Heart of Darkness (DMed Story)

[Lark]

Current Objective: Convince the Jedi to let him enter the Strip Mine.

Careful Lark. This is a Jedi Master you're speaking with. He had to do his best to disguise his true feelings. He tried to feel fear as best he could, as any slave would in this situation, but not to much lest it overwhelm him. He threw in a bit of awe too, he was in the presence of the Jedi Order. Lark did not view the Jedi in a fond light, in fact he despised them. but he bore them no ill will at the moment, he had no intent of harming them. No, the Jedi would be the vessels that carried him to The Omega.

He looked back at [member="Matsu Ike"]. "Apologies, Master. My name is Lark, I'm a slave in the Strip Mines." He said this as if he was still a slave, years of abuse in the mines would have warped his mind in the most twisted ways. "I'd like to help out, if you'd have me."

 

[Dax Perl]

Location: Castameer, en route to the Strip Mines
Affiliation: The New Republic and her allies
Nearby: [member="Raeya Papanoida"], [member="Tiland Kortun"], [member="Choli Vyn"], [member="Aerion Ivelisse"]

Dax watched as the Pantoran ([member="Raeya Papanoida"]) began to walk away, passively-aggressively criticizing them. The woman was more than she seemed, no doubt...she was dangerous in her own right, Dax could tell. Not by appearance alone, but a feeling in his gut. Perhaps the Force warning him, or simply his instincts, he didn't know.

Dax nodded to the old Jedi ([member="Tiland Kortun"]) as he introduced himself, and suggested disguising themselves as slaves. "That's a good idea. Looks like you're as wise as your years would indicate." Dax remarked, in good nature. Dax removed his leather jacket, leaving himself in his boots, cargo pants and a long sleeve shirt. Igniting his saber, the orange blade glowing, he brought it near the snow, melting it, turning the ground beneath it to mud. Deactivating the saber, he scooped some nof the mud in his hands, he rubbed it over his clothing, dirtying them, as well as his skin. He may not have exactly passed as slave, but he would not draw second glances. Tucking the saber into his cargo pants, only a small part of the lower hilt could be seen.

 

[Rhan Komo]

Location: Voracion Citadel
Allies: Mandalorians [member="Dean Letham"]
Enemies: Sith Forces
Equipment: Newly Acquired Heavy Weapon

The soldier wasn’t dead, and very lively, the fact slightly surprised Rhan as the driver of the vehicle was dead and the other soldier he had passed over on his way here. Luck was a fickle mistress in Rhan honest opinion as he released his hold on his MediKit as he turned to peek at the landscape up ahead of them. Their situation wasn’t dire, but that was mostly in comparison to the rest of the battlefield. As being alive and moving constituted as an ‘okay’ situation as much as Rhan had gathered thus far.

"Almost shooting is good enough for me, hopefully such an occurrence doesn't become a regular thing though," Rhan replied to the soldier.

He turned to face the soldier in front him, his only uncovered eye locked in as he listened carefully to the man’s appraisal and strategy for their possible next step. It was all basic knowledge he had learned from his military career before he joined the Mandalorians, bait in and unleashing hell on all sides of the enemy. This was of course one of the few times Rhan was actually to take part of the forward units instead of his usual reserve unit or flanking unit positions he mostly founded himself tasked with. Rhan looked over to ‘No Man’s Land’ and envisioned a Kryat Dragon’s mouth wide and waiting for them to march straight into its mouth and be grinded down by its teeth. So, yes, we just charge faster and punch harder to knock the teeth right out of the dragon’s mouth Rhan thought wearily.

Rhan placed one finger on his chin, considering their options for their assault towards the Gate. Indeed, they could indeed get the ‘MARV’ upright, by attaching a cable to Rhan’s speeder and using its Autopilot controls as he helped with the lifting as well to get the vehicle combat ready, the only issue was the ‘if’ they could break the lines before getting hammered by the artillery and or shredded by suppressing fire of Heavy Repeater blasters.

Rhan wasn’t heavily armored, in fact, he was perhaps the least armored Mandalorian he could recall at the moment. He compensated the lack of heavy armor by using his athletic ability to increase his maneuverability to dodge incoming fire or attacks. In other cases to simply be the one attacking first and lethal. But another key fact in becoming an effective combat tool is not just durability, or maneuverability, but with enough firepower. . . Rhan thought quickly.

The other man started to move the body out of the driver's seat and Rhan wondered if he was going to take a piece of armor or something to carry with him into battle. It was a silly idea as Rhan noted the unique efficiency of the soldier and general upkeep of the armor he wore. No, he would instead carry his dead comrades dedication, passion or memory, perhaps as an act of vengeance or retribution.

He turned to the look at the turret that appeared serviceable and with his golden eye he focused back on the soldier. With a raised eyebrow and a small grin hidden beneath his mask he responded, “Ja Kommandant, I can execute your plan. With a tow cable I can get my speeder to run by remote and help flip right side up.” Rhan could feel the presence of a Commander in this man, addressing the man as Commander would no doubt be a nonissue.

“Though with all due respect sir, do not hesitate to tell me if you are suffering from effects of a concussion mild or not. Blacking out, fading in and out of focus or bleary vision,” Rhan added, “So I can adjust my aim to compensate for any ‘unexpected’ maneuvers from your part, ja?” he finished as he gave the soldier a quick salute before moving to get his speeder into position.

"Also vod, my name is Rhan Komo,"

 

[Audren Sykes]

Location: Castameer
Allies: Jedi, GA, GR, KO
Objective: Strip Mines
[member="Kith Verloren"] | [member=Raziel]

A low sound that might possibly have been a groan could be heard from the hole where Audren found himself. Yes, he'd survived, but why did doing so have to hurt so much? The sound went on for almost ten seconds, then as it fell silent he began shifting. At the last second, he'd shifted his arms from spread-eagle to bracing, but hadn't quite gotten them into place in time. As deep as he was, the snow proved to be a major impediment to movement and he had to knock some of it loose so he could get loose. That meant the loosened snow fell onto him which normally wouldn't be a problem. He had no helmet however, and snow melted with body heat. The cold hence had a jump start...this wouldn't be a pleasant campaign.

Finally, the Sephi knocked enough of the snow loose that he could put his arms underneath him and push himself up. First to a kneeling position, then fully standing. He was fortunate that nobody shot him, since the top third of him was simply sticking out of the snow. He paid the danger no mind, instead choosing to go over his equipment. It seemed everything had survived the fall. The armor - while appearing fine - was slightly worse for the wear. The kinetic impact gel contained within was built to take a hit and was probably why he didn't have any broken bones, but he'd ended up being forced against what felt like loosely-packed gravel at the end. It had taken a toll: the impact gel was beginning to stiffen. That would hamper his maneuverability somewhat. Accompanying bruises would no doubt be showing up on his skin later.

Self-diagnosis complete, the Jedi took another moment to analyze his situation. He was alone, chest deep in and surrounded by snow, and on a battlefield to boot. His objective was to get through the shantytown that he could barely see to the airbase, freeing any slaves he could as he progressed. Maybe the people who had thought up this mission weren't as bright as he'd thought they were. But the first step was getting out of the hole. It would get him moving too, which would help force the pain down. He had only the space of a step or two, but used it to his full advantage. Instead of leaping full forward like they did in the holos - that was a good way to start on digging himself a ramp out - he turned the leap into a roll along his side. It didn't fight the snow or rely on the snow, it worked with it. It also got more snow down his neck and in the cracks of the armor, not to mention in his carbine, but at least he was out of the hole.

For all of his equipment, the Master really was light on his feet. Or maybe the snow was just tightly packed: each step barely sank in before he was on to the next. It was just a walk, he wasn't ready to attempt a run yet, but he took the time to brush the snow out of the carbine as much as he could. Wouldn't do to have it backfire due to snow inside. Despite the walking pace it didn't take him long to make his way toward the shantytown. His fall must have thrown him at an angle, for while he saw others in the distance, he passed close to none. He paused at the edges of the place.

It was at that point that the elfin Jedi realized what he'd missed. As he reached out to the Force to gauge the best place to start here, there was a sharp pain in his head. So much so that it physically staggered him. While the pain didn't pierce so much after the first few seconds, it left a throbbing headache behind. Apparently the way he'd stopped his fall had left his connection to the Force with a problem. Tweaked, maybe? He hadn't burnt it out of himself, that much he could tell with a moment's concentration, but exactly what had happened was beyond his ken. He could only hope that it would be restored over time if it wasn't used.

The town before him was rickety and poorly kept. It was a place to sleep and eat, nothing else. It was not made up of homes, just beds. It carried the air of desolation - nobody cared for it because they couldn't care for it. They didn't want to be here, they were forced to be here. Forced to work at the mines all day every day for who knew how long...it was enough to grind anybody down. For better or worse, the areas that he passed through were empty, the workers having already gone to their work details.

Alone, without the Force, with stiffening armor and bruises starting to form, Audren rocked on his heels as he came to the edges of the mine itself. He'd have to rely on logic, stubbornness, and training to see him through. So he started moving.

Just like old times.

 

[Ghorua the Shark]

LOCATION: VORACION TEMPLE
EQUIPMENT: IN BIO
ALLIES NEARBY: [member="Thraxis"], [member="Flannigan Mcnash"], [member="Cadan Tazi"], MANDOS & COMMONWEALTH
ENEMIES NEARBY: ROGUE SITH
CURRENT MOOD: AMUSED

https://youtu.be/bzwADJqf_Ok​

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Ghorua the Shark looked to his robotic compatriot as he spoke, arching an eyebrow at the speeder bike ahead of him. "I don't think so, Flanny. Don't worry, I don't need a machine to get me moving." The gigantic Herglic crashed his fists together, the thump audible over the sounds of battle. His various wrist weapons activated, and the Shark pulled his pistols from their holsters. The Bounty Hunter was ready for some mayhem.

Suddenly, the chirping of one of his probes over the comms caught his attention. It had found a breach point, albeit one heavily defended, by what seemed to include one Sith. Ghorua could most likely slip by some, with the help of the Black Sun. As he saw them blast off on their speeder bikes, Ghorua growled over their comms. "If you woud so kindly make as much noise as you can, I'm going to get as close to that saber-user as I can!"

Ghorua wrapped himself tightly in his cloak, and began a stampeding charge down the hill. He was a short distance away from Darth Kallous and his forces (16.9), and it showed. The Herglic passed along various trenches and encampments, almost invisible to the naked eye, the Sith soldiers occupied with the more visibe threats. Sadly, his unseen advance wasn't unseen for long.

One soldier in black-plated armor pointed out a large shimmer in the air to the rest of his squad. Two E-Webs were leveled at the disturbance, and opened fire.

Cute.

Ghorua, now no longer hidden, roared, his bellow a sudden guttural undertone in the raging conflict, and spun to the side as the baster cannons roared to life. He was winged by a few bolts, but they were mostly absorbed by his cloak and Koodan-class armor. The genetically-modifed monster that was Ghorua stuck out his right arm, and prepared his ears. The Wrist Tensor roared alongside it's master, creating a cacophonous harmony that crumpled the soldiers' weapons from the inside, along with themselves. The Sith Troopers screamed in agony as their flesh was pulled through sudden cracks in their armor, falling dead to the ground.

By this point, the rest of the small army seemed to notice him. The Shark dove into the trench he had just vacated, cringing as blaster bolts scorched the snow above his head.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Strip Mines: Choose a Door

[member="Tiland Kortun"] [member="Choli Vyn"] [member="Zark"] [member="Aerion Ivelisse"] @other Light siders

Taeli bit back the remark she was going to make, seriously just... let it go Taeli bigger things to do right now. Right now, they needed to decide... and quickly what route they needed to take to that airbase. Normally, she would be all for the direct route... but the Force was nudging her otherwise. The Sith wouldn't be running the mines themselves, they would have taken slaves from across this entire region of space to fuel this massive and hidden war machine. If they could free them...

"We should split up, half of us keep going the direct route while the others go to the shantytown where the slaves are quartered," she said, drawing one of her lightsabers from her belt. "If we can free those beings, they might give us an advantage and help us get to that airbase easier."

With that said, she began running towards the shantytown, her choice made that she was determined to deal with whoever was overseeing the slaves and prisoners of these Rogue Sith.

New Objective: Free the Slaves

 

[The Upright Man]

Location: Voracion Citadel
Allies: [member="Rhan Komo"] | Mandalorians | Commonwealth
Enemies: Sith OpFor
Equipment: MM99, MM110, SD-11 (2), SpecOp

[ T H E M E ]

"Every hit blazes the path to our victory"​

While they were in a battlefield, there was a sense of calmness that swept around them. They were in the eye of the storm. The Sith OpFor were more focused on the large horde of Mandalorians charging down from the mountains than they were for a crashed vehicle and a lone speeder. It wouldn't last long once they noticed the MARV was moving again. They had to act quick.

"Don't worry about me," Dean commented as the Mandalorian began to round off about concussion. He was keeping humor light, it was also maintaining Deans morale that was for sure, and his sanity. He was liking him already, Mandalorians seemed like a good people, the Commonwealth would do good furthering their diplomacy with the clans after this was over, if Dean would live to see that day come. If any of them would.

While Dean moved to the front of the MARV and began to set the towing cable loose, he shouted out to Rhan, "The names Dean Letham, Commonwealth Navy." He looked hardly the part of traditional navy boys, but the Commownealth Navy was far from traditional, it incorporated a marine corps, intelligence division, special forces, and the navy was the government. The Navy was the backbone of everything in the Commonwealth.

He pulled the towing cable over to the speeder and hooked it on, he jogged it back to the MARV and locked the cable in place. "You're good to pull her out whenever you can, Rhan. The cables locked, and we need to get moving before they see what we're doing." The 'they' Dean referenced was the several thousand Sith forces defending the citadel and about to rain down fire on them. "Punch it, double time."

 

[Lucien Galtier]

Location: Near Strip Mines
Objective: Incite rebellion and reach rendezvous
Allies: Galactic Republic

With the decline of the One Sith the Republic decided to capitalize on the opportunity. They began expanding upon the training of special forces soldiers like Sgt. Galtier. He was trained in guerrilla warfare and with his natural gift of speech he easily inspired the oppressed people of the Sith Regime to take up arms and overthrow there dark lords. (Albeit officially without "Republic Consent"). They were to do so again today on Castameer.

As the republic gunships entered the atmosphere a holo-terminal aboard Galtier's bird came to life. A blue hologram shaped like a man appeared and began to speak. His voice was distorted because of electrical interference, but he was still understandable. "Hell Divers! Your gunship has been loaded with a couple crates of ordnance and weapons!" He paused as the gunships bay doors slid open, AA fire exploded among the small fleet of descending ships, the wind blew fiercely, and a harsh blue word of ice was revealed. "You are to enter the shanty town outside the strip mines and deliver these guns to Republic sympathizers," A republic ship exploded nearby. "Once completed you are to meet with the rest of the 228th at the designated rendezvous. Best of luck, and the force be with you," the hologram dimmed, then disappeared. Another gunship exploded and rocketed in to it's wing man.

The Hell Diver's bird touched down just outside the Shanty town with a thud. Galtier and his squad unloaded the hover dolly's filled with weapons then waved the gunship away. It made it fifty meters in to the sky then was hit by a surface to air missile. Galtier covered his face as chunks of metal and flaming debris rained from the sky "GET TO COVER!" he shouted and his squad spread out and found cover, but met no resistance. They entered the town and were greeted by an elderly man. He rubbed his hands together nervously and stared at there blasters "Ar-are you the ones we were told to expect?" Galtier gave the man a sour look, if this was what all his forces looked like they would not last long "Aye cher, dat be we. Now gatter your village, we have a fais do to make," He pointed at two of his squad mates "You two, take z dollies and follow 'im,"

Galtier and his squadron made it to the rendezvous and spotted his commander, [member="Thoja Arlos"]. He and his squad mates gave the man a nod of recognition. Normally they would salute, but on the battlefield an officer immediately becomes a target. "Sir we, 'ave armed a group of insurrectionist and told dem to enter z salt mine. We now await your orders."

 

[Thoja Arlos]

Location: The Strip Mines
Objective: Free the slaves
Equipment: Wraith Class Stealth Armour MK2, Eclipse Assault Rifle, Obsidian Combat Knife, Oblivion Semi Automatic Pistol

He followed the Jedi, keeping a watchful eye on his surroundings. By this point some of the other soldiers had met up with them, and they'd managed to find a slave.

"Soldier. You and your squad will stick with us for now, once we've secured the slaves from this mine, you'll be charged with their defense until proper evacuation can be secured. Understood?" He replied to the new arrivals, before turning his attention to the slave.

"How did you manage to escape?" He asked, having moved to the front of the group, rifle in hand. He was suspicious, but not unreasonable. The slave could be a useful asset, an besides, they were supposed to be rescuing them anyway.

((Will tag people when I get back, bit rushed for time))

 

[Ellie Mors]

Location: Enroute to Strip Mines (Late to the Party)
Allies: People who don't want to kill me.
Enemies: Sith? Probably Sith.
Objective: Preferably not die. (Fingers crossed)
Jam: Hold Me Down

"Thirty-seven years old." Lisette said, absentmindedly, to herself as she coasted towards the world of Castameer. The brunette had added another tally to the years she'd survived just the day before, not that there had been any celebration. It was a yearly reminder that she was getting older, and getting older in her line of work was more dangerous than jumping into a den of terentateks buck naked armed with a lightsaber. The Vahla was piloting a small, expendable, starfighter that she had "borrowed" from her younger sister the day she'd visited Teta to congratulate her for ascending to the throne - not that her family should be surprised considering what she often did in her "free" time when in between jobs, like joining up with the Galactic Alliance to launch a surprise attack on the Sith Temple during the waning days of the One Sith's peak and again to invade the world for good. She had helped push the Sith into their final resting place - or so she had thought.

That is, until this all happened. She'd never heard of any of this - not even when she had lived with her mother as a young child, when her mother had been alive and serving the Dark Lord - and it came as a complete surprise to her, as if they'd ripped apart the last vestiges of Sith in the galaxy only to have hit the proverbial wasp nest in the process. She wasn't briefed, exactly, on what was going on - all she knew was that the Sith were still around, whether they were One Sith or not it mattered little - and she was only here to accept a bit of credits from the Galactic Alliance to add to her small savings. "Just when I thought I was done with you lot." She grumbled, pushing her weight forwards as she directed the fighter towards the surface of the planet like a dart descending against a board.

"Fighter", of course, was a horrible misnomer for a fast-flying starship the size of a small starfighter equipped with a single weapon for defense. Not exactly desirable in any situation that wasn't reconnaissance, but then she was only using it to land on the planet's surface - a planet which also was beneath a massive engagement of capital ships and actual starfighters. If anything, Lis should have been grateful for nabbing a fighter that wasn't suitable for actual fighting - she probably would have ended up dead in moments if she'd tried to take part in an actual fleet engagement, she wasn't exactly the best pilot. A sudden chest-shaking shredding sound, following by a lot of blinking lights indicating the shields (as meager as they were) were down and that the right wing was damaged. A cursory glance to the side of the craft?

What right wing?

'Well... kark.'

Just her luck, think and ye shall receive - or something like that. Always seemed to happen that way, think of something bad and it'd happen. Another large bright flash of green flew over the top of her cabin which only reinforced the thought - and the sudden sense of urgency to push the fighter down towards the planet's surface at full thrust.

Did she mention that the fighter was starting to spin out?

Right, luck. She had that, right? Right?

-

An hour later, maybe two - though, really, it could be more for all she knew - Lisette found herself slowly coming to amidst the wreckage of the worthless hunk of junk. Evidently her sister's claim that her ships were of tip top quality at least measured up to being good enough to keep a crashed pilot from immediately facing death - though, really, surviving a crash onto a planet's surface could be somewhat worse than death when it was really, really, karking cold outside. Her armor, though now covered in discoloration and a crack here and there from the crash, had cushioned a bit of the blow to her upper body and limbs, but she could feel the freezing touch of the cold air nipping at a slowly closing wound that had been cut above her left eyebrow.

That was how she woke up, stomach resting over the flight panel of the fighter, the nose of which was buried in the ground, with her head laying on the dash, peppered with shards of glass that were speckled with red, and her hair tied tightly in a bun that was threatening to come undone. Both of her legs, although intact, were trapped under the seat of the fighter from the impact - which had apparently nearly folded the jet in half, which would have effectively amputated her at the knees if it had actually occurred. "Urgh..." She mumbled, sliding her arms towards her face and flinching at the sound of crinkling pieces of glass against the armor that protected her. Slowly she opened one eye, her right, and then after a moment came the left. Everything, of course, was pretty much a blur to her eyes as they adjusted - the slight pang in her head telling her that it was probably caused by head trauma. Another groan and, rather than slide her arms towards her face and risk blinding herself, she slowly slid herself "up" and back off the flight panel, sliding back into the seat that was positioned perpendicularly against her lower back.

Several more blinks and she found her vision clearing, not that there was much in sight. Apparently the next strike from whatever had been attacking her on her way towards the surface must have glanced the top of the cockpit because the entire top was ripped open as if a large mining laser had been put to use to open it up. 'Lucky indeed.' Lisette thought to herself, pulling her head, and back, up from the front of the fighter, now that she could see, and shimmied herself to the side until she, effectively, fell out of her ruined fighter. "Great, Lily is going to kill me - this is the fourth one." She said with a grumble, bringing both of her hands down to her hips to check for the only two weapons that were always with her. Two lightsabers, one violet and the other a dim amber, were situated on both of her hips, in better shape than she or her armor were in too.

Of course, now that she'd actually regained consciousness on this gods-forsaken planet, where was she supposed to go?

 

[Raziel]

“Surface mining, including strip mining, open-pit mining and mountaintop removal mining, is a broad category of mining in which soil and rock overlying the mineral deposit (the overburden) are removed. In contrast to underground mining, in which the overlying rock is left in place, and the mineral removed through shafts or tunnels.”

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[SIZE=13.5pt]- The Internet[/SIZE]​

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[SIZE=14pt]CONTROL STATION 1, STRIP MINES, CASTAMEER[/SIZE]​

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Spoiler

[member="Tiland Kortun"] [member="Thoja Arlos"] [member="Xiarr Sair"] [member="Matsu Ike"] [member="Zark"] [member="Bryce Bantam"] [member="Taeli Raaf"] [member="Zonia Kalranoos"] [member="Arisa Yune"] [member="Dax Fyre"] [member="Choli Vyn"] [member="Kira Vaal"] [member="Galen Adina"] [member="Aerion Ivelisse"] [member="Audren Sykes"] [member="Macharius Solaire"] [member="Claire Ouron"] [member="Riven Black"] [member="Jaster Starfallen"] [member="Solan Charr"] [member="Raeya Papanoida"] [member="Karen Roberts"] [member="Effie Duanna"] [member="Viktoria Kess"] [member="Jakkor Kess"] [member="Lucien Galtier"] [member="RC-506 Lock"] [member="Jatt Cath"] [member="Joshua DragonsFlame"]

Spoiler

The strip mines were no small operation. Tens of thousands of slaves spread across an extensive operation across the surface. There were only a handful of deeper excavations. With the numbers present it would likely take months to free them one by one.

But in the shanty town there were rumours of a resistance. Rumours that a supervisor by the name of Drent Marsh* had a way to deactivate control collars within a small radius.

Spoiler

“Foreman?”

“YES?” he swivelled his head around, optics turning to the screens in front of the control droid.

“We have three slaves running from guards. Several slaves just vanished from the grid. They may have been freed by those were monitored landing.”

The foreman took two steps towards the holo-screens. Each step a metallic clang that resounded around the small room. Two Stormtroopers stood guard at the door. They didn’t deploy the elite troops to guard the mines, they were far too well equipped and qualified for that. They did, however, guard the four control stations on the mines.

“THAT MANY DO NOT EVEN AFFECT OUR PRODUCTIVITY BY A QUANTITY MEASURABLE AGAINST DAY TO DAY CHANGES. PROCEED WITH OPERATIONS. AS FOR THOSE THREE…”

His hand came down and pressed two keys. The three flashing white dots on the screen were highlighted with green circles. The Foreman pressed another key and all three started to flash red.



Shouting and screaming would reach Matsu Ike and the others that were freeing slaves. Around the corner came three slaves, faces bright red from the chase. Behind them came two guards. Not soldiers by any means. Armed men who were barely paid above the slaves themselves.

Spoiler

“There they are!” cried the one at the front. He was a young human, maybe in his early twenties, perhaps even younger.

“Help us!” shouted the next. A dark-blue skinned twi’lek woman. Her cry was hoarse, the dust thrown up by the mines having abraded her vocal chords.

Three loud pops followed. All three slaves simply crumpled down. Paper men caught in the wind. The momentum of their run had their bodies tumble over several times before they came to rest before the heroes. Smoke started to waft up from the collars around their necks.



*Note I won’t be Roleplaying him directly, but if you decide to head that way and manage to convince the slaves that you’re not a trap you will find that he has three makeshift devices that can deactivate slave collars within a 100m radius. They need to recharge for as minute at a time. The strip mines, however, cover many kilometres of ground.

 

[Lyth Meran]

( fekin timezones.)

Strip mines
allies dem all

Lyth Looked arroung still groggy.
" So we working on a plan?" she asked " or are we setting on our arses?"

 

[Funky Balor]

In the Cathedral the Masters Awaken....

Spoiler

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUhVCoTsBaM[/youtube]

[member="Ra Vizsla"] [member="Cole Dagos"] [member="Arla Balor"] [member="Ghorua the Shark"] [member="Kith Verloren"]



Funky watched as chaos unfolded around him. The Force only knew how large this army had become. Well, he supposed the time for politeness had ended. Now was the time to dance among the blooming blood-red flowers of the battlefield. Ehh, Taira would've put it better. Sadly, she couldn't make it to this Crusade, either. He frowned.


He reached into his quiver and hurled a spear, a Jairi Edee, across the battlefield, watching as it screamed like a hawk, landing in the neck of a Sith Lackey. He smirked and dove for cover as several of the Sith troops suddenly noticed him, firing on him. Well, good to make an opening. Hopefully he could keep them distracted long enough to let Ra and some of these others advance forward. He hollered. "You charge, I'll keep causing trouble from here," he bellowed to his compatriots. Now was time to pain the stone red with blood.


After all, sometimes the simplest plan was the best one. And frankly, he could keep them busy long enough to keep the heat off a charge. For a while, anyhow.

 

[Leos Palle]

Location: The Strip Mines
Objective: Reach a control station
Allies: [member="Tiland Kortun"] [member="Dax Fyre"] [member="Zark"], many others
Enemies: [member="Raziel"], Rogue Sith, Stupid Guards

She felt him reach out to touch her mind, sending his words to her as she walked away from him. It brought a small smile to her lips, but she heard him out. She, too, was pleased that they had met again, though she was certain he would feel the change in her. Since the two of them had parted ways, she had begun training in the use of the darkside of the Force. Using both sides brought her into a state of harmony, and allowed her the destructive power needed to do battle with the Sith when it became necessary for her to move out onto the battlefield. A Jedi was just a hiccup in the face of Sith forces. She wanted to be a road block for them.

It's good to see you too, Master Kortun, but I have stepped into a harmony that you couldn't possibly understand. Now, while you all hide as slaves, I'm heading for a control station.

No, she wanted to free the slaves. As she walked into the shanty towns that housed the workers running the mines, she couldn't help but feel appalled. This was the sort of thing that the President of the New Republic worked directly against. Slave labor was thoroughly outlawed within Republic Space. She did hate to see people in this state, and she noticed that they were all wearing slave collars too. That wasn't good. Freeing them was not going to be an easy task by any means. But she didn't have the time for freeing slaves. None of them really did. This mission wasn't about that, it was about reaching the command centers and then the spaceport that would get them up to Omega.

Omega was the priority, not the slaves. If they didn't stop Omega, freeing a bunch of slaves would not matter. Sacrificing some to save many was necessary, as much as even she hated the idea. It pained her to walk past them, but she knew that she had to. A couple of guards came at her. Underpaid, under armed, but still trying to do their job. One of them quickly took a lightsaber to the chest, which surprised the other one so thoroughly that she walked up on him and put her hand on his chest before he even knew she was there. Gently she drained all energy from him that she could, and left him unconscious on the ground. She didn't take their weapons.

As far as she was concerned, the slaves could have them.

 

[Ria Misrani]

Maximum Effort.

Shoto blades already having been quenched with blood went after more. In a gorgeous slow down of action, she leapt forward both blades going directly into the chest of one Sith Trooper. She force threw one light sabre and worked with the other to slice another two troopers as the one she had thrown boomerang'd into another contingent and she looked up to see @Elpsis Elaris. "By the Goddess..." As some might say, Charlyra's eyes went wide when she heard the sound of a blaster come toward her. Immediately she went into Shii-Cho and deflected that bolt and the bolt of several others. Flipping over the barrage she stabbed into those troopers and finished them off. "Elpsis!" She shouted, yeah she caught sight of what had happened and when Troopers got in her way. All one could really hear was her ferocious force roar, shouting the Sithies apart.

Her lightsabre could again be seen moving away from her hand as she cut through another sector of Troops. One bolt, two, maybe more might've found its way toward her. She grabbed her lightsabre back into her hand and deflected a few - but not all of them. "Feth," she cursed she could feel the burning sensation edge up onto parts of her skin. Thankfully - she had swapped her arms for her heavier combat arms. What? When you've lost your arms, you get to play swiss-army Jedi, too. Shaking it off she force roared again, making her way to Elpsis. Looking around she viewed Master [member="Nima Tann"]. They needed to regroup and charge into the Citadel, no point in being stealthy now. The Fire Order was going to light up the Citadel, and everything that stood in their way.

 

[Wolf]

Location: Sith Academy
Allies: The First Order, Knights of Ren, [member="Mael Ren"] | [member="Thresh Sken"] | [member="Jude Falkrowe"] | [member="Samka Derith"] | [member="Kierel"]
Nearby, potential allies: [member="Matsu Xiangu"] | [member="Nomar"] | [member="Vustia"] | [member="Darth Ophidia"]

The tall Knight of Ren watched with anticipation as the great doors of the Academy opened by themselves. They were strangely silent, and Wolf did not quite know what to make of it. His right hand reached down and instinctively unhooked the lightsaber hilt from his belt. In typical fashion, Samka was the first to head in and investigate, telling the others to cover her. Wolf nodded and flicked the ignition switch on his lightsaber, the crimson blade crackling to life as it materialised from the hilt's depths, horizontal blades also emerging from the lateral vents to form the crossguard. The lightsaber almost seem to growl and rage in the face of the Academy, its broken kyber crystal giving the crimson blade a serrated, unstable appearance that snarled and crackled.

He followed Derith through the entryway, and found that his lightsaber's growling hum had suddenly ceased, as if a muzzle had been placed on a snarling hound. He tried to speak, but no words emerged from his throat. So, there was to be no sound permitted here. Wolf was relatively confident in his competence with telepathy, though it had been a while since he had to employ it. He watched as Samka comforted the fearful stormtrooper that had entered with them. The results were clear as he felt the stormtrooper's fear begin to subside. Good, they needed everyone to be in optimal condition. Taking cautious steps behind Derith through the room, he reached out with the Force, and could perceive no immediate danger. His lightsaber deactivated, and he reattached it to his belt. It could be called upon again within a split second no doubt.

Wolf stopped as he felt a new presence, a man who came bumbling past him like a fool. Was this pretence, or genuine stupidity? If the former, what was he trying to hide? And if the latter, then he was a liability to their mission. It was a ridiculous thought that an intoxicated fool would appear here and now, at the Sith Academy, as they stood at the gates of Apocalypse, the potential end of the galaxy as they knew it. Wolf watched as Samka moved into action, her lightsaber blade stopping the man in his tracks. His foolish character was indeed pretence, as he too produced a lightsaber to lock with hers. Wolf did not make a move to draw his own lightsaber however. The man surely knew he was outnumbered. He did not know what his intentions were, but there was no time to play detective in the shadow of the superweapon that threatened to destroy all that they knew.

Wolf turned his gaze towards the stormtrooper, feeling a shift in her emotions. His brows furrowed as she then raised her rifle to fire at the newcomer. He instinctively raised his hand to stop the escalation of the situation, but he was too late to stop her directly as she pressed the trigger twice. He scowled, his mind instead focussing on the blaster bolts that had emerged from her weapon. It would take a master of telekinesis to completely stop the rapid bolts in their tracks, and Wolf was not one. Instead his mind urged the blaster bolts to change their direction in some way, to alter their advance so that they would not reach their intended target. The blaster bolts were moving incredibly fast, and Wolf strained as he willed the bolts to be pushed off course.

The blaster bolts obeyed, Wolf managing to alter their trajectory so that one skimmed past Samka and the newcomer to fly straight out of the Academy, while the other veered off into the wall. He breathed a sigh of relief, and shot [member="Kierel"] a glare of irritation. This was not the time to be distracted with such foolish conflicts, as the end of the galaxy loomed above them. His arm came out to his side as he felt [member="Thresh Sken"]'s presence come forward, stopping his colleague in his tracks. He turned to look at him, and shook his head. He then glared at the newcomer who had engaged in a saber lock with Samka, who had provoked this entire foolish situation in the first place. His mind jabbed at his, speaking to him through the Force. I trust that you are not stupid.

Wolf then walked past the pair without a word, expecting the newcomer to cease his hostility, given that he was greatly outnumbered. He mused to himself, If one wanted to hide something, why choose the most attention-gaining and suspicious cover? No, if one wanted to hide something, one should be obscure. He smirked as he watched a black-clad figure climb the staircase, having slipped past them in their dispute. Like that one. He moved to follow behind her [ [member="Darth Ophidia"] ]. Her Force signature was obscure, she did not seem to be a being of great power. She could be an acolyte, or a Lord hiding her power, and Wolf could not know. He caught up to walk beside her as she climbed the staircase, his mind lightly brushing against hers to speak with her through the Force.

Thought you could slip past us, did you? His words were non-threatening and cordial as they both proceeded to the opening at the top of the staircase, though there was no humour in his words. Under the ominous and apocalyptic gaze of the Omega weapon, how could there be? She would have been quite successful at fading into the obscurity of the group, if it had not been for the tense dispute that had broken out which delayed the others, leaving her the only one who was climbing the staircase, and drawing Wolf's attention.

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

Objective: Convince the Jedi to enter the Mines with them.
Potential Allies: [member="Matsu Ike"] [member="Jakkor Kess"]

Wounds all taken care off, Lark went off to find the Jedi Master that Jakkor had spoken to a bit earlier. The medics had given him some warmer clothes, but he kept the worn gray pants, in case he needed to disguise himself as a slave. He put a slight limp into his step, and a bit of a shiver to his voice. He let a bit of the cold seep into him, causing him to shake a little, making him appear as though he was nervous. He finally saw Master Ike, and shuffled over to speak with her.

"Excuse me, Master Ike? Might I have a quick word? Those people in there, I remember what they're going through all to well. I'm no Jedi, but I've a good shot with a blaster, and I'd like to help in any way I can."

Location: The Strip Mines
Objective: Free the people
Allies:

There was a lot hapening and with Claire and Joshua she could work on more of it same as with some of the others. The others they could and would be able to gather as she was entering and using her own internal map thanks to the techniques were going to work. "Good then, start moving through." She knew Joshua might come off like a tool.. for her amusement... but he really was a skilled tool.... for everybodies amusement. Hahaha she laughed to herself internally before starting to work on freeing the prisoners that she could find and feel out. All of them were going to provide a little comfort and in her mind each was something worth while in her own ledger as she started to work on getting some of that red out. "Claire move carefully." She had her saber and there was another somewhere ahead of her. "Wait who are you?" She said it looking at [member="Lark"] with a look on her face but so far he wasn't showing sith traits... which was a plus.

Current Objective: Convince the Jedi to let him enter the Strip Mine.

Careful Lark. This is a Jedi Master you're speaking with. He had to do his best to disguise his true feelings. He tried to feel fear as best he could, as any slave would in this situation, but not to much lest it overwhelm him. He threw in a bit of awe too, he was in the presence of the Jedi Order. Lark did not view the Jedi in a fond light, in fact he despised them. but he bore them no ill will at the moment, he had no intent of harming them. No, the Jedi would be the vessels that carried him to The Omega.

He looked back at [member="Matsu Ike"]. "Apologies, Master. My name is Lark, I'm a slave in the Strip Mines." He said this as if he was still a slave, years of abuse in the mines would have warped his mind in the most twisted ways. "I'd like to help out, if you'd have me."

Location: The Strip Mines
Allies: [member="Arisa Yune"] [member="Claire Ouron"] [member="Rasu Gan"] [member="Lyth Meran"] [member="Matsu Ike"] [member="Celiana"] [member="Jakkor Kess"] , [member="Xiarr Sair"] , [member="RC-506 Lock"] [member="Viktoria Kess"] [member="Lark"] [member="Rylan Thatcher"]

Josh would attempt to radio a message to a few allies in order to get their help, but for some reason, the signal wasn't going through. "Blast it... It seems the Padawans won't be helping me on this one" He muttered under his breath with a hint of disdain in his voice. It would have been good training for them, after all, and they'd have been relatively protected. And they needed to get used to being abruptly called for missions, after all.

But then as they went, they would run into an apparent slave. Lark.

And immediately, Josh could tell something was off.

Sure, he could sense fear, but something was just... Oh, he didn't know how to describe it. Something seemed fake about this guy, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He would look from this Lark and then back to Matsu Ike, with a raised brow. The Jedi Master would wait patiently, but knew they had to get going soon in order to start freeing the slaves before something vengeful started killing them off. He'd trust Ike's judgement on this, as she was leading this little party.

 

[Kira Vaal]

Location: The Strip Mines
Current Objective: Choices
Allies: [member="Tiland Kortun"] [member="Taeli Raaf"] [member="Raeya Papanoida"] [member="Zark"] [member="Aerion Ivelisse"] [member="Bryce Bantam"] [member="Solan Charr"]
For Reference: [member="Raziel"]

“It seems the landings are completed.” Alasdair said over the chair that Kira called home. His hand was pressed against the earpiece that was connected to whatever command structure they had. “Basically anyone not already in the area is on their own and late for the party.”

Kira had brought the Falcon into a low run across the snowy sweeps to the east of the strip mines, no real air opposition allowing the YT to remain steady and the entire crew catch a breath for a moment. “Skies seem clearer at least.” She took a breath and gave a sidewards glance at the Wookiee sat next to her, his burly form panting heavily. “You did good buddy.”

“Message coming in.” Alasdair noted. The transmission of the incident of the Neutral Zoner and [member="Jorus Merrill"] came through to Kira’s headpiece as well suddenly tearing the objective in half as she glanced up towards the spec that was in all essences a weapon waiting to destroy them all.
“Orders?” Alasdair prompted Kira who snapped out of the small trance she was stuck in.

“Um…” She tried to think, tried to take responsibility. Who ever decided that she was suited for this was clearly insane. She was just a treasure hunter, or at least had been once upon a time. Now it was different wasn’t it? She was a Jedi Knight, a champion of light or whatever it was the old spirits had told her. “Okay…”

“If I could make a suggestion Kira?” Alasdair mentioned clearly noting her concern. “The Strip Mines are huge, even with a year the Alliance would struggle to free everyone from within. However remember Tasuni?”
“The slave revolt?” Kira questioned. “Everyone died, I can’t see why that would be helpful.”
“They all died because no matter what they did they still relied on Central Command, one button and it was all over.” He pointed to the map on the holoscreen in the central console. “Charlwook can get us in close to the tower, we go after the head while they are distracted by the simple revolt. Do what the Underground do best, infiltrate and remove.”
“Okay…” Kira raised her eyebrow. “It might just be crazy enough to work. However, I need to help the General as well…Charlwook will drop you and me off alone, he will then take the ship and the rest of the crew to the Neutral Zoner’s location and provide assistance, with the Falcon’s speed he should be able to get back to us for the assault on Omega…hopefully.”

“If you say so boss.”
“Yeah I say so.”

*DM NOTES:
Removing the Falcon from the scene for now as it goes to aid a private thread. Kira and Alasdair will be moving to hopefully remove the Foreman while everyone is concentrating on the main assault.

 

[Kruel Zing]

Location: Within Sith Academy
Allies: None
Potential Allies: [member="Mael Ren"] [member="Wolf"] [member="Thresh Sken"] [member="Samka Derith"]
Objective: Enter left doorway



How easy it would be to kill the one that I locked blades with. How foolish could one be to attack someone they knew nothing about? The tiny Sith before me had started a fight she wasn’t ready for and had drug the poor Stormtrooper into it as well. For me to avoid the blasterbolts I could do many things. Summon a pillar of earth to rip through that pitiful Stormtrooper and jump over this young one allowing the blasterbolts to hit her. Or perhaps summon a small layer of earth that blocks the blaster bolts and rip the air from this ones lungs. So many ways, so little time. Especially when there was a much bigger goal overarching this entire mission.

There was a jabbing at my mind through the force but it wouldn’t penetrate the mental defenses of Teras Kasi, a martial art made specifically for dealing with the Force users of the galaxy who thought themselves powerful. The jabbing simply bounced off the message of the other darksider lost with it. Could I have chosen to let my defenses down a bit and let it through? Of course but why would I do such a thing when it was obvious all of them were in cahoots. Leaving myself open to any avenue of attack when outnumbered in such a way was foolish. Even that accursed Defel would’ve continued moving to join the fight if he hadn’t been stopped by his ally. Good preserve as many lives as you could, I’d hate to have to slaughter potential allies so early in the mission.

Unaware of whatever message was trying to penetrate my mind I looked back to the young darksider. Left hand lifting I made a shooing motion for her to go rejoin her allies. “Shoo Shoo.” I mouthed to her. There was no point in continuing this any longer. Her continuing to try and prove herself would do nothing but end with her painful demise. Pushing her blade away with my own lightsaber I deactivated it and turned away going to the left door and walking through it leaving the darksiders behind. Enough time had been wasted on them, if they truly wished to go on a wild hunt they could follow me.

 

[Samka Derith]

Location: Sith Academy, main entrance hall
Allies: [member="Wolf"] [member="Mael Ren"] [member="Thresh Sken"] [member="Kierel"]
Sith nearby: [member="Nomar"] [member="Darth Ophidia"]

Sam was still locked in blades with [member="Nomar"], neither of them made a move to reposition themselves to either attack or defence. Instead she waited for the others to come closer, their sheer numbers would force this man to back down or be destroyed. A loose blaster bolt sailed past her head, their Stormtrooper had sprung into action. It was bizarre to see silent blaster fire. The loss of one of your senses can make you feel powerless and disorientated. Sam waved [member="Kierel"] down with her free hand, never taking her eyes of off the newcomer with the red blade. It was an effective enough show of force that the group were prepared to kill the man if it came down to it.

I am not your enemy

Were those the words he had attempted to communicate? She couldn't be certain but regardless she had little reason to believe them and yet instinct was telling her something about this man and what else could she trust if not her instincts, rich in the Force's will?

Sam disengaged from the clash of lightsabers and swiftly took two steps back, lowering her lightsaber once she had done so but keeping it ignited. She could not allow a potential spy to report their position back to the Rogue Sith and yet something was telling her simply killing the man was a mistake. Fixing a glare at [member="Nomar"], Sam gestured for him to begone. It was the best of a bad bunch of options. Forcing him to come with them against his will could lead to problems later if he was a saboteur and killing him still felt wrong somehow. Not morally, she'd killed before many a time but just a mistake.

[member="Wolf"] had begun to climb the staircase at the end of the corridor, she'd gathered Sith buildings like to keep their most important people and possessions on the top floors so it was probably a safe bet. She'd only just remembered that Wolf had very briefly belonged to the same group these Rogue Sith had spawned from, perhaps he would know something the others did not.

Keeping an eye on the Sith figure as he retreated through the left door, Sam would climb the staircase with the others once he was gone.