Dominion For a Safe and Secure Society | EE Dominion of G'rho

[Vidalu Na'an]

​

Na'an had been focusing hard on the door of their compartment from the minute they had locked themselves in here, training almost all of her senses outwards into the corridors beyond. In the last few campaigns, it seemed to her that she seemed better and better suited to such a task--if she closed her eyes now, she could even count the number of people passing the door at a given moment--so she had taken station there, intent on protecting the other two inside at any cost. With her focusing so hard through the Force, the few keywords that had come through at the start of the transmission seemed to ring in the back of her brain even more loudly.

Wardens.

Traya.

Wardens of the Shroud.

Darth Traya. Traya. Traya.

What did the Emperor want with an artifact from Darth Traya?

At Leigh's question of "who", however, the problem of Traya was put on the backburner. Na'an's head popped up, her eye hard.

"Well, we all know it's not going to be you, so let's get that out of the way," she said sharply. "You have to stay here. The Voice'll be crippled if you fly off to gods-know-where, and it's not like whoever leaves can go back to Kalidan."

As she spoke, Na'an found she was gripping her left hand hard with her right, digging the nails into the meat of her palm sharp enough to turn the flesh white. The last time she had done that, she suddenly remembered, was the day she'd been called to the Emperor's office, and left trying to hide the sensation of stripes down her back. Even the recollection of that day made the space between her shoulders itch.

But whoever left wouldn't go back. Not back to Kalidan. Not to the Empress. Not under the Emperor's watchful eye.

Not with Leigh.

"But I--"

Adelle Bastiel | LE-03 (Leigh) | Centiro | Kainan Wolfe​

 

[Adelle Bastiel]

"I'll go." Adelle cut off Na'an before she could finish. If it was a matter of someone leaving Kalidan for good, and Leigh couldn't leave, then she was the logical choice. Leigh was precious to Na'an. And Na'an could not be torn from Leigh's side. She pushed old feelings of jealousy and loneliness aside. This is how she could best contribute to the rebellion. This is what Leigh could trust her with.

"Just--" Adelle's shoulders sagged with her sigh and she ran a hand through her hair sheepishly. "The dragon adolescent. Down in R'n'D's biological labs. You'll keep an eye on it, yeah?"

Leigh had probably thought of this and Adelle wasn't entirely convinced there was nothing else Leigh had planned during this siege. But between the assault, the sleepless nights, and the tension of living double lives, she'd trust the AI to tell them the important stuff when she was good and ready.



Vidalu Na'an | LE-03 (Leigh)

 

[Layla Solari]

​

Objective: Be Curious, and follow her new friend inside!
Wearing: Click
Equipment: Backpack, that held her armor and weapons
Tags: Solomon Kaid | Cero Pax | Loreena Arenais-Valhoun | Et all


The small one moved through the brush of the world with great ease, and made incredible progress, even before the ships came from above. Her dark eyes moved towards the sky, and she reached out to feel everything going on. A malicious little grin came to her face, the dead and dying would make perfect snacks. As the girl approached the base, she felt someone not so far away. Her head tilted a bit, and Layla proceeded to move closer. The little one attempted to use the force, as well as her own reflexes, to keep herself stealthy and unheard as much as possible.

As she peered through the underbrush, she squinted. Her eyes couldn’t see, but she could smell him, she could hear the subtle crunch of his feet as he knelt, feel the small shifts in the air as he took each breath. Also, the force could sense the male nearby. That meant none of those pesky lizards, or stones, or things. The super soldier was quiet on her feet, vastly aware of how much noise she made as she crawled through the brush ever closer. Rebel? Nah, his focus was in towards the base, not out at the threats.

At this moment, curiosity took hold and it overpowered her hunger. Layla tended to take risks, just because she could. If she managed to do it, she would silently move over towards Solomon, like she always belonged and kneel next to the man that she couldn’t physically see. As he looked over the map, her eyes would try and peer over his shoulder at the map.

As Solomon would rise to his feet, she would try and do the same, and attempt to follow in his shadow, to let him lead her into the place with all the food! If she had a tail, it would probably be wagging in excitement right about now. Now, these were a lot of ifs. True, she was designed for such a thing, and the force helped, but it was still a lot of ifs.

The dark eyed and haired thirteen year old, if allowed, would follow the man for as long as he allowed without any hesitation, or attempt at hostility. She would only do more, if he turned and realized she was there, and acted with hostile intent. If he didn’t? She would watch his back, and protect it, keeping all those pesky little bugs from shooting him in the back of the head! He was showing her the way in, after all.

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Objective: Evacuate

Lori was getting a lot quicker at putting her armour on. It was a light armour, yet it did the trick at protecting her more than her other clothing did. Plenty of Mandalorians would probably chastise her for not wearing her armour all the time, or even having a helmet. But she didn't think that she earned it yet. Lori wasn't quite the hero that most people that she knew were. She still thought of herself as Goofball Lori, still full of sudden and rash decisions.

But who could have expected that any of this would occur so soon?

Once she was ready, Lori headed down to the cargo bay. Arla had their packs of supplies ready. In each pack were tripwires, adhesives, small explosives, tubes of gel, rope, and even a couple of bags of feathers. Her Uncle Darlyn Excron gave her the idea years ago. He was well known for his use of doves in battle on Commenor. It caught many off guard and that was exactly what she needed to do.

In a funny way of course.

Lori shouldered her pack and the pair exited the ship, heading down the ramp. She brought up her commlink, hearing the alarms from inside of the base sounding off, while sonic booms of incoming craft came from above. "Arenais is on the ground, coming in the front door. Jaster's Sparrow is there and open. Those that can, get in there now!"

"They're coming. We'll have to hurry!"

Lori nodded, punching in the code to unseal the door. By that time she spotted Will Westender catching up to them. "Bring your stuff and let's go. The traps need to go at each junction. Take out some of the lights, let's lead them to the stairwells." Lori headed inside as soon as the doors had opened. She had never been to this base, but she knew it's design. All of the bases that she had gained knowledge of had their blueprints sent to her for memorization. Afterall, how can one be helpful if they got lost?

Once inside she let Arla start killing some of the lights as they ran through the corridor towards the first junction. She stopped at the blind corners and dropped her pack, digging in for the tripwire and adhesives for the first little trap. It wasn't meant to be much. But it would surely slow the Empire's soldiers down a little.

The idea of bounty hunters and mercs in the area hadn't even crossed her mind. Lori was too focused on the destructive scenes on Bakura playing out in her mind over and over again.

Rhea Kintre LE-03 (Leigh) Adelle Bastiel Vidalu Na'an Wulf Orlock Centiro Cero Pax Layla Solari Solomon Kaid

 

[Centiro]

Padding down the corridors, the operative was like a ghost quickly following the data lines. A gaggle of soldiers rounded the corner, on the hustle. He was quite sure they were headed to the back entrance to secure it from interlopers. Of course, the body of the rebel had already been hastily cleared from view and quickly dumped behind some pipes. Such things were easily overlooked during a time of duress, but would not have been during a normal routine.

He followed the lines until they took a right turn into the wall. Fortunately, it did not take long. Looking at the door, it had a simple label above the threshold: Environmental Analysis.

This will have to do...

Slipping inside, he quickly shut it behind him. Fortunately, whoever was manning this terminal forgot to logout when the evacuation alarms sounded. This would save Centiro time. Quickly brushing past the user interface used for the weather, soil toxicity levels, and air composition, Centiro quickly went into the root of the mainframe with this user’s login. The operative was not trying to slice anything, but instead ferreting around with a couple of queries that searched for outgoing transmission signals. There were quite a few. Narrowing it down, he was looking for burst signals with large amounts of encrypted data. There were many of those, but one of them was a steady stream of encrypted packets. Looking at how the signal was packaged, it took on the form of a communication signal to air assets, but it possessed no intermittent data chunks that would give positional updates from fighters or airspeeders. Quickly accessing his chronometer, he fired up his access to the Eternal Empire strategic map of G’hro. Entering his credentials was quick—it was as if Emperor Tacitus himself was accessing the confidential information. Such was the red tape and bureaucracy that Unit 404 cut across to accomplish their tasking. Looking at the summation and feeling the base shudder from artillery assets from Fieldmarshall Orlock, he knew there was not a whole lot of rebel air assets to coordinate…if any.

That’s it. I think...if I am wrong, this whole op is a bust.

Centiro quickly shifted his attention to that stream of data. Fortunately, he was accessing this from an environmental terminal, which gave him access to signal capability, which meant the signal could be intercepted and manipulated, but not interpreted yet…but there was nothing he could do about the rebels getting the signal. The only way to prevent the data from being transferred would be for the Eternal Empire assets to jam all signals from the base—but that simply meant they would destroy the data and the Emperor would have nothing. It was a choice Centiro had to make—proceed to the source of the transmission and stop it or allow them to make the transfer and get at least some of it for the Empire. In short, it came down to the Emperor’s directive more than anything—retrieve that data…

Centiro shook his head at the conundrum he was in. All he could hope for was that the Eternal Empire Navy would find where the data was being transferred to. Making his decision, he found the signal. He would not try to slice it—that would take too long, it would be sloppy, and frankly, he simply wasn't good enough. It would have to be manipulated from a hardware level and one that it would be hard to be detected. Instead, the operative went into the transmitter itself and had that same signal sent to his ship in the upper atmosphere where it was piloted by Fimrati Vailyippin . The data could be unencrypted later—even then, just from a cursory glance, the encryption used in this signal was quite advanced. Highly advanced. For a rebel outfit such the Eclipse Rebels, that was quite disconcerting. That meant that even if he did get the rest of the transmission, the Eternal Empire would only get bits and pieces--not a lot at all, but he had to try.

The building shuddered again from the artillery slamming down around the base. While this phase of the operation was going as planned, getting out of the base without taking half a dozen blaster shots in the back was going to be tricky. He wasn't dressed as an Eternal Empire asset--and embarked commanders had no idea he was here, which meant he could just as likely get shot by a merc or an EE soldier as a rebel.

Getting inside was never the issue—it was always the getting out that got operatives killed…

LE-03 (Leigh)
Loreena Arenais-Valhoun
Will Westender
Rhea Kintre
Wulf Orlock

 

[Broka the Hutt]

BYOO: And They're Off!!
Location: In orbit of G'rho

Broka's personal fleet entered orbit of G'rho. He heard how there was a hunt among the Black Suns to track down rebels, and bring them in alive. Broka clearly was incapable of joining such an endeavor, but there was still a way he could gain reward from it. He had plans to bet on which hunter will bag the most targets. As usual, he made his prescience known to the Imperials.

(In Huttese) "<People of the Eternal Empire! I, Broka the Hutt, invite you to come to great ship to participate in a competition. Nobility, officers, soldiers, and my fellow Black Suns alike, are free to place bets on the great hunters on the surface of this planet. Any currency is accepted. There is, of course, an entry fee of 200 credits. After that, feel free to place bets on whatever hunter you see fit. Whichever hunter acquires the most targets wins the bets. All who have enough credits are welcome to participate in this grand competition.>"

As the transmission to all who would tune in ended, Broka stat back in his throne in the center of his flagship. A serving droid brought him one of his one-person banquets, and he gorged on it near ravenously. There is certainly going to be a decent sum of people that would take part. in his competition. All he had to do was wait for them to come.

OPEN

 

[Kainan Wolfe]

Attire: Uniform | Sword
Attn: Vyra Silara || OPEN Interacting With: Ingrid L'lerim​

The Emperor blocked the effects of Ingrid's Force Scream with a few well-timed, well-placed telekinetic blasts which created a sound nullifying area between him and his out of control apprentice. All sound was vibrations, afterall, which could be disrupted by changes in the air pressure, such as those created by certain applications of telekinesis. Then, taking one step forward, he struck her across her face, a backhanded blow powerful enough to knock her off her feet.

"Ingrid, listen to me very closely, because I will not say these things again," he said, his voice calm, commanding and cold. "You need to control yourself. Now. A Warden's greatest strength is control, discipline. That is the source of our power, we do not let the Force control us, we do not give in to the Darkside's temptation to fly out of control, we are the ones who control it, the true masters of the Darkside. I will overlook this incident, but this behavior can not be tolerated. The next time you raise your hand against me, or any other law abiding citizen of this Empire, I will have you arrested, put on trial and executed for treason," he berated her, his tone low, calm and ice-cold. Her display was way out of line and her new-found volatility was dangerous enough that it needed to be nipped in the bud, now.

"We are Wardens of the Shroud. We are not like those of the Sith Empire, we are not like Scherezade deWinter , or all those other people who merely do whatever they want, whenever they feel like it. You are held to a higher standard than those people because you are expected to be superior, to the Jedi and the Sith alike. Because us Wardens understand that if we lose control, if we give in to the Force and let ourselves be led by their impulses and self-indulgence, then we become nothing more than slaves. And that, I will not allow."

"Make sure this is the last time this sort of behavior happens. Because I will not tolerate this kind of behavior again and I will not give you a third chance. I usually don't give second chances, either," he warned her, his voice serious and cold. She was a good apprentice. And maybe even someone he considered his friend. But there were certain things that he could not tolerate and certain lines he could not allow her to cross. The Empire was a military dictatorship and striking down one's commanding officer, was considered treason. And if she kept losing control like this, if she kept following down Scherezade's self-indulgent, chaotic path, she would become a threat to the nation. "How can you expect those under your command to maintain discipline if you behave in this irrational way? You have a duty and a responsibility, to this nation that you serve and to the men and women that you command. Act like it."

"Now. You will compose yourself and prepare for battle. We have work to do."

With that, he turned his back on her and his attention back to the bridge of his ship. "Comms, open a channel to all ships. Have half our force set up a blockade around the planet, the remaining ships will be on standby in case the rebels get any naval reinforcements," he ordered. Soon enough, a large portion of the fleet split off from the formation, moving into a lower orbit above the planet and beginning to spread out.

 

[Solomon Kaid]

Gear: KC-77N Blaster Pistol | S5A Service Rifle | KC-M74S Designated Marksman Rifle | Sk-AR Armor
Attn: Cero Pax || Layla Solari || OPEN​

The bounty hunter kept his eyes peeled and his senses sharp. One had to, in his line of work, unless he wanted to become a dead bounty hunter. And that just wouldn't do. He kept a close watch on his surroundings and advanced slowly and silently, careful to not attract attention, until he was at a close enough distance that he could see the base. How ironic, then, that one of the most skilled bounty hunters in the Black Sun's employ, had failed to notice the one little girl who was trailing him and imitating his every move. Well, the one, genetically-engineered, supersoldier little girl, but still. If anyone were here to see them, it'd look like a scene straight out of a comedy holovid.

Slowly and careful to not make any noise, or rapid movements that would attract attention, he went down to one knee and retrieved his binoculars from his belt and raised them to his eyes, giving the rebel base ahead of him a careful scan, marking targets, taking note of vulnerabilities, of points of entry and exit and opportunities for distraction and mayhem.

Behind him, the sound of artillery shattered the silence, even as red streaks painted the sky in a rain of fire and the sound of starfighter engines echoed across the forest around him. He was running out of time, the Eternal Army had arrived and was beginning its operation. Soon, it would be pandemonium down there and he wanted to get closer before the Empire's goons reached the base.

As quickly as he dared without making any noise and alerting the rebels, he crept closer and closer to the base, blaster rifle in hand and already set to stun (the Empire wasn't paying him for dead rebels today), grinning under his helmet and practically seeing credits signs in his eyes.

 

[Will Westender]

Interacting With: Loreena Arenais-Valhoun Attn: Rhea Kintre || Centiro || Karma Jayne || OPEN​

"Roger, roger," he responded to the girl, making a show of shaking his head in an exaggerated manner, despite the grin on his face. With practiced ease, he drew his blaster and simply shot up the lights as he went, relying on the Force to feel his way around as he rigged up a combination of thermal flashbangs, which he knew would temporarily blind the Ultranauts' heat sensitive optics, ion mines and the canisters of sleeping gas, jury rigged to explode when a proximity sensor was tripped. They were crudely set up, he didn't have much time for anything more sophisticated, but it'd have to do, for now. As if on cue, artillery shells howled above the base, detonating with a pop-hiss which indicated chemical warheads, instead of explosives.

Reaching inside one of the crates on the repulsorcart, he retrieved two rebreathers, one for himself and one for Loreena, which he tossed to her, shouting "Catch," as he fitted his own over his face. "Hear that? Empire's dumping gas on us," he said, activating his comlink and opening a channel back to his ship. "Sunshine, are you there?" he spoke, calling after Karma Jayne , his partner in both crime and, well, it was a complicated relationship. "Imps brought along artillery and they're firing gas rounds. Make sure you wear a rebreather," he warned her, concern in his voice.

He pushed the cart along, moving faster now. If the Imperials were already letting their artillery loose, then the main assault on the base would follow soon. Time was of the essence, now and he wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible, worried about Karma getting caught up in the middle of the pandemonium that was soon to begin.

 

[Ingrid L'lerim]

Ingrid L’lerim
The Red Witch; Emperor's right hand; Director of Blackwatch; Baroness of Vengard​

Objective: Reign of Iron
Location: Emperor’s ship (?), G’rho (?), with the Emperor
Equipment: Assassin armor with this look | sniper rifle | Black blade lightsaber | Red blade lightsaber shoto | 2x vibroblades | Stealth field generator
Tag: Kainan Wolfe | Open

She was glad her ability did not harm the Emperor, and did not damage the equipment. Ingrid could barely stand on her feet, when the Emperor slapped her with such force that she fell to her knees again. By this time she can think with a clear mind, so she perfectly knows that she attacked her Emperor even if only indirectly. She didn't reach for her face, just got up off the ground as quickly as possible. Truly she was surprised that she survived this. The other could have killed her without any problems; she committed betrayal, treason.

His voice, last time her father spoke in a similar way to her, when she wants to give up everything, when she only wants to get out of it all. When she lost control last time, it was ages ago, and she did not cause as much damage as it does now. She felt shame. Ingrid knows perfectly her Emperor is right. But yet she was sure about one thing, the Emperor doesn't understand what happened with her, what happened inside her. Not the Force ruled her, she felt the Dark side before, and this one was more different than that. She felt this was Scherezade deWinter herself.

”It will not happen again, if so, I'll end up with myself sooner than hurt anyone, especially not you, my Lord. You also know that I would never hurt anyone or you intentionally. Never!” she replied.

She shakes her head, it sounded like she was explaining her certificate. Her face ached and her whole soul burning in shame, but at least she was completely calm and in control of all his emotions, as at any other time. She didn't have to gasp for air anymore. She saw only one possibility that this might not really happen again.

”I’ll find the way to remove her essence from mine, my Lord!” she promised.

She didn’t know how she should do that yet, but she has to do that. She can’t control that feeling, so Scherezade or herself. Only one can remain. Scherezade wants back her anger, but she was not a sorcerer, she was just a warrior, she can’t help. If she can do this, she would have already done it. Ingrid tried to evoke from her memories to whom to turn. Only one Forceuser came to her mind, AMCO . After Lanteeb, it would be timely to meet him again anyway, but she didn’t want to burden him with her personal problems.

If she can learn not only to steal, but also to get rid of the feelings afterwards from herself, all this would be a dreadful ability in her hands. Yes, she will do this; she will start to experiment, not with new essences and feelings, but with what she has now. The tongue-lashing was worked, not that Ingrid didn't know all this, and she knew the law, the customs. She understood exactly what the man was saying.

”Understood perfectly, my Lord! I’m ready for the battle!” she saluted after her words.

With telekinetics she lifted her helmet off the ground and picked it up, she already knew the man wouldn't help her, she alone must find a way to remove the essence/feeling. And to restore her own inner harmony, which she had since her childhood…

​

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Objective: Evacuate


Lori forgot that R Reyn Australis was even on her ship. The teen sure loved to sleep in and he was a bit of a loner. She understood why though and was that way herself at his age. Still, she was glad to hear his voice over her comms. ~Perfect! Guide whomever you can to Jaster's Sparrow! We're evacuating the base before the Empire blocks the system entirely!~ That was the hope anyways. The Jaster's Sparrow was retrofitted with anti- tractorbeam devices. She didn't want to be ensnared by them again.

Finishing with rigging one of the corridors with traps, she looked up at the ceiling as she heard the shells detonate without the usual booms and shudders. Instead there was hissing. Lori looked to Will Westender , just in time to catch the rebreather. "Gas? They want us alive? I dunno what'd be worse..." She slipped on the rebreather, turning to Arla. The bodyguard didn't need one, but displaying as such would blow her cover. "I need you to go back and help Reyn."

"But Captain--"

"That's an order, Arla! I'm not alone here and he needs you. Besides, you can take out your frustration on the Empire's soldiers! Now go!!"

Reluctantly, Arla left her charge's side. She couldn't disobey her orders. It wasn't in her programming. Yet she didn't follow the path already taken, for it was rigged with traps. Instead Arla went a different way, having the map of the base layed out in her databanks. She wasn't alone for long as other Rebels were making their way towards the exits. "There are ships waiting! Hurry! The window for escape is closing!"

Outside, the long range gun turrets sprang to life, opening fire on the Empire's forces in a bid to buy the Rebels some time, even if it was just a few precious minutes.

Lori meanwhile worked on more of her traps. She brought out the large tubes of gel and started opening them, before squeezing their contents all over the corridor. "This'll turn the floor into an ice rink. And it's flammable. The flashbangs will turn this all into an infernal nightmare." Lori's plan was simple. Guide the Empire's forces into a circle in the maze, so that they're led to the same areas over and over again with the stairwell being their only alternative. She hoped to destroy the metal stairwells partway down, using the twisted metal as pikes for impaling any soldiers that fell.

At least that was how it all worked out in her mind.

 

[Vidalu Na'an]

"I'll go." Adelle cut off Na'an before she could finish. If it was a matter of someone leaving Kalidan for good, and Leigh couldn't leave, then she was the logical choice. Leigh was precious to Na'an. And Na'an could not be torn from Leigh's side. She pushed old feelings of jealousy and loneliness aside. This is how she could best contribute to the rebellion. This is what Leigh could trust her with.

"Just--" Adelle's shoulders sagged with her sigh and she ran a hand through her hair sheepishly. "The dragon adolescent. Down in R'n'D's biological labs. You'll keep an eye on it, yeah?"

Leigh had probably thought of this and Adelle wasn't entirely convinced there was nothing else Leigh had planned during this siege. But between the assault, the sleepless nights, and the tension of living double lives, she'd trust the AI to tell them the important stuff when she was good and ready.

"Wait, what?"

Na'an drew up short, almost biting her tongue with the surprise of it. "No," she said, "No, I don't like that. You're talking like you're going to go off by yourself and we'd never see you again. With the battle out there like that? Where would you even--No. No, I don't think so."

She shot a pleading look at Leigh, whose dome was still hunched over the terminal with no sign of projection. Was this what Leigh had planned, as soon as she'd heard the base was under attack? "We can't just let her go off by herself," she said again, almost begging. In the back of her mind, she could feel the constant painful prickle of the lives outside writhing in fear and rage and purpose, only to be wiped as quickly as sparks from a firework. To send Doc out there alone--

Adelle Bastiel | LE-03 (Leigh)​

 

[LE-03 (Leigh)]

​

Leigh did not respond for a long moment--focusing hard on the last few bytes of data transferring through their connection as if she could avoid the conversation already happening behind her. With the transmission ending, she reiterated her order to destroy the hardware baseside, snapped the connection shut, and started the algorithm needed to wipe any trace of it from the console. When she did speak, it was with the same slow deliberation that she began the process of decryption.
"Whichever of you goes, it has to be by yourself," she said. "My pretense for being in the Empire is that I am merely property. Without one of you to claim ownership, my activities become suspect. This means that only one of us goes, or we all go."

Even slowly, the decryption of the data would not take long. She returned to the work, pausing the algorithm only to check on the progress of the battle outside. The rebels of G'rho would have already started the destruction she had ordered; whether they escaped that destruction with their lives or not would be a matter of how efficient they could be.

"This data will be printed to hard copy in 1.3 minutes," she continued. "You two need to make up your minds before then, so I can take the necessary steps."

A pause. "And if that deliberation comes up with an ideal destination, that would be preferable. I have had...very little time to plan for this particular series of events."

Adelle Bastiel | Vidalu Na'an | Centiro | Loreena Arenais-Valhoun ​

 

[Adelle Bastiel]

Na'an's visible distress and the near panic in her presence felt like a slugthrower shot through her chest. She didn't want to leave. Na'an and Leigh had been her only friends, the only people she could depend on time and again. They'd let her live with them on Dantooine, came after her that one time on Naboo, and regrouped with her after Karre Noba's farm burned to the ground. Leigh trusted her with the rebellion, and Na'an tried to protect her with distance. Like Hells did she want this.

"The green planet," Adelle said, without thinking. "I'll go to one of the starfighter depots far from here. The Force will guide me there."

It had to be done. The data couldn't fall into the Empire's hands, especially if it contained information about a Sith lord. Emperor Tacitus could cause enough trouble on his own. Still, a hard copy could be found. Stolen. Copied. Hacked. Transferred into a new set of Imperial memory banks. Adelle took a deep breath as something clicked in her head.

"What if," she said slowly, "I was the hard copy? I have memnii, a way to perfectly recall memories. I can keep the data safe. And there'd be no trace."

The rest spilled out before she could be stopped, before she could stop herself. Granted, Leigh might think the idea was stupid but if the data only existed in her head, the Empire would have to find and capture her first. If she made it to the green planet deep in the Unknown Regions, the lush jungle world that held a Force-created anomaly, she'd be untouchable.

Na'an and Leigh wouldn't like it but there wasn't anything about this situation to like. A solid plan to triumph in this battle was all they could really hope for. And maybe, just maybe, it'd be the plan that'd lead to victory in the war.



Vidalu Na'an | LE-03 (Leigh)

 

[Layla Solari]

Objective: Get inside
Wearing: Click
Equipment: Backpack, that held her armor and weapons
Tags: Solomon Kaid | Cero Pax | Loreena Arenais-Valhoun | R Reyn Australis


Layla had fun with all this. Perhaps more fun than she had had in a long time. With every step he took, she moved along with him. Her senses were...far beyond human. Though, she missed some of the more powerful senses she had when in full armored form. But, she could smell, hear, feel, taste, and sense everything that went on near here. She knew they needed to hurry, it would be too late soon. But, it was not her place to push the man. Not yet anyway.

With each step, her feet were ever so very carefully put down. She could feel the distance to the ground, and she utilized this to step only in places without leaves, sticks or the like, so she made next to no sound. No lose dirt, or rocks got kicked. Nothing.

Artillery fire rained from the base. It wasn’t enough to stop the Eternal Empire, but it was enough to slow down some of the troops, she imagined. Best for them to get inside before it got worse. She narrowed her eyes, and tried to implant this idea in his head. While her telepathy was strong, her only former training had been under Darth what’s his face. He wasn’t around anymore.

Still, she tried to be gentle, to simply nudge his mind in that direction if she at all could.


Go….inside.


They neared the entrance. So close. So close. Explosions in the background were so...loud. But, she didn’t flinch, or pull away. She was designed for this. Created for this. As the girl continued to be Solomon’s shadow, she felt the pain returning. That incredible agony that came from the nanec, as it became active. Her fingers twitched a bit. She would need to feed again soon, before it tried to eat her some more. It was so unpleasant when it did.

 

[Kainan Wolfe]

Attire: Uniform | Sword
Attn: Vyra Silara || OPEN Interacting With: Ingrid L'lerim || R Reyn Australis​

"Contact! Multiple hostiles," announced one of the bridge officers as the sensor grid lit up with enemy vessels. "At least two corvette analogues, they're launching fighters."

Two corvettes and several fighter squadrons against an entire Fleet Section of the Eternal Navy? That didn't make much sense to Tacitus, were the reports about the rebels' forces exaggerated, or was something else afoot? Most likely the latter, Blackwatch had been meticulous in its research and available intel indicated that the rebels had access to at least several capital-class vessels. And the attack on the ENS Punisher had confirmed that these anarchists had control of at least one large carrier, likely multiple.

"Deploy our fighter screen and dispatch five squadrons of lance fighters to intercept their fighters. A separate force of a squadron of T-77 stealth interceptors is to loop around the enemy force, staying out of likely sensors range, then engage the enemy fighters from the flanks, while the lance fighters keep them occupied," Tacitus immediately ordered. "Two of our Retribution-class heavy missile corvettes are to engage the enemy carriers with long-range cruise missiles, supported by one Ardan II-class strike frigate in case any of the enemy fighter squadrons decide to attempt to intercept our corvettes. Keep the rest of the fleet in formation."

Something was wrong, here. Where was the rebel fleet? And why hadn't the rebel base deployed its starfighter squadrons, yet? No, this was no mere desperate assault by those light carriers, the enemy must have had some sort of plan and were likely trying to draw the Empire into a trap. And then it hit him. The logical response for the Empire in such a situation, is to maintain formation and keep most of its ships clustered up in a single formation. Don't seek to predict the enemy's actions, but create, instead, the conditions where the enemy acts in the way you want him to. These damned rebels were taking lessons from his own playbook.

"Separate the fleet into three smaller formations and have all ships spool up their hyperdrives. Deploy remotely-activated gravity well mines at the center of each of our formations, but keep them inactive for now," he instructed. The rebels were clever, but Tacitus was also a master at naval warfare and he knew how to make use of his resources. Splitting up his force in this way, would make it harder for the rebels to hit all of his ships with a surprise attack and the gravity well mines, used in the way he planned to, would make it possible for the three strike groups to carry out microjumps to reinforce eachother as needed. The Empire would ambush the ambushers.

"Ingrid, I want you to take a dropship down to the surface and assist Fieldmarshall Orlock," he ordered his apprentice. There was nothing she could do here, naval warfare was not her area of expertise. "Make sure you take an escort of lance fighters with you, in case the rebels have any more surprises for us."

Spoiler: Order of Battle

Ships deployed against Reyn Australis:

• 1x Ardan II-class strike frigate
• 2x Retribution-class heavy missile corvettes
• 5x I-3A Lance Fighter squadrons
• 1x T-77 'Talon' Stealth Interceptor squadron

 

[Will Westender]

Interacting With: Loreena Arenais-Valhoun Attn: Rhea Kintre || Centiro || Karma Jayne || OPEN​

He felt a sinking feeling in his stomach as Loreena explained her plan to him, to turn the corridor into a deadly furnace. Those were good soldiers, who were about to die. Good men, doing their duty for their nation. They didn't deserve this horrible fate. Luckily, the rebreather and the dim lighting hid his expression well, otherwise Loreena would have been able to see the horrified look on his face. For all their moral grandstanding, these rebels sure didn't shy away from using extreme tactics anymore than the Empire did. The only difference was that the Imperials didn't try to hide their atrocities, or pretend they were anything else but evil. A necessary evil, yes, but evil nonetheless.

He kept his mouth shut. Even with all his training, he didn't trust himself to be able to hide the disapproval he felt if he spoke. The rebels seemed just as willing to be cruel to their enemies, when it suited their goals. This only made it more important that he succeed in his mission, at least the Empire cared about the consequences of its actions and sought to improve the lives of those it governed, rather than condemn them to an existence of misery, all in the name of some nebulous freedom.

At least the Empire didn't enjoy the evils it carried out. The excitement in Loreena's voice told Will the rebels did otherwise. "We need to hurry," he finally said in a tense voice. "The Imps will be here soon. If they brought artillery, then they've also brought Ultranauts and I don't know about you, but I'd like to get this evacuation done as soon as possible."

Blasting another one of the lights, he welcomed the comforting embrace of darkness as he stepped forward.

 

[Solomon Kaid]

Gear: KC-77N Blaster Pistol | S5A Service Rifle | KC-M74S Designated Marksman Rifle | Sk-AR Armor
Attn: Cero Pax || Layla Solari || OPEN​

Something compelled him to move forward, to hurry up and enter the base already. Maybe it was the sound of vehicle engines, or the sight of rebel starfighters taking off from the base, moving to intercept the Empire's own fighter support, or maybe it was just his bounty hunter's instincts, but Solomon picked up his pace, moving from cover to cover, from tree to tree, until only about a hundred meters separated him from the base, a hundred or so meters of open terrain, where the forest had been cleared away, to make it easier for defenders to spot unwanted visitors trying to approach the compound. Clever.

It would make his life all the more complicated, but oh well. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. With a sigh, Solomon rose from his last spot of cover behind a large rock and sprinted towards the entrance. A shout from the wall informed him that he had been spotted and yes, soon enough, blaster fire began raining down on him from above.

It was not the first time he'd been blasted at. It won't be the last. Running in a zig-zag pattern to avoid the worst of the fire, he cursed like a true son of Nar Shaddaa when he felt a bolt graze his right arm. Great, this would make it that much harder for him to aim. Raising his own blaster rifle, he fired back in the general direction from which the shots came. He knew he wasn't going to hit anything, but it would likely send some of the defenders scrambling for cover.

Fifty meters. A blaster bolt exploded in the ground at his feet. Twenty meters. Another blaster bolt scored a glancing hit on his helmet, nearly jerking his head around. Close, a few millimetres to the left and he'd have been a dead bounty hunter. Ten meters. The gate slid open as a pair of rebels with repeating carbines spilled out to intercept him. He blasted both of them down, still running, then lunged for the gate as it began to slide closed, diving through, then coming out the other side with a roll, his blaster rifle snapping up and firing at anything that moved. Showtime.

 

[LE-03 (Leigh)]

​

"I was not about to ask that of you. But if you think you are capable of creating a memnii for this purpose..."
The jungle planet again. Leigh could not say she understood what that place--the site of an accidental crash shortly before the Empress' wedding--held such sway over her humans' waking thoughts. But then, she had never understood the ways of the Force as a human would, even with her creator's memories of it. That was why she had to take it on faith that this data was so important to keep from the Empire...and why she would have to take it on faith that that unnamed world was the safest place for Adelle Bastiel to go.

The decryption was finished--A few short keystrokes were all it took to copy it over. The data rolled out of the back end of the terminal, printed onto flimsies that Leigh collected in a small stack. She folded them once, twice, then returned to the console to wipe the timestamp of the print job. If anyone checked this dead zone after they left it, there would be no trace of either the connection to the base at G'rho, or data that had been transferred. Now all that was left was to hand the information over.

"Then it is the logical option," she continued, proffering the packet. Had her hand been an organic one, it would be shaking--as it were, the movement was as smooth and calm as ever. "Here. The only full copy of the data from the base is in this packet. Do what you must, then have Na'an escort you down to the fighter bay to commandeer something you can pilot--discreetly. Once you leave this room, I will return to the terminal and make some adjustments. As far as the Empire will be concerned, you will be nothing more than a casualty of the attack on G'rho."

A momentary pause. "You are not permitted to actually become such. Understood?"

Adelle Bastiel | Vidalu Na'an | Centiro ​

 

[Ingrid L'lerim]

Ingrid L’lerim
The Red Witch; Emperor's right hand; Director of Blackwatch; Baroness of Vengard​

Objective: Reign of Iron
Location: G’rho
Equipment: Assassin armor with this look | sniper rifle | Black blade lightsaber | Red blade lightsaber shoto | 2x vibroblades | Stealth field generator
Tag: Kainan Wolfe | Wulf Orlock | Open

As a matter of fact, Ingrid's father was an excellent fighter pilot, and consequently, thanks to her genetic anomaly, she too. But she did not serve in the fleet, so now she really had the most benefits on the ground. The woman also had many experiences and knowledge that the Emperor probably did not know about. She never told him that she was familiar with exactly the same instinctive talent in which her parents are, all without genetic memory. There was never a proper opportunity for her, not to mention that she didn’t want to be an experimental rabbit because of this.

<”Yes, my Lord! But the dropship will just be bait, I also go with lance fighter.”> she replied and saluted.

She stepped back two or three steps toward the exit and only then turned around, until then, Ingrid did not show her back to the man out of politeness, even though the Emperor had his back to her. As she was heading for the hangar, she spoke into the radio for those there.

<”Here the Emperor's Hand speaks, prepare a dropship and a lance fighter to take off. The fighter will be taken by me, plus five other fighters to accompany the dropship to the planet!” >

She received the answer within moments, and a few minutes later she arrived at the hangar, where the finished ships were already waiting. She also sat in the fighter jet, then rose into the air at the same time with the dropship, out there the remaining five fighters joined them. As they approached the planet, she sent a message to Fieldmarshall Orlock.

<”Fieldmarshall, this is Ingrid L’lerim. We are heading towards to your coordinates. We will arrive in a few minutes, if you need to change your arrival coordinates, do so now! “> she sent a message via the comm. channel.

Meanwhile the fighters and the dropship reached the atmosphere of the planet and descended into the clouds.

​