Denouement (Tygaran Alliance, Firemane and Friends)

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Anya Venari"]


Siobhan experienced a strong sense of deja vu. The Lady was reminded strongly of the day she'd addressed the council shortly before the Exodus. The cause had been an attempt on her life during a soiree. It had been organised at the highest levels of the peerage and almost killed her. She was only alive thanks to the efforts of [member="Mirien Valdier"]. Ironically, back then Tarissa had been her ally - and used the chance to succeed her mother.


Nothing lasts in the game of thrones. Siobhan had been frail and weak of body when she spoke to the council, but in comparison today, that occasion had been simple. She'd had Anya's backing and browbeaten the nobles through sheer force of personality before revealing the ringleaders. Now things were less simple. The cynical part of her was not even sure of the Queen's support. Without me, you'd have lost your throne ages ago, Anya. If I go, what will the Eldorai do? You'll be screwed without us.


Like rival generals of two competing armies, she and Caelia Vortanra, Duchess of Caladan, faced one another. I should have gotten rid of you when I had the perfect chance to clean house. The voices had quietened, though Siobhan had no doubt the heckling would begin soon. The tension was so sharp she felt she could cut it with her lightsabre.


The sour-faced Duchess initiated proceedings. "General Kerrigan," Siobhan was not in the least surprised when the old crone refused to refer to her by her noble title, "given your considerable military experience, I'm sure you can explain to us why the campaign resulted in tremendous failure. You must know how important Kaeshana is to the Eldorai."


Siobhan did not waver. "I know that all too well. After all, Firemane provided the means for the Eldorai to evacuate and to make this mission possible," she retorted. She would not grovel or make apologies to blue-blooded parasites. That was beneath her. "My troops acquitted themselves gallantly. They fought with womanly courage, face to the foe, never once backing down, even in the face of our barbaric enemy's tremendous numerical superiority and foul treachery from a clique of cowardly traitors," she spoke firmly.


"We held the Citadel of Dusk, the Angelii seized Santaissa and our combined forces marched upon the Citadel of Dawn. Even though the enemy tried to bomb us from orbit, threw hordes of walkers and infantry at us, we took Dawn and raised the banners of Tygara and the Galactic Alliance upon its ruins. We pulled down a Star Destroyer from the heavens. Our enemy stooped so low to mutilate POWs and send Sith against us. I duelled Kaine Zambrano on the field of battle and defeated him. He ran away like the snake he is."


"Then why were you beaten? Why does the Queen's flag not fly from above the ziggurat? Why do our people cry for salvation from foreign oppression?" the Duchess interjected sharply. "Surely you do not wish to bury your failure with empty platitudes about your alleged heroism."


It took a lot of Siobhan's self-control not to silence the woman. "I'm getting to that. The context is important. Military campaigns are a complex business, as anyone who's ever led one knows. We suffered significant casualties, but held the line. Ultimately, our fleet was unable to secure space supremacy and enemy reinforcements broke through. We were overwhelmned numerically. Our forces fell back and as the Galactic Alliance withdrew, I deemed it best to leave. I did so with a heavy heart, but the preservation of our army is more important than my pride. We were able to evacuate several million Eldorai who sided with us."


"So, in other words, you withdrew out of naked fear," the Duchess thundered. "This is disgraceful. Truth be told, even though you are not of Eldorai blood, I expected more of you, Kerrigan. Why did not you stand your ground and fight to the last like the Martyrs of Thermiscyra?"


If looks could kill, the Duchess would have been vaporised right this instant. "Are you accusing me of cowardice? Me, who stormed the same trenches with my troops and shared the same risks? Me, who has time and again saved your people from doom? Mark my words, I am what stands between you and the Sith. Armchair generals who sit in their cushy chairs drinking champagne while pontificating about heroism and martyrdom are not qualified to judge me. Without this fleet, Tygara would be defenceless. Without this army, it would be gravely weakened."


"If Ashira had been with us, she would have given our forces victory. Perhaps she did not favour us because we gave command to monkeighs. Your fleet had the, in your own words, mightiest warship in the Galaxy, yet it failed. Perhaps you chose the wrong admiral. Maybe the traitors have cast a wider web than you would have us believe. Why did the Angelii not spearhead the assault on the invaders? They should have been the tip of our righteous sword," one baronness, a fairly junior noblewoman who was obviously jumping on the bandwagon, hissed.


"I'm most interested in the matter of the traitors," Tarissa suddenly interjected. "Lady Countess, you've done a great service to the Eldorai in the past and I long considered you a friend. You are worthy of respect and carry an Eldorai soul in your breast...but this is deeply disturbing."

Her words were laced with honey, but then she went for the jugular. "As commander, was it not your responsibility to ensure that your soldiers were loyal beyond reproach? If your troops were so successful, then the only logical explanation is that they were even more infested with foul vipers than you claim. How can we be certain that there are no more traitorous snakes lurking in the shadows, ready to strike? This is a sign from the Goddess. We lost because our forces were impure and gave command to foreigners whose ears are deaf to Ashira."

If I made a mistake, it was being too merciful to you lot. You'd sell out your people for thirty pieces of silver. "I will not allow anyone to soil the honour of my troops! Or mine. The backstabbers were an isolated, pathetic clique of cowards whose insurrection was put down, Vortanra. They chose to betray at a poor moment because they were surrounded by loyalist troops. A purge is taking place to rid our forces of treasonous vipers."

The words fell off her tongue like hateful drops of acid. "If there are any more, they will be found and destroyed. As will anyone else who undermined our campaign and now selfishly tries to profit from our defeat. I think it is no coincidence that Santaissa is in turmoil at this very moment."

"Is that a threat? Are you casting aspersions on the dignity of the Matriarchy's Peerage? Trying to divert attention from your failure and that of your commanders? So you say, just as you promised to liberate Kaeshana from the invaders. You made deals with the traitorous Dashdae Eldorai, did you not? Ladies of the Council, I cannot in good conscience entrust command to Kerrigan. She is not an Eldorai, she has shown nothing but blatant disrespect for this high house and thinks herself our queen."


"Lady Kerrigan, you're doing yourself no favours with your arrogant comportment. The violence is deplorable, but our people are venting because they are angry about poor sisters on Kaeshana being forced into foreign servitutde. You're seeking refuge in absurd conspiracy theories to distract from the matter at hand. As much as it pains me to admit, I must agree with my honourable friend, Her Grace the Duchess of Caladan. We Eldorai are not a colony, we are a proud race created by the Goddess herself. We are not your vassals or hirelings."

Several other nobles joined the call, which soon became a loud chorus. Siobhan grit her teeth, her irritation gave way to burning rage. She clenched her fist in anger. Making a blue blood choke on her own words sounded very tempting right now. Bitterness flooded her soul, which was black with a desire for retribution. I'm going to kill someone before the day is over.

 

[HK-36]

[member="Joza Perl"],


"Alright, I will see you soon, Firemane will probably send or attempt to get relief forces to Kaeshana as well, I know for a fact we were able to get some refugees away from the planet with our retreating forces. A group of civilians were smuggled onto our medical transports after the FO cruiser crashed into the planet, they claim they were held as hostages by one of the Ren disciples but when it was clear her commands to speak with a Jedi would go unanswered she left them in the care of their medics, who were cooperating at the time with our own combat surgeons sent to help the survivors of the crash and managed to take the civilians with them."

In truth this version was a bit twisted and muddled by the droid, although recounting of events that he would go with, while in fact Ren handed the civilians over to Abregado medical droids willingly simply because they were the closest and she had to go help her allies. However, demonizing their enemies would serve them better in the long run rather than giving them some depth,

"It might be difficult to get to Kaeshana at this point though, at least until we would break through their naval forces in the area."

Either way, while the machine didn't had access to especially amazing medical droids, he did had rather well developed engineering and construction droids he would always be able to lend to them to help out the less fortunate.


[member="Caerys Argente"],

The shuttle touched down on the designated landing pad, its bay opening up to allow a party of Greycloak and couple combat surgeon-engineers brought along both as bodyguards in case someone tried to intercept their transport and to assist in the operation once they get things started,

"Captain Aurangzeb?"

The Greycloak would greet the representatives with a salute, gesture mimicked by his companions as they stepped closer to the Mon Calamari and Doctor Osway, to whom the machine would look and greet her with a soft bow,

"Doctor."

The droids were probably briefed ahead of time about who the woman was and that the Mon Calamari was with Firemane, although plenty of things about the organization was still a surprise to ARGH representatives, for example they apparently had an outpost on the tropical planet? It was probably populated by droid hermits cut off from the rest of the Barony.

"We have brought shipments of cybernetics and HRD models with us, the latest in Abregado augmentation development, we are ready to proceed at once and speak with the injured soldiers."

Of course the procedure itself would have to wait a bit since HK was still on his way to meet with Joza and Outback lads, as mentioned previously it was a long way to sail through.

 

[Anya Venari]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

Anya sat and watched as the nobles began an assault on Siobhan. It stunk of premeditation and cashing in on a defeat for their end.
To Anya’s certain opinion, Caelia Vortanra, Duchess of Caladan, was a pugnacious old hag who had been waiting for the time and ammunition to attack Siobhan. She was one of those who had never been reconciled to Firemane playing a part in Eldorai affairs.
Yet she was not a ringleader. Her role was as figurehead. Anya’s eyes fell on Tarissa Cadalthor.

Ah

Yes, that made sense. Her false words of friendship, her ambition, her line of descent. What better time than now to start making her move?

Anya was conflicted. She had acquired the throne with the tacit support of the nobility by promising not to infringe on their rights and to rule in a looser manner. She was still the Queen though, and the Star Queen was shackled by nothing as bourgeois as a constitution or strong council. She was an enlightened despot, and though she was enlightened she knew she could be a despot.

And there was Siobhan. Her friend. Once her lover. She owed Siobhan much, more than she’d like to admit. Siobhan’s case was fair, but she was known for her flaming temper. Were they poking the Cylix in hopes she would lash out? It seemed they were close to succeeding.

There was a brief moment where she considered her options. Finally, she rose.

“Enough!” she called. At the same time she pressed the button to kill all the other microphones in the room. The voices could still be heard, but no longer amplified.

Faces turned to her. Some surprised, some angry, a few hopeful.

“That is quite enough, Duchess Cadalthor, Duchess Vortanra, Baroness Thalus. Your points have been noted.”

The Duchess turned her angry face to the Queen. “Your Majesty, I would trouble you not to interrupt these proceedings,” she said boldly.

It was rare to see Anya angry, to the point that when it happened it was something of a shock, like a tamed animal bearing its fangs.
“No, Duchess, I will trouble you not to interrupt me. I am the Star Queen, by the Grace of Ashira the Great Goddess, and you will not silence me!” she thundered.

Taken aback, none of them could reply.

In a quieter tone she continued. “The Eldorai are a proud people. The Eldorai are a strong people. The Eldorai are a resilient people. What we are not is a welcoming people. We fought for centuries against the Kar’zun and then crushed them so thoroughly that they will never threaten us again. When the outsiders first came to Kaeshana we penned them in a ghetto so that their ways and beliefs would not escape and ‘infect’ our people. And now, after all Countess Kerrigan has done, members of this Council would turn on her and shift all the blame for defeat to her.”

“Majesty, it was the human forces who-“ Thalus began.

“The defeat at Kaeshana has been painful. All defeats are painful, Baroness. I have examined the battle and its results closely from all sources. Though the most visible part of the battle, the defection of the Firemane forces was not the cause of defeat, I deem. Rather, the failure to keep and hold the blockade meant our position on the ground was untenable. A retreat was necessary to prevent a siege and worse calamity.”

“A blockade partly composed of human ships,” the Duchess groused.

“Yet mostly not,” Anya retorted. “When I am asked how we were defeated, I tend to credit this somewhat to the enemy as much as to our mistakes. Countess Kerrigan has done more in service of the Eldorai people than almost anyone. She brought order to not one but two coups, she helped move us to Tygara, to defeat the Xioquo and to rebuild our lives on this world. In this battle she was successful in winning her battle on the ground with noted Sith Lord Carnifex.”

“But it was her troops who were treasonous!” the Duchess said, aware she was losing the initiative.

Anya turned on her, and her face hardened into a grim look. “It is clear they acted without her knowledge. Could she have sought out the traitors more? Perhaps. But can everyone in this room swear that every one of their retainers is loyal? Let us say hypothetically that one of us had subjects causing disorder and chaos…without any involvement or ordering of course…should they be held accountable for these actions? Consider carefully.”

Her eyes turned, just for a second, to Tarissa Cadaldor. If she said 'no' then she could hardly blame Siobhan. If she said 'yes' and it was later discovered the disorder was caused by her....

Answer that, Duchess. Checkmate.

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Elpsis Elaris"]
Tegaea smiled ever so slightly.
“I think, dear Elpsis, that we’re all going to need as many prayers as we can get, given the situation below.”
She returned the hug.

“You’re not a disappointment, Elpsis, you have done great things. I am proud of you, and I know your mother and Siobhan are too…and I know Tempest loves you dearly too. Now go on, take care of those who cannot help themselves. Be the inspiration…but don’t overdo it,” she said the last in a fake motherly tone.

“If you need anything from us, just ask.”

 

[Elincia Alanis]

When she heard Host Leader’s voice, she couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “You don’t need to remind me every time...” She said with her usual “You are not my real mom” tone. She was just trying to lighten up the mood! Anyway, the Host Leader wasn’t the one throwing empty threats, so she moved on from that discussion and nodded to her order. By the time she was about to bring the still shocked human to safety, all chit hit the fan and there was a priest looking lady burning, a very angry ice lady running around, and now a sniper started to shoot random people. Throwing herself to a cover with the Host Leader’s warning, Elincia was mostly more excited than confused, after all, more heads to throw a spear since she didn’t get to do that in Kaeshana. However, it was soon revealed that the sniper wasn’t attacking them, but civilians. Whoever this sniper was, she probably didn’t like the government. Well, Elincia couldn’t blame her, but she wouldn’t go kill civilians just because she didn’t like something.


And after that, Host Leader has left the cover and started to run towards a building and sent out a wave of fire towards the upper window. Elincia looked at her with, like, “What the kark are you doing?” kind of look before she looked at the window and saw some suspicious movement. That look turned into “Oh, the sniper’s in there.” kind of one. When the Host Leader gave her the job to catch and take the sniper out, it was difficult for her not to shriek like an excited fangirl. Putting her intense emotions of excitement aside, she nodded. “I love you!” Facepalm. “I mean... uhh.. I got it!” And then she turned to the girl. “Well, you heard the lady. Come on, it’s going to be fun.” If she decided to tag along, they would arrive to the entrance of the building shortly afterwards. There were a lot of voices coming from the upper floor. Seemed like someone was in a rush.

“She’s still here.” Elincia whispered to the girl. “Let’s get her.”

xx


The girl continued to fire her bullets one by one, each hitting a civilian. It was wrong and she knew it. But if it meant Eldorai would finally ascend from the place that their human leaders put them into and take back Tygara from the offworlders, it was worth it, and their deaths would not be in vain. Boom... One more dead. She sighed. From the scope of her weapon, she could see the terror, she could hear the screams, shouting everywhere. Was she doing the right thing? No... No time for regrets. She was trusted with this job, and she was going to do it. For the greater good.

Out from the corner of eye, she saw some silhouettes moving towards the apartment she was hiding in. Immediately her attention went towards those silhouettes, and she saw... the Host Leader. Her heart started beating so fast, it almost felt like it was about to explode. She left her weapon there and stood up, thinking of an escape route. When she heard the sound of fire coming from the window, it was too late to react, and it hit her, burning her flesh in a very, very painful way, causing her to scream. She barely threw herself to the ground to survive, but it hurt every second she tried to breathe. If Host Leader’s attack was more focused, it would kill her there immediately.

However, there was no time to relax. Pushing herself to stand up, she growled like a dying bear as she ascended. It was difficult to even stay conscious but she couldn’t afford getting caught.

From the lower floor, she heard footsteps. They were already here.


The window.

xx


When Elincia and Alize arrived to the second floor, there was no one there. Since Host Leader probably didn’t roast her out of existence, she probably ran away.
Elincia immediately started investigating the room. The weapon was there, still warm. And she saw how effective the firewave was, as some of the furniture turned to ashes already, even if it was just a random attack. Mental note not to make her mad. Speaking of examining the room, there was another window to her right, and it was open. “Wonder where she went.” She said sarcastically and moved towards the window, just to see there was a balcony area right below, and stairs going up to the roof. “I always wanted to chase a bad guy across the rooftops!” She said and turned to the girl. “Alright, she is probably not that far. We can ‘cut her off and take her out.’ ”


And thus, she jumped below and took the stairs to the rooftop. She could see someone running away. It was most probably the sniper, or some crazy homeless guy who has nothing to lose. The former was the right choice.

xx


“They are after me. I need an evac!” She shouted to her holocomm.

“You knew the risks. We can’t risk to get you out. No evacs. If you get caught, destroy the evidence.” Destroy the evidence? What a way of saying “Kill yourself.”

“Are you kidding me?! You told me it was necessary. You made me kill civilians. Now our own kind is after me. The Angelii is after ME! They think I am a traitor! ”

“The Angelii is there?”

“YEAH! I saw their Host Leader or whatever the kark she calls herself! I almost burned to death!”

“It seems they have gone corrupt as well. See, sister. The offworlders have turned us against us. This shall not stand. For Eldorai.”

“For Eldorai.”

And the comm went silent. So, she was alone.


She was startled when an ice spear suddenly flied just an inch away to her face.

xx


“Dammit. I missed!” Elincia shouted as their game of tag began. Of course, the sniper attacked back with her blaster, several bolts coming their way. She didn’t seem so scary when she didn’t have that huge gun now, did she? “They hurt a lot. Suggest keeping your head down.” She said as they continued to run after her.
And it went on and went on like this until the sniper didn’t find any more roofs to jump on and if she tried to jump down, it was definitely death.


“So...” Elincia said after catching her breath, sniper’s back was turned to them. “Nowhere to run. Finally.”

xx


She looked down. It would kill her immediately if she jumped. She was caught, evidence destroyed... Did she want that? Did she want to die at some back alley of a building, in pieces, known as a traitor and civilian killer even if she wanted the best for the Eldorai?

“You are a member of the Angelii, right? Why? Why are you protecting them?” She looked at Alize with disgust. “You are an Eldorai... You are one of us. Why are you protecting the ones that are holding us back for all those years?” It wasn’t a question for the Angelii, rather for herself.

“Dude. Believe me. I hate the government as much as you do, but I don’t go kill civilians just to prove they are bad. I mean, there are protests, and there are “protests”. You karked up. And there are consequences. So are we having the ‘final boss fight in rooftops scene’ or not? I got more people to beat up and we wasted enough time playing tag.” The Angelii answered. What was that answer? Did Angelii start to take children to their ranks? It showed her how bad the situation was. How bad the ones in the lead have become.

She laughed...

Laughed...

Laughed more...

She wasn’t going to die here.

Not to these children.


“For Eldorai.” And then she attacked like a feral beast having her last stand.

xx


Cue epic fight scene, explosions, blaster bolts, death, gore, romance... No romance. Well, maybe later if the fire lady ever decided to notice her.

When the sniper swung her blaster towards Elincia’s head with quite a speed, she jumped back immediately, already knew that it was going to go bad because her choice of words weren’t appreciated by people around her. Reflexively her hand went to her sarix and she rushed towards her, who was preparing to unleash a barrage of blaster bolts against both. However, it was unfortunate that Elincia knew space magics and knew how to disarm her weapon. Cryomancy was useful for that stuff. So she concentrated on her Sciia and the sniper’s blaster, concentrated and concentrated until she felt that her whole body got colder. And then boom! When the sniper pulled the trigger, the weapon malfunctioned because of the frozen parts and damaged itself.

“Kark it!” She said and took out her melee weapon which looked like a fancier version of a sarix. So a melee battle between the two started. It was difficult to concentrate and enhance herself with the ice powers because Elincia was busy trying not to die from the feral Eldorai’s attacks. She seemed a lot more experienced than her when it came to that stuff, but she could protect herself from her attacks for now. So if things went bad, Elincia might have to start playing dirty.

And they did.

They continued to battle for a while, each trying to find weaknesses and outplay each other. Elincia managed to disarm her opponent once more, as she was tired from getting burned and all. She smiled as she swung her sarix one more time, aiming to kill her, however, she didn’t expect this sudden event.

First she was hit in the stomach by a very fast kick, which made her almost wanna throw up, dropping her weapon from the impact, then another one right to her face, which sent her flying for a second then she hit the ground.

A few bones were broken.

“Ugh...”

Once Elincia hit the ground, the sniper immediately went for her weapon, and then she saw Alize. A different expression, almost a creepy one, could be read from her face as she ran towards her, ready to attack.

[member="Alize Rosenheim"] ((Sorry for godmodding you a little bit, wanted to get the story moving. Feel free to do whatever you want to do with the sniper. )) [member="Kaida Taldir"]

 

[Kaida Taldir]

New Santaissa,


New Santaissa. The Eldorai were a resilient people. They were a proud people and probably a strong one. They also had the misfortune of being almost continuously ruled by tyrants, which made their present Star Queen the exception. Alas, they were neither a forgiving nor accepting people.


Loyalist troops were doing their best to contain the turmoil. The use of rubber bullets, stun blasters and knockout grenades was giving way to the employment of lethal force as the riots had turned violent. Were all these disturbances merely an expression of the anger the Eldorai people felt? Or were dark forces at work, seeking to exploit the failed campaign for their own ends? After all, Eldorai had an unhealthy fixation with Byzantine intrigue. Perhaps it was a bit of both.


Whatever the case may be, the Gunship bearing [member="Tempest"], [member="Taryc Ap'Irae"], [member="Six-O"] and whatever allies might have joined them on their noble quest would not be able to land unmolested. As soon as it swooped down from the heavens and entered the capital's airspace, it came under heavy fire from Eldorai militants. There was a strong wind, and crimson beams of laser fire lanced across the sky.


Using the building as cover, the zealots would open fire with heavy repeating blasters and RPGs. In addition, they called upon the power of the Goddess Ashira, or rather the Force, for there were Sciians among them. The terramancers would use telekinesis and magnetism in an attempt to damage or rip off pieces of the gunship, aiming to crash as they generated a strong magnetic field. On the bright side, this meant Firemane's new allies would get enemies to fight!

Whether things would go as poorly as for the Black Hawk on a planet called Earth in a Galaxy far, far away was obviously still open!

​

xxx


It was enhanced interrogation time. Fortunately, the Eldorai military had a rather...pragmatic attitude. The more stomach-churning, vicious punishments had been abolished by the Venari Reforms, but when push came to shove, the Eldorai could be quite unforgiving.


The renegade was in a poor shape. One hand had been cut off by a lightsabre, leaving a stump, the other had been frozen and afflicted with frostbite. He breathed heavily. Kaida could smell his fear. "I'm just a minion, a cog in the machine. I don't know who gives the orders...aaargh," he cried out in pain when telekinetic pressure wrapped around his injured leg.


Kaida squeezed. Very hard. "Answer the question," she spat coldly.


"This is tyranny. You should stand with us, you queen!"


"Who's giving the orders?" Drawing upon her Sciia, she began to flood his lungs with water. Not enough to kill him, but enough to make him feel like he was drowning.


Pain, anger, fear and stress were written across the prisoner's face. "For...the Eldorai." Kaida was not fast enough to hear the ripples in the Force, as the renegade used the last vestiges of energy to activate a concealed thermal detonator. Her Force senses prickled and she backflipped, calling the comm device into her grasp as she leapt. There was a tremendous explosion, a bright flash of light and the renegade let out an agonised scream when his body was ripped apart.


Idiot. You won't find 'heaven', Kaida crashed into the pavement, having not fully escaped the blast. Ouch. Her body ached, but she had not been ripped apart. As dust rose into the air she gripped the comm device. It was a bit damaged but still functional. Her jaw tightened when she checked the last transmissions. She had to get to Tempest.


xxx


[member="Alize Rosenheim"], [member="Elincia Alanis"]


The sniper had been flushed out of her cover, but still needed to be caught - or killed. Askari had not felt her life being extinquished, so she assumed the traitor had survived the wave of fire. Elincia had gone after the traitor with Alize in tow, and now there was a standoff on the rooftop.


What did Askari do? Well, the Host Leader had wanted to join in the fight, and quickly hastened down the street towards the building. Unfortunately for her, the sniper had backup. First she was dashing down the streets, then she heard a loud staccato that heralded bolter fire.


Bolters were deadly weapons, especially against Force-users, which was why the Eldorai had adopted them after a lot of feet-dragging and hand-wringing on the part of conservative leaders who refused to give up antiquated Stasers because they were tradition. This made it especially annoying when someone used them against you.


What worked in her favour was her enhanced speed, for her Force-enhanced sprint took her outside of the immediate blast radius. The same applied to the bolter's slow firing rate. Her armour ensured that the cloud of shrapnel did not tear through her skin. It did not make the shockwave's blast any less painful though.


Her left arm felt like it had gone numb, and there was a strong pain in her chest. The Host Leader coughed up blood and cursed as she pulled herself into cover. Ranged weapons were so dishonourable! Discipline honed by years of service took over as she drew upon her Sciia, manipulating the air currents.


A cloud of dust and smoke was driven before her as she charged, holding her gleaming sarix in her good hand. Another explosive bolt leapt out of the bolter, but it was poorly aimed and she was already gone, pushing the wind before her before leaping through the air. The sword's containment field significantly enhanced its cutting power, making it almost on par though not equal to that of a lightsabre.


The glowing blade clove through the bolter like a hot knife through butter when the surprised rebel suddenly found herself engaged close up. But before Askari could deliver the killing blow, her masked adversary angled her body and smashed her gauntleted fist into the Angelii's face. Askari wore a helmet, but did not protect from concussion and her enemy's strength was enhanced by her Sciia. The powerful force of the blow snapped her face and forced her back a bit.


Composing herself, Askari brought up her blade in time to intercept the traitor's Sarix and redirect it away from her body when it rushed towards her with lethal intent. Sparks flew as the luminescent blades clashed. Presumably she'd be unable to get to the roof in time before the situation with the sniper had been resolved one way or another.

 

[Farryn Loragwyn]

“Are you blind? I am no Dashdae Sciian," Farryn called to the Angelii warriors. Left with nowhere to run the albino Eldorai had been forced to go on the offensive. She would sooner join Calix in the afterlife than allow herself to be captured and taken to a facility where she risked being at the mercy of her treacherous sister, Faith.

"If your intention is to arrest me then please, kill me now. The fate that would await me will make a death sentence seem like a light tap on the wrist," Farryn frowned as she turned to face the two warriors, her body taking an offensive stance as if preparing to pounce on one of the Angelii. With no weapons at her disposal, the dishonoured noble was forced to rely on her bare hands - smooth and inexperienced.

Adrenaline coursed through the albino's veins as she rushed towards the paladin with a sphere of fire in her hands. She had no intention of surviving her suicidal attack and was ready to be engulfed by the hot fire. "Sorry Calix," she muttered, hoping her twin would understand as she attempted to land a punch on the Angelii. If she was going to die, she would not allow Faith the pleasure of being her executioner. Her fate was one of the few things she had left that was her own.

[member="Kaida Taldir"]​

 

[Alize Rosenheim]

Alize froze in fear as the sniper rushed towards her, melee weapon in hand and with what appeared to be a rather twisted expression on her face. Not good. Armed with only the most basic of telekinesis abilities, and a hold-out bolter the Countess had gifted to her around her neck, the Epicanthix-hybrid quickly snapped herself out of her daze and extended her arm.

Drawing upon the Force, Alize sent a weak Force push at her would-be assailant that only stumbled the Eldorai at most and quickly took this opportunity to carefully arm the hold-out bolter as the Countess had shown her and fired. The young noblewoman, unaccustomed to combat was not much of a marksman and the round hit the sniper in the torso.

Distressed by having been forced to draw her weapon and fire on another, Alize trembled uncontrollably. It was one thing to watch another get shot but another thing completely to do the deed yourself. "I'm sorry," she muttered in a state of shock not sure how to react to what she had just done. Part of her wanted to break down but that was something she could not allow herself to do - she needed to stay strong. "Stay away," Alize ordered the sniper, sending another weak Force push her way in an attempt to keep her away.

Unfortunately for the Epicanthix-hybrid, the sniper sensed her weakness and shrugged off her feeble Force push then swung her blade at the young woman. Scared and with not much she could do, Alize concentrated on the blade of the sarix and drew upon the Force again to slow it until it came to a stop a few centimetres shy of her decolletage then placed her hands around the blade of the weapon, attempting to pull it out of the sniper's hand - or at the very least push it away from her.

Blood trickled out of the noblewoman's palms and down her arms as the blade cut into her flesh as the two women fought over the blade. "Help!" Alize called at the Eldorai that had accompanied her as she tried to maintain her grasp on the weapon. She was all that remained of her mother's legacy. She could not let her life be snuffed out without a fight.

[member="Elincia Alanis"]​

Spoiler

No worries! I should be thanking you for putting Alize in such an interesting situation!

​

[member="Kaida Taldir"]​

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Anya Venari"]


Betrayal.


Siobhan had expected to come under fire. Equally, she'd turmoil. The same applied to Eldorai nobles trying to exploit the defeat for their own power games. She was angry, disappointed and, in a way, hurt. She'd more in service of the Eldorai than almost anyone and this was the way they thanked her?! They were incapable of looking past the fact that she'd been born a human. No more compromises. You need me. I don't need you.


Anya, unexpectedly arose, and spoke out in her favour, forcing the Duchess of Caladan on the defensive. It raised Siobhan's spirits, but her desire for retribution did not abate. A line in the sand had to be drawn. I'm going to destroy you. I just have to decide how painful I'll make your fall, her eyes locked with those of Tarissa.


"I do not see any connection, Your Majesty between your hypothetical situation and this case, but it is old Eldorai law that the mistress is responsible for her choice in retainers. Of course, betrayal does not exist in the those true Eldorai souls," the aristo responded primly.


"Strange that betrayal is so frequent then. Usually committed by those who profess their loyalty the loudest," Siobhan interjected coldly. "Mistakes were made. They shall be reviewed, and we'll learn from them. I find the spirit of backbiting, ingratitude and pettiness that permeates this council disgraceful. If it persists, it bodes poorly for the Eldorai Matriarchy and the Tygaran Alliance as a whole. You want my position? Be my guest, if you think you can shoulder the responsibility. But I'm certain that those who yell the loudest will be the first to flee the field and demand I pull the chestnuts out of the fire."


"Why...you ungrateful monkeigh..."


"After everything I did for you, you dare question my loyalty? You, who time and again have depended on me to save the day. It is you who are ungrateful. We saved your race from extinction. All of you, do not take me for granted. Because I know you'll be begging for my help the moment invaders descend upon Tygara. I am not your minion. Firemane is not your minion. We can go on without the Eldorai Matriarchy."


"Perhaps this council should go into recess. With your permission, Your Majesty" the Baroness Thalus quickly stepped in before the crone could say something scathing that might escalate matters. Being a junior noble, she was more cautious.


Without a further word, Siobhan stepped off the podium and limped away. She felt utterly disgusted. With a press of a button, she discreetly activated her comm once she was out of earshot, calling her wife. "Meeting's going poorly. Iidha kunt la yatun 'iilaa huna, wa'ana ealaa washk alaikhtinaq shakhs." [If you don't come here, I'm going to choke someone]

 

[Tempest]

[member="Taryc Ap'Irae"] [member="Six-O"] [member="Nima Tann"] [member="Kaida Taldir"]

(Moving on here. Six can post when he’s next available)

Fortunately for Nima, her ‘debriefing’ was interrupted by a breathless aide.

“Mistress Tann, there’s been some trouble down in the city. Major Tempest has requested that you come at once and join her in trying to find the perpetrators.”
The Firemane officer could only sniff in disapproval as Nima got out of the awkward situation.

At the gunship Tempest held out a hand to Nima. “Thank you for coming. Kaida’s in pursuit of some traitors. I’m hoping she’ll give us a target on the way down.”

XXX

Unfortunately there was a pretty hostile reception awaiting them. As they came in, heading for the battle lines, they came under heavy fire.
“Evasive action, hold on!” the pilot yelled as she turned them through some pretty severe yaws and dives.
“We do not have lock on enemies. Hold fire, that’s a civilian area,” Tempest ordered. The cowards were hiding in one of the many prefabricated building districts. They could not open fire without potentially killing the hiding civilians.
However, the gunship was not designed to be a nimble interceptor, and it soon took hits. That was fine, but the shields wouldn’t last forever, and finally a missile managed to score a hit. The hit itself was absorbed by the shields, but the blast and shrapnel penetrated, tearing into the hull. Several more blaster cannon rounds peppered the hull, blowing sections apart.

“We’re hit, going down! Going down!”

Alarms screamed as the gunship spun like a top and the pilot fought for control.

“There! Bring us down!” Tempest shouted. There was an open area. A park, sportsfield, it didn’t matter, it’d give them something to land on.

Ignoring her pounding heart, Tempest called on the Force. Whilst it should be impossible to lift oneself without reference to another object, this was the Force. She didn’t have the ability to stop them on a dime, but she could raise the nose up a few degrees so that when they landed they skidded along the ground, demolished a chain link fence and finally ran up against a tree.

With a groan, Tempest unbuckled herself, glad she’d been wearing her armour which had protected her from whiplash.
The pilot had not been so lucky. A pole from the fence had smashed through the windscreen and knocked her out cold. Tempest sheared off the metal pole with her lightsabre and tossed it outside before heading aft.

“Nima? Six? Taryc?” she called, stumbling into the passenger compartment. She kicked open the door, and then wished she hadn’t. Militia, angry mob members, even a few defecting soldiers were all moving forward.
“Command…this is Tempest. Our Archon is down…we need immediate evac…”

“Command, we have a white eagle down. Repeat, White Eagle 1 is down. Major Tempest is alive. Other passengers conditions unknown. They are requesting immediate support.”

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="HK-36"], [member="Joza Perl"]


Sunny, tropical Arkas was the perfect place for droid hermits to settle! Who knew, maybe the Greycloak would run into immigrants from Mechanus. Regardless, it was also a good place for wounded soldiers to convalesce and get their strength back. Hence why the Alliance had brought many injured Firemane and Eldorai soldiers here. It was a lot more tranquil than eternally turbulent Tygara!


"I'm sure you understand that the augmentation process will be strictly voluntary. There will be no pressure on my patients. Our own medical corps will be involved from the start to finish. You may speak with the patients, but I shall be present," she said in her best stern matron voice.


"With that in mind, I'm very interested in your cybernetics. I've been following the progress of the New Beginning Project with great interest," she added in a softer, more pleasant tone. Gesturing to the droid she led him and his minions away from the landing pad.


They would eventually reach a large building that served as a hospital. The guards let Osway through without a fuss, so the Greycloak could pass in to. Soon they would reach one of the rooms with badly maimed troopers.


xxx


If the Angelii had been in a more rational state of mind, they would have noticed that Farryn was as Force-sensitive as a plank, which precluded her being an evil witch. Or any sort of witch, for that matter.


However, they'd seen a malevolent ghost appear out of thin air and so the logical conclusion was that she was a Dashdae Sciian. In the heat of battle, rational thought was a rare commodity.


The girl death charged one of the Angelii and the punch connected. It was a blow landed by an inexperienced hand, though perhaps the Angelii was surprised by the brazen maneouvre. However, being a trained soldier, she rallied herself quickly.


Since her concentration had slipped for a moment, the fireball burst forth from her hand and fire surged across the ground. There was a flash of bright light. The ball of flame had been launched before being fully prepared, so it was less devastating. Farryn might be able to dodge the worst of it. If not, she'd she'd suffer very unpleasant burns.


The Angelii's hand curled into a strong fist and she launched a powerful blow against Farryn's head, aiming to knock her out. Her comrade had positioned herself behind Farryn, cutting off her retreat. Fire washed over the second Angelii, ahd she called upon water and ice to dose it, which might have had the side-effect of turning the ground ahead of her slippery. Her Sarix gleamed in the bright light of the sun.


[member="Farryn Loragwyn"]

 

[Farryn Loragwyn]

Instinctively, Farryn covered her face with her arms as the fireball surged towards her and stumbled backwards a few steps in a futile attempt to dodge the attack. The death that she had craved for moments ago now filled her with fear, forcing her to realise that death was not as peaceful as she had previously imagined.

A pained scream followed by the sickening scent of charred flesh filled the street moments later. Farryn’s right arm which might have been once described as a soft, milky white was now black and dry, charred by the fire and revealed the layers of skin, fat, flesh and bone inside while her other arm was left with a disgusting leathery texture, puss white in colour. However, despite the extent of the injuries on her arms, they did not hurt. Instead, the pain emanated from her legs that had been littered with angry, watery blisters.

Left in a state of shock by the sight of her arms and the pain in her legs, Farryn was no longer aware of her surroundings, leaving her immobile as a powerful blow knocked her to the ground unconscious – a welcome break from the pain.

[member="Caerys Argente"]​

 

[Nima Tann]

Luckily enough, the debriefing ended before it could be more awkward, if that was possible. Nima nodded, and got up from the chair, seeing the disappointed expression on the officer's face as she moved towards the exit.

"Please go on. We can continue our talk later." She said, with a tone which was professionally concealed from emotions. However, Nima could understand that she was pretty annoyed. Perks of being a mentalist, one thought.

Oh well, duty calls!

Soon, she arrived to the gunship and met [member="Tempest"] there, responding to her hand by extending hers. Even though she didn't like the hand contact very much and it made things awkward in her opinion, Tempest wasn't a stranger. "I am happy to help." She responded, and added a smile. She remembered a [member="Kaida Taldir"] from before, it was one of the first times she lost her calm. Well, facing her again would definitely be awkward. Then as it was the time to depart, she moved towards the passenger compartment, seeing some familiar and new faces around. [member="Taryc Ap'Irae"] helped them in Kaeshana, and [member="Six-O"] as well, even though she didn't meet personally.

Of course, it wasn't easy. As soon as they appeared above the city, they got attacked. Luckily, the seats were secure enough and she wore her armor still. However, it didn't mean that she was fully secure. The movement of the ship could throw her body left and right, and continued to get more intense as more attacks followed.

And boom, they got hit by a missile.

As the gunship started going down losing pieces by pieces, everywhere was violently shaking and it seemed they were in a huge trouble, she helped Tempest to get them on the ground without dying. The alarm voices coming from the ship as they descended made her headache worse and worse.

The voices were getting louder. Louder and louder. Her headache was following the pattern.

At some point as they got closer to the ground, Nima looked like she wasn't fully there, her eyes fixed at one point, with an expression like she was thinking about something. She felt anger, pain, and something else.

A feeling of a distant memory.

Traitors. All of them. I will kill them all. Make them pay for what they...

But then she came back to her senses, after the crash painfully threw her body around and pushed the limits of the safety belts, as the ship hit the ground. "Ugh..." She groaned and looked around. Well, it definitely didn't look very good for the ship. She heard Tempest's voice and proceeded to free herself from the safety belts. "Tempest? Are you okay?" Once free, she stood up and examined herself to see if she had any more unwanted wounds, she was lucky this time. And soon, Tempest barged in the compartment.

However, it wasn't the time for reunions, since they had a very angry welcoming committee coming towards them. And it didn't seem they were here to help.

"We have company." She said, as her hand slowly went towards her lightsaber.

 

[Elincia Alanis]

Elincia was semi-conscious after the kick to her face, she could see what the sniper was doing however she couldn't even move a muscle at that time. Luckily, instead of getting another hit that would potentially kill her, the sniper suddenly vanished from her vision, giving her time to take a breather.

Suddenly, things started to get a little shaky.

Where was she again? It didn't look like her bed.

From the background, muffled voices of conflict could be heard. She ignored most of them, probably her roommates fighting or something. They did this all the time, morning training they said. Who would wake up at that time anyway? She didn't understand.

"Help!"

Wait a minute... It didn't sound like them at all... Oh...

The memories of 15 minutes ago came back to her suddenly as she heard the young human's voice. They were in a battlefield fighting a sniper. And then she got hit in the face. In the face? She checked her nose, not surprisingly, it was bleeding. "You... karker..." Pushing herself from the ground to stand up, she examined her surroundings and immediately looked at where the voice was coming from. It seemed that the sniper attacked the girl, and she was in danger if she didn't do something. "Alright... Alright... Need to do something..."

It occured to her that the sniper wasn't paying attention right now. And Elincia had a clear shot that would be fatal. Well, the sniper didn't look like she had time to live anyway, especially her chest area looked pretty messed up.

It gave her an idea. She smiled broadly.

So, concentrating on her Sciia, she created an ice spear and once sharp enough, threw it with all the strength she had towards her chest.

The attack was a success and it penetrated through her chest, causing her to gag in pain and cough blood, making a mess. Before dying she looked at Alize, disgusted, however weak, getting weaker each second. First her eyes closed, then her grip loosened. The attack probably gave the human a heart attack because if she moved a little bit to the left, she would taste the sweet release of death herself, quite painfully, to add. But it worked in the end!

As the lifeless body of the sniper fell to the ground, Elincia moved forward. "You okay?" She asked to Alize, then looked at the sniper. "Well, I guess we can say, she 'faced' the consequences."

"Ahem... anyway, we should look for clues or something. The sniper seemed well trained."

[member="Kaida Taldir"] [member="Alize Rosenheim"] [member="Tempest"]

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

After giving Elpsis a last hug she’d sent the girl on her way. Now, as Tegaea started to get organising again, allocating supplies and assistance where needed, she got a call from her wife.
As soon as Siobhan started speaking in the foreign tongue she tapped a button on her comm to hear the translation. She grimaced.

“I’ll be there right away.” Tegaea had no idea what she could do other than be the cooling rod to the fire of Siobhan’s nuclear furnace. Her wife had come a long way but she understandably still resented being accused.

Tegaea considered the Eldorai themselves to be more trouble than they were worth most of the time. Sure, she had friend amongst them and it was their home, but most of the Eldorai never wasted any time in showing their disdain for them. It was as if many of them still believed that the Goddess had placed them alone in the galaxy to rule, and that all others were momentary barriers to be overcome by any means.

As she approached the door to the chamber the Eldorai guards stood aside. She was a Countess after all.
She could see her wife, that scowl of determination, the barely restrained air of annoyance.

“I’m sorry I got delayed, I came as soon as I could. I hope you’ve not started the choking already? I don’t doubt there are a good few who deserve it, but it probably wouldn’t help in the long run. So, what’s going on?”

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Tegaea Alcori"]


Sometimes being married to a Dark Side diva could be quite awkward. Sure, there were perks. The sex was phenomenal, she looked great in black and many people were too afraid to mess with you because your significant other could pull down Star Destroyers with her mind and did not angst about whether killing was bad.


However, there were clear downsides. Siobhan had more self-control than the average Dark Lord, but she still had a flaming temper. This was not always a winning combination given the obscene stuff she could do with the Force. She was quite close to taking advantage of a Renegade Interrupt.


So when Tegaea stepped into the chamber, Siobhan was pacing with the air of a caged Cylix that was trying to restrain the natural urge to sink its teeth into some meat and tear it apart. There was a deep scowl on her face. One did not need to be a Force-sensitive to perceive the waves of anger that rolled through her.


"No, I haven't choked anyone...yet. Though it's very tempting. Alternatively, I could drain these idiots' life force and leave them as desiccated, empty husks. But something tells me you'd disapprove of that and I'd have to sleep on the couch," Siobhan declared with a huff.


"I'm surrounded by cowards and traitors. Ungrateful, backstabbing imbeciles. After all I've done, they dare attack me! They dare question my loyalty and competence! Without us, their entire race would have gone extinct. How many of these worms have ever fought on a battlefield? Yet they spit on the sacrifices our brave troops made. Naturally Tarissa is leading the charge with some old fossile as her sockpuppet. Degenerate, inbred parasites."

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Tempest"], [member="Nima Tann"], [member="Taryc Ap'Irae"], [member="Six-O"]


Tempest, on 11 Mar 2017 - 08:15 AM, said:

“Command, we have a white eagle down. Repeat, White Eagle 1 is down. Major Tempest is alive. Other passengers conditions unknown. They are requesting immediate support.”

The crashed Gunship would be like a beacon to all who opposed the régime, Firemane's presence or just had a score to settle. A huge horde of militia, violent mob members, disgruntled soldiers and even some Force-using warriors would descend upon the survivors of the crash.


Their reasons to take up arms varied, but all were united by violent intent. Support for the beleaguered Firemane operatives had not arrived yet, which might give them some reason to feel cynical.


Far away from the melee, having left behind the broken remains of the suicidal renegade, Kaida had received the call. Shooting was still going on, gunships flew overhead and soldiers clashed with rioters. But by and large the Eldorai loyalists had the advantage as they cornered the renegades.


"High Captain, Major Tempest is under assault. Requesting permission to provide support," she spoke into her comm, ducking for cover as some blaster bolts came flying her way.


The response on the other end of the line was prompt. "Negative, Seraph. The Firemane group is too remote to mount an effective rescue. Quell the disturbances in your sector and secure the government district."


Some bullets ricocheted off a wall behind her, spraying everywhere. There were sound tactical reasons to stay put. The city was in uproar, casualties were an unfortunate, but an avoidable part of war. And yet it felt like a betrayal.


More to the point, Kaida trusted few people with the information she'd acquired. "Ma'am, no one gets left behind."


"Seraph, you have your orders."


"I'm disregarding them." The line went dead and she hastened towards a Yazgid IFV. "Askari, I'm going to reinforce Tempest. What's your status?"


"Peachey." Kaida was too far away to hear the clash of blades that made both combatants' Sarixi ring. But the strain in her subordinate's voice did not escape her keen elf ears.


"Don't bullchit me."


"You're cramping my style!"


"Don't make me look bad," she grunted and tapped a nearby Angelii on the helmet to get her attention. "Talon Miawraek, come with me. We're going to break through the traitors' ranks and secure the crash site. All hostiles are to be considered a traitor. Talon Naeven, you're under Askari's command. Support her. Move it, girls."


xxx

[member="Elincia Alanis"], [member="Alize Rosenheim"]


Meanwhile, Askari was...actually not doing so well. Of course, this was all Kaida's fault! Though the Host Leader would stubbornly deny this, internally she'd realised that trying to engage her opponent in melee, though the more honourable course, had been a bad idea.


She could already hear Kaida chiding her in that icy tone of hers. "Honour is a fancy word to excuse stupidity." She had not anticipated that her opponent might be a Sciian, for she had not sensed anything emanating from her power.


Bottom line, Askari was impaired from the injury inflicted by the bolter round, whereas the renegade had full use of both her arms and thus could attack her with a strength and relentlessness that the Angelii had trouble matching.


With an aggressive strike, the renegade brought her gleaming blade down towards Askari's head. The Angelii managed to sidestep, and tried to keep the initiative despite her disability.


Pulling her Sciia into her arm, she managed to score a cut across her enemy's right forearm when she slashed at her sword arm. But her opponent pressed on, the pain of her wound intensifying her strikes. "Vaena, I would have thought that you would stand with the people, not do the monkeighs' dirty work," her opponent spat hatefully.


Now Askari recogised her adversary. "People? I just see a rabid mob attacking innocents. Ashira wanted us to be better, Saraea." Both traded a series of cuts and blows before the Angelii, finding herself cornered and running low on energy, tossed a fireball. But the rogue managed to dissipate most of it and kept coming back.


"Ashira wanted us to be better than serfs and bootlickers," Saraea retorted fiercely. "Your ancestors would be rolling in their graves. You dishonor your blood." Forcing Askari's blade down, the rogue thrust the tip of her blade into her abdomen. Duraplast was a solid materiel that could even withstand shattergun projectiles and glancing blows from a lightsabre, but a Sarix had the kinetic energy to at least crack it and this one was amplified by the Force.


White spots danced in Askari's vision and pain flooded her. She fell to the ground and rolled about weakly. Blood dripped out of her wound. Her Sarix, the emblematic weapon of her order, had fallen out of her grasp. She could do little but roll when her opponent came for her again.


Fight with whatever weapons the Goddess gives you. Survival instinct took priority over honour and she managed to activate the hold-out bolter that rested upon her neck. As her opponent was about to launch the final blow, a miniaturised explosive bolt leapt from the gun. Askari's aim was off, but it tore into the rogue's shoulder.


As her enemy flailed about, this was the chance Askari needed to curl her legs around her and slam the rogue into the ground. As the traitor tried to stagger to her feet, a sweat-covered, panting, adrenaline pumped Askari was upon her, vibroknife in hand. "My own blood cast me out because I was an embarrassment, and dishonour themselves with selfish power plays." Then she cut her throat.


Askari slumped upon the corpse, bleeding, out of breath and exhausted. She needed some medical attention right about now. Her tired eyes turned skyward as she looked towards the building Elincia and the young human were on. "Alanis, sitrep."


xxx


[member="Farryn Loragwyn"]


Fire! Fire everywhere! Fortunately, the cryomancer of the team had the presence of mind to dose the place and put out the flames. It was too late to keep Farryn from suffering some rather unpleasant burn though.


Quickly, the cryomancer checked her pulse. "She's alive. Just about. Get a medic," she frowned beneath her helmet. "Sila...I sense no Sciia coming from her. She can't be a Dashdae Sciian."


"What the hell are you smoking? We saw her summon a demon. She's a dark witch," the pyromancer of the pair retorted.


"Who has no Sciiac power," the other insisted again.


"Well, she still summoned a demon. And refused to stand down. We were perfectly proportionate."


"We're screwed." The junior Angelii tried to stabilise the unconscious Farryn a bit, pouring some of her healing power into her. Fortunately, a medic would arrive on the spot soon.

 

[Six-O]

Deserters, Turncoats, Betrayers and Treasonists. It was a scenario as old as time, and equally as cruel. The organic condition incarnate. So strange, so foreign to Six-O. The machine often felt distantly out of place. For a good stretch of time, from now back to the incident on Kaeshana. He had become increasingly detached and removed from the spotlight. Present, but gone.

Prior to this doomed deployment, he and Xerrzyk had bandaged themselves up as rightly as they could. But given the heat of the inferno that sprawled out beneath their twirling Gunship, it could be genuinely proposed that they had done too little to make themselves intimately effective for hemic conflict.

But, thus was the life of a Warrior.

As their transportation failed, essential parts to it's proper functioning being flayed from it's strong hull. The Droid and the Klatoonian braced themselves for the discourteous impact that awaited.

Lower and lower they spiraled, barely able to firm their footing and grasp. Then impact. Silence. [member="Tempest"] had been the first to speak, Xerrzyk, whom earlier the woman had briefly met, and unaware-ly been informed that her lovely mocha texture had been the Slavers favored coloration. Quietly rose next to his Droid companion. His Scourge properly grasped in one hand, a Bolter in his other. With a new, non-custom, War Blade tucked behind his back and under the snug constraint of his belt.

"Wata!" the Alien growled back to the powerful woman as she barked names out under the snap, recoil and ricochet of approaching enemy hostiles.

He was first to plunge face through the bright gap of light that fled in to the passenger compartment as she heaved the door open to reveal the angry mob descending in from all directions. A guillotine tightening with every second around neck, ready to kick out their footing and choke out the very air the needed to breathe.

"Boska, yoieu bimhee! Yoieu cahwahh!" The Klantoonian barked once more, the grim barbs of his Scourge clanging menacingly against each other, like a wind chime of torment. It was a weapon both hideous in design and sickening to those who understood it's purpose and why this creature possessed it. "We nee' defens'!" He finally spoke out in broken basic. "Killee hoohah tytung!"

Xerrzyk had already began firing shots off towards the advancing renegades, half of his chest plate and face glinting blood and metal in the stabbing glow of penetrating light. The shadows of the dark, and destroyed Passenger Cabin blinking with sparks both from exposed, overhead wires, and Six-O. Whom for now was attempting to untangle his mechanical body from piercing slabs the devastated ship, pointed and sharp as daggers, that cut through and hung spitefully on to his deadly metal scaffolding.

It'd been a really rough time for the Death Droid as of late. Once free, these traitorous dogs were in for quite the horror show.

 

[Tempest]

[member="Taryc Ap'Irae"] [member="Six-O"] [member="Nima Tann"] [member="Kaida Taldir"]

Tempest did not know help was on the way. The transmitter was having some serious issues, and she was getting garbled messages. As far as she knew, she was on her own.

Seeing Nima and the two sinister mercenaries functioning was a relief though. It was pretty safe to say that at this point Tempest was more than a little peeved. She personally, and Firemane as a whole had fought with and for the Eldorai for years, and this was the reward?

One upside to her building rage was that the pain and shock from the crash was rapidly dissipating, to be replaced by a hot feeling in her chest.

The enemy was coming, closing in from all sides. Some had blasters, some had stasers, some just had primitive weapons. All of them were enemies.

“Nima, Six, Zerryk, keep them off me. I’m going to unleash some firepower.” She mangled the name of the bloody creature. At this point she didn’t have time for pronunciation.

Rather, climbing up the buckled stairs she came to the top rotary shattercannon. The bottom one had been smashed to pieces by the crash, and the gunship was tilted at a bit of an angle meaning she only really had a 180 degree firing arc. It was all she needed.

When one has a minigun capable of throwing out a wall of shot, it tends to be all the negotiating that needs doing.

She took aim at the oncoming hordes. Some were already firing blasters, and Six’s companion was replying. For just a moment she wondered if she should give a warning. Either a burst above or below to check them. Perhaps she should ask Nima to deliver a warning.

She didn’t. They had fired on her. They had disrespected her, plotted against her, showed their ingratitude. They were criminals and traitors. Once, perhaps, Tempest might have felt guilty about what she was going to do. Fifteen years of war and not a little Dark Side influence can really give one a different perspective.

There was a click, and then the rotary shatter cannon started rotating. At less than fifty metres it couldn’t miss, and the militia went down like wheat before the scythe. Like one would spray a garden with a hose, she raked the cannon back and forth a few times, making sure every group in her arc got a generous dose of fire.

When at last the magazine emptied and the barrel was fairly smoking there was nothing but screams and carnage on one side of the gunship. Many had survived by running back to the buildings, several of which were riddled with holes.

It was up to Nima, Six and friend to deal with the other side. Said other side was probably pretty miffed about seeing their friends mown down.

 

[Joza Perl]

“I have combat medics en route to the affected area. So far they haven’t received any trouble, though to be frank I’m not sure that the First Order would care for our help.”

It was an honest deduction of their behavior from what she’d seen. A machine that sought to be self-reliant. Hopefully their funding wasn’t all funneled into their massive military, leaving enough resources and competence to rebuild the infrastructure of Kaeshana. There wasn’t much on the war-torn planet already, and from what she’d learned of the Eldorai, they were not fond of outsiders. Simply put, the hard-fought war was a power play on both sides to her. And why wouldn’t it be? It made sense for two massive galactic powers to shore up their borders with each other.

Alan was now wriggling her arms, finally settled and cooing away. Joza didn’t want to bring the toddler along, but she’d be staying on Kal’Shebbol for a while and wanted to keep her family nearby.

“I’ll make sure that you have the proper permissions to enter Kal’Shebbol space. Travel safely. Coordinates to the medical facility will follow.”

x

Once on Kal’Shebbol, the maimed soldiers in question received solid medical care, building on the foundations of the treatment they’d gotten after the war. Most of the damaged was concentrated to their faces, with their eyes scorched to chit and heavy burn damage to the surrounding tissue. The rest of their wounds were generally minor, the scrapes and bruises and soreness wrought from war.

The dozen or so soldiers and Joza were waiting in a room, clinically white and sterile. The whole scene was a bit of a bizarre backdrop for the rough combatants, and despite the fact that they would possibly be getting implants, the mood was rather dismal. They were equal parts stressed and exhausted at this point.

[member="HK-36"]