Faction Out of the Shadows (The Underground)

[Veino Garn]

UNDERGROUND
OPERATION: SHADOWLIGHT
All Available Volunteers
ABRIDON
​

The Children of the New Order had returned. But this time they had decided to be smart. Striking at and around Abridon. Veino stared at the recordings and holodisplays around the command post of Rebellion Actual. It was bad. Around him, the quiet hum of displays set him somewhat more at ease, soothing his mind with the background noise. Calls for help had gone out to the galaxy, but it was far from OPA territory and right on the edge of the Eternal Empire. Most galactic powers would be deeply hesitant to launch a military operation so close to their border. Which meant nobody was going to come.

Except for the Underground. They had been gathering intelligence, establishing supply and communication routes, training cell leaders and operatives. Working as they did best, underground. But that no longer seemed like an option.

He ran through the recordings again. Mass mob violence. Group kidnappings. Relief supplies looted. Towns left burning and their inhabitants dragged away to who knew where. Veino took a long breath and opened up the communicator, typing out the message.

ALL NEARBY UNDERGROUND ASSETS. RENDEZVOUS. SYSTEM EDGE ORBIT. TARGET: ABRIDON. SITH SUPPORTERS TURNED VIOLENT.
​

With that, he turned and strode out of the command center. He paused in his quarters and pulled out his oldest Jensaarai armor, still in its own chest, and pulled up the hood on the Saarai-Kaar armor. It was time for him to make a journey.

Aboard the Knightmare​

"Friends, comrades, freedom fighters," Veino said as he leaned over the display module in the briefing room. "This is Abridon. They're being ravaged by an Imperial terrorist organization known as the Children of the New Order. Imperialist fanatics, with basic weapons and armor, no training. They're nothing more than a glorified mob, but there's a lot of them, and they are eager to kill anyone who opposes them to make the survivors surrender to their demands."

The holographic projection adjusted its focus. "Which poses a problem. We're not an army. We can't meet them in the field with armor and artillery. We're going to need to dismantle their leadership. Hard part is tracking them down and identifying the leadership. That's the first objective. Second objective is to locate their supplies and where they're taking their hostages. It'll have to be a large location. Best counts from ORION are several hundred prisoners. Potentially a storage facility or a starship hidden somewhere in-system. X-wing pilots, we'll be needing a lot of you to see if they have a ship somewhere. Wish we could take it out, but if there's a chance that's where the prisoners are being held, can't risk it."

The map zoomed in on the world itself. "The planetary government is besieged in one of their local defense force bases, and it's not going well. They're outnumbered, outgunned, and surrounded. We'll need a team to go in and extract as many as possible. It'll have to be personal ships, but we can send four X-wings as air support. If you can't get to the ships, go into evasion. Disappear until we can work out a way to end the violence."

"Our local informant is a cabbage farmer who has a farm outside the capital. That's the rendezvous point for extraction and base for the ground teams. She has a sophisticated comms network already in place."

Veino ran a hand through his hair and looked to the assembled members of the Underground. "This is going to be our biggest challenge since the One Sith war. We're outnumbered, outgunned, no idea how strong our enemy is, who's running it, or what their goals are. But you are the best in the galaxy when it comes to missions like these. I have complete faith in each of you, your commitment, your courage, your skill, and success. Any questions?"

 

[Jared Starchaser]

This felt like shaking off the rust. Jared had been working to help protect his sister’s, well, the family’s exploration and mining interests for a while, between odd jobs as a fighter for hire and helping keep the space ways and planets safe in the Outer Rim. But he had been trying to get more action elsewhere, and as a Judge and Hunter in the Outer Rim, he felt it was time to start taking up his legacy in a more direct way. His father and sister were the Sith hunters lately, Jared was the soldier, but the way OPA handled things, wars were not exactly their strong suit. But the Underground…

That group had started calling again. And while he’d been taking the odd job, this one, with Sith turned violent close to the OPA space? It was his task. Making the rendezvous in the Sunrise, his Nova Starcutter, to Rebellion Actual, he was prepping his own gear and working on setting himself up with a fighter. He was more familiar with the Sienar and Santhe ships, which his Clawcraft is based off, but if the Underground were flying X-Wings, he’d be in uniform. Everyone would know what that fighter was capable of, and not expect anything it may or may not be able to do.

The downfall of mixed fighter squadrons.

-----

But later, on the Knightmare, Jared found himself with the Saaraai-Kar, a sometimes teacher for him, but also Veino was more than just the Jensaarai, he was a vocal member of the OPA, like his father. Something he himself should be. Maybe some day, but Jared was still trying to find himself, he felt it was starting to click, but he wasn’t sure. Didn’t matter, a mission was given, and that meant he had something to focus on.

“So you want us to board the prison ship, if we’re X-Wings? And do you have any decision, where we need Forcers? I can fly or get on the ground. Where would you need me, Garn?” Jared asked in a pretty matter of fact tone. He’d do what was needed. He’d prefer to be in the fighter, but his recent training in the Wilds, that gave him a bit more of a well rounded offering.

Veino Garn

 

[Vouvry]

The pounding of the old anti-aircraft cannons had ceased and for the moment, the skies seemed clear. Unfortunately, it was their own fighters that had been forced out of the skies after the cultists captured the cannons. Trapped in the large governmental plaza that was currently besieged, Vouvry didn't know whether to consider himself lucky or cursed. Naturally, he was not working for the Abridonian government - the reason for his presence was that he was making a delivery at the time of the attack and was inside the complex when the security locked it down.

Barred from entering the centre-most building where the officials were hiding, the young Mirialan and a few others who found themselves in a similar position to him had set up a temporary camp in an office at the fourth floor of the eastern-most building. Nervous gazes were thrown at a barricade the security forces had set up at the entrance of the walkway leading over to the building across the street - coincidentally also the building containing the captured anti-aircraft cannon.

The defenders which primarily consisted of the security forces of the government plaza and some police officers who had been nearby during the first hours of the siege seemed twitchy as they nervously looked for approaching cultists. Armed with nothing but a holdout blaster, Vouvry was rather fond of the fact that combat had died down - but it did not take a genius to recognise that it was probably just the calm before the storm.

While the non-essential civilians like Vouvry were not invited to discuss defence strategies or cared for in any particular way, they were within earshot of several officers which allowed them to hear a few sentences voiced over the comms. Apparently, a skirmish had broken out on the western flank, pulling reinforcements away from the other locations. At first, the young Mirialan didn't think much of it, but soon, the security officers nearby started shifting about and communicating with each other through urgent whispers. Soon, one of the officers screamed out "They're attacking!" before they started firing down the corridor.

While the sound from the blaster rifles were expected, Vouvry had certainly not expected to hear the wild roars that came from the charging crowd. It now dawned on him that the skirmish at the other end of the complex might just have been a distraction. After just a few moments, the first cultist who had survived the sprint over the walkway jumped past the barricade and managed to kill an officer with her vibrosword before being shot down. Knowing that the situation would get worse before it got any better, the Mirialan pulled out his holdout blaster and was quick to fire it at the next cultist to jump the barricade.

Veino Garn Jared Starchaser

 

[Katarine Falcon]

Veino Garn Jared Starchaser Vouvry

Near the system S.S. Cragmaw her Jast Frigate emerged from the black with a tiny flash. Crew scrambled about their stations, armed with strange weapons and a mish mosh of armors. Katarine stood in the center of the storm on the bridge, eyes boring down a hole into the sensor screens. The others had begun their assault on the ground. She could have gone down there, done some negotiating or stealthy slooping.

But her real talent was space, and the word of this prison ship had her interested. She had 200 trained and dangerous crewman, with a small Elite Guard of ten or so Buccaneers at her side. Most days they masqueraded as a Merchant vessel and private security contractor. They only ran up the ol black flag when there was a particular lucrative target that sported dark side allegiance.

This was one such case.

Her transponders bleated a ominous code across the system, betraying her ships true identity. To the Underground it wouldn't unnerve them much. She was a known collaborator.

"Start deep scans of the system. I want a location on their rumored prison vessel."

Her first mate a man named Klaxon nodded, and rubbed his beard.

"We will Ma'am. We surely will."

Below decks make shift flight chiefs loaded scrappy transports with her Elite Guard ready to board at a moments notice.

"Once we have them in range, use Ion only. We need to cripple them, not wreck them. Plus an extra ship in the fleet would be a boon."

 

[Audren Sykes]

Location: Sayan, Abridon
Abridon Shipyard

This group had been smart. They called themselves the Children of the New Order and had swept through Sayan quickly and quietly. From what little history was published about the place, the residents would likely have resisted throughout the occupation if they could. When citizens - prominent and random both - and critical infrastructure were captured before anyone knew what was going on though, such was difficult. Sayan had been one of the first places that the Children had hit, and yet it had still been able to send an alert just minutes before being fully subsumed.

The takeover of Sayan included the shipyard. All of the security guards on duty during the night had been killed without a chance to surrender: silently on the perimeters and quickly everywhere else. Unfortunately for them, several shipyard executives had been present at the time of the incursion. It wasn't normal business hours but the potential investor had arrived late due to a customs holdup. With the overwhelming numbers of Children that had swarmed the place, it was quickly theirs. Again, it was smart; whoever was running this campaign had tactical sense. The shipyard could be used as a small transport hub and base of operations, and could be easily made secure. A fallback position if needed, and as it turned out also a waystation for captives.

Abridon was far outside Audren's normal travel range of recent years. Full on the other side of the OPA, probably a place that had been a member system of the old Galactic Alliance. That was part of the point though. Rather than concentrating in a single part of the galaxy and having war massively impact proceedings, the business could spread out and maintain operations in the event of emergency circumstances. Little did he know that he'd be walking into an emergency situation even here.

The Sephi had been with shipyard executives and other personnel when the Children stormed the place. Though he carried his lightsaber out of view - this was business attire after all - there had been too many assailants and the danger too great to those he was with for him to take action. Subtle use of the famed Mind Trick had prevented the hilt from being found as well as minimized the harm done to the group. They had been sequestered in a room, their numbers slowly increased with captives from the night shift. Against the recommendations of the group, two burly mechanics had tried to escape. They'd managed to kill one of the guards before themselves being stopped. Though they'd been re-captured alive, both were beaten then brutally murdered in view of the rest of the captives. They were an object lesson, and their bodies were left where they fell - pooling blood and all - as city citizens started to be brought into the room.

Before long everyone was chivvied outside, where they joined a line of others in front of a transport vessel. Not Audren's ship, that still looked to be locked up tight and inactive. Before long the captives were in binders and seated in the ship, and the ship was in the air en route to who knew where.


Veino Garn Jared Starchaser Vouvry Katarine Falcon

 

[Veino Garn]

Jared Starchaser Vouvry Katarine Falcon Audren Sykes

"Incoming signal!" One of the comms techs called as Veino was about to answer Jared's question. The Saarai-Kaar turned from the display table. "Friendly. It's Captain Falcon and her ship. She's running deep scans."

"Excellent. Redirect the fighter pilots and freighters to run support. We might need a bigger ship to tackle what they've got." Veino turned back to the display. "Jared, you have the experience and the skills to know where you're most effective. If you can run point on searching for this potential ship, great. We'll need everyone everywhere, to be frank."

He shook his head slowly. "I'm going to the surface to try and help extract the government to safety and then hunting down whoever is running this show. They've taken some of the main shipyards and their ports as well to ferry supplies in and out. There is no right answer to where we need you, Jared. Trust the Force."

Veino took a slow breath and looked around at the gathered pilots and Underground operatives. "That's all I've got for you. Good luck and may the Force be with us. See you all on the other side."

============================

Shortly after he found himself in his old Jensaarai cortosis-duraplast armor geared up with his lightsaber, a boltgun, and the Occluder handcannon in a freighter as it rattled towards the atmosphere. A small detachment of Underground agents stood clustered around the cargo bay with him. The loading ramp was just behind him and he was ready to hit the button to lower the ramp once they got towards the government HQ.

A dim red light shone through the hold and he grabbed hold of some of the cargo netting holding the variety of crates and supplies in place. The ship rattled and bounced as they hit the edge of the atmosphere. He let the movement flex through his knees and hung on tighter. The glow of reentry shone through the viewports as they careened downwards.

An explosion rattled not far away and the ship bucked, throwing the team to the deck.

"Can't approach!" The captain's voice came in from the ship's intercom. "They have the AA guns. Got to come in out of range. Circling back to safety and coming in low."

"Understood, captain!" Veino called back. "Do what you need to do."

Time for a change of plans. He pulled up the comms back to the Knightmare. "Captain, can you get somebody to pull up schematics of the city, especially any sewers or underground transit lines?"

Just like old times.

 

[Jared Starchaser]

His father should be here, Jared understood that his father had other reasons, he had the twins, and he was the one helping monitor the Jedi around the galaxy. Never one to give up on the Alliance. His father had his fight, and had earned his leave. The General of the Home Guard and one of the leading Jedi in the galaxy more than earned his stripes, and he knew he’d be there when he was needed. This mission though, it didn’t need his power. They had others, and Master Garn was always a welcome leader and more than capable. Maybe it was just Jared being in the shadow.

As the Master turned to him, and spoke, the part time Jensaarai nodded. He had his armor and his weapons, but when he was behind the controls of a fighter, that was where he felt the most at home. Nodding to his teacher, he turned. “I’ll see you in space then. I can get the ground team through any blockade.” Meant it was time for his X-Wing skills. He turned on his heel. His astromech, was loaded up and Hopper, his BD unit tried to join him. “Sorry bud, you gotta stay here. I’ll be back. Not going to be exciting for you.”

Running through pre-flight, he was awaiting the green light to launch.

*********​

As the landing craft was moving, Jared Starchaser and his wingman were working to fly cover, and quickly found themselves in a bit of a furball with a pair of TIE/Ints. Moving to attack speed, the Starchaser and his wingman were taking the time to make work of them, but the more agile crafts.

“Move to point zero six, Wing, get them to cross in front of me.” He ordered as he slowed his own fighter down, his wingman speeding up and getting one of the TIEs on his tail before passing through Jared’s fire signature. Knowing there were a few seconds, the Hunter closed his eyes, switching his weapons to link fire and pulled the trigger… Hitting the solar panels full and igniting the fighter. His astromech giving word that the other fighter was bugging off.

Jared nodded as he and his wingman moved to catch up to the lander. “Starchaser on your wing, shuttle. We can hit that AA cannon if you want, I’ve got shadow bombs ready to go…” He called over the comms, hearing them also request schematics. “Just tell us the landing zone.”

They’d get there.

Veino Garn Katarine Falcon Vouvry Audren Sykes

 

[Vouvry]

Even thinking of how this group of cultists could manage to charge across a walkway against blaster fire and still get through was mind boggling but then, they also had a few people among their own ranks carrying blasters, forcing the defenders to take cover and disabling the possibility to shoot freely. Vouvry realised that the security forces probably had an internal system of positioning and way of providing each other with cover fire and did his best to stay back, only to provide aid once someone actually got over the barricade rather than firing into the crowd as they charged over the walkway.

At first, it felt sudden - to see one of the security officers get shot as she peered over the barricade to fire another salvo. And then, the cultists got another one, creating a bit of doubt among the defenders and the civilians behind them. The officers' lines were slowly but steadily starting to wear thin in the face of the overwhelming numbers of the cultists. Firing off his holdout blaster at someone who was about to breach the barricade, Vouvry carefully started making his way closer to the barricade where a couple of officers had fallen. Once there, he saw how impossible the situation looked as the masses kept coming from the building across the walkway. Considering that it contained the anti-aircraft cannons, it seemed likely that the Children of the New Order had made it into a base of operations of sorts.

Firing a few blasts down into the walkway, Vouvry bent down to pick up the blasters that the fallen security officers had carried. Although he got a few apprehensive looks from their colleagues at first, the Security team's group leader soon gave him a nod to continue. Stepping back with two extra blasters at hand, the young Mirialan tried to wave for the other civilians whom had gotten trapped there with him to come over. Raising his voice in order to not get drowned out between the blaster fire and the roaring attackers, Vouvry hollered "We need to help them defend"

Apparently, it was not a too convincing argument. The civilians stayed in place, a few throwing nervous glances out the window toward the central governmental building where the important officials were located. Making another attempt, the Mirialan took a few steps closer to them and spoke once more "Do you think they will let us in there and hide with the politicians when half the city seem to have turned hostile? If you want to live, we need to help them defend" With that, he extended his arm with the two blasters towards them again, hoping that someone would rise up to the task. Albeit hesitantly, two of the civilians approached him to get a blaster.

Although the cultist kept coming, the situation seemed a bit more sustainable now. Whenever an officer fell, a civilian who had started the day as a delivery agent, construction worker or store clerk rose up in their stead. While they may not have fought with the same tenacity and sense of duty as a security officer, desperation and fear proved to be sufficient motivators for them to perform adequately. Still, the likelihood of them being able to push across the walkway to recapture the anti-aircraft cannons was low.

Katarine Falcon Audren Sykes Veino Garn Jared Starchaser

 

[Veino Garn]

Vouvry Katarine Falcon Audren Sykes Jared Starchaser

Veino wrapped the net tighter around his arm as the ship rattled and shook. By the feel of it, the ship was speeding towards the ground far faster than it was meant for. That he knew and understood. They needed to get below the arc of the anti-air guns.

The intercom buzzed. "Coming in low and close to the ground! I'll get you three meters above the ground at speed. Can pause for five seconds. No more When the light is green. I'm opening the ramp now. Wait for my signal."

With a buzz, the ramp started to lower and wind howled through the cargo hold. It tore at Veino's hair, his clothes, trying to tank him out of the ship. The others in the team clutched tighter.

"Ten seconds!"

The voice rang through the hold. Heavy lasers streaked past them, but that he couldn't hear them over the sound of the wind.

"Go!"

All of a sudden, the ship jerked to a stop. Veino stumbled to his knees, but flung himself out the ramp, with the rest following behind. They hit the ground in a park at the edge of the city. The ship hurtled away from them, anti-aircraft fire chasing it back to the sky. The afterwash pushed them down to the ground and Veino crouched, waiting. No sign of the enemy coming for them immediately.

A chime on his comlink.

"Garn, you've got sewer access fifteen meters northwest. The rest of the route will be downloaded to your gear."

"Understood." Veino rose to a crouch and assessed the situation. "Alright, everyone, let's move."

 

[Audren Sykes]

It didn't take long for them to arrive at their destination. The transport was no pleasure cruiser: each person was crammed next to each other on bench seats and there wasn't a single viewport. Only the most oblivious would have missed the fact that they were headed up, and experienced travelers could tell that they left atmosphere. As it happened, the transport ended up at one of the many moons around Abridon. A much larger ship was hiding in a crater on the airless moon, taking advantage of the craggy walls and position of the various moons to block longer-range scans.

The prisoners were marched off the transport and onto the prison ship in a single stream. Guards were spaced along the hallway but it quickly became apparent that they were not professionals. Leers were directed at more than a few prisoners, and even the more stoic guards tended to focus on individuals a bit more than they should have. Branching halls passages were thus accessible. While the nearest guard was distracted by a pretty face, Audren dampened the curiosity of those prisoners around him and calmly stepped out into one of those passages. He didn't want to incite violence yet, even if it would have provided better cover. It wasn't easy to dampen the instincts of the others; mind tricks had never really been a strong point of his. Once around the corner, a light bit of telekinesis popped the binders free. These went into a pocket and he made his way into the first unoccupied room in the hall.

The other Children may not have worn uniforms, but they definitely weren't wearing business attire. Fortunately for him both lockers were unlocked. While the shirt in one of the two was far too large, the other was a reasonable fit. Off came the business shirt and on went the stolen one. The Sephi's nose wrinkled as he put it on: it definitely wasn't fresh from the wash. The pants were nondescript enough that they stayed. Sadly there were no weapons to be found even when rooting through the lockers. He'd have to get one elsewhere.

As he quietly slipped from the room the Jedi tied his long hair back. He needed it out of the way for this. As he moved along the corridor he kept an eye out for a terminal: with it he could get an idea of what the ship schematics were and maybe do more. Several people passed him along the hallway but only spared him a glance; he wasn't in binders and the clothing was about right. It became apparent that he was heading towards the engine room as superstructure vibrations just kept increasing. That wasn't ideal, but chances were good that there was a terminal there and plenty of spaces to hide if needed. Plus the potential for sabotage of course.

Wisely - and unfortunately - the engine room had better security than he'd run into so far. It utilized a keycard lock and had a guard inside. A bored guard, but still alert enough to catch him if he tried to slip in with someone actually authorized to get in there. Instead, he found another unoccupied room, this one a storage room for infrequently-used parts and tools. Up to the vent he went, grateful that he wasn't wearing armor and wasn't bulkier. There was barely room to shuffle quietly through the vent system. The security levels seen below weren't found here though, and he was able to silently drop into a room occupied only by a single technician. A quick bonk on the head ended that threat before it began and the binders kept it that way.

Having gotten the drop on the technician, the terminal was unlocked. A schematic was the first thing Audren brought up, memorizing it as quickly as possible. Next was the comm system. Locked down as expected, so he couldn't broadcast a message from here. What he was able to do though was set up a elementary subroutine that would transmit when the ship's comms were active. The transmission just had to originate from the communications center, a hub location in most larger ships. Just another challenge to deal with. And as it turned out, there was no way to program in delayed sabotage, at least not with his basic skills. He could tell the coolant system to lower the acceptable temperature range though and it would eventually vent and shut down this engine bank. Not as much as he was hoping, but it was something.

With that done he was back in the air duct, back out through the storage room, and on his way to the comm room. He had to figure out how to get that signal sent.

Veino Garn Jared Starchaser Vouvry Katarine Falcon

 

[Jared Starchaser]

Always felt good to be in space, the Zero-G pilot was more of a fan of space operations rather than close fire on a ground installation. But he knew that he had the blood to take the fight to many different types of places, and a ground installation was just one of them. They’d have to get their missiles and bombs ready. But right now, he was more worried about keeping himself and a few fighters in between the guns and the landing craft. The fighters pulled closer to one another to help overlap their shields so they could take a few direct hits from the ground guns. Pushing the X-Wings to their combat speed, the fihgters were heading straight in, they’d be able to eject.

As they closed in ahead of the lander, Jared and his wingmates launched off a pair of torpedos each, even if they didn’t hit, they’d jam up the scanners for a moment with the heat. As the missiles launched, the quartet of fighters pulled up and flew overhead.

“Starchaser, this is Command. TIEs incoming. Bring yourself to point 45, range two clicks.” Jared looked over his shoulder to the right and nodded. His astromech twitted a warning and he nodded. “Looks like we have Interceptors. X-Wings form up, they’ll beat us in the speed game.” He knew that, but he also knew their weaknesses.

Couldn’t bank work a damned.

"And watch the ground fire!'

Veino Garn Audren Sykes Vouvry Katarine Falcon

 

[Vouvry]

Three more foes made it over the barricades. But before getting the chance to attack a security officer, Vouvry and the other civilians who had managed to arm themselves intervened. Between them, they had managed to form a decent team of somewhat accurate shooters with a few having taken it up as a hobby and a few of them - like Vouvry - hailing from areas where hunting was commonplace. Still, firing at another person was very different from firing at a beast.

Although they had worked a relatively well functioning system out it soon became apparent that it would have to change as more and more of the officers fell victim to the odd blaster bolt fired by some of the few enemies carrying firearms. Calling over the coms, one of the officers desperately screamed for assistance "We need more men at the barricades! They're pushing hard over the eastern walkway." It was, however, rather clear that whatever reinforcements central command could muster would be arriving too late. Taking a deep breath to summon his courage, Vouvry did the only thing that seemed sensible at the moment and moved forth to assume a position by the barricades, intent on shooting the cultists as they dashed over the walkway.

Getting a full view of the walkway was something which he would gladly have paid to unsee. Bodies and corpses littered the floor whilst angry, perhaps even furious, hordes rushed over them on their way towards his location. Speaking loudly in order to be heard over the blaster fire and pained screams, the officer offered what little motivation he could "Just point and shoot, kid. It's either them or us!" It was a rather pragmatic stance - but one which the young Mirialan found rather agreeable. With that, he tightened the grip on his blaster, plopped out of cover and fired a few bolts before returning back to safety.

"Good." the officer spoke whilst plopping out of cover to fire a few rounds himself. "You-" Whatever he planned on saying next would remain unknown - the officer was shot. Staring at the corpse in shock, Vouvry soon regained his senses as another civilian took the officer's place at the barricade. The Mirialan could see the fright in his ally's eyes upon seeing the battlefield "Just point and shoot. It's either them or us" he hollered, repeating what had been said to him just a few moments ago.

Veino Garn Audren Sykes Jared Starchaser Katarine Falcon

 

[Veino Garn]

Vouvry Audren Sykes Jared Starchaser Katarine Falcon
===========

Veino and his team of Underground operatives crouched around the manhole in the alleyway. Blasterfire, both the high pops of small arms, and the heavy, thundering booms of anti-air fire rent the air across the city. Every breath was thick with the smell of smoke and carbon-scoring. He sealed the clasps of his helmet and activated the rebreather.

"Final gear check," Veino called to the team. "Situation is going to be dire. We need to evac the civilians as rapidly as possible, secure the surviving government officials, and help the security forces retreat to somewhere defensive. Probably the temporary base. Oh, and hold your breath."

He levered the cover off the street and winced, even beneath his helmet at the stench rising up from the sewers beneath. "We're half a kilometer northeast, so we're going that way in the straightest, quietest way possible."

Veino dropped down into the muck and his visor switched to night-vision. He moved away from the entrance as the rest followed in after him. One tunnel led in the direction they were going.

Blaster fire was growing louder and louder above them and he felt the heavy guns shaking the ground above them. The others, mostly ORION Huntsmen who'd joined up with the Underground, followed in closely behind him. They'd have to go back to OPA after this, but he needed the closest people he could find.

They made their way to beneath the plaza and Veino nodded. The others circled the exit, blasters raised up to the entrance. Veino took a deep breath and reached into the Force. He shoved his hand upwards and the cover burst off from the ground. The Jensaarai jumped up and grabbed the edges of the manhole and pulled himself up to a crouch, digging a hook into the soil and dropping the knotted rope.

He looked up and assessed the situation. It was dire, as he had predicted. Worse, in fact. A small contingent of security guards and civilians huddled behind a barricade as the gang of cultists in the building opposite rushed the gangway. The rest of the team hurried up behind him. "Go secure the friendly building!" Veino called to them and they nodded, hurrying towards the door, firing into the flank of the cultists as they backed inside. It would take them a bit of time, but they'd get in.

Veino was going to take a different approach. He ran beneath the walkway where the barricade fight was and looked up. This would be tight, but it would be possible. Worse, it could get bloody. He paused and reassessed. He was there to protect the remainders of the loyalist government. That he could do. The jump would be tough in his duraplast armor, but it would work.

He slung the blast cannon back on his belt and unclipped his lightsaber, gathering the Force into his legs and jumping. With the Force propelling him up, he reached out with one hand used it to pull himself towards the walkway, hooking an arm and a leg over the edge before rolling upright. In his hand, the white lightsaber blade snapped to life. The beleaguered barricade was right behind him and the cultists in front.

"Go!" He yelled over his shoulder. "I'll hold them off! I brought some reinforcements! Got a handful of operatives. We're here to get everyone to safety! I'll be right behind you."

Hopefully his appearance had distracted the cultists. By all accounts, his armor was Sith in design. But the lightsaber was clearly from the lightside. It hummed in his hand as he shifted his stance to a soresu opening stance. He didn't know many were ahead of him, but that was fine.

It was the point of the armor. The point of soresu. The point of being Jensaarai.

The heartbeat pause ended as they rushed him. Blaster fire and vibroblades filled his visor.

Veino stepped forward to meet them.

 

[Kahlil Noble]

It had been pure chance Kahlil was here. Another job, taking freight from one planet to the next. And then x-wings. Tie fighters. R6 picked up a flurry of com chatter about this.. Sith cult? The Sith themselves weren't enough that they needed a cult following? The young man flies into the seat of his freighter to pick up the coms that R6 had been playing. He cycles through the various channels, trying to figure out what exactly was happening.

There was a group of people that were being attacked. They needed help. They.. Got help? A lone man facing down an army? Kahlil dropped the com and made a beeline for the exit ramp. He could do something. He would do something. If he made it in time.

 

[Jared Starchaser]

The Jensaarai Errant Starchaser was more than happy to provide air support. As the TIEs came in, the x-Wings started moving quicker. He really wished he was in one of his TIEs but the Outback X-wing wasn’t so bad either. A quick roll and course adjustment and he was heading for the TIEs. The others were below him as he did push his X-Wing faster than the rest would. He was used to breakneck speeds. “We need to cover the ground team.” He said as he started firing, the red blasts coming from the wing tips towards the TIEs, splitting one and two, while the rest started scattered.

“Panther Lead this is Two, on your wing. Panthers, split into pairs, take them down. Flight three, head to the surface again, watch for landers.” The order came from Jared’s Chiss wingmate as a flurry of affirmatives arose. Four X-Wings were heading down to support the ground teams, circling at the heavy weapons found.

Jared’s shields lit up as he took a shot and the astromech twittered at him. “Yeah I see them. Two, tighten up.” He pushed the fighter forward, head to head with another Interceptor as he squeezed off around blast, making it dive, right into Two’s firing solution.

 

[Audren Sykes]

The chosen path to the comm room was rife with surprises. The three full-fledged Children that passed him in the hallway in full regalia. The weapons checkpoint he ran across. The work crew that had torn up the wrong conduit and was being beaten by another Child in full regalia for it. One of the three Children he'd passed had stopped and turned to stare at him and had been contemplating something. He hadn't changed the measured pace however and she ended up missing her opportunity. The weapons checkpoint had scanned a tag embedded in his stolen clothing as he'd been stopped. When he'd been found to not be carrying the assigned blaster pistol, the unfortunate he'd stolen the clothes from was docked a week's pay and he was provided with a stun baton. It was an embarrassing weapon to have if he'd read the snickering correctly. The work team...well, he couldn't do anything about that quite yet. He made a mental note to come back though and hoped he wouldn't be too late.

The most unsettling interaction happened not long after. Another fully-masked Child stopped him, looked him up and down, then asked him what he was doing. The voice sounded odd, but not super-abnormal. It was possible that the mask was muting it somewhat, or it was a species with different vocal chords. When he tried to protest and state that it was classified, the other being made some sort of gesture with their hand and clearly expected it to be taken as authoritative. With a resigned sigh, the Sephi had motioned towards a nearby room, ostensibly to keep the information out of others' ears. The instant they were out of the hall though, the hooded being was clobbered on the back of the head with the base of the stun baton. There was barely a reaction, at least until the sparking stun baton dug into the spine. Once the hood was pulled away, he saw the skeletal metal face of a droid. With a frown and a twist of his head the Jedi reached out through the Force. Where before there had definitely been a presence - or he could have sworn there was - now there wasn't.

He took the mask and comlink the thing had been carrying and resumed course towards the comm room. If he'd known more about electronics he might have been able to recognize the conduits containing comm wiring as he got closer, track that into an unoccupied area, and splice in the comlink with a recorded signal. But he didn't know the conduits or wiring. He could wire his comlink into a console but that meant walking into the hub. Fortunately he now wore a hood, albeit one that smelled like oil. He could just walk in. That was, unless there were two guards on the door who actually checked for authorization.

"Hold up, you're not authorized."

Audren stopped at the outreaching hand. His head turned so that even under the hood it was obvious he was looking at the man. As he spoke, he brought the Force to bear on the man's mind. More importantly though, he also brought it to bear on the mind of the other guard. Just the one wouldn't be enough if the other decided to raise the alarm.

"You gave me the authority to enter."

The man slowly nodded in acquiescence.

"Yea, you're right. Go on in."

Audren waited the second for the door to close before acting. In that time he identified three security cams. He reached an open hand towards two once the door was closed and clenched each hand into a fist, crushing them. In a fluid motion both hands were brought together with a clap, pancaking the third. That clap alerted the two people in the room, but only one caught sight of the cameras and moved in threateningly. The punching arm was met with a shower of sparks from the stun baton and a follow-up strike to the torso dropped the man. The woman remained seated and - while still rendered unconscious - was dealt with much more gently. A hand on her shoulder allowed him to slow her biorhythms.

With both opponents unconscious and the cameras disabled, the Sephi went to work. His stolen comm was set to broadcast a distress signal on Silver Jedi frequencies. As an afterthought that signal was set to broadcast on old Galactic Alliance frequencies and what he thought he remembered as OPA. The nearest console was popped open and the microphone wires spliced into the comm unit. Once that was done the line was tied into the program he'd made earlier to broadcast when the ship was sending comm signals. If he did everything right (he probably hadn't) then the ship would broadcast it's position and that it needed help without ever knowing it. The result was hidden inside the console and he made his way back out.

There were three options from here: take over the bridge, free the hostages, or find the hangar and fly away.


Veino Garn Jared Starchaser Vouvry Katarine Falcon Kahlil Noble

 

[Vouvry]

He was pointing and shooting for dear life, just as the others, but after a while, it begun seeming futile. The horde that was set on crashing down on them and then onward to the central governmental building in which the important officials were housed in. Most of their original protectors had already perished whilst holding the barricade. A couple of them still stood and valiantly defended their position with the civilians who were now armed with their comrades' weapons.

It was only a matter of time before the first civilian was killed, causing a few of them, including Vouvry, to pause as they looked on to their fallen ally in shock. Morale was wavering with several voices calling for a retreat. While the suggestion was rather appealing, they all knew that the kind of bottleneck which the walkway formed wouldn't be found anywhere else. But not even that knowledge would give them enough comfort as the next blow to their morale landed. One of the last two remaining officers was shot, leaving the group with only one more defender who actually seemed to know what they were doing.

Plopping up to fire of a few shots, Vouvry soon returned in behind cover again. He saw how their last defender was crouched over his dead friend, shaken and in tears. It was a recognisable face which many others had carried before him and often meant that the person wearing it would either fight recklessly or run. Deciding to take a risk and not help with the defence of the barricade for a few moments, the young Mirialan stretched out his arm and put a heavy hand on the mourning officer's back "We need you" he said, barely even getting through to the man. Repeating the words again, he added "We need you to stay here, take the time you need" While he received no response, the officer pressed himself against cover and tried to regain his composure. While he was no longer an active part of the defence, it was much better than if he had run or got himself killed, both of which could have routed the group entirely.

With the situation becoming more dire by the minute, it was a relief to see someone from down below fire up to the walkway from the side. Letting out a relieved "Reinforcements" Vouvry seemed to find a renewed source of hope to fuel his will to keep fighting. It was not long before the main body of the assisting force disappeared from view as they were commanded to secure the building. Upon seeing a few of the others show uncertainty when they left, Vouvry spoke "They'll be back, don't worry" with as much confidence as he could muster. While he was nowhere near the capacities of an inspirational speaker, it was enough to keep the others there for the moment.

Upon turning back, the young Mirialan would see a most impressive feat as the heavily armoured character jumped up onto the walkway. A sense of nervousness washed over him as he quickly tried to disguise his force presence. The armour was of a seemingly familiar design that reminded him very much of home - something which he had tried to escape. While hesitant, the white lightsabre and defensive stance did go some way to put his mind at ease and for the moment, they seemed to be on the same side.

Not knowing what the warrior's capacities were, nor how much left the cultists had to offer, Vouvry decided to stay for the moment, confident that he would be able to escape if or when the situation called for it. Putting a hand on the officer's back he said "That's you. Bring the others downstairs and back to the central building." With a grateful nod, the man moved away from the dangerous zone by the barricade, bringing the others with him. Managing to catch the attention of another civilian, the Mirialan added "See if you can help our reinforcements find their way. We'll need them."

Peering out from behind cover, Vouvry saw an imposing scene as the lone defender braced himself to face the horde that stood a few meters away from him. His eyes darted around as he systematically analysed the force user's stance and his armour, reminding him of a history lesson he once had. Rudely interrupted by a wild roar, Vouvry's focus shifted to the horde of cultists who charged at them. Taking aim, he carefully prioritised the ones armed with blasters whenever he could. Still, with his past experience, he knew enough about lightsabre combat to also know where to focus his fire to help preventing his ally from being outflanked and ultimately overwhelmed.

Veino Garn Kahlil Noble Jared Starchaser Audren Sykes

 

[Veino Garn]

Vouvry Kahlil Noble Jared Starchaser Audren Sykes

Veino felt the others disappear back in towards the building, easing some of the tension from his pinched brow beneath the helmet. He could do more and had far more options without needing to keep stray blaster bolts from getting past him. A barrier was always an option and he could it against the blaster fire for a while. But eventually, it would drain him of his energy and focus. And he was going to have to conserve it for everything that was happening.

Which was why he wasn't planning on fighting this battle. It wasn't one he could win and it was one that would ultimately make no difference to the outcome of the crisis on the planet. No, he had something else in mind. As his lone companion covered him from some of the blaster fire and the mob surged towards him, Veino shifted his stance.

He dropped to one knee and swung the white lightsaber blade in a wide arc in front of him, severing the bottom of the gantry from the vertical supports, followed by a short twist of the handle to cut the blade directly through the walkway, leaving a superheated glow from the plasma blade. The sudden movement and smell of melted durasteel and duracrete pushed the front of the mob back for several heartbeats.

Veino reached deep within himself and pressed one hand against the walkway. Blaster fire spat his way, but he ignored it. Small arms like that couldn't penetrate the imbued duraplast the plates were made from. He reached into the Force and sent it downwards in a massive telekinetic blast that shoved the edge of the walkway opposite downwards, cracking the supports underneath while the walkway itself began to crumble. Veino looked up and, raised his hand, and sent another push directly into the crush of fanatics.

The front ones were shoved back against those pushing forward and the whole group crumbled into a mess, falling over each other, adding the weight of their impact to the walkway as it slowly gave way beneath them.

The Jensaarai stood, lightsaber held in front of him, watching before walking back to the barricade and pulling himself over the edge. "Appreciate the cover. What's your name?"

As the chaos unfolded, he dragged himself up and over the barricade and hurried towards the door into the building, ushering the other along with him.