Campaign Return of the Jedi: SJC Campaign to TSE held Voss (Jabiim; Nespis VIII; Chandaar; Ossus, and Voss Hexes)

[Centin Tillo]

Location: Voss-ka
Objective: Find the others
Allies: Risen Cato Harth
Enemies: Sith

His master rushed into the room with his usual speed and began to scold Centin. It only lasted a few moments until the other knight followed through the doorway.

“What happened?”

The padawan didn’t answer immediately, the battle’s shock still wearing on him. It seemed like it had lasted forever but couldn’t have been more than a minute at most. And it had ended in an instant. He shook his head and regained his composure.

“Well, it seems one of these guys wasn’t ready to give up the ghost just yet,” he said, nudging the robed figure on the floor with his foot. “I had just finished up with the control panel when I saw them get back up.” Centin strolled over to the panel and began to wrench his sword free.

“They came at me… and then it all ended up… as you can see…” he grunted, visibly straining to separate the vibroblade from the wiring. The weapon was hardly budging despite his best efforts, though. “Blast it! One of you get over here and help me!”

With some assistance he managed to retrieve the blade and leaned against the wall. “Don’t mind the damage, I still managed to get the system down,” he stated with mixed confidence. He eyed the sundered electronics suspiciously. Hopefully that didn’t mess anything up.

“So, what are we waiting on now? Do we regroup with the others?”

 

[Amani Serys]

OBJECTIVE: Make the pain go away
LOCATION: Voss-Ka
FRIENDS: Sith
FOES: Caden Evesa | Jedi
???: Acaadi
EQUIPMENT: Lightsaber Pike | Healer's Hand

Amani stopped again at the corner of the next building. Acaadi’s presence broke through the sensory overload a second time, which just further exacerbated her pain. The inner conflict inside made her head feel like it was being pummeled with a hammer, enough so that it forced the girl to her knees. She squeezed her temples as if it would make the sensation end, “Please… stop…” Amani whimpered, shutting her eyes and trying to force all distractions out to little avail. “Make it stop…”

Caden hadn’t given up yet. He approached from behind, offering words that in most circumstances would have been reassuring. Even now, it gave her pause, but just as quickly became a bad reminder, “I can’t…” She doubled over as the headache amplified, “I can’t!” If he really thought this was redeemable, then surely he hadn’t heard of what she did. Did the others? They had to. They wouldn’t forgive her. She knew it. She knew it. A murderer. A traitor.

Confusion gave way to despair and anger, and short arcs of electricity began to emanate off of her aura, “Caden… I’m warning you… Just go.” Amani glanced back at him, her eyes slowly fading between her natural teal and sith yellow, “This is your last chance. I don't have a choice...”

 

[Darth Insatious]

Theme​

Objective: Devour and consume of Cas Tynen's life essence
Enemies: Cadere (planned)
Gear: 2x red lightsabers and his Sith outfit

Feeling the knee connect with his stomach, the Sith Lord took a single step back from the impact and then kneeled down. Placing a hand to his stomach Insatious released a low annoying snarl, as the pain rippled its effect on him, dropping the lightsaber. Everything happened so fast that the Lord of Hunger just out of survival instinct jerked to face his upper body towards the Jedi Knight's attack. If Insatious had been just a fraction slower, had Cas's blade cut right through the Lord.

At last, it didn't. Even with the attempt of throwing dirt in the Lord's face, it had little effect.

On one knee, with both hands gripping tightly Cas's lightsaber blade, the Jedi Knight would both hear and see something truly alienating and scary. The first thing that happened, was that the blade looked to have outer shells, which kept breaking apart and showing the core of the blade. Then the crackling and hissing sound along with the corruption like a virus on a body. The darkness started to cover Cas's yellow blade more and more, slowly turning the blade's core into black.

Looking from the blade to Cas, the Lord of Hunger, started to gain the upper hand, not letting go of the Jedi Knight's blade. While Cas had no way of seeing the Lord of Hunger's facial expression, an explosive spiking aura from the Sith Lord of the Dark Side would give some idea of excitement. In his horrific eldritch voice, standing up again, Insatious spoke: "There is no escape".

Like cutting through butter, Cas would feel the flesh on his back getting split open, as plasma sliced diagonally up by one of Insatious's floating lightsabers. The moment the Sith Lord's lightsaber connected was when Insatious let go of the blade and took a step back and out of reach, just in case.

 

[Jared Starchaser]

Jared could work with this. He nodded when he heard the call from Valae. The HEavenshields as a family were important, very similar to the Starchasers and perhaps even more storied. “Read you Valae. Sending coordinates to where I’m landing. Red Preybird.” The Jedi child nodded as he leapt the Preybird forward with the other fighters. He was wishing he could have the Warbirds on his six, even just the Hawks. The fighter’s shields were heavy and lighting up from the cross fire from the Sith. The Adept was pushing forward, boosting the fighter as he could.

As he entered the atmosphere, he felt the shaking as the friction hit the ship. Moving forward, he was identifying the landing zones and the process to take. Moving forward Jared grinned. Hands on the control yolk he was putting the autopilot in and grabbed the lightsaber and his pistol. Smirking, he was hoping that the fighter would survive. The man nodded and commed Valae again.

“Keep an eye on the Force, I’ll let you know where I am!”

Slamming the cockpit open, Jared used the Force to leapt from the ship as the shields lit up from green laser cannon shots. Pulling the Force around him like a blanket, he was protecting himself as he was falling to the ground. Getting closer, he blasted the Force out in a telekinetic shove to keep himself from hitting hard, blaster already in hand as he freed himself from the straps.

Valae Heavenshield

 

[Beltran Rarr]

Beltran Rarr

Location: City of Voss-Ka, Tower of Prophecy courtyard
Objective: Damage Ingrid L'lerim
Allies: SJC and allied personnel, Mathieu Brion
Enemies: The Sith and allied personnel, engaging Ingrid L'lerim
Loadout:

• Armor: Katarn Mk. II Combat Armor (minus helmet)
• Clothing: Katarn Undersuit, Bantha Load-bearing system
• Primary Weapons: 10mm Pulse Rifle
• Secondary Weapons: Death-Dealer Handcannon (drop holster, right hip - loaded with Sith-Killer Ammunition), Pulse Pistol (chest holster) Lightsaber (clipped to waist), Lightsaber Pike (strapped to back), Wrist Mounted Blaster (right wrist), Tactical Vibroblade (right boot)

Commanding: Paladin Company (150 Rangers)

”If you recognize me, you know why I personalized this whole thing."​

As a matter of fact, Beltran did recognize her from intelligence briefings. She was the regent of the Eternal Empire, a being of some renown and noted for her battle prowess. That didn't daunt the Ranger. He had stood against Emperor Carnifex himself on the walls of Fortress K'haris on Kintan. He had dueled the Bryn'adul tyrant Tathra Khaeus on Yurb. And he still lived.​

Ingrid L'lerim was right. He was dangerous.​

"...you made the right decision, saving the lives of your people. And you also know that at the end of the duel, I’m really going to let them go. It is not my habit to break my word.”​

Beltran held her gaze as she finished and then replied. "I believe you," He said simply. "But it really doesn't matter. At the end of this duel you will be either be dead, or so injured that you might as well be dead. If your forces allow us passage inside after that, then they will live. If they do not, then they will share your fate." These words were not delivered with the cocky tone one might expect from boasts or empty threats. It was clear from the Lorrdian's earnestness that he completely believed every word he'd said.

Spoiler: Theme music begins

Rather than reclasp his helmet back on his head, Beltran had discarded it-tossing it to the side like it was a piece of refuse. So too, he did with his rifle. The weapon was a weapon of war, designed to kill at distance and quickly. He wanted to be close enough to see the life drain from the woman's eyes. He wanted to hear her last, ragged breath. He wanted to smell her fear at the end.​

He wanted to taste her blood.​

He channeled that desire into his being, drawing on the primal part of himself and using it to fuel himself in the Force. Some Jedi, perhaps even Jedi Mathieu Brion , might see that as the Dark Side. Beltran would have disagreed, if he'd cared enough to even have the conversation. The desire to kill that which threatened to kill you? To him, that was natural. That was the law of the jungle.​

There was nothing more natural.​

Using the Force, Beltran strengthened himself, increasing his speed, clearing his vision and slowly his perceptions so that he could see, taste, smell and hear even the most innocuous of changes. Opening his mouth, he roared as the woman charged toward him with her blades. It was a primal, predatory thing that seemed to even defy the ability of his vocal chords to produce.​

And then the battle was on. Even as Jedi Brion leapt forward to intercept Ingrid's strike, Beltran was dashing to her side-twirling and dancing around her so fast that it would seem a blur to those watching. From his waist, he pulled his father's lightsaber and activated it. He swung his sunset orange orange blade crossways, going for a quick and simple decapitation.​

 

[Jyoti Nooran]

Location: Temple Complex
Objective: Seize (Formerly Silver, and League) Voss Temple, Rescue Prisoners ( Vaeri )
Allies: SJC ( Allyson Locke )
Opposition: TSE
Directly Engaging: Taeli Raaf (Open to additional interactions.)

<Time to play, guys. I'll distract, and the rest of you head in and take out the targets. Everything should be up on display. Maybe the Force be with you.> ​

They had to take out the defense system to allow the second wave to do some damage. As the rest of the squadron chimed in. Allyson had wanted to play with the Elite 'Ugly' Starfighter for some time now. Playing a wild weasel game seemed to be the best time to test out the limits of the machine.​

The Weasel flights did their job, mapping enemy emplacements as they triggered them. As they came around for another pass, the Mantis bombers transitioned to suppressing air defenses and enemy interceptors in the immediate airspace around the temple complex while Allyson and her unit continued to create a nice shiny distraction. Bomb bays and flex tubes opened, and then the quartet of heavy bombers began to unleash volley after volley of ion missiles upon several ground and air based targets. Their plasma projectors were killed, and ECM suites engaged in their place, switching to jamming and spoofing enemy sensors and comms.

By now, Jyoti's squadron of slaved X-wing drones had disembarked from the Nightshade, while the frigate itself launched a steady stream of droid pods and ECM drones towards the surface. A wall of Sith interceptors was quick to meet the X-wings, but their laser bolts and missiles would meet nothing but empty space as they blinked out of view.

Navigating by instinct, she microjumped over them with her flock, reverting in low orbit to continue the dive by sublight engines. A risky maneuver that normally ended with other starships cracking into planets, but with the aid of the Force, her precision was a good as any machine.

With electronic shrouds active, they slipped under the chaos that had been unleashed overhead Jedi and Sith forces, almost skimming the canopy on their way to the temple.

"Onyx Leader to Gold Leader (Allyson)" Jyoti announced, "Beginning attack run."

S-foils expanded, and the X-wings began to break up into smaller two man elements as they targeted different portions of the temple complex on the mountain. Some remained low to the canopy while others rose to a higher altitude, providing some coverage against potential aerial attacks. Dozens of missiles were released in the first salvo - first came Dancer ECM missiles to further confuse defenders, and then modified bunker busters.

Despite the collective attack and jamming efforts on AA and interceptors, several missiles were shot down, and even a couple X-wings had to peel out as they sustained damage from strafing TIEs. While they were drone operated, Great River wasn't exactly rolling in the duckets, so each piece of machinery was precious.

Still, they didn't need every missile to hit their mark, just a handful. Seconds later, they did, boring into different levels of the mountainside with aid of tip mounted thermal charges, one missile burying even burying itself into the courtyard of the temple.

Normally, after penetration, the bunker busters would have exploded from their usual payload of proton charges, but there there came only a soft whine that may have confused the any defenders within earshot.

"Reading green on generators," an engineer from the Nightshade reported. "Dilation effect rising."

To anyone on the mountain on in the temple complex, they may have seen the world beyond grow faster, fighters becoming little more than streaks of light. However, from Jyoti's vantage point, the exact opposite was happening below as she circled around, people in the open now moving much more slowly, as if their bodies were struggling through molasses.

It's actually working...

Jerry rigging relativistic field generators to induce time dilation in a controlled setting was one thing, but to see it working in live combat was quite another. Now affected people and objects within the field would only be able to move and react at about 1/10th as normal. From the affected's perspective, everyone outside the field would be zipping around like roadrunners. They would become like sitting ducks for the incoming strike teams only moments away.

The Silvers had asked her to get creative, and she did.

She attacked with Time itself.

"Field stabilizing...generators should hold for about 15 minutes."

"Roger that. Gold Leader, prepare to land in the courtyard. We can let the others continue mop up in the air. Make sure your rig is working right before you do, though, or you'll get stuck."

Even with their new weapon, the window was probably still too small to complete a traditional raid, but the Echani was still full of tricks, and she had the best cyber warfighter around at her side.

 

[Ingrid L'lerim]

Lady Ingrid L’lerim-Ragal
Empress Regent of the Eternal Empire, Overlord of the Eternal Empire, the Emperor's hand
The Red Witch; Director of Blackwatch; Baroness of Vengard, Head of the House L’lerim, CEO of the HPI Consortium​

Location: Tower of Prophecy, Voss-Ka, Voss
Equipment: 2x Sigra vibroblade | 2x Striith vibrosword | 2x red blade lightsaber shoto | Heilagr MK. I Assassin Armour| Shield talisman | G1 OmniLink | BCR-X10 Sniper Rifle | Empyrean gland | Taozin amulet
Ground forces: 40/40 Gormak Irregulars
Allies: AMCO
Enemies: Mathieu Brion | Beltran Rarr

Background music:
Sabaton – Rise of Evil​

Ingrid was a mystery to most intelligence, she had a great deal of skill in revealing almost nothing about her. Very little could be known about her and her abilities. Until her appointment as regent, most of what she knew was that she was the head of the Intelligence and Secret Police, and a disciple and right hand of the Emperor. She used to be an agent for the CIS and not to mention that she had very hard training from a young age. But nothing specific. It was helped a lot by the fact that her own intelligence organization, the Nite, was behind her.

She may not have faced opponents like her opponent yet, but she was also dangerous. There was no emotion on her face at the man's words, she just nodded a little. She had heard these words with the same emphasis more than once, so far she had always been the one who came out victorious from the fight. Only except one time, but then someone else protected her own body, Adrian. On board the ship from Théodoro and Khonsu Amon because the man was just casting a spell and could not move. The day she realized she had fallen in love with Adrian Vandiir.

The fight has begun. Ingrid didn't know yet how accustomed her two opponents were, but she knew it would be revealed soon. As she approached, the young man stepped in front of the soldier, spinning his lightsaber. And the soldier changed tactics, dropping his helmet and firearm. Ingrid thought of him as confident, perhaps too confident. She hoped she could turn this to her own side during the fight.

Through the Force she could feel the dark side force around the man, she knew very well what the other was doing, since the red-haired woman had also used the consume essence ability very many times. She did not respond to the man's roar, her movements were still elegant and graceful, death was lurking in every movement. As she progressed, she did exactly the same as the man. With the help of the Force, she was completely attuned to the fight.

In fact, ironically, the point was lucky for the woman that the young Jedi stepped forward and blocked Ingrid's attack because the soldier began to spin the lightsaber at that time. Very quickly, it might have been an outsider, but for Ingrid - since she was also focused on the fight - it seemed like a normal pace, it was more the outside world that was completely slow. As Brion pushed and kicked her back, the orange blade split there exactly where the woman's neck had been moments earlier.

Even those few seconds have told the woman a great deal about what her opponents might be able to do besides that they are both physically certainly stronger than her. Before attacking again, she reached into the Force and tried to turn off the lightsabers. She knew that if she could do it, it wouldn't give her more than a few seconds, but she hoped she could confuse her two opponents with this move.

However, if she succeeds, she tries to get closer to the two men with a quick motion, tries to break the young Jedi's nose with the end of the handle of her sword, and then uses both blades to try to aim and cut Beltran's elbow bend.

​

 

[AMCO]

Tower of Prophecy, central Voss-Ka | Great Sith Library, the Catacombs
Mind to mind, dust to dust.
Power​

Attention flickering back and forth between worlds, between bodies, between the various tools upon which he exerted his influence, from mighty Karza'Arana and brilliant Tsudakyr to expendable Reforged, Adrian still received his lover's telepathic messages, delayed though his response was.

<I've seen Darth Prazutis ' work firsthand, but my contingencies should be sufficient, so take care of yourself Ingrid. No dramatic sacrifices, you hear me? That's what the cannon fodder is for - and I've made plenty.>

The Gormaks he had dispatched to her aid weren't quite as expendable, being thinking beings and all that, but he wouldn't really bat an eye if they ended up suffering catastrophic losses in her stead. Especially since he had always favoured the Voss and their more civilised ways.

Satisfied that the situation on Voss was kind of under control - in that limited portion of the grand theatre at least - his attention returned to Ossus.

Elsewhere, the Sith Emperor was doing something that would no doubt transition into the spectacular, as was his way, but for now it remained an almost relaxed contrast to the larger troop movements in and around Voss-Ka. Almost relaxed, for a couple of presences at the edge of his scattered perception drew his attention, a hint of annoyance flickering across his brow even as his eyes remained shut.

No one was supposed to be within those archives, certainly not someone who's presence was foreign to him.

Making a snap decision, a patrol of Reforged were rerouted to that section of the sublevels, cybernetic corpses plodding forward with mechanical precision, a mixture of run-of-the-mill weaponry and integrated armaments giving them an especially ersatz look.

---
Primary Narrative: Jerek Zenduu | Jaeson Starchaser
Secondary Narrative: Ingrid L'lerim | Mathieu Brion | Beltran Rarr​

 

[Cadere]

​

Objective: Buy the Rangers time/Survive
Enemies: Darth Insatious
Gear: Lightsaber, 3x Stimpacks, FF-CAR1, Standard Attire

Insatious performed advanced tutaminis again, failing to not surprise Cas again. However, he knew it took a great amount of concentration for the Sith Lord and so, the Jedi continued to plunge his lightsaber downward, increasing the pressure on Darth Insatious. The Sith Lord began to press back, performing an ability that was beginning to make his lightsaber unstable.

"What the--?!" he exclaimed in surprise, and a hint of fear, Cas attempted to jerk his lightsaber away and out of the Dark Lord's grip but to no avail. The Jedi Knight was eager to meet Insatious' threat with a quip but before he could get a word in - he felt a searing pain surge through his back. Yelling out in pain, the young Knight dropped to forward to the floor.

Feeling the smoke rising from his cauterized back, Cas desperately attempted to get back up, shakily pushing himself up but to no avail as he simply dropped to the floor again. Groaning from the dull pain he was feeling, he pushed himself up slightly again and released a weak chuckle "... doesn't matter..." he said breathlessly "I've held you off long enough, skug... I'm okay with this... dying. As long as I see you fail." Cas stated smiling.

"You said there's no escape, huh?" he asked rhetorically, summoning his last bit of strength to weakly get up to one knee "What if I hadn't planned to?". The sound of yelling, blaster fire, and explosions echoed in his ears but he remained focused and determined, his injury was excruciating but this didn't deter him, not in the slightest. Readying himself, Cas re-ignited his lightsaber and was prepared for one last stand - if he did one thing today, it would be to atone for his past failure on Dorin. To honor those that had died - Jaina, Kove, Isabella... and all the others.

Then he saw a glimmer of a shiny spherical object roll between his legs and stop in between the Jedi and Sith. Glancing properly, he saw it was a grenade and within seconds smoke began excreting from its sides, instantly the two were enveloped in smoke. Following that, familiar voices yelled out and a barrage of blaster fire hurtled passed him, going straight for Darth Insatious. Turning around to look behind him , he made out the figures through the smoke - it was the squad of Silver Rangers.

"Mission was a success, Knight Tynen! Looks like we made it back just in time!" the commanding officer yelled out, a hint of thrill in his voice. Relief overtook the Jedi, not because he had even more of a chance but because the mission was a success and he'd played his part in it. Now they just needed to take out Insatious, or at the very least, he had to get the soldiers out of there.

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Location: Outside the Tower of Prophecy, Voss-Ka, Voss
Equipment: Ashlas wristguard | Blaster pistol with a stun setting | Stun baton | Two Lightsabres | Brion Substance Regulator | Electromagnetic pulse emitter | Jedi Robes | One-time-use Jump Jet
Allied tag: Beltran Rarr
Hostile tag: Ingrid L'lerim | AMCO

Much had happened in a short period of time. They had thwarted her first attack but with his kick, the woman had also been able to avoid having her head cut off. It was worrying how aggressive the Captain was. The man still seemed to be firmly rooted in the Concord - but the risk of falling was obvious. To have someone such as Beltran turn to the dark side would be devastating. Many Jedi codes and doctrines were there specifically to avoid the risks of falling so he really hoped that his ally knew what he was up to.

But it was a matter for another time. Right now, they needed to survive and preferably win too. Their opponent was skilled and she revealed as much when she managed to turn Mathieu's lightsabre off. It made it clear to him how much he had yet to learn and he would need to defend against such moves better in the future. While one hand held on to the weapon and kept clicking the ignite button without any visible results, the other reached down to his belt where Purin's green lightsabre hung. It had saved his life in the past and he hoped that it would do so today too.

Still, Ingrid was fast and before he had the chance to ignite the green blade of his secondary lightsabre, she threw an attack against his head. Leaning back and looking to the side, he managed to save his nose from being broken - but the hilt of her weapon did scratch his chin, causing a bit of blood to seep out and stinging pain to linger. He was lucky that it was the hilt that had impacted and not her poison coated blades.

The attack did not continue. Ingrid maintained her momentum as she seemed to move on to Beltran. Mathieu had no intentions on just standing there. The green blade activated in his left hand. There was little need for a run as he and Beltran stood close. It was fortunate as he could then only take a step toward him and the attacker. With a swift and precise move, he tried to cut her leg with a slashing motion. It would not be enough to sever it, but he hoped that it would be enough to end the fight.

 

[Darth Insatious]

Theme​

Objective: Destroy. Everything
Enemies: Cadere (planned)
Gear: 2x red lightsabers and his Sith outfit

Looking down at the Knight as he attempted to continue the fight, the Lord pulled both sabres into his hands and was ready to completely break the Jedi, once and for all. However, fate had other plans and the sound of a small metallic ball landing between them, made Insatious realize too late what it was and got engulfed in smoke. Disappearing in a dark reddish mist, Insatious flew through the air and landed a few feet back and pointed one of the blades at the dark-skinned Jedi Knight.

Behind him appeared Insatious's Death Squad, with a member less than before they hunted the Silver Rangers. In a fit of furious rage, the Lord of Hunger extinguished both blades and hilted them and blasted Cas and everything in front with lightning. Everything in front of Insatious was ripped up with roots and stone, not even tree trunks were left standing with such a force of nature pushing against it.

However, the lightning storm stopped rather quickly, after it had started, followed by Insatious falling to his knees, breathing heavily. Insatious didn't exactly sound like he was tired, but that it was something else that caused him to succumb. If Cas sensed the Sith Lord, he would immediately sense the wound in the force had increased over the Lord. It was almost as if death was gaining in on the Lord of Hunger, the more energy he used and less time feeding on life essence, the closer to death he got.

With that said, both Cas and the Silver Rangers had more than enough to deal with in Insatious's Death Squad. The horrific Death Squad had high corrupted force sensitivity, and while they didn't show much in terms of force powers, other than very basic, their fighting skills were no joke. Cas would find two of these monsters attack him, both armed with electro staffs.

Could of the soldiers was hit in the shoulder but just kept going like it was nothing and returned fire on the Silver Jedi. It would be very obvious, very quickly for Cas and his Silver Rangers, that pain wasn't really a thing for these soldiers.

Forcing and fighting against the deep-seated pain, Insatious got up again, though he looked more like a shell of his former self as his posture looked more than of an old man. followed the fight between his Death Squad and Jedi along with the Silver Rangers. Waiting for the right moment to strike, he took to chance he got and despite the pain, disappeared in a cloud of mist.

One of the Silver Ranger had been specifically guided away from the rest, to get the solder alone with two of the Death Soldiers. Before the Ranger knew it, he felt his energy be sucked away, watching his own soul be ripped from his body.

 

[Risen]

Objective: Regroup
Dramatis Personae: Cato Harth Centin Tillo @Knightwatch, the Sith​

Risen wouldn’t take his eyes off the corridor. He leaned in the doorway facing out, silently grateful to Cato for mentioning the possibility of rest. It’s not as though he exerted himself too greatly — he remembered a time when he’d haul heavy weights for hours on steep terrain. That didn’t even come close to the fatigue he felt now

First Cato, then Centin. From Risen’s perspective, he’d failed even if they lived. Stupid mistakes. Like the ones that had gotten people killed before. How do you protect someone who doesn’t want to be protected?

Now wasn’t the time. It just wasn’t. He could afford to be pensive before, when the mission was still ahead of them and fog like frightened spirits clung to Voss’s mountains. But not now.

Risen wrenched his faraway gaze back into the present. He sighed with relief seeing Cato and Centin, as though they would have died right behind him.

“We’re going. Double time.”

He fumbled with his comm link — he wasn’t used to them yet. <Naria, headed your way.>

And so they jogged off down the hall.

 

[Beltran Rarr]

Beltran Rarr

Location: City of Voss-Ka, Tower of Prophecy courtyard
Objective: Repay Ingrid L'lerim for her kindness. evil grin
Allies: SJC and allied personnel, Mathieu Brion
Enemies: The Sith and allied personnel, engaging Ingrid L'lerim
Loadout:

• Armor: Katarn Mk. II Combat Armor (minus helmet)
• Clothing: Katarn Undersuit, Bantha Load-bearing system
• Primary Weapons: 10mm Pulse Rifle
• Secondary Weapons: Death-Dealer Handcannon (drop holster, right hip - loaded with Sith-Killer Ammunition), Pulse Pistol (chest holster) Lightsaber (dropped on ground), Lightsaber Pike (currently wielded), Wrist Mounted Blaster (right wrist), Tactical Vibroblade (right boot)

Commanding: Paladin Company (150 Rangers)

In the flash of an instant, the momentum of the fight turned against them. His orange blade flickered briefly and then dissipated even as he followed through on his unsuccessful decapitation gambit. In his peripheral vision, he saw that that Mathieu Brion 's blade had also been extinguished. Neat trick, was all Beltran had time to think before the woman swung her blades at his over-extended arm.

Drawing on the Force, Beltran launched himself up and into the air performing a mid-air somersault with the precision of a gymnast as he flew over both Ingrid L'lerim and Mathieu. As he flew, one of Ingrid's blade would land a glancing blow on his forearm. While most of the force was deflected as a result of Beltan's sudden repositioning, it was enough to part a little of the durasteel plate where it hit and just enough to draw blood on the skin underneath.

As he landed, he felt blinding pain radiating up his arm. He gritted his teeth as he realized that he had dropped his lightsaber while in mid-flight. This poison was jarring in it's sudden onset and intensity. He quickly realized that whatever it was had probably caused some kind of cardiac event in the two Ranger's who'd died from it earlier.

Slowing his breathing, Beltran drew upon the Force to deaden the pain as much as he could. And what he couldn't deaden, he would use.

By this point, Mathieu had activated his secondary lightsaber and was preparing to re-engage. From it's place, slung over his back, Beltran unclipped his lightsaber pike and activated it's duel, yellow blades-one after the other. Using the pain of his wound to fuel him, Beltran flourished the pike, spinning it forward, back and crisscrossing it like an ancient martial arts master.

His aura remained predatory, menacing even. And on his face, there was a primal grin.

He then charged forward, covering the distance between himself and the others. At the last possible moment, he would leap up and slash down with the top blade. Without waiting to see if the aerial attack had succeeded, he would land in a deep crouch and spin, his position opposite of his Jedi comrade. Spinning backward toward Ingrid, Beltran performed a Sarlaac sweep common in the Schii-Cho style, with the intent to sever the woman's other leg.

 

[Cato Harth]

LOCATION: Voss-Ka
OBJECTIVE: Not die again
FRIENDS: Risen | Centin Tillo
FOES: Sith

Cato squatted against the wall, getting a good look at Centin while he spoke to make certain the padawan hadn’t been too injured. “Well, I’m no healer, but we’ll make sure someone gives you a bit of a check up when this is all over.”

He stood up and stretched, making sure that he himself wasn’t too physically beat to keep going, before helping Centin wrench his weapon from the console. With a few solid efforts the sword was yanked free, and he handed it back to its original owner. “You did good ki- Centin.” Cato offered with a genuine if weary smile.

Unfortunately, time was not on their side, and despite Cato’s wishes, Risen was right when he said they needed to get a move on. “Yeah, let’s regroup.” With that, he followed them down the hall, taking off in the same direction that they had originally split with the rest of the team.

<Nar->
<Naria, headed your way.>

Cato glared at Rise from behind, ready to make a snarky comment when a set of doors to their side slid open, revealing an entire team of imperial troopers. The Knight skidded to a halt, sticking his hands out to stop the others from running any further forwards and leaping back out of the line of fire.

Immediately the wall that they had once been right in front of was lit up red with a swarm of blaster bolts. The troopers rushed forward and took up positions in the hall, voices buzzing through in their comms, the transmission scrambled so it was unintelligible to Cato and the others. He ducked behind a heavy crate, pulling out his datapad in the midst of the shootout, “No way, there wasn’t supposed to be this much reinforcements here. Not now.” Cato examined the pad closely, his face drooping as he came to the unfortunate realization, “Oh, you’re kidding me…” It must have happened when the sword got lodged into the console. Whatever happened had cancelled the system shutdown. “Dammit! The signal went through! They’re gonna be crawling all over us soon.” He pulled out his own blaster pistol, raising it above his head and firing blindly towards the team of troopers. A heavy sigh escaped him, “Today just keeps getting worse and worse doesn’t it?” He looked to the other two, nodding before activating the commlink to Naria Harth and the rest once again,

<Alright guys, so remember the last setback I mentioned? Turns out there’s another setback. Uhhh…> A shot rang overhead, making Cato duck his head instinctively, <The alarm went off. Sithies are gonna be all over this station if they aren't already. We’re gonna try and hold them off. Play the distraction. Some of 'em already found us, but you guys have a chance to go finish what we came here for.>

More footsteps marched down the hall in their direction, “This is so stupid,” Cato pinched the space between his eyebrows, muttering to himself before finally finishing his message, <We got this, don’t worry about it. Cato out.> He always wanted to sign off like that, though it sounded a little bit dumb to him actually saying it out loud. Real life and holodramas do not equate, unfortunately, much to Cato’s chagrin. He took one last look at the other two, “You guys ready?”

 

[Cadere]

​

Objective: Survive
Enemies: Darth Insatious
Gear: Lightsaber, 3x Stimpacks, FF-CAR1, Standard Attire

Amidst the smoke, one of the soldiers rushed in and pulled Cas out helping him regroup with the others. "Thanks for coming back for my, guys." he said smiling weakly, hissing as he felt his injury flare up. Glancing behind him, he noticed Insatious' soldiers on their way minus one "Man... it was too good to be true..." Cas stated weakly "One thing at a time, Knight Tynen." the commander quickly rebuked.

Before he could ready himself to fight, the Jedi Knight turned his attention back to the Sith Lord - noticing him extinguish both his lightsabers, Cas knew something was amiss "Get behind me." he ordered. Within seconds, an explosion of Force lightening erupted from Insatious' fingertips and Cas responded by quickly lifting his lightsaber up to absorb all the lightening being directed at him and his allies, for he knew if he attempted to tank it with his own body he'd be obliterated. As soon as the lightening hit his blade, the force of it sent tremors throughout the Jedi Knight's entire body - so much so that it actually caused Cas to start skidding backward as it forced him back.

As the force of the lightening began to grow too much and he felt his strength give way, Insatious stopped. As he watched the Dark Lord fall to his knees, he had suspicions that he was growing weaker which was then finally confirmed as Cas sensed Insatious' signature in the Force begin to dwindle. This was perfect. Now Cas had another opportunity to stop the Sith Lord, however, that ambition was quickly disrupted by two of Insatious' Death Squad attack him.

Ducking and avoiding a swing aimed at his head by the electrostaff, the Kiffar swiftly brought up his lightsaber to counter which was subsequently blocked by the other troopers electrostaff. Cas grunted in pain, his wound was severely crippling his ability to fight. This was wasting time! He could be on top of Insatious right now if it weren't for these damned troopers! The Rangers were able to hold their own against the Death Squad troopers, although it was quite obvious the longer they fought, the more risk they had of being defeated or killed.

Juggling his lightsaber into his right hand, Cas used his left to backhand one of the corrupt Force-sensitive soldiers. The speed and force at which Cas' cybernetic arm impacted the soldier's face caused them to spin around, giving Cas enough time to plunge his lightsaber into the creature's back, killing it instantly. Cas jumped backward slightly, avoiding an attack from the electrostaff and creating distance between him and the final soldier "These things are barely alive, take your weapons off stun!" Cas ordered "But we were strictly ordered to--" "Just do it!" he reiterated.

Not even a second after, the Jedi would sense one of the Rangers Force signature abruptly distinguished. Turning his attention to Insatious, he saw a Ranger's husk collapse to the floor "NO! Damn you!" he yelled out before being jabbed in his chest with the electrostaff. Growling as the electricity shot through his nervous system, Cas shakily aimed the FF-CAR1 at his opponent before sending off the same amount of voltage that was going through his own body. The intensity of the electricity would knock the Death Squad trooper back a few feet and onto his back, before the abomination could get back up - Cas extended his arm in its direction before forcing his hand shut and subsequently crushing its ribcage with the Force, killing it.

Cas felt the Dark side of the Force begin to creep into his mind again - although, the knowledge of him needing to aid his allies began to reign his dark tendencies in. Confident in his allies, he would engage Insatious once more and keep them away from the other Rangers. Sprinting towards the Dark Lord, he practically threw himself at Darth Insatious "I'm not letting you kill anyone else, you murdering bastard!" he screamed.

 

[Naria Harth]

Naria tensed, Cato Harth mental report that they were being besieged reaching her. "Risen, take Cato and your boy and hole up in that room. Whatever you do, hold your ground. They cannot wipe those feeds. ... Greenie and I will come in from behind." She concluded, shooting the padawan a begrudged look.

To the outside, it might look like distaste, but for Naria it was an unwilling acceptance. She could only shield him so much. She would need him to complete their task.

"Let's go," she growled to the boy, turning on her heel and letting the force guide her down the halls. They would pincher the assassins looking to retake the communications center. Hopefully, her brother would show up on time and help out.

The force flashed a warning. She ducked, skidding under the sudden appearance of a saber, swinging across where her neck had been.

Acaadi

 

[Darth Insatious]

Theme​

Objective: Destroy. Everything
Enemies: Cadere (planned)
Gear: 2x red lightsabers and his Sith outfit

It had really turned out to an all-out brawl more or less between the Silver Rangers and Death Squad. Had Insatious been just a bit saner he could respect the men's survivability, evidently, he wasn't as he focused on Cas. Not the hunched old husk anymore, the Sith Lord exhaled a long satisfied breath. Standing unfazed, Insatious didn't even move, but only watched as Cas went screaming at him, only to be stopped by the two Death soldiers who managed to get the now dead Silver Ranger away.

Cas could see the Lord behind the two Death Soldiers, just out of reach as each attempt by him to get past, was met with an equal feat of prowess. Turning his head to watch the rest of the Silver Ranger fought a brave fight against something very hard to kill. Insatious revelled in the chaos, the death of life as he reached out with the force and Cas would feel his entire body freeze up, only to get pounded with electricity into his stomach and then have his legs swiped away under him.

Insatious just looked down at Cas and then left the Jedi Knight like he wasn't even worth Insatious's time. With both blades ignited again, the Lord of Hunger started to work towards the nearest Silver Ranger, blocking any shot fired at him and he would have been able to get in melee range if it hadn't been for the sudden explosion from a shot down starfighter.

One moment Cas was watching Insatious make his way to do more Silver Ranger feeding, the next moment, he was gone along with the crashed starfighter. However, the Death Squad didn't even seem to notice their master was gone and kept fighting.

 

[Cadere]

​

Objective: Survive
Enemies: Darth Insatious
Gear: Lightsaber, 3x Stimpacks, FF-CAR1, Standard Attire

Cas' route to Insatious was halted by the appearance of two more Death soldiers, he immediately backflipped out of the way and avoided a double hit coming straight for him. Due to his back injury, however, Cas landed on one knee shakily - this injury was becoming more and more of a hinderence as time went on and adrenaline fade. Swiftly the Jedi Knight took out a Stimpack and jabbed it into his bicep, allowing the healing liquid to course through his bloodstream and hinder the pain.

Feeling slightly rejuvenated, he got up to his feet and twirled his lightsaber ready to engage, but... Cas felt his movements restrict. No matter how hard he tried to break out of it, he couldn't, Cas knew what was happening but before he could react with the Force he felt his legs gave way and he was dropped to the floor. For a moment, the Jedi and Sith stared each other down and the contempt for the Lord of Hunger festered within his heart. Insatious wasn't powerful, not at all, he was the very opposite in fact - a monster deriving his power and life from others. A hack. Cheap. Right now, there was nothing Cas wanted more than to kill him, and he didn't care if he had to fall to do it. At least that monster would be dead.

Then he was gone again, his body jerked as he desperately tried to go after Insatious. His eyes tracked the Sith Lord intensely before he disappeared as the starfighter crashed into the ground, the small shockwave created from the explosion knocked everyone in the vicinity over. Fortunately, Cas felt his motor functions begin to return to him but Darth Insatious was nowhere to be found, judging by his presence - or lack thereof - in the Force, he was near. For now, Cas would focus on aiding the Rangers with Insatious' Death soldiers.

Cas got up to his feet and sprinted toward the two soldiers that had led one of the soldiers away to their death, when close enough he flipped over the both of them but swung his lightsaber downward mid-flip and decapitated one of the soldiers. Landing on his feet, the Jedi quickly blocked an attack from the remaining Death soldier's electrostaff, using his strength he forced the electrostaff away with his lightsaber before rolling to the side of the abominable creature, stopping on one knee and striking in the direction of his left side, severing its legs. When it collapsed, Cas stood up and violently plunged his lightsaber into the Death soldier's spine.

With that over with, Cas rushed to aid the others keeping his wits about him for when Insatious, inevitably returned.

 

[Matvec Triddol]

THE FORCE IS WITH ME​

Objective: Infiltrate.
Equipment: Lightsaber, Robes
Tags: | Senari Gravis | Risen | Farrina | Naria Harth | Centin Tillo | @Knightwatch |

Things were going so, so very well. The plan had seemingly been executed to the letter. The communication center was under their control, the security seemingly hadn’t been alerted, and the room was quiet. A maneuver like this would be talked about for days after the end of this whole affair, and certainly could be something he could go and teach on after. At least, that was the idea for the first….three minutes.

Then…something happened.

Matvec was turned away, working on one of the monitors when the sounds of alerts going off rocked through the center. They had been made, and it would be only moments before the entirety of the sith forces in the area converged on their location. They even be felt now, starting toward the doors that the jedi group had entered into the comms center from. Whatever came for them now, it would need to be stopped if possible.

The Nautolan turned to see the comms center had been basically vacated by the rest of the jedi, prompting a groan from him as he turned to also leave. One step behind, he seemed to be. Even now, as he entered into the empty hallways. A hallway that was entirely too quiet as well. Pulling his comm from his belt, the Knight was determined to get the group back together to try and form some kind of defense. But the moment he was about to press the call button, the comm was suddenly shot out of his hand, leaving him gasping with pain.

Slowly his eyes raised from his blaster bolt burned hand, turning to down the hall where a sith, red blades already ignited and burning by his sides, was flanked by a pair of sith troopers. How they got past the rest of his group, he wouldn’t know, but it appeared as though now he was in quite the bit of trouble. With a grunt of pained movement, he gripped his hilt with both hands, bringing it to a ready stance.

 

[Valae Heavenshield]

Valae's eyes turned skyward, expecting to soon see a Red preybird streaking through. And see it, she did. She held a hand up to shield her eyes, watching as green laser fire made contact with the fighter's shields – lighting up the sky above. She gasped, fearing the worst.

But, soon, she caught the silhouette flying – falling, actually – against the Voss sky.

Sure enough, it was Jared. His presence burned as he shielded himself and ensured himself a softer landing. The straps fell away, his blaster already at the ready as he approached her position. She knew Jared's father from way back, and Celeste was one of her closest friends. But she'd never worked with the younger Starchaser before, but this small glimpse alone had shown her that he had his father's flair.

She shook her head slightly as if to say 'show off.' However, Valae stepped forward to greet him nonetheless. Her saber was already in hand, for the first time in ages.

“Good to see you,” she said, and nodded towards the hospital. “I know the Silvers will try their best to keep the area above us clear.” After all, this was a hospital, and they weren't here to see it destroyed or anything like it. Valae did want to ensure that it was a safe place for patients, and securing it could serve them well, too.

“I'm a bit rusty,” she lifted the saber slightly. “But not to worry, I'll have your back – no matter what we come up against.”

Valae didn't anticipate much, but she knew it would be quite the mistake to underestimate their Sith opponents. This was a world they'd seized, and she knew they wouldn't let go of it easily.

Jared Starchaser