Help Me, Obi-Wan Kenobi [Republic Dominion of Alderaan]

[Jorus Merrill]

First he'd been in the Blood Waste. Then the blue girl had shown him a puddle. Then, on the theory that a chance at returning to reality was worth the risk, he'd jumped into the puddle.

At which point an overwhelming rage took hold of him. It didn't help that he recognized Vongformed Alderaan pretty quickly. It really didn't help that a small horde of Vong, led by a Sith, were charging at him.

Hyperlight flared, and then they were no longer there. The rage faded. A mechanism of equilibrium, maybe -- he'd been the blue girl's missionary, it seemed. One released, another trapped. Several others, in this case. He was, all things considered, too overloaded with feeling to disentangle any one in particular. The relief alone overpowered most other considerations, even the shame of doing something he'd never done before and never wanted to do.

A Republic GR-75 swooshed overhead; he shielded his eyes. He had no contacts here, and no friends, but his sister had once kept a phrik mine off in those hills; he set off in that direction, on foot.

 

[The End Narrator]

With a grunt, Nova kicked the door to the pod outwards and tactically tumbled onto the dew ridden ground, rifle coming up in a ready position. She had loaded them with a specialized HEIAP round that would essentially made their Crab armor questionable, especially at close range. These rounds were meant to take down heavy machines and could be compared to small explosives - there was no way a Vong would be able to survive an impact of that nature, but then again - the Vong of late were specialized.

She hadn't fought them lately, and she felt a bit rusty - perhaps she'd locate trouble just to get a good feel for what was going on.

Her left hand would come off the rifle and reach up, carefully pulling down the tri-colored goggles over her eyes as she flipped through the various spectrums with a simple blink of her eye. The left eye would begin diagnostics of her suit and attempt to establish local communications with individuals on the same channel range as her, while the right eye would check the radar and weather conditions. She had to admit, this Vongforming did alot to her systems overall - mucking them up.

Her hand would fall back down to her weapon, gripping the forward rail system tightly, flicking the light on as she rose up and began moving forward through the "living" building.

It was going to be a long day.

 

[Kana Truden]

Kana awoke on the ground with a rage inside of her unlike anything she had ever felt before. Her hands were shaking as her mind only spoke of one thing. Murder. Anyone, anything or anywhere she needed to karking murder someone and she needed it now.

Blind anger became her guide as step for step she walked what unbeknownst to her at the moment had once been streets of familiar nature. The shops that had once been here that no longer were, the perverted nature of the vong had eradicated what few traces were left of what had once been her home.

A small squad of… Something was up ahead. Things weren’t exactly running RGB in the thinker. Her hand reached down for one of the two sabers at her belt and in a determined stride she made way for the people in front of her. The curved hilt ignited and from it’s emitter came the red beam that she had come to associate with the day she took the trophy from [member="Reverance"] on Kashyyyk oh-so-long-ago.

One swing, two swings, three swings and they were dead. She remained hunched over the corpses of her victims. Her sight returned to normal and in a moments notice so did her sanity. Eyes set on the corpses of the men she had killed and panic erupted. What had she done?

“No. Nonononono!” Kana burst out. “No. This is-... No!”

She turned the saber off and looked at her hands. Her jaw dropping in shock, breathing staggering. This wasn’t kosher. This wasn’t the right thing to do. Her eyes set on the four-man squad of dead soldiers in front of her before slowly backing away until her back was against the wall.

Eyes shot out at the long road next to her.

Images flashed back and forth. Like a slap to her face she slowly began to realize where she was.

“No.” A terrified expression fell upon the Master as she stared upon the street in front of her. “This isn’t right, no. No...”

Welcome home, Kana. It's been a while.

[ [member="Geneviève Lasedri"] [member="Meeristali Peradun"] [member="Kelghast"] [member="Graxin Rade"] [member="Kiyron"] [member="November Sinclair"] [member="Sabena Shai"] [member="Pappy"] [member="Kronos"] [member="Svarin Wolfbane"] [member="Corvus Raaf"] ]​

 

[The End Narrator]

It just so happened that a blip on her radar pinged as a stored communications frequency - with a face to match.

"Well I'll be damned..." That man had a thing for surving the odds apparently. She quickly keyed her comlink, and she spoke - softly. Of course, it would pick up the vibrations in her jaw and the muscle tissue, so on his end, she would come in loud and clear.

"Jorus, is that you?" She said as she rushed towards a green, slime covered window. She let go of the rifle with her left hand again, right hand propping it up, pointing it to the ceiling. She tried to rub the living tissue and slime away from the window to see out but groan as it persisted against her. "You piece of bantha shit..." She cursed as she stepped back and brought her left hand down and withdrew the HEX20 from her left holster and brought it up level to the window - With that, a simple .357 round would be discharged into the window and another into the side of the wall.

Given the explosive nature of the rounds she was carrying - the wall would explode outwards with such a force, it echoed through the city of Aldera like no other.

With a grin of satisfaction against the spray of blood? and tissue mixed in with duracrete smoke, she'd holster her pistol and step forward - rifle still propped against her hip.

[member="Jorus Merrill"] | [member="Kana Truden"]

 

[Simone]

When word had reached her that the Republic were taking Alderaan back she had felt compelled to go. She'd been there when they'd tried the last time, and she wanted to gather what intel she could on the vong forming of the planet. If they had all the information, then they could prevent it from happening again, no? The science team consisted of her and some of her trusted old counterparts. Eagles. Designed by some mandalorian they were scout droids she'd acquired along the way.

She walked as they moved out from her, scanning and mapping everything they found, hopeful that with half the galaxy being sucked into wherever, she was much safer than the last time. She flicked on her recording device. "Simon Denning, year 844 ABY. Alderaan. Vongforming is wreaking havoc with my sensors, can't pick out singular lifeforms because everything if freaking alive. Maybe there's a way I can adjust the sensors, something that I can isolate...maybe a gene. Seven hells..."

She'd reached a ridge that overlooked Aldera. "Camera," she muttered, rummaging in her bag, she pulled the small handheld holorecorder out and pressed it to her eye. Aldera's beauty was gone, its once tall gleaming towers naught but rubble, smothered by the grey green that marked the entire planet. "I really hate the vong." She lowered the camera and began moving down towards the city itself.

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus wasn’t aware of falling asleep but she was sure as heck aware she woke up. There was a fire burning in her mind. The logical half of her brain had gone AWOL and the ‘other’ side had free reign.

‘I was wondering when you’d wake up.’ It had stopped saying ‘we.’ On one hand this worried her but on the other, it felt rather good. Just one voice to listen to now.

She saw Kana near her. ‘Not worthy…not worthy.’ The voice repeated. “Yes but what purpose would killing her do? I might need her.” She was speaking out loud. And the overwhelming need to take a life would not be slated by the application of logic. So she approached the Jedi Master.

But no sooner had she closed the gap than her quarry ran off, sabers drawn. Corvus followed suit but her’s failed to activate. ‘Karking Solari crystal.’

“Never mind, there are other ways to skin a Jedi.” But before she got within six feet she was aware of being ambushed. The Force had come back to her. Without a moment’s hesitation she fell into her Teräs Käsi form. Her hands snaked out with unbelievable speed. Ribs splintered and with the third victim, she withdrew her hand to find a Vong heart nestling there, still moving. Discarding it she finished off the last attacker before realisation hit home and she fell to her knees.

They were Vong, yes - but she had acted in anger. She glanced at Kana and saw her friend was in a similar situation. Corvus stood, her robes splattered with the blood of the fallen. But whereas Corvus’ focus had been on the needless death of the Vong soldiers, her friend was staring around, almost more horrified at what she saw there, rather than those that had died at her hand.

“Kana…” Her voice was low, soft and ineffectual. ‘Kana, what is it?’

[member="Kana Truden"]

 

[Placeholder 0123]

A token force of Sith starfighters came forth to fire at the Chief's corvette. They were subsequently vaporized by the Republic's superior firepower as was planned. The Sith forces planet side were in complete disarray. Those that tried to mount a defense would be out down like the animals they were.

"How many did we lose?" Graxin whispered into the comm as Gen made her way toward the library.

"Red team is gone, and half of Blue team. DG-67 and DG-82 landed without issue. I don't know what's happened to them sir - they just disappeared."

The Master bit back a curse, and shook his head. There was an odd energy signature coming from the planet, and it was fluctuating at random intervals. It brooked and investigation, but not now. Protection of the Chief was his primary concern.

The Archlord clicked his helmet in place, and moved to follow after Genevieve. Republic soldiers were formidable, but not a soul would touch the woman so long as he breathed.

"Two Dreadguard teams disappeared into that energy field." Graxin informed the woman as they made their way toward the library. "Nothing from the FoF tags. We would know if they were killed, but they've up and disappeared."

There was something off here. Besides the obvious, Graxin could feel a shift in the force. It had been all out of whack since Commeron, but there was something else going on. Powerful force signatures were appearing just as the Dreadguard had disappeared.

"I'm sensing something off in the force. Like people are just...appearing."








[member="Kana Truden"] | [member="Jorus Merrill"] | [member="November Sinclair"] | [member="Geneviève Lasedri"] | [member="Meeristali Peradun"]

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="November Sinclair"]

His comlink buzzed with a familiar voice. Interesting -- that GR-75 hadn't been a fluke. He didn't have Force senses in the same way as others did. He did, however, have very good navigational senses, and his gut was telling him to head in a totally different direction from the phrik mine. He followed his gut, shotgun at the ready.

"Don't call me that on open air," he murmured into it. "Callsign's Gypsy. Rebellion Actual works too. How you doing, ghost?"

 

[Kana Truden]

Knees gave in and tears welled. This was Alderaan. This was the street she lived on. This was where she had been before the invasions had started. Where she had been before the Order and where she had fled after she had had enough of her parents’ negligence.

It was here that she had become the person that she was. It was here that she had been soaking herself in regret but most of all it was here that her life as she had known it ended.

Corvus’ words went right past Kana. She didn’t hear them, or perhaps she simply couldn’t over the sobbing. She lost grip of the hilt and with a clang it landed on the ground. This wasn’t how she had imagined this going. She had thought on this moment so many times, but not like this. To come home and see what the Sith had done to it, what the Vong had done to it.

“This is not right.” She repeated herself.

Slowly she reached for the hilt next to her and clipped it to her belt. Her feet carried her, but her mind wasn’t registering it as step for step she moved towards one of the buildings. Her left hand reached up to drag itself along the walls.

“This is not right.”

Her hand crossed a familiar console and the doors slid open. The apartment block appeared to be inhabited yet the inhabitants seemed to be all gone. There were no signs of struggle, no signs of anything. It was if people had just upped and become nothing but thin air.

Eventually they reached a slightly stowed away little door. Cobwebs could very well have been surrounding it, but not quite. Hesitantly her fingers reached out to enter the passcode.

The doors slid open and dust burst forth.

This was her old apartment. Two old refurbished storage spaces turned into a low-end apartment. Maybe it held as little value as she should have expected. Most of her things was here, but why? Did she really want to know?

Her feet shuffled around in the dust of the apartment and she came to a stop in the very heart of the small living room-slash-bedroom-slash-kitchen. Her attention turned back to Corvus. A heartbroken expression radiated her exact feelings. Pain.

“Welcome, to my old home. Welcome to Alderaan.”

[member="Graxin Rade"] [member="Corvus Raaf"] [member="Simone"] [member="November Sinclair"]​

 

[The End Narrator]

She rolled her eyes. "You'll have to excuse the informal addressing - Rebellion Actual - most communication frequencies are down, long range especially." She shrugged lightly as she looked down the building side and then back around where she was. "I'm fair, holding out. You came out of nowhere, mind explaining that?" She moved over to the other side of the building and began punching out another transparisteel window.

"Apparently the Galaxy is in disarray, everyone is blind and the Republic is scrambling."

[member="Jorus Merrill"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus moved closer. The ‘old’ Corvus, the one before this whole thing kicked off would have stood by helplessly and watched as Kana tore herself apart. But she’d found her sisters since then and a new person stood in these Master’s robes.

She felt her pain. It was the place that was ripping her apart. This was…Aladeraan, of course. Kana's home planet. Looking at it it was nothing like the history books showed - and she wondered how she’d react if Corellia fell into Sith hands. But this was not about Corvus, it was about Kana.

But as fast as she tried to comfort her friend, she moved on and on. To a small apartment. Corvus felt her friend’s sadness develop into pain. She felt it as acutely as if it were her own. But she refused to block it out. She wanted, not she needed to share it. Finally Kana turned to face her and Corvus stepped forward and put her arms around her. Kana's words confirmed what she already knew.

Stroking her hair, she whispered in Kana’s ear. “I have no words, I’m sorry. Its not enough, I know, but it’s all I have. We can stay here as long as you need. I’ll be here with you, OK.” She put her hands on her friend’s shoulders now and straightened her arms to create some space. “Or we can go and exact some very un-Jedi like revenge. Right some wrongs and return this planet to its former glory.”

She held her friend close again. “Both work for me Kana. It’s your choice.”

[member="Kana Truden"]

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="November Sinclair"]

"If chatter's any indication, I'm getting the idea that a few trillion people disappeared. I was one of'em. Then a blue girl told me to jump in a puddle, and here I am. Guess who's going to be spending quality time with the sources sooner rather than later."

He paused on a broken ridge; it had been a housing complex, and in a sense still was, if you replaced a few thousand civilians with the Vong biots that had killed them.

"What's your location, ghost? You have access to exfil? 'Cause I sure could use a ride."

 

[Kana Truden]

Being back was a mixed blessing. The memories returned and she quietly began cursing her own name as she had so many times before. No, to stay here would be irresponsible and counter-productive. After giving the place a final look she quickly swept for what looked like an envelope. She had never opened it, but perhaps now all these years later she would have the guts to do so.

She held it in her hands as her hand traced along the perforated edge.

No. She would open this later.

“We-... We should find others. A rebel cell or something. The vong population would speak against such a thing but we can’t give up hope, right?”

She had to be strong as she had so many times before. Just shrug the pain off and keep moving, she had perfected the art once already.

“Let’s go. I can't stay, we gotta go.” Kana left the door open as she pushed Corvus out of the Apartment. It was as open of an end as she was willing to provide. Maybe one day she would be back. Maybe one day she would return to see the door remain open, but that would be in a very long while.

“Just... Keep going.”

They would have to find all these people. Surely the vong hadn’t replaced all living here, had they? Where was everyone? Had the whole city just vanished into thin air or was this the work of the vong?

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[The End Narrator]

"That I do, I could use your help getting these defenses back up..." She reached behind her and pulled a small smoke charge from her utility belt. "Now, when I do this - I'm going to have some unwanted guests." She paused as she looked around the city that screamed with the sound of Vong and various creatures. "I assume you're armed, yes?"

She didn't bother to wait for an answer, instead she pulled the charge pin and tossed it high and far above it. She counted - "1....2.....3..." By the fourth second, a loud explosion echoed through the ruins of Aldera City and down came the bluish-smoke powder that began covering the living tissue and Vongforming on the side of the building. It fizzled and drifted in the wind as she peaked her head back out the window to the screaming and yelling of various tones and languages.

"Welp, look for the blue stuff on the side of the building - follow the trail of smoke and listen for the sound of gunfire."

[member="Jorus Merrill"]

 

[Uri Aureleos]

Uri spent the whole Hyper trip from Commenor to Alderaan in meditation. He cleared his mind of the pain he felt from leaving master Avalore Eden when she needed him. He had helped as much as he could however and he felt like he was truly needed on Alderaan. Part of him wished he had a better understanding of battle meditation, but with how odd the force felt he did know if he would even use it. He spent the time in meditation examining the force looking at it as he tried to figure out why it felt so strange. He was careful not to prod at it too much pulling away as it felt unstable. It felt like a game of hide and seak that the force didn't want to play. This would be a better job for a master instead of a padawan. The closer they got to Alderaan the more he felt a pull. He believed that something in the force was calling him to the planet. Weither it be his master or something more sinister he didn't know.

Is meditation was interrupted by the sudden shift and drop by the ship. He knew it was time to get up and be ready. Uri made sure to grab a communicator. He didn't know much about telepathy so that was out of the question should he find himself stuck in a tough spot. He ran off the drop ship shortly behind Kiyron. Uri kept his hands over his lightsai just incase he needed to draw them quickly to defend himself. He felt lucky the landed in a calm place, but he didn't agree with the direction the soldiers ran. He felt what he assumed to be the force drawing him a different direction.

"Kiyron, my master is this way," he pointed in the direction Uri felt he should go. He didn't know for sure but he knew he couldn't ignore the feeling. It wasn't smart to split up from the soldiers but Uri couldn't ask to split Kiyron's platoon. "This is where I must go. Be safe and may the force be with you."

@Kiyron

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="November Sinclair"]

He had little use for the Republic, and the Republic had made it clear it had little use for him, but killing Vong and getting off this rock were goals worth the striving. He loaded a CryoBan charge and two concussion rounds into his Bloodstripe; the break-action shotgun clicked back together as he hoofed it toward the blue smoke.

Vong! In numbers. CryoBan, centre of the formation. Vonduun skerr kyrric froze solid; concussion rounds shattered them and the bodies they'd once protected.

Rakamat! Singularities! Incendiary firestorm, all three barrels, wide-angle, one after the other until the nearest singularity had an accretion disc that seared X-rays into the rakamat's armor with a sizzling pulse. A dovin basal sputtered and burst like popcorn. CryoBan to the scar, concussion round, all while side-strafing.

The rakamat thudded to the ground as its legs ceased to function.

"Honey, I'm home," Jorus called, and rammed Taralkaar into the rakamat's eye up to the bell hilt.

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus nodded. Kana would lead…this was their way.

She noticed her friend pocket an envelope but chose not to say anything. When you were this close, you knew when to ask - and when not to.

Corvus nodded again. She didn’t expect to find much resistance on a planet like this but then who knew? As she was almost literally shoved out of the building she sensed a presence. “Uri is here? I mean, Uri is here. But how?” She still had trouble remembering how much he’d grown since she first met him. He outstripped her now but to Corvus he was still her little Padawan. Training had been minimal over the past six years - the war had seen to that.

So for once she led Kana by the arm - in the direction of her Padawan. And she felt the reassuring feeling of the Force again - and pulled it close. One Padawan did not an invasion force make.

[member="Uri Aureleos"] | [member="Kana Truden"]

 

[The End Narrator]

November slowly rose from her position and brought the HEX20 up towards the head of @Jorus Merril. "Mmm..." She pulled the aim away from him and to the side about 8-10 inches - noting bullet velocity would still damage and besides, she had been tracking her target. She discharged the round, squeezing the trigger without hesitation - and the HEIAP round would sail effortlessly through the air and pierced through the duracrete wall beside Jorus and pierce the side of a Bissop, causing the beast to explode in a rain of limbs and blood. The upper half - lifeless as it were, would fly in the direction of Jorus's midsection...tongue flapping out of the mouth of the beast.

[member="Jorus Merrill"]

 

[Kiyron]

[member="Uri Aureleos"]

Kiyron shot a quick look behind him as the Jedi kid said he had to go elsewhere. Kiyron shrugged. It wasn't his business what the Jedi were doing. He stopped though and shuffled to a building's overhang as Sith fighters streaked overhead, only to erupt into balls of flame when they ran into the corvette.

"Keep an eye out for Vong and Sith troopers then," He considered, and then looked ahead to where he had seen the Chief of Senate disappear into a library. The hospital he had been at was on the far side of the city, and he planned to give it a wide berth. "And.. Force be with you too. Even if I hear it's a little karked up right now."

He pointed two squad leaders and then pointed to opposite corners of the intersection. They nodded and their squads crept along the edges of building, and then hurried to those corners, leapfrogging from cover to cover.

Kiyron pointed to another squad leader.

"Get us eyes up top. Deploy the recon droids and get some scouts on whatever rooftop you can find." He paused. "And if the buildings don't like it, kill them. Keep an eye out for civilians and rioters you might find. Convince rioters and looters that it's better if they target Sith holdings."

"Yes, sir," The Zabrak replied, and hurried off, working on his comms to try to get them back up and running.

Kiyron strode across the street to the library where he'd seen Lasedri enter, the last squads behind him, deploying around the building to secure it and planting small automated turrets for defense. They'd start planting bigger ones around once the area was more secure and supplies could be brought in.

"Any word on the royal family? Or are they among the Vanished as well?"

 

[Kana Truden]

Her arm was pulled away and with a ‘Woah’ there was little Kana could do but get herself pulled away by her friend. Who the hell was ‘Uri’?

Kana’s eyes shot out at the buildings again. For a planet that had billions of inhabitants this one seemed way too deserted. It was like a ghost town except the ghosts were all, well, they were practically gone as well. The previous gloom that had fallen upon the jedi master had seemingly vaporized. Perhaps it was the yanking of her arm or the ‘fresh’ air. In any case she quickly followed behind her friend.

She had to think of something. Why was everyone gone? What was the logical conclusion? Not much could really explain how a city this big could just be deserted. Shops were empty, as were streets. The occasional soul wandered around the streets. Here and there the occasional shop seemed to have a smashed window or two, next to them maimed corpses.

It would seem the Vong didn’t discriminate.

“How can a million people just disappear like that?” Kana called out to Corvus mid-jog. “I mean, look around you. Even with the vong doing… What it is that they’ve… Done…”

No, she had to phase the images.

“Maybe this Uri person knows? Who is this Uri?”

[member="Corvus Raaf"]
[member="Uri Aureleos"]