Liquid Deception (Archangel)

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Amara Zarides"]


A quick scan showed that the Balmorra Arms Factory was a fortress. The Sith might've been decimated, but some of their most loyal, fanatical or desperate troops were making their last stand here.


Perhaps they hoped that the factory would be too tough a nut to crack for the rebels, enabling the loyalists to either get reinforcements or evacuate from the planet. The rebels did not have the heavy artillery to blow through the front gates, the Sith had perfect cover and could bombard them easily.


"Very devious, I like it," Enyo said quietly. "They'll probably want some of their rebels to come along with us, but we can deal with that." 'Deal with that'. It sounded ominous. She looked at the expectant group of rebels. Perhaps she experienced a moment of doubt about using them as expendable pawns.


Many of them were so young, but brave. Something flickered across her face, then it was gone. Once more, ice encased her heart. Just in time, for the rebels looked to her expectantly.


"Lady Kerrigan, what's your plan? We can't penetrate the front gate," one rebel declared. "It's a kill zone." His words were punctuated by explosions and the staccato of blaster fire.


"I know of a...backdoor into the base," Enyo suddenly spoke up, projecting confidence into her voice. "No doubt the Sith built it to escape if the factory fell. It is very narrow, but Amara and I can enter and open the front door from the inside."


"How do you know about this?" one rebel asked suspiciously.


"I have good intel, and I tortured a Sith. He squealed like a pig." Some of the more morbid rebels laughed when she said that, though others were a bit doubtful.


"How do we know you'll actually let us in?"


"Sergeant, do you realise who you're talking to? It's Kerrigan the Sithslayer!"


"I hate Sith, you hate Sith. I came here to help, when no one else would, because I believe in your cause. What's inside the factory are your justly earned spoils," Enyo retorted. "Besides, even I cannot defeat the entire Sith force on my own. Give me three of your best commandos, and I'll make you a door." That seemed to convince the rebels, so after some preparation, the small group began their way towards the specified door. Undoubtedly Vess would be ready to make sure they got in.

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]
“And Kerrigan doesn’t lie! She never gives up!” Amara added piously.
Those around them nodded. That sounded like the stories of the Kerrigan they knew!

And so off they went, Amara, Enyo and three rebels. Appropriately they were wearing red shirts.

As they approached the gate it slid open. Inside a figure stood, head tilted slightly to the side.

Amara stepped forward before Vess said something unwise. “You see, Lady Kerrigan, I told you that Vess could do it! Vess is our best agent,” she explained to the rebels.

Fortunately Vess contained enough human reaction protocols to understand what was going on.

“Lady Kerrigan, it’s good to see you,” Vess said stiffly. “I have located the target.”

“Lead on, we’ve got to head to the gate to let the Rebels in first,” Amara declared grandly.

Vess began to lead the way and Amara and Enyo fell behind the 3 commandos. They would have to dispose of them….

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Amara Zarides"]


"Excellent. Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen," Enyo declared cheesily and moderately plagiaristically. This was a line the real Siobhan Kerrigan would never ever use, but who the hell cared?


"You've done well, Vess. You will be rewarded." By contrast, the moderately lusty tone and corny innuendo was pure Siobhan. "To the gates." Vess led the way, Amara and Enyo fell in line behind the two unfortunate redshirts.


Enyo looked briefly towards Amara. Her sister had not drawn blood before. That would change though. She felt a bit sorry for her fellow clone, especially since she was an empath. But her mind was focused on the mission.


Slowly, she retrieved the hilt of her lightsabre from her belt. The purple blade ignited with the trademark snap-hiss and abruptly protruded from the chest of a rebel when she stabbed him in the back. He fell to the floor with a loud thud. His comrade lost his arm, then his head when he spun around to face the unexpected attacker, a look of betrayal written across his shocked face.

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]
Amara stood transfixed by the sudden onslaught. When it was done the slain lay before her.

“Bantha tracks, I thought you were going to knock them out, not slaughter them!” she exclaimed.

She was horrified and yet…well…knocking out three was not possible in the timeframe. They needed to do this to reach their objective. Three dead rebels against the good of the galaxy.

She knew all this, understood it logically. That didn’t make it any better though to see her sister kill.

“I…lead on, sis,” she said meekly. She shuddered. One of the rebels looked up at her with glassy eyes. She turned away, she couldn’t handle the guilt right now.

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Amara Zarides"]


It all happened in a blur. Three dead rebels lay at Enyo's feet. Three dead sentients against the greater good. If it was put that way, it was an easy calculus. Still, Enyo felt bad...though perhaps more so because of Amara's shock.


Part of Enyo felt angry. Why could her sister not see reason? Did she not understand that this was necessary and that she'd be prey if she stayed this weak? The galaxy was a dark, grim place where the weak and indecisive got trampled on. Another part of her felt ashamed and feared her sister would think ill of her.


"I did what I had to do," she replied at last. The standard response for any morally questionable act, probably a phrase as old as time, for sentient beings had found excuses to murder one another ever since the first caveman bashed his neighbour's skull with a club.


"We got a mission to complete and we're in a hostile base, so pull yourself together. Vess, you can use your shifting to help get the guards off our back." The base was still crawling with Sith troops and advanced wardroids, after all.

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]
Amara took a deep breath, nodded. “I’m with you, Enny. We’ll do what we must, together.”
If she felt uncertain or unhappy she was clearly holding it together and projecting a calm face for her sister’s benefit.

Vess meanwhile…she flowed into a new shape. Her skin rippled and her clothing was rapidly revealed to be nothing more than the liquid metal.

A tall and officious male officer stood before them.
“You will be my prisoners. This will allow us to infiltrate the command wing. This officer was…disposed of…during my infiltration. His absence has not been noticed yet.”

The two would have to conceal their weapons and pretend to be captured.

Amara brightened up at this. “Do you have any stuncuffs?” she asked eagerly. Then she looked shifty. “Just to complete the deception!” she added rapidly.

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Amara Zarides"]


Before Enyo's eyes, Vess suddenly morphed into a new shape. Even the clothes she wore were nothing but an illusion made of liquid metal. The athletic but not overly imposing woman in a paramilitary outfit was replaced by a tall, official looking man in a grey Sith uniform.


Amara looked very cheerful about the prospect of being cuffed. Enyo gave the girl her trademark big sister 'now it's time be serious' look, though inwardly she was happy that Amara was sufficiently distracted instead of still feeling bad about the dead rebels.


"I have some. They come in handy." Why would Enyo be carrying stun cuffs? Eh, whatever. Anyhow, she produced two pairs and soon the captives were bound. Thusly, Sith Major von Küchler, or whatever his name was, could lead his two captives into the command wing.

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]
Amara composed her face and tried to look downtrodden and worried. It wasn’t easy, but she managed it was she was marched along by Vess.

They passed through areas of the base, past soldiers and officials, all of whom were too preoccupied to pay attention to them.

At one stage a pair of troopers came up. “Sir, do you require assistance with these prisoners?”

“Yes, I do. I caught them sneaking around in section 812. They have valuable information, so they are not to be harmed…much.”

Amara swallowed slightly. Vess didn’t take on the personalities of people…did she?

Eventually they reached the detention area and approached the control desk.
“Two prisoners, Lieutenant,” he said proudly.
“Major von Küchler, sir, well done!” the Lieutenant exclaimed, saluting rapidly. “How did you do it?”
Vess handed over the pair of lightsabres. “It was quite easy,” he said boastfully. “Held a gun on the young one until the other one gave up. Women, you know.”
“Sir, you do know that’s…Siobhan Kerrigan…right?”
“Ah, I hadn’t noticed. Allow me to demonstrate my methods.”
Vess’ hand moved in a blur, one hand morphing into a razor-sharp blade which punctured the Lieutenant’s throat.
The two guards raised their blasters but Vess was quicker, took up the two lightsabre and swept them up in time to deflect the bolts, then beheaded the two troopers.

As the bodies hit the ground she deactivated the weapons and unlocked the cuffs around Enyo and Amara’s wrists.
“Come, we are close to the command centre,” she said, morphing back and handing the lightsabres back.

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Amara Zarides"]


The bodies hit the ground, Enyo felt the Sith soldiers' life force dissipate. The clone nodded to Vess, and gave Amara a look. "You've avoided drawing blood so far. That'll change now. They won't hesitate to kill you if you hold back for even a second," she said bluntly. Her tone was stern, but not unkind. As gruff as Enyo's attitude was, she did care about Amara.


Fighting could be heard coming from outside. Evidently some of the rebels had become impatient and were now trying to breach the door. This opened a window of opportunity for the three Archangel operatives, though it also meant they needed to proceed with haste.


Soon they were getting close to the command centre. One of the Sith stormtroopers, a young fellow called Private Wilhelm, saw the faux Major von Küchler and saluted. "Sir...Colonel Guderian wants to...that's Kerrigan! Betrayal! We're doomed! Run for your lives!" he screamed like a little girl. Drawing upon her power of telekinesis, Enyo manipulated one of the grenades strapped to his belt, causing detonation. Boom.


Bodies and armour flew among shrapnel and blast. Stormtroopers were ripped apart, sirens howled and chaos erupted. "Fight, you cowards. For the Empire!" a stormtrooper segeant barked. Swiftly, Enyo pulled out her lightsabre and the purple beam of energy sprang to life with a snap-hiss. Surviving stormtroopers fired upon them, but she slashed their bolts out of the air.


As they tried to corner the group whilst evading the ricochetting blaster bolts, two troopers suddenly felt like they had been afflicted with sickness, as if a debilitating poison had been injected into them. With their reaction time thus slowed, Enyo charged into the fray Sparks flew into the air as a third trooper went down when she thrust the tip of her blade into his neck, before spinning around and twirling her weapon to scythe down his two comrades when they showed signs of recovering. Her lightsabre hummed, singing a song of doom and righteous purgation.

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]
Amara nodded, looked down at the lightsabre in her hands, took a deep breath. “If I’m here, I will do what is needed,” she said softly.
She looked troubled. “I…I won’t disappoint you,” she promised softly.

Poor Wilhelm was dispatched, a piercing shriek cut off by the explosion. Stormtroopers held their ground, and Amara was right beside her sister. Deflected bolts from her lightsabre flew, and several hit home on troopers. Two went down in this way, and as she got close she elegantly pieced once through his chest plate and into the trooper’s heart.

It was over soon, and they were left in the aftermath. Amara stared down at the last body. The neat black hole in the white armour still smoked slightly. The smell was disturbing, like roasted meat.

She had done this. She had killed three people. Killed them. Her blade shut off and she shuddered slightly, but followed Enyo, averting her eyes from the carnage.

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Amara Zarides"]


Poor Wilhelm seemed fated to die an embarrassing, painful death, no matter the universe. The name must be cursed. There were explosions, screams and gunshots as Amara and Enyo tore through the ranks of the stormtroopers, leaving smoking corpses in their way. Enyo felt the soldiers' fear and hatred through the Force when their buddies were hewed down, and the sensation gave her fuel as she soaked these emotions up like a sponge does with water.


It was a beautifully choreographed onslaught as both moved like a well-oiled machine. Soon it was over, and the only ones left standing were the two clones and Vess. The HRD had put her morphing capabilities to good use by producing razor-sharp blades in her arms.

​

"You did well, Amara. It was you or them. Stay on your guard. It's not over yet," Enyo spoke, in what she probably thought was a reassuring tone, as they walked away from the carnage, leaving the dead bodies behind them. She did not look back at the dead. The path to the command centre was open...but the Sith commander had barricaded himself and had one last trick up his sleeve: A prototype wardroid bristling with firepower!

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]
Following her sister they found the command room. Waiting for them, like the final boss of a game, was a large droid complete with shield and multiple weapons.

Sitting atop it like it was a mount, the Sith commander was protected by a shield.
“Ah, Lady Kerrigan, so nice of you to join us. Balmorra has produced many powerful and wonderful weapons, but none compare to this!”

Amara, faced by a droid and an outrageous boast, recovered a bit of her old spirit. “I wonder why so many people want Balmorra then. Looks like you’re riding a giant crab!”

It probably wasn’t wise to taught someone riding a giant crab…which had cannons. Still, Amara, Enyo and Vess got behind cover before it could revenge the insult.

“Right, we can take this thing. I have an idea!” She ducked around the corner and chucked a piece of rubble at the droid. It bounced off its energy shield.
“Okay, I have another idea!” Amara said without a pause as she got back in cover. “Enny, let’s knock that shield down. Vess, distract it, attack it from the flanks. It can’t fight all of us at once!”

She looked at the room. “How did it get in here? Door is too small, roof or floor….”

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Amara Zarides"]


Though Enyo disapproved of witty banter during combat, she had to agree with her sister that the crab war droid looked...ridiculous. What was even more absurd was the Sith commander riding it like a war mount. Was what this, the Middle Ages? She sure hoped Archangel would not produce mechanical crabs.


Boom, boom, boom, the giant crab's cannons roared, belching out destruction and making a mess of the command room. Then again, there was no one left to use those computers anyway, so they might as well get blown up.


Luckily, Enyo managed to find some cover before she got blasted by intense laserfire. While red beams of laserfire lanced through the air, she risked a peek outside, before putting her head back down.


"Floor. There's a hatch." Amara had a plan, but she'd spotted something that might simplify things a bit. Emphasis on might. "Blowing it up is going to take too long. The hatch is over here. We lure it there. Vess, you pull open the hatch," she declared.


Raising her boltgun, she emerged from cover and fired. The gun launched an ion grenade. Not enough to short out the shield, but it ought to annoy the Sith. She tried to weave a path through the hailstorm of bolts coming her way as she shot at the massive bot.

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]
Amara was all about the witty banter. She was always ready with a quip, if only to cover her own nervousness.

Still, distracting the droid, that was something she could do. It had a human ‘rider’ which meant she could get to him.

As its fire focused on Vess, Amara took a deep breath and headed out into the open.
“Hey mounty, is there anything that tub can do? Come at me!” she taunted.
“You! I have not seen you in the dossier before, but I will only need to update it for your demise!”
Thus, the droid lurched forward, hoping to pin her down and then crush or blast her!

This was a good time for Enyo and Vess to spring their trap.

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Amara Zarides"]


Diving for cover and the droid unleashed a hailstorm of firepower, Enyo fired once more. "Amara get away," she called out to her sister as the massive war droid lurched forward towards her. Drawing upon her power, she managed to pull a small portion of the damaged ceiling down and crash it on the bot. "Vess, now," in this moment the HRD used her superhuman strength to pull the floor hatch open.


"What? Foul trickery!" The Sith commander yelled, because he as apparently intent on being a holovid cliche, when his war bot suddenly descended into the pit. Before he could respond, the hatch had been closed and sealed shut once more. To make it more secure, Enyo and Vess piled up some rubble on it.

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]

Amara walked gingerly over the closed elevator hatch.
“Well…that worked!” she said excitedly. “Now let’s get the stuff before he figures out how to get back up and open the hatch!”

They went to the command computers and started to slice into the data contained there.
“They’ve got some non-sucky droids here,” Amara said with a grin. Presumably they had a space USB drive….

But then there was a rumble and the hatch shuddered….

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Amara Zarides"]


Suddenly, there was a rumble, the hatch shuddered, then the giant sized crab droid burst forth from its confinement. The eyes of the Sith commandant were ablaze with anger. There was a fire in his belly that needed to be quenched and he would only be satisfied with the deaths of the interlopers who'd humiliated him.


"Silly girls, did you really think a hatch could hold me? I will destroy you. You'll rue the day you crossed me," he thundered dramatically. The droid charged with surprising speed, seeking to blast the intruders or ram and slice them into pieces with its massive claws.


As the wardroid charged towards her like a rampaging Reek, Enyo dove to the side, narrowly avoiding being cleaved in twain by its claws due to a surge of the Force flowing through her body. Nonetheless, she winced in pain when the mechanical monstrosity slashed at her leg. Pulling at the tangled web of power that was the Force, feeling a strength that she'd never felt before, she pulled herself up. Telekinetic power was channelled through her fists and she punched into the machine's side.


There was a loud noise, like the sound of a thunderclap, when she rammed her strength into it with tremendous force, as if a Rancor had suddenly rammed it. Sheer physical force could not break the machine, but if it was knocked over or on to its side, the shield ought to be shorted out. Of course, Enyo was out of juice now.

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]

Pow! Right in the kisser!

Amara did not wait once the shield was down and leapt forward with purple blade blazing. She could deal with this thing. Droids and machines she could fight…ironically being with Archangel had made her think more of organic life, not less.

As she pounced onto the spider she slashed off a limb with her lightsabre, and as the claw came at her she cut that away too.
Thrashing wildly, and tipped over in his little command cage, the Sith vainly struck at her.

Amara was moving in for the final blow when a flailing blow caught her. She sliced off the limb, but the burn section scraped across her back, cutting and burning a deep weal into her. She let out a little scream and staggered back.

Vess though was undaunted, and fashioning one arm into a blade, slashed down on a key power cable to remove the shield and then directed the other into a blade which pierced the base of the Sith commander’s skull. Finally it was over.

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Amara Zarides"]


Thusly, the mighty war bot and its rider were vanquished through combined organic and droid power. Go Team Archangel! Enyo had been knocked back when she punched the mechanical terror, and by the time she managed to rise the show was over.


Someone more wethennish might have irrationally moped about someone 'stealing her glory'. Fortunately, while Enyo had a great many flaws, such as being more than a little deluded, such petulance was not one of them.


Enyo breathed heavily. See, while punching a giant, robotic crab was cool, it was also immensely tiring. The Force was infinite, but one's ability to use it was not. To use a crude comparison, you only had so much water in your tank before it was empty. At some point, overexertion could become painful. "Ami, are you ok?" she staggered towards her sister, having seen her fall.

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]
Pain…it sucked! Amara took a deep, shuddering breath, trying not to cry from the pain etched across her back.
When Enyo came beside her she was determined to be a brave girl for her sister.
“I’m alright, just a little burn,” she said, trying to seem nonchalant, getting to her feet. She gritted her teeth at the pain, but tried to make it seem like it was unimportant.

Vess was already working to finish downloading the necessary information. When she was done she moved over to them.
“We should depart,” she commented. The sound of explosions and gunfire was growing. She looked down at the elevator mechanism. “We will go down here. That will lead us to a path out through a water intake valve. You will need to hold your breaths or use respirators.”