Operation Dynamo Eagle | First Order Dominion of Tötmond

[Robogeber]

Allies: [member="Therran Graush"] | [member="Orin Valk"] | [member="Karl Rippach"] | [member="Aran Piett"] | [member="Morro"] | [member="Dako Asturo"]
Objective: Hold the line, or at least try to.
Post: III

The Fleet Admiral watched as the massive shadow began to move out of the heart of Totmond. Electrons raced and moves, and counter moves began to pulse within the tactical supercomputer in the droids lower torso. To say this was not an ideal situation would be an understatement for the officer. Now Ssi-Ruuk drones, by the thousand began to swarm the fleet, like a plague of locusts, the space around the Malice was thick of them. Kyber imbued shielding assisted, but the situation was terminal.

Rausgeber turned to the Graush, and sneered, "I suggest you make yourself useful." he glowered, to the agent, all veneer of civility gone, replaced by the need for command, and damage control. "Go." He barked, "Get yourself a starfighter and get some of these fighters off of us." He ordered, before turning back to the viewport. The fighters had begun to abate, but visually at least, the Fleet Admiral was denied any view of the battle.

"Admiral!" The Scanning Officer snapped, "Sir, we're reading a massive power charge on the dreadnaught sir!" The younger officer informed him. Rausgeber stopped dead, fists clenched. What was it?

His question was answered when the entire space around the Malice glowed green, and a cataclysmic blast ruptured the Malice's shields, and caused the entire ship to shake. Control panels quaked, crew were knocked from their stations, as a chunk of the resurgent-class destroyer was physically shaved off. Rausgeber clung onto a console, and stood tall. Over the wailing of alarm klaxons and the fizzling of fried circuitry, his voice could be heard. "REPORT!"

 

[Progflaw99]

Unknown Regions \\ Tötmond System \\ Outskirts
Command Deck \\ FIV Eidolon \\ Primary Weapons Console
Lieutenant Mattox, Liana E. \\ FIrst Order Naval Officer

​

*Many have heard me, but no one has seen me, and I will not speak back unless spoken to.* The riddle had been playing at the edges of her mind for over a day now. A fellow Lieutenant named Dover had posed her the riddle during one of their between shift meals. Lieutenant Dover was an odd one, worked in Engineering but he was a nice step away from some of the more self righteous officers Liana spent more time with due to her assignment. They'd meet up from time to time in the lower mess, exchanging rumors and discussing the latest changes in each of their work spaces, and of course Dover always had a new riddle for her. She'd been wracking her brain ever since but too stubborn to admit she was stuck. *A shadow?* No, shadows didn't speak, in any sense of the word.

They'd been positioned just outside of hyperspace range from the planet of Tötmond, a small world rumored to be filled with Ssi-Ruuvi remnants from the Imperium's first incursion into First Order space. Beyond that, little was known to the Lieutenant, knowing the details wasn't her role. Liana adjusted herself, shifting in her seat as she briefly scanned the console in front of her again. As she did so, she felt a strange presence over her shoulder, head turning to look. Her gaze was met by empty space, the feeling however did not go away. She felt a chill creep up her spine, terminating in a warm sensation at the back of her neck, her cheeks blushing gently. *There's nothing there Liana, you're just bored.* Taking a breath, she thought back on the riddle, eyes moving up and to the right as she tried ever harder to discern what the solution was. Frustratedly, she let out another sigh, but as she did so the something caught in her throat. There it was again, that presence, but this time almost impressing upon her, suffocating her. A fiery burn in place of a cool chill crawled up her spine, eyes bulging momentarily as her tongue moved in an effort to clear her own airway. Thoughts of the riddle were obliterated by a vibrant hue of red. It felt as if someone had taken their hand and forced it into her skull, squeezing and prodding her brain in ways that defied logic - she could feel the bile welling up from the pit of her stomach.

"Lieutenant Mattox, are you alright?"

The voice sounded distant, as if spoken through a heavy barrier of glass or water, muffled as it echoed in her ears. *Echo... The answer is an echo.* The thought came sluggishly, almost as if she could hear her own thoughts, spoken back at herself. Slowly her gaze fell upon another junior officer, the uniform's shiny accouterments blinding as the lights reflected off of them. She was in a daze, a haze.. she didn't know what it was, nor did she care - even so, good wasn't the word she would have used to describe it. Lazily her arms and legs moved of their own accord, her own thoughts filled with silent horror as she felt ever the spectator in her own skin. "Admirrrral Sarrren." The words were slurred momentarily as she rose, addressing the commander of the Eidolon. "I am Sieger's voice... he wishes.." Liana's body shuddered, words halted as her eyes widened. Images, images eternal wreathed in flame, they flashed across her consciousness in an instant - and then her body gave out. Eyes rolling, her body collapsed towards the deck, only the quick actions of the other lieutenant preventing her from actually landing. With a grunt, she was lifted into the seat she had been occupying.

Only several seconds passed, a violent gasp for air filling Liana's lungs as her eyes fluttered open. An inexplicable desire filled her then, a singular objective set into the source coding of her brain. Shrugging off the hand of the Lieutenant, her fingers raced across the console before she could be stopped. *One. Seven. Three. Nine.* The numbers silently replaying in her mind's eyes. A chortled tone resonated across the bridge, a holographic display activating for all to see. Tötmond. Or at least, that's what the aurbesh below said. It was an imperfect image, distorted and warped, sensors for some reason heavily interfered. What was evident, was the discharge of weapons fire. Something was happening. It was then, image flickering in and out that Lieutenant Mattox found her voice. "Sieger's instructions... we have to go. Now." Her body was weak, her head pounding. "Ma'am" she added as an afterhtought. How or why the Supreme Leader had chosen to relay the message in such a manner she didn't know - whether the Admiral would even believe it or merely send her to the medbay was another unknown. As she breathed, Liana could feel her faculties returning, fingers slowly closing into a fist, then unclenching. Perhaps something was distorting the ship's sensors and comms, the image was all but static.

[member="Astarii Saren"] | [member="Robogeber"]​

 

[The Major]

The unknown monster of a ship fired of a shaking beam that threatened to consume the FIV Malice in one fell swoop of energy. It was possible, however unlikely, that the flagship of the fleet had just been sacked by some foreign vessel. The very thought of it was enough to cause the Commander’s blood to boil in rage at their own futility. What could they do to help? The smartest thing to do now was flee, but they couldn’t. Honor was on the line -statistics be damned. As enemy starfighters that had closed the gap to the Cavalier exploded repeatedly as the crew manned their flak, Karl was agitated into a state of frenzy. The pair of corvettes raced forward through the waves of fighters, on direct course for the massive dreadnought.

Perhaps brave words were exchanged. With luck, the veneer of courage wouldn’t wear off too swiftly.

[member="Robogeber"]

 

[Hansen]

Sector 481-ZF \\ FIV Stormcloud \\ Stormcloud-class Cruiser​

Faction: First Order \\ Enemy: Ssi-Ruuk Imperium \\ Status: FIV Stormcloud, ahead full.​

Allies: [member="Robogeber"] | [member="Aran Piett"] | [member="Karl Rippach"] | @Sirsarun | [member="Astarii Saren"] | [member="Therran Graush"] | [member="Castor Ren"]​

Enemies: Ssi-Ruuk Imperium​

​

Dako's eyes peer through the Transparisteel windows deep into the void of space; identifying the Malice's distinct hull silhoutte against the light reflected off of Totmond, the world would soon belong to the First Order. Onami calmly walks towards Dako's chair placing a hand on its spine and peering around its frame to settle crimson spheres on his dishevelled Commander and friend. "Admiral Rausgeber has given us orders to begin scanning the planetoid for Ssi-ruuk activity, shall I pass the order along Commander Asturo?" Dako wordlessly shifts his eyes left in Onami's direction and gives a series of silent nods. His gaze now searches for the helmsman at the bridge's fore. "Helmsman, change course for bearing zero-four-zero, all ahead full." The disturbingly young helmsman casts a glance back to Commander Asturo who is unnerved somewhat by the excessive youth; such a thing had little place on a Warship especially not one hellbent on engaging the Ssi-ruuk and the Enthusiasm in the answer inspired Dako to compose himself. "All-ahead full, changing course to zero-four-zero aye sir!" The deep foreboding Klaxon sounds twice throughout the Stormcloud's halls and compartments with Dako straightening posture in the officer commanding's chair, with renewed pride from how the Helmsman had looked to him, the beard would be gone tomorrow morning; replaced with smooth skin and a lightly pressed hand-ironed uniform. "Sensors; perform an electromagnetic and ion wake sweep over Totmond, I want to know if any lizards are waiting for us around the planet's orbit or within that giant crater." Dako raises the coffee mug and its' Lukewarm contents upto his lips steadily, eyes narrowing he studies the ruined surface of Totmond, why they wanted this world was privy to High Command only it seemed inconsequential although the Malice's presence would suggest otherwise. Even deploying cruisers en masse for such a backwater he'd consider excessive, no. Something bigger was happening here and Dako was beginning to suspect they'd been offered like a bloody chunk of steak on the end of a stick to the proverbial sabercat.

"Commander! I've got several sound contacts bearing zero-one-zero, foreign origin!" Dako rocks forward in his chair after sitting the coffee down dropping both elbows atop perches above knees and shoots his gaze towards the Crewman expectantly, that was just off their axis of advance and given Totmond was on their axis of advanced it had to be coming from that gargantuan crater on the planet's surface. "How MANY contacts, Petty Officer?" Before he could even answer a swarm of locusts cockscrew their way through space straight in the direction of Malice; the Ssi-ruuk had sprung their trap prompting a response from Dako. "Alarm! Sound battle-stations!" The Stormcloud's turbolaser batteries pivot around and begin firing in retaliation for the assault on the Admiral Rausgeber's ship, their barrels 'whomf' green stalactites towards the innumerable swarm of locusts swarming around the Malice. The Ssi-ruuk were adapting to First Imperial design Dako thought 'They know we have few point defence cannons, clever beasts.' Some lance zooms across the dark void of space narrowly missing the Stormcloud's bow and slams into the Malice causing the battlecruiser to shudder visibly Dako's eyes widen. "Fortan's balls what was that!? Report!" The briefest of pause before receiving his answer. "New contact! Zero-Nine-Five, heavy ion cavitation. Ionic activity suggests Ssi-Ruuk Dreadnought, sir!" Dako growls; he couldn't let the thing destroy the beleaguered Malice who was being swarmed with drones, no. Dako would do what he was quickly developing a reputation for; punching above his weight. "Helm! Hard to starboard bring us around! Maximum Deflector power to port! We'll get around his beast and disable it or die trying." As the Stormcloud sluggishly turns with the frantic attempts of its crew the bolbous warship steadily comes into sight; an ominous gunmetal gray vessel against the black void of space large enough to rival their own Resurgent. Dako deduces it must have been hiding in one of the many pieces blown out of Totmond's surface and that's how they did not detect it on earlier scans.

 

[Zef Halo]

Therran slightly chuckled mocking the sudden change of behavior by Rausgeber. Perhaps he'd struck a nerve.

"Very well, Fleet Admiral." The Sith emphasized on his rank well aware of the man's extreme ambition of reaching the top of the naval hierarchy. While he was an excellent naval officer, Therran simply saw him as a man under the strings of his cousin. Thus, making him an adversary. "Hopefully your crew is as combat capable as Grand Admiral Tregessar's."

He did not wait for a response as he made his way down towards the hangar bay ordering the preparation of his scimitar-class starfighter. As much as he liked irritating Rausgeber, Therran very well knew the seriousness of the situation and the dire consequences should it spiral out of control completely.

[member="Robogeber"]​

 

[Robogeber]

Post: IV
Allies: [member="Karl Rippach"] | @Astarii Seran | [member="Therran Graush"] | [member="Dako Asturo"] | [member="Sirsarun"]

"Admiral, our starboard batteries have been severely damaged sir," The Chief Engineering Officer began reporting, "Multiple decks have vented sir, and the casualties," The officers skin paled, "The casualties...." His voice trailed off, "First estimations are astronomical, sir." The Engineer informed the Admiral in a low tone. "Shield integrity has been decimated." He continued, "And hull integirty has been rapidly degraded."

From the bridge, Carlyle could see the damage himself, chunks of the vessel floating away into the void. The Fleet Admiral grimaced, as Ssi-Ruuk fighters now swarmed the wound, attacking it like flies on a festering wound. The Ssi-Ruuk battleship had however, was not opening fire. "Do we have any readings on the vessel?" Carlyle inquired.

The Scanning Officer nodded, "Our arrays are still in tact sir, and well, it's interesting to say the least." Carlyle gave the sensor operator a withering glare. Now was not the time for grand expository drivel. It was the time for action. "Besides from the weapons systems, and life support, the vessel appears to have no functionality." Carlyle's scowl twisted, in confusion, "From what we can tell, it appears the escorts, aren't escorts, they're barges." The Sensor Officer continued, "Using their tractor beam to correct the vessels bearings, and course." Rausgeber was intrigued. This wasn't the dreadnaught at full capacity. He imagined what it would be like if it had been.

"Keep up the sensor updates." Carlyle commanded, "Order fighters to draw away the Ssi-Ruuk fighters from us, and have our fleet concentrate bombardment on their escort vessels." Carlyle barked, "We will crush this enemy, with whatever it takes."

 

[Zef Halo]

The whole ship shook brutally tossing Therran down on his back side. A tall crane fell from the shockwave down on the durasteel floor of the hangar narrowly missing the Sith's fighter.

He stood back up, irritation clear on his face as he paced toward it. Fighters were already being spat from the capital ship.

Take off procedures were extremely quick. He had arranged for his starfighter to be ready since the moment he headed away from the bridge.

Not wasting time hitting overspeed to catch up with the first order fighters as they engaged the enemy. The Force ran free enhancing his piloting capabilities and the starfighter itself.

The menace of the Ssi-ruuk had to be eliminated once and for all.

[member="Robogeber"]

 

[Zeradias Mant]

Suddenly, Ssi-Ruuk. Just as things started to slow from the already dreadful pace of events, they went from zero to one hundred real quick. The radar on the bridge started pinging, and chatter erupted.

"Commander, hostile contacts!"

"Set the ship to condition one.", Valk ordered. His heart started racing. Not of fear, but adrenaline. He'd experienced similar when he deployed to Kaeshana. It was a strange feeling. It was almost uncomfortable, but still comforting in the fact it kept you on edge, and it was that alertness that gave you the razor sharp thinking to make life-altering decisions on the fly.

Valk made his way to the main viewport facing out the front of the ship. A gargantuan vessel emerged, taking the flagship of the fleet present by surprise. It struck with great force, one that stunned Valk and surely countless others among the forces present.

"Veer us port side.", he ordered. The Vermilion paled in comparison to both the Malice and large Ssi-Ruuk vessel that appeared, but it could still be of some service. It was small enough where it the enemy may underestimate and ignore it as it encroached from the opposite side of the Malice. If not though, they'd be on their own. It was a gamble, but only time would tell whether it would pay off.

[member="Robogeber"] | [member="Therran Graush"] | [member="Dako Asturo"] | [member="Karl Rippach"] | [member="Sirsarun"]​

 

[Hansen]

Sector 481-ZF \\ FIV Stormcloud \\ Stormcloud-class Cruiser​

Faction: First Order \\ Enemy: Ssi-Ruuk Imperium \\ Status: FIV Stormcloud, ahead full.​

Allies: [member="Robogeber"] | [member="Aran Piett"] | [member="Karl Rippach"] | @Sirsarun | [member="Astarii Saren"] | [member="Therran Graush"] | [member="Castor Ren"]​

Enemies: Ssi-Ruuk Imperium​

The FIV Stormcloud's shields wrap around the vessel like a great azure bubble while being mercilessly battered by the dreadnought's firepower, Dako's fingers clasp at his chair anxiously watching the lances of energy pound against his cruiser's hull in an aurora of fantastic blue bursts. "Helm, chart a course around that asteroid! We're going to use its' mass to accelerate around it in a slingshot." Stormcloud's superstructure groans under the strain of its underpowered engines attempting to thrust the great mass forward caught in the shadow of the massive astroid's gravity Dako is sucked into his dais and gives a short gasp at the artificial gravity coming down upon him as cruiser comes so close to the Asteroid Dako notices scattered ore across its surface from behind the Transparisteel Veil at the fore of his bridge. "Patch me through to Commander Valk, Comm." The command is laboured and he finally breathes a sigh of relief with the Stormcloud completing its' slingshot around to find the furious glowing eyes of the Ssi-ruuk dreadnought sitting in front of his gaze glowering a deep azure; Ion engines, Dako thought it was a curious technology to be used by the Lizards. "Lower shields, I want all of our turbolaser batteries to fire upon their engines, these Lizards have underestimated us." Dako muses and feels the distinct vibration that signals rotation of the turbolaser turrets through his throne; an acquired talent to be sure the young Commander had learned to identify the different reverberations throughout the ships he Captained and inwardly Dako feared should he lose the Stormcloud or the Grand Admiral it will end his career. "Comm, give me Commander Valk." Following a nod from the young man Dako clears his throat speaking with a calmness that was anaethema to the desperate situation. "Commander Valk this is Commander Asturo of the FIV Stormcloud, we have slingshot around an Asteroid behind the hostile dreadnought, we would appreciate your assistance; ensure your deflector power is at maximum and set to the port-side. The vessel is focused on the Malice but our weaker hulls cannot withstand its' heavy bombardment." Dako waves his hand at the Coms officer as a gesture to kill the outgoing signal, they'd have to band together or fall divided to save their Admiral. Dako's eyes eagerly watch the Stormcloud's emerald green lasers dart across the cold void and slam into the dreadnought's stern with a small smirk rising in the corners of mouth as the lizards now begin to receive some measure of the pain being dished out towards the Malice; he'd targeted their engines on purpose. An immobile ship was a dead ship and even if they could win against it pound-for-pound the First Order forces could simply disengage and move around to the other side of Totmond.

 

[Robogeber]

Allies: [member="Dako Asturo"] | [member="Orin Valk"] | [member="Karl Rippach"] | [member="Therran Graush"]
Post: V

Carlyle watched as the TIE fighters scrambled to clear away the fighters from the fleet. His expression was taut, and tired. It betrayed no emotion, other than a deep, festering concentration. The droids fists clenched, as he listened to the TIE Operations Officer frantically coordinating the fighters, and the lowering of her tone, as more, and more fighters were wiped out, by the shear amount of drones. But it seemed to be working at least. The air space was clearing, as the massive cruiser bore down on them.

"Update Admiral," The Sensor Officer informed Carlyle. The droids attention swiftly turned to his subordinate, "Admiral, we've performed some analysis of the vessels make up," The officer began, "Sir, I believe engineering may have found a weakness." Carlyles holographic eyebrow raised, and cocked itself.

"Continue." The droid callously drawled.

"Sir, the battlecruiser is of great size, but poor design," The officer began, "Its fragmented, much of the hull being made of poor quality durasteel, still not yet refined," The officer continued, "If we could aim for the sections of welding, where they've pulled the vessel together, we may have a chance."

It sounded like a long shot. But it was all they had, Carlyle activated his communications unit, "All vessels, begin to engage escorts, and attempt to pierce the hull of their command ship," Rausgeber glowered, "Bombers, move to your assault vectors, and coordinate strikes for maximum damage."

"We're still in this fight yet."

 

[Hansen]

Sector 481-ZF \\ FIV Stormcloud \\ Stormcloud-class Cruiser​

Faction: First Order \\ Enemy: Ssi-Ruuk Imperium \\ Status: FIV Stormcloud, ahead full.​

Allies: [member="Robogeber"] | [member="Aran Piett"] | [member="Karl Rippach"] | @Sirsarun | [member="Astarii Saren"] | [member="Therran Graush"] | [member="Castor Ren"]​

Enemies: Ssi-Ruuk Imperium​

​

Shields lowered the Stormcloud's turbolaser batteries fire their green bolts of plasma across the dark cold void of space slamming into the Ssi-Ruuk dreadnought's stern creating small albeit highly visible eruptions of molten Durasteel and fire which bursts like excited geysers under the concentrated cruiser's fire, Dako's fingers anxiously beat at his dais studying the damage carefully. It appeared impressive though the ships' ceaseless efforts and beating upon the Malice begged to differ on his bombardments' effectiveness. "Weapons! Shift firing from the engine units themselves to the space between them." Dako muses to himself quietly 'Those ion engines are disrupting the magnetic fields of the turbolasers, but if we penetrate the hull between the units we might be able to destabilize them.' His dais swings around to face the helmsman with a swift movement of fingertips on the armrest mounted touchpad. "Reduce our speed to ahead one-third and route more reactor power into our weapons, I don't care if the shock absorbers wear out on the batteries and they tear themselves apart." Dako calmly states before rotating in his chair again with a low snarl while glaring towards the enemy's dreadnought, accelerating steadily towards it off the Stormcloud's previous momentum Dako now slowly begins to make out the details of the coarse Durasteel Hull, the lizards are using poor steel manufacturing and construction techniques in their vessels; possibly a sign of desperation that their way against the infernal beasts was now yet turning in tide against the loathsome Ssi-ruuk. A pair of Frigates flanking the Dreadnought begin making tight port-turns, exposing their broad boulbous flanks to the Stormcloud, Dako casually wicks an already cut Cigar from his trouser pocket and stuffs it between his lips biting down on the end gently in thought while watching the two warships' movements; they are coming to engage the Stormcloud he thought them fools albeit not without firepower. "Weapons, launch all of our missiles at those two Frigates, I want them reduced to debris fields if you would be so kind." With a slick crack and subdued crackling against the ambience of bridge chatter, Dako lights the end of his cigar and takes a long deep drag on the rolled Tabac. Dako's blue spheres coldly watch the interdiction missile's distinct white contrails as they spiral fantastically towards their targets with a supersonic velocity; slamming into the two frigates with righteous fury cascading explosions blink across their hulls brightly, Dako's lips crack into a smug grin releasing a brief triumphant chuckle.

 

[Zeradias Mant]

Countless fighter and bombing crafts emerged from the fleet admiral's flagship, his words cackling on the First Order military channels. Structural weaknesses definitely served as an exploit in the battle before them, especially when the odds seemed stacked against them. The Ssi-Ruuk ship was gigantic, making even the Malice appear to be no more than your run of the mill start destroyer.

Nevertheless, they persisted.

With twin ion engines screaming toward the enemy, the Vermilion's afterburners kicked on and started moving faster as they neared their target.

"Sir, transmission from the commander of the Stormcloud."

Valk turned to face his comms officer and gave the nod. He heard the comms officer notifying the other commander he was connected to their own CO as he held the wired phone to his ear. As he listened to his cohort's requests, he scowled as they cut the transmission and he hung the receiver up himself. 25 years his junior and he presumed to lecture him on how to lead troops.

"Press on.", he ordered. "All batteries, fire on points as designated by the Malice, two thirds power." Though weaker than the ship's maximum capabilities, he didn't want to reveal everything to the enemy quite yet. Coaxing them away, leading them to their doorstep would make for an ideal distraction. And if they took the bait, they would be met with the full power of the First Order Navy and the firepower it was equipped with.

[member="Robogeber"] | [member="Dako Asturo"] | [member="Therran Graush"]​

 

[Shattered_Mirror]

She had borne witness to the destruction of two vessels that were under her command firsthand, and the horrors that such catastrophic events would bring. She had dashed through the frontlines and witnessed building on sacred Coruscant come crashing down in the violence of the One Sith’s terrible defeat. She believed that she had seen all the shadowy terrors that this galaxy could bring to bear, but what happened to poor Lieutenant Mattox sent chills down her spine. Astarii had known that their Supreme Leader was powerful and capable of doing many things -- all thanks in part to his mastery of the dark side. What the Hapan Admiral didn’t know, nor expect, was that he held the ability to possess those under his thrall and issue his decree through their unwilling lips. That… That was something that frightened her and caused her jaw to slacken in response.

“What,” the Admiral began after taking several long moments to regain her composure. “What was that?” Her words went unanswered, as the other officers residing in the command trench tore their gaze away from their stations to see what had just transpired. Had something so miraculous not occurred, the Admiral would’ve chastised her crew for taking their eyes off the ball - something that would’ve been extremely dangerous had they been engaged by an enemy vessel. As they were not, and simply holding station out in the black, Astarii did nothing. Nor could she have done anything if she wanted too, as her system was still trying to process the impossible. When she had recovered her senses, it was perfectly timed with the sudden activation of the primary holoprojector integrated into the ceiling of the command deck. Suddenly materializing in the centre of the room, where no-one could miss it, was the distorted image of the world they had been sent to secure.

The image was imperfect, but what transpired within the fractal image had given the Admiral all the ideas she would ever need about what was occurring over that world. Having seen the discharge of weapons, and the odd plume of fire that was often tied to the detonation of projected astral munitions - Astarii knew exactly why their vanguard had missed their rotation check-in. They were under attack by unknown hostiles and their long-range communications were being jammed. Narrowing her eyes, as the steely reserve that had made the Hapan Officer infamous amongst her various crews before her present posting returned, Astarii began barking out mobilization orders. If the damned Supreme Leader himself had seen fit to possess one of her officers and demand that they sally forth, then by the Gods themselves, she would see that his will be done.

With her orders issued, the Admiral tore herself away from the forward viewport and moved towards the command trench. Unceremoniously dropping into the pit below, as she had not wanted to take a detour to reach the stairs at the rear of the trench, Astarii landed in the opening behind the formerly afflicted Lieutenant with a resounding echo of polished leather smacking against factory-forged steel. It drew a few cocked brows her way, and no doubt startled a few others, but the woman didn’t care. One of her crew had just been possessed, and by the Supreme Leader no less, be damned if they thought ill of her deeds. After taking a moment to tug on the hems of her uniform, straightening it in the process, the Hapan moved forward and placed a gentle hand on the youthful Lieutenant’s shoulder.

“Is everything alright?” She asked, with an almost maternal tone gripping her tongue.

Elsewhere in the massive battlecruiser, Kael had been busying himself with oiling his rifle. The last time he deployed it in the field, one of the accelerators had seized up during the catalyst conversion process which had caused him a fair amount of grief. It allowed the target he had sighted down the length of the barrel to escape, and forced the Operative’s hands to get dirty days later; once his target had been tracked down of course. His knuckles still ached from the thrashing he delivered and made the whole process of properly lubricating his weapon all the more... entertaining. A slight tremor of his fingers had knocked one of the capacitor arrays out of alignment, which elicited a colourful selection of curses to slip through the man’s thinly pressed lips. After gently pressing the array back into its original position and carefully extracting the applicant tool from the barrel of his service weapon, Kael sealed the blaster and slammed a fresh cartridge into its housing.

Subtly purring with activation, as the rifle drank deeply from the newly installed wellspring of power, the Commando slipped the weapon into its holster and sealed the latch to keep the beastly weapon contained.

It was as he roused himself from the crate, and began gathering his supplies, that the call to arms had blared over the hangar’s loudspeakers. They issued a mobilization order, and without hesitation, the crew of the Eidolon reacted accordingly. As one would expect of those outside the SpecForce branch. It was admirable, Kael thought to himself as he packed away the various tools that comprised his kit, that all of these men and women had known exactly what needed to be done and wasted little time in carrying out their duties. For a moment, as he packed away the last of his gear, the Commando wondered why he even doubted their efficacy. Was it because his last assignment onboard a starship had seen him play the role of an undercover deckhand on a pirate vessel, where whenever the battle stations alarm rang, they seemed to run around like animals with severed heads? By the way that he looked at the personnel surrounding him, the answer was that it was more than possible.

He missed that the most and sought to cherish it whenever he had the chance. However, now that his present task was accomplished and his tools were neatly packed away, Kael slid the pouch into his webbing and took off towards his racked Starfighter with his helmet in hand. The man was joined by three others, as he made his way towards a pair of distant TIE fighters, each of whom wore the same pilot’s uniform and bore the same unit insignia on their blackened breastplate. They were silent, as they jogged through the tidal press of enlisted personnel and their officer overseers, and remained so until they had clambered into the cockpits of their starfighters and sealed themselves within. As he had taken his seat, Kael connected his helmet to the life support module mounted on the front of his armour and breathed in the fresh scent of the recycled atmosphere.

Whilst his fingers strapped himself into the command seat and initiated the pre-flight checks, the Operative couldn’t help but shattered the silence over their triple-encrypted comms. “So,” He began, as a gloved hand wrapped itself around one of the flight-sticks. “What do you reckon we’ll be shooting today Omega’s, more Ssi-Ruuvi dartships?”

| [member="Robogeber"] | [member="Liana Mattox"] |​