Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!
The fleet suddenly emerged from hyperspace, finding themselves in a battleground.
There was a brief rumble as the three large vessels absorbed multiple mines, their shielding holding up well. A quick scan showed that Rick's fleet had emerged from hyperspace approximately six kilometers above and Pickle Rick was nearly directly lined up with the primary Confederate fleet. The two supercarriers retained flanking positions, keeping the triangle formation consistent.
"The ship's main guns are viable up to a hundred kilometers away, even more outside of the atmosphere. Have them rain hell on the enemy fleet from afar." ordered Rick.
"Tell the captains of the supercarriers to load the boarding shuttles." continued Rick. "But don't launch them until I say so. In the meantime, open fire on the nearest enemy vessels."
Hundreds of turbolasers, primed merely minutes prior, suddenly opened fire, their bolts swiftly tearing through the space between Rick's fleet and their Jen'ari counterparts. Shortly afterward, a great volley of missiles erupted from the decks of the warships, soaring toward their targets eagerly.
On top of Pickle Rick, ten massive guns loomed. Each one was the length of a light cruiser, and was nearing the end of its two-minute charge time. All ten pointed at the largest vessels of the enemy fleet. A single one of the guns could crack a cruiser in half. With ten, there was no telling how much devastation could be utilized at once.
Then, a horrendous boom tore through Pickle Rick.
As Rick shielded his ears, he witnessed ten bright streaks soar through space, as bullets the size of corvettes zoomed across space, cataclsymic, high-powered meteors.
Fleet prepares to exit hyperspace Fleet exits hyperspace Fleet opens fire on nearest Jen'ari vessels Pickle Rick fires its Cerrus Demolishers on the Jen'ari command vessels
Location: Orbital Shipyards Engaging: [member="Kaida Taldir"] Music
Orthus started to move towards the hole in the flooring, he could see down below, several curious workers were looking upwards through it and down, observing the destruction. The perfect avenue for the Lord of Truth to float down through and create distance, alas, luck was not with him
As he stepped carefully on the ice, it crept up his legs, snagging upon him like the jaws of a creature holding onto its prey’s leg. His first step he was able to haul forward, breaking the ice before it could cover more than his foot, but before he could step again it surged up his body, capturing his wounded ankle and leg in solid ice. Cryomancy.
The orbiting pieces around him were little more than a shield, an attempt to ward off a direct assault that was no quickly draining upon his stamina. The reservoir that he allowed others to boast as unending and bottomless within himself was far from realistic. Yes, he was a master of the arcane arts, far more proficient with manipulating the Force than he was with any physical skill, but he was hardly the Force Incarnate able to toss around wormholes without exhaustion. And with his own earlier exertion, it was unrealistic to maintain the orbiting shards as mere defense.
He needed time.
The Dark Master directed the shards before him with a thought striking them with a portion of his power into a wall bearing a seal upon it. To the trained eye, they might recognize the Sith runes and be able to interpret them as what they were, a trap for those that stepped too close in a deafening stasis trap that she nor others would be able to penetrate, but he hoped that his opposition would not be so fortunate while he turned his attention to the ice. She’d be more than capable of breaking out of such a trap, but it would take her a moment that he desperately needed to escape.
His lightsaber snapped on with the distinctive and well known snap-hiss behind the newly constructed wall, and the Dark Master moved to begin slicing the growing ice capturing his legs.
The Grand Phalanx, flagship of the Xarixi Corps and vessel of the great General Azmodan, roared from hyperspace. It's commander stood tall in the center of the bridge, eyeing his personnel as they moved about the ship, completing their assigned duties before the upcoming battle. The general himself was going over the many strategic routes he could take for the invasion. So many options to choose from. Would he utilize the full frontal assault tactic or would be he take a more subtle approach. He had the capabilities for both and many other ways of attack. He took his mind off that for a moment then looked over the manifest of his forces. The Xarixi Corps were the bulk of his forces. Thousands of enhanced Xarix hungry for combat and armed to the teeth. The Wreckers, a battalion of Gerosian warriors who's main goal is getting in the enemies face and ripping them apart no matter what stands in their way. The Keryki commandos, specialized Delosian infantry that infiltrate, assassinate, and eradicate the enemy from the inside before they even know what's going on. Truly, the General had amassed himself an army worthy of taking on any other in the galaxy.
A ring came in from Azmodan's comm unit in his helmet. "General, your approval is required prior to preparing the package." stated a Xarixi in his ear. The General turned from the bridge and made his way towards the cargo bay. Upon entering, Azmodan was saluted by the soldiers before returning tot heir duties once he gave them a wave of the hand. General approached the Xarix that called him on the comms. "General, the payload is prepared for deployment on your command." the Xarix reported. Azmodan looked over the massive container that was before him. It's contents were that of the Xarix Prime War Droid, a colossal droid under the general's command. A weapon such as this was only used when the general was not planning on taking prisoners or leaving anything behind for the enemy to scavenge. His prime directive for this battle was to decimate the enemy.
"War is near. Ready my warriors. I smell Sith blood already."
Kayla had received many orders with little room to argue in the past, but the way Coren spoke made it so she actually trusted his judgment rather than simply being unquestioning. The fact she truly knew what she was fighting for now gave her renewed purpose and although she would never be a true warrior, those who stood by her could always rely on Kayla being there when they needed her. And so, not a second after Coren set his plan in motion, the s'kytri got to her feet. "I will be right behind you," she affirmed, as she began to make her way towards the escape pod. There was no fear or hesitation, even if she was acutely aware that what was about to unfold was dangerous.
Once inside the escape pod it was difficult for Kayla to make enough room for the others, her length and wings taking up a considerable amount of space, but in the end the group had managed to fit. "May the Force be with us, so we may bring about the end of conflict wherever we walk," her quieted voice sounded as they waited for the launch of the pod, creating a sense of serenity in her aura that she hoped others could find comfort in.
Then, the command was made and the pod shot through space on a crash course with the planetary shield, yet Kayla was not afraid. She closed her eyes and instead looked into the Force, witnessing how Coren drew it towards him. And suddenly the shield was no longer in front of them. A feeling of lightheadedness distracted her senses as whatever had just taken place overwhelmed her, and when she came to she saw that they had somehow gotten past the planetary defenses. It was clear it had taken quite the toll on Coren, though, causing her to kick into action despite the lack of room she had to work with.
"Are you alright?"
She placed her hand right before his forehead, trying to regain her focus as it began to softly glow. "How are you feeling?"
There was a social contract that was being violated here.
Zak was playing quietly. He wasn't bothering the adults. He had his headphones on. And he wasn't even making any obnoxious noises! And if Zak was a connoisseur of anything, it was the finest selection of rude noises, ear-splitting sounds, and migraine inducing squealing.
Simply put, he was actually on his legit best behavior right now. Because he wasn't even trying. He was just playing a hologame and had tuned everything else out.
Meanwhile, at the Legion of Doom, here comes this random broad stomping across the ship like she owned it (she might have. Zak had no idea whose ship this was) and snatching the headphones right off his head.
"Hey!"
Not cool, random broad. Not cool.
And with the lecture! Man, this random broad was playing the Jedi stereotype on hard mode. "Oh, that sounds fun," the boy quipped back, taking back his headphones and hanging them around his neck.
It really didn't.
Much nope. Many no thank you.
Then Corey walked through and it was apparently time to get in the escape pod.
...wait, what?
Oh, right, Starchaser. Probably better not to ask.
Picking himself up from off the floor, the young Nautolan grabbed the curved hilt lightsaber from off the sofa cushion next to him. Clipping that onto his belt, he then grabbed the medkit and slung it over his shoulder. It seemed he was riding in the pod with Corey. Just what was he about to do any wa...
And, just like that, they were on a roller coaster.
Bounced around and very discombobulated by the experience, the youngling lifted his head up to ask, breathlessly, "Can we do that again, Mister Corey?"
“[member="Kurenai Yumi"] is correct. I will not be giving anyone an oil massage.”
Srina chimed in, having overheard, just before sitting down. The quiet woman did not understand what their troops were doing to prepare for what would undoubtedly be a long a gory battle. If [member="Kyber"] wished to clean the Fortressa dining hall he could do so without resorting to a card game to engage in domestic services. She settled in beside [[member="Scherezade deWinter"]] Madalena Antares and for the life of her could not figure out why the woman was giggling so much. “Are you feeling well Knight Antares?”
Thankfully, she was given new cards. Silver eyes burned into them.
“Madalena. These cards are worse. I believe this game is for horrible people.”
No. She would not be reading any of these aloud. Some of it was extremely offensive, and some of it, she couldn’t begin to understand. Did she need a translator? Regardless, in the spirit of things, she tried to play a few rounds but when she felt a touch of rouge spread to her cheeks Srina was most definitely through with it. Anything that could make her blush, in any capacity, ought to be wiped from existence.
Srina was grateful for the interruption from Journey, a Shard, which worked regularly with [member="Cardinal Vi'dreya"]. The seemingly delicate Echani was actually quite friendly toward the unit. It spoke plainly and mercurial eyes swept over it carefully, almost kindly, before she returned its praise in sentence form. “My features are fairly symmetrical, Journey. Their general sameness is pleasing to your sensors.”, she started off, before an empty smile, devoid of life crossed her wintry countenance. “But…I appreciate the sentiment.”
However, the message that Journey, an Obsidian Squire carried, was far more important. A moment of silence would pass around the table, but in those seconds, everyone began to move. When Madalena asked that Srina declare the winner the Exarch frowned. How did one win from such revulsion and indecent humor? “I win. Thank you for playing. Please, burn this game at your earliest convenience. You may also toss it out of an airlock. That is acceptable.”
She had been the only one to refuse reading what was on the card, so clearly, her lessons in basic etiquette had not been in vain. Her gaze went back to [member="Kurenai Yumi"], [member="Kyber"], [member="Dianah Vi'Dreya"], and [member="Jaron Lesan"]. She hoped this would not be the last time she saw them in good health. “Now—Everyone, get to your positions.”
As she prepared to do the same Srina become keenly aware of someone present that offended her, even more, than playing Cards Against the Confederacy. He had entered the Dining Hall as if he had a right to the air that filtered into his metallic helm. The Exarch tucked her hair into her hood and pulled it up over her face. She hid pallid skin, glimmering eyes, and a heavy gaze that was laden with displeasure. There was a reason Alessandra Creed had handled the acquisition of this one. “[member="Koda Fett"].”
He would be hard-pressed not to hear the darkness in her voice. Over and over…He sought to take someone infinitely precious from her. She would not stand for it. Though, for the time being, the Vicelord seemed fond of him. “Try not to die. I’d hate to be robbed the pleasure of killing you myself.”
Whereas [member="Darth Metus"] would eventually forgive her such a transgression, for murdering his favorite Mandalorian, Koda Fett would remain dead. The reward outweighed the risk.
She pulled from the Dining Hall without waiting for a response. She didn’t hate the Bounty Hunter. No, nothing so specific. He was merely guilty of trying to break someone that belonged to her. Nevertheless, she would oblige him, if he wished another building dropped on his head. There were plenty and Srina, if nothing else, was patient.
The Exarch found [member="Cardinal Vi'dreya"] in the hangar easily enough. It was in time for the Fortressa to emerge from Hyperspace, and, to hear the words of [member="Darth Tacitus"]. It felt strange to her. Distant. This whole war was one born of practical necessity. Not hatred. Srina had boiled it all down to a game of numbers. Math. The few versus the many. “Present, Dominus.”, she greeted the dark-skinned man as she stepped upon his stealth ship.
[member="Darth Metus"] would be along shortly, however, until then the Exarch began to request situation reports from the varying moving parts of the Confederacy. The Holo-Comm lit up as she found her seat, heavily encrypted, and adjusted her crash webbing.
“This is Exarch Talon. Report, from all Confederate Units. Check-in and relay status.”
This went for every official member of their governing body or military that had deigned to set foot in Chiss Space. Even their allies. From [member="Darth Tacitus"] on the bridge of the Fortressa, to [member="Adron Malvern"] on the Veil, to [member="Luna Terrik"], [member="Rylan Kordel"], [member="Coren Starchaser"], and many, many others. She didn’t care who spoke for their group, as long as they checked in, and communicated.
Srina would re-route the responses as needed, as long as she could, before the true fight began. Once that happened she would need to pass much of it off to their automatons for proper handling. Regardless, the Exarch would be kept apprised.
Chatter began. Rapid, fast paced. The Veil was hit.
Her eyes closed, briefly, but there was no reason to panic. It was a surprise. However, Adron knew what he was doing. Whatever the Jen'ari threw...He could handle.
“We need to be on the move sooner than later Cardinal. We know our duty.”
A few curious workers were peeking out, observing the carnage. The more sane ones would probably seek refuge somewhere. Mayhaps alert their supervisors that two unknown people were making a mess of the corridor. Force-User duels were fun to watch unless you got caught in the crossfire, which tended to happen a lot. The ice summoned by Kaida had crept up the Sith Lord's legs, seizing them in a manner akin to that of a vengeful predator that had wrapped its jaw around his limbs. Solid ice surged up his leg and ankle. Most of Kaida's esoteric training had been devoted towards honing her talent for cryomancy. She could not cast illusions, utilise sorcery, do anything that involved mentalism beyond basic mind tricks. Her telekinesis was decent, but she could not chuck a tank or pull down a battleship from the heavens.
Once, in an act of somewhat childish jealousy, she had tried to emulate Siobhan Kerrigan and use the Force to fly. It had not taken her long to conclude that it was a colossal waste of energy and that only a pompous showoff would see the need to flutter around in the sky. But manipulation of ice and water was her domain. However, as it soon transpired, the Dark Master was not without tricks of his own.
Kaida perceived that the shards were in motion. Her initial expectation was that the Sith's intent was to employ them offensively. Perhaps by propelling them towards her at incredible speed, he aimed to injure her and in the process break her concentration, making it easier for him to free himself. However, her adversary defied her expectations, for the shards struck the wall. This manoeuvre obfuscated him from her sight. However, she could sense him. Her elemental senses were attuned to the frozen water and the heat that emanated from his double-bladed lightsabre.
Stepping forward, she intensified her cryomantic assault. No longer content with simply freezing his leg, she sought to will the ice to rush up even further and engulf him wholesale in order to turn him into an ice statue. Owing to the obfuscation, this attack was cruder than her initial one. However, Kaida's focus meant that she did not perceive the nature of his counter. When her eyes fell upon the Sith runes, she guessed it meant danger. But lacking any familiarity with the Sith language or its arcane symbols, she did not grasp their meaning.
Then she was suddenly swallowed by the trap. She found herself hit by an invisible wall. Looking around, she saw nothing with her naked eye, but walls of dark energy surrounded her. Rather than hammer against the cage like some berserker or petulant child, Kaida took stock of the situation. When she concentrated, she could perceive faint shimmers in the air. These appeared to mark the barrier. Reaching out with her will, she tried to affect the world outside the cage, but found that she was being blocked. This meant that the Sith was out of her reach for the time being. Her lightsabre ignited with a hiss, producing a silver blade. A slash against the shimmering barrier had no effect. However, the Force was not wholly lost. So she drew upon her will, trying to will the confinement to break as she probed the invisible barrier. It was a matter of time, discipline and will, finding a weak spot. It was likely that the Sith would be able to free himself from the ice before she escaped his trap. She would follow though.
Equipment: Dreamsilk Formal Wear, Thinsuit, Magboots, .48-caliber Enforcer Pistol with normal slugs and borless acid slugs Objective: Cripple Copero City Sub-Objective: Respond to [member='Srina Talon']'s request for a status report Allies: Confederacy of Independent Systems
As 'The Footman' lightly exitted hyperspace, there was a split moment of absolute serenity and silence. The large Confederate insignia dazzled brightly on the Sheathipede's industrial, light-gold matte finish with Copero's sun shining brightly off in the distance. A light blue shimmer, from the after-effects of exitting hypertravel, glittered around the shuttle before in the next split moment, the roars of capital guns firing deafened the silence, with the characteristic and almost animalistic sound of heavy laser cannons filling the air. For a moment, Mauer felt his blood rising in an almost berserkgang fashion before he quickly calmed himself down with a deep breath.
'I guess the sound of war is still ingrained in my bones,' Mauer mused to himself before he redirected his attention to the extremely dense and large amount of data that was being inputted into his personal data and subsequently, his brain. The shuttle's sensors and communications array ran over-clocked to deliver him constant updates, combat reports, and shared sensor-data from the rest of the Confederacy's fleet, and Mauer quickly began calculating and organizing the positions of allied and enemy fleetcraft mentally, creating a mental representation of the battlefield that updated as the situation changed and more data was collected from the Confederacy's network of sensor systems and communication relays.
The 'Footman' had parked itself behind most of the Confederacy's fleet and remained stationary, simply awaiting for the planetary's shields to be shut down before proceeding with its objective. As Mauer heard Srina Talon's request for a status report, he quickly materialized his mental projection of the battlefield into a fully functional and interactive holomodel: a feat only made possible with the cybernetic enhancements made to his brain, which also included a data-uplink that functioned similar to the Neimoidian's data goggles, and he sent a short report along with the model:
Greetings Exarch.
I, along with my small contingency of elite battle droids, are awaiting for the shields to be brought down. We are at full combat strength and at a hundred percent operating capacity.
I have relayed a working holomodel of the battlefield to all Confederate ships through our encrypted channels that will greatly enhance the battlefield awareness of its captains. The holomodel will continue to update itself by drawing upon the Confederacy's network of sensor systems, and will provide an extremely accurate representation of the positions, operational statuses, and combat strengths of both Confederacy and enemy vessels. The holomodel will also synergize with each starship's tactical datacores and targeting systems, further enhancing accuracy and combat efficiency.
As Jorcos small band of privateer ships "sailed" through space to their target destination enthusiasm was high for the pirate warlord and his crew. Today he came in with a mere 5 Corona-Class Armed Firgate along with his MC75, but they were not here for combat. For today was a day of plunder and booty for them. To pillage an entire capital was but a mere dream for this rough and tough band of war dogs. For his collection of ships was not meant to commence in fleeting but to transport his forces planet side. Since the assignment was a high risk high reward for the individual this was a voluntary venture. So only the truly enthusiastic and greedy would take part in this. Surely their own ransacking of the capital would do its fair share of damage to the infrastructure.
Just as the Rodian was getting ready to address his crew a message came through from none other then [member="Srina Talon"]. Feeling un-enthused for the first time seeing a mention of her he would report back to her request.
Good day Exarch
I'm reporting in a Jorco, head of Uniform Octopus Co.'s Conflict Management Program. I come with a sizable enough band of good ol' boys just eagerly waiting to plunder the fine goods of a planet's capital city and wreck havoc on their infrastructure. We're ready to fill in the role of... how do you say, the dogs of war.
Chow Jorco Czecku
After that rather unprofessional message the former viceroy turned pirate flipped through some of the message features until he was on the previously assigned channel and frequency for his own forces. Sitting back in his command chair on his bridge he nodded to his crew mates to began to project the Rodian's image to the crew of his ship and the ones under his specific banner. "Gentlemen, and ladies, if there are any. I don't keep track to be honest. As I'm sure you're all finely aware we're not here to fight a war. Since we're a rather A-political fighting force. No, we're here to reap the benefits of a war. Some may call us scum, a mere band of violent space fairing nerf herders. But don't let the critics get to you today my friends. For our ties gives us an advantage very few groups like ours. Just remember, while you're out there taking names and taking loot that we're the real winners of this war... Happy Pillages. Jorco out..."
And with that brief but to the point statement he wanted his fighters to know that they didn't start this war, this conflict wasn't their responsibility. But instead a privilege to take part in it. As the one rule those under him are bound to was... finders keepers.
Oh No. Mishel knew that look from Coren. "No, Blessed Ashira, no!" She stomped her feet and took in a deep breath, with an exhale she got herself into the escape pod and counted down. Everyone was gonna get real super cozy before all the discombobulation of being folded into space and ending up dirtside. Unfortunately it was probably their only option, Coren let them know what their job was. Get down, paint the targets and keep going they had to get the shields down and fast. Shia, Mishel and [member="Marakai Al'Orren"] would be one team while Coren led the other team that consisted of [member="Zak Dymo"], [member="Kayla Wylen"], and [member="Amilthi Camlenn"].
Before giving the Jedi Master his mark, Mishel grabbed the tags they needed. Electronic tags so that the Confederacy's naval assets or other material assets could make short work of the 'painted' targets. "Not sure if the droid's gonna fit in here babe, but we got Mara." She gestured to Master Al'Orren, "she can get us to where we need to be, just keep your blaster ready."
Taking a deep breath, Mishel exhaled again and finally gave Coren his mark. "TOLD YOU WE SHOULDN'T HAVE HAD THOSE RYLOTH DELIGHTS BEFORE LEAVING!" The padawan shouted at her master as the escape pod hurtled through the fabric of space and time. Her body hit the back of the seat and her chest went heavy and she was forced to shut her eyes. She hated this so much, she hated Coren and all she wanted to do was throw up. It felt like everything was burning, even if it only burned for a moment or two and then there wasn't a shield anymore. They were on Copero and Mishel's hand shook quite a lot, in fact her body shook and she just leaned against Shia. "Those delights were a mistake, holy Ashira..." The woman needed out of the pod, and out before she lost her entire lunch.
It was then and only then that Mishel had hoped to the Holy Mother that her sister Alé could feel the emotion she had right now. Before mockingly mouthing, "I just found out I'm pregnant, I can't be there with you - Adron will be so blah blah blah." Mishel clutched her stomach and then her mouth before pointing to the door as she shared this delightful nauseous feeling with her sister through the Force.
Location: Copero, Copero City, Parliament Building Objectives:Secure the Parliament Building, Evacuate the Politicians, Make Contact with Governor Daimid Allies: Jen'ari Empire Enemies: CIS Equipment:Hooded Robe, Miniaturized Lightsaber (red) Unit Strength: 50 Imperial Sith Troopers + Cay-Yo The acolyte was met by one of the aids within the parliament building who frantically exclaimed "We have to evacuate! The members have already been notified by the governor!" to which Cay-Yo looked up at the Chiss and asked "So your leaders are running? Why do they abandon their people so eagerly?" This response was not what the aide was looking for and looked between the Troopers and the diminutive sith "You don't understand! If we stay he're we'll all die! You've got to do something! Take us to the evacuation point! Please!" one of the troopers looked down to Cay-Yo then back to the aide before interjecting "With respect, my Lord, our duty is to protect these Chiss. If there is an evacuation order we must help them." Cay-Yo threw his hands up dramatically "Fine! Fine! If running away is what you want, fine!" Cay-Yo looked over to the trooper that spoke to him "Trooper! Contact the others, all of SET will be here for the evacuation. But-" and he turned to look at the aide with a glare "Only the leaders. None of the peasants." Understandably this response did little to ease the frightened aid "Only the politicians?! What about me? What about everyone else? What are we supposed to do?" without letting Cay-Yo have the chance to respond the same trooper pushed the aide away with the center of his blaster rifle "You heard him, off with you! Don't let me or anyone else catch you trying to board the shuttle."
The aide scampered away and began to tell her colleagues that they wouldn't be allowed to evacuate, which began a small panic riot. SET quickly stepped in and began to disperse the crowed by force. Pushing away the Chiss that were assembling, using the butt of their blasters to knock the stronger ones away. The trooper that had been vocal again spoke, ordering the other troopers into action "Ten, and Seven - make sure those doors don't open. Thirteen if anyone tries getting into this hallway you blast them, you understand?" the only response back to him came from Ten "Yes Sergeant!" Cay-Yo was pleased with his choices and even more pleased with his troopers. They were so obedient and they carried out his orders better than he was hoping for! He could get used to this sort of feeling. Cay-Yo jumped onto a trooper's shoulder, quite the distance relatively speaking, and held onto his helmet with one hand "Trooper! Take me to the leaders!" and of course the trooper complied quickly.
The trooper quickly jogged down the hallways where Cay-Yo saw his other troopers blocking entrances as well as forcing the aides, janitors, and secretaries out of the building fiercely. The soldier which the Patitite was carried burst through an ornate double door to where plenty of the politicians fearfully chattered away over the news of the invasion force. Cay-Yo spoke loudly "Leaders! Leaders!" but his small voice was drowned out by the noise. The trooper below Cay-Yo hoisted his blaster into the air and fired off a single bolt into the air which impacted the ceiling loudly. This sound silenced the room, all eyes turned to Cay-Yo, and a voice called out from a far "What was that all about?!" Cay-Yo patted the trooper's helmet although the trooper would not be able to feel this then spoke again "Leaders! You are be evacuated to safety by the grace of the Jen'ari Empire, and the Emperor's most valiant SET. Do not fear, we will take good care of you. We will lead you to safety - shuttles will be waiting to take you to a secure location." With their greatest fears set aside the politicians slowly calmed themselves and began to ask the troopers who had just returned from patrolling on Cay-Yo's orders where they should go. Cay-Yo had no idea where the evacuation site was but the troopers under his command were more knowledgeable. SET began to efficiently escort the members of parliament to the evacuation site where indeed several shuttles awaited them guarded by Copero City Police and indigenous Chiss military personnel.
So far the evacuation was going smoothly. The members of parliament were being loaded quickly onto their escape shuttles, SET had regrouped all of their men into the building, and the panic riots were being dealt with as well as could be expected by such a small force. Accidents do happen though and thirty minutes into the evacuation twelve Chiss lay dead at the steps of the parliament building having been shot by SET when they attempted to enter the building by force. By this point Copero City Police had arrived to take control of the situation and to prevent the deaths of more of their people at the hands of the Imperial military police. Cay-Yo made his way to the communications room of the parliament building and sent a message to the governor himself, the holopad glowing to life as it took in the Patitite's form "Governor Diarmid, this is Acolyte Cay-Yo of the Jen'ari Empire. I lead SET and we have begun evacuation of your politicians. Do not fear Governor, I will protect your building." he spoke with pride and certainty.
'That's what I'm saying, my love. By the time we get back Kara will have eaten some part of her or chased her round the castle to the point of giving her a heart attack. What if she's on her own for the whole time we're gone?' It was a far stretch, of course, but anything was possible with their wild, cannibalistic daughter. By the time Cards against Confederacy was in full swing, for the briefest of moments as the cards were being read and laughs being shared, Dianah put her worries to the back of her mind.
The game went on a little longer than expected, and they were joined by numerous bodies including the exarch who was less than impressed with the wording on the cards. Dianah, on the other hand, was in her element. When Madalena and Dianah were together they rubbed off on each other like charcoal on paper. By the end of the game Dianah was in exceedingly hyper and in complete tears, clutching her armour clad stomach and desperately trying to suck in fresh air to bring her round again. It was helpful. She had almost forgotten the tension that came hand in hand with the start of something big. She had barely noticed the stoic expression of the man that sat beside her. When the cards were all packed away and everyone had begun to move to the hanger, Dianah stuck behind for a moment with Jaron.
'Cyar'ika. You look like the same miserable man I remember from Arbra.' She slipped into his arms and pressed a kiss to his exposed nose. Her heart was racing in her chest and she didn't exactly want to say anything, the thought of it made her physically sick, but now wasn't the time for regrets. No matter how hard she tried to convince herself she couldn't keep it in. 'If anything happens out there, and I lose you or you lose me, I just want you to know that I love you. There isn't a single moment of my life that has been boring, dull or sad since I met you. I have no regrets and no desire to change anything about the life we've made with each other.' Once she had lent forward to give him the last kiss they'd be able to steal from each other for a while, Dia had her ordinary grin plastered on her expression. 'That being said I full expect both of us to return in one piece. If you don't I'm killing you myself. Now... where has that blood hound gone?'
Dianah made her way quickly through the feast hall and down to the hangar, knowing Jaron would be close behind her. Everyone's expression looked the same as Jaron's had at the card table, Dianah wasn't surprised. She imagined her own milk-bottle face looked extremely similar. The call to fight was too close now, nobody was thinking about anything but the battle ahead. She spotted the back of her friends head and charged toward her with every intent to hug the ever loving kriff out of her once she arrived. 'You didn't think I was going to go to war without you?' Dianah squeezed her friend from behind and then joined her in the crowd that waited to descend. 'If either one of us get hurt, we'll be right there beside each other.'
Location: The Veil |Bridge| {Realspace - Within Activated Empion Field} | Objectives: Support Adron & The Now Crippled Veil | Tags: [member="Adron Malvern"] | [member="Mishel Noren"] | [member="Srina Talon"] [member="Darth Tacitus"]
____________________________
Only [member="Adron Malvern"] would smile moments before they engaged in undiluted warfare aboard an exceedingly vicious Super Star Destroyer. Some part of her, deep down, felt pleased by it. Flattered by the irony. It wasn’t the promise of violence that drew such a passionate response from the former Imperial—it was the connection they had forged. The unborn child they had created. It gave him a softness, a purpose, that she had never known existed. He kissed her ungloved hand and her lips curved slightly as some of her anxiety was buried. “You’ve gone over it with me a dozen times. Yes—I remember the layout. I know how to keep safe.”
There was an unspoken truth. An unspoken vow. For better or worse, the Exarch would protect that which belonged to him, and would spare no expense in doing so.
Alessandra only hoped that she didn’t distract him too much.
He pulled her close, pressing his lips to her forehead, and her eyes closed for a moment. They were close. Her stomach rolled. Adron promised that it wouldn’t take long. She wished she held the same calculations. Attacking an entire planet had its disadvantages no matter how large the invading force was. If they were well-armed, well supplied, short of using ships to raze the entirety of the location to rubble…It could take time. Losses would realistically be heavy on both sides.
No population worth its salt would go down quietly. Especially, not the military-minded Chiss.
The Minister of Commerce remained silent when Adron turned his focus back to the task at hand. Things went from smooth, to chaotic, in what felt like the blink of an eye. Siren’s and warnings going off caused her to tense—especially when a droid announced that they were being pulled from Hyperspace. Moments later, the Veil shook so hard she felt it in her teeth, and if it weren’t for Adron she likely would have lost her balance. Anything that could move the Veil so easily caused her teeth to clench.
Everything that followed caused apprehension to grow. The droids seemed compromised. Their shields were down. It felt like a nightmare. As if the worst case scenario had slapped them in the face, regardless their preparation, regardless their resources, and tech. Fear. She railed against it. Alessandra was the daughter of Valessia Creed. Of Gunther Creed. She would not balk so easily.
Good news came, suddenly, to lighten the cloud of confusion. The Ferocity and the Nova had arrived intact. Adron was…Adron. Calm, cool, collected, and decisive. In the final moments of his orders, she felt some of the tension ease. Things were bad. But, they weren’t done yet.
“Is there anything I can do Exarch?”
From [member="Darth Tacitus"] she had undertaken rudimentary lessons in commanding a vessel, however, what they seemed to need most in that moment were repairs. Their shields. She could direct, organize, and coordinate but this wasn’t her show. The last thing she wanted to do was to overstep, or get in the way, but she hated feeling useless. Chocolate eyes tried to make sense of what they could when it came to the hazy monitors and what lay before them. The Jen’ari forces were more than they had anticipated. More organized, more numerous, and she felt a quaking sense of disparity.
Some of the strength of their Invading force had been dictated by her review of their intake and possible resources. Alessandra knew, without a doubt, that this was not how things were supposed to go.
Her calculations had clearly been off. Hopefully, they would recover from the error quickly.
Alessandra felt a wave of nausea like nothing she had ever experienced. At first, she thought she may lose her lunch in the nearest waste bin, and her hand came to cover her mouth. Slowly…It settled. Through the confusion and the attack on the Veil it took her a moment to find the source. Mishel? Worry for her sibling soared. If they were hit this hard, what had happened to the Princess Leia?
‘Sister. Do not hesitate to use the other Jedi as a shield…You must survive this. Or I will never forgive you.’
Her threat was passed telepathically through the void. She didn’t know if Mishel would be able to receive it, considering their distance, but the two had always shared some sort of connection. The little urchin had managed to drain her of energy on Tatooine from several cities away. Regardless, her mental transmission was embedded with a vision of what had become of the Veil. It held intense emotion. Crushing protectiveness. Love.
Guilt. For leaving [member="Mishel Noren"] "alone".
A communication passed from the Fortressa. She recognized the voice of [member="Srina Talon"]. Alessandra could just barely make it out. A sit-rep? The Communications Officer did his best to relay the details as clinically as possible since they were no longer engaged in stealth tactics. He passed information about the potential minefields fields, which would, land in the ears of [member="Darth Tacitus"] as well. The officer, to their credit, seemed to have adjusted to the new reality quite well. Alessandra was fairly impressed. How did one respond to the right hand of the Vicelord that the Veil had done the one thing they had never expected? She breathed in, glanced at Adron, before turning her gaze toward the scene before them…
When her master contacted her, she smirked. Allya's eyes would flash in her helmet for a moment. “Of course Master. I'm the best.” She had been trained from the moment she could walk, to do this. She was literally born for this. “All commandos, focus on something home, strong emotions, good memories. Keep your mind away from the coming battle. We are going in silent, but until we are on the ground, do not think on whats going on.”
Flipping a switch, she turned off all incoming and outgoing communications, lowered the power to the weapons, and lights. All unneeded systems were turning off, only the shields, life support, engines and the like were still on. Soon after, sensors were set to passive only. With this, the ship would blend into the background noise, being next to undetectable. And with only Allya in her specialized suit thinking of the battle, force users would have a very difficult time even knowing they were there.
They exited hyperspace not far from the Veil, in its wake after it had begun to engage the enemies. This should mask their hyperspace entry into the system. Laser fire was all around, enemy fighters have begun to swarm, and everything was chaos. She piloted through the mines, and around the laser fire in complete silence. Their ship was in active stealth, and skirting around the violence. A slingshot maneuver kept them moving around the greatest crowds of ships.
Never to far away, that if a ghost of their signature was captured that anyone would even think anything about it. Could always be a rogue droid star fighter swinging outside the violence. Slow and steady the Scimitar made its way to the planet. Aiming for a place in the shields around the planet that were regularly hit by turbolaser fire, she aims the ship right at it. Small course corrections here and there, to avoid danger, or getting to close to something that may have more advanced sensors. In time, they made their way to the shields.
Five seconds before impact, stealth systems went offline, as she flipped a switch to keep them from being burned out, and so did the shields as the Peregrine Field Disruptor came online. It was do or die, after slamming into the shield, the entire ship rocked and shook hard. Gritting her teeth, Allya kept the ship in line, through sheer force of will, and massive practice.
As soon as it popped into the other side of the planetary shield, the shields came back online, and the stealth systems reengaged. Have to get away from this area. Banking hard, using gravity, she moves at a line, getting away from their entry point, gliding towards the ground. Banking here and there, she avoids the outgoing turbolaser fire from the planetary systems. It wasn't long before Copero City was in the sight. Diving down, the ship found a nice nitch in the mountains, away from anything that could detect them. Flipping several more switches and pulling back on a stick, the repulsors activated, and landed them on that mountain side, still fully cloaked. However, it was unknown if their entry was spotted or not, if someone would be looking for the ship. Internal communications only turned on. “We made it, grab your gear, get ready to leave the ship, activate the droids, prepare for immediate battle!”
Get in an escape pod and trust to some stupid not-even-jetii trick taught by a bunch of lunatic alien monks from a part of space that, legend had it, the Sith and Jedi had blown up?
Nayc, ner vod.
Shia toggled her tac-net to accept the incoming instructions from [member="Mishel Noren"], but as the last person to the pod, she slammed the external release from inside the ship rather than entering and raised a gauntleted hand in departure as the doors slammed shut.
"Gar'anmirsh solus. I'll catch up."
No words of affection now, it was doubtful they'd go over particularly well - if any of them even survived that stunt. But Shia had a friend aboard, a friend who did not, under any circumstance, fit into an escape pod. She hurried across the ship to the cargo bay, where Old One Eye, her bes'uliik war droid, was staring at her with an expectant look.
"Of course I wouldn't leave you for some stupid Force-powered stunt, old vod. I think they keep forgetting I'm no Jetii." Shia grinned beneath her helmet, then tagged the intercom.
"Hey Lav, ner vod. You wouldn't want to miss out on the stupid stunt game, would you? Good. I want us as low as you can get above the surface of that shield - damn well mean skim it within meters, so their defending ships won't fire on us for fear of weakening it. I'll handle the rest, when I'm gone, peel off."
She flicked the comm-panel at a tranmission from the Exarch, opening a line to [member="Srina Talon"].
"Alor'Talon, Princess Leia. We have deployed, uh, some mad Jedi beneath the shield, we're going to aim for projectors to open a hole. ETA to surface is a karking short time, defensive fire is pretty heavy. Situation is nominal. Leia out."
Somehow, she didn't feel the need to explain to high command the particulars of the stunt, or the follow up one she was going to attempt. Because Mandalorians had been dropping onto planets protected by shields since before the first Jedi War. They'd beaten the Republic then, and she'd beat these Sith now.
She leapt easily up onto the bes'uliik's back, connecting the control lines and letting One Eye center himself in the middle of the cargo bay, before reaching out to slap the deployment lift.
The world opened up below her - a brilliant, blinding planetary surface, the lines of incoming and outgoing fire and craft criss-crossing the space in front of her, most of the fire from the attackers still slamming into the shield. If this had been a spherical shield, she'd have no chance of this, but shutter shields... Mandalorians didn't like shutter shields, for precisely this reason.
"Left thirty degrees, drop speed five megalights, Lev. Yes. We're waiting for that battery to finish it's recycle... steady, steady..."
From behind them, a spray of laser fire from intercepting fighters streaking to catch the superbly fast light freighter.
"When I'm off, break off, no matter what happens to me... Hold it..."
Sparks flew off the upper hull, Shia didn't even flinch, exposed to the void unsecured as she was - the view, she thought, was amazing. Her heart hammered in her chest, this was truly living. Beneath her, Old One Eye was lowered into a crouch, waiting for a moment he knew as well as she did. He didn't need her help to get this right. She was pretty sure he was living the high life as well. Her knees gently nudged into the control surfaces, and she felt rather than heard the binaric rumble of assent. Two minds, one body.
Now.
Lev saw it when she did, throwing the ship into a hard reverse at the same split second Old One Eye leapt forward, thrusters blazing into life. Besu'liik didn't turn well, but they could get up a fair lick of speed. From below, a cluster of planetary-scale capital turbolasers raced into the sky and for a few split seconds, shields began to snap off in sequence to permit their exit.
And Shia dove straight down into the heart of them, sliding through the tiny silver of a gap that simply had to exist to allow the bolts to exit safely given their speeds.
Which just left the problem of slowing down as the planetary atmosphere began to flare to incredible tempratures against the underside of the bes'uliik.
Each Mechanus Armada vessel executed a simultaneous reversion, warping back into realspace in flawless unison. The moment they had received the Veil's transmission, Viceroy Calixis had granted his blessing and the Overmind commenced their jump. Forewarned of the minefield threat and playing to their natural strengths, the super tactical droid had plotted an arrival point on the Defense Force's remote flank. Beyond the reach of mines and approaching extreme weapons range, in a matter of seconds the Mechanicum leaders had decided on a course of action and their warfleet was in motion.
Archim's command ship had jumped in much farther back, well out of engagement range, and in a large scale orbital brawl such as this one he knew it was only a matter of time before jamming kicked in and threatened his connection to the Divinus. Partitioning his consciousness, he had stored a fragment of his personality matrix within the battlecruiser's cognitive buffers. It was not exactly a neural clone, more a complex algorithm designed to predict his own behavior, but the effect was much the same. In truth, there was little need for his supervision at all.
The Overmind was one of the most advanced tactical AI constructs in the known galaxy, it was fully capable of running not only the Divinus but the entire Armada itself. The individual shipboard tactical brains were allowed to consult through a shared tactical neurosphere link as a matter of etiquette and protocol, but their input was not required. Only those loaded with cognitive implants like Archim were even capable of perceiving such a virtual war council, but the Iskalloni could clearly see his creation's digital imprint shining line a beacon in the void, orbited by lesser sparks aligned as if into some kind of celestial court of nobility.
++INCOMING TRANSMISSION++ EXARCH TALON STATUS UPDATE REQUEST. ++TRANSCRIBING RESPONSE++ GLORY TO THE OMNISSIAH, MECHANUS ARMADA IN SYSTEM. ALL ELEMENTS ACCOUNTED FOR. SING PRAISE TO THE GOD OF ALL MACHINES. ++END OF LINE++
Its call thundered across connection nodes throughout the Auxilia, and moments later the first wave in a growing swarm of drone fighters emerged from the hangars of the Divinus, the Precise Nature of the Catastrophe, the Dramatic Exit and their escorts. Drifting into extreme weapons range, the Dramatic Exit's long guns opened up in earnest, joined by what little precision emplacements both heavy carriers possessed. It would still take some time for sublight drives to carry the artillery destroyer to its optimal firing arc, so for now plasma railguns and HVCs arced out, joined by a fusillade of long range plasma torpedoes, raining down indiscriminately across Chiss battle lines.
Hundreds of combat drones arced into orbit in impossibly tight massed formations, breaking off into separate swarms to reinforce fighter screens across the Confederate lines and hunt after blastboats. The first of the thinly armored drones was picked off almost immediately, and oaths were fulfilled as free droids sacrificed for the first time in the name of their organic allies.
[SIZE=12pt]Gestalt-class Artillery Destroyer[/SIZE][SIZE=12pt] CNS [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]Dramatic Exit[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Hangar: [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]Combat Drones[/SIZE][SIZE=12pt] (4 Squadrons)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Shipboard Complement: [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]Crusader Battle Droids[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Shields: [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]100%[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Armor: [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]100%[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Engaging: Indiscriminate fire on Chiss forces.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Actions: Arrived in system at lunar apogee, approaching planetary orbit and shipyards at extreme weapons range. Launching fighters.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Idol-class Attack Cruiser[/SIZE][SIZE=12pt] CNS [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]Thank You and Goodnight[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Hangar: [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]Combat Drones[/SIZE][SIZE=12pt] (2 Squadrons)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Shipboard Complement: [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]Crusader Battle Droids[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Shields: [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]100%[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Armor: [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]100%[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Engaging: In formation on Ark Divinus flank.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Actions: Arrived in system at lunar apogee, approaching planetary orbit and shipyards at extreme weapons range. Launching fighters.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Idol-class Attack Cruiser[/SIZE][SIZE=12pt] CNS [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]Stranger Here Myself[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Hangar: [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]Combat Drones[/SIZE][SIZE=12pt] (2 Squadrons)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Shipboard Complement: [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]Crusader Battle Droids[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Shields: [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]100%[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Armor: [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]100%[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Engaging: In formation, on Precise Nature of the Catastrophe flank.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Actions: Arrived in system at lunar apogee, approaching planetary orbit and shipyards at extreme weapons range. Launching fighters.[/SIZE]
Location: The Veil {Entering Real Space} | Objectives: Assault the outer defenses | Theme | Tags: [member="Darth Tacitus"] [member="Alessandra Creed"] [member="Darth Metus"] [member="Aeden"] Miles [member="Archim Calixis"] [member="Caesar Kenway"] [member="Darth Animus"] [member="Gida Freetaa"] [member="Diarmid"]
It never failed that [member="Darth Tacitus"] had a way of making an appearence. Even from where his ship stood, Adron could see the Emperor of the Eternal Empire's relentless onslaught. He targeted all targets, civilian and military alike. As The Fortressa released it's hellish barrage on the unsuspecting ships Adron could not help but scoff. This brutality is a by product of war, nothing more, however the Exarch knew it would come with its own consequences. Those consequences would have to be paid later, for now war was the focus.
"Sir. Our Battlecruisers are being engaged!" The low whine of the tactical droid seemed to drown out the Exarch's thoughts as he looked up to se the barrage of fire, slamming into his Battlecruiser's. They drifted further towards the enemy lines, leaving The Veil behind until it could regain some semblence of function. Peering at the battle, he could see his cruisers slowly drifting out of their cloaked form. Whether or not this had been a product of the ION weaponry used against them or done of their own volition, The Exarch was not sure. Both of the Battlecruisers continued their assault, slamming into the shields guarding the Jen'ai Empire's shipyards. Aboard The Veil the droid deck crews seemed to be returning to normal and were working to get all of the ship's functions back to optimal conditions. Luckily the warship sat outside of the range of the enemies assault, giving it the time and safety to make such repairs.
"Sir, the Engine crew say almost ten minutes until we'll have power again." The Exarch contorted his face with an unpleasent expression before crossing his arms over his chest. "Shields and armament?" He questioned. Although the ship's engines were crucial if they did not take care of the rest of the ship's functions it would not amount to much in the end. Most of the deck's lights seemed to come back online, as the terminals around Adron lit up he could hear the droid crews chiming in. "Sir! Sensors are back online."
"Armament is back online as well sir. All weapons are priming as we speak." Another of the deck officer's callecd out, finally bringing a small smile onto the Exarch's face. "Finally."
That meant that only the shields and engines would need final repairs. Adron turned to Alessandra, hearing her request with an arched brow. He could sense some of the worry that came from her and it caused him to produce a warm smile. "I will never let harm come to you." It was all he felt the need to say in the moment as he turned back to one of the deck officer's who seemed to be trying to gain his attention. "Yes?" He demanded, and in the next moment the voice of Adron's partner, [member="Srina Talon"] would chime in over the deck. Ah, the operation had reached the point where a status report would be appropriate. He pulled a small comm device from his waist, tapping it into the Exarch's frequency and spoke plainly. "My diversion seems to have worked. Though not without a small price to pay. My ship is safe but a lot of our systems were taken offline, it should not be much longer until I join the battle. Malvern out." Adron would end the call and glance over to one of the communications droids. "Patch me in to the Fleet command network."
The Fleet Command network was a private line that connected [member="Darth Tacitus"], [member="Khonsu Amon"], and [member="Archim Calixis"] so they could better coordinate their attack strategy. Adron's holoimage would flash before each of the men, his form looking to them with an almost amused expression. "I'm afraid I'm having some trouble with my ship. I trust you can handle the assault until The Veil is back operational? Tacitus, have you broken past their shields yet? My Battlecruisers are pressing forward but taking considerable fire." His amethyst eyes looked up to gauge the damage his ships had taken. It appeared their shields were holding for now, but there was no telling how long that would last.
Summary: With The Veil still recovering from it's full systems failure, Adron continues to assault forward with his Battlecruisers. Each cruiser is taking significant fire from the enemy force yet their shields are holding. With The Veil's armament and systems back on it is nearly ready to resume it's own attack. To better coordinate the attack, Adron has reached out to the other leaders of the Confederate Fleet.
Insertion Fleet: Flagship: The Veil {Status: Partially Disabled | Shields: Offline | No Starfighters | Damage: 0%}
Escorts: The White Nova {Status: Firing on shielded Jen'ari shipyard | Shields: 75% | Starfighters prepping for deployment| Damage: 0%} The Ferocity{Status: Firing on shielded Jen'ari shipyard | Shields: 72% | Starfighters prepping for deployment | Damage: 0%}
The leader of the Knight's Obsidian had been going through the final stages of preperation when he heard he voice of [member="Srina Talon"]. He turned back to her, inclining his head respectfully to the woman as he spoke. "Exarch Talon. We'll be ready to depart in five minutes." The man turned back to the terminal before him and continued to run through the ship's systems. Everything had been checking out thus far and the ship was almost prepared for flight. With all things good came the bad. Journey lingered away from Cardinal, making his way over to [member="Srina Talon"] and hovering over her shoulder. His voice was matter of fact as he spoke about the Dominus. "You know I would really be better served aiding you, not the brute." A small vein did grow on the side of his temple yet Cardinal did not rise to the Shard's words. They had far more important things to do.
As [member="Kurenai Yumi"] was the next to arrive, Cardinal glanced up to call out to the woman. "Knight Yumi, hurry up we don't have much time." He called, gesturing towards the back of the ship. "Everyone start getting strapped in. The Fleet is moving closer to the enemy and the closer we are when we depart the harder it will be to remain unseen."
To this Journey would speak once again, as he lazily floated from Srina's shoulder back over to Cardinal. "I've finished the stealth drive's diagnostics." Cardinal paused, before arching a brow at the Shard. "And?" There was a notable pause before the shard would drift back over to the fair Exarch. "Effecient." Cardinal mumbled something under his breath as he tapped into the main console. Metallic clamps that fastened the ship to the hangar would release the landing gear so the ship would be allowed to depart. As others loaded into the ship the Dominus would glance back into the passenger bay to gain a quick count of who all they had. After the Dominus Prime gained a count he would take a seat back in the cockpit. "Journey. Patch yourself into everyon's comm link and scan their vitals. You'll keep track of everyone when we reach the surface." The Shard began to drift from one person to the next, he would speak their name as a dim blue light ran over their body and they were successfuly stored into his databanks.
As Journey scanned the members of the group Cardinal would activate the ship's repulsors, allowing them to lift off of the hangar's deck as they made their way into space. They were met with exactly what you would expect. Lights flashed all around as turbolaser fire was exchanged from one fleet to another. Almost immediately out of the hangar, Cardinal was sure to activate their own cloaking system, leaving them free to travel without being detected. "Hold on!" A quick jerk of the flight stick caused them to shoot forward. Although it would have been the safer route to go around the Fortressa, Cardinal flew close to the warships hull, dodging the turbolaser guns as they rocketed towards Copero.
I hate flying. The Dominus thought as he held the controls as tight as he could manage without breaking them. Journey would drift over his shoudler, staring out into the viewport with a silent expression. "You're flying?" He asked the Dominus as Cardinal roughly scraped against the Fortressa's hull. "Yes!?" He retorted with confusion.
"We're all going to die." Journey said sadly, drifting back over to Srina Talon's shoulder.
Location: atmosphere, then planetside, outside of Copero City Equipment: lightsaber, black robes, tracking device, comlink ? Opposition: [member="Cay-Yo"] Allies: [member="Coren Starchaser"] | [member="Mishel Noren"] | [member="Shia Kryze"] | [member="Marakai Al'Orren"] | [member="Zak Dymo"] | [member="Kayla Wylen"]
Faced it with a space- and piloting-related problem, it was natural to hand it over to Coren, and he lost not time to grab it with both hands - though not in a way that involved grabbing the steering column with such. Amilthi was unsurprised by her surprise at Coren's actions. He was so determined in sending them to the escape pod that it was clear he had a plan, however unorthodox, and probably involving a queer use of the Force she was unfamiliar with.
The group was rather large and stood uncomfortably close together in the small escape pod. Amilthi kept her hands close to herself and was determined to keep her balance. She noted with a certain satisfaction that Coren admonished the two of them who seemed most vulnerable, the winged girl and the child, to stay close to him. Much as he seemed rash to entangle himself in violence, he did take his role as a protector seriously.
Amilthi didn't know what to expect when Coren had Mishel give him a timing and could prepare in no other way than by keeping an open mind that was ready to receive and observe experiences without judging them. Then, much happened in a mere moment. Her spatial awareness became distorted, as it sometimes did in deep meditation, but then twisted in a novel way. Colours became more intense and dissolved into pure light, and then suddenly from this light emerged the movement of arachnid legs, throwing a shadow over her and poised to close around her, followed by fangs descending...
And in a heartbeat it was all over, leaving the Jedi shaken and faintly nauseous, her pulse quickened and stomach cramped. Somehow the visuals she had experienced were vaguely reminiscent of the hallucinations one experienced in the Kathol rift. This was probably not an accident - perhaps Coren had employed some teaching he had received from the mysterious Aing-Tii?
The escape pod fell, and fell, and kept on falling. They must have somehow got through the shield. It felt effortful to pull her attention away from all the unpleasant sensations she was experiences, but years of meditation practice had given Amilthi much control over her mind. Quickly enough she regained awareness of the situation. His stunt had left Coren rather for the worse, but Kayla was somehow managing to get next to him despite her inconveniently large stature and look after his condition.
The pod slowed down in preparation for impact with the surface, and Coren's comlink suddenly sprung alive with a voice announcing itself as [member="Srina Talon"]. Amilthi had heard quite a bit about the woman, as she held the same function and rank in the Confederacy as [member="Adron Malvern"] and appeared to occupy much space in his mind; but they had never met.
Amilthi kneeled down to pluck the device from Coren's belt. Just as she was reaching for it, the escape pod suddenly met the ground and inertia pulled the unsuspecting Jedi downward, knocking her face against his chest. Amilthi seemed confused as she rose again, but looked at Coren with a tinge of worry in her expression as if to make sure he had not suffered from the contact.
Finally, she raised the comlink. "This is Amilthi Camlenn, with Coren Starchaser. We are planetside and will endeavour to mark the shield infrastructure for orbital bombardment."
During the shot walk to the hanger Kurenai learnt something new, that being her and [member="Srina Talon"] and herself shared a mutual hatred for their neighborhood mando bounty hunter. She was not fully aware of why the Echani seemed to despise him so much, nor did she care, only that it was nice to find someone else that didn't salivate over the armored Fett remake, bowing down to him and begging the man to take one a job. Who knew perhaps she'd approached the Extract later on and discuss plan to take down the number one bounty hunter in the galaxy, she'd been itching at a rematch after her defeat during the CIS attack on Kamino.
Still that was a later plan for now she needed to keep focus on the task at hand, attention being drawn away from thought on how to kill koda by the voice of Madalena. The small whisper of words was seemilng strange but Kurenai understood it well, "I aim too, but note that my sense of smell is also rather 'unique', do not think you are alone in this battle child". She'd give the young women a strong punch to the back, flashing a very rare smirk as the filed into the hanger bay, eyes training on their Dominus almost instantly. "Yes yes I'm coming, geez young peoples these days, can't give an eldery women even a few seconds before throwing her into a fight".
With a small sigh she followed the other in, strapping down and getting herself ready, her movements like that of a machine, having many past events to get such a process down pat were thinking was no longer necessary. Her expression returning to the plain stoic nature she always wore, not even giving much notice to the shard that went about scanning and making jabs at Cardinal come the time for departure. To her it was just another stroke to the already full chalk board, another battle for the ages, but one that could come with it's own new aspects... hopefully. If not, well no harm in a little practices.
