\\ Bridge network one, several stories below
Imperial Warlord Zovesa
's main assault, opposite
Lirka Ka
and her forces
\\ New Imperial Order, Force Corps Auxilia platoon Castus and three other platoons
\\ Cmd. Farwell: Half-way across the bridge, trying to figure out a way to get out of this alive
\\ Troops: Engaging Sithspawn warhounds, slowly converging on the midpoint of the bridge
\\ 56/56
The crunch of snow beneath his boot drowned within the intensity of the howling winds. With each step, the betaplast buried itself within the snow, creating a distinct sinking sensation as Cameron trudged through the snow towards point besh. The last of Bal's cape disappeared into the white before him, prompting him to hasten. He feared he might not see it again if he didn't.
His heart raced as his mind created the image of red bolts raining down upon him from behind the wall of snow. As thoughts of his troops dying struck his imagination and that dagger sunk deeper into his heart, eliciting a new rush of adrenaline as fear shot through his muscles like electricity.
The New Imperial Order had betrayed the Empire. The Sovereign Imperator had spat in the face of the Dark Lord and all his Sith tyrants the same way the Lord Executor had during that fateful day of council within the Sith sanctum on Bastion. A day that would become known as the day of liberation amongst the troops who now fought for the Imperial Order. In the eyes of the Dark Lord, they were worse than the cattle he called his citizens. Cameron had no illusion the Sith's offer of surrender was little more than some cruel game to goad him out of the cover of the storm had he ever genuinely considered the option.
So when their response came he scoffed.
"Your terms are deemed acceptable, traitor!"
Even if this Sith Imperial had true intent to permit their surrender, it would only be a matter of time before they ended up in the hands of some Dark Lord of Misery or Angst who would delightedly pick apart every molecule of their bodies. Cameron felt contempt rise within for even feigning interest in abandoning what they fought for.
Through the snow, he could just make out a corrupted verdant glow on the other side of the bridge.
"Lay down your arms...and kneel."
He'd grovelled before the Sith enough for several lifetimes. His existence of subjugation had come to an end the moment he tore loose the Legionnaire's insignia on his uniform and replaced it with that of the Sovereign Imperator.
The citizen's life within the Sith's Empire was a reduction to little more than the existence of a thoughtless machine that only knew to obey. To a prisoner of a tyrannic order. Those who dared to oppose it became prisoners and were robbed of the last scraps of their freedom's illusion. The most fortunate perished by the plasma of a rifle or sabre. Those who did not expected fates far worse. Their minds were shattered wholly, their bodies reduced to malnourished husks or tools, often literal, for the Empire to exhaust without mercy.
The Sith's willingness to commit unthinkable acts of cruelty upon ordinary people who dared nothing more than think beyond the narrow world their gods prescribed them had ultimately driven Cameron to free himself of his chains and to follow the Tavlar into this campaign built on treason. It was no bid for power, no selfish desire to take ahold of whatever wealth the Sith had amassed, but the affliction the Sith had thrust upon and continued to maintain over their blinded captives.
The concealed deaths of countless of their citizens whose crimes were little more than 'improper' thoughts and the relentless cruelty they gleeful inflict on those who dare to oppose in desperation to save what they love. All of the innocents caught within the wake of their repugnant shadow and under their revolting claws created the true reason he wished to fight.
As he pressed on down the bridge he pondered what his next words would be. He wanted to scream and curse the Sith, to vent the anger and resentment that had crystalized over the last eight weeks. He wanted to yell at them with everything he had, to lay bare all the crimes their gods committed, all the sins they paid with blood to cover. Desperately he wanted to tell them all the reasons why their Empire was unjust, why their lives should not be sacrificed in vain for a group of galactic parasites.
Yet with every word his mind conjured he heard that wet laughter, so replete with contempt. The blood gurgled labour of lungs that functioned only to hate. He saw only the face of the Sith officer who spat at the freedom Sawyer had offered with the same disgust he would offer a slave.
There was little reasoning with those who remained with the Sith. Little chance of turning veterans of indoctrination. Yet, the smallest part of him still held a small ember of hope.
Through the barrier of snow, dark figures began to appear. Shadows of his troops already working to set up mobile defences. Slowly the veil of white around them began to lift as a bright light began to flicker upon the length of the bridge.
Soon a new howl was added to the backdrop of the cyclone, one underpinned by the mechanical screeching of metal bending under pressure and the wail of muffled sirens. The sounds were coming from behind Cameron, who turned to slide in the snow to break his momentum and bring his gaze to whatever was producing that brilliant glow.
The black visor of his helmet reflected the flickering of fire as he stared up, frozen as the ground beneath him. Before him was the burning husk of what once was a New Imperial gunship but was now transformed into a blazing husk of metal barreling towards their bridge. Explosions violently rocked the gunship's body as it twisted and bent under the pressure of its unnatural velocity.
He was struck with dread as he watched the conflagration come ever closer. The gunship's velocity would easily break through the bridge if it didn't veer off its current course. Another series of explosions ran down its spine, its triangular shape appearing almost like a flaming arrow come to claim its target.
Instinctively his system began to flush with adrenaline, his mind racing with fear. The vector of approach the ship maintained would bring it down behind where Castus had taken up position, at approximately the third-way point of the bridge. There was not enough time to get everyone back across to the friendly side of no man's land. Too many of them would be consumed by the vessel's fearsome power.
"Revenant, get yourselves to Castus' position five minutes ago. We're not letting the others fight those bastards without us." Revenant-actual's level-headed voice broke Cameron from his thoughts.
He lowered his head to look back down the bridge. The outlines of Thorn and Sunder platoon's troopers flickered under the gunship's flight through the barrage of snow the wind brought with it. With a nod to no one in particular, he turned to race the remaining distance to his platoon.
With a slide through the snow, he came to a halt next to two of his soldiers, bumping against the barricade they were crouched behind. The stripes on the first trooper's helmet immediately drew his attention.
"Ori, what's our status?" his helmet's systems distorted his voice.
"We're about done, defences should keep us alive until we're close enough to see the enemy, but with that thing", she pointed towards the gunship's general direction without breaking visor contact, "I don't think we'll have any problem seeing them anymore."
There was frustration in her voice. The bridge ahead of them was beginning to become illuminated just as the section behind them had. Visibility was improving, if only so far as to make out general shapes and outlines. Nonetheless, the added light would rob them of any cover the cyclone was providing, leaving them exposed as they charged.
"Then get moving. The more time we-" Cameron's words were cut off by the distinctive shriek of a blaster rifle.
His head snapped in the general direction of where it came from. Another could be heard, then another. They all came from their bridge, only a couple metres further up towards the Sith side. The first bolt had not flown far, disappearing as soon as it was fired. Those that came after were directed upwards, impacting or flying right past the massive support beams. One finally illuminated its target in a red glow. The black fur of the anubian hounds racing down the metal structure came into view for the briefest moment before being hidden behind its veil again.
"We've got hostiles coming in from above! The hounds, they're starting to engage!"
More of the bolts flew towards the targets above, soon joined by a chorus of others. Combat chatter began to break the silence of their comms as soon even the platoons behind them began to open fire.
Cameron couldn't help but let loose a series of curses as combat began to erupt all around him. No matter what, casualties would begin to mount from this point onward. The blaster fire rang out in all directions, some portion directly targeting the Sith. For Castus, trapped half-way across the bridge, the battle had finally caught up.
The hounds continued to descend from up above, dodging the troopers' fire as they flowed down the support structures like spectres of death. Slowly the troopers of Sunder and Thorn began to trickle in, but Revenant was still catching up further behind.
"Move, move, move!" Came the command of Sunder-actual, soon echoed by the other platoon commanders.
The chaos of war engulfed the troopers. Too many variables for one mind to handle had all conspired to bring about a premature start to their conflict. Cameron sat inert for several moments, turning his head from soldier to soldier in an attempt to grasp every detail of the anarchy that was unfolding. Blaster fire continued to echo from all around him, but his mind had yet to solve the issue of the conflagrating husk still barrelling towards them. They found themselves wedged between the barrels of the Sith's rifles and the blazing death coming from above behind them, all the while undead warbeasts rained down from above to tear them apart with their fangs and claws. Cameron's mind was racing with possibilities and fruitless ideas as he tried desperately to come up with a plan to save them all.
He fell to his side as he felt someone pull him down towards the snow. His gaze shot to his side, finding Ori firmly keeping him behind their cover.
"Stay behind cover, airhead."
Cara Dorniarn
Mazrim Caide/Taim
Darth Bellum
, Irveric may never had been able to confront his enemies face to face till the war's eruption. His kind, the Imperial were barred from such a momentous encounter. The Sith were the ruling class of this Empire and at the summit of its order, it did everything in its power to be sure of it that no true Imperial might catch a glimpse at their meeting. 
