Round & Round We Go! [CIS Dominion of Dirha]

[Ginnie Dib]

"Tabathiah? Tanurhyda? Taupiariovoohhh there's a crossroad coming." Ginnie edged herself to the top of the conduit and peered over the top. Her arm lanceted out and there was a crunch of metal. She brought her hand back down clenched around a small surveillance droid, crushed by the crushgaunt she wore. "Tau, take this. I left the memory bank intact, I hope. Figure out if it knows where it is, and we can plan back through its inner map." Peeking her head back over, Ginnie lifted herself onto the T-crossing and curled into the tube. She shimmied on her belly through the space, keeping her hands in front. Pointing her right wrist to the area in front of her, she fired a grappling hook and snagged another surveillance droid. No bigger than her helmet, the gangle-legged device veered back into Ginnie's hand. She compressed it until the metal shrieked, its red optic eye going dead.

@[member="CC-827 Tauranov"] She hoped they didn't see her before the thing went offline. "I got another one, see anything, T?"

Ginnie sure hoped @[member="Darth Metus"] and the others were ok. More than that, she hoped she got to the Bridge in time.

 

[Revenchent]

Well, I can't say this is new.

The Commander stood in front of an mass of vid-screens. Data from the battle flowed in from every asset being used. Numbers, dotted lines, and mountains of letters were racing against Calico's mind in a test of mental capability. The clone was in his usual armor; albeit without the helmet. He still wasn't cleared to go back into combat--not yet, at the least. His helmet was set snugly between a cup of caf and a still active datapad on one of the unused command pads at his side. His jaw was set--brows knit in deep concentration.

"This is FleetOps, Colonel." Calico stated crisply through the comms system. Outside, he could clearly see the Sith ship floating amongst the stars "Brace for firing solution." With the click of another command key; the entire vessel shuddered. A small light shot through the twinkling blackness and impacted in the aft end of the Sith ship. A plume of flame and debris flew up in every direction; the ship's shields, and hull pierced. "M-A-C one away. We targeted the barracks. It should take them some time to seal the bulkhead--pull some of the heat from your team. Stay frosty sir."

@Darth Metus

 

[Darth Metus]

Now there was a voice that the Mandalorian was overjoyed to hear. Commander Calico, albeit not cleared to be on the ground in the thick of the battle, had seen fit to lend his support; even whilst recovering. This support came in the form of close, ship support; as evidenced by the fact that the entire Flagship rocked in response to the onslaught launched by the clone's vessel. A wicked smile formed upon the Mandalorian's face as he activated his jetpack, allowing him to retreat a little bit from the disoriented horde of Sith troopers coming his way. The impact had provided him a valuable opening, which he promptly exploited through the utilization of wrist rockets and grenades in order to thin the heard.

"Calico, I'm beyond happy to hear you." he said over the comm, coming to a landing whilst brandishing his saberstaff to deflect incoming blaster bolts. "Keep up the firing support!"

@[member="Commander Calico CC-247"]

 

[Malok]

One of the final clone troopers to enter the Sith Flagship was CC-308 Maverick, who was wielding a blaster minigun of sorts. It was his weapon of choice, especially due to its crowd-clearing capabilities. Rushing forward towards the oncoming horde, he held his weapon at the ready and allowed it to sing a song of decimation across the enemy position. In combination with the wrist rockets and grenades launched by his superior, his choice of weapon made thinning the herd all the more easier and it would not be long before the duo would be able to press their advance to the bridge.

 

[Revenchent]

"I understand sir. If you could just keep it in your pants until the op is done, that'd be grand. This is an open line." Calico granted with his colorful, rare bit of humor. Two more quick clicks sent his frigate into a wide spiral around the Sith ship. The flight crew were all hunched over their terminals, illuminated by the myriad of colorful glow that lit up the darkened command deck. "This should retain majority hull stability." He added quaintly as fire from the Sith ship came down on the smaller frigate.

"Commander, shields are down by fifteen percent. Firing solution in eight seconds..." One of the Zabrak Lieutenants called out.

A loud click resounded from Calico's central terminal. The Commander allowed himself to grin, small, but it was definitely there. "Ready your tac-lights Dreadguard. The ship is about to lose primary power. Cue me in when you're ready." The Commander said into his microphone, finger hovering over the M-A-C engagement key.

@[member="CC-308 Maverick"] @[member="Darth Metus"]

 

[Malok]

Upon hearing the warning incoming from his superior officer, the clone trooper activated the lights upon his helmet and the one affixed to his rotary blaster in preparation for the power outage. Of course, the enemies they faced had no idea what they were up against; nor what was coming...they were simply pigs headed for the slaughter. Maverick maintained radio silence whilst he worked, strafing the enemy as he walked in a sideways manner. With each step, he advanced, pushing his opponents further back and back along the corridor, hoping to spurn a full retreat. From there, he hoped that they would be able to make a break for the Bridge, which was not too far off from their current position.

@[member="Commander Calico CC-247"]

 

[Darth Metus]

The Mandalorian could not help but chuckle as the unique humor of his subordinate filtered through the comm. Of course, he activated his tactical lights and resumed his offensive against the enemy, relying upon excellent saberwork and telekinetics to force them back. Soon, like a herd of cattle fleeing a great source of startling, the enemy forces fell back like a stampede, headed for the bridge. Of course, there was an immense possibility that they were going to attempt to regroup there; and as such the Dread Guard had to keep the pressure on them considerably.

"Alright Calico, I'll try to keep my pants on...unless @[member="Phoebe Draclau"] decides to pay me a surprise visit." he joked, before getting serious in the span of a millisecond. "I'm ready when you are vod."

@[member="Commander Calico CC-247"].

 

[Revenchent]

"I'll go ahead and shoot Miss Draclau your message of-" He paused to press his finger against the firing mechanism. "Urgent need for assistance." The ship shook once more. Again, a streak of light flew lightning fast from the belly of the frigate, impacting at the lower half of the Sith ship.

A flash of bright purple light temporarily blinded the Commander. The Sith ship shuddered at the seams. Suddenly, it's defensive cannon all ceased firing; a thin blue light flashing across its metallic sin as the shields sizzled and died. Inside, Calico had no doubt of the havoc being wrought. "Miss Draclau." Calico keyed Phoebe's particular signal into that of the Dreadguard. Every man and woman could here him. ​"Colonel Verd requires your immediate assistance in removing his pants. I'm so sorry."

A roar of laughter emanated from the bridge. Calico grinned a bit more brightly, and cut the comms directly to the guard once more. "Alright boys and girls, SITREP."

@Phoebe Draclau @[member="Darth Metus"]

 

[Malok]

The Clone Trooper could not believe that his commanding officer had actually dialed up their liege's lover to deliver such a communication...but then again, those two had a relationship unlike any other. They joked around unceasingly, a fact that brought endless amusement to the 117th and served the humanize the one that they were loyal to. After all, it was one thing to obey the orders of a heartless being; it was another to obey the orders of one who put a smile on Galaar's ugly mug on a daily basis. Nonetheless, once the ship rocked from the impact, the power ceased to exist; and the tactical lights and blaster fire became the sole sources of illumination within the vessel. Maverick continued his push towards the Bridge and ascended the stairs leading up to it two at a time.

 

[Darth Metus]

The Mandalorian gaped for a few moments, then filled the open channel with his laughter as he continued to brutalize the remnant forces of the Sith Empire. Due to the fact that the love of his life was a good sport (and had gotten used to the shenanigans), he had no qualms about the communication being sent in the middle of a veritable warzone; though he'd probably slap Calico upside the helmet for it later. Isley continued to press onward, regardless of the mirth, when the ship was rocked by the impact. Slowly, but surely, the duo ascended the stairs leading up the Bridge, where they were greeted with the sight of a scrambling number of resistance forces being organized by one wielding a crimson lightsaber. The battle for the Bridge was on.

"Calico, I'm engaging the Sith and attempting to take the bridge, over."

@[member="Commander Calico CC-247"]

 

[Revenchent]

Let them call you what you will you old di'kut. You have a sense of humor.

"Sir, any more shots of ordnance at that caliber will render the vessel unstable." The Lieutenant from earlier called over the hooping and hollering.

Calico simply nodded; brow knit in deep though as he received Isley's message. Things had gone rather smoothly, as they often did.
It's me you and the boys not the Republic, not the Seps. When can we leave this pointless war Cal?

The memory made Calico shudder. The soft voice; the hint of teasing as in it. For a short moment, his heart sun into a chasm deeper than those of Malachor 5. Then, just like that, he was back to himself; all steely reservation and calm. "We'll make sure the auxiliary power stays offline Is'ika. The ship is going to get a bit unstable...not anything fatal." Calico mumbled absentmindedly into the comm. His mind was still stuck on that voice, the smiling woman's face that he associated it with. Another dance of the fingers; a press of multiple command keys, and the frigate had launched a cluster of proton torpedos. All small ,tactical weapons.

They impacted in the same spot a s the last M-A-C round, effectively destroying all auxiliary power and sending the ship's gravity generators on the fritz. That would give the clones and their mag boots quite the edge.

@[member="Darth Metus"]

 

[Darth Metus]

And suddenly...they were weightless. A fact that a Force sensitive with a jetpack on could easily exploit. Once the gravity generators were knocked offline, the Mandalorian activated his jetpack and surged forth, blowing past the enemy resistance and setting his focus straight upon the Sith Enforcer. Their blades clashed momentarily, before Isley shoved the man into the air telekinetically. Already he was practically caught offguard, but the sudden weightlessness effectively tossed the advantage into Isley's lap. "Excellent!" he replied to his subordinate before taking another jetpack-driven charge at his Sith opponent. "It won't take long for us to secure the bridge, keep up the good work Brother." he said with pride in his voice.

@[member="Commander Calico CC-247"]

 

[Malok]

When the gravity was lost, Maverick found himself suddenly floating into the air. However, he was smart enough to adapt to the situation and utilized the force produced by his minigun to propel him through the air. Whilst his superior dealt with the Enforcer, he decided to fulfill one of the secondary goals of the operation: grabbing whatever data he could from the Sith databanks. First, he peppered the confused resistance with blasterfire and grenades, sending bodies flying all over the Bridge; propelled by sudden weightlessness. Once this was done, Maverick propeled himself over to the main console and began interfacing his HUD with it, then established an uplink directly to Calico's vessel.

"Commander," he said over the comm, "I'm beginning a data transfer now. Hopefully we'll get something good out of this."

@[member="Commander Calico CC-247"].

 

[Revenchent]

"Let's see what secrets the bathrobe brigade keeps on file." Calico replied to the soldier, opening his end of the link. Multiple files flowed freely over the information uplink; cluttering the monitors in front of Calico even further. A soft sigh escaped him as he reached for his cup of caf; sipping at it casually in spite of the combat situation. "Lieutenant, send this to the FleetOps annalists on Bothuwai." He ordered suddenly.

"Of course Sir." The Zabrak--whom Calico still didn't know by name--replied crisply. Four Commandos strode up from within the bowels of the deck, snapping to attention with a loud thud behind Calico.

The Commander turned to face then; all in jet black armor, big, and mean.

Ah, Sigma. How I love you boys.

"Sergeant, be ready to receive Colonel Isley personally. I want to make sure his return is clean, understood?"
The soldier at the far left--Toph, the Sergeant of Sigma, spoke up. "On it Sir. We'll make sure to bring him a new pair of trousers as well." The younger clone chided, his squad rumbling with quiet laughter.

Calico smiled slightly and waved them off before turning back to mass of flashing lights and annoying warning signatures. "Colonel, Sigma is on station to receive your boys when you ex-fill. You're cleared to evac as soon as you can."

 

[Malok]

Before the clone's eyes flashed a variety of images, namely schematics for ambitious ships that were to be constructed prior to the collapse of the Sith Empire. Of course, said collapse axed any hope of these ships ever being produced...until now. The analysts as Druckenwell Shipyards would have a field day with these, at least that was Maverick's train of thought. Once the transfer of data had been concluded, the clone returned his attention to the paltry sum of resistance still left on the Bridge; and then began to propel himself over to the nearest air vent. Upon opening it, he called out to those who were crawling within it.

"We're running outta time, go back the way you came, it'll be quicker! We're heading outta here!" with that said, the clone gave his liege a knowing look and began to head back out the way he came.

@[member="CC-827 Tauranov"], @[member="Ginnie Verd"], @[member="Commander Calico CC-247"].

 

[Darth Metus]

The warning posed to his younger sibling and her clone companion by the Mandalorian's subordinate was aptly stated. The Dread Guard needed to wrap up and evac as soon as possible. As such, Isley resolved to put to a swift end the existence of the Enforce through a combination of quick thinking, saber work, and the Force. He overpowered the unfortunate sod, sending him careening into the floor with a well placed, telekinetic shove, before adding the icing to the cake: an arc of lightning born of the Force. The electricity slammed into the man's chest and quickly overloaded his vital organs, rendering the Enforcer deceased in a matter of seconds. With this gruesome task concluded, Isley began to rush towards the exit.

"Calico, the Dread Guard is heading out. Should be at the exfill point in three minutes." he said over the comm.

@[member="Commander Calico CC-247"]

 

[Revenchent]

Abstract images were now splattered across the canvas that was Calico's current workplace. It took only a few rearrangements of the holographic imaging for these images to form into the infantile stages of ship design. Clearly. the Sith Empire had been busy working up until the last few days of it's fall. That was all find and dandy to the Command Sergeant Major. "Make that two sir, that ship is popping at the seams." Calico ordered, staring at the wreck of what was once a proud war machine. Pieces of its metal hull had flown off into the abyss of space; spinning in a sad, silent opera mocking what had been only hours before. It was always a shame to see good hardware blown to bits.

"Lieutenant." Calico began as the Sith ship began to rip in two down the middle. It was strung together by veiny pieces of scaffolding and nothing more. "Use the tractor beam. Keep it together, keep it from venting atmo' until our boys are home." He ordered, staring at the soon-to-be wreck in worry.

"On it Sir." The Zabrak chirped up as a low hum began to reverberate throughout the ship. The Sith vessel stopped moving in all manner; held in the deathly grip of an unseen force.

Hurry up on that exfill Sir...

 

[Malok]

Two minutes to evacuate the Flagship? Well, this was certainly going to be swell...Maverick ran as quickly as his legs would allow; and for a clone fully donned in armor, he was moving pretty darn quick. He did not stop and bother with the resistance that came out of the woodwork along the way. Instead, he "run and gunned" his way to the door, taking point so that his superior might be able to keep up with no interference. Finally, after the minute and thirty second mark, Maverick skidded to a halt upon the ramp that led off of the ship. According to his HUD sensors, those others that were within had already made it out; and it was he and Isley bringing up the rear. With the Mandalorian on his heels, Maverick pressed on to the evac point.

 

[Darth Metus]

Upon zigging and zagging his way through the small sum of opposition that remained, the Mandalorian briefly slowed his immense pace so that he might send a transmission to Calico. Whilst jogging along, motioning for his clone subordinate to follow, he moved towards the evac point and said his message loud and clear. "Calico," he said, "we're off the boat and headed for the exfill point now. Thirty seconds ahead...I think I'm getting quicker, Vod." he allowed his bad joke to conclude the transmission before pressing onward to the dropship's location. There, he fully anticipated an exfiltration by Sigma Squad and a rendezvous with Calico upon his frigate. The biggest threat had been eliminated, and once the bombs were set off, the remainder of the Sith ships would be taken care of.

"Alright, I'm at the pick up point. Ready when you are."

@[member="Commander Calico CC-247"]

 

[Revenchent]

Tart-Cart was sorely missed. A standard LAAT was nestled safely on the ground, doors sprung wide open. Sigma stood in the entrance; one of their men firing off warning shots at any would-be-aggressors with an unidentifiable sniper rifle. The other three were crouched, standing, or leaning against the gunship's bulkhead with their weapons hovering over every direction. The one leaning against the bulkhead pushed off it to grab Isley up by the hand, and yank the Colonel inside. "Nice party you had here, Sir. The rest of the boys will be out on the other Laarties..." The voice was, per usual for Sigma, Toph's.

The Commando held up one hand as the gunship's drives flared to life. "Apologies Sir...we were unable to procure you a new pair of pants. On the bright-side, I hear white stains are the new 'in'. " The rest of the squad rumbled with laughter. It was no secret Sigma were Calico's handpicked boys, his personal favorites. They hadn't suffered a causality, or failed a single operation yet--and they made sure everyone else knew it.



Calico stepped away from the command console, his head pounding. Gunships were already being swallowed up by the safety of his frigate. Once more, casualties had been extremely low--while the opposition suffered an entire loss of life. Such was the way of the Dreadguard's usual operations. "I think your cyare already knew you were pretty quick sir." Calico had to chirp back over the comms.

He didn't take the time to see the Colonel's gunship make it back. He'd entrusted that job to Sigma, and those boys never let him down. Besides, he wasn't feeling all himself at the moment. The Commander pushed past mobs of soldiers moving to and from wherever their CO's demanded. That didn't bother Calico; his job had been done.

He approached the door to his personal quarters, slid inside, and locked the door behind him. "Transferring vessel command back to you, Sir."

@[member="Darth Metus"]