Destruction on Fondor [Protectorate vs. One Sith]

[Soeht]

After @[member="Ayden Cater"]'s message on the intercom, Darth Apparatus turned his head to the left slightly and tilted it up. The condition of his Sith comrades was not readily available to him - at least in a clear manner to observers. He maintained this position as well as the attempt to choke out @[member="Chloe Blake"]. He tilted his head back toward Chloe.

"If they're caught," he began with a low voice, "So be it."

Then, Darth Apparatus turned fully back toward Chloe. He took a step forward with his left leg and threw out his left arm. Without both his hands as guides through the Force, he continued his attempt to crush the woman's throat.

 

[HK-36]

@[member="Darth Apparatus"] @[member="Chloe Blake"]
Apparatus may have been able to continue or even begin such attack if it was not for the fact that HK was still right there with Chloe to help apprehend him.
More so than that, he was armed now with Jorus' Czerka Headbanger, a jewel of the spacer's arsenal, the droid aimed the gun immediately at Apparatus when Chloe gave it to him in exchange for the stun cuffs.

Well the droid was ready and Apparatus did not do much to stop him from counterattacking or take cover from any potential intrusion from the droid towards his telekinetic attack. At least he did not prepare any, HK could not predict what immediate defenses Apparatus would have after all.
Either way, as soon as Apparatus raised his hand towards Chloe the droid pulled the trigger, unleashing the shotgun's payload, a stream of "gigantic stun rings, too large and diffuse to be blocked by a lightsabre" aimed at the Sith's chest and stomach area, the area of effect projectiles should encompass much of it decreasing chances to be dodged. Chloe could have even be hit by part of it, depends how close she would stand to the Sith.

 

[Chloe Blake]

He was a wily one, but to say that Chloe didn't expect this was moot. Like one ever trusts a Sith. A planet destroyer at that. None the less, she was in a bit of a tight spot. The Warden was not a specialist in the Force by any means, she was a generalist with about two handfuls of scattered skills from different Force philosophies, her wandering gypsy ways allowing her to get a little of this and that.

@[member="Darth Apparatus"], was by far, a master in telekinetics. Chloe was not. However, the battle meditation provided by the Lord Protector provided Chloe not with the strength in the Force per se, but in the manner of will. And a tremendous willpower at that.

So while she felt her throat start to tighten and constrain under the masterful vise grip of the Darth, Chloe kept calm. Focused. Being a Warden didn't mean she was defenseless, and she was well used to holding her breath. It would be seconds, but the seconds and the clear head were all she needed. For while the Darth held her throat in a vice grip, she in turn stretched out her own hand over at Apparatus's direction.

A mech like her didn't have to do much to have realised that Apparatus had limbs that were more mechanical in nature than organic. The way he'd handled himself earlier while wounded, and the rumors of the Lord were enough to give that bit of information.

So, while HK blasted the Headbanger at Apparatus' direction, Chloe also summoned the Force, as much as she could. One of the very few powers she'd learned early on came in handy then. Power rose in the Warden, only to stream out of her fingers towards the Darth in purple electric arcs. Ionize was a method to overload and damage electronic systems, and with enough pow, one could ultimately end up destroying a droid with the ionic energy.

Since all bets were off, that was exactly what she was going for, as his grip in her throat tightened with every second. She was aiming to destroy as much of Apparatus's electronic components as she could. Maybe, just maybe, she'd be able to disable or destroy enough of him to get him to drop her.

Considering they'd been originally just within twenty meters, and the Darth had not given Chloe the opportunity to cuff him before turning towards her and attacking, HK had some room to wiggle when it came to Chloe being hit. Thank Kalahira for the Darth Lord's impatience to choke her.

It saved her from getting stunned.

 

[Soeht]

As soon as @[member="HK-36"] pulled the trigger to his weapon, Darth Apparatus began to move. The vast distance between the two allowed for the Darth to strafe to the side enough to miss the first shots HK had fired. His grip on @[member="Chloe Blake"] dissipated upon the Darth’s movement. He had dropped his arms in mid-stride.

Yet just as the Darth managed to position himself between the HK unit and Chloe, purple arcs of Force electricity struck the Sith. He staggered forward with a couple steps. He hunched over for a moment. A loud grown between wheezes rang out. The Darth remained standing.

As purple sparks continued to surround him for the moment, Darth Apparatus murmured to himself, “Master…”

Two seconds later, Darth Apparatus lifted his head toward Chloe. He threw out his arms at the woman. Arcs of purple electricity flew toward her at that moment - threatening to do harm to her if not resisted. Darth Apparatus maintained such a stance for several seconds in his attempt to do harm to the woman.

 

[HK-36]

@[member="Darth Apparatus"] @[member="Chloe Blake"]
While Apparatus moved around the blast HK cocked the stun gun once more for another shot, he had 9 more of those anyway, and adjusted himself mimicking Apparatus's movements, closing the distance slightly and getting a better angle to avoid accidentally hitting Chloe as well.

As soon as Apparatus lifted his head after the ionic assault HK pulled the trigger once more, sending out another stream of gigantic stun rings from the Czerka headbanger. By now he would be closer to the 10 meters optimal range, meaning the spread of the weapon, according to its tech submission, would be between 4 and 6 meters wide, with 8 meters wide at distance of 20 meters. That was a bit of distance to strafe, especially for a cyborg just hit by ionization stream.

 

[Chloe Blake]

@[member="Darth Apparatus"] @[member="HK-36"]
Sweet air came rushing into her lungs as Chloe fell to the floor, Darth Apparatus' hold on her throat momentarily relieved. She fell on hands and knees, but she had no luxury of time to spare. The Sith was fast; blindingly so, as he'd managed to cut the distance betwen them short.

If she was relieved that her attacked was successful, she did not show it. Instead, her focus was on what came next, for Darth Apparatus had repaid her in kind. Tooth for tooth, eye for an eye.

Blue arcs of lighting came surging towards the Warden, and without further ado, both of her palms came up, held out towards the Darth as she gave a loud grunt -- and in pain. While the electricity did not dilbitate her, the sheer energy and focus in the Force needed to attempt to absorb the electricity through tutaminis was enough to put a strain on her. She was no specialist in Force Absorb, having only a general grasp on it -- pun intended. But the seconds she could use to attempt to absorb the bulk of the energy lashed out to her by the Darth were what would save her, for now.

Her arms shook, a bright glow reflecting off her palms as she used the Force to prevent the bulk of the energy from phasing her. However, she could not hold this up for long. Soon, her palms would start to feel the rush of heat akin to electric burns.

Afterall, she was no Spencer Jacobs.

If HK could just manage to stun him long enough for her to counter...

 

[Ayden Cater]

"Destroy the Sith transports." If his resolve was going to be doubted, then he'd illustrate how serious he was. Every transport without a verified Protectorate-registered transponder was tractored away from the station and obliterated with concentrated turbolaser fire. "Access the station's systems. Isolate every life-sign without a Protectorate tag. Deploy secondary emergency bulkheads to do so if you must." Ayden passed along the order while continuing his meditative efforts. Outside the Starfall, the Fondor Defense Fleet continued patrolling the shipyard and kept the whole are under interdiction. The only ways off that station were through a plea deal or in a body bag.

 

[Gorba the Hutt]

From the after action report of Captain Ze'ltik, Fondor Defense Fleet:
We carried out orders and opened fire on the closest transport not pinging a Protectorate IFF. The ship sustained critical damage to its engines and listed to starboard. I brought the Hawking around and targeted the transport's exterior guns. However, the hostiles released two escape pods at this time. I gave orders to fire on them and capture if possible. One was destroyed by turbolaser fire from the foreguns, but the other was caught in a tractor beam and hauled into the hangar. I had Lieutenant Nyje prep a strike team and gave orders to treat every individual inside the escape pod with extreme prejudice as we had intel that these hostiles were considered class 5. The strike team breached the escape pod, but in the ensuing firefight all the hostiles were eliminated or took their own lives rather than be captured. Save one. The strike team found an unconscious human male with a golden sword of unknown make and material. I gave orders to take him into custody and placed in the brig under high security watch, then relayed the message to the Lord Protector @[member="Ayden"] Carter. We'd captured one of them alive...

Tycho Shorn woke bleary-eyed. His head pounded with the force of a thousand drums. He uttered a soft groan and tried to stand. He found he could not. Through hazy vision he looked down and saw that he chained to the wall by wrists and ankles. He blinked. Last thing he remembered was getting shot.

"Hello... Sith."

Shorn raised his head slowly, not hiding the shift in his eyes as they turned from his normal blue to the golden-red of a Sith.

 

[Soeht]

A stun blast from @[member="HK-36"] rushed toward Darth Apparatus. The Sith lifted up his head for a moment before moving his mechanical appendages. An audible mechanical whirl came from his limbs as he made his attempt to move.

Moving to avoid the second blast, Darth Apparatus continued down his previous path. He was still quick - yet his steps seemed forced and awkward. He just barely managed to move out of the stun blast’s spread and positioned himself again so that @[member="Chloe Blake"] stood between him and the robot.

In @[member="Ayden Cater"]’s attempt to lock down the station, a bulkhead came closing on top of Darth Apparatus. It caught the Sith by his left foot. His body remained on the side of Chloe and HK. The Darth pulled on his foot - tearing off half of it and leaving just a mechanical heel and ankle. Following Ayden’s order, the station’s control systems also sealed the bulkhead behind Chloe and HK - leaving the two isolated until Darth Apparatus had been dealt with.

In Fondor’s surrounding orbit, Omega Protectorate forces had been ordered to attack non-Protectorate tagged ships. The transports the Sith had used cleared the security necessary to get to the shipyards and used vector beta to evade capture. Plus, Fondor had heavy traffic both due to being capital of the Omega Protectorate as well as a major starship manufacturing planet. A significant number of ships in orbit and even in the area of the shipyard would not have the Omega Protectorate transponder - and the Protectorate had no means to ensure that any ship that drops out of Hyperspace in orbit had the transponder. Unless the Sith fleeing messed up in their use of vector beta, they were likely long gone.

Yet, Darth Apparatus remained on the shipyard. He pushed himself back up - now with half of a left foot. He glared at Chloe and continued once again to charge at the woman. Unarmed, it looked as if he was about to try to ram his shoulder into her.

 

[Chloe Blake]

Chloe was breathing heavily now, and her palms were stinging something fierce, as if they'd been held over a hot plate for too long. At least @[member="Darth Apparatus"] wasn't trying to zap her with lightning.

However, he was now charging at her. They were now in the area of her expertise, close quarter combat enhanced by the Force. The Force went surging through her body, strengthening sinew and bone for what was to come. When he came at her to bull ram her with his shoulder, Chloe quickly went darting to her right, attempting to avoid the charge by angling her body on her side, intending to have him use his offset balance and kinetic energy to keep him moving forward while she made her way to come at him from behind. If successful, her left hand would rise up to once again send a torrent of ionized energy at the Sith.

 

[Soeht]

Just as Darth Apparatus missed @[member="Chloe Blake"], he planted his right foot down and turned straight for Chloe once more. He was not that agile in that moment - his left foot sliding around with little traction. He still managed to redirect his motion toward the woman.

Reaching out, Darth Apparatus attempted to grab Chloe. Electricity rushed toward him once again. The Darth grunted as she continued to push forward - forcefully and with increasingly exhaustive steps. Once close enough, Darth Apparatus would attempt to grab the woman and create an electrical connection with her.

 

[Chloe Blake]

Nostrils flaring, Chloe breathed hard, and quickly went into a Warden fighting stance as @[member="Darth Apparatus"] made a grab for her. They had little space to work with, so she needed to get as much as she could. Her hands fell to her sides, the ionized current of purple energy momentarily coming to a halt. Her foot came up to kick out at the Sith's chest with a strength imbued with the Force. Warden training kicked in, and hard. Hah, pun intended.

Rubber heel of her boot would make contact, as she fully intended to get him to lose his precarious balance due to his broken leg. Her hand would then fall to her waist after her foot came back down, palming the lightsaber she rarely used in her sore hand. The sound of a snap hiss would follow, and should the opening present itself, Chloe had every intention of performing a cho mai.

 

[Soeht]

The Darth slid back a few feet after being kicked by @[member="Chloe Blake"]. He hissed through his mask as he was shoved off balance.

Chloe’s lightsaber snapped to life. With the close proximity of the Darth and Warden and the fact that the Sith had no weapon, Chloe managed to slice off Darth Apparatus’s right hand. Sparks flew as the circuitry and mechanics in the Darth’s arm were revealed. He released a loud grunt of pain before stabilizing himself - at least as much as he could.

Reaching out with his left hand, Darth Apparatus attempted to grab Chloe’s saber hand. At the same time, he pressed forward and attempted to shove the somewhat hot end of his right arm into the Warden’s face.

 

[Chloe Blake]

I should have stuck with hand to hand, Chloe mused as the Sith took control of her saber hand, wincing in pain at the strength of his cybernetic enhancements. Her thumb instantly deactivated it, the hilt clattering to the floor. The stub of @[member="Darth Apparatus"] 's hand came charging at her face, it's wiring crackling as she felt the heat near her face.

Speed and her experience as a Warden managed to catch a grip along the wrist end of Apparatus' arm, just above the area that still smoldered from the recent amputation. Pain erupted as her sore palms met metal, a visible grimace falling from her lips as her arm strained to hold the would be hot poker mere inches from her face.

 

[Soeht]

In the stand still, Darth Apparatus attempted to reposition his body so that @[member="Chloe Blake"] would be a shield for him against HK. This meant he would have to try to overpower to the woman. For his handless right arm, the end would quickly cool down - especially when in contact with liquids and much more so with solids - due to the low specific heat of metal in general compared to non-metallic substances such as flesh.

For the moment, the Darth maintained this position though. The strength in his arms was not at the point that one would expect of a cyborg. The Force lightning had took its toll on him. Yet, the Darth began an attempt to stomp on the woman’s right foot with his left heel.

 

[Chloe Blake]

This would be when Chloe finally would be able to put in motion the bulk of telekinetic ability she could use -- which was now highlighted as she moved her head out of the way to the left, the hand that held the stub of his amputated hand letting it go, fingers arching down to the floor to take a mental grip around her lightsaber hilt.

Within a blink of an eye, her saber flew into her left hand, fingers wrapping around it tightly as her thumb activated the blade anew. She didn't hesitate. This time, she wasn't aiming for an arm, instead, the blade was directed in an upward diagonal swipe to cleave the Sith in half lengthwise in a sai tok.

 

[Soeht]

Then, the Sith was sliced in two at the waist. Immediately, he went limp. His hand released @[member="Chloe Blake"]. His metal appendages relaxed - no longer being driven by the Sith’s telekinetic powers. He fell to the ground face first - on his mask.

There were no words. The Sith simply groaned as if trying to speak. Then, he expired.

On the Sith’s person would be little of use. His armor had been severely damaged by Siobhan’s attacks. Chloe’s Force lightning destroyed all electronics on him. He destroyed his only weapon with his own hands.

The Sith’s body had cybernetic limbs for both arms and both legs. The organic torso and head seemed decrepit. His eyes would be glazed over. Some white hair spotted on the top of his head. Even hours after his death, the body did not explode into a blue light as typical for powerful darksiders nor did it disappear. It remained for any examination or disposal as the Omega Protectorate saw fit.

 

[HK-36]

@[member="Darth Apparatus"] @[member="Chloe Blake"]
"Good teamwork."
HK quipped at Chloe, coming over to put his hand on her shoulder, letting the heavy stun gun drop to the ground with a clank as he reached for his lightsaber instead, the droid activated the blade, its white light cut through darkness and Chloe could feel its light-side presence, perhaps comforting and easing her mind somehow after her first kill. He moved closer to examine the Apparatus's body, scanning over it, his lightsaber held above it as a shield in case Apparatus would have enough energy for final attack.
"Do not speak in front of your betters my shiny metal ass."
He muttered and put his hand to his chest, giving a final bow of respect to Apparatus' remains
"You were a worthy opponent and powerful Sith, may you find ease after life in a place where there is no war."

With that the droid would lean down to turn his body over on his back, at least the upper half, lay his hands across his chest, take off his mask and close the cyborg's eyes, performing a ritual of last rites so Apparatus may look dignified when the Protectorate will come for his body.

Speaking of the Protectorate, @[member="Ayden Cater"] would get this message from the droid
"Lord Protector, The Sith Master has been slain by miss Blake, I request pick up for his remains and medical escort for her."

 

[Chloe Blake]

With a gasp, Chloe's back hit against the bulkhead behind her, only to slid down to the ground after. A push of a button deactivated her saber, and it went clattering to the floor next to her. She was breathing hard, and her palms were stinging from the burns.

Time seemed to slow for the Warden, as she saw the Baron conduct the Last Rites for the Sith. With a dip of her shoulders, her head fell forward, her knees drew to her chest, and despite the pain, Chloe also held her hands together in prayer.

"Kalahira, mistress of all that is holy, I thank you for your blessing and protection. Kalahira, whose love and forgiveness astounds the heavens, wash the sins from this one and set him free on the distant shore of the infinite spirit..."

 

[HK-36]

@[member="Chloe Blake"]

As the droid finished conducting the ritual of last rites on Apparatus, keeping his mask to himself, he would just notice Chloe, by the wall, praying on her knees. From her heart rate and gassy state of intestines, he could determine that she was distraught.
He walked closer to her once Chloe was finished with her prayers
"Miss Blake, you must stay strong, there may be more Sith on their way, even though I realize that you are-"
He would move to sit down by her
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k8craCGpgs&feature=kp
"Just a small farm girl, living in a Spa-cer wo-orld,
You took the hyper-lane going a-ny-where."
He would turn to her, slightly pulling up his knees to sit more naturally,
"And I am just an ancient droid, con-verted and trained on Dan-too-ine wo-orld.
I have been around, wandering a-ny-where."
He would motion towards the corpse of Apparatus, looking more peaceful and dignified now, with his arms crossed at his chest.
"A Darth in a smo-key room.
Smelling of singed skin and Sith perfu-ume."
What was Sith perfume? More smell of singed skin mixed with dried blood and lightsaber burns.
"For a day we have shared a fight,
It went on- and on- and on- and on, indeed."
He would turn to look at her once more. That fight did drag on unfortunately, Sith were a bit too stubborn than just cut their losses and call it a day when they could.
"We are but Stran-gers sear-ching, lost in Galaxy's motion.
Can-dles dan-cing in the ni-ight."
He reached to softly put his hand on Chloe's shoulder, trying to comfort her in the time of her trial,
"Wan-dering peo-ple, taken by rivers of emotion.
Sai-ling, in cur-rents of Force's mi-ight!"
HK would stand up then, pushing himself off of the ground to offer his hands to Chloe and help her stand up as well.
"Standing tall in life's wild whirl!
Hoping for peace or seeking thri-ill,
Doing anything to survive the dice,
Just. One. More. Time."
He motioned to her,
"Some will win,"
And slightly turning he gestured to Apparatus' corpse,
"Some will lose,"
He would look back to her, continuing with his speech/song/whatever this was at this point,
"Some just live to pay their dues.
Oh, the cycles never end,
They go on- and on- and on- and on."
Those cycles of Galactic power, rises and falls of factions, Republic and Empires, they were a hoot. HK tried to reach his hands to Chloe and put them on her shoulders softly, it may have been slightly depressing up to this point but this was where his comforting protocols really kicked in!

"We may be Stran-gers, sear-ching, but our peace will come.
It is some-where, out-there, in the ni-ight!
Keep on be-lieving, for hope and love always keeps on giving.
It is the grea-test po-wer, so use it ri-ight."
He would step away from her, turning to look down at Apparatus' corpse once more.
"Do not stop be-lieving.
Hold on to your fee-eelings.
Some will end, for others to go o-on."
He would turn back to look at Chloe

"Do not stop be-lieving.
Just hold on.
Love will be-e by your si-ide."
He nodded to her softly,

"Do not stop be-lieving.
Hold on to your fee-eelings.
You are ne-ver frien-dless in the ni-ight."
He would give her a soft bow as he finished his comforting efforts.

But did he actually sing or did he speak all these lines? Did this even happened or was it all just hallucinations caused by Chloe's distress, fumes coming off of Apparatus's body and the slightly leaky droid?
The world will never know.