Invasion [SJO vs TSE] Operation Silversaber: Silver Jedi Invasion of the Mirial Hex

[Jartris Entumaa]

Location: Mirial - Capital
Allies: TSE | [member="Aurelius Morday"]
Opposition: SJO | [member="Liuna Ondizi"] | [member="Kaiza Pawaro"]

Fortunately for Jartris, the two young women were too occupied coping with the situation to make much of his blunder. He was starting to wonder whether handing one of them an infant was not, in fact, an action of concealed brilliance, rather than just another eccentricity on the part of an alchemist who seemed somewhat disconnected from his surroundings. It certainly had had a disarming effect. Perhaps he had been giving the other Sith too little credit.

Jartris' face was exactly where one could expect it to be, and he looked almost softly at Kaiza while listening to her. So this was what this was: a Mirialan Jedi who had come here under the mistaken impression that she was doing her homeworld a favour. He briefly contemplated killing her on the spot, but decided against it. She and her companion were already out of the game here, and Jartris himself had no intention of getting personally involved in a battle. Better to sow the seeds of doubt and leave them to grow.

Jartris sighed and threw a pensive glance at Liuna and Aurelius before he spoke. The alchemist would not understand their language, but he suspected that the young Jedi would react much better to being addressed in it.

"<Do you not see the irony in your own actions?>" He looked at Kaiza and paused for a brief moment, as if to let her contemplate his question. There was again that unsettling intensity in his gaze. "<We had peace. We could rebuild. The new university, where your generation will be educated - it was built with the support of the Empire. The Woyunokut fall like flies under the hands of the Sith, even if they have not yet been exterminated. Our people would be lost on their own. But now you have brought war here again, and after that, you will depart and our people will be left to their own devices. How can you believe even for a second that we have a chance? You may spout pieties, as everyone does, for who has ever declared it his intention to bring harm to civilians - but if you truly cared for the innocent, you would not be here making a bad situation worse.>"

"Now..." said Jartris after a short pause, switching to the common tongue. "If you wish to help someone nonetheless, you might assist me in finding the answer to my question. It is all you can do now." He spoke seriously, but so slowly that it was difficult to believe he was in any real hurry to have it answered.

 

[NT-6922]

INTEGRATED HIGH HEAD DISPLAY:

LOCATION: MIRIAL - THE CAPITOL BUILDING
OBJECTIVE: ESCAPE!
ALLIES: THE SILVER JEDI ORDER
ENEMIES: THE SITH EMPIRE - [member="Vaylin"] I [member="Aria Vale"]

Natassia ran as fast as she could, not even bothering to look back. There was nothing else to focus on, except run as fast as she would be able to; but her mind was elsewhere, thinking back on how that one Sith didn't kill her with her lightsaber, or simply leave her to be crushed under tons of debris. These foes were far more peculiar than what she expected of them. They were very different from the Rebels she chased back in the days, or from the Jedi she hunted down as the Empire was striving for galactic peace.
Rushing into a devastated hab, she dropped a knee to the ground, battle rifle raised, ready to shoot whatever was going to come through the door. There was no sound in the small housing, except for the distant echoes of battle, a few blocks away. Always coming closer.

She couldn't help herself, finding her eyes wandering across the scene. This damage looked like it had been done prior to their invasion; one of the walls was down, a civilian vehicle still stuck halfway inside. The driver had most of his brain splattered against his seat, the handgun he killed himself with resting in his hand, still gripping the weapon tightly. Swallowing, she turned her gaze to the rest of the house, only noticing now the enormous amount of bullet casings lying on the floor. They led to the end of a hallway, which she reluctantly followed, ready to fire if anything dangerous happened to be in the room.
What was inside wasn't ''dangerous'', except to her mind.

Five corpses, still holding their automatic rifles - civilian type, judging by the magazines she saw lying on the ground and the general shape of the weapon. Each of them had their heads blown clean off, their bodies covered in bite marks. A good dozen of the undead lied dead around them.
"No", whispered the soldier as the sight before her.
These eyes. All of these eyes, strewn across the floor, dangling from bloody faces, looking as if they were staring right at her, silently accusing her. Why didn't you arrive before? Why didn't you save me?
Slowly, she stepped into the room, being careful of where she stepped, cringing as she heard fleshy sounds as she stepped on severed body parts or organs. There was reinforced door behind them, locked tightly. With a disgusted groan, she shoved the bodies aside, about to take a closer look at the door.
That was when she heard the sounds of people entering the hab. Trapped in a small bedroom with bodies around her, she knew she was going to regret her poor planning. In the shock of the sigh before her, she had almost forgotten about the two Siths chasing her.
"Frak", she breathed as she rushed out of the room, her battle rifle slung around her shoulder, pulling her pistol out of its holster, rushing back to the larger space the living room offered.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Location: Mirial
Objective: Deal with the Jedi
Allies: [member="Calina Ovmar"] [member="Enyo Typhos"]
Enemies: [member="Lina Renning"] [member="Madeline Roux"]

Equipment: Mask Lightsaber

How did two Padawans make it so deep into the city as to discover the lab where the Sith were working on a vaccine against the zombies? They had to be quite adept at stealth, but they were foolish to have come here with no Master. She could feel the familiar... and yet distorted presence of the woman she had hired to go after Veles, and she could feel the ebb and flow of what was the beginnings of combat. Hmm perhaps this presented a unique opportunity.

Drawing near to the lab, her comlink clicked twice and then once, and her scowl deepened. The zombies had breached into the outskirts of the city properly, the horde attacking all but those who commanded the dark side of the Force. These Jedi would need to be taught the consequences of their actions.

While Enyo and likely Calina would assault them bodily, she would opt for a more... psychological approach. Chanting in the ancient language of the Sith, she would cast her first spell. It would start with quiet whispers in their minds, faint shadows at the edges of their vision. The whispers would grow louder, mutterings in their minds aimed to either demoralize or enrage them. They would be different for each of the Padawans, but it was only the first step in their... lesson.

 

[Dante Sotari]

Location: Mirial, Northern Reaches
Allies: [member="Morgan Vance"], TSE
Enemies: Local Separatists.

Gods he was obnoxious. The calmer he was, the more annoyed she got. The more annoyed she got, the calmer he was. It was a vicious cycle that both of them were not as self aware of as they probably needed to be to get off the ride, so it kept building instead.

"I'll watch our backs," she muttered, low enough to miss especially as they stepped into the facility.

Everything was dark. Quiet. There was a heaviness to the air that wasn't the case outside. Outside the air was cold and thin. But in here? Too warm. Too wet. Too everything. It made it hard to breath, like someone running wet velvet along the back of her throat. She swallowed hard, letting her eyes adjust to the darkness.

Not pitch, but everything just available in outlines and impressions of grey. No movement, enough light to pick that up at least. They two moved through the main entrance, back to back and sweeping weapons in a circle. Empty for sure. Dante's foot slipped slightly, something liquid but tacky beneath her boot.....

Holstering one of the two slug throwers, she reached into her pocket.

"Light," she warned a moment before she broke the glowstick with one hand, a dull green light blossoming. She frowned, not really sure just what she was seeing at first, because it didn't make sense.

"Oh gods," she whispered, strangled.

She had never seen this much blood.

 

[Armand Temi]

Location: Capital
Objective: Inform and evacuate citizens
Allies: SJO, [member="Liuna Ondizi"] [member="Cardinam"] [member="Kaiza Pawaro"] [member="Lara Fairfax"] [member="Kal Visna"] [member="Stephanie Swail"], everyone else in the capital
Enemies: [member="Arthur Wayes"], everyone else in the capital

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvsMPOfblfg[/youtube]​

Europa noticed the fellow female Mirialan, giving her also a knowing glance. While the politics on her home world might be too complicated for her to fully understand - she certainly didn’t blame the higher ranking government officials for being terrified enough of the Sith to go along with anything - she could not help but feel that this was perhaps their one and only chance to liberate Mirial.

The time was right.

“Go, go, go, go, go!” one of the rangers ordered and Europa sprinted off, blaster tucked into her holster, with the goal of finding civilians, convincing them to either evacuate or take up arms against the Sith, or to help them to safety if they were injured. “Silver Spots” were set up by Antaran Ranger infantry to keep entire areas of the city safe, some above ground and others under.

Her first stop was a small enclave of women and children. “Here’s a map and right here,” she pointed. “There’s a safe lane through the Farani district and then make a right at the cantina, One Hundred Tattoos.” She covered them, blaster poised to shoot anyone and anything hostile.

As she moved to the next dwelling and gave a cursory glance into the windows, it appeared empty, but the door was ajar. Perhaps the family had already fled?

With gloved fingers, Europa tentatively pushed it open.

Nothing but silence could be heard.

As she hunted around the living room and kitchen for signs of life, she suddenly heard a thump, thump, thump on the upper level. Slow footsteps. Perhaps an injured Mirialan. The platinum-haired rebel moved to the staircase, but the source of the noise abruptly came to her. Barreling down the stairs, moaning and frothing at the mouth was man, one of her race, but seriously poisoned or ill or something.

“Hold up!” she shouted. “You're hurt. I have a med kit here if you need some help.”

He kept slowly ambling down the stairs. But as he came closer to the landing, he picked up tremendous speed.

 

[Tabigarashu Madara]

Location: Mirial | The Capital
Objective: RUN FROM THE CULTISTS/DON'T GET STEPPED ON
Allies: TSE-[member="Naamah"] [member="Cle-Var-Ri"] [member="Vereshin"] nearby
Enemies: Cultists/Separatists, probably SJO


Tiba lost track of Hirou in the ensuing chaos. What she hoped were the death throes of the Skraal sent screeching shivers down her back, fur raising in a line across her spine as she scampered to and fro, darting here and there as the half dozen cultists actively attempting to squash her beneath their boots.

"GET THEM! DON'T LET THEM ESCAPE!"

Her heart fluttered in her chest as one of them clipped the tip of her tail and she went shooting out from beneath his robes. Running full tilt on all fours, an unfamiliar voice sounded in her mind. Scrabbling on the slick floor, she changed directions just before one of them brought a rock crashing down where she had been. Spotting a crack in the stone wall, she zig zagged across the floor. Two of the cultists came rushing in from either direction, and she closed her eyes, put her head down and charged toward the hole-

The cool feeling of shadow on the back of her fur and the crash of dull thwocks that sounded behind her brought her spinning about. She could hear them cursing and one of them dropped to the floor, sticking his hand into the hole and blindly trying to grab her. One fingers brushed across her fur and he scrambled to snatch her. Tiba bit him, sharp teeth drawing blood and a surprised yelp.

And then off she went, scurrying through the walls and toward the rendezvous.

Appearing at a crack just above the sidewalk, she went scurrying up to Vereshin and Cle-Var-Ri, panting and wild eyed. Without hesitation, she leapt, scrabbling up Vereshin's clothes to find a spot, shivering, on his shoulder. Black fur was dust coated and disheveled, but other than the fright, the black Nezumi looked none the worse for wear. Shaking, she stood up on her back paws, searching before looking over at Vereshin.

"B-but..... where's Hirou?" She squeaked in dismay.

****

Hirou had also gotten the message. But getting turned around in the chaos had gone in the wrong direction. The cult leader had reached down, snatching the nezumi up- but before he could dash them across the ground, Hirou had wriggled out and made their escape. But they had left behind their belt with the Nezumi sized comm unit and a number of other useful tools, in the process.

On the opposite side of the building, the Nezumi looked around wildly. Not seeing anyone they recognized, they shot off into the city.

Running on all fours, a grim, determined look flashed over Hirou's face.

I will get this information to Lord Fa, they promised themselves.

Not knowing the Sith Lord already had it, they disappeared into the city that was already changed by the conflict.

Hirou had no idea where they were.

 

[Zef Halo]

Location: Secret passage -> Suburbs, Capital City.
Objective: Evacuate the Mirialan Council.
Allies: [member="Darth Saarai"]
Enemies: The Silver Jedi, very soon [member="Marek S'hadar"]

Most of Fa's statements were open to discussion. The Thirriken liked, or at least accepted, discussion. Hearing what others had to say. Quite a rare feature for a Sith Lord.

This was not one of these statements.

There was no place for debate. Avendahl had very well learned that before during his apprenticeship under Lord Fa.

Vitor simply nodded and stuck to the karking plan.

The duo headed down the appropriate tunnel and with a force enhanced pace, they were very soon out of the maze of tunnels. As far as his datapad showed, they were somewhere in the suburbs of the capital city. In front of them a local militia unit laid slain on the ground. No undead around eating their faces.

No, this was the terrorists' work.

The two Lords approached the bodies investigating them when Vitor noticed the decapitated soldier. Clean cut, straight through.

"Jedi." Vitor almost hissed underneath his breath. He frowned as he turned to Lord Saarai. The latter had obviously already come to the same conclusion upon the burned holes the militiamen had received from a lightsaber.

The Lord Adjudicator brought his lightsaber hilt in his hand. His senses wide open giving him a trail.

A trail towards the Jedi the two had to hunt.

"Lord Saarai." Vitor began giving a glance to his former master before looking towards the direction his senses were sending him to. "You've taught me - decapitate the head, the body ceases to function."

A lesson that could be applied to everything. Lord Fa had shown him that lesson in regards to building their criminal empires spanning numerous star systems.

Now they would be applying it in warfare.

 

[Alkor Centaris]

Enemies: [member="Maya Zhou"], [member="Cassius Droma"]
Allies: [member="Phylus"]

As her shields took the brunt of his attacks, Alkor cruised over without much worry about proximity- unseasoned pilots tended to roll out and avoid the possibility of a collision, because they relied on astromech units to calculate distances and make their estimations. Centaris spent most of his life in a cockpit, flying just as often as he was grounded. There was no danger of impact, unless she made one intentionally.

He sighed audibly as it became obvious that the other pilot had no such deathwish. His sensors, newly recovered from the cloud of chaff went haywire with proximity alerts as the X-wing fired off ordinance. It was not directed at him, however, as he jerked back on the controls and jilted his Silencer into a dive.

He was about to hail the undesignated interceptor when another bogey rose to challenge him. The lightning speed of an A-wing interceptor was the perfect match for the Silencer, a superiority fighter built for maneuverability and speed in its own right. "Let's see how well you fly it," the Dark Jedi spat as he nudged the throttle left and broke free from his descent.

It rolled out timidly after a volley, the residual heat of which caused Alkor's shields to hiss in indignation. Integrity remained sound, and all systems were green. His eyes moved to the A-wing breaking away behind him, and he pulled the ship into an Immelman turn to give chase, somewhere between the X-wing he had originally targeted and the interceptor that was his new prey.

He coaxed the throttle forward and the Silencer responded with a jet scream.

Alkor's eyes lit up with anticipation as he targeted the nimble ship and made a few adjustments. The Jen'jidai licked his chops. "You want to fight me?" he asked, though he knew the other pilot could not hear him. "Then come and fight me!"

He fired the Mag Pulse torpedo in the blankspace ahead of the A-Wing, intending to make the pilot think he missed only to have his weapon's systems disabled when he flew directly into the blast.

Meanwhile, Alkor intended use the other pilot's reaction to close the distance between them.

Meanwhile...​

"The Interdictors are moving into their positions now," the Comms Officer called out. "Blackblade Squadron is entangled with enemy Interceptors, but appear to be maintaining pressure on the dropships. We have successfully managed to halt a good deal of their landing attempts."

"It's not enough," the Tactical Officer snapped. "We have three wings of TIE fighters in the sky, I suggest we utilize some of that firepower to make this battle a bit more one sided."

"Acknowledged," the Officer opened a line to the TIEs flying patterns between the blockade. "I need six Squadrons of TIE fighters to refuel and break for atmosphere," he explained. "Help Blackblade clean up the airspace above the capital so we can end this farce."

"Yes, sir!"

 

[Kenth Typho]

Location: Mirial
Allies: [member="Dante Sotari"] | Sith Empire
Enemies: Local Separatists.

It was strange.

He was blind.

Not completely, of course, he could still see just enough to get by here and not plant his face into the floor, but Morgan had grown used to his enhanced sight after all the surgery. Maybe it was the stress making him see worse? The doctors had said that there was the possibility of regression during bouts of intense stress and focus.

Just a thing to accept.

When Dante halted in her tracks Morgan naturally took up a position of reinforcement. The visor of the rifle slowly moving from one point in the darkness to the other, waiting for her to check out whatever it was. The warning was appreciated, he turned his head away so he wouldn't be blinded by it.

"Hrm?" First time Morgan had heard that tone of hers. Disgust? He slightly turned, eyes glancing over to what she was seeing. At first Morgan wasn't sure what he was looking at.

Hmm.

...oh.

It was blood and it was a lot of it. The emerald light shifted the shadows in strange contours, but Morgan followed it- not letting the sight break his cool in the moment. "Up." He was already staring at the corpses hanging off the ceiling, softly dripping blood. Drip, drip, drip. Morgan stepped one step back so it wouldn't get on his boots.

"Now we know what happened to the outer-perimeter guards." Vance said grimly, but calm. In the back of his head something was screaming and he ignored it.

Pushed that little whiny voice away.

Not the time.... not the time.

He gestured with his head to continue, there was nothing they could do about them now. They were dead and they didn't have any comms here to call it in.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

Location: Mirial | The Capital.
Objective: Evacuate the Mirialan Council.
Allies: The Sith Empire & Mirial. - [member="Vitor Avendahl"]
Enemies: The Silver Jedi. - Apparently [member="Marek S'hadar"]

Lord Fa looked down upon the militia unit.

The lightsaber-made wounds only served to confirm that which Lykos' intel had suggested. The Silver Jedi were truly in leagues with the separatists and manipulated by the cultists. Part of him had hoped it was untrue, because if the Silver Jedi Order was involved this turned from a troubling, but still isolated battlefield into... the precursor for war.

Oh, the Empire had been enjoying the thought of wiping the Silver Jedi presence off Dromund Kaas once and for all. Every time the Sith freed the Sith world from the Jedi... they came back.

Like insistent vermin.

The Thirriken suddenly noticed that Vitor was talking to him, glance shifted to worry that his former Master was elsewhere. "I am fine." Saarai answered the unasked question, before nodding.

"I suspected the Jedi were in play here, this confirms it and makes our task more difficult."

He looked past Vitor, towards the direction he was staring at, wondering, pondering. What was the best move here? But the words he had spoken to his old apprentice a long time ago still rang true. They had to remove the head, if the snake were to truly die today. Was it possible to keep his unspoken word to Novak and do this at the same time?

Questionable.

But worth trying.

"For once I will follow you, my old Apprentice." Tai finally said, filling in the waiting silence. Immediately the young human set off to a sprint, as if something was pulling at him, to go faster and faster. The Thirriken smirked and then followed. The scenery they passed was marked by chaos and failure.

More soldiers dead, citizens, but also plenty of undead.

Eventually they reached the breach.

Currently held by a mix of Mirialan militia and Sith troopers, they kept the undead out- if barely. Behind them and huddled together were a group of civilians currently guarded by a detachment of that same militia.

"See to the civilians," Saarai said before moving past his apprentice towards the men holding the burst in the barricade.

 

[RC 212]

Location: Ground, Near Capitol Builidng
Objective: Hurt Lord Ghoul.
Allies: Silver Jedi Order | [member="Stephanie Swail"] |

Enemies: The Sith Empire, [member="Lord Ghoul"]

"So be it then." Karren replied. She was not one to bandy words, but rather a woman of action. Her eyes darted across the Sith's defences, spotting an opening as he swung. He was more focused on Stephanie and her talking, which gave her a slight advantage.

Karren ignored his comment about untrained Children, smirking it off.

​

Always trying to rile you up, never focusing on the here and now.​

She raised her DL-44 in her left hand, and snapped off twin streaks of blazing red towards his neck, where she perceived an unprotected spot.

Then she stepped left, and forwards, pivoting to square her hips to his unprotected back.

"Ungh!"


The Saber buzzed, a brilliant beam of emerald lashing out with a twin swish left to right and back again, aiming for his hip. She delivered it with a flick of her wrist, surging force strength into the arm, enhancing the savage but graceful blows

As she swung two fingers wriggled. The force flowed between them, trying to drag him into her oncoming strike...

 

[Lina Ovmar]

Location: Mirial City Slums
Allies: [member="Taeli Raaf"] [member="Enyo Typhos"]
Enemies: [member="Madeline Roux"] [member="Lina Renning"]

Jedi test subjects? That was a viable option and one she’d not explored. The zombies desire for the Jedi and the Jedi’s ability to burn them out of existence with their force light could well be the key she needed for the cure. And if it wasn’t? Well, more fool them for stepping in this direction, they would have been better of in the battle at the city centre, whose noise was was like a distant rumble now.

Something roared and Calina tilted her head as Enyo moved to greet their guests...was that...a rancor? It didn’t matter. Her comm-link burst in a static of incoherent chatter and she scowled at the panic echoing in Saba’s voice. She really needed to hire new meat-heads.

She moved to join Enyo as she sent a powerful force push for one, Calina reached for the other in the force, invisible fingers seeking to clamp around her whole body and tug her inside. “Do come in.” she greeted, politely, her face impassive.

 

[LT-137]

Location: High Orbit, Mirial, Illisurevimurasi Sector, Outer Rim Territories.​

Objective: Complete the Trial of Skill. Claim the Sabre, or Skull, of a Jedi Knight.
Allies: The Knights of Ren, The Sith Empire.
Enemies: The Silver Jedi Order, [member="Setzi Lunelle"] (Eventually.)
Equipment: See Signature.

​

As the starship I had made my home burst forth from the emotive realm of hyperspace, and had made the painful transition to reality, my ears were beset on all sides by a roaring chorus of alarms. No doubt my crimson armour and tattered cloak were bathed in the overhanging emergency lights, casting everything that I could’ve seen - had the hibernation sickness not stolen my sight - in a shade of arterial crimson, one which matched the worn hues of my ragged armour. I assumed that whatever awaited us in the Mirial System was the furthest thing from pleasant, and was later proven right by the voice of my pilot crackling to life overhead scant moments later. “Apologies Lord,” The man began, allowing the static of connection to swallow the silence that followed after his words. “We’ve arrived In-System; however, it seems the Galactic Alliance has beaten us here.”

I could barely contain my surprise. “The Alliance? Here?” My words were rhetorical, and to ensure that the Pilot didn’t take my words as a request for confirmation, I continued. “They’ve grown bold in the wake of their defeat. I’m surprised they sought out the Sith Empire, rather than bash their heads against the Order once more.” With my words spoken, I felt a small tremor echo on the edge of my ethereal sight; the man was uneasy at the notion of fighting against the Galactic Alliance once again. Someone he loved dearly perished in their foolhardy attempt to destroy the Anoat Command Station, and it seemed that wound was still raw. Sighing heavily, I waved a dismissive hand towards the orbiting speakers. Surely the man would see the gesture in the records, or perhaps bear witness to them through the integrated surveillance system. Either way, it was done with the intention of disconnected sympathy, and it seemingly calmed the distant tremor.

“Regardless of their foolish intentions, Pilot, take us far away from their flotilla and proceed towards the surface,” I said, allowing my serpentine smile to return. “Let the Sith entreat our old friends to a measure of their hospitality.”

​

“Aye, my lord. Plotting your approach vectors now.”​

It was doubtless that the Pilot would deal with any incoming transmissions, either bat them aside with carefully prepared answers of his own or deflecting the inquisitive natures of those that claimed dominion over the world by relaying the proper transit codes. Whatever the case turned out to be, was of little recourse to me. I trusted that man to see my person safely to the ground, and as we streaked through the infinite canvas of abyssal night. Thus, after the static crackle of the Pilot’s voice had faded into memory, I began the final preparations for my eventual planetfall. My mission was open-ended, and I had no idea whom would await me once we reached our final destination. It gave me little to go off of and forced me to improvise, but that seemed to be the purpose of this entire perverted trial. How was a Praetorian of the Supreme Leader supposed to defend his liege, if he could not think for himself or seek out whatever threats awaited around the bend?

As my mind readied itself for the battle to come, I was barely cognizant of the words my Pilot spoke over the overhead comms system. From what I could recall, what with my whispered chanting and pursuit of mental clarity, the Pilot proclaimed that we were making the final approach now and was doing whatever this ship could, to weave through the armed forces of the two opposing stellar empires. In the midst of my enforced meditation, another tremor rippled through the ethereal realm of the Force, guiding my gauntleted hands towards a nearby wall and the crash netting that was bolted into place. As my fingers wrapped around that woven net, the entirety of the vessel shuddered with a myriad of impacts - either plasmatic discharge or particle-based munitions. At the time, I wasn’t concerned. I knew that one way or another, I would reach the surface and begin my hunt. However, when it came to pass, and I was no longer the Observer housed within my flesh, I felt a sliver of fear worm its way towards my heart.

What would I become, having come so far only to die in vain before seeing the end? Would I be nothing more than a turncoat, who betrayed his ideals, slew his brothers in arms, and was the catalyst in ensuring the demise of the good Doctor? I couldn’t let that happen.

Not this day. ​

As the ship descended towards the planet, beset on all sides by hostile craft, I found myself fighting to reclaim my emotional centre. And soon after, when my starship flew towards the outskirts of the Capital City, I believed that my control over my emotions was restored. How wrong I would turn out to be…

 

[Kaalia Pavanos]

Location: Capitol building, Mirial
Objective: Defend what is ours
Allies: TSE and its allies
Enemies: SJO and its allies | [member="Jairdain"]
Gear: Mirari, Cruentis Cor, Valkyries founders' armor

---​

​

As Jairdain spoke she felt her Force presence shift, a darker side cropping up more and more. To that Avacyn nodded. "There it is. It is definitely not as strong as it used to be, but it is there. You learned about the Dark side and made it your own. Very well." As a Sith, the redhead was a peculiar one, a fact she knew all too well. Her wish was to show the galaxy the truth about the Dark side, but so often was that misunderstood. Never would she force people to embrace the Darkness as wholly as she had, even if she believed it to be path of truth. Jairdain had changed, which was enough. "You would do good to distance yourself from them, however. The Silver Jedi are a far cry from what they claim they are, and today is yet another example of that." The choice was hers in the end, but there was a definite urge in the words that were spoken.

A smile of satisfaction grew on Avacyn's face as she felt the Force shift around the Knight even further. There was no doubt that they would end up trading blows very soon, the feeling that hung in the air feeding her. Combat made her feel alive, it sent a rush through her system like nothing else did. There was only one feeling that trumped it, one that only one woman in this galaxy was able to evoke, that woman being Ishana. "Perhaps..." she said, her voice artificially trailing off, "but it seems you are not interested in that debate. Frankly, neither am I." The Kro Varian's left hand moved, unclipping the lightsaber from her belt. She called upon the other through the Force, letting it fly towards her right, yet the hilts had yet to ignite. "Since I know you, I will be courtatious enough to give you the time to speak out whatever you wish to say. When we are done however, we fight."

 

[Jake Daniels]

Location: Capital Outskirts - Villages
Purpose: Preventing Sith reinforcements from arriving via his location
Allies: Silver Jedi Order
Frienemies(?): [member="Atlas Kane"]
Enemies: The Sith Empire

"Traitors are unfit to live. I am his executioner, just will of the Empire, yet my errand has not yet concluded. There is another, you've felt him, no doubt. Join me as an instrument of justice, kind stranger."

A sigh escaped Jakes lips as he cursed himself internally. How out of touch was he with the force, both light and dark, to not have felt yet another presence. Jake's eyes narrowed as he scanned the figure of this newest arrival. Even here, Jake struggled to get a full read on the force. There was too much of a conflict between light and dark. Based on the event that unfolded, Jake came to the conclusion that he was watching predator turn on predator. This was most intriguing.

"In my day, Sith didn't kill Sith?" Jake asked questioningly.

His dark passenger stirred at this newest arrival. The darkness inside of him swelled at the thought of going on the hunt for the other person this new arrival eluded too. The Knight let out another sigh as he again buried the dark passenger. He had to fight. He would keep his word to [member="Valae Kitra"]. He'd keep resisting the dark.

"Yes I felt him." Jake said, "Though he hasn't revealed himself as you have. Seems like he doesn't want to be found." Daniels kept his distance from this new arrival, "I remember Sith not being instruments of justice. Sith are conquerors, warmongers, and hooligans. Why would you kill your own? You had the jump on him. Was it necessary to end his life? Wouldn't justice be better served in a court and by trial?"

 

[Valkren Calderon]

Location: Mirial, Inbound to Garrison.
Objective: Secure local Garrison.
Allies: Silver Jedi Order, [member="Roona Osmari"]
Enemies: The Sith Empire, (Unknown)

​

​

Colonel Calderon pumped out another two slugs into a corpse directly in front of him, watching as the sheer force and power behind the rounds pushed the now, once again, lifeless corpse off of it's feet and onto it's back. The crowd of undead was thinning rather fast, due to the rangers precision shots and strong formation.

Valkren took a brief moment when he saw a decent amount of distance between him and the next zombie to shift his gaze from side to side, giving each one of his team members a once-over to assure everyone was good. Not moments later, before Valk' could even redirect his line of sight to the remaining hostiles, the LAAT pick up they had requested roared over head. Bright streams of blue bolts rained out from the open side door as one of the crew chiefs of the dropship engaged the remaining zombies with another Z-6 emplacement. The bolts razed the remaining lines of walking corpses, ripping through the flesh with ease and leaving nothing but mangled bodies and a mist of whatever the bodies had left in them.

"That's what I'm talking about!"

"How do you like that, you undead sithspit!"

"They always make us look bad, ya' know that?"

"Prepare the civilians for extraction! I don't want that bird on the ground any longer than it has to be!" Calderon barked these orders as he stood from his kneeling position, advancing toward the piles of bodies that now littered the streets before them. Himself and several other rangers wen't around, double tapping each and every body with an extra slug while others pulled security until the LAAT made it's pick up.

As the dropship came down to the platoon's level, members of first team moved up to Valkren.

"Sir, looks as if the rogue bolted, unsure on the status of the capital yet." Lowder spoke up, stepping over a corpse as he decreased the range between himself and the colonel.

"We should really move to support, boss." Harris replied to the specialist's statement with this, rolling his shoulders to remove some of the stress of carrying his Z-6 rotary cannon.

"Our objective stays the same, once we secure the garrison we can bring in armored support and go back up our people. But we have to stay on task, copy?"

His team agreed, even with the concerns of their allies safety they knew what their orders were.

By this time, the mix of biohazard and medical personnel on board the dropship had loaded the group of civilians, the ships' thrusters igniting with a bright white light as it roared off toward safety. Valkren gave the raiders the signal to regroup and move forward, moving back to their previous formation of two groups advancing on either side of the streets, using the buildings on their sides as cover.

Only a block or two later, the Radama Raiders' effort in their long jog would finally be rewarded as they'd come into range of their target. At this point, the young colonel issued the team to stay low. Even with the dimly lit streets, and under the cover of night, the odds of the enemy soldiers in the Garrison having night vision equipment or thermals was rather high. The colonel could only assume that the garrison was heavily defended due to the lack of corpses that should have covered the area.

"They must have killed them all off already." The lieutenant's voice cut in through their communications, attempting to keep their noise level at a minimum.

"Or the dead just hasn't gotten here yet." Valkren responded as the platoon began to spread out in the street way, using the debris from the air strikes to wait from a distance for the colonel's next orders.

"Echo, take Clark and occupy one of those buildings. I'm sure you know where you'll find your best vantage point. See if you can get a look inside, then we'll need some cover for whatever happens next."

The colonel shifted his position behind his own cover as he said this, moving to where his visor was directed toward Sergeant Osmari. If a large number of hostiles were present, having a pair of shooters with the high ground could change the course of an entire firefight.

 

[Lina Renning]

LOCATION: Mirial City Slums -> Sketchy zombie lab
OBJECTIVE: Maddie, we got a problem
ALLIES: [member="Madeline Roux"] | The Silver Jedi Order
ENEMIES: [member="Enyo Typhos"] | [member="Calina Ovmar"] | [member="Taeli Raaf"]
Also some music, because why not

The first thought to go through her head was they should have run.
The second was that she should've been quicker to draw her sword.

​

s̘͍͎̰̳̣̙ͮ̽̅͋ͨ͆́s̄̐ͧ͂͂̐̃s̛̝̹͑s̙̫̞̩̝̅́̆̈̽̌͟s̼̘̲ͤ̌s̹̗͈̭̤͖̺̔ͯ̎ͤͮ̇s̙̱͈͍͇͈̑ͅ​

At the outline of her gaze, shadows were creeping in. Voices hissed at the base of her eardrums, quiet whispers that blurred into the layers of sound that the battles outside sent through the air. It was harder to orient herself, to focus on the cyborg waiting for them inside the building - only by a fraction, though, for the time being. And she couldn't afford to dwell.

There was no time to focus on anything except making it out of this mess in one piece.

s͎͖̘̤̽ͬ͒ͤͭͣs̻̭̭̘͔̟̼͒̄͋͗ͣ̔͜͞s̡̹͓̝ͦͨ̍ͯ̎̏͜͝s͗̎͒̈́ͮͯ̇҉̦̤̱͕͍͕͈̝s̟̤̯̞͚ͤ̂͊͛͒̍̏̀̚͘̕s̹̭̗͙͆͆̃ͤ̕s̵͖̱̘͕ͤ̚s̟̭͍͖̝̐ͤ̓̒͆s͚̠̻̹̯͇̣̖̃̎͆̏ͦ̒͆ͅs̸̰̠͇͔̏̂͠ͅs͂̅̏̈͏͏̝̳̯̪̖̠​

​

She wished she could have moved fast enough to keep Madeline from harm - but the time it took to unfreeze and register what was happening was long enough that Enyo was already calling on her lightsabre. In the same gesture, she called her vibrosword to hand and time ssssslowed to a standstill as she brought the blade through the air - think, think, remember what Maiev taught you - and it met the edge of violet light a second after the saber slashed at her hip. Clumsily, Lina sidestepped. But not before the blade had made contact.

Pain. White hot like flames. She wasn't sure how deep it had cut, how serious her injury was, but from the left she buckled, staggering as she tried to evade, to bring her own weapon up.

The whispers were growing louder.

s̵̴̢̧͕̪̩͉̝͔̱͙ͬ̓͋̈̑ͣ́͜ͅs̸̬̫̼̠̗̻̥̲̰̘̼̦͔̈̐̏́͐ͩ͒ͤ̃̋̽̌̋̒͟͞s̢̮̲̦̠̲̬̱̟͓̪͈̉̓̎͐̀̊ͪ̂̔̇ͤ͛̉̔̐̾͆͜͢͡s̓̽̐ͬ͑͗̊̓̈̉̎͛͆̇ͬ͒̑̀͏̣͔̬͕͙̫̠͉͠s̢̰̻̜͖̃͂͆̉̀͛̅́͊̉ͫ́́̚̕ṣ̶̵̸̛̰̻̼̒ͬͥͧͮ̈́ͪ̊ͬͫ̓̆́ͨͨ̄̀̾ͭ͞s̶̋̌̐ͪ̀̀͝҉͈̬̼̫̩͈͇̭̺̦̮̥̖s̢̛͎̺̪̫̜̞̫͚̻̫̩͍̖̫̦͎̰̓ͪͥ͂ͤ͑ͨ̈́͑͗̀͘͜s̸̛̒̏̾͠҉̥̘͎̤̳͜s͚̠͕̤̠͉̲̯̹͍̯̊ͧ̌̑͑̽̑̎̃̀͑̅͝͝ṡ̵̛̲̪͇͉͍͙͉̖̠͓͕͔͖̦͙̰̱̪̓̒͐̏ͨ̓̑͒ͤ͗̈ͤ̾̐ͪͦ́̕s̨̥̺͖̫̳͈̣̣̟̪̖̻̞͕̥̭̞̄̇̈͗ͭ̽͒̿̐͠s̵̭̰͔̠͉̹̼̝̹̜͔͇̺̩̻̦̰͇̒͑̍ͤ̏́̓̂ͦͣ͘͟͜͡ş̶͎͉̹͍͍̼̰͇̥̲͇̹̟̌ͭͦ͒̍̓̎̿̏̔͂̓̎̃s̡͕̹͎̘̮͎͚̟͚͙ͥ̈́̀͗̑ͫ̒̓̃ͩ̂ͩ̄̃̆̉́́͟s͎͉̘͍̎ͯͯͩ̂ͫ͐ͧ̅̿̏ͣ̅͒ͣ̐̀̏́́́͟͢s̷̛̱̥̥͚̦͙̓͊͌̀͆̀͒͌̌̆͂̔ͪ̅̔̐͐͠͡ͅs̵͎̜̮̱̮̫̞͕̉͌ͦ͐̀̀​

​

​

Get out, get out, GET OUT.


Lina wanted to struggle, to try and fight back (no - to fight back. Try might as well mean fail. She wanted to succeed). But every sound that muttered into her head told her give up. You can't win. You can't go on.

A part of her mind fought against it. Told the whisperings they had no place in her head, told them to leave.

That part of her mind was failing.

So naturally, when a grip reached around her invisibly and caught hold of her frame - well, what could she do to resist?

She damn well tried.
Try might as well mean fail.
Lina wanted to succeed.

Powerless, she was tugged inside. Her mind was fighting to think through the everything, to decide what was happening, decide her way out (and gods, was Maddie alright?) but everything felt hazy with pain and whispers.

"Wh-" her words tripped over each other. "What's in here?"

She wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer.

 

[WelshPsych]

Objective: Return to the fight
Allies: SJO
Enemies: TSE

Not hearing from Krest, Yuroic cursed darkly as he felt his anger build with no escape. Instead he headed back to the city like he was meant to at the beginning of the raid. Hearing shuffling of movement, Yuroic crouched and stalked the noise. He feared that he was stumbling onto reinforcement army that would enter the city and attack the Jedi from a flank position. However, when he saw them, they appeared corpse-like. He moved out of shadows and looked over at the beings. His mind drew a blank on what could possibly cause such monstrosity. His finger slipped and ignited the lightsabers, alerting them to his location. Shuffling towards him, Yuroic cursed.

"Well this could have gone better." He growled darkly, spinning his blades around, he sliced the arm and leg off one and the lower torso of another. Shifting through them with ease, he then released that some were not as dead as he wanted. Crawling, limping, moving with gaping holes. All wounds that would stop a normal being, these monsters were still coming. "Poodoo. Karking poodoo. This can not get worse." He swung and sliced at their heads. Hoping that would end them.

Thankfully it did. However, he noticed a bigger issue. More and more of them were being attracted to his presence, so while they were not difficult to defeat, their numbers were the true danger. His armour would only last so long. Twirling his blades in large arcs, he created an opening to which Yuroic made his escape. Rushing towards to city. This planet was in need of serious help. The Sith had done something beyond nature, they were cross lines not meant to be crossed. It was risking everyone in the galaxy's life. Not just Jedi. These monsters could wipe out everything living.

"Any Silver Jedi hear me? Jedi Knight Yuroic here, heading towards the city gates. Some sort of monsters are out here folks. Not easy to kill, aim for the head is our best bet. Large number of them though!" Yuroic shouted down his comms as he raced forward, outrunning the zombies. "So, be on guard. Anyone need assistance?"

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Location: The mean streets of Mirial
Objective: Rendezvous with friendly forces ([member="Dusaro Dresari"])
Allies: Silver Jedi, [member="Cardinam"]

As [member="Liuna Ondizi"] broke off from the group, Lara watched her go with some trepidation, her lavender eyes watching until the Mirialan woman disappeared, then shouldered her blaster and turned to face the others. Before she could say anything, a roaring noise came overhead as a number of LAAT gunships raced overhead. Lara barely resisted the urge to drop to the ground as heat from the engines ruffled Lara's hair and fatigues. It was in that moment that the orders came in from the communicator for them to rendezvous with the LAATs.

"They headed due east from our position," Lara observed, pulling out her datapad and activating the compass. She didn't have a map of the city, so her only course of action was to hustle in that direction, hoping to find where the LAAT group landed. It helped that they were still visible; Lara slung her rifle over her shoulder and unhooked her blaster pistol, a nondescript but robust point-and-shoot affair, and began on her way to the west. They scrambled from city block to city block, picking their way across increasingly debris-ridden streets as they approached. A few minutes later, her datapad pinged and they had a location on the LAAT landing zone.

"Command, please inform Handy Man there are a half-dozen Jedi units en route," Lara called into her com as she modified her trajectory, moving towards the LZ.

 

[Jairdain]

Location: Mirial, Capital City neighborhood
Allies: SJO and allies
Enemies: TSE, their allies and [member="Kaalia Voldaren"]
Objective: Dance with Kaalia

"Just as I am no long as strongly in the light as when we met."

It was all Jairdain said to the comment about the darkness she currently showed. Her voice now grew slightly harsh and hard as she spoke her question.

"Where then would suggest I go? The sith didn't know I was there and don't miss me now. At least with the Jedi I feel like I have a home."

She left off the fact she also have found her love with them still. Where he went, she would follow at his side. ​They were beacons of strength for each other and all that mattered. Yuroic was here somewhere and Jairdain hoped he would come back unharmed. He was a far better fighter than she was, so Jairdain had full confidence he would be fine. Her on the other hand felt she was about to get her butt kicked. Such was the price she needed to pay though and accepted whatever was going to happen to her.

Sensing a bit of satisfaction coming from Kaalia and gave her a smile nobody had even seen on her face. This would be her first time physically fighting with any real meaning and Jairdain planned to give the sith everything she could. In a way, maybe the young woman craved and hungered for the fight as much as Kaalia did. With the sabers of the sith drawn, Jairdain did the same.

Both now stood facing off, neither one with their blades ignited.

"What more is there to say?"