Profit Margins (Cato Neimoidia)

[Jack Rowland Clark]

The 5th fleet flashed out of hyperspace and Jack was met with a Namodian fleet right out of the gate. The Nemodian fleet was moving to engage the main battle cluster on it's right flank, but that wasn't going to happen. There were also bigger problems, waves of ancient vulture droids had begun filling the void of space and blotting out the stars like Omni's droids had.

"Scramble the fighters and have a screen move to engage enemy fighters in our path to the Nemodian fleet, send a second screen to assist Admiral Noir." With the carrier in his fleet, Jack had more fighters than he knew what to do with so he might as well send a few to give his allies an edge. The Nedmodians were currently facing away from his fleet, which was both good and bad. They could only deliver a minimal amount of fire unless they turned one of their sides to face him, but his fleet faced a similar issue. He did, however, have one thing that would give him a slight advantage before the enemy completed their turn to attack him. Jack held on tight as the ancient fighters began bombarding his shields, this ship and its iron coverings quacking like it was on some intergalactic fault line. "I want the Heavy cruiser and frigate battle lines to give our capital ships space to form a forward firing line, tell them I want concussion missiles up those ships asses five minutes ago!" The capital ships had forward facing concussion missile launchers, with some laser fire support they could take out the engines of a few ships with no fighting.

"aye sir!" was shouted by a few men and woman before his orders were carried out. His fleet and arrived in a standard arrow shape assault formation. Currently the fleet looked like a staircase in space, the capital ships at the top, floating just bellow them were the heavy cruisers, and below them the frigates. Now however, they were shifting into a more reliable formation. The kept the arrow shape but they were putting an extra forty kilometers between each firing line. The only ships breaking formation were the capital ships that began forming a horizontal line, facing the Nemodian fleet.

Just as the fire order was about to be given a Ion shot swept right across the nose of the Spirit of War . "Damnit! That Ion cannon has to go, get me a signal to the ground teams and see if there are AA emplacements protecting that thing! If there isn't send a bomber squad to blow that thing to the force!" Jack looked back towards the Nemodian fleet, which had just begun to turn their starboard sides towards jacks fleet. They only had a few minutes to seize the opportunity "Fire all forward facing weapons, when the shields are minimal I want those torpedoes tearing space!"

It was magnificent to watch a firing line begin its assault. Space would light up like a festival as the plasma and laser beams shot through the void towards their targets...it was beautiful, blues and greens impacting the shields of a ship was like nothing ever seen before. The shields in the back of the ships were weak, and it took only seconds for the concentrated fire to break through two of the 16 cruisers. The Nemoidan fleet he faced had the cruisers, 18 frigates and two capital ships. Overall more ships than the 5th, but they were all older and lower classed designs that could not stand toe to toe with Republic steel. Within the next few moments a good portion of the fleets shields were down, but they had almost completed their tun and brought their engines out of sight...he needed to act now "Fire torpedoes now!" . In sync with his orders, the missiles lit the sky as they flew straight and true, their targets never leaving their sights. A few fighters were able to take the hit for the big ships, but five of the eight missiles still made it to their destinations. The resulting fireballs blinded Jack as three frigates and a heavy cruiser exploded into blue and green waves of fire and energy as their engines overloaded and their hulls breached by the missiles. This would be the only easy battle of the day now that they were about ready to fire back.

"Okay everybody, let's show this green frogs how the Republic fights. Commence a box and smash." Jack's maneuver was one of his own. It was truly a simple process. The heavy cruiser and frigate wings would merge into a single firing 'wall' that would block enemy ships from moving forward or backward. This would put his owns ships at risk of hitting each other, but their was a trick to the maneuver. Each Frigate and heavy cruiser had to take great care in snuggling their ship right behind the enemy ship so that it could be used as cover. Even if they were to be hit by their own men, the damage would be light. While this was happening the capital ships would also form a 'wall" and begin moving towards the enemy and firing their weapons, being capital ships they had a good amount of armament on their bows. The enemy would be getting hit from three sides and they would only be able to attack one effectively, unless they turned to face the frigates or heavy cruisers. No matter where they turned, however, their most vital sections of the ship would be hit by one of the firing 'walls'. The only fault in the maneuver was that capital ships still posed a huge risk...that's why they get targeted first.

 

[Kyrana Gould]

Republic ships were moving into action on either side, but before them was the Neimodian fleet. Droid fighters came forward, old and new ones alike.
"All fighters, engage the enemy. Concentrate your fire, keep them away from the capital ships."

Republic fighters moved to engage, using blasters and missiles to destroy droids. It was a hard fight though, and the result by no means assured.

Meanwhile his Star Defenders moved into position and began a long range bombardment of the Lucrehulk battleships....

 

[Delila Castillon]

@[member="Anemone Nivalis"] | @[member="Davin Jusik"] | @[member="Gezzo"]

A series of medium-sized transports landed on the edges of the capital city, Zarra. Bridges were everywhere....The 73rd was going to have a difficult time with things. The bridges spanned huge,huge rock arches and valleys. One fall and splat....Shaking her head, Delila unloaded with her soldiers on the large platform. Davin and his small team were moving in to infiltrate the city, get to some high ranking official. Their job was to slowly make their way in and help extract the small handpicked team.

"Lets move out 73rd. Daylight is burning"

Delila brought out a hand-sized datapad and summoned a map of Zarra. It changed over time with troop placement and goals, since she was a Major now she had more to keep track of than one company. Try four. Separating on three of the bridges, the 73rd was heading in a loose semi-circle. Little did they know once their feet would cross on the other side of the long bridge battle droids by the hundreds would be waiting.

Looking over the edge of the bridge-shaking slightly due to the footsteps of the soldiers, Delila turned towards the Lieutenant.

"Long way down, huh Doc?"

 

[Moira Skaldi]

@[member="Delila Castillon"], @[member="Gezzo"], @[member="Davin Jusik"], @[member="Anemone Nivalis"]

By now the Republic Intelligence surveillance had noted that Republic Army units had landed on Cato Neimoidia, though up there in orbit the space battle still seemed to be in full swing. Specifically they had received information that a battalion of the 73rd Infantry had been deployed on the outskirts of Zarra.

Admittedly this meant interfering with an army unit over which the intel officers had no authority and which doubtlessly had other orders, but Moira was not the sort to let protocol interfere. Moreover, the Republic had decided that Tan Weedin surviving was a mission priority so that he could serve as a pawn...no, democratic leader of Cato Neimoidia by the will of the people.

So not long ago after landing a quick comm message was sent over the frequency of the 73rd Infantry. Moira was already heading out of the hideout and moving into the shadows, following the coordinates. Moreover, Tan Weedin's stronghold was on the outskirts of the city, in one of the areas where the police had given up attempts to restore order. But now droid troops were moving into position to storm his lines, but things could look differently if the Republic troops intercepted.

"This is Moira Skaldi, Republic Intel. Droid forces are mobilising to eliminate our collaborator Weedin. His forces will be unable to hold out. His men are evacuating, requesting support to ensure his survival."

The rest of his men didn't matter really. Them dying heroically would give the whole affair the necessary pathos. Well, it would be good if some survived because otherwise he would look just as cowardly as his people were said to be.

"Transmitting coordinates," there was a brief pause when there was a crackle in her earpiece as the technicians fed her new information. "Pinpointed your location, Major, substantial droid forces are amassing on the other side."

 

[Darron Wraith]

"No Padak, you will be leading the ground forces for the Jedi on Cato Neimodia. I entrust you to take out their large Ion cannon, do your former Master proud."

Darron patted his former pupil on the shoulder before waving a goodbye to the Jedi as they left the room. Adamant company moved as one for the door, and not many words where said as they made their way to the room where they would be suiting up and "launching" from. The subtle vibrations of the engines going full speed towards the drop zone for those on the ground team could be felt in the halls as they made their way to the room. Jedi ran to and fro getting ready for their assignments, and the GrandMaster knew that within a minute the ground team would be launched. His team only had a few minutes until they reached the point for their launch, and he knew it would be quite risky. Then again, when was a Jedi Mission not risky?

BOOM!!

The sounds of turbolasers, ion cannons, and explosions could be barely heard. Darron paid them no mind though as he found the locker that had his suit, without a word he took off his traditional battle gear and quickly put on the body suit and the armored over layer. A few snaps later and he had the air thrusters on as well, a few more moments passed and the armored boots and gloves where on as well. The Jedi Master pulled his hair back into a ponytail before slipped the hood over his head that would keep his hair in place so he could wear the helmet. Blue eyes looked over his team, and he saw Ben and Seroth were almost dressed as well....then he saw Jaxton.

"That suit is tight on all of us, but you look like you painted your's on Jaxton. Don't move too much out in the vacumn in a few minutes.." Darron paused as he tried to not laugh as he continued. "You might rupture your suit!" He could help himself with that last line, Jaxton was a massive man, that was the only reason the suit was so tight on him. A moment passed as the team laughed together, then Darron found his composure he looked at the clock above. They had two minutes until they where launched at the Trade Federation ship. Seeing that there wasn't much time left, Darron quickly stored his lightsabers and the relevant equipment for the mission into his pack before clipping it onto his back.

The GrandMaster paced to the front of the airlock, and addressed his team briefly as he put the helmet on his head. The face plate and visor stayed retracted so his face was still visible, although the neck plating had already clipped onto the helmet.

"Alright guys, our new Supreme Commander told me maybe one out of a hundred of his men could do this type of insertion onto a ship. I bet him four Jedi could do it, so lets prove him right and get this ship for the Republic. The less power the Trade Federation has the better prices will be for the lower class in the area, and it will knock down on slave labor. I know it's not really a Jedi mission, but we are liberating innocent people. This is more of a long road action, so please bear with us."

Darron walked a little further into the airlock as he continued to talk, they had one minute until launch.

"We are going to be shot out of this room, and guide the 300 meters of open space, and avoid all debris and hostile fire. We have already hacked into their ship, and we should be able to get into a maintenance room where we can switch on life support from there. We are to disable all hostiles, take over the bridge, and disable their droid armies so those on the surface and those in aerial combat can have no opposition. We clear?"

Blue eyes shifted to the counter, they had 45 seconds.
"Alright everyone, faceplates and visors on. Turn your HUDS on, and let the Force carry you through this. I expect to see all of you on the ship, may the Force be with you all."

Darron turned and knelt down, placing both of his armored hands on the floor. A face plate formed over his mouth and nose, and sealed as a visor slid over to protect him from the void. Oxygen began to pump into the mask as his heads up display activated, they had 10 seconds. Just as he was about to issue more orders, the door opened, and they where launched into the void.

@[member="Ben Watts"] @[member="Seroth Ur-Rahn"] @[member="Jaxton Ravos"] @[member="Padak Arciso"]

 

[Jonathan Walsh]

Preservation-Class Star Defender the Liberty
They warped in on the flank and the fleet began battle immediatly. All landing craft began to deploy, and of course the fighters lauched, This was going to be tough becasue iinside those ships lied so many droid fighters that it was a scary though. Admiral Walsh braced him self as alerts fleew about the cannon.. Damn it all, he thought as he gave orders to focus on it. It was time to show his fleet's might as they engaged the enemy, their appearnance still not fully realized, their fighers began to rake through the enemy but not for long, soon the effect of the suprise wore off but it had bought them just what they needed they had gotten troops on the surface.

 

[Padak Arciso]

Padak nodded as Darron told him his mission. Leading the ground assault on the ion cannon! He never thought he would be given a position of command so soon. Padak turned and headed to the hangers, looking for the dropships headed for the Ion Cannon emplacment. He found them, and got ready, checking his saber and the body armor under his robes. Listening to the chatter all around and feeling the Force around him.

 

[Seydon of Arda]

Soft rockings and judders in the deck plating beneath their boots belied the ferocity of the fleet engagement taking place beyond the shielded corridors and keening bulkheads. PA speakers blared general commands from the harried bridge, several jogging teams of replacement gunnery crews passing by the Adamant Company. Republic Marines manned ever second hallway porticullis, broad shouldered gents with jaws so squared you could cut flint against the bone. Sub-sonic boarding rifles, concussive solid-slug shotguns meant to pierce most body armour types without levelling holes through the pressurized walling, laid strapped to their thickly armoured and harnessed barrel chests. They cleared the four Jedi through each checkpoint crux and bade them hurry on their way. There was a keening howl of warping durasteel and the vessel rocked slightly, forcing many to readjust their footing. Adamant Company strolled on obliviously.

They squeezed into a too-small depressurization chamber normally reserved for EXO repair servicemen, bustling and knocking shoulders to peel open the locker pannels. Seroth was directly behind the meaty slab of Jaxton's shoulders, taking care to periodically duck beneath the Zeltron's elbow swings. The 'flight suits' were glinting ensembles of white livery, bicep-guards stitched with general Naval insignia, whilst micro-layers sealed into the inner body sleeves ran with chilled water and downsized circuitry. And if Jaxton Ravos was by far the tallest of the imposing comrades, Seroth Ur-Rahn was the shortest. At 5'11, his EXO suit left an inch or too of space within the helm confines, the shoulder padding and shin guards feeling a tad loose. As Darron ran through a quick gist of this heavily endangered enterprise, Seroth finished his last checks over the guard seals across his wrist, boot, and throat guards. A hiss of 8O gave his ears reason to briefly pop.

Methodical, he was the last of the Company to finish apply sealent procedures to his EXO-pack, battle harness and favoured hilts clicked neatly into adjustable storage clamps. Darron was on the last tee-minus fifteen seconds as Ben Watts aided the youth in swiftly fastening the pack to his lowered shoulders. All four took up position, knelt down to the grey and flint-blue decking, sprinters eager for the coming run. Lines of data sprang up over the AR HUD of his helmet glass. Tee-minus five... Four...

Three...

Two...

One...

Seroth was jerked forward in a sudden, explosive gust of depressurization. His chest tightened while his stomach coiled into a core of icy iron, somersaulting forward. It was five turns before he forced his body to snap rigid as an arrow, booster and C02 packs clamped to his calves, spine, and shoulders gusting him forward into the void. For a moment, he was mesmerized. Cato Neimoidia glowed below. Endless starlight and brush strokes of dust and gas held perfect sway overhead. ...Then, off to their immediate 'southern' flank, something detonated with a concussive burn of ionized petrol and glittering swarms of slashing metallic chaff flakes. They powered through, clearing a fast sixty meters as the closest Lucrehulk Battleship dominated the battlefield horizon.

On every side, schools of droid fighters winging through intricate avoidance routines gunned by. The vibrations of their flairing propulsion systems radiated through their suit lining, filling their helms with pitched engine screams and brief moments of electronic droid canter. Ahead, something like a cross-thatch of bright reddened light shrieked, threatening to overtake their hurried approach. Adamant Company banked away, a turbo-laster bolt searing the vacant space and causing flares of warmth to nearly boil through their flight-suits protective outerlining. A flight U-Wings rolled overhead and dove down to engage an onrush of TF interceptors, laser cannons and missile shutes bursting through shielding and dorsal hulling.

Booster-pack nozzles flaring white-hot, CO2 guidance adjusters hissing every other second, they closed in on the last one hundred meters. The Trade Federation battle vessel was a relic bristling with newer gunnery welded and hard-wire slaved to the immense Core Ball settled in behind the hangar-arms pinching across. The final kilometer was the most harrowing, the four ludicrously hardy Jedi in a constant weave, avoiding pitching schools of droid flights and banking shots screaming from the hull turbo-cannons. The last twenty meters, they reversed their calve-nozzles and cranked their legs forward to the onrushing hull. HUD alerts blinked red-light warnings to reduce speed. Seroth felt his frame judder as his momentum carried him down sixteen feet out from the AR outlined maintenance hatch, mag-boots slamming to the durasteel casing and locking his steps down. "Clear!" He voxed.

 

[Gezzo]

Gezzo listened as the spy gave them the update on their ally on this planet that they were supposed to be liberating. In truth this didn't seem much like a liberation...it seemed just like back on Geonosis....hives burning each other to the ground for power...would this happen to his home one day? Maybe...and maybe he wasnt fighting for what he thought he was fighting for, war was war and he was born to win but...maybe he needed to reconsider who he was fighting for. "Major, i will take to the skies with a few of my jet troopers, I can get their faster to help the Nemodian"

 

[Anemone Nivalis]

A first. It was Anemone's first assignment out with the 73rd. Her heart was racing, though just slightly. To be honest, she wasn't fully aware of what to expect. She aware that their main objective on Cato Neimoidia was to secure a transition of power, but there was always more to this type of assignment than that. She simply had to remain prepared for whatever was thrown at her. It wasn't as if this was the first time she had left Coruscant on a mission. Just the first time she had done it with so much work at her own hands.

Her head panned about as she stepped off the large platform, and onto the planet's surface. Numerous bridges sprawled across the area. That alone made her slightly nervous. This terrain was not going to be friendly to the 73rd, which means it wasn't going to be kind to her either. Anemone's head quickly snapped forward as the Major's words reached her ears. Boots on ground not even 10 minutes, and they were pushing forward. It was hard for her to predict what was in store, especially since she was attached to an Infantry unit now.

With a quick pace in step, Anemone trotted to catch up her Major Castillon, though her steps slowed considerably once they reached the bridge. With a deep inhale, she carefully walked onto the bridge, looking over slightly as she did. It wasn't until the Major's words hit her ears once more, did she realize what failing to cross the bridge would mean. "Uh..yeah. A little too long for my liking."


@[member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""]Delila Castillon
@[member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""]Davin Jusik
@[member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""]Gezzo

 

[Damian Starchaser]

Another volley from the old trade federation vessel caused Cabbal to lose his footing. He slipped and caught him himself on a rail standing back up. He watched the displays and saw the fighters coming up from Jack Rowans fleet. "Send my compliments to Admiral Rowan." Good man that Jack. With the addition fighters helping with the screen the massive cloud of droid fighters began to dissipate. This allowed him to focus on the larger vessel bringing the full weight of his vessels guns to bear on them. He split the two old trade federation hulks by driving his ship up the middle. The fighters divided in perfect precision and the rest of his battle squadron flanked around the side to gang up on the lone cruiser. His ship took the brunt of the beating, but his other vessels would wrap around to finish off the enemy soon enough.

OOC: Sorry its so short and doens't move along but its my birthday and my friends are throwing a thing for me. So I'm trying to post in as many places as I can as quickly as possible.

 

[Jaxton Ravos]

@[member="Seroth Ur-Rahn"] @[member="Darron Wraith"] @[member="Ben Watts"]

It seemed the Republic Navy only made space suits for men up to 6'3, which was fine for Seroth and Master Watts, and a bit stuffy for the Grandmaster. Jaxton however, looked like a Zekkeg packed in a cannok cage. He felt pressure all across his body, and he just knew if moved he would break a seal, lose oxygen, and freeze to death.

"I'm gonna kill whoever came up with this plan." Jaxton grumbled, until he began hearing a countdown, and then quickly but clumsily put himself into position. Jaxton had pretty good balance from his Grav-ball days, but flopped around like a fish. This was gonna suck.

One.

Jaxton heard and then the airlock was unsealed, Jaxton and the three others being shot out of the ship like darts. He strafed left, right, up and down to avoid the shot and fighters that swerved all around them. "E chu ta!" Jaxton cursed in huttuse as he just barely pushed himself out the way of a droid fighter coming at them. He looked up and saw Seroth begin to turn, trying to land on his feet. Jaxton began pulling his feet upward from his head first, pointed frame, but could not do so quick enough and landed flat on his face.

"This wasn't in the job description Master Wraith." Jaxton said as the shock of the impact traveled through his body and he forced himself to a standing position, his grav-boots linking to the hull.

 

[Darron Wraith]

Darron had only felt this sensation a few times in his whole life, most of the time they had been drops onto hostile worlds or battle stations. This on the other hand was entirely foreign, scary, and absolutely exhilarating. The human in him couldn't help but love the adrenaline rush as he banked left, right, up, and down to avoid debris and blaster fire. The Jedi Master didn't even allow himself conscious thought as the Force gently guided him to safety with every oncoming threat. It allowed him to honestly enjoy the spectacle around, and blue eyes soaked up the battle around. It was one thing to look at a battle from the ground, and another to be in a cruiser or frigate while in one. Flying around in a starfighter was an entirely differently experience as well, but this was something that he would never forget. To feel just how small he was in the entire scope of things was both humbling and amazing, and to know that the Force was guiding him made it all the better. Though the 300 meters between the two vessels didn't feel quite as far as it did now that they were closing in on the door that they had hacked.

"Open the door...now?"

There was a question to the end of his comm transmission to the bridge of the Teferi. At the speed they were going nothing would slow them down but an impact, and it would kill them unfortunately.

"Opening the door now sir, and initiating life support for the entire ship. Prepare to get sucked into a vacuum sir, and may the Force be with you GrandMaster."

"Thank you very much Knight Aroth."

His comm beeped to signal the communication was over, and right before his eyes the door opened with only 5 meters to spare. Thankfully the vacuum created by the reactivated life support systems corrected all four of their courses. With a mighty burst of Force power, Darron extended his arms and pushed out violently against the wall as all four entered the room. The blast bent all the durasteel around but slowed all of their impacts and allowed the GrandMaster to land on his feet, even though he slid for a few feet. The door behind closed and the room pressurized once more, they had made it successfully. A quick look over of his men signaled everything had gone according to plan and he gave them a thumbs up before his helmet retracted into the armor. Darron quickly pulled the hood off of his head and his blonde locks fell down to his shoulders once more, free of their prison.

Reaching for his com, he slid the ear piece in before making contact with the Supreme Commander. "Sir, Darron Wraith here. All four of us made it on the ship, you owe me a beer for that. Wraith out."

Turning to his men, Darron knelt and pulled his back pack off along with his thrusters. The Co2 canisters wouldn't be needed in a pressurized environment. So he pulled out his belt and clipped it around his waist, but kept his lightsabers in his hands. "So guys, we ready for this? Any injuries or concerns before I open that door? Droids will most certainly be converging on our position within a minute or two."

@[member="Cabbal Noir"] @[member="Ben Watts"] @[member="Seroth Ur-Rahn"] @[member="Jaxton Ravos"]

 

[Sky Kerberos]

Was she ready for war? Her body and mind still at a disconnect, though she did need something to work through the uncertainty. And grabbing a light saber and charging ahead...hopefully it would be the fuel she needed to find her footing in the light side.

Coming up behind @[member="Padak Arciso"] , she smiled at the knight and offered her support. "Darron said you might want my assistance."

Not that Padak would need it, but it always was better to pair up to defeat the enemy--or in is case ion cannons--together.

 

[Damian Starchaser]

Cabbal watched as the ship attacking his starboard side broke up under the hail of fire from his support vessels. It was during this action he got Darrons message and smiled. He would have to buy a round for the Jedi Strike steam, but now he veered his vessel to the port side positioning himself to strike the enemy. The smaller vessels in his flotilla followed his lead and rolled around the side of the vessel to pour withering fire onto the last hulk engaging him. One threat would soon be alleviated, however the problem of the planetary batteries was now forefront. Without the old capitol ships closed to his they could risk firing into space in his direction. "Helm bring us about." He gave coordinates by another vessel. His best chance at avoiding the big guns was to stay close to enemy ships. They would have to close with the enemy as quickly as possible.

The vessel veered away from the old war hulk firing its barrage. Following were several other ships all of which fired upon the massive freighter until flames were visibly shooting out of its hull. The lead ship reached the next vessel on their target list just as the last blew up scattering debris throughout space.

The ion cannon fired. The tailing vessel took a burst to its engines making it drift dead a space. "Make sure that vessel is protected." Cabbal reacted immediately. "Break off two fighter squadrons and have a gunship hide from that ion cannon behind the down vessel. If they get in two deep we can send support or evacuate as needed."

"Aye sir." The response was simple and precise as the officers started directing their sectors towards the task.

Cabbal wished he could have broken off more protection, but with the planetary ion cannon still a threat it was impossible. All he would have been doing was putting even more lives in danger. "And put out a bulletin, take out that damned gun."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

@[member="Padak Arciso"]
@[member="Sky Kerberos"]

"And mine," added the Ithorian. "Should either of you need a healer, of course. I'm not one for combat." He held his lightsabre inexpertly, in his off hand, a clear second choice to the sonic servodriver he brandished. "I'm also talented at opening doors, should that be required."

 

[Ben Watts]

Ben dropped to one knee and propped himself up with his right arm, he felt the facemask close over his face, and he lifted his head up with a determined look as the countdown began. This was the first time he had done anything like this, and a bit of nervousness floated around the back of his head, but it was not enough to deter him. If he showed fear then everyone else would pick up on it, and fear never did anything good, so he replaced it all with determination and positive thoughts concerning the success of the mission. The countdown ended and the doors shot open, Ben felt an absurd change in pressure, and then he shot out of the ship like a bullet. Holding his arms tightly to his side, he glided through space, and for a moment he took the time to admire the open space around him. He could see other ships, he made out the faint outline of his own ship slowly getting further and further away, while the ship they were aiming towards was getting ever closer.

Closing in on the ship, the door was still closed, but Ben was not responsible for getting it open, but he was not worried as he believed in Darron. As they got closer and closer, Ben began to wonder if the doors would open, but with barely any room left to spare it shot open and Ben flew through the doors beside Darron. Ben felt the blast that Darron had unleashed to slow them down, and he dropped to his feet, sliding across the floor and coming to a stop just inside of the room. Standing up straight, Ben pressed the button on the side of his helm once the room had been pressurized, and his facemask opened up allowing him to breath regular air again. Taking in a deep breath, he approached Darron's side.

Pulling his lightsaber off its clip, Ben looked at the door they would be going through, feeling the presence of the droids on the other side. They were all going to have to work in perfect sync to get out of this alive, but he had no doubt, their team had been training for missions such as this and it was the first time they were going to be able to work together. "As ready as I am going to be. Stay tight, keep your eyes open, and cover each others backs. We trained for this, lets see it in action." Nodding his head to everyone, he turned to face the door, finger on the button to activate his lightsaber, ready for anything that was to come their way.

 

[Seydon of Arda]

Soon as Darron staggered the locking door behind them and grinded its servo-mechanisms into place, a hush of recycled oxygen wafted across their vacuum chilled body-suits. Already Seroth was down upon his knees, hooking off his helm as the sealants released and blessed him with a smidgen of physical freedom. The helm clattered to the warped decking, catching on a burst wiring sheathe crackling with phospherous bursts of electricity, followed by the skin-tight gloves and reinforced sleeves. The Knight desired as much range of motion as possible and the constricting layers that gripped to his frame felt too unwieldy. Seroth toed the discarded EXO-clothing aside by the waiting doorway, taking up position off Ben's shoulder as he spoke for the team. Each held their breath as the azure glow from Darron's ignited sword swam the darkened room with light, cutting and boiling through the durasteel porticullis.

Seroth was motioned forward. The sudden, collapsed quiet was further unnerved as he padded forward, boot soles as silent as dust grains on the air. A long, outside corridor stretching out of sight in either direction, east and west, greeted him, emptied and only partially lit. His footsteps kicked up layers of thin dirt, portions of the walled bulkheads showcasing crevice corrosion and tears of rust. A Lucrehulk droid controller was an ancient thing indeed, but Seroth expected the fastidious Trade Federation to pride themselves on their preemptive upkeep. This sectioning of the outer defense ring looked disused by at least several decades, discarded parts cannisters lazing against the wall and rusted grav-trawleys stuck in place. The Knight waved the Adamant Company on, disappearing a few feet ahead against the pitches of shadow.

The tapestry of this facility against the Force felt so sterile, cold. Pockets of warmth emanated from where flesh-and-bone Neimoidian controllers saw to the direction and command of the warship, huddled in amongst the Control Core bridge stations. Seroth gave his ears a little 'tingle' of pressure and energy, increasing their gain to pick up on sounds further down the hall. There was a specific auditory sensation he was wary of; first he heard it high over Coruscant as Omni's steel and oil hordes fell from blackened clouds and rose from burning underlevels.

Clank - Clank - Clank - Clank

Metallic. Rhythmic. Marching vibrating the unswept decking as strip-lamps guttured on and off. Seroth felt the sensation as sure as rockfall through his toes and boot soles, unhooking his blade-hilts and pressing back against a bulkhead brace and waved Adamant Company to caution. "Patrol?" He mouthed to Jaxton.

@[member="Darron Wraith"] @[member="Ben Watts"] @[member="Jaxton Ravos"]

 

[Akio Kahoshi]

The Atrisian Ships exited hyperspace ready for combat. Following Cabbal's directions they moved through the enemy forces. "Use the Rancor to shield the Republic forces," Akio ordered. "deploy the fighters, target the nearest of the enemy ships."

The Rancor took up a position close enough to fire on the ships while not straying too far from the rest of the attack forces' support. It heavy weapons opened fire on the targeted ship as ten wings of fighters emerged from the hanger bay's of Akio's flagship and spread out toward their target. That was when the ion cannon started opening fire.

"Move the rest of the fleet close enough to engage that cannon. Send the stormtroopers down, meet up with asset Nakita and protect Weedin."

Drop ships followed not far after the fighters had left, heading toward the planet. They fought their way through the atmosphere and began to settle in the outskirts of the hanging cities as planetary defenses did their best to shoot the transports from the sky. Once they were safely down, the transports began unloading stormtroopers, AT-STs, and AT-ATs. The technology was of ancient design, but they would get the job done.

 

[Moira Skaldi]

@[member="Akio Kahoshi"]

A lone Republic agent beheld the impressive lightshow when Atrisian fighters swarmed out to engage the mighty ion cannon that was causing so much trouble up there in space. Laser fire and missiles streaked through the air, the droid fighters of the Neimoidians scrambled to move into the sky and engage the new force.

Moira had long departed from the hideout from where the technical support team could provide her with information they acquired from performing surveillance on enemy communications and intercepting signals. As contradictory as it might sound on first sight, it was actually easier to sneak through the city while there was such chaos going on. With countless drop ships landing, fighters surging the sky and unleashing death from above, AA guns firing wildly to take them down, not to mention the Republic forces that had landed, the droid troops simply had their hands full.

So as it happened it was not long ago before Moira happened upon the Atrisian forces. The earth shook from bombardment and fighters that had been shot down rained out of the sky, the agent was lucky when a downed fighter crashed further behind her, it might have easily crushed her.

Peeking around a corner, she stepped out of the shadows, though her hand remained on her SMG. She noticed the Imperial Atrisian insignia and ancient equipment of the troops.

Atrisian Imperials...that would do just fine. Moira was not picky on such matters. She had lots of droids to fight through to get to Weedin and ensure he survived - because then he could play the figurehead until direct control had been assumed - and it went without saying that she could not do that on her own.

So she stepped forward, lowering her gun though she did not holster it. As she came into view she found herself immediately confronted with stormtroopers who levelled their blaster rifles at her.

Good reaction time. "Virtue!" she called out without batting an eyelash when the muzzle of her rifle was aimed at her throat, just milimetres away, saying the codeword that would make her pass.

"Take me to your commander," she stated, not in the tone you used for a request, but an order. "Intel asset Nikita. I'm expected These forces need to get to Weedin's compound in sector 7 ASAP if he's still supposed to be of any use."

A sergeant gestured to his men so that they lowered their guns, though they kept their eyes on her, quite understandably, then beckoned her to follow him, passing a mighty AT-ST.

Ancient, but durable and it represented heavy firepower and could blaze a trail through the enemy lines. This would do just fine.