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She was a ship on the sea...Reina hadn't thought about it that way. She should have. It always felt like she was being pushed in the direction she was heading. By hands at her back. Not literal ones of course, which is a surprise considering how much she liked things to be literal. Pushed forward by the hands of the people she had met. Of course, with the darkness around her, it also felt like there were hands on her front. Pushing her backwards. Trying to make her retreat. To falter.
Reina didn't have the skill, the training or the knowledge to make a dent. Not by herself at least. But a storm wasn't conquered by one ship. A single ship in a storm was mayhem waiting to happen. It could get lost. Broken down by the winds battering against it. Reina felt like she could see that in the way Jonyna Si
stood. The effort she could feel being put into whatever the Jedi Master was doing. The same would happen with two ships to be fair...but two ships could at least bear some of the weight. Protect each other from the wind. Keep each other from getting lost. Jonyna had helped keep Reina on track. It was only right if Reina tried to return the favour.
"Let me help. Please. Let me take some of the stress."
Her voice was soft. Offering to help wasn't Reina's way. She'd rush in. She'd act without thinking. Reina never trusted her mind. She trusted her body to react on reflex. On instinct. But this time, she was letting her mind lead. Letting her heart lead as she placed her hand gently on Jonyna's side. The burden was going to be massive for her if Jonyna allowed her to help. But Reina would stand for as long as she needed to. For as long as she could until she couldn't any longer...Her eyes closed, as Reina begged. Quietly to herself. To the Spirit of the Sea that she believed in.
Please. Give me strength. Not to help myself. Not to help me fight. But to protect. Help me hold this weight. Don't let me buckle. Don't let me falter. Not until the job is done. I ask of you. The Spirit of the Sea. The Force. You have always guided me. Steered my way. To place to place. Helping me to survive. Now help me live. Let my steer my own path.
Quintessa growled, a heady rush of Dark Side energy capturing her senses as Grest’s severed head struck the floor with the heavy thunk of bone and grey matter. With death came darkness, and the speedster relished the sensation, her cyan-hued gaze lighting up with equal parts frenzy and bloodlust as the Jedi’s body collapsed in turn. And yet, said death was not the only source she drew from. The speedster registered the purified Dark Side energy radiating from the avatar of the Dark Side Himself and she tapped into it, granting herself a spark of His power.
A spark, to ignite her fire.
Thus, as the Kel Dor tapped into his own Force Speed to close the distance, Quintessa came ready. Passion and Prejudice lashed out towards the Kel Dor’s neck and chest respectively, their velocity enhanced by the dizzying speed through which Quintessa had thrown them so that they cut through the air with the speed of a bullet. All the while, the speedster raced forward in turn, the air warping around her as she tore through it at transonic velocity. Then, making use of her diminutive size, she slid between the Jedi’s legs while they were mid-stride, at an acute angle relative to her opponent’s trajectory.
Coming to a halt some 9 meters behind the Jedi, Quintessa grunted as she called both Passion and Prejudice back into her grasp. However, it was then that something washed over Quintessa. Ambient electromagnetism caused goosebumps to form on her skin as the Penumbra fired once more, rending the Force itself apart in the process. The Dark Side energy struck her like a wave, the terror, pain, and suffering of thousands, if not millions of souls reverberating through the Force before being suddenly extinguished. She drank in as much of the wave as she could, gulping much of it down unconsciously in the process from the sheer volume of its release.
Then, alabaster features flushed crimson, Quintessa gave a wicked grin before launching herself forward with the speed of a tempest!
Now, it was time for the enemy fleet to make theirs.
The Alliance Picket Ships Rocinante and Profundity of Depth were never meant to be in the main fight, and so their role in defending the transports was punished. Despite strong starfighter cover, Profundity was knocked out by unrelenting swarms of Ashwing Drones. Rocinate's green crew panicked and fled the cover of its bigger brother, Somnambulist, meeting the receiving end of the Vodal-Class Crutch. The Sith Strike Cruiser mercilessly murdered the smaller ship before entering an extended gun duel with the Somnambulist, the latter eager to exact vengeance.
Mantua's Law, the leading ship of Taffy 2.1, also entered into a close-range gunfight with Carver. Despite the enemy ship being wounded and outnumbered, Mantua's Law actually saw itself bested by the foe's superior agility and forced to retreat, yelping from the duel under the cover of its escorting picket ships. Despite a poor gunnery showing, its gungan Captain Cruc-Cruc Kandiz personally led a heroic damage control effort that not only stopped the cruiser from turning into a burning hulk but saw it recover quickly enough for it to turn around for round two.
Taffy 3 - the carrier group - found itself under assault by massed swarms of drones launched from the Sith frigate carriers. Defensive squadrons of E-Wings were scrambled from the Tython-class Fleet Carrier Promethean Doctrine, but a cadet flight officer made an error in the deployment order, resulting in a massive clog-up that prevented any fighters from leaving Hangar Bay B. Foul-mouthed pilots unleashed the most scandalous curses at the control tower as they were trapped in this traffic jam.
Their grievances didn't last long as an Energy Torpedo made it through the carrier's wall of point defense fire and slipped through the open forward hangar. The damage would have been light and easily repairable if not for the flight crew's improper storage of a proton torpedo rack. The resulting detonation instantly vaporized thirty-three pilots, some of them the decades-old veterans of a dozen conflicts. They never got to see the stars again.
The few E-Wings that had managed to get out in time found themselves on the back foot. Veteran pilots, they may have been, they were still outnumbered by the enemy drone ten-to-one while being forced to crew ancient starfighters nearly a millennium old. They would have been slaughtered if not for Captain Halsey's quick thinking. Recognizing that the drones were being controlled remotely from his cadet training, he turned the Promethean Doctrine's Missile deactivation transmitters onto the largest swarms, hoping to force them to revert to their simplistic brains. In no way were these transmitters built to jam enemy communications, but it was his only hope to redress the imbalance and give his ace pilots the time to regroup.
It's escorting Frigates Indignation and Reconciliation saw themselves under similar assault. But thanks to better, more disciplined crews, they were able to fend off multiple waves of drones. However, Reconciliation saw itself suddenly bracketed by a volley from the guns of Mon Mors. Only the Caamas-Class' maneuverability allowed Reconciliation to dodge the follow-up salvo that would have surely finished her off. With nearly crippled engines, it was forced to cling close to the Promethean Doctrine and provide fire support against the drone waves while its crew desperately worked to get the engines back to full working order.
"Captain Wedge Draav
, I intend to launch a bomber wing from the Promethean Doctrine against the Sith Star Destroyer. They'll be ready to go in twenty minutes. I need you to sanitize her voidspace. As well as the area between her and the enemy flagship in that time." Spruance would transit as he watched his carrier being engulfed by the deluge of drone fighters. He didn't have long to think about her predicament as the Totality loomed into range and opened fire.
Massed volleys of turbolaser fire from the Totality's main turbolaser battery slammed into the Radiance of Meridian. Its port-side flank was engulfed in a massive wave of explosions that rippled across her hull, and the ship disappeared in a shower of dust and debris. Any other normal warship her size would have been instantly atomized by the Eschaton-Class Star Destroyer's raw Kainate firepower.
However, Radiance was no ordinary ship.
The Blissex-class Assault Frigate emerged from the cloud, presenting a scarred expanse of hull to the enemy. Damage had been dealt. Fifty breaches in her hull and a destroyed hangar were the toll she paid to survive. But her Deflector Shields, courtesy of Aether Systems, had blunted the worst of the worst. Her sister ship, the Admonisher of the Void, had suffered similar damage after Spruance had ordered it placed between him and Lowe's Strike Frigates.
Spruance was using both Assault Frigates as shields to guard his flagship Vanguard's starboard and port side flanks from the fury of the Kainate scum.
Now the Vanguard made its reply, turning nearly all power from shields to weapon systems.
The Courageous-Class Star Destroyer unleashed salvo after salvo against the enemy Frigates Carver and Crutch, who had already reaped a bloody toll across Spruance's Task Force. He may have been a broken Admiral and a failure of the highest order in his own eyes. But he never lost his penchant for leading ruthless gunnery drills. Gunners worked themselves to the brink of passing out from exhaustion before quickly being replaced by fresher crew. Her Dual Heavy Turbolaser Batteries were firing with such ferocity that the only thing stopping them from firing faster was that their red-hot barrels were on the verge of slagging.
Spruance had no chance of taking on the Totality on his own. The enemy flagship alone displaced his own twofold while it enjoyed supporting fire from the Mon Mors. But he could remove its supporting ships before bunker-busting it with Taffy 1 and repeated starfighter strike groups from the Promethean Doctrine once she had dealt with her drone problem.
After the Totality was either destroyed or sent limping back to Sith lines, he would be able to withdraw his Task Force safely. His objectives of protecting the transports and destroying the intel-ship had been completed.
"Fleet Captain Spruance, I'll leave the Sith Fleet you've currently engaged in your hands. Keep them away from the ANS Endurance and its escort; if you need additional support, Theselon Squadron will move in to assist if required." The voice of von Sorenn rang through the bridge. Spruance instantly turned away from the chaotic battle and practically dashed to the comms table.
She had called on him personally? For maybe the first time since Tython, he felt his heart beating again. The other crew on the bridge seemed to freeze in awe, too.
Spruance quickly cleared his throat.
"Understood, Supreme Commander. I am currently engaged with the enemy squadron's flagship. As the current situation persists, I have belief that I will be able to handle it with current resources at my disposal. But if I'm to speed up my timetable to defend the Endurance, I will require Theselon Squa-"
"CAPTAIN! MASSIVE ENERGY SIGNATURE DETECTED FROM THE MON MORS!"
"What?" his head snapped to the viewport. A crimson lance erupted from the bow of the Sith Super Star Destroyer. Even the protected transparisteel couldn't dim its blinding light, forcing Spruance to look away. A mere glance sent his stomach churning. It appeared on his sensors wrong. The energy readings couldn't be right. It was as if this lance was burrowing into reality itself. Turning and twisting itself into a sick image.
Alliance ships simply disappeared under its wrath.
Despite how desperately Spruance had wished otherwise, the intelligence reports had been right. The Penumbra was fully online.
He could hear choking sobs and wails of panic coming from the deck behind him. These cadets had trained for void warfare in the harshest, most brutal conditions. But whatever this was...
"It's okay. We're okay," he said softly but audible enough for everyone to hear him, like a father speaking to his scared children. "It's not aimed at us. We're too close for the enemy fleet for it to fire safely. The bastards may be mad, but they're not insan-"
The sentence died in this throat before he finished it. Something was breaking off the main lance. An errant beam of some sort, but it did not behave like its birthmother. It moved with obscene, living fluidity. It did not travel in a straight line but writhed, as though possessed of malice, jerking and coiling through the void like some abyssal predator that had smelled his crew's fear.
Then it lashed outwards like a whip at near lightspeed. Heading straight for the Vanguard.
"Shields to maximum!" Too late. Too little. "Brace for impact!"
Everything went dark.
The errant lash struck the Vanguard so hard that it shunted the Star Destroyer back like a toy in the opposite directions its mighty engines had been pushing. But it did not merely dissipate upon impact with the Vanguard. It wrapped around the ship, slithering over the hull in an almost organic display, the arcs of red lightning sinking talons into its hull like flesh. It treated the shields like it was nothing before burrowing through meters of armor plating.
Its lights went out.
But the Vanguard did not die. It didn't even leave the battle line.
After a momentary silence, its engines ignited, blazing with an impossible fury. Red lightning continued to drape its hull like a blanket as it suddenly shot forward. It was charging the Totality head-on. Its guns came back online and unleashed such unrelenting fury that didn't seem to match what the Star Destroyer should be capable of.
Lashing lines of crimson leapt from the hull onto its Ventral Mounted Heavy Particle Beam Emmitter. It began to power up, bellowing a sickly baleful color that hurt to look at and warped the space around it. Sensors attempting to read what was happening simply broke down.
The other ships of the Task Force stood stunned and quickly tried to reopen comms with the flagship to figure out what in the Nine Hels was happening.
Drone swarms combined with the pair of Vodal-Class Strike Frigate reap a bloody toll on the Task Force. Taffy 2.1's lead ship suffers damage while Taffy 2.2 is nearly wiped out.
Taffy 3 is under heavy attack by drones. The Promethean Doctrine is using its missile deactivation transmitters as jerry-rigged jammers in an attempt to cut the noise.
Spruance is using the Blissex-Class Assault ships as mobile shields to block fire from the Kainate Ships so he can turn Vanguard's power fully onto weapons systems. He targets the Frigates Carver and Crutch.
He accepts the aid of Amelia von Sorenn
's Theselon Squadron but is interrupted when an errant lash from the Penumbra's beam strikes the Vanguard, turning it into... something. It dashes forward to duel the Totality in its new form, powering up its ventral laser.
Lily leaned in more and more to her Vaapad training, redirecting the darkness growing in Carnifex back against him. Using her strength and natural speed to keep her attacks flowing and putting the pressure onto Carnifex to face her. Lily knew she was likely the only one of the three fighting Carnifex that could use Vaapad effectively, she had undergone intensive training with her Master, with Valery, with numerous other mentors, Padawans and the like. Lily was a strong fighter and she was more than willing to demonstrate this.
Her aim was the stronger in darkness, Carnifex made himself, the more she could redirect that energy back against him. Using his Dark Side powers against him. It was the only way to survive and make sure she could last long enough to get additional support from Azurine Varek
and the others that were meant to be on the Mors Mon. Lily wanted to hope that this team would be strong enough to hold Carnifex but as things were progressing, she had some serious doubts.
Grest had fallen quickly. Too quickly in Lily's mind and it was scary. They were going to survive long if they were all going to be cut down so quickly.
When she was held in a saber lock with Carnifex, Lily held eye contact defiantly. She refused to back down from this and Lily struck a powerful leg out to kick at Carnifex's knee. She wasn't going to do serious harm with the strike but she was looking to weaken the knee to take advantage of that weakened position. Sharpe was using the Force to create a barrier to keep his throat from being completely crushed by Carnifex. The Jedi Knight winced when he landed back on his feet slightly unsteady afterwards. His throat was damaged for sure but he survived a near death experience, seeing Lily being defiant and aggressive in her approach against Carnifex.
Lily was becoming a beacon of hope and perseverance against the looming darkness of the Mors Mon and Darth Carnifex.
Fighting Quintessa, Pla was using the Force to speed his movements and increasing his reflexes and awareness of how Quintessa was attacking. Pla dived to the side, dodging the chakrams and this reinforced that Quintessa wanted to keep this fight at a distance. Pla was determined to close the distance and bring this into close combat. His attack was focused on Djem So, aggressive and striking at Quintessa to test the defences of the speedster with fast, aggressive movements. Striking hard and fast.
It was not a good time. Raphael groaned, as he directed his ship in the direction of the assault. He'd... well, he'd slept in, admittedly; that was beginning to become a common theme, he had to be honest with himself. He'd been returning to Coruscant from when he'd been to visit Corellia, for a bit, when he'd gotten the news that there was a call to defend Woostri. He'd sworn, under his breath. He knew that he needed to get there. He spun up the hyperdrive and made the jump, taking a deep breath as the ship leapt through hyperspace.
The exit, however, wasn't what he was expecting to jump in on. The fight was more than going in a way that he was hoping it wouldn't and he was only barely on the edge of the system. Already this looked pretty damn bad and he wasn't entirely sure what side was winning or losing. But... there were sith fighters and many alliance ships were still in the fight.
Slowly, he breathed.
Feel no anger, no hatred. Keep your focus. Determination. You can't save everyone. Keep as many from dying as you can.
He reached forward and pressed a button. The wings folded back, and he kept his comms off, for now.
"Folding wings back... interceptor mode engaged. All power is on weapons. Here we go. My first objective should be breaking the fighter wings. Then establish comms with lead... Alright..." He exhaled. He pushed the controls forward. The engines burst into life and the ship shot forward, like a blaster bolt.
He spotted his first target group. A squadron of sith fighters approaching a corvette. Bombing run? Common attack run? Didn't matter. They wouldn't make it, regardless. He launched forward, cannons opening fire, as he spun. Three fighters erupted into flames, and the squad apart, flying in different directions.
Comms channels opened.
"This is Raphael from the NJO. Sorry I'm a bit late to the party. How can I help?"
+Recusants triangulated. Initiating purge protocols. Hail the Never-ending Dark.+
In truth, the Sith's super-AI Typhojem had been monitoring the Alliance agent's journey through the ventilation system the moment they touched down on the outer surface, their biometric data quietly harvested by the autonomous sensors running along the length and breadth of the gargantuan warship. Such data was integral to the dreadnought's defense, as it was cross-referenced with a monstrously monolithic databank of genetic records, intelligence reports, and stolen foreign material that had been meticulously compiled over the course of several decades.
Typhojem quickly began to intimately know each and every one of them as the data collating came to a close. He knew their names, their physical attributes, their general medical records, and even the contents of their holonet search history. He knew what they excelled at, what areas of skill they lacked, what their preferences were, and how their last physical examinations played out. Most of it was worthless noise, Typhojem didn't need the vast majority of their collected data to formulate a strategy to expel them back into the unforgiving void.
Soon enough, the tell-tale rhythmic thump of approaching enemies would reverberate through the floor at their feet. But, rather than Imperial soldiers rounding the corner with their blasters drawn, it was a shoulder-to-shoulder wall of glossy black Paladin-series synthmarines. Each one warbled in an unintelligible binaric language, a harmonious deep rumble like the hum of a locust swarm. Almost in unison, another wall of synthmarines appeared from the opposite side of the corridor, both sides moving towards one another with the enemy agents caught between them.
As one, each side raised a mechanical arm and a shimmering rectangular shield of blue energy materialized from built-in generators. The shield reached down to the floor and reached up to just above the synthmarine's cranial module, and was wide enough to connect with the shield to either side of it. With their other arm, the synthmarines gently pushed their limb through the inverse end of the shield, bypassing the protective layer with limb-mounted blasters now drawn.
And they opened fire from either end of the corridor.
Darth Carnifex moved like a nightmare, almost dreamlike in motion as He continued to push and hound the Jedi relentlessly. Each of His actions were so seamless in how they flowed from one to the next, almost mechanical in their precision. He responded almost instantaneously to new threats, quickly pivoting His center of mass to open up new fronts from which to assail His adversaries. Likewise, He never stayed rooted in one place, He was always moving the field of battle across the firing deck, constantly keeping the Jedi moving and backtracking; controlling the flow of combat.
It was like this was an exercise rather than a duel, a test He might undergo in the privacy of His own domain to test the sharpness of His battle wit. These Jedi were almost inconsequential in how He regarded them, with only Lily ever actually garnering His rightful attention; the others were an afterthought at best. Both His own Dark Vaapad and the Vaapad of Lily began to feedback into one another, the darkness ramping up in intensity and strength as both availed to use it for their own ends.
"You've gotten a bit better," the first words spoken to the Jedi since their fight began, and they were directed at Lily Decoria. "You taste of my darkness and find it intoxicating, am I right? Drink deep, Jedi, drink deep. I have endless reserves for which to slake your burgeoning thirst."
Penumbra continued to fire, but Carnifex had relinquished His command over the obelisk. Darth Empyrean
would find it easy to seize control of the weapon, Carnifex did not resist when the Emperor called to wield it. So long as it fired and brought death and destruction to their enemies, He cared not where it was aimed. He could feel the city that had been targeted vanish from existence, the death-knell of the freshly slain ringing across the Force like an atomic explosion.
Feeling the surge of power, He lashed out with a blast of bright crimson lightning at both of the Jedi supporting Lily; powerful enough to set alight fabric and burn flesh like it had been roasted over a hot flame.
Colors that had been brightening from their battle meditation, darkening from the violence, or just existing in a grey of worry were suddenly gone. Shut off in an instant. A weapon, she could feel it, had destroyed a portion of the city utterly. Death had always been final. No matter how the colors shifted from the brightness of hope to the bleakness of despair, they could still continue to change. Paint the world around them further.
This, though, only left a void of emptiness.
Sadness took over her expression for a moment. People who weren't even part of the battle, killed. To demoralize. Terrify. She could feel that fear elsewhere too. A Phobis Device, perhaps? She hadn't had too much experience with one, but she knew enough. It steeled her resolve, in truth. The Sith were here only to bring pure fear and misery.
Hope. Justice. Those were the emotions she continued to paint throughout the battlefield. "Don't falter, even for a moment. It's no different than a medic's tent. We focus on those still alive. We grieve when everything else is done and settled."
A dance of blurs ensued as Quintessa ducked, weaved, and danced between Pla’s aggressive Djem So strikes, before swiftly counter attacking with a series of breakneck slashing attacks derived from an adapted form of Fast Style. The speedster moved to undercut the Kel Dor’s guard, leveraging her small stature to strike at their lower body so that her opponent might be forced to retreat or commit to the defensive, lest she sever their legs!
All the while, it demanded no small amount of Quintessa’s focus to track her opponent. The Kel Dor was fast, their speed allowing him to keep up with her, for a time.
And yet, Quintessa remained confident that she was faster.
With a sharp cry, Quintessa planted her feet and surged forward in a blinding series of zig-zagging blurs, her lightsaber chakrams slashing at Jedi’s ankles, calves, and thighs from seemingly all directions at once. The speedster accelerated and decelerated almost instantaneously by shifting her inertia, tiny feet dancing upon the floor like the wings of a hummingbird as she unleashed a series of blows aimed to dazzle the Kel Dor via sheer violence of motion.
And should the opportunity present itself, Quintessa intended to strike the critical blow.
Alliance Fleet Objective II - Battle Meditation - Boosting Morale and inspiring courage for Allies Outfit:xxxxx | Equipment: xxxxxx | Weapons: xxx Allies: Iris Arani
| Anyone else Enemies: potentially feel confused and exhausted
-
Zaiya's breath hitched, her hands tightening into fists as the weight of loss pressed against her chest. The moment played over in her mind, again and again -- a sea of life, burning bright in the Force, only to be snuffed out like a gust of wind sweeping over fragile candle flames.
It had been instant.
And the worst part? She'd felt it. Every flicker, every fading presence. Some vanished in shock, some in agony, and some with the last desperate, wordless cry of someone who didn't want to go.
Her bioluminescence darkened, deep inky black streaks twisting over her skin, curling like ink in water. War did this. The Sith did this. No, that phobis assault did this. The cold, calculating void of its presence was unmistakable, even across the vast battlefield. Just as it had been on Echnos City.
A shiver ran through Zaiya's spine.
She knew fear. She knew grief. She knew the suffocating weight of helplessness.
But she also knew hope.
She knew the warmth of Iris's presence, steady and resolute. The comforting nudge from Domxite, grounding her. The determination that still pulsed through the Jedi and soldiers fighting for something greater than this devastation.
Zaiya took a slow breath, drawing that light inside herself. Grief didn't mean surrender. Fear didn't mean failure.
The inky trails faded, replaced by soft, golden hues, streaked with flecks of shimmering citrine and cobalt. Hope. Justice. Empathy. She sent them outwards, into the Force, reaching for those still fighting, still alive. A reminder that they weren't alone. That no matter how much darkness tried to consume everything, the canvas of life could still be painted with light and a brilliance of colors.
Azzie gave a quick nod and carefully passed the probe droid down the vent line to Shotgun. Having access codes would make it much easier to get in and out of things without having to continuously rely on hacking into terminals, which could take a whole lot of time.
As she kept moving, she paused for a moment. In the long run, Ashley and her team were right. She had originally hoped that by sticking to the weapons specifically, they could avoid the more heavily guarded areas and be able to work faster or do more damage. Letting out a soft sigh, she quickly adjusted her course.
"You're right. It's going to be much more rough to handle, but hey, where's the reward in playing cautiously?" Azzie joked to release some of the tension, taking the paths towards the shield generator housing instead. Every so often, she had to stop and disable some form of defense or another, one very specific one being a cluster of lasers that were invisible to the naked eye. That one could have ended very poorly had she not had the tools from the Vixens Vault on her.
Azzie felt it before she saw it—the deep, primal wrongness that sent her gut twisting and her mind reeling. The Sith superweapon roared to life, a monstrous surge of energy that crackled through the Force like a vengeful storm. Panic clawed at her chest, raw and suffocating, but she forced herself to breathe, to anchor herself in the steady, unwavering presence of Iris and Zaiya's battle meditation. Their focus became her own, their determination a lifeline in the chaos.
She knew she and the team would have to face that nightmare themselves from the inside—there was no turning back now. Gritting her teeth, she tore her thoughts away from the looming destruction and pressed forward. The shield systems had to go down first for the fleet outside to have a better chance.
"Here's the thing: these vents won't be able to take us directly into the housing. It'll bring us out directly outside of it, though. So be prepared." She said as she looked down through the grate, projecting her radar to find any patrols. Thankfully, it was quiet. Almost too quiet... the thought put her senses on edge. Silently, she slipped open the vent, dropping down into the hall first before signaling to the others and pointing at the door control panel. They needed to be fast.
Azzie had felt them coming before the first tremor shook the floor—an icy premonition crawling up her spine, flickering images of glossy black figures marching in perfect unison, their binaric chorus rattling through her skull. The moment stretched into eternity, a razor-thin instant where her mind raced through a thousand possibilities, each more dire than the last. There was no cover, no retreat. They were boxed in, surrounded. The only way out was getting into the shield generator housing now. They'd have to circle their way out from there after.
In that moment, she realized they had been watched the whole time.
"Brace yourselves." Her words were sharp but quiet, still trying not to cause alarm even now.
Instinct seized her before thought could, her hands snapping up as she wrenched the Force into a barrier—an invisible wall slamming into place around herself and those nearest to her. Blaster fire burst forth in a synchronized onslaught, the first volley slamming into her shield with a concussive force that sent ripples through her arms, her breath hitching under the sheer weight of it. She gritted her teeth, digging in, refusing to let it falter. She knew this was only the beginning. These weren't just mindless battle droids—they were clearly built for precision and relentless pursuit. Her mind flickered between options, scanning for an opening, for the thread of a weakness to pull.
"Keep working on getting that door open. We'll hold them back."
In a flash, she pulled one of the small E.G.G.S from her belt, chucking it up and over the heads of the droids on one side of the corridor. To some, it might have looked like a terrible missed attack, especially to non intellegent machines. However, once it struck the ground, or anything else really, it would explode into a cloud of pure unrefined cortosis, volcanic ash, and animated metal sealant. That would hopefully keep that side of the corridor busy for a bit, and they could focus on the other cluster of them.
The more the supercomputer AI searched, the more it realized something.
There was nothing.
No holonet records, no medical information, nothing.
All it could find was one thing.
Phoenix Platoon.
Battle records, classified and marked off by hand. Scans of old paperwork mentioning their formation, but rosters, after action reports, it was all hand written on paper that was scanned and filed away, and the paperwork was all marked off by hand in black ink. Whomever was in charge of this unit had taken great care to hide their identities.
Whomever the woman in charge was, she kept her secrets.
The moment fire opened up, Ashley opened up with ion blasters. Both with her Talon Blaster, and her shoulder mounted heavy blaster rifle.
"GRENADE! FROM BEHIND!" Was all Ashley could yell as she loaded up an high explosive grenade until her underbarrel, the two firing in unison into the crowd of troopers and droids.
Then Ashley heard the words that she always dreaded.
The great beam of light that shot from the Mors Mon took her breath away. Penumbra cut through one ship, then another, its purple glow reflecting in Madelyn's eyes, giving them a strange and unsettling quality. But, it was not the decisive shift in the battle that Madelyn was hoping for. Instead, it merely threw the fighting into disarray.
By the time the blade that was Penumbra was dragging itself across the bulk of the enemy fleet, the Alliance had raised their shield in kind. A planetary shield, large and powerful enough to deflect the great weapon, and protect the heart of the armada. It was an impressive display of responsiveness and discipline, to divert their power and respond even before the Sith weapon had completed its destructive path. Lesser captains would have failed, but the Supreme Commander did not.
Then, it was their turn. Amelia's fleet, led by one of the larger Destroyers, turned its attention on the Mors Mon and the great weapon it held within. Madelyn was powerless to halt them. She had problems of her own: the fleet she had designated 'Azra.'
Thankfully, Delhan was there to reinforce her line. She breathed a small sigh of relief as she saw his ships moving into position to engage Amelia von Sorenn
's approaching fleet. That left Azra to her.
"Commander." The First Officer, hovering beside her as always. "Typhojem has decoded a fraction of the transmissions intercepted by Verdance." Madelyn nodded slowly. "Azra is commanded by one 'Fleet Captain Spruance.'"
Madelyn gave another curt nod, cocking her head as she examined the display with this Spruance's ships slowly creeping towards hers. "Very well. Update his designation. Let's give Captain Spruance a show." A moment later, the little label that had read 'Azra' flickered to the name of the Fleet Captain.
Before the Penumbra had fired, Carver and Crutch had waged a bloody sortie, taking down several ships. But they had overextended themselves, and after Madelyn and the Totality failed to eliminate Spruance's flagship and cruiser, the pair of larger ships rained punishment upon Madelyn's frigates. She looked away, disgusted. Carver, already wounded, fell quickly, and it was only the enemy gunners setting upon her fallen sister like ravenous carrion birds that allowed Crutch to circle, and limp back towards Madelyn's line, a dozen plasmatic fires burning across her hull, only a half of her massive ion engines glowing with energy. As she crept towards Madelyn's position, Amity moved forward, breaking formation, and from the shadow of her belly the corvettes Verso and Taura leapt into action, batting away strike craft wishing to sink their teeth into Crutch's retreating flank. With them came a fresh swarm of droid fighters, circling and haranguing the enemy bombers enough to allow for her escape. Madelyn had watched the whole exchange with bated breath.
Any moment now. The Mors would fire again. It couldn't come a moment too soon. The Alliance forces, with the exception of Spruance, were recovering from the initial strike, desperately pressing the attack. It was working and they were threatening to overwhelm her position. But then, the purple light began to flicker in the storm that surrounded the mothership, and Madelyn's breath caught in anticipation. The enemy were so much closer now. Their destruction could not be better timed.
The Penumbra fired again, but this time it did not sweep through the Alliance fleet, the energy beam merely sailed past the enemy's ships, impacting with the planet far below. Madelyn's eyes widened, and then narrowed in anger.
He had missed?
Like everyone else, Madelyn had felt the extinguishing of lives on the surface, a manifestation of the Emperor's anger. But that didn't matter. The battle was up here. Her people were dying up here. Madelyn opened her mouth to curse but thought better of it. One never knew who was listening, even aboard their own flagship.
Thankfully, the second strike from the Penumbra, as badly as it was needed to defeat the rest of the Alliance fleet, would not be necessary to defeat Spruance's ships. He was already in ruins. The unfortunate Fleet Captain had not had the benefit of proximity to the Alliance mothership and its enormous shield, and though the strike was not aimed at him, a tendril of the weapon's dark power nevertheless reached out to grasp him, wrapping itself around Spruance's flagship and rattling it like a child's toy. The Destroyer shuddered and died, and with it, so did any hope of victory. Madelyn grinned and keyed her commlink.
"Spruance, was it? My name is Madelyn Lowe." She signalled for her fleet to move forward, to ensure the kill. "This has been a fun game we have played, but it is over. My name will be the last you hear." She had won. There would be no coming back from this, in moments, the last vestiges of Spruance's fleet would be destroyed, then she would join Delhan below, and their vanguard force would drive the Supreme Commander away from the Mors Mon, and the Alliance would run home with their tail between their legs. It would be a sweet victory.
But then, the ruined ship awoke. Electricity still raced along its length, seemingly intensifying. Someone beside her alerted her to an unusual energy signature, but they needn't have. Something had taken ahold within the shell of Spruance's flagship, a dark power that now wielded his crew like marionettes. Madelyn was so taken aback that she'd just stood there as the enemy ship's engines had powered up, as it raced towards her, impossibly fast.
The first volley of shots shook the bridge and she heard alert blaring all throughout the pits beneath her. She saw a different light growing at the heart of Spruance's ship- a warped reflection of the power of the Penumbra, now turned on her. Whatever it was, it was about to fire.
"S-shields" Madelyn stammered.
"It's not going to be enough-" The First Officer started.
"I KNOW THAT!" Madelyn screamed, standing up and shoving her chair aside in disgust. She turned towards the officer and her lip curled, fist clenching. She raised a hand as if to strike him, and he merely stepped back, not even looking surprised. It occurred to her that he probably thought she was just like the rest of them. The unstable Sith commander who reliably leads her ship and its crew to destruction. Maybe that's what she was becoming.
Teeth gritted, Madelyn snarled and turned her fist to her console instead. The display cracked satisfyingly and she gave a grim smile, straightening out her fingers, blood dripping from her knuckles where the shards had embedded.
There had to be a way.
"Focus fire on the flagship!" Madelyn demanded. "Take it down before it fires that weapon." Even as the ships in her fleet turned their attention on the possessed destroyer, Madelyn knew it wouldn't be enough. The Mors had ignored her pleas. Now she was reaping what she'd sewn.
Ruin.
-
Fleet movements:
- Amity covers the retreat of Crutch, alongside corvettes which take some damage
Lily was doing her best to keep up, matching the use of Carnifex's Dark Vaapad form, however she was starting to show the signs of fatigue and the lack of experience in lasting in a fight this long. She was skilled and demonstrating a level of power that was on par, or even surpassing the Knights that were with her. However, Lily was finding her defence faltering at times or misunderstanding an attack from Carnifex and having to expend more energy in keeping her body safe. It was a demonstration that there was still a lot that Lily had to learn, but there was one thing that she was determined to do, and that was to keep on fighting.
She was going to keep pushing through. No matter what, she was not surrendering. Not when they had to keep the GA safe from attacks.
"Lyle, go disrupt the weapon. Padawan Decoria and I will focus here!" Sharpe called out, Lyle nodding his head as he attempted to flee the fight to work on conjuring a Force Light to destroy the weapon. Lily was unsure if that was a smart move since it was turning his back to the fighting and right now, Carnifex was a tornado of attacks that would be hard to defend from.
If he attacked Lyle, then Lily wasn't sure she could be quick enough to defend him.
"Lily! Don't despair! We have this fight and you are doing amazing!" Sharpe called out, ignoring the temptation from Carnifex and attempting to embolden the Padawan's spirit.
Her steel gaze fixated on Carnifex and she shook off the doubts of her ability. They were not helpful. They were not going to save lives. She was an Echani warrior. She was a Jedi warrior. She could do this. Breathing in deeply, she rushed forward and feinted a low slice to slash at the arm holding the Lightsaber to disarm Carnifex. "Your darkness is a sickness. It needs to be purged, not allowed to infect others." Lily growled, she was not going to fall into temptation.
She started to mix in her Echani training with the Vaapad form, her attacks becoming sharper once again and her movements fluid and graceful as she danced around the fight to avoid the attacks. A second wind of energy hitting the Padawan. As she did this, Sharpe was attempting to hone in his Jar'Kai training and use his two Lightsabers to attack Carnifex and try to overwhelm him multiple attacking strikes from differing directions.
While they fought, Pla was demonstrating his understanding of the significant height differences between the two. The Kel-Dor kept his defence low and blocked the attempts to sever his leg. He knew that he was being out sped by Quintessa but he was using the speed he did have to keep a fast defence and made sure to protect his limbs from attack.
When Quintessa started the run around and attack from multiple directions, acting as a blur, Pla leaped up high. Avoiding the strikes to his lower limbs and he pooled the Force in his hands. If she was going to run around crazily in an attempt to disorient him, he decided he would knock her back onto her back. Diving back down to the ground, Pla blasted the ground with the Force, causing a ripple effect from him to spread out and aimed to hit Quintessa from any direction she was at. It was not a perfect attack but the Kel-Dor figured it was his best chance to knock her back and prevent her from overwhelming him with the strikes to his lower limbs.
Following that, Pla panted but raced to find Quintessa and attempt to force her to stand down if he had been successful in knocking her down.
When the crater could be seen from orbit, Empyrean could see his plan was working. Perhaps it had become his modus operandi, but the reality was that mass death led to power. The Sith fed on suffering on this scale, it was why they did so well at war. He could feel it, even now, the carnage he imparted had spread great waves across the world and system.
Some fed on it, others were chilled to the bone, but their sensations were closer in nature than they might seem. The truth of it was that this was the Dark Side manifest on a grand scale, and the deaths he caused made his army and his people stronger. War was not a game to be played at just because he meant to save these people, it was a terrible thing, and to extend it any more than necessary is worse yet a crime than doing everything he could to expedite it.
Woostri would make a sacrifice for the Galaxy, and he had done a great mercy on the Alliance for annihilating its city. They should have thanked him for his violence.
His bridge had come back to life after his weapon had fired, no longer held up by the prayers they made to the Sith Saints they worshipped. Empyrean had never bought into it, it wasn't a Faith for the Sith. Many were under the false assumption he even thought himself a God; the reality, however, was that his people did and he simply didn't correct them. It was a subtle, but important difference to make.
"I have given our children strength, and offered a great mercy. I hope you do not mind."
He knew she wouldn't. She knew as well as he did that any act of mercy against the alliance, any true act of mercy, would only make this war take longer. Cost more lives. Take more from them. Take more from him. It needed to be ended quickly, for the good of all people. If that meant the eradication of millions, than so be it.
From one end of the battle to the other, in space and beneath the waves, the eyes of Typhojem watched with the cold logic of a machine. Though the Sith prided themselves with their emotion, their rage and their hatred, the super-AI coordinating their forces like a orchestral conductor was removed from that very same emotion which gave his master their incredible powers. Decisions, powered by banks of endless processors and uniformly connected by heuristic circuitry, Typhojem decided the fate of countless loyal soldiers, enemy combatants, and innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire.
Life and death were simple algorithms.
Just as quickly as he would come to the aid of the forces employed in the fight beneath the surging waves of Woostri, so too would he abandon them to their fate if logic dictated that they were no longer viable assets. He had run the calculations thousands of times in the span of a microsecond, allocating resources and maneuvering soldiers on a scale the organic mind was incapable of comprehending. Every action that the Sith army took was painstakingly strategized for maximum efficiency of forces and effective output of military force.
However, nothing could ever be perfectly planned for. The variables of war were as myriad as they were disruptive, but Typhojem's logic matrix allowed for high degrees of tactical flexibility. With this advanced processing capabilities, the super-AI could manage far more than just the Empire's war efforts.
Flying through the air and landing amongst the tightly grouped Synthmarine unit, the E.G.G.S explosive detonated and filled the center of the formation with debilitating ash and metal sealant. The former disrupted the Synthmarine's sensor equipment, the latter prohibited complex movements from the center square of operational units. The outer square was pinned as it could not advance without the center square's cooperation.
Breaking formation, the afflicted wall disengaged their shield projectors and withdrew their integrated wrist blasters. Instead, long blades with glowing red plasma filaments running along the cutting edge extended from each of their broad arms. Advancing with surprising mobility, the newly engaged melee Synthmarines leapt towards their targets. Their droid processors had been upgraded with various hand-to-hand combat programs, many of which were also employed by the standard organic soldiery of the Empire.
The other shield wall held their ground, but had reduced their blaster fire to mere suppression volleys. Whenever one of their number was damaged or destroyed, another from the second rank would move to take their place, moving up from a lower rank to the highest to fill gaps as needed. But they were not an endless horde, there was an end to their number, but they had been arrayed in such a manner that made their longevity more sustainable.
"Ah, you've not yet come to realization. Allow me to hasten your understanding."
The Dark Lord continued His assault, striking with both His lightsaber and the Dark Side. He was more akin to a force of nature than a warrior, like fighting the whirling maelstrom of a hurricane. Lightning discharged in the air around them, a heavy miasma of oppressive darkness descending all around them. While some lightning would dissipate harmlessly in the open air, some would lash out to terminate against the Jedi's clothing and exposed skin with very painful results. They would find their movements starting to become more difficult, as though they were moving underwater or in a thick cloying fog.
One of the Jedi had broken off from the fight, running towards the viewing platform of the Penumbra. The Dark Lord's head snapped to look at the Jedi as he ran, molten eyes tracking his movements without fail. A murderous gleam shone in those eyes, of the vilest hate one could ever imagine. The Dark Lord swung His free arm wide towards the Jedi, as though He were going to strike at Him with the Dark Side.
But, instead, there was a glimmer of metal from somewhere beyond the darkness.
A sword spun through the air like a javelin, blade broke and jagged. Summoned by the Dark Lord's tremendous hatred, Tosochkashai the Dark Seether raced towards the young Lyle. If it reached him without delay or obstruction, it would gouge his torso open from back to chest, pinning him to the metal floor with such force that it would cause the metal to bend inwards from the impact.
Quintessa gave a sharp gasp as Passion sliced through air instead of her target’s leg. The Kel Dor had jumped! The speedster glanced up, her wide-eyed gaze catching sight of the Jedi as he reached the apex of his leap, while the Force manifested within his hands as azure-hued trails of wispy energy.
Immediately, Quintessa launched herself forward to create as much distance between her person and the descending Jedi. She ran fast. But not quite fast enough. The ensuing blast threw the speedster from her feet, sending her form flying back as the shockwave rippled through the air. Although she had gotten far enough away to avoid being torn apart outright, the force of the explosion and her ensuing impact against the nearby wall dazed her, throwing her perception briefly out of focus.
Quintessa came to only moments later, pushing herself back to her feet as soon as she was able. A ragged intake of breath burned inside of her chest. However, even dazed, the speedster had suffered enough in her service to the Eclipsing Mission to know its cause—bruised or broken ribs.
Nothing that she had not already overcome before.
Growling, Quintessa registered the Kel Dor’s signature like a light in a storm, her eyes narrowing in focus as she honed in on it. Passion and Prejudice were sent flying from her grasp in arcing trajectories, before circling around the Kel Dor and accelerating towards his back with the speed of missiles at terminal velocity.
In effect, both Passion and Prejudice described deadly figure-eights in flight, intended to strike simultaneously in an attempt to decapitate and delimb the Jedi all at once!
Pla saw the initial arcs of the chakrams that were coming towards him and dived underneath the two to avoid getting hit. He then twirled his Lightsaber in hand as he prepared to step forward and take a strike towards Quintessa. Believing that she had left herself open for attack. The Kel-Dor's unreadable face as he saw himself as committing to being the first spark of light in this fight that will help the others fan the flames to blow Carnifex and this speedster out of the way. Things had taken too long and the weapon was needing to be taken down. Immediately.
Then in a flash, his body stiffened and he frozen in mid swing. The chakrams sliced cleanly through his body instantly and Pla's body dropped into three pieces. There was no scream, there was no bursts of blood as the Lightsaber cauterized the wounds and the body parts dropped undramatically onto the metal floor. Right in front of Quintessa.
The remaining Jedi in the strike team felt the dying light of Pla, it rocked them hard as it was another member of their group taken before the mission could be completed. Before they knew they had been successful.
Lily breathed in deeply, not feeling fury at the death of Pla but determination to see the mission through to the end. Grest and Pla could not die for nothing. She knew they were still the ones outnumbering Carnifex and Quintessa. There had to still be a chance for success. "The Light will always be there to fight back. For there is nothing without Light, not even shadows." Lily growled deeply as she refused to accept the temptations from Carnifex, she would hang onto her burning light inside until she died.
The lightning burnt her clothing and singed her skin in parts but Lily gritted her teeth through it all. She refused to show any fear or pain to the Sith Lord. Sharpe was not as resilient in his resolve as Lily, his convictions in attacks were weaker and he felt more uncertain that survival was obtainable, yet alone victory. All Carnifex seemed to be doing was getting stronger. There was nothing he had been capable of to even land a blow on the Sith Lord. And all they could hope for was that Lyle would be able to do something to destroy the Penumbra and that would give them a chance to flee to live another day.
Lily was focused on the fight, using her powers to counter the slowness forced by Carnifex to speed up her body, pushing herself to the limit. She refused to slow down, Lily was fighting with the full grace and skill of an Echani. Demonstrating the ability to become one of the best living Echani warriors, potentially one of the best ever. When Carnifex snapped his attention away from her to Lyle, she knew that she could not save the other Jedi. She could not warn him. However, what she could do was drive her Lightsaber forward and drive it into the guts of Carnifex. If he was going to be distracted for even a minor second, Lily was going to give it everything she had.
Sharpe just watched in horror as Lyle, completely unaware of the Sith Lord's attention and incoming attack, attempted begin the Force Light ritual to damage the Penumbra.
Lyle muttered to himself and steadied his breath as he created the Force Light in between his hands to blast the daunting obelisk of the Penumbra before him. However, it seemed that as he focused on creating the Force Light, he conjured a metal sword between his hands. The force of the sword drove him onto his knees and broke through the metal flooring. Lyle blinked and looked over to his companions confused before the searing pain hit his body. Before he could scream anything, his body convulsed and he vomited blood as his strength, his life force faded. Pinned in place by the sword, Lyle's bloodied corpse went limp.
From outnumbering the Sith, Lily realised they were now on par with the two Sith, and Sharpe was far from the mindset of being a help in this fight.
"Well, my Lord. Central command has unfortunately reported back the activation of a rune - intelligence reports indicate Force Light. We've lost lesser Sith, but the troops remain unaffected."
"How is that good news?", the Emperor said with annoyance.
"It has done nothing to stop us. Data uplinks have been established, and I will contact Gerwald Lechner
, Darth Malum of House Marr
, and Darth Meritum
of my success. Given some time, or another established connection, and I will turn the guns against the Alliance fleet in orbit. A few volleys, and they should run - just as they did on Sluis Van."
"The enemy does, however, near Penumbra. Jedi attacking Darth Carnifex
are near the viewing platform and threaten the weapon - but security forces have been deployed to deal with them. I have full confidence in Lord Carnifex to handle the strike team."
"If the weapon is touched, I will intervene myself.", Empyrean declared.
"As is your right, my lord."
"The data center, who's assault is being led by Srina Talon
and Darth Nefaron
, is proceeding well. They have both led their forces to substantial victories, and the Data Center itself has been breached. Commodore Helix
has begun the parsing of the data, and I will soon coordinate with him to ensure the transfer of data is not restricted. While records run deep, it should only be a matter of time before we have finished dealing with it."
"Good."
"Anything else, my Lord?"
"No. Monitor the situation. If I must get my hands dirty, then so be it."
The Emperor was blind and thus by extension so too were the Sith. They proclaimed that their chains were broken, that they stood at the crux of all things, and above all else, that only they knew the true path to freedom. It would have been a slightly humorous musing had it not been so sad. The simple fact remained, the Sith bound themselves with their chains, forged with arrogance and hubris. It was the Sith that continued the cycle of death, of carnage, of fear, for that was their way. There was nothing to the Sith outside of dominance, for to the Sith, if you did not fall to your knees or provide them something of worth, you were useless to them.
Where the Jedi stood and offered a hand to help others stand on their own, it was the Sith that demanded that all others kneel before them with bowed heads and broken backs. The fact that the Sith saw themselves as the "Good Guys", that they would argue that their actions were better or more beneficial... that thought was something better left to academics to be mulled over in stuffy halls of ivory and marble. The vessel shuddered for a moment as the beam from the Penumbra slammed into the shields before wisping away, the last of the energy dissipating along the hull of the vessel.
Amelia watched as the weapon fired once more, however, she watched as this time the beam tore through a dozen Starfighter Squadrons that had been caught unaware. She watched as the beam struck the surface of the planet, wiping a city and its denizens from existence merely because they could. It was so like the Sith to lash out in such a manner at anything or anyone that stood in defiance against them. However, it would not have the reaction that they sought, it would not cause the Alliance to cower in fear or run and hide, no, it would Galvanize them.
The woman stepped forward, those vibrant blue hues peering across the void and falling upon the Mors Mon, the stage piece of terror that the Sith wheeled out to accomplish through fear what they could not through ability. Her hand slowly rose to her chest, gauntlet-clad fist slammed against the heavy armor cuirass, causing a thunderous echo to rip through the still air of the bridge. Though she could not feel it, she could see the effects as the Jedi Battle Meditation set in, flowing through and over the crew of the Mon Mothma. Where there had once been fear, she watched as that fear flowed through them and passed over them, their hearts swelling with courage and an unbending will that engulfed the fleet.
"The Sith can only conquer through fear. They bind themselves to chaos and destruction. They claim to free themselves and break their chains, yet they would shackle those who do not fall to their knees in supplication. Will you let the Sith dictate your lives?"
Amelia's voice tore through the silence, her eyes burning with passion as she turned to face the enemy fleet. She watched as they still pushed forward, and yet, she knew that this could very much be a turning point for either side. With a smirk growing across her face, she pointed out into the void, drawing a line to the Sith Fleet as her attention shifted back to the crew that stood on the bridge of the Mon Mothma. Her brilliant, blue eyes fell upon every face that stood ready, seeing the courage that swelled within them like a natural spring.
"I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of many. The Sith have destroyed a city. They had shown their nature as cruel and cowardly, as covetous and arrogant. They would seek to cow the Woostoids, to break them and place them in bondage. The Emperor, the Sith seeks to punish the Jedi for the mere act of standing against them, for showing the Galaxy that they need not live in fear of the darkness. I will tell you what I see, I see fear, lo, I do not see it in your faces any longer. No, I see that fear in the very hearts and eyes of the Sith that we stand against for they are afraid of a Galaxy that would stand against them rather than cower in fear. Let them not have their desire, show them, show them that the destruction of this City will not bend nor break you... Show the Sith that the destruction of this City will ignite a flame that threatens to engulf the Galaxy in Light."
The message was clear, her voice slipping through the minds of the crew aboard the Mon Mothma, and yet, it was not only their ears that her voice would reach. The message would slip into the void, finding its way into the vessels of the Alliance Fleet that were still arrayed against the Sith, unbent and unbroken. The message would find its way to the surface, burning into the hearts and minds of the Alliance Forces on the ground that still fought against the Sith Invasion force. The words would reach the Woostoids themselves, seeking to galvanize the people of the planet in the face of such chaotic destruction.
Amelia stepped forward, her hand coming to rest on Zaiya Ceti
shoulder, the woman looked down at the Jedi and nodded silently, the helm upon her head covering her face. However, the message was clear, Amelia would make use of this gift provided by the Jedi, she would use it to spear into the very heart of darkness. Her fingers slipped slowly from Zaiya's shoulder, a simple nod showing that she acknowledged Iris Arani
as well. As she took her place back at the front of the command deck, her smirk merely grew as she saw their moment unfolding in front of her.
"Captain!"
Her voice rang out, filled with the confidence that would further bolster her crew, knowing that even if they were facing the darkest of nights, the light of the morning dawn was just over the horizon. She would be the beacon that would guide the people to that light, she would be the beacon that would push away the darkness and fear.
"Yes, Ma'am."
"Have the Ascendancy Squadron focus on the Sith element that they are engaged with, I want that area cleared or contained to keep the approach of the ANS Endurance clear. We need to ensure that once it has its tractor beam array deployed, it won't be disturbed. Set Theselon squadron forward, and attempt to reach Fleet Captain Isoroku Spruance
. If we can't get a clear channel, we'll do what we can to assist the vessel whilst pushing back that secondary fleet. All other vessels, form up and unleash on the Mors Mon."
The ANS Mon Mothma roared to life as the Battle Meditation took hold, filling the crew with great resolve as they rushed to their duties. The Mon Mothma rose, the nose of the vessel pitching up as though it were a Whaladon rising from the waters of Mon Cala to breach the surface. The vessel fell back into place, orienting itself so that it faced the Mors Mon and its accompanying vessels. The remainder of Battlegroup Mothma formed up alongside the vessel, Vanguard and Citadel divisions began aiming, their vessels each bringing all possible weapons to bear against the Sith Flotilla. It was the ANS Starhammer that initiated the opening barrage, unleashing a salvo of Assault Proton Torpedos and Assault Concussion Missiles against the Mors Mon, followed in rapid succession by the other vessels unleashing their barrage of Turbolasers, Ion Cannons, Proton Torpedoes, and Concussion Missiles.
As Battlegroup Mothma opened up with a withering salvo, the ANS Harbinger pushed forward, the Nightdragon-class Battlecruiser took the leading point of Ascendancy Squadron as it rushed into the fray. As the Justicar and Eliminator-class Cruisers began to strike at the squadron, it was the ANS Battalion that took the brunt of the fire, the Frigate shuddered as the concentrated fire impacted against its shields and hulls until the vessel erupted in a gout of flames and debris. However, Ascendancy Squadron remained defiant as they pushed forward, the ANS Harbinger targeted the Justicar, unleashing a salvo from its Heavy Turbolaser Cannons and Heavy Megamaser Cannon Batteries. The ANS Titania and ANS Covenant pressed the attack, unleashing a salvo from their Agrocite Cannons and Breacher Launchers against the Eliminator-class Cruisers.
Theselon Squadron rushed forward as the ANS Theselon brought its Octuple Barbette Turbolasers to bear against the Totality, supported by the ANS Myrmidon and ANS Vespira. Each Battle Dragon began to cycle their weapons, unleashing a salvo from their Turbolaser Batteries or Ion Cannons before rotating them out for a fresh battery to unleash the next salvo. What remained of Theselon Squadron maneuvered towards the ANS Vanguard, attempting to assist the vessel, though unsure of its current status or what had befallen the vessel when it was struck by the Penumbra.
With the fleets in motion, each part taking its precarious position in the ever-shifting and changing mechanism that was war, the ANS Endurance made its move. Its endeavor was not fruitless nor a useless struggle. As it pulled itself into position, it unleashed the Magnite Crystal Tractor Beam Array focused in an attempt to latch onto the Penumbra, and if it couldn't wrench the structure free, it would at least attempt to pull the weapon out of alignment in the hopes that if it were to fire once more; the beam would tear into the Mors Mon itself.
The Jedi's attack had worked, and her blade sunk into fabric and flesh. His head slowly pivoted back to stare directly at her, the murder of her accomplice now finished. With startling speed, the Dark Lord's free hand snapped out like a viper and wrapped it's broad fingers around the plasma blade. Rather than burning away, the mailed fist held tight against the weapon and locked it in place; buried within His abdomen. He angled His own blade towards Lily's face, but never moved it close enough to actually cut into her.
A warning.
"Quintessa, to my side."
It was clear that whatever numerical advantage the Jedi hoped to leverage against Him had failed, with most of her allies now dead around them. Only her and the other remained, and he was beginning to unravel. The power of the Dark Side waxed with every blast from the Penumbra, tearing open seams in the fabric of the Force itself as it lanced through the void. There was no stronger concentration than where they were now, right at the heart of the Mors Mon's monstrous weapon.
"I'll give you both this opportunity, Jedi. Kneel and pledge yourself to the unending dark, become disciples of the eclipsing mission. You will rise again as acolytes of a grand design, a purpose of galactic rebirth." He spoke calmly, but forcefully, even with the blade still burning in His gut. His eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Kneel or be destroyed, Jedi, embrace your destiny."
Jonyna Si
