Justice for All... (Dominion of Chalcedon LotF)

[Yasha Cadera]

Bucket strafed forward firing into the gathering throng of the slavers' remaining military muster. Seemed to the Droid like they were coming together for a last ditch effort in saving their own skins, banding and regrouping.

Pity they wouldn't get the delight of a regroup. The Viscera scattergun pumped and boomed into the throng, who took cover behind turned tables, bulkheads, walls. The scattergun fired its acid rounds in and through the barricades and hit sources with the satisfactory squeal and increase in pitch and frequency of humanoid noise. Bucket kept a containment on the enemy forces, keeping them from throwing down for the dwindling exits.

Tyr and Tus struck silently. The sound of their servo motors were near undetectable over the cacophony of the scattergun, blaster fire and humanoid noise. The EMBUs had their electroswords at the ready, personal shield guarding their shoulders as they swooped in synthesis with the command routines funnelled through Bucket and into their own droid brains. Bucket fired to the left, they swooped right, cut through sentient biological beings with the apathetic grace of dancing birds.

The sounds of uprising dwindled to a trickle, then I hear no scattergun shots at all. Nothing but the servomotors of my EMBU's in the distant creaks and furrows of the last gasping, writhing, dying men. My hands are fully curled and dug into the bulkhead of the command centre's holo panels, my abdominal muscles are tighter than Bucket's joint coils. I struggle to bite down the sickly vomit that rises in my throat as my droids despatch the souls from men and women. The deaths hit me upside the head with an Empath's curse.

"Fringe Actual. [member="Ashin Varanin"]" I press the comm, my voice a thin streak of restraint and a tight jaw. "Insurgents neutralized. Team Three is doing their final sweep now." I flick the comm off and listen to the other chatter, to the space battle and the ongoing journey of Team Two.

My chin fights a single wobble: [member="Jared Ovmar"] was right all along. War is no place for Andra Sivas, but it is still a place I have to go.

 

[Livia Maddox]

Four. . . three . . . two. . .

"Captain! We're being hailed."

"Patch it through."

"Vi'Nu this is Captain Tankar of the Independent Chalcedonian Cruiser Freebase, we demand you leave our space. You Fringe can't take over a planet with a wave of your hands. Get out. We have reinforcements oncoming and we're going to mop you up with our dinner."

Captain Maddox sat back and smirked. "They're stalling. Tactical, keep firing."

"Ma'am, you're on Comm."

"Yes, I am." Captain Fury stretched her hands into the air and let them drop, kicking her ruined left leg up on a discretely made stool given to her by Engineering. "Captain Tankar, your position is foundless, your planet is taken and your reinforcements are fictitious. You think on second eighty nine of my count down I'll be lenient because you threaten me, when the Grand Admiral [member="Ashin Varanin"] herself is down on that miserable excuse for a slaver planet waiting to hear me tell her the sky is clear? I will continue firing until you are slag in space, unless you surrender right. Now."

Silence on the other end of the transmission, as Tactical continued firing their guns.

 

[Livia Maddox]

The silence crackling across the Vi'Nu's bridge was less a herald of misfortune as it was of sound itself. It was a reassurance to the young Naboo woman that she had played the sky well, that the ships who outnumbered her did not outgun her, nor were they particularly clever in their execution of their plan. She motioned for the Comm officer to patch the conversation through to Fringe Actual [member="Ashin Varanin"], the Tirta, Divya and [member="Rave Merrill"] for posterity.

"Lieutenant Yendos, re-task gunners to target the Freebase's bridge and the other two bridges." She held her hand up to Navene, letting the Comm officer know that she did indeed want the sound of her voice to be the only thing filling the silence. "Fire at will."

"Yes Ma'am." The Tactical Officer whispered, his fingers flying as his gunnery posts checked in with their new orders and positions. "Firing now."

"We surrender! Force damn it we surrender! Power down."

"Delightful. Power down your ships. You may continue life support at a 50% capacity. Disarm your entire crews and put the weapons in your cargo bay. We are pulling avid sensors across your ships, Captain Tankar. Prepare to be boarded and if I find a single injury to any person or persons aboard your ship who has say, not chosen to be chattle, I will continue to fire on your ship until every last member of your crew is the ash of a new planetary ring around Chalcedon. If your Captains, Commanders and Departmental Chiefs of Staff are not aboard shuttles toward the Vi'Nu within the next five standard minutes, I will take it as a further act of aggression and allow my Tactical officer to fire on your ships until you are all quite thoroughly dead. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, you make yourself clear." Tankar spoke through what sounded like gritted teeth, and as the transmission ended Maddox nodded to Commander Dasha. "Your five minutes starts now. Get going, Commander Dasha. Comm, cease link on the Freebase. Fringe Actual, we have surrender of the ships above Chalcedon. I'm sending boarding parties now. Their senior officers are en route to my ship as prisoners of war."

 

[Livia Maddox]

The boarding parties sent out from the Vi'Nu and Tirta had reported minimal resistance from the Freebase and other Chalcedonian ships, much to Livia Maddox' chagrin. She'd half a mind to fire on them anyway for making her wait till the fourth minute, fiftieth second before their senior officers were en route. "Security, have an over competent escort to bring the blighters to the Bridge. I want them afraid and overwhelmed by the time they get to my command chair. Make them feel small."

"Understood, Captain." The man left and would no doubt bring the contingent of Echani Hand-to-Hand specialists every ship in the Sv'Yato Fleet had been given in the standard crew issue to bear. Prisoners of a short little war. Take-over slaves. What other than putting the fear of the Masters into the Senior Crew of the Chalcedonian ships did Captain Maddox expect to do? Impress them? Execute them for annoying her? Livia's shoulder shivered.

Her hand dug into the arm rest and she bit the inside of her lip. The pain trickled back with its jackhammering on her knee, as swift and mighty as a kick from an unknown assailant. She reached for a slim metal case she kept inside her uniform's chest pocket. The Captain dry-swallowed two thin blue pills. As she sat, she watched the ongoing reports from the Divya and the Lethewalker. "Helm, prepare to meet Lethewalker's assistance, if need be. Comm, have the Tirta send boarding parties to each of the corralled ships and bring all their senior officers to me. Begin a systematic sweep to confiscate all weaponry. Send a secure packet to Sabarene. Let them know our engagement was a success. Fringe Actual the sky is clear. Where do you want me to put the senior officers of their planetary resistance?"

 

[Bourne Cavanagh]

Well, better late than never!

Question was, where these folks would need his motley crew of Blazing Chain Pirates.

Time to buzz in, "This here be the Jolly Roger," to anyone really in particular as he sent the transmission.

"Where you be needing me and mine, ladies and gents?"

 

[Dissero]

TEAM 3

Knowing well enough the reputation of Shinju, Dissero opted to let the woman her fun. Aside from the fact that he in no way wished to be caught by any friendly-sawwing on her part, the gory results weren't something he wished to be knee-deep in. Prevention was a big asset here. He bypassed the barracks, using Shinju and Bundori as the greatest of distractions to make an exit and head for the Armory.

With a stoic calm, the man climbed his way across the buildings and dropped down just outside an entrance. The initial scuffle with the forward guards found his Comm Unit rendered useless but the guards rendered dead for their trouble. There would be no quiet entrance, no chance for slipping in unnoticed. This lot was on full alert, and by the time he turned to throw in the doors they were already opening, a second squadron prepared to meet him head-on.

From the Master Archivist a blast of Force energy ballooned forward, a veritable freight train of unseen power toppling their numbers in full. The Heart of Korriban clutched in his left hand, Dissero rode the wave in, plunging the blade through armor and flesh with equal ease.

Make it quick. Make it clean. Don't linger. Don't think about the scent of blood.

Methodical, calculated-

Two flashes of light soared from the entrance now a dozen yards behind him, screaming through the air and hitting their mark in his back. Dissero staggered, dropped to one knee and ever so slowly turned to look back at the figure of a man getting to his own feet, blaster raised, not yet dead. Another two shots were caught by the Master's hand and through implementation of Tutaminis, a skill learned from an old whiphid, turned the energy into a streak of Force Lightning.

The body dropped, smoke rising from between singed crevices of armor.

Dissero moved on with a stiff but determined gait, dispatching bodies as they presented themselves.

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Livia Maddox"] received reports that two of the transports were disabled and being boarded; the third had entered a steeply decaying orbit, with the Lethewalker in pursuit.

Meanwhile, Rave continued alchemizing the ship. Just the bones, just enough to take the weight off the alchemized tractor beam array. If she'd been asked which part of her ship she would have alchemized, if she'd realized before now that that was an option, tractor beam projectors would not have been her answer.

The Lethewalker trembled around her, and she stood when it grew still.

"Merrill to bridge. Captain, full power to tractor beam and engines."

Impossibly, the Lethewalker began to drag the bulk freighter out of the grav well.

 

[Livia Maddox]

"[member="Bourne Cavanagh"] this is Captain Livia Maddox of the Fringe Naval Destroyer Vi'Nu. Your assistance is welcome, I could use a boarding party to rough the crew of the Freebase into complacency. They should be powered down, and their senior officers are prisoners aboard my ship. The Freebase is a slaver ship, count the slaves, make sure they know they're all free men and women courtesy of the Fringe Confederation then take control of any dissidents. My Helmsman and Ops Officer are sending you the necessary information now."

Captain Maddox looked up from her command chair on the Vi'Nu's bridge and glared at Captain Tankar. "Oh, and Jolly Roger: If anyone gives you trouble you have my permission to dispatch them in whatever method you see fit. Captain Maddox out."

The Comm switched off and Maddox leaned forward in her chair. "Now, Tankar. What were you saying about defending your slaver world?"

 

[Ashin Varanin]

Silence fell, and the sensors stopped detecting much in the way of violence. [member="Jared Ovmar"], [member="Lucianus Adair"] and [member="Matsu Xiangu"] might have a few more elements to wrap up, but for the most part, the spaceport hadn't just been contained, it had been neutralized.

Without, so far as she could determine via this grounded ship's sensors, a single vessel making it into the air.

"Fringe Actual declaring objective neutralization in two."

 

[Yasha Cadera]

Dissero's comm had sunken from online to off. The slow beep of a red light broke me from the need to vacate my stomach with violence and a hefty shudder. Too much vicious death. Too much of it blatantly crossing my conscious empathic mind. I wiped my eyes with the back of my sleeve and released my death grip on the bulkhead.

"Dissero?" I wiped my fist on my trousers and shut my eyes, checking the telepathic links for [member="Brom Burnside"].

'Dissero, your comm is redlining. What's your Sitrep?'

"Roger that, Fringe Actual. Team Three's objective is ongoing, but soon to conclude." My voice this time was tense, I spoke through gritted teeth but my mind worked all the same.

[member="Ashin Varanin"]

 

[Dissero]

Tthe Heart of Korriban sunk to the hilt within a human skull, Dissero tasted blood on his lips. It was at that precise moment, his eyes flashing an alarming twinge of red, that [member="Anders Sivas"] caught his mind before it plunged off the proverbial cliff of savage instinct. For a moment the man strained, holding up the limp body of his last victim, before pressing his fingers into the eyes and pushing the fleshy skull off the blade, corpse mouth agape.

It broke, came a distracted reply to the empath. Down the hall more blaster fire sounded - he avoided the first round of bolts by diving to one side of the hall, I left Shinju and the little girl back at the barracks to paint the walls. From the sounds of it they're still hacking away...ach- another round of bolts, one clipping his shoulder as he pushed forward. An audible rumble left the man's throat as he lifted his hands, intercepting the next round and throwing it back at them with a wall of Force Lightning.

I'm working on the Armory.

 

[Yasha Cadera]

'Understood. I've sent my personal bodyguard droids Bucket, Tyr and Tus to your location. They've despatched with a great deal of the militia. If you require assistance, talk to Bucket. . . gosh Dissero stay focused. I don't have time to pull you out of a corkscrew of bad mojo right now. Secure the armoury then leave it to the Fringe Military force for clean-up.'

Bucket and the EMBU's had lined up the dead for a search. I fight with the empathic agonies roaring through my brain and continue on monitoring Team Three.

[member="Brom Burnside"]

 

[Dissero]

Thanks for the heads up...

At that moment, The Heart of Korriban cleaved a head clean off the shoulders of a very under-armored slaver. Expression twisted in an effort to contain what was quickly growing to be a beastly effort of murder, Dissero had since taking those first two blaster bolts to the back given up the effort of humanity.

Does that mean Hannibal's getting janitorial duty again?

There, maybe some humor would bring him back.

His right hand surged forward, gripping a woman by the neck and filling her veins with dark electricity until blood pooled from the orifices of her face. He dropped her with a sense of disgust and moved on.

Maybe not.

[member="Anders Sivas"]

 

[Matsu Xiangu]

It was quiet on all fronts, including her old Master's whom she could only assume had spotted something shiny or was making one of his innumerable plots to take over the Galaxy. Either way, their team had done well - they controlled the port in its entirety, paving the way for the other teams to complete their missions and take the planet in their grip. Ovmar's droids had done their work, a nice little notch in Neuro-Saav's belt with their efficient showing.

Matsu left the octogonal control room once things had quieted from the turrets selective fire, the relative peace a stark contrast from the flurry of desperate activity that had really only lasted at most a few minutes. There didn't seem to be a single soul to stop from escaping, no hum of ships attempting to lift. Only the quiet calm of Varanin's voice as she communicated with the other teams.

Lovely.

[member="Ashin Varanin"] | [member="Jared Ovmar"] | [member="Lucianus Adair"]​

 

[Bundori]

Bundori stood in the barracks, she was done and her arm felt heavy.... A look around her as she was covered in blood from head to toe skipping a little here and there. The chainsword still revving while large blue eyes flicked around with a smile. "This has been so much fun." The large smile got larger when news that two had been done, her mother was... Preoccupied as she looked over her shoulder hearing the sounds as she got to a comlink. "Ah this is three.... mommy is... occupied with people but we have cleared people away with chainswords and got to make pictures."

 

[Yasha Cadera]

"@Bundori, this is Control. Roger that. I'm . . ah, I'm glad you got to make your pictures. Keep the area secure, little one. We're clearing up and ready to ship out soon." Hey, at least I can give the kid a mental pat on the back . .. and somehow lose some of my humanity doing it?

I feel a shiver coming on and block the sound of [member="Lady Exedō"] 's comm. Yuck. Over on the way-side I feel [member="Brom Burnside"]'s murderous grip on sanity slide around like the crackle of his dark electricity. Am I the only light sided minded person on this mission? Master Ilias isn't going to believe this one. . . or maybe he will. Naw, he probably will.

'Hannibal as jan-ooooh too soon, Dissero. Too soon. Funny though, we might make him clean up after Shinju and her little button. Once you've gone around make for the evac point. I'm sending in the Fringe Military Squads to finish up before Molly Maid gets here.'

"Howdy boss. I've met up with Beta Squad, they're taking our position. All hostiles are mincemeat and Tyr and Tus are dancing a jig. . . yeah hold. . stappityou! Tyr wants to know if since he did good this time, can he use the Viper sword next time? Tus is slapping Tyr and yelling 'me first'." Bucket's transmission comes in and I slap my forehead. "Aw for the. . . I'll think about it! Get back up here after you hose yourselves down."

"Yes Boss." Bucket's off and coming back, and I finally have a report for [member="Ashin Varanin"]. "Fringe Actual this is Sivas, we have completion of Team Three's objectives. Repeat, Team Three is complete. I've sent the secondary clean-up squads in to secure, but we are go for evac of our primary team."

 

[Dissero]

Dissero curled a wolfish smirk on his face. At least Anders got the joke - but it wasn't as funny to her as it was to him. He'd actually been there for it.

Molly Maid ... I'll pass that one along ... the Force crackled with a gravelly chuckle from the Archivist. Moving off, he turned a corner into the main hold of the armory where racks upon racks of weapons greeted him. A few shadows flickered across the back wall, footsteps echoed forward. Heralded by the sizzle of electricity and a glint of fangs within his broadening smirk, he stepped inside to make a few more friends.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Anders Sivas"]

"Proceed at your discretion. Now reporting Team One objective fully neutralized. Team Two, what's your situation? Teams One and Three are done."

A hint of concern might have trickled through; her wife was involved.

[member="Inger Strömfire"] [member="Maddock Kane"] [member="Spencer Jacobs"] [member="Lucien Cordel"]

 

[Ilias Nytrau]

Team Two - [member="Lucien Cordel"] | [member="Inger Strömfire"]

After some time of bartering, a compiece buried in her left ear relayed reports that told her exactly what she needed to know. The planet was held in the grip of the Fringe Confederacy, and these men before her were blind to the outside, not knowing what had already occurred. [member="Spencer Jacobs"] had been sequestered away somewhere, working her magic to interfere with the slaver's forces, which made the job all the more easier. She was thankful for that.

'Team Two, what's your situation? Teams One and Three are done.'

And there was the signal. She had been just about to give Lucien the go-ahead, when a man came crashing through the door, throat slit and gurgling as he crashed to the floor. She knew the sounds of a man grasping at straws to keep himself from bleeding out more intimately than she would have liked.

That would be your signal, my lord, she sent to Lucien, as one slender, blonde eyebrow crept up towards her hairline.Borgas jumped to his feet, and leveraged a blaster in one shaking hand, a palpable mix of rage and fear bubbling up on his bony face. It was her turn for a smile to curl her lips, as she stared down the barrel in disdain before lifting solid blue eyes to the slave leader's face again. She tsked.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Mister Borgas," she said, coldly, plainly, as she gestured to Lucien, "my associate has quite the temper."

 

[Bourne Cavanagh]

"A boarding party?" oh there came a scoundrel's grin across his swarthy face and a rakish shine to those pale blue eyes.

"Oh sweetheart, do I got a boarding party for you," he'd say in a low hush, full of promise and devilry to boot. Across the comm of the Blazing Chain pirate fleet, Bourne's voice would pipe on through.

"You 'ere that boys? Time to do what we do best." He'd grin, "Raid."

In that moment, a collective cheer would blast through the fleet, positions would go underway and orders would be sent across the various decks to prepare for battle.

Once aligned they would send the tubes out for boarding procedures.