Protectorate Dominion of Duro

[Kaida Taldir]

Location: Shipyard.
Objective: Kill things.


Bodies upon bodies. Caerys felt right at home as the dead were being piled up around her. Under the onslaught of Protectorate soldiers and a terminatrix, many of the renegades had apparently decided that while retreat not was very valorous, it was a better policy for survival! After all, they were cutthroats out for loot and easy profit, not fight to the death fanatics. Grenades were lobbed at the Omegan soldiers to cover their retreat as Caerys pursued them. By now they had figured out she was a machine and so an ion grenade was thrown towards her. As the small ball of explosive death exploded and the ion energy crawled towards her, Caerys twitched strongly, but still stepped forward, relentless, unstoppable. Her bolter fired again and a raider fell to the ground as the explosive bolt impacted upon his centre of mass.



An attacker fired upon her with blaster bolts and she took aim, but when she pulled the trigger the bolter clicked shut, having run out of ammunition in the magazine. So, as blaster bolts came her way, some whizzing past or above her head, others bouncing off her armour or causing damage, she simply advanced. The intruder seemed to take heed and tried to retreat, in the process gripping a grenade in his free hand and preparing to throw it, but the droid was faster and plain and simply bashed his head by smashing her bolter into it as if were a club. As he tumbled he pulled the pin but in a blur her free hand just grabbed his, breaking fingers, and tossed the grenade away. There was a crack and a gurgle when she stomped on his throat.



Caerys might not feel murderlust, but she could always appreciate a chance to fulfil her primary function. The cycle of existence was continuing, the wheel was turning. A wheel of bloodshed, destruction and entropy. Such was the natural order of things.

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

The Unyielding from [member="Ayden Cater"] was given nominal command of the local airspace as Hastings was a bit busy with the committe trying to sort out whatever this mess was, and @Roth Tillians scouts would find the same thing below as there was above. Looters. Lots of looters. The food processors were being raided like a grocery store next to a retirement home when they were calling for a light dusting of snow.

People were going nuts. Underpopulated the surface may be, but with the majority of the population centered around where the jobs were... well, one of the processors was already up in flames. There was a pause in the discussion as he sent a brief message to @Uriel. "Stem the tide at the Processors. You will have air support." Or at least scouting support from air, rather than CAS. He really did not wish to unleash CAS on unarmed civilians no doubt terrified that this was the end of days.

Naturally, if killing civilians could be helped, they should avoid it. That would be their challenge once they got a bit closer.

The sound of gunfire was increasing, then lessening. His head canted, but didn't turn. His attention was on fixing the situation at hand, getting things coordinated. That was difficult when the only people left over were the incompetents of the local government. One thing was for certain up here, however, things were getting bloody.

"You mentioned the soldiers were prior Pyre, yes?" There was a quiet nod. "But they immediately became savages the moment everyone disappeared." That caused a blink. Then a nod. The truth was likely something a bit more gray than that, but they'd probably never find out.

"We'll see what we can do."

Turning, he went the other way from the fighting - he needed to get around the flank to see if they could perhaps lock down the sections presently occupied by their enemies.

 

[Kaida Taldir]

Caerys' process of elimination had ended...for now. The scavengers and raiders she and the unit of Omegan soldiers had faced were pulling back. Well, those still left alive. Some of the raiders had been mercenaries gone rogue, others simple security cops, others again just workers who had grabbed a gun when order broke down.



One might say that they had been gripped by madness, though in Caerys' opinion the truth was considerably more prosaic. The truth, in her opinion was that, sentient beings were inherently murderous by nature. Give them the right incentive and free them of restraints, and their true nature comes out. Of course, it was also the truth that she was projecting, for she was an amoral killer droid who murdered because that was what she had been designed for. However...it had been organics who made her in their image.


Some of the raiders had thrown down their weapons and surrendered, since they were not death-charging, fanatical lunatics like say the Bando Gora. For now at least certain standards when it came to rules of engagement persisted and the Omegan soldiers took them prisoner. Caerys was, needless to say, indifferent. So not bothering with them she sent a transmission to First Captain - or rather Vice Admiral, given his recent field promotion - Hastings. "Sir, enemy forces in corridor two have been driven back. Your men have taken prisoners."

 

[Vaena Askari]

[member="Sarge Potteiger"]


Dropping from hyperspace was a single Illyria-class frigate. A sleek, dark-coloured vessel that resembled the shape of a shark and was designed by Firemane Industries. It only had a skeleton crew, but it was probably better than nothing. When the great collapse dialled the clock back to the dark ages, many Eldorai and Firemane vessels had been cut off, with communications down and Kaeshana being out of contact with the rest of the Protectorate. Or the Galaxy in general.



Aboard the bridge of the vessel stood Commander Yaina Ynnead. In the navy at least the Eldorai had very reluctantly converted to 'Outsider' ranks, though they still clung to the old ones when it came to the regular army and the Angelii. As a sign of the new times, there were even Eldorai males serving as crewers and officers on the skeleton crew. Yet crew strength was depleted, for it had been a harrowing journey until they reached Duro. Ynnead stared out at the void of the planet below and the massive shipyard, along with the small fleet the once proud Protectorate had been able to assemble. A signal went out to said fleet, establishing that the frigate was an ally, enquiring about the situation and offering help.

 

[Roth Tillian]

"Aurek One, we have some problems down here."

Roth let out a long sigh and massaged at his temples beneath his helmet. Of course. He should have expected that.

"What is it, Aurek Five?"

"Looters tearing the processors apart and one's in flames already."

Marvelous. Exactly what they needed. They certainly couldn't gun them down either. Even the thought made him nauseous. That would be murdering terrified civilians.

"Buzz them a couple of times. Subsonic. Wedge formation, wheel around a couple of times to let them know we're here."

"Roger that, Aurek One. En route." The fighters would drop down to only a little bit above the processors and looters, screaming across the sky before wheeling around to cross over again. Given the chaos, it was a rather impressive display of firepower.

He studied the scanner of the ship that had so recently been in trouble. He wasn't sure how much longer he could afford to wait for it. They needed more people down below securing the chaos. He'd wait a little longer and then take his remaining fighters to the surface below.

[member="Sarge Potteiger"]

 

[Amnell de Portiers]

Duros - Shipyards

Amnell had been by herself, as she usually was in a back shop room. Having been hired to repair droids, the brunette was dutifully doing that when everything went dark momentarily. But it was her sight that failed, not the lights, that annoyance would come later as the lights of her room flickered as her section switched to backup power.

For a long while things were quiet, and truth be told Amnell hadn't given any thought to her vision darkening for a moment. It had happened once before and there was little she could do about it given her condition. With a sigh she was rubbing at the sharp pain that had suddenly came on in her hand when she heard it. Blaster fire, and other shots .... something was happening outside her door.

Pressing an emergency switch she sealed off her space from the outsiders. Gotta figure this out. Flipping on a viewscreen her fingers flew across a datapad as she tapped into the local security feed in her section. "Feth!"

Turning to the droids in the room as she heard pounding at the door. Pulling the panel, she did a quick reprogam of the droid, and moved on to the next. Soon enough she had four droids that now worked for her so to speak, and while not usually defense droids, save on ... she improvised on the others with laser cutters and other such tools that could possibly be used for weapons.

Amnell was near panic, as she fretfully checked over the droids as sparks flew on her side. Cutting through now ... You've done all you can. Now you can only wait for them to come. Waiting that was the hardest part. Given the disease she had, incurable at that ... The girl wasn't the strongest, and exhausted very easily these days. Amnell was a fixer, not a fighter. While she could fix some problems, this might be bigger than her and she knew it.

Turning to her own personal droid, she quickly made a small change improvising on him. "Nine, this goes badly... You find my folks okay? Let em know what happened, and that I loved them." The R9 unit responded with a sorrowful whistle. Then a few beeps he asked her a simple question.

"Yes, I'm going to hide now. You be ready alright?" It once more whistled more concerned for her than himself. Quickly she darted behind a counter and carefully hide while she kept watch over her droids on the datapad in her hand. Through their eyes she could at least see a little of what was happening. It was then that she heard the crashing of the door and the defense droid was the first to step into the fray firing at the attackers. The others soon followed in behind him.

[member="Caerys Argente"]

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Amnell de Portiers"]


BANG BANG BANG


There was more bloodshed, more murder, more chaos! For Caerys it was, you might have guessed it, just another day at work. Her musings about how she should proceed were answered when she heard the sound of blasterfire coming from another corridor. "I shall handle this," she spoke to the officer leading the unit of Omega marines she had been with, then immediately took off without waiting for a response. HRDs were unruly like that. Especially those who did not have a Controller and thus could work for who they liked. One wondered what they actually used the money for, except for repairs and weapons, since it's not like the typical assassin droid had a social life.


Anyhow, while she was built like a battering ram Caerys did not immediately charge into the fray. Rather, as she surreptitiously moved closer to the area from which the sounds of battle were coming, she found a ventilation shaft. The droid quickly tore the hatch open with her superior strength and climbed in. One wonders why in tales such as these ventilation shafts are not only always conveniently placed, but even more conveniently are big enough to accommodate human-sized individuals. Anyhow she would crawl through the shaft until she was right above the little battle. Taking in the scenery she could identify four droids holding off a gang of raiders. Robots seemed well-designed and were holding their own, but she leapt into action.


Quite literally. Her intervention took the form of dropping down and enclosing her murderous thighs around the throat of one of the raiders who was carrying a blaster rifle. The man gasped as abruptly the flow of air seemed to be cut off and struggled, his gun falling from his hands, but the HRD was persistent and in one cruel, quick motion snapped his neck as she twisted. Dropping down like a cat as her opponent fell almost in a blur she grabbed his rifle and bashed another attacker over the head just as he was turning. Grabbing his body as he reeled she tossed it at a comrade of his.


A fourth raider, finally realising what was happening, turned and fired upon her with a hail of bolts but she calmly advanced towards him. Heavy blaster bolts broke through her armour in places and burnt her skin, but she continued. Firing on with his blaster in one hand he pulled out a vibro-sowrd and violently stabbed at her, running her through. Caerys' eyes flashed a bright crimson and she was pushed back by the impact. Then she punched him in the face, smashing it.

 

[Anya Venari]

Appearing above the planet came additional help from an un-looked for quarter. Having saved their own planet from chaos, the Eldorai had vowed to aid the Protectorate in their campaigns to restore order.

Thus, the mighty ship Valora’s Blade a heavy carrier with formidable weapons, appeared with smaller escorts and began to move into position.
“Protectorate forces, this is High Captain Lysette of the Kaeshana Confederation. What is your status and where are we needed? We have eight squadrons of attack craft, numerous dropships and five thousand soldiers awaiting orders.”

 

[Amnell de Portiers]

Amnell had been trembling beneath the counter, trying to stay out of sight when she heard the ventillation grate hit the floor. Taking in a deep breath she tried to calm herself as she looked back to the datapad and found an HRD was getting into the fray and kicking ass. She'd never seen anything quite like it. While she'd run into a few HRDs she'd never seen one in action before. I pray to the gods she's on my side, otherwise I'm doomed.

The young woman watched wide eyed through her droids as the female HRD worked quickly through the attackers in her workshop. She let out a startled scream when Caerys smashed the final man's face in. It was only when the his body hit the deck that Amnell dared to come out of hiding as she called off her droids, bringing them back in line. "T-thank you ... You may have very well saved my life." She said softly as she panted for breath, looking quite exhausted by this point. But even Amnell wasn't foolish enough to think this completely over. For she could sense so much chaos surrounding her in the station, even with being untrained.

"I'm ... Amnell." She finally said after a moment, as the four droids came to surround her. For now they were her guardians and her only means of attack given how Quannot's syndrome had and very much still was tearing her body apart. "Are you damaged? Any critical systems?" The brunette inquired, as she looked over the woman. "May I offer aide, in any way?"

[member="Caerys Argente"]

 

[Uriel]

Chaos reigned here, as was expected; the end of days was something that Uriel had expected to happen. Damn Forcies. This was probably their fault anyway.

Oh how close to the mark he accidentally was.

The restoration of order in the midst of such a maelstrom of terror was an inevitable task, one that demanded precision skill and nerves of steel. People were rising up against the government in an act that could only be described as chaos. This was not the time, or place, to be doing such a thing. However, when order needed to be restored, you called in the best. The mightiest. Those who would not crumble under the pressure of fighting against rabid civilians needed to do the act.

So Uriel Squad was there to do the task. Bolters ready, their backs illuminated by the flickering inferno of the food processor, before the a seemingly endless tide of bodies screaming. Bolters held tight, doors barricaded-- Uriel Squad stood as the lone bastion upon the bridge to the processor, stemming the tide of humanity before they ravaged it even further.

People pushed against barricades, hastily-constructed wooden structures. They would not last very long before they took it away, the next processor an easy target-- and the second they broke through, things would turn hairy.

"Brother-Captain," Uriel said through his com, axe already readied for war, singing for blood. "These are civilians. All of them. They're hungry and terrified. Your orders?"

It was a silent request for the rules of engagement - was he murdering civilians and putting down an insurrection, or was there something else at work here?

[member="Sarge Potteiger"]

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Amnell de Portiers"]


The little skirmish was over and Caerys turned as she found herself facing a young and apparently rather frightened woman who introduced herself as Amnell. Said woman was soon surrounded by the droids, which led Caerys to the logical hypothesis that she was their creator. Or at least their controller.



Various options flashed in Caerys' HUD about how to deal with her. In a very simplistic form, they can be summarised as kill, ignore, talk to. With the last option having the addendum use for repairs. Needless to say she 'clicked' on the last option. Well, it probably did not work like that but you get the picture. She tilted her head to the side as she examined the woman, a bit like a scientist would look upon a particular insect she was studying under a microscope. It was probably rather unnerving, especially when you kept in mind that half of Caerys' face had been blown off, revealing the metal plate beneath and one of her eyes was thus glowing an ominous crimson.


The droid twitched slightly, for though she was able to stand and combat capable some circuits had been damaged from an earlier ion blast. "Be calm, I am with the Protectorate." Well, she had tagged along because she had been hired to murder people, so it sort of counted. She had modulated her tone so that she sounded more 'human'. That tended to set organics more at ease, even when they knew she was not the Eldorai she appeared as.


"I have sustained some damage. Repairs would be appreciated. These are your droids." Statement of fact, not a question.

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Anya Venari"], [member="Sarge Potteiger"]



The Protectorate had provided aide to the Eldorai, so by the orders of the Queen-Exarch they had come to return the favour and help wherever they could. The mighty Valora's Blade was a heavy support cruiser, one of the two heavy battleships the Kaeshana Confederation possessed, so it being deployed could be taken as a sign of their commitment.



Aboard the Blade, standing alongside the High Captain stood Seraph Kaida Taldir, clad in battle armour, bolter mag-clamped to her thigh, lightsabre at her side. She was fresh from the campaign to impose order upon Kaeshana, but still felt she should be here. Alongside her she had brought large contingents of Eldorai soldiers and a few Angelii. The latter were those from the ranks of her battle sisters who could be particularly relied upon to hold their own without the use ot their Sciia, as the Eldorai called the Force.


Why the Force was acting so wonky was something no one seemed to have an answer for yet, though it was undoubtedly connected to whatever malevolent force was behind the mass disappearances. But it was best not to call upon until it was truly needed. She stood stoically as the High Captain Lysette sent a transmission to the Protectorate forces, offering aid.

 

[Amnell de Portiers]

Amnell looked her over, taking a deep breath though wincing slightly at the effort. It seemed today her hands and ribs would be the most painful and bothersome with the Quannot's Syndrome. Even with half of Caerys' face gone, Amnell didn't even seem slightly taken aback. Clearly the woman had spent plenty of time around droids in one form or another. "I am glad for that." The young woman spoke softly, as she stepped forward doing a quick cursory look over of Caerys to help her prioritize the repairs.

"I'd be happy to help." She said, as she glanced back to her droids and smiled. Not replying to the HRD, as she understood and so did Caerys. Looking over the damage she came quickly to a conclusion, "Ion damage?" She inquired, as she stepped back to see if she had the appropriate circuitry to help, or if improvisation would be what she has to do. The ion damage was her primary concern as that effected a lot of things.

She stepped over to her work bench and found the tools she needed. "I'll have to improvise a little, but for the most part I believe I have what I need to help get you back in shape." She said as she quickly started to put a few things together, wincing ever so slightly as she went. Damn this hurts.... Can only just press on for now. You have to. I know, I know.... just hurts. "You'll just have to allow me access to your primary panel so I can reroute a couple things around the damage."

[member="Caerys Argente"]

 

[Anya Venari]

[member="Sarge Potteiger"] | [member="Kaida Taldir"]

The High Captain looked to Seraph Taldir, nodded.

“Seraph, begin embarking. Our fighters will cover your descent. Liaise with Protectorate forces on the ground when you arrive. We will assume blockade and prevent unauthorised ships from entering or leaving the planet. If there are enemy combat ships we will destroy them.”

The great ship approached the planet closer, waiting for word on where to deploy.

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Amnell de Portiers"]


The organic was reacting relatively calmly and not taken aback. That was good since it would increase her workplace efficiency. Combined with the fact that she seemed capable of effecting repairs, it gave Caerys something close to a motivation to keep her alive. Pure cost-benefit. The assassin droid did not have the ability to feel sentiment. Or empathy.



"Yes. A number of circuits have been damaged by it. Mobility and reflexes are impaired," Caerys responded. After she pondered very brielfy she gave Amnell a nod. "You may have access." (Un)fortunately for Amnell, the fact that she was obviously in pain did not escape the HRD, who seemed to be following her every move down to the smallest nuance. The slightest wince did not escape her. However, there was no hint of Amnell having sustained any injuries that would impair her functions, she seemed unharmed. Caerys intensified her gaze upon Amnell, clearly staring at her. It appeared that the wince came from long-term degeneration of the woman's muscles, as if they were wasting away and weakening over time, indicative of a long-lasting condition.


Conveniently, Caerys had detailed files on human anatomy and medical conditions. Sometimes...these were useful. "You have Quannot's Syndrome," she deduced. There was no pity in her tone. Nor any sympathy really. It was the eternally calm voice of a dispassionate machine.

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Anya Venari"]


Seraph Kaida Taldir gave the High Captain a curt nod and a salute, traditional Eldorai style, before departing from the bridge. "Captain Tahril, get the task force into the dropships. We're departing," she spoke into the comm and soon enough she was in the hangar, filled to the brim with Silaqui-Class dropships, Gunships and several swarms of fighter craft.



Many of the heavily armoured dropships would be carrying medical supplies and healers of Ashira, for it was to be assumed that many might be in need of medical aid. No words were spoken, no dramatic speeches, for they were not needed. A look simply passed from Kaida to every one of her battle sisters aboard the dropship when she embarked. The Grand Seraph Aeda Shaytari was believed lost. Perhaps she had even vanished into the netherworld along with the other trillions of souls, but in her absence they would carry on and not let her down. Kaida would not allow them to. Duty before everything.


And so with that the signal was given and the swarm of dropships shot out of the belly of the warship, shooting towards the planet Duro. Nimble Adril-class fighters and Gunships provided escort as the swarm descended, trying to communicate with what Protectorate and local authorities were left on the planet.

 

[Amnell de Portiers]

"Thank you. I'll take good care of you, I promise." She said politely as she stepped behind the HRD and opened the panel. There she could see the damage done, fried circuits here and there but not completely so. Carefully and quickly she worked through replacing what she could and rerouted what she couldn't.

It was then that the droid said something that shocked her completely. And having been around droids for a long time, that was saying a lot. "Whhaaat?!" Her hydrospanner fell to the floor with a thud, "How in the name of the Seven Stars did you deduce that?!" Still seeming incredibly shocked by the revalation. Kneeling down slowly, she reached for the tool and rose back to start work again. "I ... just, no one has ever been with me so so little time, and figured that out. It's taken others years before I even admit it."

[member="Caerys Argente"]

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Amnell de Portiers"]


Intellectually Caerys was well-aware of the fact that suddenly revealing that you knew someone had a debiltating and ultimately fatal disease was very shocking to most organics. See, Quannot's Syndrome was nasty and no, there were no sudden quick-fix solutions that could make everything better as if by waving a magic wand. Even in a world of magical and technological wonders, there were limits.


Nonetheless she looked as eternally calm as ever. Perhaps the fact that she was a 'pure' machine, that is an HRD not based on an organic mind, made her less able to understand the concept of empathy. "I possess detailed files on humanoid anatomy and medical conditions. They are useful," she said blandly. Like, when you needed to torture someone, but she left that part out! "Suffiicient perception picks up on how you wince with every move and traces it back to degeneration of your muscles. The symptoms are plain for those who know where to look and possess the necessary analytical ability. Organics lack the patience. You hide your condition from others. Why?"


There was no mockery in the question. It was genuine and as close to innocent as a killer droid could be. See, Caerys was genuinely curious about what made organics tick and why they acted the way they did, especially why they pursued irrational behaviour. She simply did not care about them. Or have an appreciation for the value of sentient life.

 

[Amnell de Portiers]

"I see." Amnell said with a sigh, as she once again started work on the HRD. She finally nodded, "Yes, I suppose that does give it away after a while. My body is failing me, not a damn thing I can do about it either, except move on and spend my time wisely because my life is much more finite than most." A shrug came after, as she removed one circuit carefully and started to replace it.

"I used to have no problem letting others know, until pity came into play. That and they started to treat me as though I was a child who could not care for myself. I could not stand it. So, I stopped telling people, stopped letting them know I was dying. No one needs to know it. And frankly at this point, it hardly matters as I spend more time among droids than I do humans and I like it that way. It's not as complicated, fussy and annoying. It's simple and I can deal with that." Another sigh came and went. "That and and after a while, watching my childhood friends expressions.... the sorrow, the agony as I withered and they moved on, I just would rather not cause others pain."

With a snap of another circuit into place, she spoke up, "Almost done. Though I cannot replace the synflesh you lost, but that's just cosmetic after all. You'll be perfectly functional in another moment or two."

[member="Caerys Argente"]

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Amnell de Portiers"]


Emotion. It was something Caerys did not understand. She could mimic it during an assignment, simulate it...but not understand. Ergo the concept of not wanting to cause others' pain was alien to her. It was something beyond her capacity to comprehend. That said, Amnell was also at least partially be influenced by a desire to stop others from treating her 'differently' because of her illness.


Pride was not uncommon after all. Presumably Amnell had also been bombarded with 'well-intentioned offers' from people who claimed to have 'miracle cures' for her illness. Doubtless because they wanted her to sign up for this or that cause. Or simply wanted to make themselves feel better. "That is why you prefer droids?" More of a statement than a question, truth be told. Also deduction from the way she had been able turn four worker droids into something that had served as useful defensive platforms.