Symphony of Steel [The Iron Empire's Rebellion of the One Sith controlled Csilla]

[Aster Rose Baelor]

Once the bodies had been buried and a flower placed on top of each of the makeshift graves, Aster and her escort made their way to the next village. There was nothing that could have been done for these villagers whose injuries were beyond saving, but hopefully, they might be of some assistance beyond burying their dead in the next village.

The convoy of transports drove in silence as they made their way to the next village. Although the Wolvesglaive were trained elite soldiers skilled in compartmentalizing their work, this incident had deeply affected them. During their times as soldiers for the One Sith, they had grown accustomed to burying men and women - their fallen comrade in arms but not children, never children. It would have been a different story if these children had been evil or trained to become weapons of war, but they weren't. They were only children. Innocent souls who had their future stolen from them because of the One Sith's brutality.

Aster stared out the window, her eyes still red and puffy from crying. She thought back to when she requested that her uncle allow her to join the Iron Empire in the aid of Csilla so that she too could do her duty. At the time, she did not understand why her uncle did not eagerly agree to her request to help, however, this was something she understood now. She was naive for thinking that this would be an easy task and that she would be in no immediate danger when in reality, it was a race against time to arrive at a village before one of the One Sith's Death Squads and evacuate it before their arrival. What a naive fool she was.

 

[Kimiko Taiyou]

The combined mass of the two females rolled around combined for several moments before they were finally able to free themselves from each other. Ki was actually amused at the situation and continuously allowed herself to laugh softly through it all.

"I thought you left me for dead Kat! You big meanie!" the white haired woman spoke, feigning hurt feelings and sticking her tongue out.

She was brought out of her teasing by the sound of foot steps nearing them, ears perked up and head swiveled towards its source,"Seems like you've made some new friends...now I'm really upset."

The troopers began firing at the duo and Ki spring boarded ahead of Kat and drew her blade once more in defense. The viridian blade arced through the air as she batted away bolts that strayed to near in a reverse grip.

Ki glanced back at her companion over her shoulder, her tails twitched behind her with worry,"Where to next? I won't be able to keep them off us for long."

[member="Kat'Lariah Syphex"]

 

[Kat'Lariah Syphex]

As the white faired fox-kin stuck her tongue out, she returned the gesture in kind, squeezing her eyes shut as she did so. As the sound of boots echoed through the hall, Kat turned and raised her pistol in the general direction, firing as the first of the troopers rounded the corner, striking one in the center of the chest, his body thudding on the ground.

"I thought you liked making new friends Ki! I brought them for you!" she fired again, taking cover behind her partners dancing blade, keeping sure to not accidentally shoot her friend, keeping her firing lane as clear as possible. She stole a quick glance over her shoulder. In the wall a couple hallways down was what appeared to be a docking tube, which seemed to be extended to a craft of some kind. Well whatever that vessel was it had to have less troopers in it. "Just start running and follow me!" she told her young friend, before turning on her heels and taking off at a full sprint towards the airlock.

[member="Kimiko"]

(We have 5 of the 10 required posts...almost there!)

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

Csilla - surface


Chiss were a proud, notoriously independent people. It was no surprise that they had resented being placed under a foreign yoke, in this case that of the One Sith. Now the Sith Empire was crumbling, its substantial arsenal of military hardware was a prize for looters and the Dark Lord had been killed ages ago.


However, there were still diehards willing to die and kill for the One Sith. Fanatics who wanted to drag as many 'traitors' into the abyss as possible or thought they could still achieve Final Victory. A shuttle descended down from the heavens like a mechanical eagle, sweeping across the snow-covered grounds.


One Sith death squads roamed the area, moving towards the next village to purge. Coincidentally, the shuttle had a similar destination. The shuttle's laser cannons roared when they spat out fire, crimson beams of laser fire lancing through the air. Sith zealots returned fire with repeating cannons and missile launchers, forcing the pilot to engage evasive manoeuvres as the landing zone turned hot.


Still in flight, the shuttle opened its ramp, and a woman clad from head to toe in imposing beskar armour decorated with Eldorai runes and icons, leapt out and made a fast descent, whilst levitating a large, metal coffin. Why, a coffin, the gentle reader may ask? Well, there is assuredly a reason for it. It just happened to crush a Sith soldier beneath it. Ouch! A missile shooting towards the shuttle was deflected by the armoured woman when she drew upon the power of space magic.


[member="HK-36"]

 

[HK-36]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"], [member="Aster Rose Baelor"], [member="Darth Eversor"]

Allies: ?
Enemies: ?
Objective: Shake off the rust
Location: Surface; village raided by Sith

Darkness. In darkness it laid and slept so long, hidden within some forgotten catacombs on the planet it once ruled with an iron yet caring hand, in an empire it briefly lead, now gone as most things in its long life. Did it dream? If darkness was a dream then yes, it had dreams of looking into the void and letting time flow around it like a river.

Darkness, until-

1
10
101
1010010101010010010100010101001-

Its mind sparked to life as the coffin shook through the air, levitated by its former comrade in arms, programs and protocols activated, the metal body inside its casings rattling wildly, arms crossed at the chest holding two hilts of some devious weapons like a pharaoh of old, still clad in his Omega Protectorate armor.

The coffin slammed down onto an unexpecting Sith soldier, splattering out in a red gush like a smushed grape. A grape of gore that is. And then.. silence. The coffin just laid there for a while until finally-

WHOMP!

Its lid flew off, kicked from inside by a large metal foot, large fierce claws adorning it, splayed out to cover more surface area. The limb was extended for a while until it slowly crept back into the coffin and large gauntlet-covered hands appeared on its rim, HK pulled himself out from his sarcophagus, the armor plates attached to his already armored droid body clanked softly, as did the numerous armaments hanging off of him, the two hilts he was holding, a couple of pistols, collection of capsules and grenades on his belt, a black cable-like weapon coiled diagonally across his chest plate, and a large cruel rifle hanging off of his back. His dark grey armor was decorated with numerous medals, orders, and commendations, like some sort of Soviet general overcompensating for a thing or two. The droid spread his arms out, the black cloak flapping like sinister wings as he bellowed out, the Chiss civilians, Sith troopers, and other militants looking upon him in awed silence as he uttered his first words since being awoken once again,

"WHAT IS UP, BITCHES?!"

Iron Empire, Iron Empire, Iron Empire, say the word enough times and he will appear. HK-36, known as the Iron Knight, called by some the Iron Lord Protector in remembrance of his brief stint as head of a faction now long gone.

The warrior-machine scanned channels as he glanced around the area,

Where am I and who dares to disturb my slumber?

His words echoed on all comm frequencies, some of the Sith troopers opened fire at the droid, mostly blaster bolts. They sizzled on his armor, leaving scorch marks as he shielded himself with his arms,

"Hey, cut it out!"

The hail of bolts continued, some spots finally melting through the plates that covered him,

"Please?"

To no avail the troopers lighted him up with plasma, the machine shrugged. In lightning reflexes his hand snapped to his side and he pulled the slightly archaic looking pistol, he pulled the trigger.

There was silence at first, only whistling as the pistol fired off, and then a terrible shattering sound and sounds of pain as Sith bodies were thrown back, some bursting with blood as the miniature railgun projectiles collapsed their armor in on them and broke their bones, some just dropped to the ground in a clean kill. It was one of those infamous Verpine shatterpistols.

He spun the pistol in his fingers and holstered it back by his side,

"I did say 'please'."

He shrugged, holes in his outer armor smoking and sizzling softly.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="HK-36"]


Thusly, the Dynamic Duo of the Iron Knight and the Firemane had returned to wreck havoc, beat up bad guys and make bad puns. Oh, and yes, this thread will be filled with puns all about iron. Awfully ironic, isn't it?


"They're impervious to reason. But not bullets, Sith scum," Siobhan remarked. Wrapping her telekinetic willpower around the throat of a stormtrooper, she crushed his windpipe with a casual gesture. The fascist goon died and went straight to this Maker to await whatever judgement awaited him.


"You slept too long," she spoke to HK, but then turned serious when she saw smoke rising from further ahead, in the village. "Come on," she ordered, quickly picking up the pace, especially once she heard the sound of gunfire.


Civilians had been herded by the Sith troopers and were being led away. Evidently the Sith intended to lead them into slavery or take them to mass graved for execution. Chiss who slackened were whipped or beaten with gun barrels.


Having heard the ruckus, one young Chiss tried to make a break for it and run. Unfortunately for him, he did not get far before he was cut down by a blaster bolt and fell to the ground dead. In that moment, the duo appeared on the spot. Siobhan took in the Sith, the prisoners and especially the children among them. She saw the bodies that already lay dead in the ground, their blood intermixing with the white snow. "HK, get the civvies out of there." Fury overcame her as she pulled the blasters out of the grasp of Sith troopers, turned them around and levelled them upon them. Then they began to die.

 

[Kimiko Taiyou]

"I do, as long as they aren't trying to kill me!" the woman shouted as she began backpedaling, the fire intensifying as the troopers witnessed their targets turn and flee.

She had managed to knock out two of their pursuers before they began to move towards the airlock, her blade still furiously providing cover for the duo. The women were nearly at their destination when a new opponent appeared...

A tall figure appeared, a bit behind the troopers, wielding a crimson blade, and staring the retreating pair down.

Ki batted away one final bolt and turned to follow her companion,"Now is the perfect time to leave Kat!"

[member="Kat'Lariah Syphex"]

 

[Kat'Lariah Syphex]

Kat yanked wites from the controll panel, finding two and touching them together, spraks emitting from them,"I'm working on it!" she shouted. The blasted thing wasn't opening! Grabbing another wire she touched then together again, the airlock slammed open. "Its open go!" she shouted getting to the other side of the door and opening the panel.

[member="Kimiko"]

 

[Kimiko Taiyou]

She slid into the airlock beside Kat. Ki could feel the immense pressure from the Dark-side user approaching them and began to panic. With a yell, she plunged her blade into the control panel on their side, causing the door to slam shut.

A heavy sigh was loosed as she approached Kat, the feeling of dread still gnawing at the back of her mind,"Hey, good thinking back there. Where to ne-" she was interrupted by the sound and appearance of a red lance piercing the door they just came through...then began moving in a circular motion slowly.

"Okay, now is a good to GO!" she began to panic, and shaking Kat vigorously at her shoulders.

[member="Kat'Lariah Syphex"]

 

[Kat'Lariah Syphex]

Kat was way ahead of hershe grabbed the other women's arm and started running to the other side of the airlock. "I'm gonna try and lock him!" she shouted. She put the pistol into the hands of the other woman, "Keep him far away!" she began tapping on the control panel.

[member="Kimiko"]

 

[Kimiko Taiyou]

Blade in one hand, pistol in the other, her eyes watched as the circle completed it's arc and the blade withdrew,"K-Kat...I really hope you know what you're doing..."

[member="Kat'Lariah Syphex"]

 

[Darth Abyss]

His every breath was simultaneously with the dieing breaths of the Empire he had fought for so long. Kuat, Metellos, Mindabaal, Coruscant and Katarr. Many worlds feelt his blade, his passion, his undieng hate for all that meant to oppose him and his master. What a shame that the time of him as leader of a still massive army would find its end today, and that this end had already begun.

From a distance Darth Abyss watched as frigate sized ship crashed into Csillas Capital, metal parts piercing through bodies and duracret like a million shrapnels. Behind him the symbol of the Chiss ascendency burned to its ground and in front of him the fire had just started.

Followd by a group of his most loyal and best trained soldiers, the last knight of the one sith walked through the capitals streets, slaughtering anyone that wasn't fast enough to hide. He knew that it was over, he had been finally defeated and his time would come to an end soon. There was only one thing he still cared for: Taking as many with him as he could. Until now his violence always had a reason, he used it to manipulate and monger fear in his enemies hearts. This was different, only driven by hate, a desire to bring death, a last cry for power that had been lost long before. There was no reason left, only obsession.

 

[HK-36]

[member="Aster Rose Baelor"], [member="Darth Eversor"]

Allies: [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]
Enemies: Sith, [member="Darth Banshee"]
Objective: Help the civilians
Location: Surface; village raided by Sith, outskirts of the Csilla capitol

At the sound of Sio's voice, HK jumped slightly, not realizing she was standing right there,

"Oh, Sio, you are still alive! I-I may have lost some bets on that."

Following behind her, the droid grumbled,

"I miss the days I was in charge."

He spoke up then,

"Plus you do not really get to determine how long I sleep, I was to be awakened during a crisis so I can arrive heroically with reinforcements and turn the tide of battle-"

A couple plasma bolts dinged off of his helmet casually while he spoke,

"So far you reactivated me for small skirmishes and to unclog your toilet that one time."

When they reached a group of civilians he motioned for them to huddle up around him,

"I do not even like Chiss."

The civilians looked up at him and he glanced down to them,

"No offense."

He looked back to Siobhan, lowering his voice into a whisper,

"Their eyes creep me out, it is like they are albino ropos but blue."

Reaching to a nearby auto-door the droid grabbed it, yanking the metal off to rip it from its hinges, turning it horizontally he used it as a makeshift shield, placing it between the Sith troopers and the civilians. He held it with one hand, the other grabbed the shatterpistol, returning fire back at the Sith, their bolts clashed against his armor plates, his personal shield activated, lighting up in a soft blue light every time the bolts deflected against it.

[member="Darth Abyss"].
He guided the Chiss to safety before going back in quick strides to ferry more of them away from combat, over and over, until he noticed the sky light up and large shapes looming closer to the surface. It was Sith ships on course to crash into the nearby capital, he send out a transmission to Siobhan,

Looks like we have planet-fall, I see the Sith are as willing to waste their resources as always. Anything you could do about this, Captain?

He stopped to look upon the cataclysm only briefly before moving out to continue evacuating the Chiss population.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="HK-36"], [member="Darth Abyss"], [member="Aster Rose Baelor"]


It seemed the One Sith had enacted a Nero Order. They knew their time was up, so they were determined to burn as many worlds and murder as many innocents as possible, making their enemies' defeat a Pyrrhic one. Like the CIS had tried to raze Atrisia and destroyed Druckenwell, the latter being their own world. They'd already dragged Metellos into the abyss.


Even before HK's words alerted her, Siobhan could feel ripples through the Force, as precognition kicked in. She looked to the sky, seeing it light up as a large shape loomed closer to the surface. That shape soon solidified in a frigate that was on collision course with the capital.


Anger, fury and disgust filled her. "I'll handle this," she spat coldly. There was, alas, no time for more witty banter between her and the Iron Knight right now. The village was a bit away from the capital, near the outskirts, but they were close enough. Drawing upon her rage, she pulled upon the tangled web of power that was the Force, just as she had done on Atrisia, Druckenwell and Dromund Kaas when insane xenos tried to torch the place for mind-boggling. She was not empowered by other Masters nor did she have a Force Nexus handy, but at the same time she was dealing with a subcapital ship, not a Lucrehulk.


Then she pushed, unleashing titanic power upon the battleship as she grabbed it with her mind. Strain was all too evident upon her features, her heartbeat spiked and her face and back were baked in sweat, but she pushed, letting the Dark Side fuel her. Power flowed through her as she sank into the Force, using her own body as a conduit.


The Telekinesis Master's titanic, invisible hand would fling the frigate away, pushing it away from the city centre. It would, unfortunately, not be able to wholly avert disaster. Parts of the ship would still rain down, cause destruction and the deaths of innocents, but the bulk of the ship would impact far away from it. The Countess fell to the ground, breathing heavily. Epic columns of dust and smoke were rising up into the air.

 

[Aster Rose Baelor]

Location: A village raided by the Death Squads, outskirts of the Csilla Capitol
Allies: Unknown
Enemies: One Sith
Others in the vicinity: [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"], [member="HK-36"], [member="Darth Abyss"]
Objective: Evacuate the villagers

Chiss streamed out of the village as the convoy of transports arrived outside the village.

"Have the women and children get in first, and then the men if we have any space left."

With the assistance of Aster and the Wolvesglaive, Chiss were quickly ushered into the transports until all but two spaces remained.

"We're at capacity, Miss Baelor, get in," the vice-captain of the Wolvesglaive ordered.

"No," she replied defiantly.

"We'll stay behind to protect the Chiss until the transports return. They'll be safe."

"And that would be an insult to the Baelor name, I may not be one by virtue of birth, but I will become one through my actions, by committing to my duty." Aster glared at the man in an attempt to stare him down with the firm gaze she had so often seen her uncle employ.

"Fine," the vice-captain relented annoyed. He could tell from her expression that even if he had forced her onto the transport, she would probably cause trouble for the driver out of spite or do something equally troublesome, if not more so. Therefore, although this was not the best thing to do where the girl's safety was concerned, it was better than her potentially doing something that was dangerous or silly, if not both in an attempt to escape and return to the village.

And so, a couple more Chiss boarded the transport, taking the seats where Aster and one of the Wolvesglaive would have sat, and the vehicles departed for the Iron Empire's fleet, where the Chiss would be allowed to take temporary refuge until the Sith were dealt with.

 

[Darth Abyss]

A crimson red bladed plunged into the back of a chiss, his scream of fear dieing down as soon as the blade meet the aliens lungs. The blade belonged to a simple metal hilt resting in Darth Abyss hand, the sith knight stepping over the corpse unfazed. Most civilians had began to flee the area he and his man where moving through but many had been to slow to react in time. They were meet either by the siths blade, or by his mens blaster fire, corpses dropping on the ground on with every step they moved forwards.

Abyss watched a chiss taking cover behind a wall of rubble, hoping to evade the blaster bolts fired at him. As his lefr extended in the air, the man followed, lifted above the stones that kept him save. Only seconds later the mans dead body fell to the ground, scared and burned by the energy shoot at him.

Suddenly he felt it. A premonition. Soon there would be a real enemy at the gates, one he would personally bring down in the name of the dead empire.

Over the capital more ships began to rain down, mostly tie fighters, but once in while frigates and bombers that would leave devastating marks in the city. Csillia would suffer, forming the victory of his enemies into a far less glorious day than they hoped for.

[member="Aster Rose Baelor"] [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

 

[HK-36]

Allies: [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"], The Iron Empire [member="Aster Rose Baelor"], [member="Daegon Vaelaellis"], [member="Isamu Baelor"]
Enemies: Sith, [member="Darth Abyss"], [member="Darth Banshee"]
Objective: Help the civilians
Location: Surface; villages raided by Sith, even closer to the capital now

Ssssssst-CRACK

Ssssssst-CRACK

Ssssssst-CRACK

The sound of shatterpistol pellets and the cracking of Sith armor rung out among the ruins of the warzone, peaceful lives torn asunder by the Sith, long before their scorched-earth tactics. The pistol was held at HK's hip, close to his holster, his torso turning without his legs moving, like a turret, keeping that inhumane accuracy thanks to his sensors and protocols. His armor's shield deflectors would flash from time to time when a blaster bolt splashed against him, then they left a burning streak across his armor's chest plate,

"I swear on the Machine God, you better hope my favorite droid paintshop is still in business."

The machine quipped in his chilled monotone as he spun about and launched another shot, this time meeting a trooper's helmet, the armor collapsing in on its user's head with a sick, shattering noise. He scanned the ruins, shots in his vicinity quieting momentarily as he motioned to the nearby group of Chiss refugees to move out,

"Come on, the coast is clear, the transports are not far."


About to move out for another group of refugees, HK stopped in his tracks, seeing that TIE fighters and bombers joined into suicidal crashes on the planet's surface,

"Persistent cu-[expletive deleted] are they not?"

He muttered to himself, sending out a transmission to Iron Empire's channels,

This is the Iron Lord of the Protectorate-

Afterwards they will probably need to have a meeting on who gets what title and how the puns are distributed, plus the droid was not caught up on the Protectorate's fall,

I am with the forces allied to Chiss against the Sith, we have suicidal runs by Sith ships near the capital, we could use some anti-air or air superiority cover, over and out.

He send out a transmission just to Siobhan then,

How many ships have you brought? The Sith will probably run out of ships before they will give up on making our day worse.

Scanning the ruins of the capital's outskirts, the machine picked up on a thermal signature of a lightsaber, he noticed the crimson color, and the troops following behind it, spreading the massacre,

We also have a Sith-head going through the outskirts with a personal army, I do not know how desperate they are for commanding officers but I am assuming it will not be just an acolyte.

The machine watched the destruction and turmoil going on around then,

Want me to distract them while the air situation gets sorted?

The droid got an idea then,

Or better yet, here are their coordinates, you can give them a taste of their own medicine.

With build-in range-finder sending more accurate location of the Sith army would be easy,

And by 'medicine', I mean 'ships'. Although that will lead to collateral, evacuation of that sector was not completed yet.

He added, noticing that the fleeing civilians were still being killed by troopers.

 

[Kat'Lariah Syphex]

(Sorry didn't see your response)

"Just do it!" she yelled at her companion. C'mon, c'mon! Work blast you!

The panel was faulty, not reading all of her commands. "Phrik!" she screamed, slamming a fist on the console.

--Airlock Closing-- beeped the console. Grabbing a grenade from her belt with one hand and the woman's shoulder with the other, Kat pulled [member="Kimiko"] back into the ship they had boarded and tossed the now primed grenade into the sealing docking port.

-----

Within the docking port the Sith watched as the airlock began to close and a thermal detonator arced through the air. With a hiss the doors sealed shut and the grenade clattered onto the ground. "Fark..." was the Sith's last words.

-----

The explosion rumbled and shook the metal around the pair. Panting from the stress of the ordeal Kat looked at her friend, "I didn't like your new friend...he was mean."

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="HK-36"], [member="Darth Abyss"], [member="Aster Rose Baelor"]


The Sith seemed awfully intent on wrecking as many of their former worlds as possible. It was a spiteful reaction. It resembled that of a child breaking its toys because it did not want someone else to have them. Alas, it was all too common in this bleak galaxy.


"You were saying something about their own medicine?" Siobhan asked rhetorically, having to shout to make herself heard over all the noise generated by the roar of engines, explosions and screams. All in all, it was a cacophony of sound. Destruction rained down upon Csilla, buildings were levelled and people perished in the firestorm. "I have a frigate, and two corvettes. I brought the Siege Tower just for you! I don't know how many ships these lunatics have avilable to drop though."


The power of the Force flowed through her and she unleashed a massive wave upon a few Sith bombers, smiting them so that they might be tossed through the air and crash down upon the advancing Sith troops. Missiles and bombs were deflected through her power or exploded prematurely. For all her power, Siobhan could not stop an entire flotilla on her own, but she could make the day very unpleasant for Sith.


"Hit the Sithies if you want. Has the Iron Empire responded?" Presumably the Imperials would want to protect their new city from getting toasted, since otherwise their prospective subjects would be unhappy with them.

 

[Aster Rose Baelor]

Location: Outside a village raided by the Death Squads, outskirts of the Csilla Capitol
Allies: Unknown
Enemies: One Sith
Others in the vicinity: [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"], [member="HK-36"], [member="Darth Abyss"]
Objective: Evacuate the villagers
NPC: 10 men of the Wolvesglaive each equipped with:
IF/IE-A01A Infantry Armor, IF/IE-W03A Blaster Rifle, Vibroknife, 1x Flashbang, and 1x Concussion grenade.
Gear: Tir Stunner (linked in sig), a lightweight bulletproof vest, and a first aid kit.

WOLVESGLAIVE

The vice-captain furrowed his brows at the transmission he had received from this Iron Lord of the Protectorate annoyed that there was not much he could do. "Contact all our nearby pilots, have them shoot down the Sith's ships," he ordered the Wolvesglaive.

As the Wolvesglaive hastily began to contact pilots in the vicinity, their vice-captain replied to the mysterious Iron Lord's transmission.

"Thank you for the information, all nearby pilots will be contacted," he said simply before he joined his men in contacting the pilots.

After twenty intense minutes, all the Iron Empire pilots in the vicinity had been contacted and were en route to the location to deal with the Sith's ships.

"Kark, that was stressful," one remarked.

"Anyone see Miss Baelor?" another asked, unable to spot the troublesome teenager.

"Don't tell me..." the vice-captain groaned as he looked in the direction of the village.

ASTER

Annoyed by her current inability to assist the Chiss who were still inside the village, Aster ground her teeth, and sat in silence, pouting until a transmission from someone who called himself the Iron Lord was received by the Wolvesglaive. Hastily, the men began to contact the pilots who were in the vicinity to shoot down the Sith's ships.

Although the men of the Wolvesglaive were brilliant fighters, they still had yet to accustomed themselves to guarding one as troublesome as Aster. Usually, those under their protection submitted themselves to it willingly, but not her. Though she had already come close to gazing in Death's eyes once or twice before, harm had not yet come to her, and thus a sense of invincibility developed within the girl.

Headstrong and overconfident, Aster snuck away from the safety of the Wolvesglaive and entered the village. Though she had been unable to do anything for the civilians of the previous village she wanted to be of some help here. More than anything else, she wanted to do her duty, to prove herself worthy of her newly adopted surname.