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A commotion at the vault's entrance drew his attention for the briefest of moments, his head cocking to the side to cast a side-long glance back the way he had come.
Just in time to see the sheared halves of a speeder whistle past him on either side and crash into the vault floor, tumbling end over end before slamming into the far wall with a terrible clatter.
That was enough to make the once-Emperor turn his body to half face the vault door, his eyes narrowing as he spied the silhouette of another standing in the doorway. A silhouette that held a lightsaber in its hands, one that was definitively not crimson.
"You! Whatever you're doing is certain to cause only harm! You have to stop!"
Carnifex also quipped back at what he assumed had to be a Jedi, a quick retort that harm was the exact purpose of everything locked away within this vault. But he stopped himself, his mouth curling down in a menacing frown, there was no time for juvenile one-liners here. If he were younger, he would have engaged the younger man in a duel of words as well as swords, but he was in no mood.
The sword on Carnifex's back rose up into the air, seemingly moving with a mind of its own as its tip swung up to point menacingly at the approaching Jedi. It sped off like a bullet, rushing forward to spear the advancing figure before it could reach the former Dark Lord.
Willed into motion by the once-Emperor's mind, the sword was as dangerous of an opponent as any flesh-and-blood foe.
Things seemed to be moving smoothly. The Voice of Abbaji had tightened its focus since Ghost Squadron entered the Citadel, focusing on keeping the Eclipse forces outside in advantageous positions in the meantime. The operation was a tight one, crucially so. Other than those who had been chosen to come to Byss, almost none of the Eclipse cells were even aware of its existence--and the goal was to achieve it without so much as a casualty lost to any of the multiple clashing forces. It would be a wonderful piece of news to share with the Unknown Regions if pulled off...and a thumb in the eye of the Empire so pointed they would have to scramble to avoid the shame.
::Sparrow, guard your exit. The goal is to delay the opposition, not to destroy it. Take advantage of distractions provided by local forces when you can. Raptor, there are civilian structures there that are still occupied Innocent casualties must be minimized, and covering fire on the left flank would be ideal--::
A chirp on the priority frequency demanded attention. Muting all other frequencies for the moment allowed its speaker, a young Trandoshan male from Ghost Squadron, to take precedence.
::'Ey, If you can hear me, this is Ghost. We're in position, and your agent's...well, your agent's not responding. She said she was going to do what we came here to do, but then she just sat on the floor and won't move. The Sergeant's topside dealing with some spooks in robes, said to tell you we're underway?:: The comm crackled, picking up a distant boom. ::We need confirmation, repeat, we need confirmation things are still going well. Sitting on the floor don't look like intel gatherin', and the boys are getting antsy. Over::
That was the cue. She'd made it inside, and faster than projected, too. If the intel on this mission was correct, they would have what they came for in a matter of minutes. The comm channels opened wide, allowing all teams to converge into a single audio channel using a localized server. When the Voice spoke to the group at large, it for once sounded rather pleased. Rather proud.
::I can assure you, Ghost Squadron, there is no need for alarm. What you are seeing is typical, for what amounts for typical in these matters. Guard my agent while she does what she was sent there to do. Non-Eclipse friendlies are due to arrive at your position soon; you are cleared to cooperate with them in order to maintain your position, as their goals are not in conflict with ours. You should be clear to exit as soon as she is responsive again, at which point we will begin extraction. Sparrow, Raptor, make sure to clear your exit strategy. Coordinate with Rabbit to confirm extraction points.
Captain Kovacs stood over a holotable inside a bunker, coordinating his special forces teams. So far teams 3 and 4 had been engaging enemy forces to some success but to the captain, something felt off. His mind felt hazy, something to do with that woman from outside. How had he gotten back to the bunker? He didn't exactly remember, as if there was a blank space. He smacked his head with his hand before turning to a nearby marine. "Marine... Where did that civvie go. The one with the child." The marine turned to Kovacs and answered. "She's inside the base with a few other marines sir." The Captain appeared puzzled. "And who karking let the civvie walk into the base?" the marine took a second to think. "That would have been you sir..." he said slowly.
It didn't really add up, not to the Captain anyway. Whether it had been mind control or some other power was above his pay grade but to him now he needed to fix whatever had gone wrong and fast. "Marine get your platoon. You're with me." he said before picking up his rifle. Soon 18 men assembled by the front of the bunker and Kovacs led them down towards Tegan Starfall
's position. On approach he looked around and it seemed as if the soldiers around her didn't even see her, a few of his own marines even stood guard. He waved the platoon to slow down and fan out, surrounding the position. The white armoured soldier took a step forward and spoke.
"You, civvie." he called out. "Those marines aren't meant to be guarding you and whatever the hell that is does not belong on my fire base." he said, letting his words sink in. Slowly soldiers from both the Byss defence force and other marines began to look as the Captain shouted towards Tegan. "Come on out and surrender. We don't got that much time anyway until Eternal Empire troops begin assaulting this base." he said and while he was suspicious he did not fully recognise Tegan as a threat.
The bike barreled forward, blade still slashing out to meet any unlucky soldier who crossed her path. Others peeled off, taking their brightness where it was needed most. Still, Ripley charged ahead, eventually passing Zaavik in the lead, making her way towards her allies. The thick of the fight eventually fell behind her, the various sounds of combat fading slowly.
As the nexus grew closer, the darkness radiating out from it became almost tangible, threatening to smother her. It was an ancient power, and Ripley was forced to combat the feelings of inadequacy. The knight didn’t feel ready, never having attempted anything like this. Yet she couldn’t shrink away- it needed to be cleansed, and their forces needed her help to do that. She could feel the corrupt tendrils coiling around her mind, attempting to tighten their grip. Her focus held the small bit of light she could find, unwavering.
When she finally arrived at the entrance, the woman slid off the speeder, passing two others. They were consumed by their own battle, not even acknowledging the Zeltron. She could feel darker presences radiating from somewhere below her, but her attention remained firmly on the task at hand. The nexus needed to be transformed. She needed to be a beacon in the dark. As she entered the keep, the zeltron’s cobalt eyes found a man hard at work, two others on the guard. Wordlessly, she took to his side, expanding the boundaries of her mind outward.
The raw energy hit her like a tidal wave, threatening to sweep her away. A small gasp escaped her lips as she clawed desperately for anchor. She probed the force, searching for even a glimpse of Alsha, yet there was nothing but Bogan’s fury. Her mouth pursed, attempting to steel her nerves. The light she needed lived inside of her. She would do this.
She let the radiance in her heart flow out, warring the oncoming darkness. It fought violently, struggling to keep it’s hold here. It reared over and over, the Zeltron’s determination growing stronger with every passing second. She drew on all the moments that gave her hope, the people who had helped bring peace to her tumultuous thoughts, the harmony she felt when wrapped in Alsha’s warm embrace. Slowly, the chaos began to lessen, subdued bit by bit. The tide still rolled in, but she faced it head-on, unyielding as she stared darkness in the face.
The battle above Byss has come to a stalemate. The invading Eternal Empire forces were largely holding their position beyond the reach of the orbital defence platforms, occasionally launching a harrying attack to test the mettle of the Galactic Alliance defenders. One such attack - led by Bella
and BB-610
- was whittling down a contingent of TIE Defenders. Similarly, the GA forces under the leadership of Supereminent Allied Commanding Admiral (First Class) Gat Tambor
were holding a tight formation above Byss to shield the planet from enemy bombardment.
While the battle had come to a standstill, the costs associated with the military actions continued to climb alongside Tithe's chagrin. He estimated that the full combat contingent of starfighters on each battlecruiser was necessitating life-support systems to be operated 19 per cent above their optimal level, consuming additional reactor fuel and shortening the lifespan of the consumable air scrubbers. A small number of starfighters were requesting permission to land for emergency repairs arising from collisions with friendly forces and space debris - Tithe ran a quick calculation to estimate the repair cost in terms of both spare parts and work hours. In a cruel twist, a destroyed starfighter could be written of the Trade Defence Force's balance sheets and sold for scrap. Maybe it was time to investigate the installation of self-destruct modules to finish off damaged vessels.
Tithe's total cost of the Byss engagement ticked past 1.8 billion credits with hostiles yet to fully unfold. He groaned at the figure. While the Trade Federation could easily take the hit - Agrippa The Hutt
had lost more credits down the back of his dais - the Senator for Aargau sensed that the TF's credit reserves would be needed in the coming conflict.
"My apologies," he said, returning his focus to Alli. "As a great Skakoan once said - war is, ah, economics by other means."
"While you may have no feelings toward the Sith, I fear the Zweihander Union is at a juncture, yes, a peripeteia," he continued. "Your succour of the Eternal Empire sends a clear message as to your support, or simply indifference, of the Sith Empire. A government renowned for scopic war crimes and ghastly human experimentation. I shutter to think what atrocities Dark Councillor AMCO
- the consort to the Eternal Empress - has to his name."
The 'evil' of economic sanctions paled in comparison to the horrors which awaited the enemies of the Sith and Eternal Empires. Business may go bankrupt and people loose their homes due to the actions of the GA, but the strong would survive. The Union itself may benefit in the long run by taking over corporations driven into the ground by the sanctions. And they would do so without their planets being hazed or their families enslaved.
"Like the rest of the galaxy, the Union must choose - does it support the spreading darkness of the Sith, or will it stand against it? Know this - if you oppugn the Eternal Empire, you will not do it alone. Justice, uh, finds a way."
The Monarchs held in the first volley, shields almost completely spent as the turbolaser fire focused on a singular station while the heavy ion cannons began to scream their spite against the enemy. Teams aboard the vessels were working at breakneck pace to secure small breaches that the incoming fire had opened through the shielding. Small pock mark wounds shown through the hull, metal sealant being placed where space allowed. Sections were sealed off quickly before the atmosphere vented whole sections, taking those unable to escape the bulkheads slamming shut into the void of space.
Alarms blared across the cadre of Monarchs, one remaining untouched through the storm as they focused their shield power forward, creating greater weak spots in the stern shielding. The carrier's focused their fire to the same singular station also, a few turbolasers still firing as their own ion cannons began to focus on the orbital as the Monarchs.
The droid fighters began to work their way into the enemy starfighter line behind Bella
and BB-610
to aid in keeping their six clear. The fighters were expendable, and little thought was given to their continued safety as they worked far harder than they should have. Their speed was break neck, maneuvers tight in following with corroborated data pulled from Sapphire Squadron and a number of other sentient starfighter groups. The Messenger continued to jam backward scans, sending data back to the waiting vessels in the edge of the system.
The Disruptors were concentrating their point defense's against anything coming near, whole sections of point defense cannons firing on a singular target as the systems tracked and followed whatever attempted the line. Their rear cannons revealed themselves, as the fight took a dangerous turn with the affirmation that the Monarch's had taken a severe walloping. All fourteen aimed at the same orbital, banking on something being eaten by the quick acting acid. Fourteen cannons opened up, lobbing now weightless spheres of pink, blue, silver, and red acid covered glitter orbs at the same station the other vessels were firing at.
The offending glitter was usually harmless after forty-eight hours in atmosphere, but in the void of space unless acted upon by internal atmosphere, the acid would burn near forever.
--------------Dimitri's Vessels--------------
The silence aboard the waiting vessels was tangible. Data continued to slowly trickle in as passive scans showed another fleet(Gat Tambor
) arriving in the system. Dimitri stood, silent as the grave while his own thoughts ran riot. Previous battles ran through his mind. Names of the fallen burned into his memory after hours each night of watching the small holo-display plaque roll through them in his personal office. He could ramble on for hours, speaking each name of a fallen Agent and never come close to making a mark in the lengthy list.
Is it worth it?
The Agents were dedicated to making life as difficult as possible for governments and their slowly extending tendrils towards unaligned planets and systems. Governments that did little more than claim the air space, factories, and citizens as theirs before implementing their will upon the swathe they had collected.
Is it worth it?
His own voice rang those words in his mind. Words that had haunted him a number of nights. His curled into fists, nails biting into his palms as he drew closer to the observation post and gazed into the distance beyond. A sharp look from his XO Rimes not yet shaking him from the intrusive thoughts as he watched the battle ensue from his position with the electrotelescope. Different colored lasers streaked across the blank dark of space. A demented and broken lightshow for those not in the thick of the fighting.
Is it worth it?
He pulled back from the scope, eyes cast to the floor as he wondered what they hoped to accomplish throwing away so many people against a defense such as this. His thoughts went over the crews of the vessels in the thick of the fighting, wondering how many had been hurt or killed already. The train of thought followed back to the waiting vessels directly under his command.
He had been assured that most of the crews had been replaced with clones, and that they were made specifically for this task. A thought that should have assuaged his growing guilt at throwing away lives in a move such as this one. A move that Lo-Notar would have commended had he lived beyond Talay. Had he not thrown himself against a similar force such as this one in hopes of exercising a similar will upon the government that owned that planet.
Is it worth it?
The thought shifted, now looking across those gathered in the command center. Silence heavier than any armor a person could bear as he heard the singular heavy breaths of the communications officer correlating data from the forward fleet back to the waiting Darts. His thoughts extended to those manning the vessels on either side of him.
Did they hold him in contempt when a vessel was destroyed he wondered. Did it register for these clones that he was the one commanding them to march forward into the fighting knowing this was most likely a fools errand? Or was that another part of their training? To shrug off the certainty of death, bodily harm, and possible maiming that could happen amidst the fighting of the gathered titanic powers among the stars.
The external lights facing the Darts remained red, the clear signal to refrain from firing yet. The crews aboard each vessel were becoming anxious, waiting for the green light to begin engaging as they had been told they would. The ORL scanners sounded aboard the dancer as warnings about another fleet(Fiolette Raaf) preparing to enter the area were given. A long, slow inhale had him snapping from his thoughts as he processed the information while another scrap of information made his brow furrow.
"An open communication line is awaiting response from...@Gat Tambor, Admiral. Orders?" The communications officer sounded, drawing both he and his XO's gaze. Rimes and himself shared a look, sheer wonder at the turn of events. He idled for a moment, enough to have the officer spin and look at him before another draw of air had him nodding.
"Open the line. Might as well see what they are after." Dimitri resigned himself to seeing what they desired. The communications officer gave a sharp nod, opening the channel as Dimitri spoke.
"This is the Commanding Officer of the Eternal Empire and Agents Forces. I'm afraid our galley's are closed currently, but I will do what I can to assist you today." Dimitri added a bit of humor to the grim situation, earning him a sharp glare from his chiss XO as the communications officer bit his lip to keep from laughing in the background. He had yet to reveal his name across the battles he had taken part in, a holdover from his other job.
Tiredness was not what Elpsis felt. She had needed a moment after tossing a good deal of fire around. The 'Fire Princess' had very good stamina. It had came in handy on and off the battlefield. Her shot missed, as her foe had been quick. Elpsis gave quick pursuit of her, not willing to be knocked off her trail. However, eldritch words of power left her foe's lips and she had summoned a demon. The blood of nearby corpses coalesced into a pool of red viscera and an abomination emerged, positioned between the two women.
The creature seemed to be made of bones and what resembled clotted blood. It stood two metres heigh. Through the Force, it looked like an abomination. For a moment, Elpsis believed she could hear the cries of the dead. Pure bloodlust and primal hunger radiated from the entity.
Immediately, the creature sought to plunge its mental talons into her mind, warping her perception of what was real. She winced as the illusion tried to take hold and plant an image of fear and despair in her mind. Elpsis' blindness did not make her immune to illusions, though optical ones obviously did not really work. She was, however, good at deconstructing them.
Nice try, she thought and surged forward, slashing. In the process, she channelled the Force through Inferno. It was a standard crossguard lightsabre in many ways, but had the unconventional property of being Force imbued. Thus when she channelled her power through it, could hurt damage and destroy dark side spirits, demons and the like - much like the Force Imbued Blades of yore.
The demon howled in pain and fury as she cut through its arm. A furious telekinetic blow sent her sprawling backwards. Her head hurt as it unleashed as what felt like red-hot needles were being driven into her brain. Gritting her teeth, she advanced implacably.
A burning flash of light emanated from her off-hand and she plunged the burning orange blade into what might as well be its stomach. With a shriek the entity dissipated, leaving naught but a pool of blood. Naturally, her foe had used the chance to leave the scene. Pulling the Force into her muscles to amplify her speed, Elpsis took off after her, moving deeper into the darkness of the nexus. Fortunately, her armour was not heavy, so it did not impede her.
"Damn these orders, We'll never join the fight at this rate."
The situation was simultaneously boring and exciting. The battle raged on, and we could be called any minute, meaning neither I, nor my crew, could relax for a moment. The wait was excruciating though. I'd been pacing across the bridge just to have something to do while reports continued to come in from the comlinks. Byss was a damn fortress. The Eternal Empire was insane to think this was the best starting point for their campaign.
"Sir, still no orders to move."
"Kark this," I sighed. "How's the rest of the fleet doing?"
"So far, not much damage sir."
"That's good, I suppose."
I couldn't help but feel disappointed, even while the victory seemed clear. My Corvettes weren't doing anything, and others were doing all the fighting. With a sigh, I sat back into a chair. My right leg bounced while i read through some data. The enemy was nearly past the third moon. Orders be damned, this opportunity couldn't be passed up.
"Order the fleet to move behind the enemy. I want every captain checking in regularly. Any ship taking too much fire is to retreat to the fourth moon."
"Yessir."
The line began to move. Any of the corvettes alone would have only been a nuisance, hardly a threat. But thirty of them was like having a small star destroyer. Especially the twenty Warrior IIs, with their sixteen turbolasers and ion cannons each. The Corvettes sped away from the moon, firing at the rear of the enemy Monarchs. Hawk took the lead, inspiring my captains to follow.
My eyes followed each dot on our scanners closely, each burst of light on the outside of the transparisteel. This was my element. The nervous fidgeting stopped, and I stood, firm as a rock, ready to give new commands on the fly. The battle had begun for my line, glory awaited us.
"I don't pay attention to the sith or jedi, I find that the force communities of the galaxy are always doing terrible things to each other. I have found it best to let them wage their own war. So Sith vs Jedi or any of the other groups, it doesn't matter to me. The problem my friend is that without the Eternal Empire, I have millions of people with no place to call home. I see no one else offering us a place to settle and call home and self govern. They might have their skeletons, everyone does. However they have been good to me. I do not stand with their war crimes or human experimentation. Now as a neutral party which is what I view myself in this matter. I could perhaps meet the GA with some request they might have. I don't know what you might require but if it is doable I can trade for help with the sanctions. I know that nothing in the world is free. What is the price? What would you ask of the Union? Do you need something manufactured? Do you need a gesture, for me to distract the empire with some political move. Perhaps put out a statement of condemation on something they have or will do? I of course have limits as we all do but I am sure there is something you have in mind." She didn't support either side. She knew the union had its own Skeletons she was sure the GA had theirs. After all everyone did.
It was almost jarring in a sense, especially in feeling the astromech droid as it handled the interceptor with robotic precision, giving Bella perfect shots on enemy targets where she would previously have taken on the duties of flying and shooting by herself, with little assistance beyond that of the data-brains. With the BB unit’s help, her shots were more precise, antimatter-filled osmium rounds striking directly in the eyes of the TIE Defenders, rapidly depleting shields before the fighters went off in a cascade of fiery explosions.
She had been wrong to dismiss him so early.
Nevertheless, the thought was deliberately suppressed, shoved into the back of her mind in favor of the battle transpiring around her. More enemy fighters were coming, including a line of corvettes moving to flank behind the Monarchs in the formation. While there was little she could do against them in a small snub fighter, Bella did not intend to let the corvettes go unmolested. With a deep breath, she pulled on the control stick, brining her interceptor into an Immelmann turn in order to shift her heading towards the formation of corvettes.
“BB, I need you to plot a nanojump for me. Aiming for the...lead corvette (Constantine Oliva
) in that formation. I want you to put us right at the edge of its shields. Then, when we translate out, I need you to activate the field disruption systemimmediately. Can you do that for me?”
Regardless of the droid’s response, Bella prepared for the jump, her fingers tapping away at the holographic displays as she worked to calibrate the Delta-7B’s power levels.
Temperature was dropping. She could feel it even with the heavy fur of the Daifanwa surrounding her body, her breath was given smokey shape as if she was walking inside a freezer, the air was thickening, becoming something as sort of dense mist inside the ritual chamber, were she outside, Lunafreya would be able to see the heavy clouds of storm gathering around the Citadel. Darkness was falling, coming down on all of us like heavy rain, bringing about throttling cruelty on all its occupants, were she to fail, disaster would follow, and she knew of it quite well. How would something be worth pursuing if it did not mean gambling your own life on it? Lunafreya was too arrogant for even considering failure as an option, success was the only outcome, for fortune favored the bold and the gods smiled on a brave woman. Her eyes, hidden behind the shadowy sockets of her cloak kept focused on the globe on top of the altar, darkness was spreading, almost covering its surface entirely, which would pronounce the ritual to begin.
"Oi! You!" Both her eyes blinked beneath her cloak, slowly her head moved aside to pierce through the mist and gaze upon a strange creature coming out of the ground. "Fancy Lass! If you--if you take this place too lightly, your blood will be in its fists!"
Her two servants moved fast, raising both its arms and prepared to cut it down, but gently she raised her fingers, calling them to stand down. As she walked past over the ritual table, Lunafreya turned her head to face Belias, with his youthful curious face trying to gaze upon the odd creature himself. All of her speech was done in the ancient language of her people, which she doubted anyone present would even care on knowing how it was called. “Proceed with the preparations, Belias.”, Lunafreya's head gave a harsh nod behind the animalistic face of her cloak, as he went on to procure for a brush and fetch a jar filled with a mix of vahla and elzeri blood, to paint strange symbols on the table. Runes of yore, in strange cabala symbology, meant to conduct the dark energies through a steady bridge between the Nexus and her crystal. Calmly she walked closer to both her other servants, as her lips spoke, calmly. “Care to explain the meaning of those words, stranger?”, her thoughts were obscured by malice and her will directed on reading the intentions all around her, both of her eyes were closed while she allowed for the being to speak or not. There was something in the air aside from the ordinary feelings on the battlefield, that she could discern quite well, but inside this Citadel aside from the crushing presence of powerful beings such as the one a few floors above them, Lunafreya could feel something else entirely, something she was trying to identify, as a ubiquity such as the one in the globe. Was… that… light? Shining, like the flashy lamps used on festivals in an ocean of shadows. There was the desire for vengeance, fame, glory, justice in this keep, a desire that she knew the stench more so than others, and at her side, it was the noise of Diabolico’s nostrils sniffing eagerly towards the direction of the uninvited guest that caused her eyes to storm wide-open, appearing from the cloaked protection of the Daifanwa, golden and terrible, as her voice bathed with a thick accent, howled. “I have little patience for errand boys.”
At her side, the black-armored droid snatched the flamethrower hanging at the side of his waist with such alacrity that would blush the cruelest gunslinger in this galaxy, standing still in place, prepared to act if his mistress so desired. Lunafreya’s mind focused every amount of cell in her body to dedicate her will on everything that was around her, meditating in such meant only one thing; to submerge herself in the darkness and basket in it. Inside, the elzeri’s thoughts were flowing with the stream, imposing her will and denying herself the shackles of fates to command her own intention in achieving her desires. Focus, was everything.
‘It’s like my heart is being bathed in oil...’, she remarked herself without speaking, her large pointy ears jumping up and down, as Belias continued brushing the stone in blood, his little contribution to this event finally almost done. The elzeri raised her hand towards her guest, this newcomer, a human of unrefutable foolishness by her own perception, creatures unworthy of the gift that life and existence truly were, both closed eyes in her head opened, revealing even through the darkness of her cloak’s mask the two glowing, imposing eyes carriers of horror as her own voice creeped out in the shadows. “We are done here, human, you can inform the one who sends you here that I have no desire to meddle in her affairs, fair day to you.”, slowly she turned her back to him, gently flirting her own head right to pour a gesture towards Diabolico. “Close that hole.” And left-back to her own affairs, to meditate during the little amount of time she still had until Belias finished painting the symbols, misty smoke was floating inside that chamber, she could feel its dread power all around, flowing and condensing the ritual's will in reality, soon the last part of her deeds would be done and all of the time she planned, all the time she awaited would finally bare laurels to ornament her foundations, as nightfall that came down on the land, terrible and beautiful.
"Well, that's just stupid on top of rude, Miss Fancy Lass."
As utterly out of his depth Dag Velardi was, he still held no truck for rude kids--especially when said children didn't seem to have any inclination to shoot lasers out those glowing eyes and incinerate him where he stood. He held his hands out wide as he spoke, though--just in case.
"I know you don't know me from Vader, but really? demanding answers, then insulting a man right as he's about to give them to you? Seriously, I don't think all this Forcie poodoo makes one incapable of having basic karkin' manners."
He shuffled his weight from one foot to the other, attempting to look casual and knowing he was probably failing. A half-glance back down the hole at his feet showed that his men were holding their position, the Lieutenant speaking hotly into the comms, the Ghost still sitting cross-legged between them. Even from a floor up, he could see the shaking of her thin shoulders, the sweat forming on her face. She seemed to be almost on the verge of speaking--
She was depending on him to take what she'd given him, and run with it. All he had to do was buy her time. That, and stay close. He wanted to be able to drop down fast if she decided to keep being rude and 'close the hole' on them.
"But then, I think what I'm sayin' shouldn't be to hard to suss out," he said brassily. In fact, he said a lot like Gorello would have. Probably a good idea--Gorello was more imaginative than Dag was, and leagues more eloquent. "Not if you're as strong as you think you are. I mean, even I can feel it, and I ain't been trained for shab. You're in the belly of an animal here. A big ol' beast that's just as inclined to digest you like a hunk of meat as let you have what you want.
We're being careful. But you? You think a few drops of dead blood and someone else's bones will appease that kind of appetite? No, sir. What you're trying to take from this place will require payment from you."
The broad in her cloak had turned her back to him and continued her little magic thing, but he gestured anyway to point at the orb that seemed to demand her attention. In the back of his mind, he was surprised at how coherent this was sounding. Was this a Force thing, tilting his thoughts in directions he half-understood, pulling out truths he only barely knew?
"Just a friendly warning. Don't blame me if ignoring it blows up in your face."
There were a lot of confusing things going on in a single area. Movement. Action. Introductions. Darkness. Dialogue. Motives. Purpose. The most effective way for her to continue was to focus on a single instance, lest she be consumed by observing things outside the realm of her influence. The premiere necessity of being an illusionist was to observe, understand...and once that was complete, then, and only then, could she replicate.
After a year or so of working alongside Viribus, she could replicate his mannerisms with her eyes closed. Which was necessary given there were multiples of him visible and none of her. As much as the White Current twisted and curled to recreate the likeness of the zabrak, her entity was entirely eclipsed. Invisible.
The Zabrak lunged, cutting through the distance and activating one, two incredible zaps of lightning. The crypt’s traps had been sprung, and Majain the spectre did her best to counterbalance the weight required to keep the traps away from his flesh. She fired one, two, three shots at the stones to try and make them feel as though there were something alive stepping on them and activating the energy bursts. If there’d been a body there, they’d easily be incinerated.
Far too fond of her own skin, she gulped in the doorway. Her free hand gently rose and fell while the four (one had fallen to the set trap) remaining Viribus replicas spanned about the room to encircle the Second Son and the one version of the Zabrak actually lunged at him.
Not wanting to trigger another trap, because she was unsure how many had been set, her unseen self pressed against the walls of the crypt to keep her distance from the main action, but remain with her seeing eyes to aid.
For good measure, three of the mirage versions of the Dark Jedi closed in to encircle the Inquisitor. One hung back as if observing. All four, as disorienting as they might have been, were entirely harmless. But a worthy distraction from the Jedi who were seeking to purify the nexus.
So, the soldiers awoke from the fog and stood outside the door demanding surrender as if they had the upper hand to make demands of her. She finished sync up the device to her mind crown and armed the quantum bomb. Syncing it to her mind crown she set up a dead man switch so if it would detonate if her brain waves died also with the crown, she could remote detonate the device. As she finished up, she looked towards the soldiers under control.
“Well boys, it’s been fun.” She smirked as she once again put her mask back over her face. “The Game of catch has ended, and the Foreplay now begins.”
The four of the six soldiers still under Tegan’s dominance moved forward where the other two were standing guard. Tegan stood well behind them the child came out from a corner to stand by her. As the six met up at the entrance to the room that held the bomb Tegan raised her arms and hands out in front of her. Like puppets the soldiers raised their guns, her gloved hands formed into Finger guns.
Tegan spoke out to Captain Kovacs. “Now, I could surrender but as I see it if you fire upon me, you’re shooting into a room with an explosive that could level the city. Plus, not mention the other explosives on the sled.” Granted those were kind of mute with the one that could level the city. "I have armed the bomb and it is connected to a dead man switch so if I die, well you will die too and the whole city…..” Her voice right on the edge of laughing maniacally oh how Tegan loved the no win scenario it brought her such rush and reminded her of when she was so much younger. The time she lured a sith master who thought he was all that and looked down on Tegan, like most people did considering she was short. Yet his looking down on her was pure arrogance in the end she gave him one option kneel before her or she would kill them both. He kneeled and she promptly kicked him in the nads claiming her victory.
“Now I am going to open fire on you, I suggest you run and hope you can get the hell out of this city before I make it to my ship.” She was about to have her soldiers open fire, but she hesitated for just a second but not out of any sense of regret or remorse, she just remembered she had a kid with her and he had an explosive collar on. She had plans to use him for something hopefully she would be stuck with a kid she thought to herself for a moment. Then the soldiers under her control open fire as she cocked back her finger guns and yelled. “Bang! Bang!” Blaster fire started hailing down the halls in the direction of Captain Kovacs voice. Tegan was no civilian she was the goddess of destruction, the terrorist witch or for those who didn’t want to feed into ego the God damn Psycho witch.
Lady Ingrid L’lerim Ragal Terassi Vandiir Eternal Empress of the Eternal Empire, Lord Commander of the Wardens of the Shroud
The Red Witch; The Night Queen, Head of the House L’lerim, CEO of the HPI Consortium
In the background, she heard the struggle, just as she felt the death of the blood demon. However, the creature has given her enough time to find the way down to the depths, even closer to the heart of the Nexus. Through the Force, she received messages and reports from the other Wardens (who knew about the plans) and members of the Devil’s Claws were already there, just waiting for the woman. And she went because she didn't care what the fate of the place would be. She didn't really care if the whole world was destroyed even with her The pain caused by the death of AMCO
was already manageable, she was able to suppress it, but the emptiness in her soul was permanent. She felt she was dead inside.
And it was precisely because of this emptiness that she didn’t care how the Nexus would perish. At that time, she did not yet know that her thought of this would change very soon, that the beloved man had changed her far more than she thought. Probably to her advantage, even though the Sith Lord was a Sith. It made the woman live to find a way to bring him back to life. She hoped it would happen by the time their child was born. The red-haired woman didn’t hide her presence, somewhere she wanted the other woman to find and catch her, to kill him so she could join Adrian’s soul in the Netherworld so they could be together again.
But on the other hand, it was her job, she couldn’t let her family, Tubrok, her clan, and her people down nor her unborn children. She descended several levels until she found where her men were. They found a larger room that was close enough to the centre of the Nexus, but no one was nearby, so maybe they’ll have enough time and opportunity to finish their ritual. Ingrid just nodded to them to start their job, she would later join towards the end.
She will keep the Fire Witch away from this place until then, when a woman arrives.
Well, they could only remain combating TIE/Ds for so long. The Galactic Alliance's fleet had them beat in numbers, and no matter how many they destroyed, more would continue to arrive. Bless the Delta-7B's shields and speed, or else this would have been a very different battle. Even as BB-610 left the flying to Bella in order to discharge an electromagnetic pulse, they would be overwhelmed. Even as he scrambles the TIEs comms and overheats their cannons - the satisfying cathunk-cathunk of their malfunctioning blasters complemented by a trail of smoke - they would be overwhelmed. No matter that they would shoot down those TIEs as soon as they could, they would be overwhelmed.
Bella's orders were loud and clear, and frankly, they made sense. They couldn't keep fighting their swarm forever. Their shields had taken a gorgeous 47.883% [ ROUNDING | 48.000 ] of steaming firepower, and while they recharge quickly, it would be a fool's errand to stay here. Sure, yeah, attack the central corvette. Leave the TIE/Ds to the droid fighters [ since that's all droids are good for; disposable, after all, aren't they? ].
' Get ready. Jumping immediately. ' And he stayed true to his word. His circuits warm, as the navigational computer hums in unison to his instantaneous calculations. The Delta-7B twirls around cannon fire with elegance, thrusters burning brighter and brighter. The starfighter's nose aims directly at the 253 Corvette [ Constantine Oliva
], and with a deafening roar, the ship blinks forward, tilting gorgeously above the enemy starship's shields. It was almost like a teasing kiss.
BB-610 gets to work immediately after. The droid's data probe twists into the many ports inside the astromech slot, and BB-610's optic follows the line of binary skimming through his databanks with cold, unfeeling precision. It felt like an eternity for him - probe clicking to the left, to the right, to the right, to the left. Following every order seamlessly. Activated, warmed up, calculated risk of malfunction at its lowest, autocannons locked and loaded. It felt like an eternity.
It was one second.
' Field disruptors online. ' With a warm hum, an energy field wraps around the Delta-7B in a firm embrace. They could do this, they could do this. They were so close- shields were up, guns were ready, and- a click.
' THE ENEMY WILL BE INCINERATED. ' With an uncharacteristically terrifying shriek of pure metal, the Delta-7B's autocannons take aim.
"Intriguing." Illusions were a type of power the Second Son had been working on mastering. A number of pages in the book beside him were dedicated to the intricate Sith runes needed for him to pull them off. But to see someone who was actually skilled in such a process was fascinating. And his traps. They could sense them. Whomever it was that had chosen to engage with him, he wanted to learn from them. As the group of illusions and Viribus closed in around him. Good.
The invisible darts he'd summoned ripped outwards. A condensed, smaller version of Darkshear, with far more accuracy. One for each of the Zabrak, though far from lethal. The goal wasn't to harm, but to learn. The darts that passed through the illusions would tell him what he needed to know. The real one. Brave. The real one was the one attacking. He jumped backwards from the slash, his masked gaze focused on this new foe. No, he wasn't the one making these illusions.
Someone else was here. Hiding.
He stopped a couple feet or so back, his red saber igniting in his grasp. Like a spider in it's web he knew exactly what strands would trap their foes. This man seemed to want close combat. All the more reason for the Son to keep moving. Putting trap after trap between him and his foe. He made a show of his next spell, the book beside him noisily flipping through the pages as he raised a hand. Reading a power, if slow to cast spell. All to bate Viribus out to charge in.
Tags [GA + Associates] | Grand Moff Vel'alari | Constantine Oliva
| Gat Tambor
| Teica Giraan
| Aerarii Tithe
Tags [EE + Associates] | Dimitri Lindzinsky | Tristan Evore | Bella
| BB-610 As the Battle moved on , the Gauntlet Stations continued the Pound the enemy Monarchs focusing on one Star Destroyer each , however as they continued to pound the enemy Capital Ships , Gauntlet 4 began to suffer under the collective firepower of all enemy Star Destroyers. As the Endurance-Class Fleet Carriers joined in and the Disruptor Corvettes fired their Acid Glitter Orbs , Gauntlet 4 started to succumb to enemy fire as they lost their shields and began to take some damage to it's hulls , nevertheless even as the Shields were lost , the Station was still in the fight , though now the Gauntlet Orbital Defense Network was at risk of being broken.
Then as if it were a Miracle , Constantine Oliva
's Line of Corvettes emerged from behind the Moon just as Sularen was about to spring the Second Trap. Nevertheless , it was good timing as the Corvettes began to attack the rear of the Monarchs providing the Gauntlet Orbital Defense Network with the Distraction they needed to launch a Counter-attack. Already Grand Moff Vel'alari had deployed her own Fighters in which had begun engaging with Eternal Imperial Naval Forces and thus despite the fact that the enemy Fleet seemingly had an upper hand , they had exposed themselves in the process allowing Sularen to launch a counter-attack.
"Have all Ships and Stations deploy their Fighter Compliments , then have Wraith Squadron's Fighter Compliment Flank Around the Enemy and Strike at the enemy from the Rear while having the Fighter Compliment of our Gauntlet Stations directly engage the enemy Fleet with their primary target being the Endurance Fleet Carriers" the Lord-Imperator ordered. "Keep the Fleet in defensive position and have the Gauntlet Stations switch targets. Now their new orders are have 2 Gauntlets target 1 Enemy Star Destroyers each. If we concentrate the firepower of 2 Stations on a singular Star Destroyer we should be able to take down a Few enemy Ships along with Gauntlet 4 and absolutely crush them in a Counter-Attack with Wraith Squadron."
Once Sularen was finished relaying orders , nearly 400 Fighter Squadrons were suddenly deployed from both the Vessels of Wraith Squadron and all Gauntlet Stations from 1 to 19 with half of this Force proceeding to flank around the enemy fleet by moving behind the Fifth Moon of Byss while the other half charged directly against the enemy Fleet with approximately half of this second force moving to engage whatever fighters the enemy fleet would send against them while the other half headed straight for the Endurance-Class Fleet Carriers and upon approach they fired a volley of Advanced Concussion Missiles at all Endurance-Class Fleet Carriers [20 Missiles for each Carrier] intending to fully destroy all of them.
Upon seeing the sheer movement of all of his Fighters , Sularen smiled. Today , the Eternal Empire would finally see the true power of his Fleet. The Constitutional Authority of Beshqek was not to be underestimated and this battle would only serve as a rehearsal for his future incursion against his enemies once the time came for such moves. But already if a Small Fleet of 11 Warships plus a Network of 19 Defense Platforms were capable of dealing so much damage to the fleets of a Major Power , Sularen could only imagine what a Force Twice that size could do in a Full-Scale Conflict. This was truly the beginning of a new Chapter for the Aspiring Lord-Imperator...
Power passed into Ryv, pulled from the world around them to heal the battered Jedi Padawan. The Force felt cold. He heard its pained sobs as Byss corrupted it. The Jedi Knight gritted his teeth, an eerie cold settled over him, his bones chilled. Though he wanted Takui to survive, he wouldn't burden the younger Jedi with the Dark Side's corruptive presence. Ryv took a deep breath to center himself and focused his energies on Ashla's Light. He remembered Her embrace, the warmth of Her touch, Her gentle fingers as they caressed what ailed him. It was in Her image he drew from the Dark and purified its insidious touch. Shadow melted away, replaced with a warm glow.
Healing energy drifted from Ryv's body, down along his arm, and melded with Takui. Though the kiffar wasn't a strong enough healer to wash away all the damage done by the Sith, he could at least shoulder the young Padawan's burden. He pulled at the metaphysical wounds, those left behind by such a traumatic defeat. He welcomed them into his scarred body, the added weight on his spirit sent shivers down his spine, but he did not relent. His Jedi would never suffer alone. Not while he drew breath.
Ashla's Light faded around them. The Sword stumbled back and landed on his bottom with a grunt. His gaze scanned Takui; the Knight's eyes inevitably fell to his wound. Pink flesh surrounded an angry red scar. The flesh jutted out awkwardly from the horrendous burn. It wasn't perfect, but it would be enough. Ryv had no more to offer.
He crawled over and took a knee beside Takui. Ryv brushed loose strands of hair from the unconscious Padawan's face.
"I'm sorry, man. We didn't make it in time. But for what it's worth, you did great work," Ryv slipped one hand beneath Takui's knees and the other at the top of his back. "It is an honor to serve beside a Jedi of your caliber, Takui. And I promise we'll have the chance to do it again."
Ryv couldn't be sure why he spoke to Takui as he carried him through the shaded corridor. Perhaps it stemmed from hope, a belief that somewhere within the silent Jedi, he heard the Sword's words. Ryv failed to be there in time to stop what happened to Takui. The Padawan's pain hung heavy on the Knight's shoulders, an ode to another failure. If his words brought even an inkling of peace to his charge, he would find peace beside him.
They arrived at his discarded speeder minutes later, the chamber it rested in still empty. Ryv moved to a nearby pillar and laid Takui across the ground. He removed his jacket, bundled it up, and set it beneath the fallen Padawan's head.
"Rest easy, man. I gotta get to the others. I can't fail them too. I'm sorry, Takui, help will come soon," Ryv squeezed his shoulder and hurried to the speeder. "Zaavik, this is Ryv. I need you to get to my beacon ASAP. A Jedi is down and in need of immediate medical evac. I'm counting on you."
Now atop the speeder-bike, the kiffar kicked it into gear, yanked back on the accelerator, and shot down one of the adjacent tunnels. His sense locked onto a presence beneath the surface. It oozed with evil, a baleful hatred bound to the being's dark spirit. He'd felt this before on Kintan, Mygeeto, Bastion, and so many other worlds. The once-Sith'ari, twice-declared Emperor skulked within the shadow of the nexus. It traveled down long-forgotten tunnels, trailed by lesser blips of malignant power. But more importantly, a single beacon of light raced to that power. Not far ahead of him, perhaps minutes, maybe half a dozen corridors, Jedi Master Aldric hurried to engage the Butcher King.
The Sword pushed his speeder forward.
A fluid amount of time later...
The spiraling descent suddenly ended as Ryv leveled his bike out and pulled tight to one side. Metal screeched as it sheared through the stone archway. He peered ahead through the darkness, his mind drawn to the gathered powers. Aldric, alone in the shadow, gleamed within its corruptive grip. Ryv ducked forward, his bike's speed shifted only minimally, but it had to be enough. Takui's unconscious body was still fresh in his mind. The learner's life was out of his hands, but Aldric's was not. Not yet.
He cleared the final corner and burst onto the scene just in time to see Aldric recover from the surprise attack on his speeder. Ryv took note of the Sith within and leaped from his speeder.
As it shot out one way, its speed carrying it across the room to crash against the wall, Ryv's jump carried him forward. Resolve ignited in his hand as he shot past Aldric towards the Tyrant's black blade. The viridescent weapon swept up, propelled with his combined strength, enhanced by the Force, and the momentum of his mad flight through the air. It narrowly parried away the great weapon, sending it off-course from piercing the Jedi Master by mere inches. Unfortunately, Ryv wasn't prepared for the weapon's unique sonic properties.
When it passed by the Jedi Knight's head, impacting the saber, a sound like thunder erupted. The sheer force tore at his neck and cheek as his flesh split open. Fingers cracked in turn, more scarlet blood loosed by the Sith Lord's unholy weapon. By the time Ryv finally found his footing, a trail of blood rolled down from his right ear.
He lifted Resolve and pointed it at the once-Sith'ari.
"I'll give you one chance, Zambrano. Flee like the coward you are or die by my blade," his voice carried a bit louder than he wanted, likely due to his now shot right ear. "You'll make my day with either choice."
As Tegan spoke and the six soldiers raised their blasters the platoon did so in unison. Looking around Kovacs sensed his men becoming uneasy. It was afterall, not an everyday affair to deal with a bomb intended to level the whole city. As the rain of blaster bolts came in Kovacs instinctively leaped behind one of the barricades. He watched as his marines began returning fire and that's when he spoke over his comms. "Switch to stun! We can't risk hitting the hostile or the bomb." he said before switching frequencies. "This is Captain Kovacs. I need an EOD team and Wyvernto my position now." as he spoke another trooper dodged a blaster round and ducked behind the same piece of cover.
"What's the plan sir?" he asked and the Captain looked back and reply. "MS-1784 I want you and your men to target and pursue the civ-" he paused for a second. She wasn't a civilian anymore. "the terrorist. If she makes a run for it take the GT-61s if we stun her we'll neutralise the threat. In the meantime I'll get an EOD team to load up the bomb into a wyvern and we'll try and get it a safe distance away." the sergeant nodded and waved for the troops to begin focusing fire.
Kovacs switched his Bozdugan to stun and turned towards the marines under Tegan's control and began firing, knocking out one marine with the first shot and a crimson stormtrooper with the next. The amount of stun bolts flying towards Tegan and her troops would begin increasing rapidly as the platoon of marines fired. As he fired two heavily armoured soldiers run up to the cover and pat the captain on the soldier. "Sir, EOD as requested. Wyvern is on its way." the Captain nodded and turned towards the sergeant he was talking to before. "1784, funnel them out the base and away from the bomb." and the trooper nodded. Soon the platoon slowly began advancing on the left side, firing a hail of stun bolts at Tegan Starfall
in an attempt to drive her away from the bomb.
