Let Slip the Dogs of War [Protectorate Invasion of Druckenwell]

[Red Queen]

[member="Sarge Potteiger"]

Her image would crackle on the right side of his HUD. Twin hands steepling together in excitement and mischief. It was quite a comical sight. She was practically bouncing.

[ I need access to the databanks. ]

Came her rather overly excited chirp of glee, the anticipation of running into a new system was enough to get her beyond giddy. A game. It was all a game. The shipyard would spin, but she would fix it.. maybe.. haha

The giggling just wouldn’t stop.

 

[Seanna Vel]

Location: In the Fog at the entrance of the Obsidian Garrison
Objective: Stay kicking for another day maybe.
Secondary: Make sure the whiskey flask is okay.
Allies: @Marek Starchaser Eldoc Quasat
Enemies: Jared Ovmar Tobias Cross Soliael Devin Talith

Giving a glare upon the way that could feel these beacons. Coming to the fact that they did stick out like a sore thumb. squeezing off two more rounds. Only this time it did work at all. "Oh heck no.", as she tried to duck that sweet redhead of hers. Finding herself jumping around like a jumping jelly bean. Only to find one no make it both landed into her tender flash of her. Okay more like tear through her like nothing but razor feeling the first one through her shoulder the other one. Oh beat to heck no not her head. Ducking only to find that her own hip on fire. Like the blazing twin suns on Tantooine. Not giving out a yell but words that spit out what she was feeling. Tuff as nails was this one. "Beat to heck, this hurt like a banantha doing a party on my head. Or darn heck of hang over.", thinking of drinking feeling for her Master flask that had fallen out of his jacket. Her fingers shaking as she undid the cap. Using speed to aid. First taking a very long swig of the fire whiskey.

What happen the next few second only heighten senses. As first she pour it over her hip that seem to pass through out of her right cheek. Then her shoulder which caused her to gasp. Before she grounded her teeth, as she glared out into the fog. Shiver up her spine came. Causing her wanting to get up from how she had found herself position afterwards. "Your a bunch of real work, there Sweet Peaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaassssssssssssssssssssssssss." feeling the first tingle be sent through her body. Oh this is going to be a real nightmare if she every woke up again from it. "I realllll hate you sooorrry sonnnn offff beachballsssssss." , finding a or at less hearing the 22 legions of battledroids coming out of there nest. Own eyes closing into blackness, but her heart still beating strong. Being the stubborn little one she was, to know that when to back down from a fight or when she was defend. Laying a cross her Master knocked out body.

There might be something from the sky she could be hearing or was it just in her dreams like mind state she seem to enter into now. With flash of her childhood on Kiffex or even of her parents suited up for a long trip, of hunting. Just want did they hunt never found out from her grandparents. Knowing that her mother had been bless with the same gift of hers. To see things off objects.

 

[Ayden Cater]

On board the Leviathan
High Orbit over Druckenwell
Allies: @Yes
Enemies: @Yes

The fighting was intense. Flak cannons burst as the fleet moved forward, keeping the bulk of enemy fighters at bay. Long-range turbolasers and ion cannons fired, splashed with energy torpedoes and heavy mass driver rounds. Ayden continued to feel that oily presence and simply shared the effort of holding it back with [member="Aeron Kreelan"]. Since he wasn't having to utilize his full concentration, he was free to continue ordering the fleet. The Confederates had come around and were opening fire. Stangely though, they were focusing most of their effort on the Emperor's Shield. Curious that they'd focus so much on a ship they had owned for so long. More than anyone, they should have understood its power and how to take it down.

"Activate the Leviathan's shield reinforcer. Keep Captain Merrill's shields up. Move the Shield cruisers into position ahead of it. Have them take as much damage as they can. All hypervelocity guns; target the lead enemy ship and fire." Approaching a Protectorate fleet was a poor choice, and that fact would be rapidly illustrated. With no need to change course, and with a clear line of fire absent any chance to hit Druckenwell, the Star Defenders of the Protectorate fleet along with the Leviathan all seemed to suffer simultaneous bow explosions; the end result of each firing its long-range hypervelocity gun. As projectiles did not stop unaided in space, some questioned what a 'long-range' hypervelocity gun might do. The answer was simple; they were fired with much more power, generating a much higher velocity, allowing for it to accurately hit targets at a longer range. Given that these were massive ships approaching the Protectorate, there was next to no chance to move before the heavy rounds hit; A thousand turbolasers worth of fire was aimed squarely at the lead charging Confederate ship.

However, Ayden noticed a shift in the Confederate force. Suddenly the station was being fired upon. By the Confederacy. His eyes narrowed as debris began to fall towards the planet. They laid all their woes, all the blame at the feet of Isley Verd, and then they did this. For all the galaxy to see, on HoloNews channels across the stars, people could see for themselves that the Confederacy was working to bring down their own orbital shipyards. Video from the ground was coming in, showing larger pieces that failed to burn up in the atmosphere. And these were the small pieces. Tens of thousands worth of orbital shipyard were slowing as the Confederate fire began to break it apart.

Ayden reached out and found a presence on the ground. She had fought with him at Roche. She had fought at Atrisia. She had fought with him against Lotek'k itself. Threading his Force signature outward, he already found her to be working on deflecting what she could. Another was there with her. But it was not going to be enough. Not alone. Not this time. But then again, she wasn't alone. His Force power found her and all of a sudden she was using him to pull upon even more of the Force. But he did not stop with simply giving her his strength. He reached out to others that he knew were present; [member="Sarge Potteiger"], [member="Aaralyn Rekali"], [member="Ashin Varanin"]. People of tremendous will and power and people he had come to know and respect. If they felt him, they could add their strength to his, and by extension to [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]. He did not have the finesse, the experience to divert the fragments of the station.

The Protectorate ships began to react as well. Assault concussion missiles blasted apart the larger pieces of the shipyard ring. Turbolasers targeted the slower moving debris while tractor beams caught larger pieces as they began to descend. It was a divided fight; fight the mad Confederate forces or prevent billions from dying. And the Confederate leadership had claimed to be benevolent... Ayden could only hope that @Jorrus Merril would feel his effects and take command of the fleet.

Spoiler

One Leviathan-class Super Star Defender - Flagship
Two Solo-class Command Ships
Two Indomitable-class Star Defenders
Four Antilles-class Star Defenders
Four Belsar-class Command Carriers
Two Alcori-class Star Defenders
Two Kerrigan-class Star Defenders
Twenty Herald-class Assault Cruisers
Two Sentinel-class Cruisers
Four Shield-class Cruisers
Two Cira-class Frigates
Four Inquisitor-class Stealth Frigates
Two Saint-class Frigates
Two Watcher-class Corvettes

 

[Atlas Kane]

Location:

Spoiler

Spoiler

Totez stole that joke >.>

Objective: Drink tea=failed, Keep up magic bubble of protection
Allies: I DON'T EVEN KNOW ANYMORE
Enemies: HHHHHHNNNNGGGGGG-

The Dread Guard Soldier took the weapons and attached them safely to his armor, so as to not let Hayato grab them again. Then a couple clangs and the room lit up. There were a couple quiet explosion sounds and the room was filled with bright light. The flash probably didn't harm the Dread Guard, since they had specialized visors, but Hayato didn't have that much luck. The sudden flashes of light that completely enveloped the room blinded him for a couple seconds. He was only able to see what was going on after the familiar figure had vanished from the other side of the room. Then suddenly the airlock burst open. This was not good. A bright flash followed by all the air, furniture, other things and him being sucked out? That was not good at all. Immediately Hayato felt something pushing him outwards, it was the air behind him trying to equalize the vacuum. Almost instinctively he used the force to shield himself. He knew that if he didn't he would die because of the vacuum of space. He conjured up a bubble of Force around him. It was the only thing keeping him from freezing or dying of whatever happened to people out in space. As soon as he was outside the station though, with many other things, since it seemed that all of the doors had been opened, bolts of laserfire started destroying all the things that were sucked out. Frozen plants, furniture, crates, and many more things. It seemed that if he didn't die because of the vacuum, he'd get shot by the cannons on the shipyard. And just as he thought that he felt something near him explode, it seemed he'd probably get targeted soon. The force seemed to have no more plans for him, his time had probably come.

 

[Jorus Merrill]

LOCATION: OP Fleet

ALLIES: [member="Ayden Cater"], [member="Knight"], [member="Friedrich Stahlmann"]

ENEMIES: [member="Kal Strife"], etc. ([member="Serock Hoath"] interactions made by permission)


The Confederate commander couldn't be blamed for underestimating the Shield. Nobody in living memory had locked horns with a full-sized dreadnought, let alone a miniature battlemoon that massed as much as twenty command ships, with shields that were designed to withstand fleet bombardment for hours or days. Cater's shield support was welcome regardless. Shield A reached fifty percent. Oh, Strife could eradicade the Shield given enough time, but Cater, Stahlmann, and the other nearby commanders clearly had no intention of giving Strife that time.

There was a good chance that the Shield had as much volume, armor, and proportional deflector strength as Strife's entire attack fleet put together. Its gun count was in the same order of magnitude, and as Omegan fire rained in on Strife's fleet from all angles, Jorus ordered his own escorts out from behind cover. Another ten klicks' worth of heavy cruisers began applying hundreds of assault concussion missiles to the problem. The equivalent of over three thousand turbolasers slammed into the Confederate forces from the Shield alone. The Grievous-class command ship of Lord Marshal Serock Hoath remained the main battery's priority target. The battery, comprised of four octuple barbette mounts, each tipped by a quad heavy long-range turbolaser, drilled the equivalent of thirteen hundred turbolasers through the command ship's shields.

"There's a personal transport bearing away from the...Broken Wodka Bottle?"

"Let Hoath run. After these yards hit, there's nowhere he can hide."

Nothing simply remained suspended above a world, not even a solid ring, not even with repulsors. All mechanisms on that scale, from shipyards to skyhooks to HALCYON startrains, walked a fine line of centripetal acceleration. When that spinning ring lost orbital velocity -- say, from breaking apart -- it began to fall. Disaster would result, disaster on a scale that turned Jorus' stomach. Not even Siobhan Kerrigan could hold it up. Redirect portions away from the nearest population center, sure, but planetary scale defied even The Kerrigan. Nine point three billion people condemned to be the scorched earth, while the elite ran. Once upon a time he'd gone to war with the Confederacy, a personal war over their callous failure to curb the monsters in their ranks. Verd had wiped away his million-credit bounty, cleaned the slate with prosecution, but the longer Jorus knew the Confederacy, the greater his certainty grew.

He'd come here out of duty. He'd continue this war, likely even in uniform, because it needed to happen. There was no way Cater would stand for this, not after seeing the shipyards fall on a planet of nine point three billion. The Confederacy might have counted on the Lord Protector satisfying himself with measured gains after such a powerful echo of Rhommamool. He could only hope that the criminals here, whether explicit or complicit, would gain as much notoriety as Velok. With associated consequences.

You don't charge the tank when the rest of the team is fighting fit. That's the point of a tank.

"Lord Protector Cater is passing flag command authorization to you, Captain Merrill."

Jorus' eyes narrowed, hyperlight flaring. "Reroute everything to this station, then. I want right-angle crossfire on that attack fleet, heavy as folks can make it."

"Shield Aurek at forty-five percent. Holding steady."

Strife's charge now faced the combined might of the Leviathan and the Emperor's Shield, who together more than outmassed Strife's attack fleet. With shieldships in place, the turbolasers of fifty thousand metres of obsolete Confederate warfleet sloughed off the most powerful shield array in the galaxy like water off a rock. Escorts closed in around Strife's fleet. The Confederate had the chance to retreat, or try to make the Protectorate's tactical victory pyrrhic.

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

Databanks? Hell, you could access databanks from anywhere on the stupid station. Why the kar- right, couldn't let her access it wirelessly. Hardwire was the only way. Sarge couldn't give himself away on the station just yet, so he wasn't able to give his Force abilities to the others; he was actively trying to remain hidden just in case of straggler CIS folk.

The station was shaking - timetable moved up. He deactivated his cloak and began sprinting, knowing that somewhere around the docking bay would be the hangar control area. That would give him access to local systems and the Queen could overpower her way through to the rest of the station. Skidding to a halt at an intersection, he eyed the vague area map on his HUD.

To the left he went, bounding up a flight of stairs and finding himself face to face with a locked door. Well, it wasn't locked for long. A clenched fist dented the door just above the handle and dislodged it enough he could force it open.

Finding himself in an office area of sorts, he figured the dock managers computer had to be somewhere around here. "Any ideas, Red." He said. He wasn't normally this hurried.

He normally had more information.

He was not, typically, several minutes away from becoming space debris.

[member="Red Queen"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

Onboard the Emperor's Shield, deep beneath hundreds of metres of metal plating, Ashin felt [member="Ayden Cater"]'s request for a meld, and [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] got an injection of Ashin's full power, the same power that had created Force storms and shrugged off turbolaser fire. Sio got it all.

 

[Laith Varad*]

Location: Druckenwell Capital City; street level
Objective: Defend the...errrr, flee the Capital???
Allies: CIS
Enemies: OP| [member="Eyrecae Alzari"]

​

...it was exactly as Laith had planned. He'd fired the Sonic Carbine at the last location he'd seen Eyrecae when she dove for cover with the intent of drawing her out towards him. A bit of a dangerous gambit perhaps but it had been successful in so far as the luring out was concerned. When Eyrecae revealed herself, charging right towards the Mercenary, the three hundred and sixty degree arc of vision his hud provided ensured she wouldn't have been able to surprise him completely though her ambush, if you could call it that, was partially successful in so far that it would put him on the defensive to begin with...

...as Eyrecae leapt towards him Laith would have turned and then dived one way so that he could take himself into a shoulder roll out of the way of that massive maul as it came down intending to crush him into the ground and transform him into a bloody pulp. Even so the hammer was impressive and equally impressive how his opponent was able to wield it with what looked to be a relative ease that only hinted at her strength...

...when Laith came out of his shoulder roll it was to the right of Eyrecae and whipping his left arm out towards her he'd have activated his fibrocord launcher built into the armor that he wore. It fired a length of fibrowire capable of ensnaring its target out towards Eyrecae's legs while Laith rose back up onto his feet and gave a heaving jerk of the left arm hoping to literally rip her legs out from under her and send Eyrecae down hard onto her chest...

...regardless of the overall success of the fibrowire itself he'd have turned the Sonic Carbine, now only balanced in his right hand, towards Eyrecae and squeezed the trigger hoping to send another sonic sphere crushing into her from the close range that was meant to do her grievous harm. Accuracy no longer his greatest concern considering the short range they were fighting at...

...it had been a bit of dirty pool to use the fibrowire but Laith did enjoy fighting dirty and he was quite good at it...

...around now was when he'd have become a tad distracted though, Eyrecae and he hadn't even been engaged that long when he noticed that many of the Confederacy troops were starting to flee, the Protectorate soldiers also beginning to withdraw, and looking up he'd have seen what looked like pieces of an orbital station falling towards the capital city which is exactly where the both of them were...

...feth...​

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Ayden Cater"], [member="Ashin Varanin"], [member="Eyrecae Alzari"], [member="Hecate"], [member="Soliael Devin Talith"], [member="Tricia"], [member="HK-36"], [member="Aaralyn Rekali"], [member="Jared Ovmar"] @EVERYONE
Location: Force flying above the capital
Objective: Do the exact opposite of what's in the sig!

The Force was with her and she was the Force. Alright, that was not true. Even in her most egotistical moments - and they were aplenty - Siobhan Kerrigan did not think that. And yet in this very moment power surged through her, power beyond the imagination of mortals, so much that she felt like she was drowning inside an ocean of it.

It felt glorious. Truth be told, even that word seemed inadequate to describe the feelings the storm of power brewing inside her engered throughout her entire being, pretty much the equivalent of a force drug rush as she felt like she was being super charged. The sensations coursing through her body were overwhelmning and made her feel indomitable. It was true, she would not be able to deflect an entire shipyard on her own. As much as she acted like she were one, such a feat defied the power of a single 'force god', as the masters of the Force were known in this world. Fragments sure, even if they came racing down with the force of a meteorite collision. Throw the entire shipyard with such power that no damage to life would be done, well, that was clearly an entirely different matter.

However, she was not alone in this matter. She was filled with so much power that she felt like she would explode, unleash a wave of pure energy so potent that she would lay the entire city to waste. Power from Ayden shot through her, so did the apex power of the former Sith Empress Ashin Varanin, then known as Desimus, who strangely enough kept ending up as an ally or frenemy with for Siobhan confusing frequency - the power that had conjured up force storms and could shrug off turbolaser fire, could ground her with such strength that even the black hole of the universe could not dislodge her. The power of any other force master who entered the meld would be joined to hers, amplifying her strength beyond a calculable level and so she would be filled with power to the brim.

Yet, she did not explode and take the city with her into oblivion. She was not righteous, not noble and indeed, her motives for partaking in this invasion were probably the opposite of any noble intent to free people, though the events of this day had reaffirmed her belief that the Confederacy needed to be wiped from the map. Indeed they had thoroughly strengthened the impression she had gotten at Atrisia. She was the eye of the hurricane. Power! Unlimited power!

And so drew upon the massive power that was surging up inside her so much, so much energy having filled her that it felt like she would spontaneously combust and vanish into nothiness, and as the entire superstructure of the station started coming through the atmosphere at tremendous, awe-inspiring speed, she grabbed.

Just that. A single Force Grip. Such a simple term for one phenomenal act that yet summed up everything neatly and concisely. Of awesome, beyond epic proportions that probably defined her limited ability to categorise in clearly understandable terms. Then she threw it.

Her heartbeat was ridiculously loud and elevated, but over the cacophony of sound she could not hear it. The sheer force unleashed by her was so strong that it was painful to her, yet she endured, as she always had. By now she was drenched in sweat and moreover she had lost track of Eyrecae, indeed of everyone else who stood upon the surface of the planet that the Confederates had abandoned to its fate. Likewise she did not notice how hard her head was aching, the throbbing becoming so painful it was agonising. Then, as her grip tightened around the structure, her gigantic telekinetic fingers curling around it with tremendous force, she threw the falling structures and fragments, the rings. She could not stop the fall, but she could divert it. Divert away from the city into the sea. The earth would shake and be hit by tremors as if struck by multiple quakes, but the city would survive.

Still, it could be done and so it was as, with her iron grip wrapped around the entire structure, refusing to yield for even a moment, she exerted her telekinetic will to toss the entire falling station with awe-inspiring speed away from where its fall could cause harm and inflict devastation in an outburst of telekinetic power. The structure would heave and metal would break under her telekinetic grip that showed no sign of yielding.

Thus the Chaos Goddess, The Kerrigan, willed it and so it came to pass by her command. An station deflected by a colossal throw through the air. Well, there was obviously still a good chance that a great load of debris would come falling through and escape her grasp, given the innumerable fragments that came tumbling down through the atmosphere. Needless to say any aid from other forcers upon the planet would lighten the burden and make it easier, probably save a good deal of lives in the process.


But she persisted and willed the superstructure be tossed away as she conjured up a massive storm of power and unleashed it. Her will dictated that it happen as she had imagined while she cried out a curse in Eldarai. So mote it be. Let it be thrown through the air as far ridiculously far as was humanely possible, away from the population centres, away from the Protectorate, Firemane and Confederate troops, away from fething everywhere. So it came to pass.

Feth, she would need a drink after this! Eyrecae would probably be pissed about getting her duel interrupted - and still insist that she had landed more kills! Well, once this was done Siobhan would probably be drained beyond drained, especially since she was still flying up in the air instead of being smart and say landing somewhere! Actually, that was totally certain.

TLDR: Deflected a big chunk of the station from us all (only possible with help, any aid lightens the burden and keeps what fragments Sio missed from destroying stuff). Totally drained, as next post will show.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] [member="Jared Ovmar"]

If there was one thing Soliael truly enjoyed doing, it was living.

He suspected that it was this way with many people alive. Life after all was the goal of many, to simply move through the ethos of the galaxy and be happy. Unfortunately for Soliael, it seemed that many people often tried to stop him from doing what he enjoyed the most. The most recent of whom seemed to be the Confederacy who had no decided to drop a shipyard on top of his head.

He watched with keen Orange eyes as the shipyards began to fall over the planet. He watched as metal burned and blazed, he watched as thousands aboard began to die from heat and lack of oxygen. Then he watched as something miraculous occurred. The Metal began to bend and break.

It began to slow as flows of the force wrapped around it and nearly stopped it.

His eyes popped open wide, and he realized he recognized the trail of the force he now felt. It was a blazing flame of telekinetic power, one that he had felt before at the Silken Asteroids. The False God pursed his lips slightly, completely forgetting about all the opponents still left to fight at the Garrison, forgetting about his already felled opponents. “Remarkable.”

Soliael said more to himself than to Jared. The woman truly was amazing. Soliael did not know if she was doing this on her own, or with the help of others, but hers was the only signature she actually recognized.

For a moment, he pondered. His eyes squinted slightly as he realized the difficulty in the task ahead of the woman. Soliael let out an almost inaudible hum and then his head swiveled to his old friend.

“Jared.” Soliael said quietly “Keep me alive.”

Power built up within the False God. A massive orchestra of darkness and total destruction. It built like a hurricane, every bit of energy, strength, and control that Soliael could muster. Like a tidal wave it drew itself up, draining and pulling even from the forest around them, wilting tree's and plants until they were dead.

Power rumbled through the Sith Lord.

Then he released it.

He did not do it out of kindness, or even for his ego. He doubted that anyone would ever learn of what he was about to do. No, this was entirely about self preservation. Unfortunately for him even he could not survive a shipyard falling on his head, and so he aided in the womans task.

Another snap of his fingers, and a wave of destruction rolled from Soliael. It was small at first, only the size of a small man. But it grew, expanding and growing in size as it tore through the sky. The wave would strike the falling debris and burn it away, at least a part. He could not destroy it all, such a thing was beyond him, but he could lighten the load for Siobhan, and save his own life.

As soon as he snapped his fingers, Soliael began to collapse.

 

[The End Narrator]

Aaralyn felt a tingle in her neck as she laid on the now stopped hovertrain and stared into the sky at the debris falling slowly to the planet below. For a moment she felt something touch her, a warm sensation of comfort? Peace? She didn’t know if it was Ayden or someone else that was reaching out to her but she responded. She slowly rose to her feet, despite the pain and bleeding from her arm. Her eyes diverted from the falling debris to the oceans around her. There was enough energy in these oceans to accomplish the impossible…and what Siobhan and Ayden were attempting to do would be considered such.

She opened herself up to the Force, concentrating on the nexus of energy that surrounded her in the vast oceans. The beacons of life flowing between the various species of fish and flora. The ley-lines of energy being directed to her being, coming to her aid as she reached out towards [member="Ayden Cater"] and [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] through the Force. She would act as a conduit, pulling forth the energies around her from the very life of the ocean and the creatures within it. It wouldn’t be as if she sacrificed their living will and energies to the Force, but used them to open herself further to the Force itself.

This influx of energy would surge through her and to Ayden and then to Siobhan. Her eyes closed tight as her hands began to clench into fists, the water in the ocean slowly rising around the trembling hovertrain, the sound of cracking durasteel and concrete groaned in the evening air. The immense energy that gathered and transferred through her being began to take a toll on the immediate area and she knew she wouldn’t be able to hold it for long.

~Come on….~ She yelled through the Force, her voice echoing a plight that was no doubt felt through all the Force users assisting in this endeavor. She cried out as she pushed the envelope further with each passing moment, the duracrete and steel groaning louder, metal buckling underneath her boots as she reached higher and higher towards the sky with clenched fists. Beads of sweat appearing at her brow, she couldn’t take it…it hurt..

The pain….was unbearable, but she had to endure.

 

[Red Queen]

There was precious little time. It had to be done now. The was no way to be able to go searching for proper dock station. He had to leave before the rest of the station came crashing down, at least, if she didn't get there in time to stabilize it.

So she suggested what the vong familiar likely wasn't going to do.

[ release me ] she said [ hook up to the holonet. I can find my own way in ]

[ you are running out of time. Need to go bye bye now ]

 

[Disciple]

Location: Ground
Allies: Girl, CIS
Enemies: OP


Disciple strode slowly from the now crashed escape pod, looking around at what amounted to an empty forest. Making a quiet noise of contemplation, he turned to look behind the pod at the massive furrow torn through both canopy and ground.

The girl lay unconscious inside.

Turning and walking back in now that he was sure it was safe, he unbuckled her and hefted her again, striding through the dense undergrowth as quickly as his hobbled pace would take him. Above, the sky was dark and it caused him to cast his gaze upward.

He'd joined the Confederacy expecting evil to be an afterthought. Apparently they'd upgraded to the main course.

The Protectorate had too much a love for ships to destroy the shipyards. It would be like the Jedi blowing up an orphanage. Or the Sith planting flowers around homeless shelters. It wasn't going to happen.

Although roses are nice.

Finding himself on the outskirts of a small town, he looked around, blasterfire and scorch marks lining the homes. Making a quiet noise, he continued his trek.

Before long, the town became the outskirts of the capital.

And not long after that came the bodies. Destroyed, mutilated, burned bodies. Some were so badly charred as to only be skeletons. He woke the girl. "One of those is probably your parents." He says with barely restrained glee.

She cried.

He laughed. Oh how he laughed.

Strolling through the mostly abandoned streets, he found himself a bench outside of a deli and sat down, crying girl in his arm, cane between his legs.

"Ever watched bodies decompose? It's like paint. It's boring. But I guess it's just you and me now. You. Me. And uh, I don't know, soldier boys, I guess."

 

[HK-36]

LOCATION: Aboard the Siege Tower, boarding a dropship.
OBJECTIVE: Provide Evacuation Support
ALLIES: Brawlers [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] and [member="Eyrecae Alzari"], as well as [member="Hayato"]
ENEMIES: Confederate Forces Stricken With Madness ([member="Anesia Jy'Vun"])

Abregado-Rae Support Fleet

Spoiler

The Dancing Queen- Supercarrier Star Destroyer
The Siege Tower- Nebulon B7 Frigate
Beep and Boop- 2x Protectorate Blockade Runners
Frank and Cuddlyantisocial- 2x Myriad-Class Corvettes
The Knight of Eclipse- Dark Desire Prize Vessel

"Sir! The repulsorlift systems of the shipyards are beginning to damage."
HK's Yeoman warned him, the droid glanced to her sharply,
"Send the Knight of the Eclipse to the structure for evacuation."
The Yeoman nodded, as always relaying the orders.

It was a lucky order as well, as the Knight of Eclipse arrived just in time as the systems of the shipyards were flushed, the cloaked ship coming in, undetected by the mechanized defenses of the shipyards, just as somebody was thrown out of the structure!

The ramp of the small ship opened quickly, and the man, Hayato, surrounded in protective Force Bubble was grabbed and pulled inside by the droid crew before any harm could happen to him.

"Hello there."
An armored HK droid in a grey cloak has said to him, securing the Jedi inside as the ramp closed.

"We have somebody requesting pick up."
Pilot droid said, other droid crew nodded,
"We do not have much space but we shall answer."

They were the two Greycloaks, part of HK's Honor Guards, copies of him equipped in similar manner that he was.

The stealth ship came around to the Atrium section where near an airlock two of those Dread Guard fellows were waiting with what looked like a body. The droids opened the ramp, quickly motioning for them inside before the turrets would detect them.

The couple Dread Guards would jump in, carrying Galaar's body along with them.

"How many more?"
The Greycloak in the back asked the Dread Guards, one of them looked up,
"Around six hundred."

The droid looked aside, muttering,
"Chite, get us out of here, and sent a communication to naval forces."

The Knight of the Eclipse would begin soaring away from the super-structure, just as it begun to crumble and fall into the orbit, all of this taking place before Siobhan could unleash her incredible power, fueled by other Force-users.

"This is Knight of the Eclipse, in the Atrium section of the Orbital Shipyards we have trapped six hundred Dread Guards, requesting evacuation efforts or interdiction via tractor beams to keep the section from falling onto the planet, the automated defenses seem to be activated, over."

This transmission would reach such naval commanders like [member="Hecate"], [member="Jorus Merrill"], and [member="Friedrich Stahlmann"], hopefully one of them would be able to help among all of this chaos.


Meanwhile,
Back in the Siege Tower HK nodded to himself as he stepped away from the map, glancing to his Yeoman,
"Keep me connected, I am heading to one of the dropships, give out a signal to Dancing Queen to launch evacuation forces."
The droid stopped midway as he received the transmission from the Knight of Eclipse. He would turn on his heel,
"Have our ships target the section they mentioned with tractor beams, conduct ionic strafing runs from whatever we have close by to disable those automated defenses, get as much of the Dread Guard out of there as you can."

And so, the Siege Tower and other ships in HK's smaller fleet cast the tractor beams upon the Atrium, that specific section's descent if not stopping it altogether as it begun to break away from the shipyard falling into planet's orbit.

Soon enough flashes were seen as the Protectorate ships conducted the disabling runs, and dropships would dock by Atrium to begin loading the Dread Guard onto their deck and get them to safety. They may not be able to save all of them, but they'll save as much as they can. For better results HK would need aid from other Fleeters.

HK himself was aboard a dropship by then, heading out of the hangar and towards the planet's surface.

The vessels whipped and zoomed through the battle, avoiding enemy fire expertly with others, and their escort of Protectorate advanced fighters, as they begun nearing the surface.

A welcoming sight it must have been to soldiers of the Firemane and Protectorate, like [member="Dicer"], as the droid led the efforts on the ground to evacuate their troops and bring them off of the planet in case the huge orbital ring crashed upon them. However, it did seemed like Siobhan had that all nice and handled.

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

[member="Red Queen"]

"No." He states firmly, locked himself in place as the station shook around him. Alarms were going, red lights were flashing. It was the worst possible experience for anyone to be in. Time was running out. He had to find something. Pushing his way beyond desks and cubicles, he kicked in a door shaken from its hinges.

He paused.

"It'll do."

And he slotted her into a datapad port. This was no proper docking station, but they were running out of time. She'd have to make due with the limited processing power afforded her.

 

[The End Narrator]

Location: Shipyard Remnants
Objective: Get the feth out of there...by any means.

She had limited options and time.

The remnants of the orbital shipyard were falling freely to the planet below and she was on it. Her suit wouldn't hold up, and nowhere she could hide would sustain her. It was find a way out or game over and her final count would be 1-3. She grimaced as she stumbled against the quaking and debris flying in different directions, her hands grabbing different items and tossing them out of her way as she stumbled towards an escape pod. She knew it was a long shot, but even if it fired in the atmosphere, atleast she'd have some chance of survival. The door to the pod malfunctioned as she depressed the switch, the door only opening part way...barely enough for her to squeeze through. With a heavy groan she chucked her weapons in and began to shimmy through the hole, crying out occasionally as she got stuck.

She tried not to panic, focusing on her end goal as she squeezed herself through the small gap. Her heart was pounding in her ears, her mind was racing, her adrenaline was flowing full force. It didn't matter at this point, she was now in a metal coffin. Better they find her in one piece than in scattered pieces across the ground...she could only hope it still worked. She slapped the eject button and grabbed onto the sides as she waited for the harsh ejection to come....and then nothing.

"NO! NO! NO!" She screamed and began slamming her fist into the console.

"Eject damnit!!" She cried out, her boot coming up to swiftly kick the console one good time and then suddenly the escape pod came to life. It was a jerking motion she wasn't expecting and well, wasn't prepared for. She tumbled around in the pod as it fired off out of the section of shipyard she was in and tumbled freely through the atmosphere. Well, atleast now she would have some chance of survival....

 

[Red Queen]

OOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooOooooooooooooooOoooooohhhhhhhhhh!

It. Was. GLORIOUS!

THERE IS SO MUCH SPACE!!!

Within seconds the nanite of the hive mind Red Queen began to infect the system. It was not a primary data core, but it would start her off on the right path.

Manically, the Red Queen went working quickly, piggy backing on standard processing operations. Yessssss!!

Scan after scan. Code would infect and multiply. Rinse and repeat. There was no easing into to system, it would be an outright domination. Like the OMNI virus that had corrupted her, so would she corrupt the current operating system within the shipyards. Everything was turning! They were falling!

More. She needed more.

Giddy with glee, she went ripping through systems. Soon yes. Soon.

Things were burning. Things were falling. Things were missing. Broken. Charred. Connections severed. New paths. Yes. New connections. Rerouting.

Scanning. Scanning. Scanning.

What's this?! Turn the key turn the key! Doors. Several. Many. Hahahahahaha !

Oh so pretty.

Life support. Power. Repulsion processors. Fix it. Maybe. hehehe. The signal. You can't stop the signal.

Connect the nav points. Dot dot dot! hahahahahaha!!

Time to play a game.​

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

Sarge stood and found himself stabilizing himself against whatever was nearby. He wasn't losing the Queen. Not now. But apparently, according to the dropship pilot, an escape pod had fired from the station. Just the one.

"Track it." He says, waiting for the [member="Red Queen"].

"We don't have much time." He reminds her.

 

[Red Queen]

[member="Sarge Potteiger"] [member="HK-36"]​

​

Tracking. Tracking.

///status

Searching.

Ooooooo. Hookup. Station. Escape pod Xesh nine Xesh aurek cresh nine desh echo.

Organic.

Trajectory. Confirmed. Status ok.

/////aaaaastattticccc


Warning. Life support systems failing. Secondary power online.
Repulsers active.

///sttrraaaaaaaxxerefhhhhggsssdghhhgggshhhhhh
​

You're gonna die mistah vong familiar.

Ever played chicken with a planet before? Kekeke

All the while, the longer she spread to the remaining bit of salvageable operating system, the more layers she stripped away. Yes repulsers.

Weapons. Defenses. Schematics and repulsers. Code upon code.

Ahhh so much more!​

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

"Shut up and keep working." He retorted, knowing full well she might be right. But, funnily enough, she would be too. The system would be utterly destroyed in the resulting impact.

And then no more game.

What a tragedy for her.