Dominion Embraced by Darkness | GA Dominion of N'zoth and Thrantin

[Mesh Zetnu]

Abandoned Yevethan cruiser // Regicide // Aerarii Tithe Gala Geert OPEN
Kit: REC/STA-02 Advanced Shocktrooper Armour; Series Two; Dark Brown Jedi Overcloak; Mesh Zetnu's Bronze Lightsaber
Ship: REC-AS01 B-wing Assault Starfighter​

Mesh was happy to be in the field again. He knew that this was considered a minor assignment within the wider Galactic Alliance as her forces were stretched thinner and thinner with the widening support of the war effort agains the Sith, but he was happy to be out in the field regardless. He broke hyperspace into a what appeared to be a floating junkyard. From the scattered reports Mesh had analyzed however; it was no junkyard. This was where the last Alliance ships had transmitted signals from in this area of space before going dark.

Mesh felt a very strong and dark disturbance here in the force. A chill ran through his body as he channeled the dark energy and used it as his guide. He was lead to an abandoned Yevethan cruiser. He quickly navigated to the docking bay and guided his ship to land. He could feel a strong dark presence on the Cruiser as he disembarked from his B-wing. The ship itself was very dark. The power a distant memory.

Using the dark force presence as his guide as well as the flashlight within his helmet Mesh would quickly make his way down one of the various hallways leading away from the docking bay. He walked at a brisk pace. The dark power of the force grew strong as he approached and he noticed as he looked down that their were mangled corpses and hands strewn about his feet. Something very strange and malevolent had happened here. The New Jedi Order would want to take note of these events. For a moment he thought of sending a communication back to the Council, but that thought only passed for a moment. He heard something.

“We need to get out of here!” He jumped to his feet, looking around frantically. The Starweirds couldn’t be too far behind him. “It’s folly to remain, folly, we have to get away. Is your, ah, shuttle nearby?”

Mesh heard the voice before he saw the group of troopers as he turned the corner. The franticness and fear flowing out of the man speaking. Mesh would quickly move towards the group in front of him. As he closed the gap the dark energy was nearly overwhelming.

Something was out there.

 

[Gala Geert]

OBJECTIVE: REGICIDE

ALLIES: Aerarii Tithe // Mesh Zetnu // 2 other Twilight Commandos // O P E N
EQUIPMENT: COMBAT ARMOUR // FEVERWASP (2) // SOHEI // TIDEFALL
​

​

The intelligence built into her armour ran a scan on Tithe’s vitals, confirming there was no discernable damage and he was good to conduct himself as a sole operator. No assistance required.

“I, ah, I, Zulu Squad,”
“Sergeant Waade, the others, all dead.”

The information he divulged was alarming. An entire squadron, reconnaissance, wiped out?

<D..dead?> She repeated dumbfounded, unconsciously droning out the same word he’d just delivered. It was followed quickly by vague disbelief, though she kicked herself as soon as she said it out loud. She’d seen first hand the outcomes on Brentaal IV. This sounded no different. <That can’t be.>

<Twilight Besh is heading up to the Pilot Chamber to get a bioscan of all life forms on the vessel.>

“We need to get out of here!”
“It’s folly to remain, folly, we have to get away. Is your, ah, shuttle nearby?”

<We’ve marked our trail with sensors. We’re several hundred meters from the docking bay sir, but we can secure you there.>

<Picking up another lifeform.>

Quickly, the new Jedi Knight would find himself faced with the barrel end of their blasters before the sergeant marked him as clear with a wave of her fingers.

Gala, beneath her breath, cursed something about Jedi. It was largely inaudible, but the normalcy of the murmur made her feel better. Any whisper that might have been heard from her was drowned out by a low, growing sound of feral moaning.

Something was tracking them through the hallway. The noises behind them sounded like hoarse, ragged breaths with graceless stomps.

<What is that?> Twilight-2 asked, his voice hoarse. It hadn’t thickened from the earlier announcement, and anxiety laced each of his words.

<Let’s not find out. Let’s go.>

Faintly she could smell the hot coppery scent of her own fear coming off her body. An unpleasant and unnecessary reminder of how little she wanted to be doing any of this. And how small the credit chip reward at the end of the tunnel was.

She screwed her eyes shut and murmured a small intonation in her native tongue. It was a blessing to have her helmet, lest everyone see how profoundly unhappy she was about the odds.

Peeking around the corner, she pointed her blasters first. Not that it mattered. Accelerating down the hallway to their position was a large, ghostly creature. Wrenched and broken at the hips and shoulders but moving effortlessly with impressive grace. Her HUD could only assess a collection of electromagnetic energy, balled into a stretch of light. Its eyes bore down on her, pulsing and otherworldly; floating rags encircling and hanging limply off what looked like a skeleton’s frame.

The creature was meters tall, and she fired off a succession of rounds toward the glowing silhouette’s would-be chest. The shots were not absorbed, they merely passed through rendering no physical damage. Gala’s shoulders tightened up as a wave of coldness washed over her, a realization of fear culminating in her stomach and throat. At least on Brentaal, she could shoot a zombie’s face off.

Unamused, the apparition screeched. It was a thunderous, bullying shriek that came next, charged with rage and terror — condensed down into something that sounded inhuman and horrifying. It’s jaw slacked open, the teeth lined inside decaying and sharp. They seemed to grow with the caterwaul, and the Mirialan scrambled backward.

Twilight-2 and Twilight-4 ushered Tithe, shoving a blaster into his hands as a mode of self defense and back the way they came.

<Ahhh? Jedi?>

Without warning, long, black claws stretched out from the creature with the intent to rake the commando from head to toe.

She only managed to evade the strike by initiating her jet pack and using the propulsion to punch herself backward, still firing madly (to no avail) at the luminescent skeletor.

<HELP?!>

 

[Kir Dantos]

Objective: Regicide
Tags:
Mesh Zetnu | Gala Geert | Aerarii Tithe | Alliance Commandos | Open
Equipment: Orange Lightsaber | X-02 Sabre-class X-Wing | REC-DC/04 Feverwasp Pattern Blaster Pistol | Imperial Mk. I "Dooku Pattern" Jedi Armour

​

It felt a little strange not having Maynard here. His teacher was close, leading the main attack on the N'zoth shipyards alongside the rest of Battle Group Kenobi. He wasn't fully used to not having Treicolt give him orders or tell him what to do, or just be there for moral support. It was about time he would need to get used to it. From his memory, he knew he'd been sent here to investigate the resurgence of Starweirds, never had he encountered them personally but he sure as hell knew what they were. Growing up, the old spacers would often tell stories of the creatures which would give him nightmares.

Time to see it in the flesh. Well. Maybe not flesh.

Staring out the front of the cockpit, the Yevethan cruiser's bulk could finally be seen. He nudged the stick aft, making a tight bank to what presumably was the docking bay. In his peripherals he could the large figure of Mesh Zetnu , a Jedi Knight who'd been sent to accompany on his mission.

Kir slowly pitched down his throttle as he touched down inside the decrepit hangar bay. Popping the cockpit, he clambered out of his ship and took a cursory glance at his surroudings. From experience, most Alliance hangar bays were full of energy, crewman and pilots alike buzzing around to wherever they needed to be. But this place, this place looked physically dead.

No life except for the two Jedi and was presumably some Alliance commandos who'd arrived before them. "I've never seen a hangar like this Knight Zetnu." He remarked, there was something troubling, to his knowledge, many force sensitives such as himself could sense what could only be described as an aura emanating from a place or person. This one was dark, there was a presence here that he'd almost never experienced before.

The padawan rushed behind Mesh and the other troopers, rounding a winding corner as a bloodcurdling scream was let out. On his comms unit, he could hear the sound of another similarly distressed person. "You guys heard that didn't you?"

The aura that he'd sensed before was getting progressively overwhelming, almost incapacitating as they got closer and closer. Kir put his hand to his utility belt, grabbing hold of his cylindrical, metallic lightsaber, hitting the ignition button as an orange blade shot out of the top. It was go time.

 

[Mesh Zetnu]

Abandoned Yevethan cruiser // Regicide // Aerarii Tithe Gala Geert Kir Dantos OPEN
Kit: REC/STA-02 Advanced Shocktrooper Armour; Series Two; Dark Brown Jedi Overcloak; Mesh Zetnu's Bronze Lightsaber
Ship: REC-AS01 B-wing Assault Starfighter
​

Padawan's could be frustrating. Until now the Starweird hadn't noticed the two Jedi, and was instead attacking the troopers. As the trooper called out for help the beast lunging at her The Padawan activated his lightsaber. The creature was clearly the source of the dark force energy and it was immediately drawn to the force users energy weapon. Mesh doubted lightsabers would work on the thing anyway. He had just watched a blaster bolt go right through it. Not a good sign. He pulled his own lightsaber out. Only one way to know for sure.

He activated it and gave it a twirl. Force throw, an easy offensive force move that Mesh had mastered long ago. He had used it on numerous enemy droids and troopers. It had stopped the occasional assassin as well. Now he watched as his saber traveled in a perfect arc. The strange creature turning and letting out a force scream as it aimed at the young Padawan. Mesh shielded his mind with a Force Cloud, the screams of the dark side caused much damage. He turned back to the creature in time to see the blade of his saber pass cleanly through the ethereal demon. He called it back and deactivated it. He looked back at the Padawan with him.

"Might as well put that away."

He looked at the small group of troopers in front of him. They would only get in the way and the beast didn't seem interested in them much anymore anyway. It had become solely focused on the Padawan.

"Get that guy out of there. Withdraw your troopers to the hangar and try to get some power back on in this ship if you can. We will deal with this thing."

He gestured at the large Starweird moving towards the Padawan. He moved quickly between the two and blasted the beast with force push. The Force it seemed at least had some effect on the thing. He gestured towards a side hallway, now giving them all space to run for it. No time to wait. Mesh took off down the hallway.

"Kir Dantos is it? I'm Mesh Zetnu, the New Jedi Order told me you'd be tagging along. I hope your master taught you how to run."

He assumed the Padawan, and the starweird would follow.

 

[Aerarii Tithe]

LOCATION: Abandoned Yevethan cruiser
OBJECTIVE: Regicide - survive the Starweirds
ALLIES: Gala Geert | Mesh Zetnu | Kir Dantos
KIT: Lesser Ring of the Protected Mind | Taxman's Embrace | Visions of Gold | REC-LA/02 Combat Armour
POST: III

“Those… things, appeared from nowhere,” Tithe stammered in explanation. “One by one, they...” He left the implication hanging - he didn't dare imagine what had become of the escort team who had been grabbed. No one was more surprised than Tithe that the former Sith-Imperial bureaucrat had survived. Maybe the Starweirds has sensed he was the least threatening of the group and had been having him for last?

Did that mean the monster would go after the soldiers he was now with, giving him a chance to escape? For the first time since his eyes had first befallen the hideous creatures, Tithe felt a glimmer of hope.

One of the soldiers thrust a blaster into his hand and moved back down the hallway with him, toward the safety of their shuttle. He heard an exchange of blaster fire accompanied by the telltale blast of a jetpack as the leader of the team engaged the unstoppable horror. As he was accompanied to safety, two Jedi hurried forward to join the fight, their presence agitating the already enraged Starweird.

Tithe and his escorts hurried down the darkened hallways, illuminated by pulsing emergency lights and sparks from damaged equipment. The marines kept their rifles at the high and ready, checking each hatch they passed for more Starweirds. Aerarii did his best to ignore the stray Yevethan body parts which littered the desk, and the accompanying splatters of body fluids running down the walls.

The trio rounded the final corner to the docking bay. “Ohh my.”

Where once had stood a flight of shuttle and starfighters which had transported the survey teams, now lay a pile of scrap durasteel. Two Starweirds floated around the destroyed vehicles, lashing out with their black talons to slash and rend the teams only means of escape.

The Starweirds paused their destruction, and slowly rotated toward Tithe and his defenders. Their gaunt faces settled on the intruders, white eyes seeming to pierce straight into the hearts of the group. Slowly the pale-skinned monsters began to advance, floating just above the desk as their long white hair flapped behind them.

“Ohh my.” Tithe activated the comlink one of the soldiers had handed him. “We, ahh, have another problem.”

 

[Aeson Keel]

Olen Halcorr Cynthia Alucard Daz Farlander Westenra Mina Voldran Molf Maynard Treicolt Loske Treicolt Leon Gallo

"Alright Phantom, this is it, form up and get set for position oh-three-fifty, deflectors to double front, hit em hard and fast."​

Phantom Leader Halcorr was a Hell of a pilot. He probably could have made it big on the racing circuits but here they were, neck-deep in Yaveythen starfighters. He grunted in recognition over Phantom's coms.

"I'm getting to damn old for this," he muttered. He was often the senior pilot in whatever group he was flying in and he could always feel his age giving his fellow pilots just the slightest edge. Well, edge was a strong word. That their youth gave them the boost they needed to keep up with the Pamarthen Ace was probably more accurate. He pulled his X-Wing up beside Phantom Leader's again and set his deflectors to double front.

A Nova Flare was a crude and unflashy tactic that was old as the Ackbar Slash. Some considered it to be suicide if performed too early in a battle where anti-starfighter emplacements were still plentiful, filling the stars with an impenetrable wall of laser fire and missiles. Maybe with Jedi with them they'd pull it off just that much easier, but he didn't have high hopes.

"I hope you know what you're doing Olen," he shouted as their formation and attack run was sighted by station defenses. Turret fire zipped towards the group of X-Wings. He cursed as a bolt pinged off of his front deflector. G5 squealed in annoyance at his reckless flying but there was little to be done. It was all or nothing.

"Prime the torpedoes and do something useful instead of beeping at me ye twit!" he shouted over the rumble of his fighter.

 

[Andien Gale]

Objective: Defeat the Black Fleet
Zahara Myneto

A turbolaser blast glanced off of the shields of the Negotiator-Class light cruiser Zepher. The Zepher wasn't old, not by a long shot compared to some of the vessels she'd seen in service even in the Alderaanian defense fleet. But the way REC kept pumping out vessels made it feel sluggish to a ship-head like Andien. That was her guilty pleasure...She loved getting into the nitty-gritty of new ship designs and kept up to date on proto-types and the like from manufacturers all over the Galaxy. As a result, however, she never felt like she was doing her best work in "old" machines.

"What's the status of Vanguard?" The flight controller looked up in confusion. They had just been hit with a volley of turbolaser fire from a ship at least twice the length of their own and she was asking about their squadron of rookie pilots? Andien narrowed her eyes at the hesitation and the Aqualish bristled before fumbling with his station.

"We've reported no casualties thus far Captain. It appears as if they're making a run on one of the thrust ships," he said in his deep rumbling voice. Andien nodded in satisfaction. They were rookies mostly. She wasn't sure what happened to the pilots those girls had replaced but their squadron leader was competent. She had every expectation he'd bring them all back home safely. With that out of the way, she motioned to a weapons officer.

"Keep hammering their Thrustships and corvettes ourselves. They're tearing our other squadrons apart. Concentrate our fire on sector 14. That should split the herd a bit." The man nodded. "Keep formation helm, we just support. No need for heroics today. That's for the fighters and the Admiral."

 

[Westenra Mina]

Westenra heard the call of Olen Halcorr and immediately formed up on him, switching to her primary weapons.

Starfighters came at them from all sides, and Westenra pushed her Starfighter to its absolute limit as she fired the deep crimson laserbolts from her fighter, her reflexes and targeting synched with the Starfighter and shearing through fighters ahead of Olen and the others, clearing the way for them to make better manuevers. She made lethal turns that would have turned the insides of others to paste, to line up better shots.

"Hey, Aeson Keel , you've got three on your tail!" The Android called out, flipping the starfighter over, and careening towards the ones chasing him, blowing them out of the stars, with precise, ruthless shots in rapid succession.

"Never mind!" She called out to him before reforming on Olen, shooting more trying to target him, as well as other allied fighters as she surged forward into clouds of enemy fighters, defying their best targeting attempts while firing right at the cockpits.

"Its like we're all mounds of poodoo and they're an ocean of flies. Except the Poodoo has Lasers!" Westenra exclaimed.

Loske Treicolt

Cynthia Alucard

Daz Farlander

Leon Gallo

Voldran Molf

Maynard Treicolt

 

[Daz Farlander]

Daz Farlander, Lieutenant, Galactic Alliance Starfighter Corps
Location: N'zoth Orbital Shipyards, Koornacht Cluster
Tags: Olen Halcorr | Voldran Molf | Aeson Keel | Westenra Mina | Cynthia Alucard | Maynard Treicolt | Loske Treicolt | Leon Gallo
​

​

It all happened in a matter of seconds.

First, it was Commander Halcorr who had came to the rescue. As the fighters turned onto him, Daz immediately went to aid Phantom Twelve. Another fighter had gained on him, he didn't see it coming. Turning around in the cockpit to look out of the viewport, he saw Lieutenant Westenra destroy the tri-foil, clearing his rear.

In the same moment, an explosion caught Farlander's eye. "NO!" He yelled as he saw what had happened. Phantom Twelve had been left open for too long and his fighter had ignited into a huge ball of flame. Daz was in shock. Seeing one of his fellow squadronmates meet an untimely fate wasn't new, yet it always hurt every time. But this one put pain in his chest. He had promised Twelve that he wouldn't leave him, that he would be safe from any danger. His fighter was already damaged, so it was only a matter of time. Daz punched the targeting module before holding his head in his hands. He couldn't believe he let this happen.

B2 butted in quickly, however. A couple of long whines and beeps reminded him that they still had a job to do, regardless of whether or not Phantom Twelve was with them or not. He couldn't abandon the mission just to mourn, it would leave him open. Unless he wanted to end up like Twelve, he would have to get back in the game. He wiped a tear from his eye as he gripped the joystick steadily. At that moment, Commander Halcorr's voice cracked through the comms.

"Alright Phantom, this is it, form up and get set for position oh-three-fifty, deflectors to double front, hit em hard and fast."

"Formation time," Daz said to himself as he increased power to the thrusters, making a sharp 90-degree turn. There his squadron was, forming up to get ready for what the Commander had planned. He switched his deflectors forward as instructed and took a deep breath. It was all going to be ok if he stayed calm. As they were in formation, enemy fire pelted them. Farlander grit his teeth. Getting shot was one thing, getting shot purposefully was another. As B2 beeped the obvious in his ear, Daz kept a firm focused stare forward. Nothing but completing the mission was important.

"Let's do this. For you Twelve."

 

[Constantine Oliva]

The 253rd was without their commander. The line's captains were still capable of leading their own ships, but not of mounting a strong coordinated attack on the Yevetha. The ships maintained position, pushing slightly closer to the Yevethan lines, attempting to provide fire support for the fighter squadrons currently engaged. Several ships individually tried to hail Hawk, each meeting only static. On the arrival of Admiral Myeneto's fleet, however, the line had a new commander, at least for the battle.

"Admiral Myeneto. This is Captain Hull of the Shark, 253rd corvette line. Commodore Oliva and Hawk are no where to be seen sir. We've attempted to contact the ship but we've met with no success. Your orders, Sir?"

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Constantine had no clue what was going on. The situation aboard the Hawk was getting progressively worse. Comms were offline. The marine squad deployed with Hawk had arrived at Constantine's position. The engine room was a nightmare. Bodies and blood covered the damaged equipment. Several of the men had distinct burns on their uniforms, though none were from blaster fire. A few had their necks snapped, and one other had been thrown into the engine unit itself.

The small groups began to move though out the ship. Most of the crew was on or near the bridge, but Constantine wanted the entire crew ready to defend each other. So far, the crew hadn't been attacked. So far. The young commodore didn't want to risk anything, not when a monster was stalking the ship.

The crew was gathered, and nervous. Comms were still down. Hawk was alone at the rally point, but with the fight likely still raging at Yevetha, they didn't know who might find them next. If whatever attacked the engine came to the bridge, could they fight it? Clearly the engine crew's blaster fire didn't work. What could?



Zahara Myneto Andien Gale

 

[Zahara Myneto]

Location - ANV Titanica
Objective - Defeat the Black Fleet
Tags - Constantine Oliva | Andien Gale

"Captain Hull, this is Admiral Myneto. Listen to me very carefully" Through gritted teeth did Zahara reply to the transmission, the majority of his attention focused elsewhere. The communication from the Captain had forced the adrenaline within his body to come to a grinding halt granting him a reprieve of unneeded stress. "Reorganize the line and prepare to flank. Helm, bring us about and signal Vanguard Squadron"

"And tell them to do what exactly"

"Well...simply put I want them to spearhead the 253rds attack run. I want to rip that fleet down the middle"

The orders were relayed and within minutes, the crew of the Starhawk III Class Battleship strapped themselves to their seats. The ideology of an attack run utilizing a Battleship was complete nonsense however the Titanica itself would not be making that journey. Instead, the warships Super-Heavy Ion Cannon Babrettes would put on quite the firework show as the Corvette Line pushed forward, leaving disabled Thrustships in thier wake.

"Signal Captain Gale. Tell her to bring the Zephyr to the last known location of the Hawk. I want an Escort Squadron and accompanying Capital ships. Let's not forget we're in the middle of a battle, here"

| Taysonyl Callenid | Alex Locke | Qell Auraeli | Frea Sheplin

 

[Kotos]

Objective | Regicide
Allies | Aerarii Tithe | Mesh Zetnu | Gala Geert | Kir Dantos

Kotos was having a Very Bad Day.

The Killik Padawan had been assigned to comb through the abandoned vessels with Knight Var’Keera. The Keshiri woman was stern at first, but in the hours that they’d spent recovering data from a dilapidated terminal, he’d discovered that she had a friendly way about her. A former spacer, the Jedi Knight was in her element and casually regaled Kotos with tales of her exploits before she’d chosen to walk the path of the Jedi.

They came all at once, a swarm of the most hellish creatures Kotos had ever seen. Skeletal with nightmarish features and eerie proportions, the starweirds had flocked to them as if a beacon had gone off. Var’Keera had sacrificed herself to them, urging the insectoid Padawan to escape and regroup with the others. And so he did, skittering feverishly along the darkened halls of the ship, following the Force to where had burned the brightest.

He didn’t get far before being assaulted by the sounds of battle—boots on the ground, shouts from soldiers, and fiendish screams from the demonic enemy. Kotos shuddered and pushed forward, urged into bravery by the Jedi’s sacrifice.

Suddenly, he was closing in on a dead end. There were sentients there—a well dressed man armed with a pair of soldiers. Floating in front of them were a pair of the ethereal demons themselves, advancing with an eerie stillness that chilled Kotos to the bone.

Be brave!

The Killik Jedi scurried forward, along the side of the wall so that he could bypass Tithe and his soldiers without running directly through them. Activating his pair of sabers—he was certain that he could handle four, but the Masters were not convinced—he crossed them over one another to catch the starweird as it reached out with an aggressive grasp.

Kotos grunted against the beast’s odd strength, the spindle-like claws of the starweird inches from his face, so close that he could see every crevice in excruciating detail. The creature opened its mouth impossibly wide to scream, recoiling from the burning sensation of the plasma blades. “Run!” He shouted over his shoulder. “Run! I’ll h-handle them!”

Kotos gulped, unsure of his own words.

 

[Loske Treicolt]

OBJECTIVE : STOP THE YEVETHAN AGGRESSION

N’ZOTH ORBITAL SHIPYARD // KOORNACHT CLUSTER // X-02 SABER CLASS
PHANTOM: Olen Halcorr // Westenra Mina // Daz Farlander // Aeson Keel // Voldran Molf // Cynthia Alucard
VANGUARD: Alex Locke // Taysonyl Callenid // Qell Auraeli
SABER [ENGAGING]: Maynard Treicolt // Caldon Tenneth // Leon Gallo ​

<We have time for one more run.> Loske mused into the comms. Frank double-checked her math and affirmed it. <Seven, are your weapons malfunctioning? Make the swap to Shadow Bombs; it’ll be more effective.

"Phantom Leader to Sabre Leader, we're on our way to come and join you, watch for those towers and anti-fighter emplacements on the north and east of the shipyards, I suggest a nova flare on the north while my people and Vanguard send our torps then push for the west side." ​

<Empty what you’ve got in this last run, and form up with torpedoes on the North side of the station for a Nova Flare. We’ll time it with everyone else.>

The benefit of a Jedi-formed squadron was the ample use of The Force; applied to the distribution of the Shadow Bombs. One after the other, Sabers made good on their drops in quick succession, several parabolas marking their trajectory before they arched once more for a secondary run. Saber-1 and Saber-5’s X-Wings moved close together above the stations’ surface, leading the suggestion for the pairing.

Below, the Yevethan space station budded and blossomed with angry fire. They had no time to watch the explosions dissipate below them. Instantly they were enveloped in a meshwork of energy bolts and explosive projectiles –– standard defense systems from automated turrets.

<Guess they’re on to us now. Keep your eyes up.>

As they turned, small flashes of growing light reminded the Sabers of their hits; but it was quickly outshone by the defensive display of the station’s automated weapons.

Weaving north, Loske skimmed so close on her downward dip over the station’s hull that the tip of one wing grazed a protruding antenna, sending metal splinters flying. She was hardly phased, focusing more so on evading the erratic firing of the defensive measures.

Every second that passed, the target grew closer. Meanwhile, Frank busied himself with setting the trajectory for the torpedoes, suggesting the coordinates for a harmonized effort through the network of the navicomputers of the Sabers.

Within the shipyards, personnel were scrambling to evacuate. Clumsy feet meant they were doing their best to salvage whatever technical advances they could before climbing into whatever ships they could and departing.

​

 

[Kir Dantos]

Objective: Regicide

Tags:
Mesh Zetnu | Kotos | Gala Geert | Aerarii Tithe | Alliance Commandos | Open-ish

​

A burning sensation within his ears, which rang out through the force itself. It brought up images that he wouldn't wish to see in his nightmares. He watched in shock and horror as the older Jedi's blade passed through the creatures as if it was not tangible. "Not good." He articulated.

"I think you're right..." Kir remarked before disengaging his own weapon and holstering it. As the ethereal creature inched closer and closer towards the duo, he made the decision that it wasn't the time to think of something. He dashed after Mesh, sprinting as fast as his legs could take him. Usually he and Maynard would stay and face the thing, though he didn't think Maynard had ever been attacked by a Starweird to them.

"There's others here, Kotos, we should try find em." The padawan put the comlink on his right gauntlet to his mouth to speak into it. <"Kotos! Kotos! Come in!"> He practically screamed into the com, hoping that the Kilik padawan would respond. The static didn't give him much hope.

Right now, they needed some sort of plan if they were to even have a chance of defeating the creature that would slowly kill them all if they didn't exercise some sort of caution.

"No.. Master Treicolt told me to never run from my problems. The Force effects this thing right? Let's see how much it likes light."

Kir halted in front of Mesh, making a 180 around to face the Starweird, which was still some distance away. He faced down the beast, which seemed somewhat confused as to why he'd stopped. The brown haired Jedi paused and took out a large sigh, breathing in and exhaling. A technique which he often used to 'centre' himself within the Force. The darkness emanated off the Starweird, pulsating towards him.

"I am one with the Force and the force is with me." He repeated once again, positioning an outstretched arm towards the organism. For a moment, he blocked out Mesh and the soldiers and everyone else and focused enough that it was just him and the bony monstrosity. Identifying the darkness, he channelled his own light enough that it manifested into a burst of bright light which he blasted at the Starweird.

The experience was liberating, letting the light flow through his hand, in a continuous energy. Slowly, he felt the darkness of it, the amount of dark side energy was almost incapacitating, Kir almost falling over, but he kept his footing and kept redirecting it back towards it.

He finally ended, hoping he'd killed it. "Did I do it?" The padawan asked Mesh, looking to him for an answer.

 

[Mesh Zetnu]

Abandoned Yevethan cruiser // Regicide // Aerarii Tithe Gala Geert Kir Dantos Kotos OPEN
Kit: REC/STA-02 Advanced Shocktrooper Armour; Series Two; Dark Brown Jedi Overcloak; Mesh Zetnu's Bronze Lightsaber
Ship: REC-AS01 B-wing Assault Starfighter​

Mesh's feet glanced lightly against the floor as he rushed quickly down the hallway slightly in front of the Padawan Kir Dantos . They had to create space for the Soldiers and others to get off this ship of the damned. They would only get in the Jedi's way. The thing seemed strangely attracted to them and he could feel the powerful dark side energy coming off of it as it followed the pair down the hallway. The sounds of the others getting fainter as they made progress. They turn again down a corridor. He was certain it would lead them back to the hangar. It headed the right direction anyway.

He glanced sideways as the Padawan alongside him started shouting into his commlink. Mesh paused for a moment and listened to the static in reply. There was supposed to be a Jedi Knight with Padawan. The silence and static worried Mesh, but he didn't have time to think about it. The Padawan had come up with his own ideas. How did he get in front of me? Mesh paused to think on it for a moment. No time for that either he almost collided with the boy.

In stunned disbelief Mesh watched as the Padawan recited a Jedi cliché he rarely heard outside of a temple. Did that help people? Mesh paused to think on it for only a moment longer. The starweird began to close the limited distance they had created fairly quickly. The Boy had power. Mesh would give him that. A Force Light beam had emanated out of the Padawan in a well concentrated blast. Good control. Force Light was not a particularly difficult form of force power, but the ability to control in such a way was indeed a sign of a Padawan who had taken his training seriously. Maybe the boy is right.

The beast hit the beam of light at full speed. Its dark energy scattering the light for a moment. Only a moment and then the breakthrough. The beam hit the Starweird in the center of the chest and the light began to spread out across the being ethereal body. It could not contain light only darkness its very being began to come undone. Shattering in a force blast it disintegrated into nothingness.

"It is destroyed. That was.....

His voice trailed off as he heard Aerarii Tithe in his commlink. There must be more.

Come on! We have to get back to the hangar. There must be more of these things, and we might be the only ones left who can fight them."

He had reached out to Knight Var’Keera through the force and felt nothing. He worried the worst. They had to move and they had to move now. Mesh turned and continued down the corridor they were going down bursting through the door and back into the hangar. He saw the swarm of starweirds moving towards Kotos. The Padawan had activated his lightsaber to try to fight it and now he had drawn in what appeared to be a decent sized swarm of the beasts. Mesh pushed the starweirds away from Kotos with a strong force push. He hoped the Padawan behind him was ready for combat. He pulled out his lightsaber and activated. He lifted the force cloud he had been using to shield himself from the force and began to channel the force energy in the ship. He began to become a conduit for the force and he knew that all the starweirds in the area would fall upon him rather than those he was with.

"Fight them as they come. I will distract the masses of them. Take them only as you are able Padawans."

 

[Andien Gale]

Alex Locke Taysonyl Callenid Qell Auraeli

"The Admiral wants us to do what?!" She was nearly shouting. The shipyards were almost theirs. She doubted the fleet needed a single squadron and a light cruiser to finish the job but battles have been lost due to less. She cursed under her breath. She couldn't dissobey a direct order from an Admiral and there wasn't enough interference from the opposing fleet to feign miscommunication. She sucked her teeth and took a gander at the tactical readout display. Her fighters were engaged heavily. To call them back would put them at unnecessary risk upon return. But orders were orders.

"Give the recall order to Vanguard. Send them the jump coordinates and tell them to meet us there. We'll wait to jump together. Helm, turn us around and get us on the appropriate jump vector. How long until the hyperdrive is ready for the jump?"

"About one minute ma'am." She nodded. It would take longer than that for the fighters to get into formation. Even longer if she let them handle their situation first.

"Tell Vanguard to follow those orders at their discretion. If it looks too hot or like they can deal a crippling blow tell them to do that first and then follow us. We'll go alone at first." The com officer nodded and began dolling out commands to his communications crew. The Zepher lurched as it began its arduous turn.

 

[Gala Geert]

OBJECTIVE: REGICIDE

ALLIES: Aerarii Tithe // Mesh Zetnu // Kir Dantos // Kotos // 2 other Twilight Commandos // O P E N
EQUIPMENT: COMBAT ARMOUR // FEVERWASP (2) // SOHEI // TIDEFALL
​

​

Melee weapons were ineffective against the looming personification of horror. It’s scream came again and again, echoing in her mind as she jet away from the scene and let the Jedi handle the situation. The sound came from everywhere at once, emanating from all she knew. It was cycling up and down, bounding off the walls of the corridors like a living thing hunting for food.

Hunting for her.

She could feel the skin on her back bristling over her shoulders and down her arms, making her hands tremble. Her scalp abruptly felt too tight on her skull. Her stomach filled with bulking, profound dread.

A mutated blast of screams echoed and reverberated throughout the cavernous hangar, and Gala felt herself go pallid. As if she could see the blood draining from her face and out onto the ground. As if she could see her own death. Her heart thudded against her ribs, pounding in her ears. With trembling hands, she clenched her teeth. <Get a hold of yourself.>

Taking a second to focus on her breathing, where it settled, how it flooded her lungs, the commando cleared her throat. A reassuring gesture that she was alive. The screams were distant.

Until she rounded the corner of the hangar, and the chaos and sunder revealed itself as a new traumatic problem. She skidded to a halt, terror spiking through her.

The lights in the hangar, yellow and red, bathed the otherworldly apparitions in a sickish glow. Gala, who’d just gotten a grip on her fear, felt the trepidation clench its fist around her heart again and she grimaced, exhaling through the painful resurface. Her weapons would do nothing here. And now..everything was in literal shambles. Their transports.

<Escape pods.> She murmured, barely audible. <This ship must have escape pods, we can get a pickup.>

As much as her body and mind didn’t want her to, she moved forward to the other commandos who were backpedaling; meeting in the middle with their scopes fixed on the targets. A futile gesture, but habitual and at least it made her feel a bit more in control. She needed that.

<Where are the Jedi?>

<Dealing with our other friends.>

<You think these things can be corralled?>

<Feth if I know.>

<How’re we going to get out of here? Do we know anything about the ship’s diagnostics? Escape pods armoured?>

<We’d have to get to those pods first.>

Attention turned to the comms connecting the Alliance's teams. <Jedi –– hey Jedi, there are more of those things in the hangar. Need attention here. Bring that Force stuff.>

In the meantime, Gala’s gaze snapped to the white-haired banker. <You’ve survived the longest. Hiding and running seems like a good plan?>

 

[Kotos]

Objective | Regicide
Tags | Aerarii Tithe | Mesh Zetnu | Gala Geert | Kir Dantos

Up close, the starweird was even more terrifying. Steel yourself! Kotos thought. Now is not the time to give up! He would draw his strength from the guilt of failing Var’Keera if he lost hope. The comm crackled in his ear with fresh static, carrying the cadence of a human voice. Someone was trying to contact him—but he couldn’t make out the words.

“H-hello? Hello?” He grunted desperately, wondering if whoever was on the other end of the channel could hear him, or if they too would be greeted with static. With a final growl of exertion, he pushed back heavily against the starweird’s claws, knocking the beast back and out of their stalemate. The creature roared in agitation, floating back several meters before it’s attention seemed to be caught by something else. Kotos had been concentrating so intently on the opponent before him, that he’d failed to realize the throng of starweirds encroaching on him.

His stomach dropped. Oh, no.

Suddenly, a lighter presence approached from behind the group of starweirds, knocking them back with an invisible push. Now he could feel them—Knight Zetnu and Padawan Dantos had found him just in time. As he spun around to face him, the starweird behind him saw an opening. Lurching forward, the beast lashed out at Kotos with it’s skeletal claws, scraping against the Killik’s hard shell. Kotos grimaced and stumbled forward with a groan, feeling the tears in his exoskeleton. “I’m okay!” He called out. The chitin on his back had protected him from the worst of the damage, and it would regenerate with time.

Feeling a renewed sense of hope at the arrival of the other Jedi, Kotos marveled at Knight Zentu’s selflessness as he readily drew the starweirds to him. Looking toward the other Padawan, Kotos gave Kir a grateful nod. "Thanks for finding me, I thought I was a goner for sure." Turning back towards the swarm of starweirds moving towards Mesh, he rushed forward. The Killik was a far better duelist than he was with more esoteric Force powers, and so herrelied on the sabers in his hand. He took one starweird from behind, aiming for a decapitating kill with one hand, and an abdominal slash with the other.

 

[Aerarii Tithe]

LOCATION: Abandoned Yevethan cruiser
OBJECTIVE: Regicide - survive the Starweirds
ALLIES: Gala Geert | Mesh Zetnu | Kir Dantos | Kotos
KIT: Lesser Ring of the Protected Mind | Taxman's Embrace | Visions of Gold | REC-LA/02 Combat Armour
POST: IV

Unlike Tithe, his marine escorts weren’t frozen where they stood. Bringing their blaster rifles up, they began firing and advancing toward the two Starweirds. Surely they had to be aware that their weapons were useless against the hideous creatures? And yet, they tried anyway, their actions not guided by self-preservation but the compulsion to protect others, even if it cost them their lives.

Fools, Tithe thought to himself. Unlike them, he wasn’t ready to die in a name of a galactic power.

His eyes frantically scanned the hanger bay. So their shuttles were destroyed - how else could they get off the ship? Despite claiming he’d had dealings with the Yevethan to get himself assigned to the mission, he didn’t know anything about them beyond their bloodlust. Looking around he observed that the hanger layout was relatively standard, as had been the majority of the ship's fit-out. It wasn’t uncommon for ships this large to have a secondary hanger, maybe there was an intact shuttle they could use?

Reinforcements arrived in the form the marine squad leader and a number of Jedi. The arrival of the Force users caught the interest of the Starweirds, who looked to forget about the marines and instead make directly for anyone holding a lightsaber. Rather than flee, the Jedi held their crowd, calling the enemy toward them.

Even bigger fools, Tithe mused to himself.

The squad leader at least seemed to have more sense, muttering that an escape pod would be useful before asking how Tithe had survived so long. Finally, someone who wasn’t looking to throw their life away for nothing.

“They seem to have a type,” he noted, nodding toward the Starweirds. “I'll tell you, some in our party really piqued their interest. They picked us off one by one.”

The bureaucrat looked around the docking bay for signs of escape pods. It didn’t make sense for the pods to be in the docking, but certainly, they would be nearby in a compartment adjacent to the cruiser’s hull. Unable to see anything, he uttered an Aargauun curse and removed his spectacles to rub his eyes.

As he did so, he paused, looking at the device in his hands. While they were primarily designed for examining complex financial data, custom-built data goggles had many built-in functions. Putting the spectacles back on, he used eye twitches to search back through the small memory banks. If they were lucky…

“Got it, two, ah, no, three compartments back, left side.” The goggles didn’t record everything he saw - the memory chip was too small for that - but they were set to passive scan the surrounding area for important information and store it for later. He normally used the function to gaze at documents others were holding and analyse their data, but evidently, a string of text or numbers had been detected on a label near the escape pods.

“Follow me.” Without waiting for orders or permission, he turned tail and hurried out of the hanger and toward the escape pods.

 

[Maynard Treicolt]

O U T R I D E R
THE GALACTIC ALLIANCE
SABER SQUADRON | SABER LEADER
N'ZOTH SHIPYARDS

Once more Loske seemed to take the reins of command at least in the form of the cross unit communication. Every mission since...since then, since Bastion had left him feeling less and less at ease. Less and less in control of his own devices here. More machine than man. Directionless. Those visions time and time again imaging over and over the death of his kin there made combat feel different.

It was less that adrenaline rush where he felt all too invincible and more that trudging march, feeling all too vulnerable. At least at the sticks, in command of the starfighter...he felt that illusion of control again.

<"Copy, Phantom Leader. Swap to disruptor if you have 'em. Form up 1-5, targets marked bearing three one five, two thousand meters descending."> A thumb flicked the power control switch and the juice flowed into the weapons systems, hot and primed to deal damage. Real damage.

<"Sabers formed up, Phantom, check in. At five hundred out, weapons hot. Three...two...one."> With the full descension of the countdown he squeezed the trigger of his main blaster cannons, the super charged bolts spraying out in plasmatic hellfire with a rip of their full rate of fire. Next came his thumb pressing down on the pickle switch left of the trim embedded into his throttle and the two infernal plumes of disruptor torpedoes enveloped his vision as they sprung out and slammed into the surface of the shipyards before he reared his starfighter up and away from the structure with a pull of the throttle.

<"Stand by for hit confirmation...damage assessment."> Maynard said through laboured breathes, realizing how he'd held it deep into his chest at the moment of the command, only to release a steady exhale afterwards after the ordinance unloaded.

<"All point defense next on target priority, pair off and sweep."> Maynard commanded.

SABER | Loske Treicolt | Kir Dantos | Caldon Tenneth | Leon Gallo
PHANTOM | Olen Halcorr | Daz Farlander | Aeson Keel
VANGUARD | Taysonyl Callenid | Alex Locke | Qell Auraeli | Frea Sheplin