields that the Silver Jedi had erected. For now they kept the barrage of death at bay, though they also prevented any notion of it being safe enough to take off from.
The Ajuntas above would rise, moving back towards space as they offloaded the remainder of their payloads at designated defensive targets, continuing to shoot down missiles and deploy their anti-missile countermeasures to play keep away with the surface to orbit missiles, moving away to resupply and go harass other locations on the planet since a majority of the defenses had been focused around New Kalandra and its fortress, moving to level nearby cities that the Silver Jedi might attempt to send refugees to.
Sith fighters in the air continue to engage enemy aircraft, vicious dogfights that sent twisted metal flying as lasers and explosions filled the air, the screeching of TIE fighters roaring overhead as a squadron broke off to fly over the smoke-filled skies as they seemed to solely focus on any evacuation shuttles attempting to take off from the ground. They began conducting attack runs as a barrage of laser fire slammed into the side of a grounded shuttle while several fighters had their wings clipped by AA fire and spiraled into the buildings, bursting into balls of fire.
---
The Dragoons and Nightseers of the Ravager Batallion would move nimbly through the city, flying across rooftops as they were out of the blast radius of most ordinance that kept the grounded infantry from pushing up, using the aerial advantage they possessed to lay waste to any hostile troops they encountered. The return fire the Silver Jedi were mounting against the staging areas using their mortars and mobile artillery would fall upon the Liskarm shields, building up an increasing resistance to them as they were running their munition reserves down.
They would continue to pick apart the infantry being thrown at them as the Silver Jedi attempted to cover the retreat of the civilians. A Dragoon would hover over the streets as he was drawing enemy fire, absorbing the shots fired at him with his shields while Nightseers pounced from the shadows and alleys, doing what they did best in the form of snapping necks and slitting throats while the enemy was occupied. Standard infantry had no chance against their superior training and tactics as they continued to harass and prevent the Silver Jedi from conducting their evacuation efforts nimbly moving from one position to another due to their enhanced speed and mobility to intercept those that had been identified.
Just as the Sith were harassing the Silver Jedi forces, the opposite was also being practiced as the local militiamen attempted to steal back captured civilians. As a sniper had his sights trained on a Nightseer, once the order was given to engage they would fire, only to find that the Nightseer simply seemed to disintegrate and burst into a flash of light; a hologram projection used as bait to draw out fire thanks to the Doppelganger stealth projectors they wore. The few Sith Legionnaires that were physically there would find themselves under heavy fire from all sides as their numbers began to wane while the ten Nightseers that appeared to be escorting the convoy all suddenly disappeared; the projections simply breaking apart as the hostile snipers and infantry soon found vibroknives swiftly sunk into their necks as they gave away their positions. The enemy fire would begin to die down as they were quickly dispatched by the elite operatives as civilians were being deposited in the Sith held arena.
---
Vexen would activate his communications as he finally heard a response from Tavlar, " You haven't been terminated...Commendable. The Jedi are in disarray and pulling back to their fortress slowly...Press the attack. " He would pause as he sensed another individual approaching, terminating the communication to Tavlar, having spoken what was necessary. He'd step through the shattered and smoke filled streets with his inactive saber, turning the corner as he found himself staring down Morga who promptly introduced himself. The Anzati was silent, perhaps sensing whether or not the Jedi before him was going to be worth his time after the many before had proven to be a disappointment. The Anzati would respond in his heavily vocoded voice, " A man of no consequence... ". His crimson saber flared to life off to his side as his voice trailed off, its deep thrumming sound filling the air. He had no need to introduce himself, either out of arrogance or simply because his enemies did not live long for it to matter.
Gehenna Fleet proceeds with orbital strike targeting starports [Stage Three of Three]
Temporary Shields are holding off the barrage for now.
Sith Fighters continue to engage Mandalorian and Silver Jedi aircraft, continuing to make the air space unsafe.
Remaining Ajunta Class Star Fortresses [Four of Five] start to wave off after having concluded carpet bomb runs of the front line defenses. Fifth Ajunta crashes into city outskirts and detonates
Blockade Points Established around New Kalandra, completing the surrounding of the city [Point Five of Five]
Vexen's shock troopers continue to harass Silver Jedi Troopers
Abducted civilians are being held in the arena, defended by troops
Kor Vexen engages Wyatt Morga
Due to some miscommunication and understanding on both ends, I've rescinded my destruction of the starport as reaching a mutual understanding of the situation going forward.
Darkness. It was the only thing Kyra could show him. Then there was a scream, not hers. Multiple Padawans were trapped in the rubble, and JJ was rushing for them. The explosion had been a dead give away as far as the location he needed to run for, and without knowing what else to do, the Knight latched onto the bond he had with the young Zeltron. JJ could not let anything happen to Kyra. He would never forgive himself if anything happened to her.
More Darkness. This time it was of the force. Judah could sense the Sith Lord, and knew he was no match to fight him. He would have to find another way to retrieve the one padawan that meant more to him than anyone had in a long time. It was odd to think of it that way, how a padawan could mean more to him than any lover had, but in truth, she was his family now, maybe more. Judah would do anything to see her saved.
Destruction was all he could see. He could sense the panic and fear. So much dark emotion.
He pressed into Kyra's mind once more.
"Peace... try and find it in the middle of all this chaos. I am on my way."
All Judah could see was the rubble, but stone by stone he would move it if he had to. That is what he began to do as he came upon the area he sensed the young Zeltron. This was going to take a while, and a lot of energy, but he was going to dig them out.
The muscles surrounding Karina’s faceplate tightened and she pursed her lips, the expression passing for a frown ever since her surgery. As she saw the Jedi’s attention turn on her, her piercing blue eyes gazing deeply towards the Sergeant, Karina wondered what she was thinking. No doubt, she was wondering what lay beneath Karina’s faceplate, unaware that beyond the glossy metallic surface, there were only gaping orbits, filled with plastic and wires.
The woman stepped forward, raising her hands, and Karina’s heart leaped into her throat. She raised her weapon, the soldiers on either side of her doing the same. She opened her mouth, sucking in a breath to call out, to scream at this enemy to get on the ground, to drop her weapons and surrender, but the words never left her mouth.
When the Jedi spoke, her tone seemed to cut through everything, with each syllable ringing through Karina’s head like a chime. It made her dizzy, and when the Sergeant’s gaze met the dazzling blue glare of the Jedi, she felt the urge to repeat the words aloud, to offer her acknowledgement and agreement. However, the words would not come to her, and as she stood, dazed, a strange fog washed over her mind.
A moment later, the Jedi lowered her hand, and Karina stood blinking next to the other Legionnaires, her rifle hanging loosely in a one-handed grip, instead of readied and pointing at the ragged line of civilians.
What was it the Jedi had just said? She’d been distracted by… Something had distracted her. Right, that was it: the Jedi had told them not to harm the civilian group. Karina felt a flicker of irritation at that. Of course they weren’t going to harm them. Why would they ever?… Wait.
She felt strange, and half the Legionnaires were looking around like they were lost. Something wasn’t right here.
Karina shook her head, turning back to face the Jedi when one of the Legionnaires called to her from the back of the group.
“Watch them,” she muttered, the soldiers barely bothering nodding in confirmation as she jogged to the back of the group. What was wrong with them? Concerned, she pulled up her commlink, tapping a flashing dial to patch herself through to friendly forces.
Glancing back at the line of soldiers, the Jedi, and the gaggle of civilians behind her, Karina spoke without urgency.
“Treasurer-General Sir, we’re dealing with the situation presently. However, our numbers are small so…”
She trailed off, pausing for a few seconds. Why was she suddenly so reluctant to call for assistance? She didn’t really think that a single squad of eight Legion soldiers would be capable of handling a Jedi if things turned violent. Perhaps the stresses of the battlefield were affecting her nerves.
Her guts twisting, Karina elected to go with her training.
“Ahem… Any assistance you can provide would be appreciated Treasurer-General.”
Scowling, she paced back to where her squad blocked the road, silhouetted against the smoky evening sky. She was feeling better by the minute. Her head had seemed heavy, foggy, but clarity seemed to be returning now. Karina slung her rifle over her back and addressed the Jedi and the civilians cowering behind her.
“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.”
Behind them, a few blocks over, arcs of green laser fire shot to earth at speed, the accompanying boom indicating a successful strike on the nearby spaceport. Bit by bit, the net was closing.
They didn’t realise it, and perhaps they never would, but these civilians were incredibly fortunate that it was Karina’s squad that had stumbled across them. They didn’t stand a chance of escaping on their own, and if they had run afoul of the wrong soldiers, they would be lying in the dusty ruins, consigned to lie forever to lie beneath the ashen soil of the planet they had vainly tried to flee. Now, they had a chance of reaching safety, if only they chose to cooperate.
“Hand over your weapons and we will be on our way,” said Karina. “There is no time to waste.”
Valkren couldn’t stand to watch his men cut down where they stood. As he dodged the set of strikes and maneuvered behind some rubble, he could make out the horrid sight of Lirka Ka
making contact with one of the rangers from Hades.
Not backing down, the ranger continued his fire until his last seconds. His armor caving in on itself and crumpling to the floor. The dust that followed as an effect of the brutal strike masked what remained of the corpse.
Valkren was ticked now, his own people were under attack. He’d been ‘outmatched’ before by sith and it had proved deadly before, but he wasn’t about to let that happen again. The commander stepped out from behind cover to address the threat, almost giving his own roar as he charged up a heavy bolt from his weapon.
However; before the commando could fire off his shot- like a ghost Beltran Rarr
suddenly appeared, bringing his own blade down against their enemy.
Hesitation struck for a moment after watching his friend soar through suddenly, but before long Valk’ snapped out of it. He took the opportunity to shift positions, keeping distance as he went to the limp body of the Nikto soldier that was previously beside him. Letting his rifle hang from his chest sling and securing the soldiers vibro-blade, he’d make use of both free hands now to lift the rotary cannon that was splattered with their local allies blood.
Several of the other rangers returned to the wall breach, attempting to keep any enemies at bay that clambered over the rubble. The dwindling numbers of Hades platoon began to shift their position more, attempting to line up any shots they could on the beast that previously challenged their commander- without hitting Lieutenant Rarr. Although he came in at the right moment to surprise their enemy, someone in close-quarters made it a complication to those trying to engage from a distance.
Still- Beltran did have power armor equipped, compared to his men’s regular katarn plating. He wasn’t going to take any major risks though. He spun up the barrels, stabilizing his footing on two pieces of rubble to get a good view.
Hopefully the combatants could tag-team the beast into either backing away or cutting it down. As Valk' regained a view on the target, he could see that his friend was now involved in a full on duel.
“Rarr! Step off!” He called out, hoping the soldier would step away from his melee event for a split second so he could deliver a barrage of bolts. He’d press the trigger, purposely aiming slightly to the right of his target for the moment so he could strafe towards the enemy in case the lieutenant’s movement was slower than intended. Although the rotary-cannon was slow to spin up, if it would hit any target in its way, it would be a constant barrage until its overheating.
Location: New Kalandra, In the streets. Allies: N/A Enemies: Darth Bellum
Wyatt struggled, if not for a moment, to center himself in the wake of the destruction the city faced. A thousand voices or more cried out every second - and Wyatt had to stop their intrusion if only for the moment. He exhaled slow, his breath almost cold as it left his lips.
And when his eyes opened, he could feel nothing of what they demanded of him. His emotions were his own, quiet and focused like a Dam pooling a river; controlling exactly what came forth as he took an unconventional high guard with his Lighstaber - a mix of many forms brought into Wyatt’s own.
A man of no consequence, Kor had spoken. He’d heard those same words from most Sith, second to only their pleading cries for help in rationalizing their beliefs, their carnage;
But Wyatt would not start a dialogue yet, running forward and leaping off the roof of a speeder to land a heavy handed strike downwards on the far taller Sith; armored as they were, their protection far exceeded what Wyatt could take, but on that same note, Wyatt could be exceptionally faster.
With the almost guarantee he would be blocked, Wyatt ducked and bobbed, coming back around for a litany of strikes to the armor, testing it, seeing where it might hold a weakness - but it was only a matter of time before the Battle Master found one. Quick, staccato like strikes would hopefully find their mark as Wyatt danced around, under, and over Kor; waiting for an opening that would see the Sith brought low.
More than anything, he needed to buy time - for Elise, for the Jedi to get the civilians out of the city. Even if Wyatt failed to stop this Sith, he had to hold them back long enough…
The Kad shook as the combined fire came raining in. She was trapped. Sith on both sides, fire pouring in. Disruptors managed make the shields buckle, but the ablative armor done its job, to an extent. Ionized weaponry. It had to be ionized weaponry. Portions of the ship were struck by shells now, destroying weapon and knocking out a drive, and this had Kaddie worried. At least his core was still safe. He focused on the second in command, letting out a sigh.
"If I'm going to be deactivated, at least it was doing this. Protecting a world." The commander hit the A.I.'s console, glaring through her helmet.
"We aren't in the Manda yet."
"Multiple parts of the ship are damaged though. They brought more ships!"
"I know! Keep up fire as long as we can. Shift weapons power to shields. They may have disruptors and ionized shells, but it will help." With that, the flagship and her Tagger escorts continued their last missions, but the escorts had a plan. They turned to that there launchers would face the newly arrived fleet, and dumbfired missiles. Probably wouldn't do much, but they had hope. The same hope that was driving the fighter pilots and Enigma crews to keep fighting. They had to keep fighting. They had to give the Jedi time to get evacs going. They needed to keep fighting! But then, a ship jumped in.
A Neebray-class cargo frigate, flanked by fighters and assault craft. Then Taggers and Enigmas. Then Firebrands, Storms, and Torrents! Then a Skira-class, a fist painted on her bow and "Concordia" on her hangers, surrounded by her compliment. The Kero's Kad's commander looked, shocked.
"It's... it's the Concordia... Someone came...." Kaddie appeared back on his console, shocked.
"Cordi's ship's here!? They figured it out.... They actually came! Oya, they actually came! You've gotta deal with me and my little sister now Sith!"
"Calm down you bundle of code and focus!"
Meanwhile, the Concordia's captain looked out, and a female A.I. responded.
"Should I give them warning captain?" The captain shook his head.
"Open long range weapons on that outer flagship. Have the Firebrands do the same. Have the Storms fire on the inner flagship, and the Enigmas to take on those outer corvettes. Fighter help the Clan Gred fighters in orbit, and Beskad's bomb the inner flag." The A.I. gave an affirmative response, quickly relaying the orders, and the fleet's batteries soon rang. Hyper particle cannons and railguns rained in, while a volley of missile left the Storms heavy launchers, each firing two heavy cluster missiles, and two "Clean Sweeps" with the goal of overwhelming the Sith's defenses.
At the same time, the Storms stealth cousins cloaked, and began to fly under the plane of fire. Their goal was to get closer, and not give the Sith vessels a chance to stop their payloads. At the same time, the Enigma's of this reinforcement fleet charged to new Sith fleet's own corvettes, firing everything they had, and the fleet's fighters joined their fellow fighter's dogfight, hoping to bolster the Mandalorian numbers. Talons, TwinTails, and Kodashi Vipers joining the fray. As this happened, the Beskads from the reinforcements flew towards the Legator II, bombs ready to be dropped.
Aboard the Kero's Kad, a new fight was brewing. Mig walked into the hanger, Mandalorians there had already started fighting, and dying, to protect the hanger. Armed with slugthrowers and blasters. Mig looked at the intruders, and ignited his lightsaber trayc'kad. He charged a Kinetite, sending it at the commando's before calling out.
"I'll give you one chance. Get off my ship!"
Meanwhile, in atmo, Vaux and her two squadrons were doing everything they could to keep the Sith off of the evac ships. The multiple fighter were engaging any Sith that came close, while the Vaux was proving her callsign as she and her squadmates tore through fighters with their particle cannons. It didn't mean they weren't losing fighters though. The young pilot had to try and keep the transports alive.
The Kero’s Kad shifts weapons power to shields, lowing the power of all energy weapons. (HPCs are on their own reactor). This doesn't stop a lot of the fire though.
The Kad continued firing with what it can, though multiple weapons have been destroyed. HPCs focus on the Legator II, Railguns fire on escort frigates. and all other weapons fire on
Tagger's keep up their fire, and dumbfire concussion missiles towards the new Sith fleet.
The Enigma and her sister ships continue to fight the escort frigates.
Reinforcements arrive, lead by the Concordia, from the left of the battle.
Concordia, and the Firebrands open up with their long range weapons on the new fleet's flagship. Concordia with her railguns and HPCs, and the Firebrands with their HPCs.
The Storm's dumb-fire missiles at Legator II, first each firing two heavy cluster missiles, then each firing two BM-1 Clean Sweeps.
The Torrent-types cloak, and slide under the plane of fire.
The new Enigmas charge the new Sith fleet, targeting the other corvettes.
Taggers and the Neebray hold a defensive line.
Reinforcement fighters join the furball.
Reinforcement Beskads fly forward to bomb the Legator II, aiming to slide under the shields.
She walked among the ruins, husks of lives that used to be.
A lie named 'peace' shattered by artillery shells, by knife and gun, and the marching boots of the Sith-Imperial legion. The echoes of their lives whispered to Darth Ophidia as she saw their charred corpses, their tables set for food, their frightened pets hiding among the shattered pieces of their lives. Dirt and blood painted the walls with the tale of the ferocious bombing race between the Legion and the Silver forces.
More could come at any moment, yet she wandered in the footsteps of the dead.
But she had not simply come to survey the destruction. No, she was there at the bidding of the dark side of the Force, seeking those still clinging to the light. And as she walked between the shattered buildings and twisted fates, she walked like the ghosts and echoes that accompanied her. She was shrouded in layers of the Force, tucked away so deeply that one would easily forget she was there, did she not wish one to remember her.
Squadrons of legionnaires and silver troopers alike walked straight past her, unnoticed like the wind. Some blinked once, twice at a brush of cold air when she passed them by.
A touch of cold, an iron grip, and then hot, searing pain as the two bloodshine blades ripped and burned them asunder.
Every cut fed Darth Ophidia with an intense surge of energy, a rush of the Force as she siphoned the life of those whose lives she ended. And when she had made her mark, she slipped back into the deep crevices of the Force, returning to her ghostly ways. And while these stray groups kept her sustained and distracted, she hungered for a challenge.
Irveric Tavlar
,
Darth Bellum
Wyatt Morga
,
Lanik Dawnstar
, [Additional]
Ryv
,
WelshPsych
Erika Garter Sin
Aaran Tafo
