False Flags [New Order, Mandos, League of Red Skirmish on Aeten II]

[Nyxie]

People were always coming up with clever new tricks to throw Ashe off. She had never seen a dye grenade before. She had never even heard of it. Raising an eyebrow quizzically at the smoke that poured forth from the one that was thrown, she simply paused to watch and summarily ignited a spark, which she amplified into a flame in the Force that quickly burned the dyed haze away. Burning - changes on the molecular level, it was often enough to neutralize a toxin, and unless the thing was filled with mushrooms, she wasn't worried in the slightest. A pity, purple was one of Ashe's favorite colors.
Quickly staying on the trail and maintaining her pace, Ashe was lead into the facility. Her speed made up for her lack of sight or sound of the target. She couldn't hear anything too discerning, which was a good sign, as a lack of gunfire or struggle meant no presence of any friendlies. Bearing that in mind, two clips of the specialized Dragon's Breath shells made to fit a slugthrower rifle were loaded into her Akk Slugthrowers. Turning the corner and approaching the supposed vault room, the cunning foxtress unleashed a volley of fire and used her power to amplify it in the Force, turning what shot off as cones of yellow flame into deep, blue watery clouds that all but consumed the hall on its way down to the target area. The Sith were a clever lot, but cunning was her nature.
The vixen never really liked rifles much. She'd never used them before. When she could fire... fire, however, she fell in love.

[member="Darth Ayra"], [member="Darth Voracitos"]​

(((V, wasn't sure, are you hidden or?)))​

 

[Darth Ayra]

| [member="Darth Voracitos"] | [member="Ordo"] | [member="Ashe the Reaper"] | Not Hunter Yagami '[) |

Fire scorched the walls of the room, adding the smell of smoke and acidity to the air. It was an unpleasant sensation to feel that certain element raging around you, consuming the very room that you breathe in. Ayra took three seconds to cement herself, as the flames whipped around her. In this brief moment of time, an odd thought appeared to the Sith Marauder. Like the flames that Ashe had conjured were trying to take her soul, which added to the panic and surprise that her enemy had managed to create such a thing. She did not feel fear however. Such a concept were for lesser; not for the Sith.

She composed herself, tapping into her training. She never missed a shot with a WESTAR M5 blaster rifle. Perhaps it could be argued that she was a better marksman than a Lightsaber specialist; and she was very good with a Lightsaber. The flames threatened to set her alight as her yellow, sulfuric, predatory eye lowered to the scope of the rifle. The Dark side of the Force flowed through her, maintaining her cloak. Ashe was firing blind, but it would only be a matter of time until the flames found her. Two seconds had passed by the time Ayra had come to readiness; ready to take the shot that would allow her to claim the stygium crystals that she, Darth Ayra, had come for; and orchestrated the New Order, under the guise of the fallen Fel Imperium, to attack the Mandalorians at Aeten II.

Her finger cocked back the trigger of the rifle and a single, precise turbolaser shot burst through the barrel towards Ashe. Ayra was not one for semantics. She was a professional, cold hearted murderer; and so her shot was aimed right between Ashe's eyes; a head shot aimed to finish... or perhaps, due to her own Force sensitivity, put Ashe out of the count, if she moved in time; and in the possible scenario, of Darth Ayra missing her shot.

As the red streak of turbolaser exploded from the barrel of her WESTAR M5 blaster rifle, the Force Cloak technique she had sent over herself dissipated. It was useless now, Ashe would have made her position from the moment she took a shot. Going back to that professionalism, Ayra immediately sprung up her feet and charged at Ashe with a blood, shrieking cry, much like a striker would do in a game of Football after they shot, to ensure that they got their goal in the event the first shot was saved and they were there for the rebound.

Darth Ayra would be there for the rebound if there was one; and the Lightsaber that was being unsheathed from her utility belt and into her left hand as she charged would be there to ensure that she got her goal.

 

[Nyxie]

Ashe pressed slowly forward and continued to fire streams of flame to sustain the infernal torrent that filled the hall towards its target. In a matter of seconds, she would be close enough to completely fill the room where she believed her target to lie in wait, and all hope would be lost for them as alchemic flames coated their skin like napalm, burning even on metal and armor with the tentative power of the Force. However, a single blast of a firearm flew through the blade, deteriorating under the heavy blue flames that coated it as it flew. It barely missed Ashe's head, the heat of the air around her fire no doubt bending and distorting the light of her true position, if any even passed through at all. She could have pressed on with her assault... but such would not tell an interesting tale.
One and the next, the foxtress tossed aside the rifles and all the ammunition. Sleight of hand met the grip of her wakizashi while her right hand bore crushgaunt and claw, capable of rending and crushing bone. The flames sucked into a tight confine like a star being swallowed slowly by a black hole, finally compressing into a bright light and all but disappearing in mid air with a small tail of smoke. What lie unveiled was a figure who looked no older than fourteen or fifteen in human years, three tails fanned and sprawled about, a girl with piercing golden eyes something like the Sith and yet so much more....
Animal. Vampire. Demon.

[member="Darth Ayra"]​

 

[Darth Ayra]

| [member="Ashe the Reaper"] |

Ayra lowered her arms, the burning sensations still there, but the flame was not. Opening her eyes, she lowered her arms to observe her surroundings. Her opponent was standing up ahead, doing... nothing. It was at this point that Ayra would normally charge ahead and take out her whilst she was standing still; or hiding until they went away. She was trapped and that required her to use her brain, rather than her brawn.

As the smoke began to lower from the heated floors, walls and ceiling, Ayra lowered her hand to a grenade on her belt and threw it behind it. Metal stilts appeared out of it's structure and lodged themselves into the vault door, digging in and keep the grenade there in that position. It would explode within a minute.

Lowering her eyes to her burned clothes, which were torn in places, as well as the red blotches on her skin from where the flames had licked her, Ayra averted her gaze away from her arms to Ashe. "Interesting technique, you burned me good." Intending to keep the conversation brief so as to keep her attention from the grenade she had just planted on the vault, Ayra said next. "I didn't know Mandalorians could use the Force. How about we come to an arrangement?"

 

[Nyxie]

"Let's not," replied Ashelotte in a disdainful monotone.
The vixen lifted one foot and marched it forward slowly, letting the thick wooden heel echo against the hard floor. Shortly after, another would follow, and another, until she was slowly and calmly advancing forward to her enemy. It was Ashe's job to protect the Stygium. She had one job.... She would not fail it, not without justifiable recourse.
"I would say you're a coward like the rest of them, but I can tell that's not true; you're just incredibly stupid," she added with a cold certainty after extended pause.
Ashe finally stopped about ten meters away, blade still in hand, the gripping fist against her hip pommel-up. A blank stare and a frown coaxed her face. Her body leaned in to one side, her left left stretching slightly as some of her weight left it.

[member="Darth Ayra"]​

 

[Sheff Zee]

The shuttle that carried him all over the galaxy landed upon the planet easily enough. It had gone through space of course, but it had gone from the other side of the planet. It was the only reason why he was late, for if he had gone the same way as [member="Darth Vulcanus"], then his shuttle would have certainly been destroyed.

When he touched down to the planet, he unclipped a black cylindrical object and walked away from the ship. There was fighting to be done on this day.

 

[Darth Ayra]

| [member="Ashe the Reaper"] |

Ayra counted the steps she took, whilst maintaining her eyes on Ashe's own. She was timing the moment to begin her assault in conjunction with the grenade. She had gambled that her enemy wouldn't begin another assault based on the fact that they had stopped the first and it had paid off. "Stupid? No." As she shook her head, a series of events unfurled.

The grenade behind Darth Ayra exploded, atomizing the area of the blast door it had been lodged into. At the same time, Ayra pressed the ignition button of her Lightsaber and performed a Juyo slash, by jumping into the air, past Ashe, whilst slashing at her neck as she did so. As she flew through the air, her left hand holding the Lightsaber in the one armed slash, her right hand pressed onto her communique, which sent a transmission to her shuttle, currently parked in the nearby forest, to lift off in auto pilot and make it's way to the facility, just as she originally planned.

 

[Nyxie]

Ashe winced as the inevitable blast went off and took down the heavy vault door, lifting her left arm over her eyes to shield her face from the concussion and debris with her sweeping sleeve. When her eyes opened wide, it was to the sight of a saber approaching her neck and repelling off of the alchemic blade in her hand, arm still raised up to her head. The woman had flipped past her and landed opposite. This gave the foxtress the upper hand, as she now held the fortified ground with the vault to her back.
Ashe tuned about face to meet [member="Darth Ayra"]'s facing, still holding her arm up with the blade underhanded to offer the best defensive maneuverability in the event she'd need to repel and contort. Her eyes fell to the corners of their sockets, giving a hollow stare unto one of the Akk Slugthrowers, still half-loaded. With a subtle nudge of the Force, the young vixen depressed the trigger, sending off several rounds of fire which she conjured into a vicious condensed ball with her index and middle finger pointing off of the blade's grip. Into [member="Darth Ayra"] it went, with a proximity and energy that only the elite could completely deflect. Should it hit, it was certain to throw the woman back quite a ways, even if parried, and cause surface burns - with the potential to catch on her clothes and flammable articles. With a heaving kick off of the ground, leaning back, Ashelotte simultaneously cast herself back into the doorway of the vault. Was the enemy fleeing? No, it couldn't be - they had only just cracked the vault. Were they this naive?
Whatever the answer to Ashe's inward questions, there were the valuables they sought with such a fervor. It was all there. Ashe couldn't help but notice. Hopefully the others wouldn't, because she pocketed as much as she could fit in her sash and weapon satchel, in one scoop.

 

[Darth Ayra]

Disregard.

 

[Darth Voracitos]

[member="Darth Ayra"], [member="Ashe the Reaper"]

The Command Probe watched the little scuff between Ayra and her opponent with a trained gun upon the back of the vampire thing. Ayra cracked it open perhaps on her end, but his second probe had already begun cutting in, and it was entering a tunnel far deeper in than the mere entrance. Voracitos did nothing to help his compatriot other than to hide and watch, and to strike when necessary. Oh no, the fox lady thought their defeat was at hand, coming for Stygium and failing to by pass the first door. Unfortunately for her, power had gone down temporarily in the facility, and his drone had successfully cut a nice probe sized hole into a tunnel farther down.

There would be explosives, and Mandalorian guards, but there would also be technicians scrambling to restore the power mysteriously taken out from the outside (via Voracitos' now destroyed third probe). Ayra prepared the shuttle, which was good. She distracted the bulk of the security forces (almost undoubtedly making a contingency to ensnare the Sith in a trap, blocking all exit), but Voracitos was doing the real work. Power was in the midst of being restored, thus the breach in the tunnel the Probe presently entered went unnoticed.

A stun blaster intent on knocking out its victims (due to its general inability to really harm Beskar soldiers effectively), was primed and ready to rapidly fire at any moment. Whenever it could, it stopped by a charge and disarmed it as quickly as a machine could, and continued down the vault. Whenever there was a door, it hooked into the port to download the map, slice the door, and the destroy its hard-drive. It was several meters into the facility now, far from the action in the front, and not yet detected. It had the idea of where the main vault was, and knew it would be heavily guarded. That was not a worry though, as the influence of Voracitos could be commanded merely by his seeing the scenario.

The Probe was dozens of meters away from the vault, in an obscure off to the side tunnel, secluded and away from attention. It would take more than two posts to reach the vault, and formulate an effective counter to the main guard force of the Vault. This probe might be destroyed, but at least at that point there was one other probe that could accomplish the mission where the other left off. As such, the Command probe casually sneaked away from the battle, with a blaster still aimed at Ashe if a sudden need of it arrived before it left fully for the opening into the facility.

Back-up power was restored to the vault now, and maintenance workers worked on bringing primary power repaired.

 

[Darth Ayra]

| [member="Ashe the Reaper"] | [member="Darth Voracitos"] |

Each round impacted around Ayra, setting her aflame. Feeling wasn't there anymore, almost like her senses had been dulled as she was consumed by the fires at Ashe had cast upon her. She staggered, falling with each impact, her Lightsaber beginning to slip from her finger tips due to the lack of sensation there and that her concentration was no longer upon it. The beast inside of her had risen now, appearing above the surface, sniffing at her enemy and promising her anointment. She could almost hear the thousands that would clap and praise her rise to the summit, like the Dark side had anointed her it's sole guide. It felt good, which was a startling contrast to being cooked alive.

Perhaps in her final moments, Darth Ayra was going insane.

Two things happened that saved Ayra's life. Firstly, like all facilities of it's type, a fire suppressant system had been installed to stop fires such as Ashe's from burning the place down. Perhaps, unknowingly, Voracitos's probes might of brought about Ayra's demise, for they had cut off the power to the facility in an effort to heist it's stygium deposits. Alas, it was at the right moment that the Engineers had repaired the breaches to the suppressant system, as well as other areas. Sprinklers ahead began to activate water, raining down upon Darth Ayra, Ashe the Reaper and the hidden probe that had it's gun pointed at Ashe's back.

At the same time, the Force came around her in a wave (Force Wave), as her hatred manifested and the rage, exploded. It was like the Dark side was willing Ayra to live this skirmish, to return back victorious with her objective complete, with what the Engineers repairing the suppressant system at the right time to douse the flames; and the Force Wave erupting from her frame to blow the flames, and consequentially, her clothes from her frame.

The water soothed the burns and flesh wounds, the majority of which were severe, as the water rained down upon her naked frame. Pieces of the uniform she had worn to camouflage in the forest hung here and there, but the majority was gone; either burned away from Ashe's assault or atomized by her Force Wave. She lowered her gaze to the ground, her yellow eyes following the strands of red that were beginning to mix in the pools that were steadily building in the water rising around her. But rage still gripped her. Hatred drove her. Darth Ayra was in a state of Force Rage and that wasn't good for Ashe.

Her thumb ignited her Lightsaber once more; and it was Ayra that approached Ashe slowly at first, her burned feet splashing the water to the side. Her blonde hair was fallen around her, matted against her ivory, chalk white skin. Spinning the weapon in her left hand, she prepared herself for her own assault. It would be a final one, however.

There was only so much a Human body could take.

 

[Nyxie]

The foxtress simply looked on as she awaited some kind of retaliation, which was then preempted by a blast of the Force and the engagement of the fire suppression system outside of the vault. She watched as the woman, tattered and naked, slowly approached her with a feral might. It appeared as this was the final throes... or so it seemed. With the passage of time only, came the answers. Ashe stepped forth into the falling water, her own heels plunging into the puddles forming from the torrent. With each deep, slow footstep came the crash and surge of water from underneath it splashing on her stockings and making a cracking sound. Three steps later, she stood in wait before what once was a solid vault door, blade still in hand. She grit her teeth, grinding the canines slowly against the base of her gums. This was the final strike. The aura and impression given off by her opponent, even in their weakened state, was impressive and only tickled at the Darker musings inside of her, pulling them further forth. The battle about to ensue would be intense.
There was something caught in Ashe's gaze, just behind her opponent. With a single quick huff, Ashelotte charged forth with the wakizashi lowered to her side. She'd stop short with expert agility and the kick of her leg out into the ground, pulling the blade unto [member="Darth Ayra"] - but not before unleashing her focus on the rifle in her gaze beforehand to Force Pull it straight into the hinds of the woman's knees. By the time she'd hit the ground, assuming she had no further tricks in her arsenal, Ashe's alchemic sword would be coming down right upon her right shoulder with a vampiric swiftness and strength fueled by Ashe's hate that would rival Ayra's own. The fun was just beginning.

 

[Darth Ayra]

| [member="Ashe the Reaper"] | [member="Darth Voracitos"] |

Ayra's eyes saw several things in the ensuing seconds that passed, as she and Ashe approached each other for the final confrontation of their duel. Inside the Force Rage that had taken her, all pain, injuries and so on were forgotten, to be endured and be suffered upon later. Her movements would be faster as well. All limitations, forgotten, only pushed onwards by the Dark side of the Force and her own darker, inner passions.

Her weapon hand moved almost by itself and span the Lightsaber in the path of her blade, a Djem So technique in it's parry to deflect the blade back upon Ashe. Her feet and knees rose to her chest in a jumping motion to avoid the rifle pulled towards her, kicking up water and splash in a cinematic effect for all writers to enjoy. She span in the air to move herself over Ashe and Force called upon her to push her hand out backwards as she ran towards the vault. The Force Push that came outwards kicked up water and fallen weaponry that Ayra had last in the ensuing flames that Ashe had fired upon her, all in the direction of the Vampire.

It had been Ayra's intentions, from the moment that Ashe had burned her a "new one" to utilize her greatest weapon: her unstable rage and unadulterated hatred that she felt every waking moment to her advantage to complete her objective. With a last tug of the Force, she fell onto her back and dropped her Lightsaber among the water inside the vault as she pulled the blast door, which she had exploded off the frame with a grenade, back over the space where it had been before. It would at least stop Ashe and the Mandalorian teams that were sweeping in, for a time.
FIN

End of duel vs. Ashe the Reaper. Enjoyed it. Time to close up this thread, eh Fatty?

----​

Darth Ayra sat up among the water, the Force Rage now gone. Pain gripped her. She was going to regret unleashing all of it at once later on. If the pain was bad now, then she knew it was going to be... difficult to handle, later. It was in her normal state of mind that she realized she was completely naked. Mixtures of embarrassment and anger came to the surface at the thought of it, but she had no energy to deal with it for the moment.

Picking up her Lightsaber in her hand, she knew she only had minutes to get out of here. Turning her gaze to the probe that was in the vault, she barely whispered. "Not a word." Voracitos would no doubt get the meaning behind the three words, considering her state. Climbing up the tunnel the probes had created, she climbed into her shuttle and collapsed into the pilot seat, waiting for Voracitos to indicate that their cargo was on board. As she did so, she managed to pull over the Sith robe she had left behind at the start of the operation. It was sleek and due to the fact that her body was so wet, her frame could easily be made out, but with nobody to watch, she didn't care much; and only threw it onto herself more for the warmth than to protect her last shred of dignity.

When Voracitos loaded the stygium on the shuttle, Ayra would then proceed to fly under the camouflaged of [member="Darth Vulcanus"]'s retreating forces, to live another day.

FIN

 

[Captain Larraq]

By the time Rygel Larraq and his command wing had arrived in system the battle was already over. His combat forces had signaled the all-clear. And the Concordance-class Mining Barge had transmitted its distress signal. Larraq immediately donned a void suit and took a shuttle to the distressed Barge. The armored boots of twenty four Hyperion Security soldiers followed closely behind Rygel Larraq as he made his way through the scarred hallways of the Barge. Scorch marks, explosions, bullet holes, corpses, and destroyed equipment marked his passage into the bowls of the ship.

A thick metal door slid out of his way and Rygel Larraq stepped into the foul, stinking center of the Medical Bay. "Someone point me to [member="Aedan Miles"]." Larraq demanded of the medical staff that hurried back and forth to treat the dozens of wounded that filled the length and breadth of the bay. A young nurse pointed Rygel Larraq to a back corner and Larraq marched off to find the man that had nearly lost a multi-million credit starship to a handful of raiders. "Lieutenant Miles, I hope you have an explanation for yourself." Larraq began before the obviously missing arm of the soldier caught his attention.

 

[Aedan Miles]

Aedan who was just regaining consciousness pushed himself up right with his right arm ignoring the look that Larraq pointed at his arm before he grunted out through pain. "Explanation not really I am just in pain and can't think clearly at the moment." Aedan waved a nurse away as she tried to get him to lay back. Instead he started to stand up carefully reaching for his armor and weapons as pain washed over his face. The Red Legion soldiers standing nearby all winced seeing what their commander was doing before one stepped forward to help him brushing past [member="Captain Larraq"] as he started to assist Aedan.

Meanwhile in the hangar the soldiers of the Red Legion moved forward and greeted the people coming off the ship their hands on their weapons. "Halt please we need to know what your authorization is to be here?" The soldiers looked back and forth between [member="Nyos Val"] and the men that were with them.

 

[Captain Larraq]

Rygel Larraq watched as the stubborn soldier refused to stay down. He'd seen enough wounds to know that the man was probably heavily sedated at the moment and was likely very close to the point of being drunk thanks to the medications. "I understand" Larraq said to the man as he watched the Aruetii soldiers help him. "When you've gotten your bearings, I need to have you and your men debriefed. But not here." Larraq added as he glanced around at the number of medical staff and wounded crew that filled the bay. "For now, I want you to take it easy and get that arm taken care of. If you'll excuse me, I need to go oversee the repairs to this ship."

Turning and leaving the young soldiers to deal with their comrade, Rygel Larraq began making his way out of the Medical Bay. The initial reports that had come through his Datapad on the ride over had indicated that numerous hull breaches had peppered the outside of the ship and the outer sections of the ship had suffered severe damage from explosives. They had managed to seal off the compromised sections, but without extensive repairs, there would be no way for the ship to resume mining operations. And if the commentary from the Captain of the Mining Barge is accurate.... resuming mining operations was on the top of Larraq's priority list.

 

[Nyos Val]

Nyos and his men relinquished their weapons to the Mandalorian guards.

We are a medical unit from the Protectorate, I was dispatched to this vessel because one of your members is in need of cybernetic surgery. My men and I are here to preform the surgery then we will be on our way back to our fleet, you have my word as a Cyborg.

The medical team with Nyos held up their packs for inspection if needed, as well as the crate a pair were carrying.
[member="Aedan Miles"]

 

[Aedan Miles]

The Red Legion soldiers in the hangar activated their comlinks sending a message to the med bay and the soldiers in command there. In turn that man jogged towards [member="Captain Larraq"] calling out lightly. "SIR. Sir just a moment we have reports of a protectorate medical team in Hangar 3 requesting permission to come to the Med Bay sense Commander Miles is well.." The mans voice trailed off as he glanced back towards where Aedan Miles was attempting to get ready for patrol. "Not doing that great we figured we would ask you for advice Sir."

The team in the hangar held up their hands lightly as they waited for a reply indicating that [member="Nyos Val"] and his men were to wait for a reply to come in from their superiors.

 

[Captain Larraq]

"Protectorate medical team? How the sheb did they get here so quickly? I came from Nirauan and only just got here within the hour." Larraq said as he pondered the arrival of men loyal to the Protectorate. They would have to have been operating within just a few systems of Aeten II to have arrived to quickly. "Let them be, but keep an eye on them." Larraq said eventually. His concerns had to remain on the asteroid below the Mining Barge and getting the ship repaired as quickly as possible. Dismissing the troops, Larraq turned and continued on his way. Typing on his datapad as he walked, Larraq estimated the raw materials they would need to repair the damage to the Mining Barge, increased the number by ten percent, and placed commands for freighters from Yaga Minor to bring the materials to Aeten II.

 

[Aedan Miles]

The Red Legion soldiers quickly gesture for him to follow them as they quickly guide the medical team to the medical bay where Nyos would see a slightly familiar figure struggling into some armor his left arm missing from just above the elbow down. The soldiers seeing this jogged over and started to push Aedan down as well looking at Nyos they called out. "Hurry up and knock him out." [member="Nyos Val"]