Into Darkness - First Order Dominion of the Spires of Hell

[Armand Temi]

Objective: 2, Shed Light
Allies: [member="Racosidae"] [member="Ara Zambrano"]
Enemies: TBD

Like most FOSB agents, Ezra had an agreeable combination of instinct and intellect, enough to get him to where he was today and especially out of the Ssi-Ruuvi where he’d been held captive in for… well, he did not want to dredge up those memories lest the PTSD kick in. Especially after all of the stimcaf he’d consumed.

Therefore he noticed Racosidae’s intense interest in what he had been doing, and the way her gaze followed his every move.

“Ah yes, the stimcaf,” he said with a bright, chemically whitened grin. He cocked his head for a moment, fingers playing with the top of the thermos lid. “I’ll do better than that. I’ll get you your own cup to go.” He turned around and poured her caf into a smaller container. While Ezra rationalized the girl was harmless, his paranoia mixed with his OCD ensured he’d rather not chance her tampering with his thermos. He tried to do this in the most inconspicuous way, but if she saw through it, so be it.

And there they were - the Aaroun, a hearty feline species who’d somehow managed to survive on the once inhospitable Bluespire. Their features were an odd amalgamation of animal parts as though whatever great creator there was that built the galaxy ran out of ingredients and used whatever they had on hand in the cupboard to make them. Ezra edged up closer, hoping Racosidae followed so he could hear what the Chancellor had to say. The agent pulled out a small recording device and spoke into it, still holding his thermos tight as though a sudden wave of low-gravity would allow it to float away from him. He spoke in a whisper, just some random observations on the Aaroun, and then he turned to his partner and asked, “Should we follow the dignitaries or examine the crude transportation of these lifeforms?” Obviously the former was more preferable, but sometimes great strides in intelligence could be made from careful consideration of the mundane.

 

[Rexus Wenck]

Allies: [member="Luther Ando"] | [member="Kyli DT-6767"]
Post: 3

Rexus hated the idea of using these pods. He could understand the rationale behind them, sure. But actually using this hunk of junk? Not neccessary. He would take a gunship ride any day of the week, thank you very much. However, orders were orders. And when piled into the pod, he couldn't help but feel fear running through his body. Shivers quivered through his spine, and his fists clenched. Rexus tried closing his eyes but the sounds of his comrade, Dergan Twigg being strapped in were too much. He could hear the cries of anguish as Twigg was being pushed in, and was so close, to opening his own pod door, when he couldn't. He was now hurtling through space.

Every muscle in Wenck's body clenched. His whole life seemed to play out before his eyes. He could feel blood rushing through his body. This was how he died. This was how it all ended. He was gonna die now. It'd be quick, sure. But this, this method. This wait would make it excruciating. He waited, what seemed like hours in his mind, until impact. The pod, and Rexus' whole body jolted. He'd made it. He'd bloody made it. Who the hell cared what they were facing now, because he was done. Rexus' pod landed a little better than Luther's. He heard the other trooper murmur his arrival, and Rexus relayed. "This is Alpha 3, I'm here." Wenck affirmed.

He looked around, until he heard a crack, and then looked behind him, to where he'd impacted. In the crack in the spire, he saw another pod hurtling behind him. Wenck froze, and dove down, just in time as Dergan Twigg slammed through. For several seconds, Wenck was in shock. Bloody hell, that had been close. He lay out on the ground, arms splayed out, and panted. His breaths low and heavy. "Alpha 1," He finally wheezed, "Alpha 4 has arrived."

 

[Zef Halo]

Ember had faced dark siders previously, not an awful lot of numbers, as a matter of fact the numbers were rather low. Fringe space had all sort of other nightmares to deal with. Despite that, the incredibly wicked aura this woman was projecting stiffened him. It was like facing an intense pressure of tension. His Force attuned senses could taste the malice to the point of sickening him. The Jedi tightened his grip on his hilt and frowned trying to concentrate as best as he could at the face of twisted adversary.

The words she voiced carried the same darkness she projected through the Force.

"I guess that's a no." He muttered to himself realizing he had been catching on that typical sarcasm the fringers of the Coalition had.

His blue blade met the red in a mute cackle of plasma and a frantic show of lights. As the two sabers struck and detached from each other, Ember's reflexes hit on the counter attack with a cautious horizontal slice at her torso. The wary form of Soresu was what knew best but did he have the energy for the attrition combat the form relied on?

He had no intent to kill. The way of the Jedi was what he believed into and while the rest of the orders around the galaxy had forgotten it, Ember would stand faithful in it...

...and faithful that even the incarnation of darkness that was before him could turn away from the corruption of the Dark Side.

The Jedi Knight's light side aura expanded meeting hers. Harmony against dissonance. Peace against war. Creation against destruction. Life against death.


[member="Ilya Cardonne"]

 

[Kier Grey]

Staff Sergeant Kyli DT-6767
Objective: Infiltrate Upper Spire (#1)
Post: #1
Allies: [member="Luther Ando"], [member="Rexus Wenck"]
Equipment:

• Blackwing Electro-Sword
• FastTurn-3 Hydrospannerhttp://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/FastTurn-3_Hydrospanner
• FO-XD Prototype Death Trooper Armour
• G-6E Light Repeating Blaster
• G-12A Blaster Rifle
• Plasma Torch
• Stuncuffs

Kyli sits within the rattling pod with her eyes pursed closed with hands wrapped loosely around the pod's manoeuvring sticks as it follows a guided path towards a large spire-like structure not acknowledging the scene growing closer instead Kyli breathes deeply attempting to find a nirvana free from the pull of the air-brake chute that shoots up from the pod's ceiling into the air steadily reducing the transport's speed. They had to be below the local ionosphere atleast now and that thought prompted Kyli to perform a radiocheck with her comrades. [[::All Alpha Callsigns this is Alpha-Two radiocheck, over.::]] Her voice is calm and serene, she has come to practice meditation as a way of calming the heightened aggression that so often took hold during stressful situations such as combat she didn't particularly enjoy the come-down from them, self-restraint had thus become a valued virtue for Kyli with continued adjustment to her new body. Though Kyli had hoped to be the first to find her pod halted by one of the Spire's landing pads first Luther and then Rexus' voice interrupted her thoughts and proved otherwise it seemed that indeed she would be last but people often said you should save the best till last and that conceited idea brought the young woman a hint of satisfaction with Hazel eyes steadily peeling open behind matte black helmet and visor she exhales sharply and tightens grip around the pair of sticks clutched with a crushing weight around them applied by the Supersoldier's hands which beneath the bodysuit's surface had beads of anxious sweat running down skin's warm surface even with what would have seemed to be an outwardly peaceful meditation was in truth a desperate struggle to contain her own anxiety and discomfort while trapped. Slamming into a Durasteel surface Kyli jolts up slightly only to be restrained precisely by the harness wrapped across her torso and limps. [[::All Alpha callsigns this is Alpha Two, safe and sound, out.::]] Kyli's voice added giving the harness' quick release a twist before pushing it towards her abdomen with the metal buckle and straps collapsing around her shadowy form artfully she arms each of the four explosive bolts in less than as many seconds which prompts a loud 'bang' as the Pod's door flies away and slams into a wall adjacent to a large bulkhead door; there would only be darkness within she knew that plenty of opportunity for an ambush....If they were regular Human soldiers whose eyes didn't pierce through the shroud of Darkness as if an apex Predators but that was exactly what each of them had become post augmentation. Kyli glides towards the Airlock like a Spectre with a short repeating Blaster held firmly in hands the planet's natural darkness washed over the Death Trooper with one of the only tell-tales of their presence being what little blue azure light from the nearby spire reflects off her armour's reflec coating. Kyli moves to the edge of the platform where she landed and her keen eyes peer through the darkness spotting a distant light that belonged to some settlement, examining the gravity value in the corner of Helmet-Mounted Display it was stratlingly low; the pod must have used its thrusters extensively to compensate she thought to help explain the bumpy ride. Sliding her repeating Blaster away Kyli draws out her rifle and activates her laser rangefinder sending a burning red laser through the darkness potentially alerting the others nearby to her position. [[::We're one-thousand, one-hundred meters away from the nearest settlement, my elevation is seven-hundred and fifty meters. Rendezvous inside the spire and then we'll move to the outpost on foot remember to use your mag-boots for traction.::]] Kyli pivots around and rushes the spire's bulkhead door with startling speed and dexterity slamming a clenched left-fist against the control panel and causing the airlock to Cycle without even a sound the local environment completely lacked vital gases there is a distinct soft whistle within her helmet; the sound of the environmental controls cycling through its' on-board gas supplies.

 

[Luther Lewis]

​

​

Location: Spire.
Objective One: Engage hostiles and press them toward the base of the Spire.
Allies: [member="Rexus Wenck"] | [member="Kyli DT-6767"]
Equipment: FO-XD Armour, G-12A Blaster Rifle, Blackwing Electro-Sword.

​

Rexus' pod was barely discernible in the dark, but Luther certainly felt the impact as it collided with the building. The shudder passed through the floor, the vibrations traveling up his legs. Activating the night-vision mode on his visor, he scanned his surroundings. He seemed to have landed inside an abandoned storeroom. Whatever was once stored was no longer present, long rows of shelves lay empty.

The pod's impact had caused a colossal amount of damage, the most notable being a collapsed heap of rubble. Luther approached the pile, taking note of new tremors as another member of Alpha entered the Spire. A close inspection suggested there had been an arch, or some kind of entry where the rubble now was. Luther swore colourfully, noting that there were no other exits. A final vibration and radio check from Kyli meant that they had all survived the trip.

He approached his pod, his HUD showing thirty minutes of reserve air. He reached in, pulling out an oxygen-pack and securing it to his back. A bit of fiddling with the pipes to his suit and the counter rose significantly. He took a deep breath, the cool air providing contrast the hot taste of blood on his tongue.

He listened closely as Kyli relayed her position. "My elevation is placed at eight hundred and seventy-one metres" Luther responded, looking outside the breach in the exterior wall. He could barely see a hundred metres down the length of the spire."The stairs are out, but I have access to the exterior. I'll be with you shortly". The drop-pod had a grapple system attached for possible EVA work. He secured himself the one end of the cable and started to abseil down the side of the Spire.

- - - - -​

​

The world closed in around him, the darkness throwing off his perception of height and direction. All he could hear was the hiss of air from his respirator.

The metallic sides gave him some traction with the mag-boots, so he made good time down the Spire. Eventually his altimeter read seven-five-zero, and the team monitoring software finally detected Kyli.. Knowing he must be level with some sort of room, he searched for an access point. In the blackness he had to mostly use his hands; the night-vision did little with out any source of light.

His efforts were rewarded with a maintenance hatch. The control panel was alien in design, and it was impossible to tell if it was part of the original structure or added later. Luther bypassed the problem by activating his Blackwing-sword. A few minutes of sawing with the super-heated blade and the hinges were removed, allowing Luther to pry the door off. The interior of the tunnel widened to a larger door. This portal, fortunately, had a large wheel which pulled back the bolts to allow the door to open. He stowed his blade and readied his rifle. Activating his comms, he said: "Kyli, I'm level with you, sending my position to your HUD". With that done he pushed open the door and moved into the next room.

 

[Progflaw99]

Objective 1 | Dark One
Allies: [member="Samka Derith"]

Footsteps had carried them uneventfully through the void within the spire. Sound came from all directions at once, an none - the lack of atmosphere distorting the usually crisp and clear cut sound of weapons fire. Darkness consumed them, swallowing them up like some monolithic behemoth, the only respite the sharp beams of light emitted by the torches beneath the barrels of their weapons - or the night filtering mode on Castor's RX-1 helmet. Carefully they emerged into yet another corridor, the confines reminding Castor of their expedition to Lothal so long ago - he had been but a disciple then, or so it had seemed. Castor's thoughts got the better of him, the subtle scraping of his boots against a small pile of debris sending a shiver up his spine. Something wasn't right.

*Pfchung*​

​

*Too late.* The light from above illuminated Castor, Samka, and the others with them in an instant. Violently Castor's body struggled to make motion, not even his momentary advantage proved to be enough. The helmet automatically shielded his eyes from the light of the blast but the kinetic force knocked him from his feet. With a less than graceful thud, he felt his body slam into the far wall, a spiderweb cracking across his visor. Gritting his teeth, he began to pick himself up from the ground, shaking his head in the process. *That was a mistake.* he thought regrettably. It felt like a thousand pounds of rocks had been let loose inside his skull, slamming against one another and his head. *Don't throw up in the helmet.* the Knight prodded himself. As his eyes were drawn upwards, body shortly to follow, a burst of sparks splayed across the flickering display of his visor, the crack shimmering in as the light above burst. The words, of the Master ahead of him now reverberated through his very being. In a surge of frustration, he propelled himself forward - the saber at his belt igniting as it snapped free, then gripped tightly in his fist as he prepared to assault the enemy in kind.

 

[Rexus Wenck]

Post: IV
Objective: I
Allies: [member="Luther Ando"] | [member="Kyli DT-6767"]
Rexus grunted, and hauled arse to Twigg's pod, where he unsealed it. Crammed inside, body contorted, sat Dergan Twigg. "Gemme out!" Twigg barked at Wenck. Rexus nodded, and immediately set to work as the others sounded off their position. Rexus tried as he might, and eventually had to use his rifle, as a wedge to cleave the trooper out. Twigg growled, and winced, but it would not do anything too bad. He was a tough boy. With Twigg out of the metal coffin, Rexus now, activated his sensors, catching a reading of where the hell he and his associate sat. He paused, as the measurements came through.

"We're at..." He paused, reading it and making sure he got it right, "We're at six, seventy five." Wenck reported to the team. He then changed the calibration, and view from infa-red, all through the different spectrums, trying to find something, until... Bingo. Something on the energy readings. "Not sure if you're picking this up," Wenck began, "But I've got something, about four, maybe five floors below our current position." He paused, "Seems to be some kind of power generator or something." He then allowed another pause, "We probably made a lot of noise on insertion." Twigg chuckled at that, and Rexus cuffed him upside the head for that. "Should me and Twigg proceed, and try to see what we can find, and get, or should we risk it and go as a team?"

 

[Samka Derith]

Objective 1: Bring Hell
Location: Dark One
Allies: [member="Castor Ren"]

A momentary delay. That was all their little trap had amounted to. It was all it could ever hope to be.

Having been out in the open for too long, Samka darted for cover. It was disorientating between the lack of light, gravity and manoeuvrability in the space suit. The greatest combat strength she had in her agility and speed was heavily restricted. Luck may have played a more crucial role in reaching cover than skill. She stood behind a pillar, taking a moment to assess the situation.

From the occasional dashes of light, she could catch glimpses of security droids. Still no sign of organic foes so far. Their true prey must still lay deeper in the Spire. It seemed both sides were engaged in mostly blind fire. The opposing droids were not advanced enough models for much else. They were rusted, outdated machines with barely a scrap of sentience. These machines made the droid armies of the CIS look akin to super soldiers. They were the sign of a desperate defence who would be crushed in short order.

The Stormtroopers accompanying them however appeared to still be slightly disorientated from the ambush. They blasted suppressing fire at droids too basic to seek cover.

She couldn't do much from here to end the firefight, she needed to get up close. Or she needed someone else to.

"Castor," Samka reached out to form a telepathic link to the other Ren. Her voice echoing harshly inside his head despite the honeyed tone in which it spoke. "You're going to end them for me."

The man appeared to have taken some damaged from the initial assault but Samka was confident he could push on past it. If he couldn't, he'd be a failure anyway.

With a combination of kinetic power, pushes, pulls and grips, she launched the man into the air, sending him above the enemy fire and then above the enemy themselves. With the lack of gravity, he would drop rather lightly to the ground. Now behind enemy lines, the Knight could cleave his way past for the others to take the initiative.

 

[Dirk Bannahan]

Post 3, Objective 2: Shed Light
Allies: [member="Ezra Klev"] | [member="Ara Zambrano"]
Enemies: None foolish enough to bother a girl drinking caf

“Huh. Cull the spread of germs. Smart. Thank you.” Rae croaked, though this was more of result of her throat rasping than taking any kind of offense. If anything, she anticipated the Staff Officer to repay her own taciturn methods throughout their journey here -but Ezra, at least on the surface, seemed a lot more polite compared to most of the bozos taking up space in the Security Bureau, even if he did having a lingering, staring, creepy vibe that clung to his wake. This could be simply because of the organization’s clandestine and often contradictory mannerisms. Her eyes opened wide as she sipped the stimulant, and its hot contents spread along her limbs, pleasing in warm inclination as opposed to the usual code lethargy she often experienced in day to day. Moments later the rest of the contents were drained and almost immediately she wanted more because it helped her feel a little more cheerful. Stowing the container so that the mission could continue, Rae followed along with the Staff Officer’s gaze, eyes finally twinkling with something akin to concentration.

Her head turned back at Ezra’s suggestions for proceeding forward. “Though it’s probably more boring, they would want us to follow those people.” She pointed to the party of dignitaries and then motioned to a series of ledges and sweeping walls that looked like they could be climbed.

“Look there. We can get higher and get a better view of the proceedings. Maybe these people have something hidden up there as well.” Without waiting, she walked up to structure and began to climb using a series of quick leaps. Rae then paused to look back at her handler, offering a hand to help him up if he needed the assistance.

 

[Madelyn Lowe]

Post: 4.
Objective 1: Bring Hell.
Enemies: [member="Ember Farseer"]

The Jedi had blocked her first strike with little trouble. He was wary, defensive. As his blade arced towards her in a horizontal swipe Ilya stepped aside, her left hand, gripping her own saber came down, aiming not for the man this time but towards his plasmatic blade. She knocked the blade aside and to the ground, the tip of her own saber grazing the stone and creating runnels of molten rock in its rough surface.

Now, it was time to open the floodgate of her own power. The Jedi would eventually defeat her in saber combat if things remained how they were now. She would need something to turn the table, to put things in her own favour. As Ilya's blade came down to pin the Jedi's, she began to remove herself once again from her body, a well practiced maneuver that would allow her to use her abilities unhindered.

Now, seemingly gazing down at herself, detached, she began to release the emotions she normally kept pinned down, immobile. A sudden burst of anxiety sharpened her vision, a rising tide of fear gripped her heart, and a terrifying maelstrom of pure unmitigated rage tore her body to shreds. She watched it all from afar, maintaining a tight grip on her consciousness.

To the enemy before her, the lines of her body would begin the blur. The minute movements of her arms, legs, and head would play out not in the normal smoothness, but in jumps, jitters, and lags. Her eyes, normally a soft brown, were now voids, or pits of coal, gazing mournfully towards him.

A moment later, the fear and anger that was roiling inside her was released, emanating out from her in waves, each more intense than the last. The onslaught was known as Force Horror, a rarer technique, and one used only by Dark Siders skilled in the distortion of reality and self. She the feeling that the noble warrior before her would be powerless to resist it.

 

[Robogeber]

Post V
Objective: III


The space battle continued to rage, now, the Chiss fleet began to become a graveyard, as the larger Chiss battlecruisers were felled by vessels about one third of their size. And all the more, the Imperator advanced, as debris began to shower the entire space surrounding he spires. At the rear, the Chiss destroyer, their command vessel attempted to run. Attempted to escape the wrath of Grand Admiral Carlyle Rausgeber. Blue beams and glowing, radiating blasts of ionic ordinance tracing through the cold void, and then being absorbed into the engines. The vessels glowing red engines, now began to falter. Blinking, before finally shutting down. The rat was caught, and now it was time to cleave the First Order's prize from it.

Chiss clawcraft now began their own attack, attempting to push back against the incoming fleet. An attempt to push back against the unrelenting offensive. But as soon as the swarm of Chiss fighters attacked, they were met with the ravenous, and insatiable TIE fighters, now pushing back against them. A cloud of fighters now attacked, and pushed for, and against, moving back and forth as momentum changed, and each now began to concede, and counter attack. For the poor Chiss souls, it was but a hollow victory to destroy one of the TIE's, as escort corvettes, and anti-fighter frigates and cruisers slowly slunk their way to the battles perimeter, and whittled down, and away numbers.

Everything had proceeded according to Rausgebers plan. Now was the time to ensure that those he was charged with rescuing, did not end up facing the anger and fury of their captors.

 

[Kier Grey]

Staff Sergeant Kyli DT-6767
Objective: Infiltrate Upper Spire (#1)
Post: #1
Allies: [member="Luther Ando"], [member="Rexus Wenck"]
Equipment:

• Blackwing Electro-Sword
• FastTurn-3 Hydrospannerhttp://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/FastTurn-3_Hydrospanner
• FO-XD Prototype Death Trooper Armour
• G-6E Light Repeating Blaster
• G-12A Blaster Rifle
• Plasma Torch
• Stuncuffs

Kyli slinks into the dark hallways with a low growl rumbling from her distorter sweeping the black rifle held in her hands with each precise and measured footstep taken further into the lightless bowels of this spire. Eyes struggle to tolerate with the absence of light with Kyli narrowing her spheres into a squint to focus them intently upon the greyed out surroundings to ensure she continues to be able to identify the colourless shapes of bulkheads and walls. Furniture floats quietly in the air confirming Kyli's suspicion that gravity was indeed disabled inside the station itself. Rexus' voice filters through her ears over the microwave comlink and she provides her insight into the situation. [[::Rex, take Twigg and see if you can get that generator up and running if it's in a bad way I can walk you through some diagnostics for it over the Comm::]] Kyli's helmet display finds itself marked by a diamond following Luther's transmission; identifying his position from packets of data shared over their TEAMCOM, nodding with her shoulder against a corner Kyli replies curtly. [[::This is ALPHA-two, Roger, out.::]] Kyli notes the elevation; Luther was right they are on the same level and not too far away from one-another, as of the moment it is far too quiet for her linking with no contacts on her motion tracker. [[::Something isn't quite right::]] Kyli mutters to herself while rounding a series of corners in quick sequence carried by legs with a grace, precision and speed that might seem to a normal human to be approaching the preternatural. Kyli's feet detect a faint rattle within the spire's superstructure; an explosion she thought, rounding a final corner her pair of Hazel eyes spot Luther from behind her Visor. [[:id you feel that? Rattle through the floor, suspected explosive detonation below our current elevation.::]] Kyli pivots in her boots and covers the hallway with her Rifle, arming the particle beam launcher attachment for any nasty surprise visits from a lightsaber wielding maniac, these halls weren't ideal to face such an armed and trained opponent though the halls would make it difficult for any force user to avoid their weapons fire. [[::Was afraid I might have to scrape you all off the floor into bottles after that Drop::]] Kyli offers up the dark jest, referring to their combat drop in the pods and revealing in her opinion that it was unusually rough despite the ostensible lack of strong local gravity. Kyli suspected it was due to the overuse of the pod's thrusters to compensate though of course she didn't say that. [[::There might be other friendlies within the spire, might be worth attempting to establish comms with them, we haven't exactly been maintaining radio silence anyway.::]]

 

[Armand Temi]

Objective: 2, Shed Light
Allies: [member="Racosidae"] [member="Ara Zambrano"]
Enemies: None so far

As his entire being now brimmed with caf - he noticed Racosidae appeared more alert as well - he glanced back towards the Aaroun. “Oh I do believe that the aliens would be much more interesting than their junky old speeders. I’ll follow your lead.”

Or maybe not. As Racosidae leapt upward like a jaguar and scrambled atop a nearby ledge, Ezra realized that in as good shape as he was, he would likely struggle to so effortlessly get to her position, even with her helping to pull him. Besides he must have weighed twice what she did, and he could only envision yanking her down to land on her delicate head. He still had no idea she may have used the Force to propel herself aloft; he assumed it was youthful vigor and stimcaf.

“You look for hidden gems, and I’ll trudge along down here.”

Keeping an eye on Racosidae, he investigated the perimeter until he stumbled upon a small group of Aaroun comparing the local flora in small pots. After a bumbling introduction, he realized that this particular group - who he was hoping were scientists or at least botanists of some kind - had a thin grasp of Basic. Through primitive sign language, plus lots of trial and error, he was able to establish that they were indeed, if not in charge of, at least had access to a hydroponics bay. He gave Racosidae an FOSB call sign, not sure if she’d understand it and headed to the indoor garden to examine how the Aaroun grew their food and what they might consider a delicacy.

 

[Shattered_Mirror]

​

Bathed in the distant light of the system’s primary star, Kael watched with vague interest as the ensuing battle had escalated beyond conventional terms. The meagre force that the pirates had brought to bear were being annihilated by the guns of the gathered Imperial taskforce, leaving nothing but molten slag and debris in their wake. Such astral detritus was treacherous to any pilot of consummate skill, as it introduced an obstacle that couldn’t be properly predicted by artificial means, and often claimed the lives of those foolish enough to venture into their embrace. While it went against his better judgment, the Pilots of Omega Squad had elected to spear through the heart of the swelling graveyard. It would not only allow for them to avoid the approaching swarm of Clawcraft that advanced their way, but it also permitted them to dodge the starship cannonade traded between the two embattled flotilla’s.

If they had been caught up in the projected display of violence, it was doubtful they’d ever be able to regret their choice, as they would be instantaneously atomized and scattered across the solar winds. They wouldn’t be able to scream, nor would there be anything for the First Order to bury. Had they followed through with that thread of fate, they’d become nothing more than engraved names on some wall, or due to the clandestine nature of their operations, they’d become a memory that was attached to a black star; deep within the headquarters of the Special Warfare branch. Thus, as they wanted to live, and complete their mission - despite the dangers it presented - they slammed their weighted boots on the accelerator pedals and drove their Interceptors into the swirling maelstrom of glowing detritus.

With his gauntlets tightening about the fighter’s controls, Kael trusted his instincts and managed to navigate through the debris field unscathed. His fellow Pilots weren’t so lucky, as their Interceptors had sustained minor damage from various close-calls, which had scored the surface of their ablative hulls and left a lingering reminder of their brief encounter with death. However, as the entirety of Omega Squad had survived their ordeal within the expanding navigational hazard, they altered their trajectory and continued relentlessly towards their distant objective. When the swarm of Clawcraft had found themselves engaged by the deployed TIE fighters, it left an avenue open for the Commandos to exploit. All they would encounter, as they sailed atop the solar winds, were a token garrison of starfighters that were meant to intercept hostile torpedoes - not Imperial Interceptors.

As the perfunctory gathering of Clawcraft had diverted their attention away from their interception duties, the plasmatic weapons of the TIE Trespasser's had completed their cyclic activation sequence and began spitting out magnetically sheathed bolts of stuttering death. While the opening salvo from either faction had claimed no casualties, Kael silently cursed within the pressurized sanctity of his helmet. He had drawn a bead on the lead Chiss craft and had somehow managed to narrowly avoid achieving a targeting lock; which would’ve seen that starfighter become a blossoming flower of fire and ash. It seems that there was a blue-skinned devil at the helm, for he had managed to alter his trajectory at the last minute, which had skirted across the breadth of the vessel’s defensive screen.

That meant the Pilot was in for a fight; one that peeled his lips back in an elated grin.

| [member="Kilric Dysar "]| [member="Robogeber"] |​

 

[Robogeber]

Allies: [member="Kael Garick"]
Enemies: The Chiss
Objective: III
Post: VI
"Admiral! Special Forces, designation Omega have managed to peel off from the fray and are now destined for the command vessel sir." The TIE Operations officer announced. Carlyle Rausgeber allowed himself a smirk. This was a development he had not anticipated, but it would be nonetheless a welcome one. The droid still looked on as the tactical monitors as the battle continued to rage. The Chiss fleet was now in retreat, the remaining vessels attempting to shield the destroyer from anymore fire. However, none of them would carry the speed, or guns quick enough to stop the TIE fighters from pursuing the vessel.

"Get them on comms," Carlyle barked, "I want them landed aboard the Chiss vessel." The Grand Admiral commanded, "We shall test the mettle of this squadron, and their resolve." He continued to lecture. Rausgeber had a very narrow view of the capabilities of special forces. He saw them, in this matter being a stop gap measure. They would hold the Chiss pirates down aboard the vessel, draw them away, while Carlyle could coordinate the arrival of the FIV Imperator's detatchment of First Order regulars and stormtroopers. They were to be a grand distraction, in the face of an otherwise superior enemy force.

The TIE Operations Officer nodded her head, and reached to her left ear, activating her comms unit, "Omega, this is Imperator. Code blue. Orders from Grand Admiral Rausgeber, proceed to target, and land. Infiltrate the vessel, and secure the VIPs." The officer reported, she paused, and then added, in a quiet voice, "May the force be with you, you magnificent bastards."

 

[Shattered_Mirror]

Mere seconds after Omega Squad had engaged the token garrison of Clawcraft in open space, Kael’s elated smile had soured into a frown; rife with disappointment. The target that he attempted to paint, and subsequently splash, had seemingly vanished from this section of the operational theatre - blending into the distant swarm that engaged his cousins within the Starfighter Corps. He wanted to take that target out, but due to his recklessness and seemingly overzealous nature, had blown his chance to etch another honourable kill-marking onto the exterior of his fighter. Instead, the Pilot was forced to scratch his nails against the interior of his cockpit, marking more and more of the surface with insignificant kills, the very things that none of his brotherhood ever bragged about.

Who cared how many faceless goons were splashed amongst the solar tides? They mattered little in the grand scheme of things, as they provided no challenge to their killer. Once they were dead and gone, returned to the stellar dust they were supposedly comprised of, their memories would fade with time. That was something that couldn’t be said of a more competent pilot, as their deaths would be earned through testing one’s resolve and stretching their luck to its natural limit. It was that kind of challenge that would earn the right to be inscribed on the exterior of a starfighter, especially one that had belonged to the SpecWar Branch. Those were the ones that had challenged the Pilot and had nearly cost them their lives in the process. Kael had several markings himself, thanks to the ensuing war with the Galactic Alliance.

Most had belonged to the Twin Suns Squadron, and while he didn’t bother to grab their names after they were swept aside, the Commando had amassed a near-total tally of the Alliance’s Dirty Dozen.

Only the enigmatic Lucius Varad had escaped his clutches.​

It was during his brief moment of reminiscence, that Kael’s helmet comm had begun pulsating, signalling an incoming and encrypted transmission. As he guided his Interceptor towards painting another target, the Commando listened as a feminine voice spilled into his pressurized helm. Their orders had changed, which was of little surprise, and the Grand Admiral himself had requested that they board the enemy battlecruiser - and secure the VIP’s. While they had been originally assigned to destroy the tractor beam emitter holding the vessel hostage, Kael figured that it wasn’t much of a deviation from their initial task. Thus, after wordlessly relaying the transmission to his comrades, Omega Squad broke off their engagement with what remained of the token garrison and made for the Pirate Flagship.

“Imperator, this is Omega Actual. The order’s received and acknowledged. We’re making for the Battlecruiser now,” The Commando paused for a moment, thinking over what else needed to be said. “We’ll make sure those VIP’s are secured,” Kael said after momentary delay had taken ahold of the secured channel.

Terminating the connection, the Pilot gracelessly guided his Interceptor towards the distant cruiser - and readied himself for the deadly gauntlet of laserfire that would inevitably greet him.

| [member="Robogeber"] | [member="Kilric Dysar "]|​

 

[Luther Lewis]

​

​

Location: Spire.
Objective One: Engage hostiles and press them toward the base of the Spire.
Allies: [member="Rexus Wenck"] | [member="Kyli DT-6767"]
Equipment: FO-XD Armour, G-12A Blaster Rifle, Blackwing Electro-Sword.

​

The metal door swung open silently and Luther moved into the room, rifle at the ready. The light was little better than outside the spire, but the slight change was enough for his night-vision to adapt and give him sufficient clarity. He moved deeper into the Spire, taking it slow. Like Kyli, he felt like something was off. A sound whispered at the edge of his hearing, his neck snapped his head in it's direction. A slight tremor passed through the floor, shaking him from his reverie. [[::Yeah I felt it, looks like Rex and Twigg have their work cut out from them::]] Luther responded over the comms.

He crouched behind a nearby pillar, not far from Kyli's position. He couldn't shake the feeling of being watched, so he activated his thermal sensors. Kyli was invisible on the spectrum, due to her armour. No one else appeared in the field of vision. Again, he heard a sound, barely perceptible in the low atmosphere. At the same time there was a subtle flare in the thermal vision, to his left. It was in one of the adjacent rooms and if he'd blinked he would missed it.

Kyli made a joke over the comms, which Luther ignored for the time being. Focused, he approached the room slowly. Rounding the corner he turned just as a monstrous shadow struck him. He stumbled back as the rifle was torn from his grip. Close by, the shifting shadow coalesced into a recognizable shape: a single hand gripping a blaster pistol. Letting out a half-swear, half growl, he sprung on the figure. Surprised, the hostile, fell back, stunned. It was for only a moment, but that was all Luther needed. He aimed a punch to the face.

He underestimated his strength and felt a crunch under his fist. He recoiled in revulsion until he realized he'd broken through the glass-plate of a visor. The warm oxygen, that spilled through the crack in visor, lit up his thermal vision. The person thrashed under Luther as all the air left their EVA suit. Luther drew his knife and stuck it through the broken visor. The struggling stopped.

Kyli had been saying something about friendlies during the ordeal, which prompted a near-maniacal laugh from Luther. Taking a few seconds to gather his nerves he calmly spoke into the comms. [[::Alpha One, contact with the enemy. Hostile down. They are using EVA suit's that block body heat, so look for CO2 venting from the suit::]]. He retrieved his knife and rifle before stumbling away from the corpse. [[::Kyli, they know we are here, they ambushed me. Must have heard the pods land. Be wary::]].

 

[Rexus Wenck]

Post: VII
Objective: One
Allies: [member="Luther Ando"] | [member="Kyli DT-6767"]

[A'ight!] Rexus barked, switching his comms unit, [Got the memo, we'll check this chit out.] Wenck gestured to Twigg, [Come on bug-a-lugs, getcha arse moving.] Twigg audibly grunted something which was indistinguishable, but loud enough to be picked up on the mic. Rexus now returned to the standing around, glaring at the floor. He was trying to gauge where the ever living hell this generator was. [Looks like it's..... Twenty, twenty five meters below.] The Death Trooper estimated. He then listened to the chatter from Luther, [Cheers One,] He barked, before starring at Twigg, [You, hold perimeter and keep me covered, I'm gonna try cut us an entry point.]

Twigg snarled, [But my arms 'urt Rex.] The seven foot giant glowered, [My legs 'urt.] He added with another grunt, [Stupid bloody navy karks, bloody shoving me in there...] Twigg's voice trailed off. Rexus rolled his eyes, as the trooper detailed his ordeal like some old crow rambling about how bratty her grandchildren were. Sitting, right above the generator, Rexus took out his lightsaber, and ignited the blade. He now slid it into the floor, and began to draw a circle around it, running around its edge as Twigg slowly paced back and forth. Limping.

A large slab of obsidian metal, about five meters, by fiver meters, cut in a rough circular shape now smashed into the floor below. [Bingo!] Rexus barked, before turning to Twigg, [Shuddup and get ready to rappel down!] Rexus barked. He reached for his utility belt, and took out a claw, and cleaved it to the side of the entry, and then to the metallic, reinforced rope, and clipped it to his belt. [Follow me, we have no time to lose!] Wenck barked. He quickly slid down the rope, and then touched down upon the slab. The floor gently creaked, and Rexus froze. He knew then and there, that the flooring now was weakened, [Oi Twigg!] Rexus called, eyes now glued to his boots, as he tried to figure out a way to diplomatically slide out of this predicament. [Don't come down, we'll both be-!]

Rexus looked up to see the hulking mass of Dergan Adoplhous Twigg slide down his own rope, and fall to floor, the effect was immediate. The entire area gave way, sending Rexus hurtling down the generator room, a good fifteen meters below. The cold obsidian slab, crushed one of the pylons, and sent jolts of electricity buzzing around the room. Wenck himself hit his head twice on the way down, denting his helm, before, while not hitting the floor, landing on his stomach, on a cold, walkway. Rexus was winded, as two ribs cracked, and punctured his left lung. The Death Trooper slowly picked himself up. Twigg, sat lifeless on the floor. Rather than help himself, Rexus scanned the body, with his infared. Twigg wasn't dead. He could read the hulking mass breathing, up and down.

[Guys,] Rexus wheezed, [We made it.]

 

[Zef Halo]

The two sabers crackled in the silence of vacuum, the light emanating from them shone at the two's visors. A woman with eyes leading to the void. The darkness like tendrils grew around him, Ember frowned reinforcing his own presence in the Light. Even through his meager senses, the Jedi Knight realized the person before him was strong in the dark side of the Force.

Ember's slash was deflected and his saber pinned down towards the ground, instinctively he pulled a few steps back to fortify the opening and take once more a standard Soresu stance. Yet as he staggered backwards, a tempest of horror filled his mind. The Jedi felt the need to scream, to escape, to run. His saber was shut off as he grabbed his helmet looking to take it off to escape. On the other side of the delirium, his sanity tried to fight back while in reality he stood there helpless fighting the foreign urge to take off his helmet.

[member="Ilya Cardonne"]

 

[Robogeber]

Post VIII
Allies: [member="Kael Garick"]
Objective:III

"Sir, Omega squadron acknowledged." The TIE Operations Officer informed him, "They'll be arriving shortly." Rausgeber gave a typical sense of acknowledgement, a nod. Curt, and short. Rausgeber continued forward, settling himself at the fore of the command deck. Away from the remainder of the crew. His optical sensor locked onto the TIE Fighters hurtling forward.

"Good." The Grand Admiral replied, "They'll draw out their forces, and give us an opportunity to land reinforcements." He continued. Carlyle considered it his imperative to elaborate on his actions. It was an attempt to insure that his thinking was considered sound. He could tell, by the TIE Operators body language and tone, she was not quite so keen on the idea. And it was not ideal. But they were special forces for a reason. The best of the best. And if they were to hold such office, and moniker, than in Rausgebers mind, they needed to prove themselves. "Blast away the escort and picket lines attempting to hold us back," Rausgeber ordered. "Form up bombers, and prepare them for a run on the vessels engines."

"We want these Chiss aboard the command ship alive, along with our prisoners. Disable the engines, but do not rupture reactors." The droid clinically ordered. He was on the cusp of another victory. One which would now, hopefully see to the cementing of his position. One which would silence the remainder of his critics. One which would see his legacy forever archived in the records. Carlyle Edrich Rausgeber. Grand Admiral of the First Order. Imperator. Father and Immortal. It all sounded quite nice, didn't it?