Path Finding - ACA Dominion of Bothawui

[Irys Arist'lar]

The Abrion systems were being pushed to their limits, and there was no sign of the chaos abetting. Half of the people driving airspeeders across the world of Bothawui had suddenly vanished, and even with the safety protocols built in there had been widespread damage and destruction. The whole sector worked on the principle of a very thin layer of public services. Much was outsources to private companies, and much of the military's infantry was comprised of droids. These services were being stretched well beyond breaking point. Many of the smaller companies refused to send out aid until agreements could be made with the government; a government that was also now completely dysfunctional.

For be it from setting up invasions of enemy space, the ACA would be hard pressed just to keep its own citizens in line. The wealth gap was perhaps the largest in the Galaxy and now riots had flared up across the systems.

Irys sat on the bridge of the Serenity and watched the horror unfold. The ship was drifting helplessly. Yes, they had a skeleton crew remaining, but key personnel had vanished into thin air and it would take them hours to reorganise.

"Admiral, we've got some of the sensor net back online, we've got unknowns in the system!" someone called.

"Of course we have, the system is rebooting, everything is..." she started to snap.

"No, I mean unregistered. No IFF. Looks like a small pirate fleet, they're landing ships!"

"Send a request for aid to Roon, tell them we're in real trouble out here!"


Objective A: Aid civilians in any way possible; convince greedy private services company to get on with their jobs
Objective B: Prevent pirates from doing any more damage. Bring their leader in to be trialled if possible.


[member="Barkt Melan"]
[member="Darren Shaw"]
[member="Meili Shaw"]
[member="Seto Du Couteau"]
[member="Kronos"]
[member="Adrian Cassidy"]

 

[Dakil]

What happened when people of the galaxy vanished? Chaos.

Luckily, only organics had been taken during the apocalypse of sorts and TD-30 along with his millions upon millions of mechanical counterparts had been left behind to take what was rightly theirs and establish something of an orderly state of life. While his battle droids had been patrolling the worlds of the Abrion Systems, other planets had been left alone in the wake of the mass disappearance and more worlds were in need of their help.

Seated aboard the Prometheus, Kronos made his presence known in Bothawui by spewing hundreds of droids fighters into the surrounding space.

[member="Irys Arist'lar"]

 

[Irys Arist'lar]

"Prometheus, this is Admiral Arist'lar of the Jupitus," she called into the comm. "Every able ship is a blessing right now, please try and cut off the pirate vessels from their landing craft and set up a perimeter. I don't want them landing any more ships, or taking anything off world. We have some interdictors moving into place now to keep them sitting tight," she instructed.

She watched her tactical display, the interdictors stayed in the sensor shadow of a Scimitar platform, powering up engines and gravity wells.

"How long before we can launch fighters to assist?" she called to her own staff.

"We've nearly got the decks in order ma'am," called a human officer from the floor. "Twenty minutes?"

She gave him an appraising look, her fur ruffling in disapproval. "Ten, thank you," she replied curtly.

 

[Seto du Couteau]

Seto opened his eyes, the darkness escaping his room as he yawned. His window bathing his entire room with sunlight from the morning sun. His eyes slowly focusing on his own clothing put off to the side, raising a single eyebrow he found it a tad odd it wasn't exactly perfectly set for him. Mister B was usually careful and precise with his ways. Ignoring it he quickly dressed himself, flinching a few times as the soreness from the previous night's training made their revenge on the young heir's body. Sighing he straitened his yellow tie as he quickly moved towards his office, something felt off though as he slowly approached his office room. Quick moment and suddenly his butler was facing Seto, gasping for breath.

"Mister B, what is going on?" Seto asked, his hands wandering towards his computer as he waited for his butler's response.

"Young Master, there are several things but at the moment the most present danger is an invading fleet of Pirates attacking our home system as well as mass riots and civil unrest," Mister B explained quickly, "Also, though our Security Guard Force is somewhat untouched we lost about eighty percent of our Security Officer force today. They simply vanished, no trace of attack or foul play, and what's more the entire planet has gone to hell as more than just Officers has vanished but thousands and I daresay millions have vanished without a single trace, no explanation, just gone," His Butler added, practically blurting everything out as the older man slowly began to calm himself.

Seto stood there, his hand frozen above the keyboard as he slowly processed everything that was said to him. It was no practical joke that much he knew, and currently he had little time to think deeper on these vanishings as he had an invading pirate force to deal with, but what shook him the most was how disarray his home had suddenly became. Seto breathed in slowly, and exhaled just the same as he placed of his hands on the keyboard. He needed to stay calm and collectively think of a best plan of attack, Seto would be damned if he would simply loose himself to this chaos.

"Get the Security Force gather, have the remaining Officers be given much larger squads and promote their own second in command to quickly gain control and garner a sense of order," Seto explained, typing away these orders as well, sending them out, "You yourself gather three of the Officers and their squads and help them gather citizens into the Du Couteau hangers and Security Bunkers for their own safety, I myself will see if more security forces will listen to credits to help quell the riots and civil unrest," Seto explained.

His butler quickly nodded, "As you will it my young Master," Mister B said as he quickly moved to fulfill his orders. Seto knew his butler would be fine to handle everything that was assigned to him, his family hired him for more than just his Tea Making ability, He has a strong right hook Seto mused as he quickly stood up.

Seto began to try and make a HoloCall to one of the Security Companies, and perhaps after a good ten minutes Seto finally was able to meet face to face with one of the Managers, "I dare say I should write a complaint about your lousey customer service," Seto said, his sarcasm dripping, "Why am I not seeing your forces stopping riots and trying to bring some sort of order to our home planet?" Seto asked bitterly.

The older man nearly growled back, "Have you see this chaos? I'm lucky I'm still here, can't say that to a large part of my forces, and you want us to try maintain order when I can't even do so in my own Company?" He asked angrily.

"You will loose a lot more than just credits and my partnership if you don't get your act together and do your job, I will send in my own forces to help fill in the ranks if need be, since well most of them came from your company anyways," Seto explained, his eyes narrowing and daring this man to challenge back.

After a few moments of silence, "You'll get my bill Du Couteau, I'll have my Security Force help out the local constables and get the citizens to calm themselves," The man nearly grumbled.

"I'll be looking forward to paying you," Seto replied as he turned off the comms. He was angry certainly but he also knew he such little power at the moment. The authority he had wasn't nearly enough to take care of a mess of this scale. A small thought emerged from the back of his head as he wondered the state of the entire galaxy at the present moment. Shaking the thought away he had better things to think of than to dread over the chaotic mess the galaxy was currently in. Seto quickly moved to the ports as he needed to assemble his security defense fleet to offer some aid against the pirate invaders.

 

[Barkt Melan]

Drev'starn

Slumped in the corner, Nallai leveled the blaster rifle at the door, forcing back tears as the pirates raided the next room. He was gone. Barkt was one of the ones to disappear, and she was alone. The pirates had taken advantage of the situation. But she would make them pay. She was going to make them all pay.

The door burst open, and immediately the rifle fired a series of shots into his chest. As he dropped to the floor writhing, two more charged in, firing at her, bolts reflecting off the furniture. She fired again, shots ripping through the pirates. The last two, smarter than the others, turn and ran. Wrapping herself in the Force, letting it hide her form, she stalked off after them.

They would burn.

 

[Irys Arist'lar]

"All rifles set to stun?"

"Check!"

"Check!"

"Check!"

"So why are we going in without the tin men again?" asked one of the squad. Four special forces soldiers sat in the back of the LAAT as it descended towards one of the raid sites.

"Because," the Sergeant shouted over the din, "Military program droids are 7% less effective at friend and foe identification in a civilian heavy environment and so their use in civil matters is banned. They're flashing as many as they can with law enforcement protocols now, but it's slow work.

"And so, it's down to us to save the day. Try not to be too rude we showing up the police."

"We don't need the tin men anyway,"

"Damn right!"

 

[Prime]

There was a protocol for this. Prime, the first and one of the only limited releases of the Hydra War Droid program from Haor Chall and the Techno Union was awakened. The unit was made to defend the Techno Union interests, and if any of the handlers in the Haor Chall facility on Roon were disrupted for whatever reason, the unit would be awakened. Prime had found its way to the main Roon military base to scan for issues in the galaxy.

The droid had heard the request to Bothaui. The Bothans were in trouble? That would be a group to save, even if just to hang onto the SpyNet. They would be able to keep an eye open on the Techno Union. As they were known to do. Furry fleshlings.

With the call for aid heading to Bothawui, Prime calculated the odds of survival. And the general... lack of population. Approaching the drop ship, the unit sent out a pulse to the local clankers and pulled some into its consensus.

The flight did not matter to Prime. Prime was shut down for the ride. When the destroyer pulled into real space near the Serenity the drop ships were turned on.

Scanning the drop ship, that was when Prime had identified the woman. They were in the files that were uploaded into the system. One known as Alana Flag. The woman was in Santhe armor and Prime had no idea what she was doing here. This was a warzone, and she had a metal cylinder in her hand.

She gave a head tilt.

98% probability of recognition.

“Prime? Are you here for the back up?” Came the question.

“Affirmative.” Is all Prime replied with. Alana Flag's file indicated this was a VIP according to Starchaser.

When she asked the next question, the 'will you provide cover?' there was no instance between the end of her last word and the next “Affirmative.”

 

[Irys Arist'lar]

The LAAT veered through a gap between two skyscrapers, whilst the gap wasn't particularly narrow as the ship's velocity and with the bay doors slid open, it didn't seem that way to the crew.

"I didn't need a haircut today thanks!" shouted Sergeant Do'tar, Bothan leader of the small special forces team.

"Loads of room!" replied their human pilot. "That's the facility down on the right," he called through the shuttle's intercom.

"Alright, ready to go. We've got ten to twenty pirates in there, its a secure government research facility. Nasty stuff, which is why they're sending the big boys in. However, they were none too specific on the details. So...keep your shots clean, I don't want to set anything off," the Sergeant relayed to his team.

There was an affirmative response from the team, and they unlocked themselves from their seats, taking up positions next to the bay doors as the LAAT pulled a tight turn and touched down outside the walls. They dropped down to the ground and approached the shuttle nearby. A pirate stepped out from behind it, rifle held low. He started to shout a warning, but three quick stun bolts fired in remarkably right group downed him.

"Move on in!"

 

[Hira Mitsae]

Drev’starn;Bothawui

What happens when the rich are filthy rich, the poor are stinking poor, when all that stands between the two is social stigmation and an army of security protocols that should kick in the moment shet hits the fan, what happens when that entire army is gone and you are only left with a thin fragile fragment of a social web?

Riots.

Riots, fire, destruction on a mass scale and at the last anarchy. It was exactly what was currently happening on Bothawui, all across the planet and centered on the capital city of Drev’starn, there were multiple factions currently vying for control. They see the Abrion Corporate Alliance, they see how weak it is at the moment and think to themselves something along the lines of.

‘Why not take some of that?’

The man with the sniper rifle, perching on one of the rooftops overlooking a big parade slash riot slash hippy festival ‘sgot that answer for ya. Here’s the thing with being me and more importantly working for the SpyNet and [member=Raziel], the most vital part of the job was to get shet done.

So as I looked through the scope of my verpine shatter rifle I couldn’t help but feel pity for the poor bastards down low. They really were just trying to get a better future for themselves, but breaking the laws that governed our fine nation while trying to accomplish that?

I’d have to stamp a big nope on that one.

My sights were set on the leader of this current incursion, Boswell Darkini, human male, average height, average weight- average everything really. What wasn’t average was his accomplishment in rallying the crowd, intel suggests that taking him out of the equation will break apart this rebel front.

Personally I feel like it could only make matters worse, but what do I know?

Send a silent prayer in his name to the skies and then pulled the trigger.

Fast-propellered slug, silent and deadly, rushed through the air. It’s speed ensuring a few thousands of air molecules broke down during the trip and finally met the warm, hard resistance of his ribcage, before ripping through it and his heart.

Blood splattered everywhere.
For a moment, silence.

Then chaos reigned.

 

[Prime]

The new directive was simple. Protect the meatsack Alana. Escort Alana to her mission, and ensure her survival. She had passed over a datachip to Prime and the droid too it, inserting it into its systems. This data was flooding the operating system and replacing the current directive as the primary.

They were going to reestablish the infrastructure. And apparently it was going to be tricky. That was just... wonderful, really. Prime probably needed a memory wipe, however, the droid was still looking forward to wearing the skins of the fallen meat sacks as its trophy.

The droid had programing quirks. Should it be organic, it would be called 'having issues.'

When the ship touched down and the other droids activated, they formed a circle around Alana and began proceeding towards the capital. The fire was light, so far, but they did land on the outskirts. Making their way forward would just get heavier.

 

[Seto du Couteau]

Seto's footsteps quickened as he approached his docking port, his pilots quickly trying to get the several starships prepped for flight. The chaos that the disappearance caused was felt in all levels of life, Seto himself felt strained himself as he boarded one of the gunboats. His fingers graced along the two hilts of his sabers that were on either side of him. Regardless of his training he still felt somewhat attached to his training lightsaber but that was not to say he wouldn't bring something lethal. Seto's eyes focused on his Family's sword. Curved slightly, an excellent weapon made for slashing and slicing, his smirk grew slightly as he felt his ship slowly raise and prepare to leave for orbit.

"Get the rest of the pilots to begin prepping the Bulk Freighters, I want supplies for Aid for the people when we reach Bothawui, the other Starfighters will guard and escort them," Seto commanded. His voice firm as he detailed his order once more on his datapad and sending out written orders to rest of his company to gather the supplies and load them into the bulks. "As for ourselves," Seto started as he turned his attention to the rest of his own personal guards and pilots, "We will be the advance party, so prepare for a fight," Seto said. Their nods were the only thing Seto needed for them to show that their employer that they understood.

--

Seto stayed in his own enclosed room onboard the ship, his eyes closed as he stood on a balance ball with one leg. His focus and concentration solely on keeping his head clear and without distraction from such a strange and tragic disaster that had befall upon the galaxy. Sweat pouring down his face and forming a large pool near the bottom of Seto as he finally relaxed himself and jumped off, landing squarely on a towel. He quickly began to dry himself, stepping into the refresher he allowed a few moments of the warm water to slowly ease the tensed muscles before allowing the cool water to refresh his worn muscles. He made quick actions to dry himself and gather his clothing as an alarm went off to notify him that they were soon to exit hyperspace.

Dressed in his usual garb, slightly bulkier with some added padding and slim chest and back armor plates, Seto straightened his yellow tie as he approached the cockpit room and nodded at one of the nearest pilots as they broke out of hyperspace. The planet Bothawui laid in front of their eyes, some lights every now and then erupted as Seto guessed was the attacking and defending fleets going at it, he nodded as the gunboat quickly engaged their sublight drives to full throttle and made a bee line towards the planet. The space battle was not exactly what Seto had intended for himself to engage in, and he ordered his pilot to steer clear and head directly for the capital and to reinforce the defending populace.

Seto itched incredibly as his fingers ran through the black hair part of his head, his annoyance was visible as his ship broke through the atmosphere and quickly decreasing the distance between them and the city under attacked. The fires were spreading slowly, but there were fires and Seto felt uneasy about his plan as his pilot tried to find a place to land, it took a few moments to find a somewhat cleared and open patch of street as Seto gestured for his personal guards to follow him. Flanked by four on either side each held an E-12 type blaster rifle and were wearing power-suit armor courtesy of Du Couteau engineering, the Logo flashing out on both shoulderpads. "Go secure the perimeter, I want this place to quickly become a safe zone for civilians as our Bulk Freighter ships arrive later, stay on guard and await for further orders," Seto ordered as he left them to their own devices as to how they should follow their employer's orders.

Seto turned around, looking around the city as he took in a deep breathe. His smirk emerged slowly as he walked back into his transport ship, moments later out of the ramp Seto slowly pushed out his 105-K Lancer Bike. Modified for speed and dashing looks Seto climbed on, his senses flaring as he revved once and took off into the deeper part of the city. Easily maneuvering through the streets Seto felt a wave of anguish and distress as he saw crowds of people running away, more fires erupted as he saw and heard blaster fire not several meters away. His eyes narrowed as he gave another burst of speed before leaping off and landing behind another what looked like a dysfunctional speeder car. His senses felt two hostile personals, Seto quickly ignited his training saber and jumped over to confront the two pirates terrorizing the escaping civilians. Their faces of surprise as they looked upon a Knight, but they quickly adjusted as their riffles were raised at him.

Seto moved in quickly, his blade raised in defense as his training exercises honed his body to not just deflect blaster bolts but as well move forward without too much concern. Seto side stepped as one of the pirates moved in quickly to attack him with a dagger but Seto felt the danger and blocked neatly before sweeping low with his own leg to trip up the first pirate before switching dominating hands on his saber. Slashing to the right the rifle smashed into the training saber but to the pirate's own surprise it did not slice through. Seto's right hand released its hold as it took out his steel saber and slashed towards the second's pirate's throat. Seto jumped backwards to avoid the blood, his steel saber found its next target on the floor. Before the first pirate regained himself his steel saber found its mark and slashing into the man's back and stabbing into his chest.

His eyes burned angrily as he wiped away the blood off of his steel saber with one of the dead pirate's clothing, his placed it back on his left side of his waist. Seto moved slowly towards his speeder as he wondered how many more streets were filled with rampaging pirates and defenseless civilians. Seto wasn't an overly emotional man, but he knew his moral code of justice would not let this stand.

 

[Ronan Nakasla]

"Sir, you've received a message." came the chime from his secretary's desk. Sigma frowned. He preferred to get his messages directly. He shot her a pointed look through the glass wall and she quickly tapped the button to forward to his inbox.

"Oh, look at that..." he muttered as he read the message. It was a kind of emergency response that was intended to be shot out to Norongachi. He worked a little technological trickery and made it so he got relayed such messages at Sudoka instead. He gave a little grin and stood, swept around, and tapped a control panel to a weapons locker. It slid open, revealing some basic durasteel armour, a Verpine Shatter Gun, and a few other toys like grenades, two lightsabers... the list could go on like a boy scout's inventory. Whatever a boy scout is. He slipped into what was essentially a closet and changed into the armour. He holstered the gun. He clipped his lightsabers to his belt. He adjusted a strap that came loose, then he exited and waked past the secretary's desk.

"I'm going out, keep the house safe, sweetie." he called out as he left. He had business to attend to.

- - -​

​

O-B
STOP PIRATES
-

He never liked Bothawui. Really. It was so... fuzzy... and reminded him of when Omega was assassinated. That just fuelled him, though, these days. And he felt the rage beneath him as his little rental shuttle hovered over the capitol. He felt the conflict and nearly fed off it... nearly. He was as unskilled in the draining arts as a womp rat. He'd have to fix that soon. Personal thoughts, aside, he patted the hull of the shuttle and the pilot dove down into the conflict zone. As they neared, the wartime bloodlust grew like a decadent aroma. Something to win over the palate and tantalise what was to come. Such was a delectable overture to the main course. The shuttle wasn't even close to the surface yet, but he slipped right out the door.

Air rushed past the metal-encased figure. He could hear it howling. Proximity sensors alerted as he neared the ground. He spun to aim for a hub of conflict between ACA and Pirates, and then gathered his will within himself. The excess Force energy that existed naturally was drawn to him like a magnet, and it gathered. Coiled. Intertwined like a serpent. Until it converted to telekinetics and created a bubble. That bubble hit the ground. The paving material cracked and erupted upwards, launching chunks of rock into the air. Assembled fighters scattered, but were smashed all the same by falling debris. Second to the concussive earthquake-like wave of destruction came the electrical discharge of whatever the telekinetics didn't use. Sigma couldn't contain that much power within his body, after all. The bolts arced out and lanced through machinery, circuits, city wiring. They ricocheted through unfortunate victims, what little will Ash could impart on them directing them more toward pirates than ACA soldiers, but when your energy was from the wild Force... there was collateral damage. A nearby building, rocked to the core by the dual assault, slid down off its support structure and cascaded into another building, crumbling as it fell and grinding off the side of its counterpart.

In the centre of the crater, Sigma rose. His Force signature had waned slightly with the discharge, but now that he was energising again, the bands of energy he called to him and released like a conduit arced out like an electrical coil or a solar flare. He climbed out of the impact site with deliberate slowness, his senses locked onto one of the few living still in his immediate area. Luckily, one of the pirates. He wasted no time and honed his focus, and the Force under his will, to slither around the man in an uncomfortable, locking embrace. By Valente's will the pirate rose to face the black-clad man and after a tense moment, the one who was walking destruction spoke.

"Where is your leader?"

@HWD-001 "Prime"
[member="Irys Arist'lar"]

 

[Irys Arist'lar]

Secure Research Facility
Outskirts of Breil
NPC Sergeant Do'tar

His carbine stayed tucked into his shoulder as he advanced slowly through the facility. They made no noise as they moved, but they had to stay cautious. They could heart a noise in the distance, but that didn't mean there were not more sentries tucked behind corners. Do'tar very carefully stepped through another blast door. Much like the previous ones they had cut straight through. With a hand signal he waved two of his men forwards, whilst he placed a hand near the severed edge of the door. Warmer than the last, they were on the right track.

They hadn't seen many civilians so far. The ones they had seen had been efficiently killed, small groupings to the head or chest. This group of pirates were highly skilled and after something specific. He was beginning to grow concerned that these weren't really pirates, but another faction using the chaos to strike. They were too well organised, they were striking a supposedly secret facility and doing so efficiently.

"Contact," whispered a voice in his ear.

He moved up to one of his squad mates, but was indicated to stay still. He could just see someone across the research lab, settled down and near-asleep in a chair, a blaster across his lap.

 

[Not Ordo]

The epic form of the great ship dropped from hyperspace and hung unmoving for a long moment. Helmetus looked out the viewport and made grabby hands at the world.

"I claim this world in the name of me." He said, "what is it called?"

"Bothawui lord Helmetus." Major Rod said leaning away.

"What?"

"Yes m'lord. Bothawui."

"Name it Dodge and get me the heck out of it. "

"As you wish Lord Helmetus."

"I DO WISH FETHER!"

"HAIL HELMETUS!"

"Fething right hail me."

The work of claiming the world done they added it to the galactic empire and went to bring order to the next mudball.

 

[Barkt Melan]

Four long steps brought Nallai into the hall. Raising the rifle as she walked, she fired a series of five shots into the back of one of the fleeing pirates. The other rounded the corner, and the Bothan paused. Smiling, she closed her eyes for a moment, and her form slowly vanished, as if a current of invisibility wrapped around her. The man, not sure if he was being followed, peaked around the corner to see nothing. As he slowly walked to the door, intent on doing some looting, she drew a knife and grabbed his throat as he passed. Shocked, he dropped his pistol as the weapon stuck into him. The Rifle shot two rounds into his chest, and she moved on, coming back into sight as she stalked off.

Five down, eighty-something to go.

 

[Irys Arist'lar]

"All hands, all hands!" came the call over the tannoy. Officers rushed back and forth, some veritably leaping into their seats. The Jupitus slewed about slowly. They still lacked engine power, and main guns, but the new enemy did not know that. Cronau sensors processed rapidly as active sweeps started to pick out the details of the newly arrived fleet.

"Is it the Protectorate?" Irys called.

"No Ma'am!"

"Then..."

"Unknown class, there's a clear broadcast being sent out!"

"Put it through to my console, and get me targetting information now. I was a prioritised list and...." Irys started. "What in feth is a Helmetus?"

"Ma'am, they're leaving the system," called an ensign from his station.

Irys watched the tactical display as the lights winked out one by one. She rested back in her chair, the initial relief at not having to engage an enemy without main guns was slowly replaced with confusion and anger. "When one of you has worked out what just happened, please fill me in?"

[member="Darthka Helmetus"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

Living in a Corporate Nation ain't the most pleasant of affairs. Sure, the dental care was superb, if you worked ya even had a decent change of getting a reasonable wage. But ya had to pay in other rights, which was made apparent ten seconds after Cassidy's bullet burrowed its way through the insurgent's head, the moment the crowd wanted to go wild... control settled in, in the form of a few hundred well equipped soldiers streaming in from all the sides and doing damage control.

Tear-gas, riot shields, you name it and it was used against those poor bastards. Adrian sighed and activated his earpiece, establishing a commlink with the commander in charge there.

'Good timing, commander. They were about to go wild. I am bugging out now, godspeed.'

 

[Raziel]

Secure Research Facility
Outskirts of Breil
NPC Sergeant Do'tar

The special forces soldier was nigh-on impossible to spot moving through the shadows. Do'tar watched in silence as he came close up behind the resting pirate. Najik was a devious little Rodian bastard, but he was an asset to the team when it came to this kind of work. One hand came out, empty and open, the other arched back holding a stun baton.

In one smooth motion the soldier unfolded from the shadows, the stun baton was gently applied to the back of the neck and then he grabbed him by the neck before he could make a commotion. The pirate was gradually lowered to the ground. Najik was a wiry little bugger, but he was stronger than he looked.

Do'tar moved up with the rest of the fire team, each of them ensuring their firing arcs overlapped to cover the team without even thinking about it. They formed up around the downed pirate and the Sergeant took a moment to rifle through his equipment. Well kept weapons, a local ID - probably forged - and an expensive comm unit. No doubt, this wasn't a pirate with the rest of the attacking force. This was a foreign power taking advantage of the confusion.

 

[Ronan Nakasla]

The lifeless body fell to the ground, useless peon that it was. The moment the words 'I don't know anything, I swear' left his mouth, his usefulness had ceased. Sigma's attentions turned toward the area surrounding him. He hadn't meant to make quite the crater, but... such was how things went. The cluster of battle had completely dispersed, and he could hear a few shots off in different areas. The strategy had changed. Now Sigma was on the hunt. He could feel the tension pulsing through the city like a twisted heartbeat. He followed the pulses, feeling his way to his prey without truly knowing what he was feeling. That inexorable vibration of the Force that drew him like a writhing insect in a spider's web. His steps fell evenly on the ground. Small piles of rubble crunched under his steel boots. His mind was everywhere, snaking through buildings as he passed them and scanning for danger as much as he was scanning for that cursed pirate leader. Reflexively, Sigma shifted his weight and moved to his left, and a bullet tore through the faceplate of his helmet and left a gash across his right cheek. In an instinctual grab, that projectile halted its path and spun in the air, a warning of the danger the sniper had brought upon itself. Ash moved from the middle of the street to see another bullet chip the ground where he was standing. His helmet's visor scanned that pock mark and approximated a trajectory.

The pirate leader could wait. For now. There was a more irritating creature to extinguish.

 

[Malok]

Order.

For the most part, the governments of the Galaxy were more than capable of keeping peace and stability present upon their worlds. However, in the wake of what has become known as "the Rapture", literal billions of souls had vanished. Vehicles were suddenly left without operators. Vital services were left without maintainers. Military forces were left bereft. This all culminated with a single, common trait across the Galaxy: complete and utter chaos.

Personally, the Sith did not know which was worse. The Hell that he had escaped from, or the hell that now terrorized the Galaxy. Regardless, he had a few obligations to uphold. The Abrion Systems Authority was once a freedom-centric nation known as the Confederacy. During its fledgling years, this nation forged a bond with Stargo Defense Enterprises; going so far as to rely upon it to create its shipyard and naval vessels. Even in the wake of Druckenwell's destruction and the shift of the nation to a corporate-centric entity, SDE stayed true to its word. Ships and droids were perpetually provided, and today so would assistance.

As such, a small congregation of SDE vessels arrived from the depths of hyperspace. Easily idenfiable by means of IFF, these ships immediately began to disperse dropships to the planet's surface. In this situation, the ASA could benefit from more boots on the ground, as rioting and looting was going to get out of hand fast. And, to make matters more interesting, there were IFF-lacking ships in orbit. Pirates? Raiders? No matter, they were all targets today.

"Helmsman. Hail the ASA forces. Let them know our intentions." said the Sith. Seated upon the command "throne" of the lead SDE vessel, Darth Metus set about issuing orders to his forces. However, he was not about to let his voice sound about the open channel. That was just asking for trouble. "Yes, my Lord." replied the helmsman.

"Attention ASA forces, this is the SDE Expeditionary Fleet. We are here to lend a hand. Dropships have been sent to the surface to assist in getting things under control. Requesting clearance to engage the enemy forces."

[member="Ash Valente"], [member="Raziel"], [member="Adrian Cassidy"], [member="Irys Arist'lar"], [member="Kronos"]