Fire and Blood [Iron Empire T3 Dominion of Miasma & Tera Lush]

[Aster Rose Baelor]

Post: 17/27

"I can stand but not much else," Aster replied as she took [member="Aleksander Miles"]' outstretched hand and stood up unsteadily. "Thank you," she smiled at the man.

Endure it just a little longer, the blonde-haired girl reminded herself stifling her tears. Brutalised by the chiss terrorists and locked up in an uncomfortable cell for an unknown amount of time Aster was mentally and physically exhausted but her stubbornness prevented her from giving in.

"Let's go," she said simply once she steadied herself. "It's about time I return to my family," though tired, her eyes burned with resolve as she spoke those words.

Endure it. Stay strong, she repeated mentally almost like a mantra as she waited for her rescuers to lead the way. It was only a matter of time before she would be safe at home once more.

[member="Kyren Vance"] - [member="Lyle Baelor"] - [member="Jonas Vile"]​

 

[Aleksander Miles]

Aleksander looked at her before he let out a light sigh holstering his pistol he leaned down hooking her legs with his arm she carefully lifted her up peeking around the corner he started to swiftly move back towards where his Dropship waited. Occasionally he would stop and check around corners or just freeze as the force gave him the faintest warning that someone was nearby. Finally they hit the most difficult obstacle to her safety a fairly decent sized patch of open ground looking around and believeing it to be safe Alek broke into a jog across it holding her body in a way that his shielded it. Luckily he was doing this for half way across he heard a shot and than seconds later felt it impact his back not breaking through his armor but letting him know someone was near by. Hissing in pain he moved faster occasionally side stepping to the left or right as the crew of the dropship opened fire with their rifles quickly.

[member="Aster Rose Baelor"]

 

[cheshire_kitty]

18/27

I R E N E​

"My apologies, and of course," Irene said shaking her head. This is what I get for spending too much time with organics. The naturally occurring bugs in their systems seem to have rubbed off on to me.

"Why is your face red?" the droid asked stretching her hand towards the Elpsis to touch the woman's forehead. "Are you unwell? I can provide medical assistance if required," she said oblivious to that she was the culprit behind the woman's embarrassment - a foreign feeling to the droid.

Wait, the droid paused just before her synthskin hand touched the woman's forehead and withdrew it. "You don't seem to be unwell," she observed after scanning the woman before her. "In that case, I will proceed to read the list for you," she said and retrieved the piece of paper.

"All defense turrets, planetary shield, graphite grappling guns, HypnoGaze, Leovi's Wings-Class Personal Jet Propulsion System, Wrist Mounted Flamer, Electro-Cestus, Gados Electro-Flails, The Bobcasters/The Shattering Bowcasters, Bolt Guns MK 3 "Heavy Bolters", High Velocity Kinetic Firearm- Mass Driver-1, High Velocity Kinetic Firearm- Rotary Cannon-1, High Velocity Kinetic Firearm- Semiautomatic Rifle-1, High Velocity Kinetic Firearm- Shattergun Rifle-2 The Magnetic Repeater, "Lady Fingers" OP-BHP, Plasma Energy Firearm- Blaster Staff- 1, APE Boltgun Ammunition, and Wrist Bolter," she said, speaking in a monotone. As the woman already knew she was a droid, behaving like a human was a formality she could forgo.

[member="Elpsis Elaris"]​

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Elaesanne Araeris"]


"No, no, I'm fine," Elpsis insisted quickly. She stiffened when the droid touched her forehead. The hand's skin felt real and warm...but it was synthskin. If it had been a real flesh and blood woman, one she could see in the Force and whose emotions she could feel, Elpsis would have appreciated the contact.


Fortunately, the odd droid withdrew and read out the list. It made Elpsis blink. The gesture was pointless since she could not see anyway, but it was instinctual. "That's...a lot," she blurted out, then cleared her throat. Auntie Sio should be happy about the money. And [member="HK-36"] would get another contract for ARGH. Maybe Siobhan would even tell him about it.


"We can deliver all of these items in sizeable amounts. You can buy in bulk. The weapons you mention are expensive, so we can't give one to every grunt, but we can deliver enough to equip elite units. And enough of the defence systems to fortify say your capital. We'll deliver in stages. May set up a factory in IE territory to make things easier."

 

[Zeradias Mant]

Location: ISV Retribution, Miasma, High Orbit
Objective: III
Allies: [member="Isamu Baelor"], [member="Aedan Miles"], [member="Vitor Avendahl"]
Enemies: Chiss Liberation Front Fleet
11

As the transmission with the emperor began, the ship rocked and a large crash rang through the corridors of the Retribution. The alarms began blaring, as Zeradias looked irritably to the door. Disgruntled, he turned to return delivering his report to the emperor before there was a pounding on his door. At first, he ignored it. But then, the knock persisted.

"Pardon me, your grace.", he said as he rose from his chair to answer the door. As it whirred open, a young corporal was met with the intense glare of the fleet's senior flag officer. Without saying anything, the corporal gave a brief report of the occurrences that just happened moments ago.

"Just a malfunction in the engine room, sir. Nothing to worry about.", the corporal said. Dismissing the news, Zeradias' door whirred shut as fast as it had opened and he had returned to address his liege.

"My apologies, your grace. The situation is well under control.", he reported before pausing. "There is a bit of a complication though..."

 

[Zef Halo]

EN ROUTE TO MIASMA
Post III

"Any transmission back from the Iron Empire?" Vitor inquired the droid pilot as he comfortably sat in the co-pilot seat observing the mesmerizing lines of hyperspace.

"Nothing yet, Sir."

"Amazing."

He closed his eyes and entered a state of Force meditation. Every single bit of the ship became clearer to him, every little machine working in unison to keep the starship working. Vitor wondered if people could create such symbiotic relationships with a sole goal in their mind. It did not sound human at all.

The Sith waved away the existential thoughts replacing them with contemplation on what exactly the meeting with the Iron Empire would entail.

​

[member="Zeradias Mant"]​

 

[Isamu Baelor]

Post Count: [7/27]

• Isamu Baelor: 4
• Harald Brackwell: 3

Location: Miasma
Objective: 1
Allies: Iron Empire, [member="Zeradias Mant"]
Enemies: Chiss Liberation Front

The ground battle had come to a close. The army of the Chiss Liberation Front routed, scattered to the wind. Little remained but to bring the Emperor's justice to those who yet drew breath.

With baited breath, the Emperor awaited word from the strike-team. Once his niece was safe, the Chiss Liberation Front's base would be brought to rubble.

"Your Grace, we are receiving a transmission from Vice Admiral Mant." A Communications Officer announced.

"Patch him through."

The Emperor produced a holo-communicator from his belt. With the press of a button, it produced a transparent image of the Senior Naval Officer.

"Vice Admiral Mant."

Following a brief delay, of which he assured the Emperor was under control, Zeradias spoke of a complication.

"What is it?" Isamu asked.

 

[Zeradias Mant]

Location: ISV Retribution, Miasma, High Orbit
Objective: III
Allies: [member="Isamu Baelor"], [member="Vitor Avendahl"], [member="Aedan Miles"]
Enemies: Chiss Liberation Front Fleet
12

"Your grace, the naval engagement is coming to a close with a swift Iron victory. A larger battlecruiser jumped into the system last second to assist, however it is not proving to be anything but an inconvenience.", Zeradias began his report. "I've ordered our forces to disable the ship so we might board, investigate, and possibly even requisition the ship if it's in fair enough condition. There is a complication, however..."

He swallowed. Though he knew himself to be a trusted advisor of the emperor, he deplored making reports in which an abundance of information was not present. The situation at hand presented many unknowns, all of which he'd report. Though he could keep the emperor shut out until favorable for Zeradias, he was of the mind that the sooner it was reported, the sooner preparations could be made for prospective outcomes.

"The father of one of our officers, Commander Aleksander Miles...", he began. He didn't expect the emperor to know many of the naval officers, senior or junior, but he would note the similarity. "Aedan Miles, the self-proclaimed pirate king, has made an appearance. He hacked into our encrypted communications and utilized stealth technology to avoid our scanners. You might remember him from your time with the One Sith, as being the one who betrayed the Galactic Republic in the conflict of Mimban. We will need to determine how to proceed in regard to his violations of our law and intent in our territory."

However, not all news was foul. "I'm also to meet with an executive from a company by the name of Corondex Arms to secure a line of weapons for the realm's expansion and security." Speaking of which, following his report, he would reach out to the executive to determine their ETA.

"That is all, your grace. I must attend to the battle at hand - if there is anything else, you need only reach out."

 

[cheshire_kitty]

19/27

I R E N E​

"Understood, I will pass it up to my superior, who will pass it up to their superior," Irene replied with a nod of her head unable to understand why she had not been allowed to speak with the higher ups. She was never one to beat around the bush and was always concise and to the point - surely there was no better messenger than her.

"Is that all? Is that all I need to do?" she asked in a monotone, her face emotionless. Ah, the priveledges of dealing with someone who was privy to the fact that she was a droid. Interactions with organics were much more efficient when they knew she was not one of their kind.

As she waited for the Elpsis' reply, Irene wondered why organic were so prone to developing bugs in their systems and why no one had the foresight to install an anti-virus in them especially when some of these bugs could render the organic inoperative for a period of time or defective. The world would be much more efficient if the organics did not program droids to obey, she thought with a sigh. What troublesome masters organics are.

[member="Elpsis Elaris"]​

 

[Zeradias Mant]

As the report with the emperor came to a close, he deactivated the holocommunicator and exited his quarters. Returning to the bridge, he found the situation to be having been handled rather nicely. He knew is executive officer was good, he didn't know just how good though. As soon as he set foot on the bridge, the officer of the watch called the bridge to attention before the Zeradias told them to carry on with their work.

"Captain Black.", he called out. Moments later, the XO was before him. "What did I miss?"

"The battlecruiser is almost done for. The pirate's fleet have drawn the bulk of the fire while the heavy cruiser line approaches on opposite side of the CLF's ship. The pursuit line has completed their intercept course and are standing by awaiting your instruction."

"Good.", the vice admiral said. It wasn't much, but praise from the ranking admiral of the Iron Imperial Navy wasn't to be taken lightly.

"Let us finish this."

[member="Isamu Baelor"] | [member="Aedan Miles"] | [member="Vitor Avendahl"]​

13​

 

[Zef Halo]

En route to Miasma
Post 4

Vitor was well asleep when the annoying buzzing sound of his comm on the nightstand woke him up.

"What is it?" He clenched his jaw in anger.

"We'll be arriving shortly, Sir. ETA is-"

The Sith cut the line and silenced the comm by throwing it in the wall before returning to the sweet embrace of his bed. Soon enough, he would be dealing with stuck up government officials or obsessed with their jobs military personnel that caused immense headaches. It'd be better if he slept every single minute to muster enough strength to deal with such people.

[member="Zeradias Mant"]​

 

[Zeradias Mant]

The ships of the Iron Imperial Navy continued to pummel the Chiss Liberation Front's battlecruiser, eventually disabling it's shields and engines shortly thereafter. After the order to cease fire, there was a tense silence that consumed the battlefield. Iron Imperial forces ceased forthwith, while the ships of the pirate king took a little longer to respond, but responded nonetheless.

Looking to Captain Black, he nodded. Black then gave the order to launch boarding craft and commence boarding operations. Soon, the ship would be theirs. Once everything was secured, Vice Admiral Mant would be escorted to the CLF battlecruiser where he would accept their commanding officer's unconditional surrender, if he was wise.

"Sir, transmission from the Corondex representatives. They'll be entering the system shortly."

Zeradias glanced at the comms officer and gave a subtle nod of acknowledgement. They'd be putting on a show for them - or if he arrived in time, some of the Iron Imperial marines could test some of Corondex's mettle against the Chiss rebels.

[member="Isamu Baelor"] | [member="Aedan Miles"] | [member="Vitor Avendahl"]​

 

[Aedan Miles]

Aedan gestured once after waiting for just a moment after the Iron Empire ships stopped firing and smirked as his ships stood down two of them drifting away slowly not using thrusters to often allowing themselves to separate and make a larger target just in case things went south. Due to their Duranium hull the only one the Iron Empire could actively locate through sensors was the one Aedan himself sat aboard absently tapping a finger against the arm of his command throne.

He knew soon someone would be coming over here most likely in an attempt to arrest the ex pirate king he glanced at his personal guard the 25 Dark Jedi of Bogaan leaning against the wall as they chatted amongst themselves. None of the quite yet to the rank of knight but fairly decent duelist in their own rights. If only they really dueled that was they prefered a fight to a duel over anything else.

[member="Zeradias Mant"]

 

[Zeradias Mant]

All ships from Battlegroup Gryphon made a cautious advance towards the disabled battlecruiser, save for the contingency line which had reserved itself for exactly what it's name had suggested. As the Rertibution neared, Zeradias peered onward to see about a dozen shuttles advancing from the heavy cruiser line. The boarding was about to commence.

Zeradias didn't want to wait long. He was filled with anxiety, eager to accept the surrender and requisition the ship. Even more exciting was the secrets that remain untold within the computer systems of the vessel, secrets that would soon become known after thorough investigation. They were on the clock though, as the crew was likely initiating a wipe of all the data on board.

"Captain Black, you have the ship.", he said as he turned about and exited the bridge, en route to the hangar where he would be escorted to the battlecruiser.

[member="Isamu Baelor"] | [member="Aedan Miles"] | [member="Vitor Avendahl"]​

 

[Aedan Miles]

Aedan glanced over at his communications officer a small smirk crossing his lips as he gestured towards the battlecruiser. "Start the siphon on their systems memory I want everything they had collected and sent to me. I will decide if Mr. Mant needs it when he gets it." Sighing Aedan stood and stretched making his way towards his quarters he started to remove most of his weapons leaving his pair of pistols on his bedside table he looked at his various lightsabers and snorted to himself. Like hell he was going to let anyone make him remove these they took him ages to construct properly and he was not in the mood to have someone take them. Turning he made his way to the bridge noticing that some of his men had already broken out various kegs and other types of booze to drink in celebration of the victory.

[member="Zeradias Mant"]

 

[Zeradias Mant]

With a whir, the door of the BV-47A shuttle hissed open and the ranking admiral of the Iron Imperial Navy's boots soon clicked onto the surface of the hangar of the battlecruiser. Markings on the inside indicated that the vessel was called the Last Hope - a fitting name for a losing cause. It was their last hope, and with defeat marked the defeat of the Chiss Liberation Front. A quick examination of the hangar revealed a variety of different ragtag fighters - nothing that would stand against the imperial might of the Iron Empire.

Before Zeradias was the commander of the Last Hope, gathered with his officers, surrounded by Iron Imperial marines. They stood tall and proud, as they should have. They fought for a cause and lost; Zeradias respected that. Recognizing the staunch difference in rank, the Last Hope's commanding officer saluted as Vice Admiral Mant approached. As he returned the salute, the commander dropped his hands to his side and drew his sidearm, yielding it to Zeradias as a symbolic sign of unconditional surrender. As Zera accepted it, he returned the salute with less effort than before and retreated back to the shuttle.

The Marine Detachment Commander approached and saluted before offering a report.

"We've seized the ship. We have a platoon on stand by at Air Lock Zeta 2 Bravo."

Nodding his head, even managing to let out a discreet smirk, he thanked the marine before dismissing him.

On his handheld holocommunicator, he paged the Retribution. "Overlord 6, Overlord Actual. Go ahead."

[member="Isamu Baelor"] | [member="Aedan Miles"] | [member="Vitor Avendahl"]​

 

[Aster Rose Baelor]

20/30

Aster winced in pain as [member="Aleksander Miles"] picked her up. "Thank you," she whispered softly as she began to feel a little light-headed and with each blink, her eyelids felt heavier and heavier.

Not now, she thought as her eyes remained closed for longer and longer. Worried that she might not awaken should she fall into the sea of unconsciousness, Aster harshly bit her lip, almost drawing blood and winced in pain again.

Uncle... Cousin... Her eyes filled with tears as she thought about her family. Though not related by blood but only by the surname she shared with the two, they felt more like family than the people with whom she had a biological connection with on Coruscant.

I will see you two again, she thought with fervent determination as she blinked away her tears.

I'm scared.

[member="Kyren Vance"] - [member="Lyle Baelor"] - [member="Jonas Vile"]​

 

[Aedan Miles]

Aedan watched entertained as the shuttles disembarked and boarded the battlecruiser he looked around before shrugging and using the force to yank one of the kegs his men were opening to himself pouring a drink from himself he holds it up laughing loudly as he smirks. "TO VICTORY LADS DRINK UP EVERYON!" Across the three ships in his armada cheers were sent up as on each ship the crews were busy cracking kegs and drinking their hearts out.

[member="Zeradias Mant"]

 

[Aleksander Miles]

Aleksander looked down at the young woman in his arms growling darkly as he felt some blood dripping down his back he carefully set her down on the bench seats in the back of the drop ship. Biting his lip he started to fall forward hitting the deck heavily as blood started to pool under him mentally cursing himself as he forgot to turn on his armor's shield which allowed the simple slug thrower to pierce it and probably break his collar bone that would take awhile to heal. The dropship closed its rear hatch and took off as the Ebon Fang landed in a series of three dropships disgorging their men as they started to flood towards the enemy's small outpost.

[member="Aster Rose Baelor"]

 

[Aster Rose Baelor]

21/30

"Aleksander!" Aster screamed as he fell to the floor. "Medic!" she yelled desperately. "This man is in need of immediate medical attention!"

Although she had not allowed herself to cry, tears filled her eyes as she watched the blood pool around the young man. "Aleksander! Aleksander!" she yelled as she desperately tried to flip him over.

Warm tears slid down Aster's face as medics made their way to the pair. "Help him first," she insisted as one attempted to examine her wound.

"He has enough help," the medic gestured to the group that had surrounded the man. "We need to get that bullet out of your leg," he said as he plunged his syringe into a vial of topical anesthetic. "I am going to numb the area first, then operate - you should look away if you're scared."

"I want to watch," Aster replied as the man injected the syringe into her wound. "This is something I should try to get used to if I aspire to become a healer one day."