Salvaging The Remnants [Imperial Remnant/Ask to Join]

[Mirus Hi'ija]

[member="Corvinus Palpatine"] [member="Ziebrecht Elendi"] [member="Weiss"] [member="Leon Reeko"]

"As you wish, my Lord," replied the fellow Moff - whose status was, at this point, flexible. Yes, he was a Knight Baron and a Moff... but he was Moff of nothing, yet. He had one world in mind that he was in negotiations with, certainly, and perhaps one day he would rise to be Grand Moff in his own right, if Palpatine and the Throne so demanded it happen for his service. Until then, however, he had a nebulous influence level.

The warrior clad rather like a black stormtrooper, cloaked and trimmed in teal, stayed upon the comm-line. The opportunity given to him was a rather unique one, that he could use to his advantage. A fellow Knight was already upon the planet's surface, where Mirus would soon be heading to take charge of the search for the Empress' shuttle. However, travel time was a problem and time was of the essence - an agent already in play was a key element to manipulate. "Squire Elendi - I empower you in my stead to act as my eyes, ears and fist. Take command of the situation until my arrival. Find the commander of the stormtrooper detachment on the surface and coordinate with him. I will be en route to the surface momentarily."

Turning on his heel, Mirus left the bridge of the Heart of Crina, ready to take a shuttle to the planet's surface. An armed guard of stormtroopers would come with him - not that he needed them, with his mastery of the Dark Side.

The shuttle left only minutes later, scything through the blackness of space.

 

[Graf's Archive Account]

[member="Weiss"]

A small dropship hovered over the jungle, it's engines roaring softly as it's bay doors opened, black ropes were dropped down into the thick Vjun jungle as six figures clad in black armour repelled down into the jungle, the bay doors of the dropship sealed shut with a loud hiss and flew back up into the atmosphere.

The figures that had repelled down were actually Storm Commandos, an elite commando division of the Imperial Remnant, One of them dropped a holoprojector on the ground "Alright men, We need to go to the coordinates here." A Storm Commando named SC-4468 said, pointing at the holomap that jumped up from the projector "This certain position is the last known location of the signal from the Empress' ship, we need to get there and secure her before the Sith get to her." SC-4468 said, concluding the mission brief.

"Let's go!" He ordered, and the six Storm Commandos began their sprint through the dense Vjun jungle towards the coordinates provided to them.

 

[T'yr Dellos]

Another light turned red on Lieutenant Commander Dellos' console. He could feel the groan and strain of the ship vibrating through the soles of his feet as she hurled herself through hyperspace. The forward holoprojector had been cycled over to display the ship's status. In all her holographic glory, a digital image of the aging Victory I-class Star Destroyer slowly rotated in the center of the bridge. Great swaths of red and yellow covered the craft.

"What's the status of the starboard superstructure?" Asked Dellos as he regarded the numerous red, blinking lights on his console.

"Holding for now." Answered one of his junior officers. "We're showing three decks depressurized on the dorsal breach." He said as he indicated a huge swath of red on the forward section of the hologram. Dellos didn't need to look at the hologram to know which of the ship's injuries he was talking about. That particular gaping wound was clearly visible from where Dellos was sitting. "Bulkhead doors have sealed in the surrounding areas and the frame appears to be undamaged."

"Good." Dellos said in a flat and hollow voice, devoid of emotion. The warhead that had blown a hole in his ship could have easily torn the old girl in two. As it was, he was still surprised that it hadn't damaged the ship's reactor... They had gotten lucky. The ship shouldn't have escaped Crina. But the old girl had a history of being lucky. And if she survived reentry into realspace, Lieutenant Commander Dellos just might believe it for once.

"And the rest of the ship?" Lieutenant Dellos asked in a tone that betrayed his low expectations on the matter.

"We've got three dozen confirmed hull breaches." Answered the junior officer once again. "A power conduit on the port flank took a direct hit... knocked out power to the port-side primary battery. Shields are still straining at thirty percent and have stopped climbing. We've got seven missile tubes blown from a hit to ammunition storage..." He said without taking a breath, only pausing when he finally reached the topic that neither officer wanted to discuss. "Then there's the reactor." He said hesitantly. "She's currently running hot at 60-percent. Primary coolant is gone and reserve coolant is down to thirty-percent."

Lieutenant Commander Dellos closed his eyes as he tried to grasp the full condition of his ship. Numbers and protocols that had been drilled into him for a decade scrolled through his mind as he struggled to recall any guidance he had been given for such a situation. His eyes slowly eased open again as he tilted his head towards the ceiling. <Do we even have protocols for this?> Dellos thought to himself. Had they been in any other situation, he would have ordered the evacuation and scuttling of the ship. But with Crina gone... They might not have anywhere left to evacuate to.

"Is the beacon still transmitting?" Dellos asked as he looked again at his console of blinking red lights.

"Yes sir. Subspace and Hyperspace transcievers are still picking up the Heart of Crina's Emergency Distress Beacon. Three minutes to realspace." Answered the junior officer.

"Good." Lieutenant Commander Dellos said with whatever reserves he had left. "Bring us back up to combat alert alpha. We don't know what we'll be jumping into."

<But it has to be a rally point.> Dellos thought to himself. <We can't be all that's left.>

 

[Weiss]

The Stormtrooper squads pressed on through the dense djungle. The heat was intense and mixed with the acid rain the troopers were fatigued as they finally breached a treeline entering a vast area of dead nature. Hollow treestumps and bushes turned to twisted shadow figures of their former selves.

Weiss held up a fist and the three squads halted and knelt pointing their weapons outward in a defensive manner. This place looked sick. No it did not only look sick, it breathed illness.

Weiss picked up the reciever. The signal came from the other side. He had a bad feeling about this, but then, if the Empress was over there they needed to act swiftly.

"Move out!" he ordered and the three lines started to advance, weapons scanning the area. The ground was stone and here and there pillars, or strange rock formations reached for the skies. As they rounded what appeared to be the last corner Weiss saw a flash. He reacted to his training and guts.

"Bravo squad - fane right and encircle the far of rock formation. Alpha and Delta, stay on me." as Bravo squad skilllfully and without detection started to move in a large circle the rest kept going but did give their comrades enough time to perform their manuvre.

The first shot came straight off to top of the cliff, it missed and merely left a short smoke on the ground in front of Weiss Someone is a bit eager it seems. Weiss grinned.

"Spread out, left and right flank cover. Fire at will!" The troopers moved out as one and formed a "V" edge firing intensely toward the cliffs ahead. The fire was answered by a shots forcing the stormtroopers to slow their advance. they were caught in barrage and although the distance was far sooner or later this would force them to leave cover.

"Give me that mortar - Now!" Weiss ordered. A grou of soldiers were trhying to set uit up but as they did one of them got struck to the ground by precise shots from the cliff.

They were pinned down.

"Bravo squad in position Lt." weiss overheard the whisper.

"Take them out." was his single answer. Soon followed by screams and confusion as the trup closed in on the unknown attackers.

Minutes later Weiss moved among piles of corpses. By the looks of it mercenaries. Too few to defeat them. they had only been here to delay them.

"Make sure the Heart recieves word that we have had contact with the enemy. They seem well organised although few in numbers." Weiss instructed before the platoon set forth continuing their mission to locate the Empress.

[member="SC-4486"]
[member="Mirus Hi'ija"]

 

[Graf's Archive Account]

[member="Weiss"]

The squad of storm commandos came up on a clearing full of rock spires and tree stumps, They quickly started sprinting through the clearing, trying to get to the other side and to the Empress as soon as possible, they did not take notice of the Stormtroopers that may have spotted them along the way and the dead bodies beside them, probably from a battle that had happened recently, Their one and only objective was the Empress and only her, to protect her from the Sith that had dared attack the Empire, Not that long afterward, they had reached the end of the clearing.

SC-4486 stopped for a moment and checked the map again, the signal was probably not exact so they would have to search the area for the Empress and her ship, "Storm Commandos! Spread out and find the Empress!" SC-4486 ordered, the squad of six commandos split up and began searching through the surrounding area for any sign of the signals origins.

 

[Other Space Kaiden]

[member="Weiss"] [member="SC-4486"]

The mist had dropped heavy over the jungle, steam rising from the armor of the troopers as droplets of rain seared the paint from the metal. From the within the safety of his helmet, Leon's face puckered into a nervous cringe as he took note of the distinct sound of the rain dripping down the armor plates. It sounded like someone was sizzling a nerf steak on the top of his head. Was this was military life was going to be for him? A series of walking into crappy places and marching around in their crappy weather? The thought made Leon's face pucker even further.

He tried to scan the treeline to keep his mind off of it; but that just made things worse. Every branch on every tree began to look like every bad decision he'd ever made. The tiny twigs of stupid actions turned into meaty branches that lead to the hulking trunk that was the Imperial Army. If his whole life was leading up to this then he didn't want to do anymore following. Sighing, Leon looked up just in time to see an armored fist thrust into the air. It was Weiss and he'd stopped dead just a few meters ahead.

Leon plummeted to a kneeling position, holding his blaster tight against his chest. The rain had dissipated, leaving behind only a thin cloak of steam. It was ominous, the way the low hanging mist and steam from the scorched trees meshed to create a murky veil before them. There he sat waiting, no, longing to be told what to do. His teeth creaked under his own strength, his jaws clenched and grinding. What in the void did he see... Leon wondered to himself, his eyes shakily scanning everything in front of the platoon. The brothy soup of fog strained his eyes to just look at, let alone analyze.

Wait, the visor! It struck him like a lightening bolt and his eyes went to work, blinking in codded sequences; cycling through the various vision modes offered by the Jagged-Class Armor. Eventually, he stumbled upon the thermal vision and suddenly his HUD lit up with life-form contact. What Leon had to assume were birds were nestled safely in the tree tops, their bodies glowing dark oranges and yellows through the eyes of the visor.

"Bravo squad - fane right and encircle the far of rock formation. Alpha and Delta, stay on me." Leon's head spun to see the glowing frames of his teammates moving through the. What had he missed damn it? There was no time to ask, he just followed right after them; his rifle raised to a low-ready as he clambered over rocks and uneven dirt. Through the mist a rock formation of some kind began to appear in the distance, but there no heat signs visible. Odd, maybe Weiss hadn't seen anything after all.

Crack!

A red beam of light shot past Weiss and blew a nearby rock into a smoking mass. Within seconds the whole platoon began to mobilize as fire began raining down from the rock formation ahead. Rocks exploded around him as the firefight heated up, the troopers laying into the rock formation with everything they had only to be beaten back behind cover by intense automatic fire. Leon leap though a cloud of blaster smoke, landing beside Weiss; his last position becoming no more than a smoking pile of rock debris and shrub ash.

"Give me that mortar - Now!" Weiss barked at Delta, who scurried out of cover to begin preparations with the platoons mortar. A warm sensation ran up Leon's arm as he ducked down watching, his muscles tensing to a halt whenever he tried to move. There was a cold pit in his stomach, one shooting frozen tendrils through his veins. Another volley of rounds zipped overhead, clearing Leon's cover and shooting right towards the mortar team.

It was like someone had just rung a cat's neck, the way he screamed like that. The way he cried out as the bolts blew open his armor and threw him to the ground. Something snapped inside Leon when he saw the smoking armor hit the ground, something deep inside him died when the first groan for help left his comrade's lips. His blood surged to life and his eyes bulged.

And he did nothing. The world grew small and dark around him, there was nothing now but a black distance between he and the groaning soldier in front of him. It was a mirror and he was staring back at himself through darkly tinted eyes. There was nothing else anymore. No warm tingle in the palm of his hand. No blasters discharging overhead. No mission and no Empress. Just pain and fear. A sting that leaked a toxic agony into the soul with every inhuman groan. Every attempted plea for help at the expense of his last dying breaths.

​

He wanted to run to his aid. To stand. To run. To grab this man and drag him to the sanctuary he so needed. But his body was stricken cold. Every muscle tight with anxiety.

The battle waged on, the mercenaries defeated and alone sat Leon; his eyes trained on the trooper not ten feet from him. Delta squad rushed to their fallen brothers aid, but Leon knew. He knew that it was no use. He'd watched him die. He'd watched him suffer. He'd watched him struggle about on the dense jungle floor, bleeding into his own guts; clawing to strip off the white prison the Empire demanded he wear.

The helmet was stripped off, CPR and bacta applied all in futile attempt to save who was already dead. Leon just continued sitting, watching through the one barrier that hid his tears. Those same darkly tinted eyes starring at him on the forest floor, the helmets frozen grin still mocking him. It knew just as well as Leon. I knew that he was just like that man dying on the ground. The man he never go the chance to even know outside of his unit number and the tint of his blood. A cat caught in pearly white cage. That's what Leon was. That's what they all were.

Eventually, Delta realized that hope had been lost for their friend. That the blood hanging on his armor was not an illusion; and they left him behind with his helmet resting on his chest. They couldn't take the body with them, so they'd leave him here and hope that the beasts didn't tear him apart before they made their way back. IF they made their way back.

By the time the rest of the troopers had regrouped up on the rock, Leon was just beginning to kneel beside the corpse he'd helped create. He ran a cold hand across the man's face, leaving a streak of blood in its wake. Turning his hand over, Leon saw what had happened. His entire right glove was drenched in blood, engravings of his handle dug into the soft layer of foam between his skin and the world. Sighing, he placed his bloodied palm on the chest of the trooper and touched the holotag he wore around his neck.

Bradley Kiddle, T-601

"I'm sorry Bradley." Leon whispered, releasing the tag and standing to his feet. "I'm so sorry." Turning back towards the rock that had held the enemy combatants, Leon could see Delta Squad murmuring amongst themselves as Weiss continued to bark orders. Clenching his fist, Leon cast his eyes back towards the ground and saw the mortar had been forgotten beside Bradley. Grabbing it, Leon trudged back to the group and retook his position beside Weiss; rifle slung over one shoulder and mortar handing from his hand.

"Lieutenant I-I'm requesting to replace the man we lost on the mortar team sir."

 

[Alva Calvarona]

@SC-4486 @SC-4486 [member="Jericho Mayhew"] [member="Corvinus Palpatine"] [member="Eobarda Tarkin"] @IP-2489 @Slade Zambrano [member="Mirus Hi'ija"] [member="Aurna Vern"] @Sivillias Cortuna [member="Weiss"] [member="Juliette Sasko"]

Reaching her hand to turn a dial on her panels in front of her, Alva watched as lights danced and flickered across her screens as her power converters compensated for the drain on the shields as the battle wore on. Her engines seemed already despite the shaking her TIE Seeker had gone through after taking a pair of hits over the course of the dogfighting raging on in the space over Vjun right now. There were just too many starfighters speeding past one another, too much laser fire filling the emptiness of black space as each side attempted to dominate the other. At the very least, it seemed as if the capital ships exchange was going heavily in the Empire's favor. The Remnant's cruisers and Victory class Destroyers were tearing through the mercenary fleet to devastating effect as Alva watched a large explosion dot the view of her cockpit as a carrier of the opposition's went up in a bloom of fire.

Red laser fire crossing her path snapped her attention back to the combat as she put her TIE into a dive, her wingmates hanging in close behind her. That is until an incoming Headhunter made a head-on collision with the pilot on her right flank, turning the both of them in scrap metal, though not before the sound of her wingmate's voice rang over the 181st Frequency in a abruptly cut off scream. "This is Shockwave, Kestral, Hound, Shadow report in. We're done three pilots here. Enemy numbers are dropping but this is getting too claustrophobic for my tastes." Radar showed that another capital ship had entered the system as well, reinforcing that feeling, but at least its signature confirmed itself as a Victory I, likely an allied unit, albeit heavily damaged as the sensor readings came in.

Still, despite how enclosed the fight seemed, the enemy was thinning out at least. If they picked off a few more of the Z-95s a few squadrons could start escorting bombers on strafing runs against the remaining enemy frigates. For now though there was the immediate threats to worry herself over as Alva turned her TIE into a tight angle attempting to keep up with the Z-95's impressive turn rate. Say what you would, that they were antiques or slow or weakly armed, but they were great at turns and they still had satisfactory design features over even some modern units. As she pulled her control's triggers and shots lanced out and pierced her target's ship though, Alva would also note that an expert pilot also made the difference that a design feature couldn't.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Alva Calvarona"] [member="Corvinus Palpatine"] [member="Aurna Vern"] [member="Eobarda Tarkin"]

'Blast, this is why I hate flying sometimes,' Taeli thought as her ship angled in to be hidden among the merc fighter craft moving to engage the Imperial forces that were regrouping here apparently. They might be battered and broken, but they were still holding on here and just might survive with a little help.

"Guess it's time to get to work," she muttered, gripping her ship's control yoke, her thumbs over the blaster cannon buttons. The enemy fighter squadrons there were moving to join the dogfight were her target. "Here we go."

As the enemy fighter squadron, made up of more Z-95 Headhunters, raced towards the Imperials, she pressed the buttons and red lasers fired off as her ship de-cloaked for a moment. Her laser bursts took out two fighters immediately, their pilots having directed shields to the front, not expecting an attack from the rear. Another burst of lasers, and another two fighters were just floating space dust, but now she had attracted some attention from hostiles.

"And hidden again," she said, a smile on her face as her ship re-cloaked and she moved to re-position herself to attack and weaken another enemy fighter squadron. An enemy squadron of uglies by the looks of things was converging on a damaged Imperial frigate, seemed they needed some help.

 

[The Red of Sinner]

Life, that's what he had to give the Imperial Remnant, that or prison. Not even a few weeks out of the academy, and he was already in combat. He kept thinking, I've betrayed my crew members, I'm not ready for this, and various other downing ideas. In the long run, he wasn't a soldier, hell he wasn't even a fighter. He had fired, maybe, a gun five times in his entire life. Now, he was about to fire it more times than he would be able to count. The battle had already started, he was being flown down as reinforcements, him and a couple of other squads. Behind the white armor, the mask that many people feared to see, he was sweating with fear. E-11 in hand, it mounted to nothing compared to a whole army. Why did they have to go to Crina? Why Imperial Space, the job wasn't even paying that well. He sighed to himself. The landing shuttle broke atmosphere, and the LT up ahead shouted something.

"We're providing support to ground troops. The LZ is hot so as soon as you get out, drop till the teams ahead can provide some kind of cover for us to get into position. Get ready!"

Again, he sighed. Here we go, he thought.

 

[Slade Zambrano]

[member="Mirus Hi'ija"] [member="Mirus Hi'ija"] [member="SC-4486"] @T'yr Dellos [member="Weiss"] [member="Leon Reeko"] [member="Alva Calvarona"] [member="Sirca Zione"]

Slade sat in the back of a dropship with one leg rested against the other, everything was pretty quiet thus far. Stormtroopers kept to themselves and remained either standing or sitting on the benches of their transport. Flicking some ash from his cigarette he took a long drag afterwards and exhaled grey smoke in the back. Everyone looked dressed for combat except him, he wore his suit and tie and kept his coffin nail in his hands. Reaching into his coat pocket he grabbed a flask and took a drink out of it, strong whiskey staining his tongue.

"This ones for you dad." he said chuckling afterwards and taking another long draw from the leather bound flask.

He lifted his cig and took another drag inhaling all the sweet sweet poison before exhaling again. He looked around as the cabin shook and they passed into the atmosphere. It seemed like a fun time everyone was having down there so why not get involved, besides it seemed like all the hard work had been done and with the ship crashed he could swoop in and save the girl and have her be butter in his hands. Sleeping with royalty, now that was something he hadn't done in a while.

"Alright lads let's go!" the light turned green and the shuttle landed and the stormtroopers began to pour out.

So Slade slowly stood up and began to walk out of the ship, tucking at his coat for added effect. As he walked through the jungle he came across a area where a firefight had just been. He simply chuckled and looked at the various bodies laying about, reminded him of home whenever his father got upset. Oh those were dark days indeed. So Slade walked through the brush smoking his cigarette still and walking over bodies both stormtrooper and mercenary alike until he came across someone who looked like they were even the slightest bit competent. He had a mortar and a dead guy near him so slade walked up to the man and scootched the dead stormtrooper out of the way with his feet.

"You there, what's the situation on the rescue mission? This should of been done ten minutes ago." he said taking a hit of his cancer stick a moment after.

 

[Weiss]

Weiss gave the medics a full five minutes to patch up the wounded before he would have the men ready to move out. While removing his helmet and lighting a second ciggar he produced his holomap and checked the signal once more.

Puffing smoke Weiss's features appeared dark in the moist but still cold environment. He felt that something was not right here. These mercs must have predicted where we would land and then set this ambush. This is not good - he shook his head calculating what else they might have missed. The deployment had been rushed, but Stormtroopers were well trained and he knew they were expected to handle any surprises along the road. Maybe...

"Lieutenant I-I'm requesting to replace the man we lost on the mortar team sir." Weiss was brought of his thoughts by the shinies request. He turned his head toward [member="Leon Reeko"] at his side. Weiss looked the trooper up and down. This one was new, Weiss never bothered with attaching himself to rookies so he was unsure wether [member="Leon Reeko"] would be able to cope with the situation. He had saw how the trooper had reacted earlier. It might be a show of determination to do some good. Besides, what choice was there..?

"Alright 405, you have mortar assignment. Make each shell count and dont blow yourself up." Weiss replied and returned to his map. Maybe if they took a different route, that would delay them but might have them fall in the side or even rear of the hostile mercs that he was expecting ahead.

Weiss never got a chance to finish his thought as he was hailed by the left flank scout. A storm commando team just darted past the field, heading in the same direction as they were moving. Although sprinting it appeared they had missed the 337th. Or they are simply ignoring us weiss decided to himself. If a storm Commando unit had been put together they had orders he should not interfere with.

"Damn... he could have used them." Weiss took a few sterps up on the rock formation to get a better view. The scout offered a microbionocular and weiss took it searching the edge of the area. There he spotted the six commandos, they had made a brief halt, probably getting their bearing. These men were part of the 3rd but for this mission they had gotten their orders elswhere, from somewhere higher then Weiss. He slid the ciggar from one side of the mouth to the other pondering the situation for a moment.

If these hostile mercs had any sort of military training this ambush had been set to delay This platoon. Most likely to set a more lethal trap further up. Mines perhaps...?

Weiss picked up his com, as Battallion CO he had access to the storm commando frequenceies.

"Commando team at point Y345 - X 567. Attention - This is Lieutenant Weiss, 3rd Battallion, 337th Plattoon. We are wedging the Battallions approach to the VIP location. We just stepped into an ambush and I would expect more trouble ahead. The hostiles knew from where we would be coming and they may have the same objective as we, but for other reasons. They are well equiped and trained - Watch your steps commandos.. The 337th will be proceeding shortly, right behind you."

Weiss handed the microbinocular back to the scout next to him. Loosing sight of the commando team he took a few more deep puffs from his ciggar glancing at the time module.

"Two minutes!" he belowed to the platoon getting them ready for departure.

Then he switched to Storm Command frequency.

"Lieutenant Weiss - 337th reporting, Operation edge proceeding on schedule. Minor resistance destroyed, but our prescence is blown. Heavier resistance expected further up. Requesting walker drop." Weiss grinned, and knew his request would be handled quickly.

"TK-705 - ready yourself to steer the walker." Weiss ordered [member="IT-8442"] "We are done sneaking - The commandos can handle that from here on. Prepare to blast a highway to the Objective."

Weiss cast an eye overwatching the platoon that was stirring to life with a recent reinforcement. Shinies.... Weiss thought, but soon noted a civilian moving amongst the new arrivals. The man looked overly confident walking around among the troops caring little for the fallen troopers it seemed. As the man stopped to talk to [member="Leon Reeko"] Weiss recalled having seen [member="Slade Zambrano"] man in the company of Moffs earlier on. He did not care for the mans behaviour but if this hot shot wanted to tag along he figured it was best to let him be.

Soon the air shrieked as a drop ship was arriving to the plateua within a few minutes, the AT-ST attached to the belly of the vessel. It blew up winds forcing the troopers to brace themselves as they were forming up to continue.

"Mount up!" Weiss roared to [member="IT-8442"] moving his hand in an aeral circle as the dropship released the machine on the ground and turned around returning to the storm corp temporary HQ.

With the platoon lined up Weiss ordered.

"PLATOON! MOVE OUT!" and the stormtroopers reinforced with an AT-ST paving the way, blast style, started to move forward into the forest ahead.


[member="Leon Reeko"]
[member="SC-4486"]
[member="Mirus Hi'ija"]
[member="Slade Zambrano"]
[member="Javos Infored"]
[member="Rick Galurom"]
[member="Sirca Zione"]
((Dont know if Javos and Rick are present or if they are in sith capticvity during this mission. your call)).

 

[Graf's Archive Account]

[member="Weiss"]

The commandos stopped, they put they're hands up to their helmets and listened to the message Weiss had sent to them.

"Commando team at point Y345 - X 567. Attention - This is Lieutenant Weiss, 3rd Battallion, 337th Plattoon. We are wedging the Battallions approach to the VIP location. We just stepped into an ambush and I would expect more trouble ahead. The hostiles knew from where we would be coming and they may have the same objective as we, but for other reasons. They are well equiped and trained - Watch your steps commandos.. The 337th will be proceeding shortly, right behind you." The Stormtrooper CO said.

SC-4468 activated his communicator "Stormtrooper Platoon Leader Weiss, this is Lieutenant Squad Leader Artan, We have direct orders from a high ranker and would appreciate it if you would assist us in finding the Empress, We will start by attempting to disable any traps and thwarting any ambushes we can come by, we will then attempt to reach the Empress." He responded in his communicator.

He then signaled for the rest of the Storm Commandos to keep going and search for traps.

 

[Weiss]

The platoon was on the move as Weiss got the reply.

"Roger that - the 337th is on your tail. And we are bringing heavy fire to the party. Just help us keep an eye out for anti-walker mines." Weiss shouted in his com to be heard acrosss the heavy machinery stopming right beside him.

The 337th kept advancing behind the commando squad. A sense of uncertainty found itself among the troopers - to reach the empress before these Mercs had an opportunity to do whatever they were here for.

[member="SC-4486"]

 

[T'yr Dellos]

Spoiler

With a sickening lurch, the otherworldly blue of hyperspace was replaced by the blackened void of realspace. An alarm sounded as they arrived and another light on Lieutenant Commander Dellos' console began flashing red. Ignoring the new warning for a moment, Dellos allowed himself to instead focus upon the ships that were now filling up the forward holoprojection. "What's the status of that fleet?" He asked to no one in particular.

"They're not responding to hails, commander." Responded one of the junior officers.

"Are we transmitting?" Asked Dellos, not taking his eyes from the ships that stood before his ancient Victory Star Destroyer.

"I can't tell, sir. I'm showing three dozen errors and have a half-dozen red lights on my console." The junior officer said in an apologetic tone.

"Understood." Said Dellos, turning his attention now to the group of young officers that monitored the ship's sensors. "What's our sensors say about their status?"

"Engaging an unknown force, sir." Came the voice of a young junior officer. "Initial scans are showing light to moderate damage throughout the fleet. Fighters are deployed... and appear to be screening the fleet against enemy bombers."

T'yr Dellos understood the situation better than most. For all their size and strength, even a Star Destroyer could be taken down by a handful of Starfighters using the right weapons. And with most of the fleet already damaged from the defense of Crina, there would be plenty of vulnerable targets for the enemy ships to target... Even just a handful of Proton Torpedoes aimed at a slagged section of armor could snap a ship in two. "The commander is deploying a fighter screen." Dellos said absently as he his eyes took in the sight of the battle. "What do we have left to offer?"

"Flight Chief reports three Exalt starfighters and a pair of Galaxy bombers." Responded one of the officers after a long pause. "All five are prepped for launch, sir."

"Good." Dellos said, trying to hide his disappointment at the state of his ship's fighter complement. Of the twenty four fighters and bombers she usually carried... all but five of the pilots had bravely given their lives for Crina. All too many of his crew had given their lives for Crina... For the convoy of refugees attempting to flee the planet... Refugee ships that Lieutenant Commander Dellos now saw cowering behind the Imperial Star Destroyers that engaged the unknown fleet. "Order the launch." He said as he found himself glaring at the hostile ships. "Have them coordinate with the Heart of Crina on their way to the front lines... Tell the flagship that the Celestial Blight is here to help. Relay that we are unable to transmit, but are receiving comms just fine."

"Aye, Lieutenant Commander." Responded the junior officer. "Fighters on their way."


"Ahead two-thirds." Lieutenant Commander Dellos said coldly, eyes still locked on the vulnerable civilian ships that his men and woman died to protect. "Plot a course that puts us over those Refugee ships."

Dellos could feel the slow lurch of acceleration g forces as the ship strained to drag itself forward. The battered frame rattled against the shifting gravity and the reactor bleated out alarms as she burned hotter and hotter, her power output dipping to 58-percent. A sudden, bone-jarring explosion rippled through the ship. T'yr Dellos felt it vibrate in the deck as much as he felt it in the pressure in the air and the shift in the ship's center of gravity. He was thrown forward and to the right, his hands grasping desperately against the handrail that surrounded his station.

"What the hazmana was that?" Lieutenant Commander Dellos called out as he steadied himself against any further explosions. A dozen more red lights illuminated his console and a large red alert light flashed twice over the bridge before someone turned it off.

"Port Ion Drive blew." Called out the chief engineer as he looked over the shoulder of a junior officer. "We've got damage all over the aft of the ship and-"

"Can we still move forward?" Asked Dellos, cutting the engineer off.

"There's no way that explosion didn't crack the frame somewhere." The chief engineer responded in a slightly higher pitch, obviously shocked by the commander's disregard of the ship's current situation. "Until I get a crew to manually inspect the damage, I can't guarantee we won't sheer in half, sir."

"Your concern is noted." Dellos said coldly as he turned away from the man. "Ahead one-third. Primary Ion Drive only."

 

[Graf's Archive Account]

[member="Weiss"]

"Affirmative, our targets are anti-tank mines and rocket launcher-carrying mercenaries, we have your back" SC-4485 responded with, Some of the commandos scanned around the area for mine signals while the rest watched their backs, with their blaster rifles aimed at the surrounding area, looking for any signs of a mercenary ambush.

Not long after they started, one of the commando's scanner started going off "Sir! I'm picking up faint signals, the scanner can't seem to differentiate them, but it knows that they're mines., they're all over the place in front of us!" He said, SC-4486 nodded, he noticed that there were fresh dirt around the place, signaling where mines were.

"Platoon Leader Weiss, be advised, we have found a lot of freshly placed mines, probably both Anti-Tank and Anti-Infantry, We're going to clear a path for your forces, but you should still warn them to be cautious." SC-4486 warned through the communicator.

"Alright men! Let's clear a path!" SC-4486 ordered, and the Storm Commandos started to defuse the mines and clear a large path.

 

[Viera Kisep]

[member="Corvinus Palpatine"]

Grand Moff Viera Kisep was above both men in the room but well that didn’t matter it wasn’t her ship. She sighed and entered the room, she had let the man whose fleet and ship was in shape to handle the evacuation. She was just glad to be alive at this point. She wasn’t about to raise a fuss. “ It seems it’s just you and me now. I am impressed with your air of command, Yet I don’t think we have ever talked in detail. I am impressed, and don’t worry I won’t take your ship from you. I find ships run far better with their practiced crew and commander and am impressed with yours. Don’ t mind me I will just stay and watch. I have to admit it’s not often I get to sit back and enjoy the fight rather than be in it.” She was glad the idiot boy was gone, she had just barely held back from saying something similar. It seemed that her and Corvinus were of the same mind on at least that.

 

[The Red of Sinner]

It didn't take long for the shuttle to actually freaking crash, shot down by enemy anti-air placements. Sirca didn't remember much prior to this, just smoke, and red lights. The LT screaming to hold on, and then a hard lunge. Everything blacked out after that. Once he came back to, he had somehow made it out of the wreckage, and out into the open area. When his eyes opened, they stung, and his mouth was filled with blood. He was flat on his back. He tried to turn over, but winced as his sides shot pain throughout his body.

"Ahhhh!"

He yelled out, his side poured blood, and was impaled by some metal that had been from the ship. Slowly he tried to stand but fell back, causing the metal to dig deeper into his flesh. "Gaah!" He yelled once more. His helmet was missing too, he had just noticed this. Dirt was slung in his hair, and face. He still hadn't spit the blood out too.

Again, he tried to stand once more, this time getting to his feet, and coughing up blood, and holding the metal in his side. After he had spit up the last bit of blood, he gripped the metal, and looked around for something that resembled a medkit. Nothing. He thought to himself, this was it, already about to die, and it was his first time in combat.

"Damn it!" He sobbed softly. He didnt want to go this way. Looking around for his helmet, he found it far off towards the battlefield. Maybe he could reach someone with it still. Bending over in pain as he lifted his helmet up, and placed it over his head, he began to speak.

"This is TK-604, we've been hit, in need of immediate medical attention. I repeat this is TK-604, in need of medical assistants. Does anybody read me?"

@SC-4486 @Weiss @Leon Reeko

 

[Other Space Kaiden]

[member="Viera Kisep"] @T'yr Dellos [member="Taeli Rae"] [member="Alva Calvarona"]

​

"Certainly, I believe your presence will come in use...I sense something is amiss. Soon I think that-

Corvinus was cut off as glass daggers exploded across the bridge as the Heart of Crina took a direct hit, fire lashing from the hull and out into the burning atmosphere of Vjun. The ship lurched violently and Corvinus grabbed onto the sparking command console to keep from tumbling across his own bridge. Skin tearing under his grip, Corvinus forced his eyes forward to analyze the battle waging around him. Things weren't good. The enemy may have been using outdated equipment but they were using a lot of it, much more than Corvinus had anticipated even with that massive signature they had picked up before the battle. With every gain the Imperials made the enemy made two more. With every merc ship sent into a fiery plummet towards the surface; four more spawned in its place.

"Energy shields are failing sir! That last round seared right though and now we have hull breaches on decks one, two, three, four and five! Fires on all five decks and spreading rapidly!" The bridge engineer officer called from his battle station. Corvinus could see the damage clear from where he was. A laser round had managed to plow through the weakened shields and melt a massive hole into the armor. Judging by the size it had to be at least twenty meters across. The fire raging from within had to be almost double that length.

"Seal all blast doors and shut down oxygen supply to the areas around the damage." Corvinus shouted, turning to the helmsman next. "Bring us above atmosphere and starve the flames, we cannot have them spreading to other decks or the battle is lost."

"But sir, evacuations are not complete yet!"

"Their sacrifice will be noted, commander. Now, bring us out of atmosphere" Corvinus repeated, his voice flat and his eyes hollow

"Yes Mi'lord! Right away!" The helmsman gripped the controls tight, pulling up with all of his strength; sending the destroyer into a sudden skyward thrust. Rising from the smoking atmosphere like a whale, the destroyer banked hard as the last bits of air were sucked dry from the damaged decks and the fires evaporated into the vacuum.

"Sir Corvinus! Enemy Neulan B Closing on our belly! It has a weapons lock on our lowest decks!"

"Quickly, reroute our ray shield power to the particle shields! Swing our bow to the port side and steady our weapons on them"

"But sir, multiple fighter squadrons are on our port; we'll run right into them and Mrs. [member="Alva Calvarona"] !"

"Do it now, commander!" There was no time for maybes. Mrs. Alva was a fine pilot and she and her people had a chance to move out of the way. Either that or they would sacrifice themselves for the good of the Empire. That was as noble of a death as any.

Reluctantly, but without falter, the helmsman began to swing the destroyer around. Corvinus watched as X-wings and TIE fighters swerved to avoid the hulking mass of a ship; some failing and becoming nothing more than a smoking scar on the ship's skin. "Enemy has powered down energy weapons, I think they are breaking off atta-

Explosions rattled the bridge as meteors tore through the hull like a hole punch through paper. The side of the ship turned to swiss cheese, the metal becoming peppered with burning holes from bow to stern. "Hyper velocity guns, why did you not warn me?"

"They aren't showing up on our sensors sir!"

"Are our weapons locked yet?"

"Negative! All batteries on the starboard side are inactive, the enemy must have destroyed the circuitry in that last barrage!"

Damn it. The enemy had gotten the slip on him and now the the whole mission was in danger. Grinding his back teeth, Corvinus ran scenario after scenario through his head. They didn't have time to reposition. All it took was one lucky shot and the whole bridge would collapse in on itself. "What are the enemy shield readings?"

"Enemy shields are wavering sir, but without our batteries we can't-

"Are we in range to use Ion cannon?"

"Negative sir, but if we face our bow towards the enemy we can fire from our two forward Ion cannons"

"Contact Serenity, tell her that we will open fire on the structural weakness in the middle of the vessel with Ion Cannons. As soon as the shields start to flicker have her open fire!"

"Affirmative sir, but we have unidentified ships moving in from hyper space. They are of Imperial origins if the scanners are correct" @T'yr Dellos

"Do not mind them, I have sense their presence already. They are not enemies of the Empire; our concern is that Nebulon."

 

[Komo]

The One Sith dominion of Crina was lauded by most as a success, but there were also those that did not consider it so. Although they had the planet, most of the high-ranking authorities had made it off the planet safely, and apparently that had dampened the success felt by some of the victors. A fleet of ships had pursued the survivors to the Viju system and continued to hound the Remnant survivors as they fled to safety. Greta had stayed well clear of either fleets, not wanting to get into any conflict should it happen. She was not here to fight, though she would if she have to. She and here troops were more than capable to do so. This was primarily to be a scouting or reconnaissance mission to shadow the Remnant survivors as they had heard reliable intercepted 'intel' that the Empress of Crina was on the planet Viju.

Greta was on board the Shadow as it made it way stealthily towards the planet's surface. She was in command of this covert operation as she lead a section of two sections of twelve commando operatives. They were the Blackblade Guard, an elite infamous paramilitary organisation formed by the great [member="Darth Vornskr"] himself. Thanks to her evasive techniques and manuevers, coupled with the corvette's inbuilt anti-detection systems, she had managed to make it relatively unseen as they had their way down to the surface. As the giant orb landed in plain view, she ordered through the ship's intercom for her commandos to be ready, They would be landing soon. Soon enough. The deployment team then got onboard a dropship and it left the corvette, as the much smaller craft header towards the surface.

[member="Corvinus Palpatine"] [member="Alva Calvarona"] [member="Weiss"] [member="Leon Reeko"]

 

[Darth Kentarch]

"We've scored a direct a hit on the Heart of Crina!" The Dolos Intelligence Agent spoke. Several mercenary captains, One Sith officers, Sith Assassins, and Dolos Intelligence analysts stood around a holo-projection table displaying the space battle. "Her shields are failing, we'll make another assault. We do have hypervelocity guns, they won't expect those." A Mercenary chimed in, even now the Sith Lord could sense his confidence and smug satisfaction. Darth Kentarch however was not pleased. He had chased the Imperial Remnant down to find and kill the Empress, as well as scatter the remaining imperial forces. Standing aboard a frigate just outside the battle, he watched the progress on both land and ground unfold.

"Congratulations on wounding her, however the contract specified destroyed." Kentarch pointed out, annoyance in his tone. However he kept the scathing insults to a minimum, this mercenary force in the end after all was loyal only to itself. Crossing his arms over his chest he glanced at one of the intelligence agents. "Something is wrong. The command structure is different then on Crina. Their defense is entirely more organized, and more professional." Darth Kentarch observed. "And our ground forces may outnumber them, however imperial troops are well trained and specialized in fighting irregular forces."


"The Nebulon's shields are wavering. Should we send in reinforcements?" One of the officers said turning to the mercenary captains. "No." Darth Kentarch spoke, then glanced at the holo-table again analyzing the situation. The mercenaries seemed shocked at his decision. But Darth Kentarch could see how the battle was unfolding "Avoid the Heart of Crina's bow, hard starboard and break off engagement now!" The Sith Lord barked. The Nebulon B frigate swung hard to its starboard avoiding the kill shot from the Heart of Crina. However the guns of the ship were now out of range. The ship now began preparing to realign shields and reengage.


The Sith Lord was more than impressed at the Imperial maneuver. Pointing to one of the Dolos Agents he gave another order. "Cross reference that ships tactics with past battles, find out who commands her." He said then looked to one of the Mercenaries. "Have you found the Empress or her location?" He questioned. "No my lord, but she can't escape the planet if we maintain this level of space superiority or win the battle." Kentarch nodded in agreement. "Then I'll take command of the-."

He was cut off by one of the Sith Assassins using various force detection techniques. "Sir I believe a detachment of Sith in the area, of who we can't discern." Darth Kentarch cursed at the news. No doubt another Sith Lord looking to finish off the Empress. Kentarch would not them steal the glory for themselves. "Ready the assassins and my ship." He said. First he had to finish off the enemy fleet.

[member="Corvinus Palpatine"]