The Eighth Battle - Coalition Invasion of Triumvirate Ruusan

[Jericho]

Location: The Valley of Jedi/Citadel
Nearby Allies: [member="Connor Harrison"] / [member="Solan Charr"] / [member="Joza Perl"] / SSC/Lotus Members
Nearby Enemies: [member="Darth Orcus"] /[member="Haytham Kaze"] / [member="Shargon'Ta"] / [member="Dagorn"] / ST/OS Members
Objective: Take the Citadel -> Take down Sith that will potentially delay SSC Ground Forces

Jericho moved calmly moved towards the citadel then a voice entered his ear a call from a familiar being. [member="Joza Perl"] . "Joza Perl here. Just dropped into the Valley." The valley was swarmed with Jedi and it was acknowledged she was nearby. The little Zeltron was no longer a little girl the last time that they had seen each other they were training together after they and the brotherhood took down a leviathan. From everything the little one has been through she could handle herself just fine. On top of that, she was along alongside all the Jedi from the sanctum if she needed help there would be plenty of others to go to her aid. So Jericho kept to heading towards the citadel now alongside [member="Solan Charr"] , whom of which would be acting as his support for their attack as well as the team of infantry they had with them. But when the warrior turned his head he saw Solan move, without any orders to do so the relaxed moved on ahead towards Joza Perl's position. There had to be a reason the master would move without telling the warrior.

With a breath, the warrior closed his eyes and felt the presence several dark signatures. There was one that seemed familiar to him, though he could not put a face to it. The warrior took a moment to think of where and remembered it was the presence Joza was with when the SSC went to try and save her from her imprisonment. Was this presence here as a friend to assist the SSC with their invasion? That was Jericho's first assumption to the matter, in the best case scenario, she would have Solan and this presence keeping her safe on the battlefield. This put his mind at ease for only but a moment when he realized the presence came with the other signatures. Jericho shook his head and took a knee, taking another deep breath. Since the battle with the Rakghouls and meeting the mysterious, Matsu Xiangu, the warrior has been completely himself, mentally speaking. With the serum he took, his emotions have been fairly flared out and with his general flow of the force withing him, amplified this. The only thing that was being kept straight was his mind and physical prowess in battle and that was only due to repetition.

"Calm..." The warrior thought to himself. Solan was heading her way, he was more than a capable master, under the facade of a jokester, there was a skilled fighter, right? The thought made the warrior doubt and the voices of many again let out a little giggle in his mind. "Looky here." The voices called out with a sneering tone. "A story as old as time. You should know it by now very well, little boy." Jericho took another breath to ignore the voice try to keep them from getting to him. "A sith comes. Kidnaps a little Jedi. Tortures them. They go free. Then they join them. Do you what happens?" The voices asked letting out another little giggle. The warrior remained silent, trying to concentrate on his task. "You kill them. Over and over and over. Like little weeds. They keep on growing out of the nowhere....Well....Not nowhere....Some from birth, no choice, that's not so bad. It's the ones that swell their ranks....You know wh--" Befoe the voices could say another word in his mind they were repressed and his mind for the moment calmed. "Concentrate..." The warrior though and he took another deep breath.

The dark presence did not arrive with Joza, rather, it arrived with the signatures. One particular powerful. What was their goal? Mostly, attempt to stop the advancing forces to the Citadel. There was something wrong with that thought, Jericho was on the front lines ready to spearhead the charge towards the citadel. There was also, Connor Harrison ready for a fight their presence alone should have caused some sort of worry and enticed a few of those signatures to face and try to stop. Why would they ALL focused on Joza's presence? That didn't seem like a logical or tactical move. Unless...No...."swell their ranks". Was their aim to convert a member of the SSC knowing the SSC would not try to harm them and cause confusion among the ranks? It made a little more sense, with the warrior, Connor, and Solan being masters thought not impossible but more difficult to convince them to change rather than wasting energy on fighting they would talk and convince. Joza would be particularly vulnerable, wouldn't she? The seemingly familiar presence, may or may not already know that. With what she has been through. "No....No....No....." The warrior thought. It was no longer about whether or not capable to take care of herself. It was the matter of Jericho losing someone he cared about....Again. Either way, there was the chance that she would fall to the darkness or if she didn't, she was surrounded by several Darksiders.


"Sir?" a soldier asked. "Your orders?" As calmly as he could the warrior stood. "Stay in position and on guard." The warrior stated his voice booming and somewhat shaky. "Be ready to siege in 30 minutes as we planned whether or not I return." The warrior grunted a bit before placed a hand on his temple giving it a light rub. The voice yet again entered his mind with a devilish giggle and this time they would get a response. The warrior's anger flared...

"ARRGH!!!"​

The let out a monsterous roar that was amplified by the force letting it echo throughout the area and began making his way towards the dark signatures and Joza's location. His eyes brimmed with a line of white fire ready for battle.

 

[Connor Harrison]

Objective 1
Location: Valley of the Jedi
Mission: Aid Joza | Advance Forward
Allies In Area: [member="Joza Perl"] | [member=Jericho] | SSC
Enemies In Area: [member="Darth Orcus"] | [member=Shargon'Ta] | ST

"I'm on my way."

Connor lifted his arm and pulled up the com-link cover to get a read on Joza's signal. The area was dotted with silver and crimson; each fairly obvious who it belonged to. As he honed in to the Padawan, another transport streaked overhead.

The Jedi hugged the side of the Valley as best he could, keeping himself low and not stopping as he thundered up and over a number of dunes that, on second glance, looked like craters from an orbital assault. The Citadel was looming ahead, but now his target was the fellow Jedi who needed help. It sounded like the Sith were doing their most notorious ploy; heavily outnumbering a lesser opponent to make them feel stronger. Not if he could help it. Maybe today he could take back some of the pride in himself the Sith had continued to bludgen out of the once proud Master.

Avoiding a few wild shots and swooping fighters that came from above, Connor panted as he raced onward, and over another dune and weaved through steaming outcroppings of rock to see his intended target. Or rather, targets.

A hulking....whale-human hybrid? What sort of experiments had the Sith created?

"JOZA!" Connor shouted - enough to be heard hopefully and immediately enter him into the situation.

He walked forward a few steps, fists clenched in his thick black gauntlets.

"You have 10 seconds before I ground you into fish-food, Sith."

Spoiler

 

[Eugen Aker]

Location: Orbit above Olmondo
Objective: Assist Coalition forces in taking Olmondo on the ground. Provide Air Cover, Transportation/Medivac, and Recon as needed.
Allies: [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] [member="Tempest"] [member="Kei Amadis"] [member="Charlyra Araano"] [member="Audren Sykes"] and Friends
Enemies: Sith Triumvirate and Friends

High above the capital of Ruusan sat an independent Kiribian task force in orbit, representing the interests of the Galactic Republic, and the newly (re)formed Republic Knights. As the Galactic Alliance began their offensive against the One Sith's southern holds, the Republic had chosen to make a quick pivot eastward and assist the Coalition in their invasion to rid themselves of the growing nuisance that was the Sith Triumvirate. With the Triumvirate being so close to Yutan, it would be insanity to ignore the expansion of the new Sith power right in their backyard. After being briefly subjected to two fronts between the United Clans and the One Sith, the Republic wasn't looking for a repeat of that scenario. As they had defeated the Sith Assassins, and the Vong Hordes, they would break the Triumvirate here on Ruusan. Then it was back to the main program.

The SSC had opened things up with negotiations, so the task force remained in a holding pattern. Heavy jamming was present in and around Olmondo, the task force's target, but that did nothing to impede the use of electro-optics, infrared, and LIDAR to survey the city. As for communication, the jamming efforts didn't inhibit tight beam communication like laser line. Due to the nature of such highly focused transmissions, jamming them would require a dedicated platform aligned directly between the transmitter and receiver. A slight adjustment in trajectory and/or polarization could throw off that effort with ease. Between themselves, the Kiribians took advantage of their proprietary biocomms and Hydra to circumvent the jamming altogether.

About the only thing that the jamming was good for was highlighting the positions of the jamming stations themselves, bright beacons of radiation for easy spotting. By analyzing thermal readings and raw radiation emissions, each station location was zeroed in for a later attack. Efforts were made to pinpoint the location of the Triumvirate's Command-and-Control (C2) headquarters by the same method.

As it turned out, the Republic wouldn't have to wait long for negotiations to inevitably go sour. Fire was observed from Coalition artllery and armored sections on the ground, right as they received word from the ground commanders of the operation commencing.

From their carriers, a battalion's worth of Dragoons and drones (x, x, x, x, x, x, x) were ferried down to the surface aboard LA-ATs (x, x) as part of the first assault wave. They were escorted planetside by a squadron of fighters, led by Arisa in her J-1. The rest of the squadron consisted of A-Wing interceptors and a pair of B-Wing assault fighters. The composite squadron afforded Yune the flexibility to establish air superiority and to provide air support to the Kiribian and Coalition ground forces (along with the LA-ATs themselves). On approach, the A-Wings used their own signal scramblers to cripple the sensors of AA systems that may be present in the area.

"Sparrow to Coalition Forces," Arisa announced over laser line to the ground commander. "Enroute to Olmondo, on station in less than five mikes."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5byxSgCDDo​

 

[Kei Amadis]

Location: Olomondo, Making Entry.
Allies: [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] | [member="Charlyra Araano"] | [member="Tempest"] | [member="Cathbodua"] | [member="Audren Sykes"]
Enemies: [member="Kiran Vess"] | [member="Laguz Vald"] | [member="Cameron Centurion"] | [member="Ameli Trahir"] | [member="Lassiter"] | [member="Dak Canton"]
Specific Opponent: TBD
NPC Allies: Background Fluff. Unless he's engaged vs NPCs.

Ion shells came down not far from their position, Kei took deliberate, sensible cover. “Need to separate the hostages. Longer they have the more fortified they get.” That’s what he would have done, fortify. By now word of mouth had reached them of the situation fully. Cathbodua was a capable Jedi, so the Master’s had acknowledgement of that in how direct he was, “urban combat, watch for snipers, move slow and stay together.” Like his younger half brother, Kei’s background was military but his voice was not that of a general, leveled, balanced as the Jedi Master he was over the top of many years of experience.

“Suggestions?” To [member="Cathbodua"] he asked personally.

Entering the Nearest Building

When you had only one way in, what did you do, make more cover!
Sadly that meant a few people would lose their homes on the outskirts. Their engineers would rebuild, and would stay here as long as was needed to repair any damage done.


Using the confusion of the barrage for cover, Amadis began to make entry into the nearest side of a structure using his saber, using cover of a building not the road, because he wasn’t a tank or vehicle. “Rann, done urban a hundred times, low, quiet, clear us a path.” He put his hand on the soldier’s shoulder, “don’t be getting all mushy on me boss,” strong nod and grin given from Kei the men separated by twos. Small teams ready to set detonator charges around the front buildings, and make a bigger hole! Messages relayed via signal flare, the force, and other non direct methods to begin Plan A. Other greying (sun!) stubbled wildcards were attempting similar actions on other sides of the city, presenting yet more targets for snipers or their drones, who were all too likely to start spotting this larger movement forward and start taking scalps. [member="Kiran Vess"] | [member="Laguz Vald"]

"Wait," Kei held his hand up but too late, feeling danger, just as someone put their back foot down. "MINES!" Came the shout nearby, sadly not quick enough, small explosion rocked one side of the building, a few more would follow elsewhere across the city's outer perimeter. Wildcards had dealt with city fighting before, having a unit created just for that purpose decades ago, so they were delayed rather than stopped to disarm, but that left opportunity to pin them inside, unless [member="Cathbodua"] had a plan. [member="Kiran Vess"] | [member="Laguz Vald"]

[member="Tempest"]
Via the force, as force damn those jammers were even effecting their gear. ~We've got mines, drones, suggest another ion barrage further forward to clear, avoid the perimeter buildings else you'll hit us.~ Tempest might hear in her mind, might as she’d have to listen hard to hear his weak mindspeak, Kei would repeat it three times to be sure she did get the short message. Using artillery closer range was never guaranteed, some of those shots would be coming in mighty close, thankfully they had the e-wings recon photos to plan where to hit with some accuracy!

Gear
Tempest Jedi Armor | Power Blade Mii Knife (Hip) | Lightsaber (Hands) | MCR Rifle Ion Ammo (Shoulder) | 2x Stun Grenades | Basic Field Medical Kit (Pouch) | Grappling Hook/Tie/Field Rations (Belt)

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Location: Valley of the Jedi
Opponents: [member="Ijaat Mereel"]
Gear: Weapons in Signature

• Shoulder Dartlauncher loaded with (2) Dragon's Fire Darts, (2) Cyroban Darts
• (2) Class-A Thermal Detonators, (2) Force Breakers
• Carrying an Individual Field Disruptor on belt with other mundane equipment

Hammer flashed in the bellows of the Valley, metal ringing against metal as hammer smashed upon the heated metal. The last of the scale was gone, and the metal was finally fusing together as the Mandalorian intended when he began. Each spike and face had been given rough shape in the black pyre and heavy beskar anvil. The smith quenched the metal again in the blood of a Jakobeast, patiently waiting for the fires to die down from the trough and the stench of burning flesh to fade into the air. Smoke billowed from the trough while the smith waited, setting aside the old polished Hjarna stone hammer he had been given and checking to ensure his next set of hammers and tools hung on his belt.

When Ijaat began siphoning off a small fraction of his essence, Draco didn't react, didn't put a stop to the process. He knew what it was, it was the essential binding of crystal to warrior, weapon to wielder. That was a slight problem as Draco was not at that point yet, still working the essential properties of the shape into the hammer slowly but surely. The smith took his time, setting the head of the hammer back into the heat of the forge and drawing in the power of the Valley of the Jedi, looking to the font of power in the center of the cavern. There was commotion going on, and things were beginning to heat up. The dragon became unsure how long the Silver Jedi would be distracted, whether they would see him as a threat, or whether they would allow he and Ijaat to finish their contest of skills.

After all, the first part of the contest wasn't even completed between the two Mandalorians. Dark fires churned in the forge, slowly bringing the metal up to temperature before the Mandalorian began casting the metal upon the beskar anvil again. This time he drew out the points of the top and back spike, shortening the top spike from the width of a hand, to about two fingers width. With trained and exercised precision the beskar smith slowly turned the hammer upon the anvil, each strike, smoothing the metal of the spikes and turning them into the circular cones he desired as he worked the metal slowly.

Euk'gar was an interesting material, not unlike beskar in its refining and initial forging. The key differences in beskar and euk'gar was the ore that was used in its creation. Where as beskar used rare and precious beskar ore, euk'gar used simple high-carbon iron ore as its base. Euk'gar was the creation that spawned from master beskarsmiths being given common ores and sending that material through the same process as beskar forging, thus the only true way to create the material was for it to be in the hands of a beskarsmith.

The warrior focused his energy into the weapon in his hands, heat radiating from the red hot metal as the warrior worked to heat it even as he worked, meticulously beginning to focus on detail after detail, ensuring the completed shape was just as he desired it to be, a work of art in the hands of an experienced warrior. In Draco's mind, no weapon was complete unless it looked as good as it preformed, that each masterpiece be not only a masterpiece of function, but also a masterpiece of form.

With the spikes successfully drawn out, the smith turned the hammer to focus on the striking face, the small hammer he was using slowly turning the metal into the shape buried within his mind's eye. Now he began working from instinct more than anything, letting his focus turn to the composition of the metal rather than its appearance.

 

[Joza Perl]

Location: Valley of the Jedi
Allies: ???
Enemies: ???
Objective: ???
Gear: 2x blue lightsabers, Sasori Armor, Ranger Shotgun, AI Wrist Blaster, 1x standard Vibroblade

“I stopped calling myself ‘Jedi’. You know that.” She would mumble lowly, biting the inside of her cheek at the thought. “A necessary evil…” Her voice faded, gaze sliding over to where she felt [member="Solan Charr"]’s presence before focusing back on [member="Haytham Kaze"]. “What about Matsu Xiangu and the legion of zombies that she released on Dromund Kaas? Was that a necessary evil, Haytham? It didn’t seem to be helping much.” Her jaw clenched at the notion of her joining him being more Jedi like behavior, and for a second she felt laughter bubble up in her chest. “Has [member="Darth Orcus"] twisted your view on the galaxy so much? You fancy yourselves righteous now? Ridiculous. And in the name of peace? Isn’t peace a lie? At least come to me honestly as a Sith.”

Damnit. He was playing her emotions, he was—

Joza nearly lurched forward at the intensity with which he tugged at their bond. Not tugged. Jerked. Her feelings for him ran deeper than she could express, and that was saying a lot given her race. “I…” She hesitated, upper row of teeth sawing at her bottom lip. “N-no. Of course not. I would never. How can you even ask me that, Haytham?” Her head would raise up towards him, reflections of hurt and fury swimming in her eyes. “I don’t care if they kill your Sith friends, or Orcus, or whoever. I won’t let them kill you. You know that.”

A new feeling of rage flickered to life within her, feeding from her indecision. Old feelings stirred in her chest. Me hurt him? He’s the one that hurt me. I would never, I would never… Memories of Cloud Nine surfaced. The bruises, her clothing torn to shreds, the cold feel of the marble floor. Squeezing her eyes shut, Joza began to shake. His view on the galaxy was warped, twisted by that Sith of a whale. The Silvers weren’t perfect, but at least they didn’t masquerade around as the righteous.

The voice of [member="Connor Harrison"] rang dully in the back of her mind, muffled by the call of the dark side. Inhaling deeply, she could feel [member="Solan Charr"] watching them, and the rapidly approaching presence of [member="Jericho"]. None of that mattered right now.

“Do you think…” She began slowly, drawing out the words as her eyes remained closed. “…that your fellow Sith would not try and do the same for me? Aside from what they have done already, of course. I thought you were prepared to face the consequences of your decisions. As have I.” She was referring to their respective choices of which faction, which causes they chose to serve. And then, the tremors stopped.

“I won’t let them kill you, Haytham.”

Her eyes would open, dull amber gaze leveling with his own.

“But this isn’t love.”

Her flesh hand shot out with a quick, sudden movement. A strong, blunt Force Push at such close range would surely send him back from her. She shook her head wildly, anguish swelling in her chest before it burst like an infected sore, wracking her body with great sadness. A snarl tore from her lips, bellowing through the immediate area with a drop of the Force.

“THIS IS MANIPULATION!”​

But she would reach out to him telepathically, this time more sure of their strangely newfound connection.

"Make it look convincing. We can both avoid death today."​

 

[Cameron Centurion]

((OOC: Sorry for the delay, gonna catch up real quick...))
Location: Olmondo
Allies: [member="Ameli Trahir"] | [member="Dak Canton"] | [member="Lassiter"] | [member="Kiran Vess"] | [member="Laguz Vald"]
Enemies: [member="Tempest"] | [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] | [member="Kei Amadis"] | [member="Charlyra Araano"] | [member="Audren Sykes"] | [member="Cathbodua"]

Cameron's gaze was mostly fixed on the mercenaries a fair distance beyond the main gates into the city. The Sith Lord knew little of Kiran Vess, but it was not his place to validate and employ mercenaries. For the time being, it appeared to be an entertaining spectacle...and that was good enough.

"Lord Ashmedai."

A soft exhale escaped the Sith Lord's lips. "Yes."

"Word from the Triumvirs."

"Let me guess. I have been honored with responsibility for defending the city."

Silence.

"Beautiful. I would have words with the Garrison Commander."

A handful of minutes passed before several Triumvirate Troopers stepped onto the roof with the Sith Lord. Wasting little time, Cameron motioned out across the battlefield. "Colonel. I have little intention to inherit your responsibility to provide for the defense of this city. I also do not intend to insult your tactical prowess. Yet I have a question." Motioning to the interactions between [member="Kiran Vess"] and [member="Tempest"] in the distance, the Sith Lord continued. "I'm sure you have a plan to deal with that."

"Mi'lord I do be---"

Cameron raised a simple hand. "Yes or no."

"Yes, Mi'lord."

"See that it gets done. Oh and Colonel, status on the evacuation?"

"The last group was ushered into the lower levels some time ago, Lord Ashmedai. However, there could always be stragglers."

"Fine, you're dismissed." Dropping to a knee, Cameron inhaled steadily as he allowed his presence to merge into the Force. It wasn't the same as attempting to shrink his presence by any means. In fact, if he were doing anything it was expanding his presence outward, flooding the currents of the Force with the dark nature that had twisted and contorted his soul so many decades ago. As the Force swiftly took over all of the Sith Lord's senses, he could feel the very rotation of the planet's core, vibrations of people and machine alike traversing the surface of Ruusan inside and around the city. Slowly, he began to localize his concentration for a very specific purpose.

The Coalition would find efforts to detect the source of the jamming...relatively useless. Sensors were not being jammed, but they would do little good localizing the emission spectrum from the ground. However, they could perhaps find success through other avenues if they managed to get into the proper position to pinpoint large areas of electronic emission. Would that mean they had found the jammers or simply another nexus of large electrical output? Hard to determine when the capital planet played host to the vast majority of the system's rather considerable forces.

Broadband jamming merely meant that a wide swath of typical frequencies used for tactical communications were being jammed by creating too much 'noise' in the system for anyone else on the frequency to be able to adequately transmit across long distances. Broadband jamming was not, however, typically an adequate method of jamming encrypted, short-distance communications which often occurred on a very high, specific set of rotating frequencies.

Bottom line...neither the Sith nor the Coalition would find a great deal of success in communicating over large distances via conventional means the closer they got to the city.

-----
Within Olmondo, Triumvirate Troopers were being re-positioned per new orders from the command center. There were some that utilized the street level to reposition various defensive emplacements, roving posts, and static posts, but there were some that remained internal to buildings for one reason or another.

As the Coalition, presumably, threw the full force of their effort into their attack, Triumvirate forces remained mostly patient outside of the occasional engagement on 'targets of opportunity'.

A larger play was clearly in the works.

 

[Sorel Crieff]

In the vicinity: [member="Matsu Ike"] [member="Sinistra"]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hY1Cm3jXK9s

Sorel observed the interchange between her Master and the dark-sider. She was patient and knew her place. She would remain on the side-lines as her Master indicated. She could at least watch her back from this position, in case any newcomers had an idea of changing the odds.

She stood with her arms folded, still wearing her cloak and her twin sabers hidden from view. The dialogue was interesting. She wondered how much was a genuine exchange of views and how much was rhetoric? And which words were simply Dun Moch? If any. She knew her Master well enough but not the dark-sider. So she kept her eyes on the two but her senses on the area that surrounded them all, waiting for the Force to warn her of any impending arrivals.

As the conversation unfolded, Sorel imagined she was speaking to the dark-sider and wondered how she would respond, and compared it to her Master's words. She knew she still had a lot to learn. And there was also an uncomfortable feeling that she struggled with at times like these. She was here to oppose the dark-side. It was in part what being a Jedi meant. Not what she was, but part of what she needed to do. They were here opposing dark-siders and yet there were many in the ranks of the SSC that also called upon the darkside and Sorel had yet to come to terms with what on the surface could be levelled at her as hypocrisy. And she wondered how she'd deal with someone who challenged her on this basis.

But thankfully for now she was spared the challenge and she remained a bystander - albeit one focused on the impending dance that was about to happen in front of her.

 

[Marcus Tritum]

[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbqjBpNT1sc[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Location: Olmondo City[/SIZE]
[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Allies: [member="Lassiter"] | [member="Ameli Trahir"] | [member="Cameron Centurion"] | [member="Laguz Vald"] | [member="Kiran Vess"][/SIZE]
[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Enemies: Coalition Incursion Forces[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Their faces flashed with shock. Hey, that’s what the face of AEL can do to some people. Sometimes I could still see advertisements with my face on them, for their previous issues. Like the one with the vest? Man, do I look [/SIZE][SIZE=14.666666666666666px]good. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]“Thank you, ma’ams,” said not unkindly, despite the mockery. Sith liked to play games with people, but they pay real well. Besides, these sort of Sith weren’t the ‘peel you apart and see what’s inside’ Sith. More like the sort who would wait ‘til you got yourself stuck in a hole and then point n’ laugh. Make you promise an arm and a leg before they’d help you out. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]But hey, they weren’t the worst Sith in the galaxy to look at, so who’s complaining? [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Escorting them to the man in charge of Olmondo’s defenses was pretty uneventful, minus the occasional high-pitched whistling overhead. I looked up, but couldn’t spot the shells. Weird how our air support hadn’t taken out those big guns yet. Maybe they had too much ack-ack. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]“Sir,” I said upon arrival, snapping off a salute to the garrison commander. “I’ve retrieved the Sith. Where is-”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]He just pointed in the direction of a tall, broad-shouldered Sith with peculiar green eyes. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]“Thank you, sir.” I stomped over, escorts in tow. “Centurion C-uh-” was that hellfire flashing in his eyes? “Sir, I’ve located Decanii Lassiter and Trahir. We’re here to assist in the defense of the city.” [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]~ ~ ~[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Orbit, Cardan-V class space station[/SIZE]
[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]“Commander D’ik, we’re receiving a transmission from the ground. Get geared up. The Myrmidons jump to these coordinates in ten mikes.”[/SIZE]

 

[Gorba the Hutt]

Location: Valley of the Jedi
Allies: [member="Dagorn"] | @Shargon’Ta | [member="Haytham Kaze"]
Enemies: Coalition Incursion Forces | [member="Joza Perl"] ? | [member="Alkor Centaris"] | [member="Connor Harrison"] | [member="Jericho"] | [member="Solan Charr"]
Equipment: Koodan battle armor | Sith Aspis | Grabthar-class Breaching Hammer | Gun of Command | Greatsaber

More presences drew toward the little gathering, like moths to the flame. Orcus could feel them all in the Force. Some burned like starlight, bright and vibrant. Beautiful, but full of radiant energy waiting to be released. Others leaked the sickly-sweet aura of the Dark Side, belching stygian clouds from calderas of rage.

A prickling sensation creeped up the cetacean’s back. He turned slowly to regard the source of the discomfort. A human, of course, a smirk on his lips. Dark of hair, grim of eye. Orcus raised a single hairless brow.

He opened his mouth, but a shout drew his attention away and toward a male Jedi in what appeared to be powered armor.

If the Coalition did not know of a space faring trade species as widely spread as the Herglics of Giju - something even the Omega Protectorate had known - then one had to wonder just how secluded from the rest of the galaxy they truly were.

A derisive snort loosed from Orcus’ blowholes.

“I beg pardon? Ten seconds to do what? Beg for mercy?”

He could feel the tempest in Joza’s mind even as she extended her senses toward Vanitas with deadly intent.

“Joza, do you see the sort of people you fight for? They would rather cut us down than reason this out. This Matsu Xiangu you spoke of, have you seen her on this planet, have you felt her here? How do you even know we are associated?

His gaze glittered with sudden fury.

“This Dark Sider here," he gestured toward the dark haired man whose name he did not know. "Does he fight for you? Dark and Light together against the Sith? I thought the Silvers stood against the Dark Side in all its forms, yet I've reports of Firemane mercenaries attacking Olmondo. Is anything you Silvers claim to be true? Was it the Coalition who killed my orphans? Is that why you were so silent? How could you deceive me so - I had faith in you, Miss Perl! Why do you show me such hate, when all I ever showed to you was kindness…”

His shoulders slumped as though beneath a great weight and a terrible sadness came into his black eyes.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

Location: The Citadel, Valley of the Jedi
Objective: Become He Who Walks Behind.
Allies: Me, Myself & I
Allies: [member="Nima Tann"]

But instead of encountering the Triumvir in a theatrical pose of nonchalance or the more attentive pose of staring at her throughout the distance, Nima would note that her host was seemingly currently sitting quite comfortably in a seat.

A little booklet was resting on Carach’s lap and he was apparently writing something in it.

This wasn’t really as surprising as you might think, of course. Whilst some believed that the job description of ‘Sith Triumvir’ was glamorous, flashy and exciting, it was actually quite boring and mundane. A lot of paperwork, signing treaties and solving disputes between assorted parties.

Very responsible work.

So apparently Carach had made himself comfortable while waiting on Tann to arrive on the scene.

"Ah, yes." Carach rifled a bit through his booklet, before looking up at her. He noted the ignited lightsaber, the frostiness of her tone and general attitude of combativeness.

"Eager to start the bloodshed already? How delightfully… dark of you, my dear."

The Sith sniffed the air and felt the thrumming of power in his ear.

It beckoned for him to fight. Alluring the Darkside was, addictive and constantly pushing for the glory of war, but only the weak could not resist its pull when other tools were at hand.

"Can I invite you to parlay or have you decided to immediately strike me down in my own home?"

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

Location: On the road to Olmondo
Allies: [member="Tempest"], [member="Charlyra Araano"], [member="Kei Amadis"], [member="Audren Sykes"], [member="Cathbodua"], [member="Arisa Yune"]
Enemies: [member="Cameron Centurion"], [member="Kiran Vess"], [member="Laguz Vald"], [member="Dak Canton"], [member="Ameli Trahir"], [member="Lassiter"]


"Acknowledged, Tempest. May the Force serve you well and Ashira guide you. Reinforcements are incoming. Use the Mag'ladroths to flush out resistance. Watch out for ambushes," Siobhan quickly responded to Tempest before she lost her comm signal. She suppressed a chuckle when she saw that young Charlyra had experienced difficulty riding a speeder!


The young woman's rage and fury were so strong they were almost palpable. They could be powerful weapons...or her undoing. Somehow Siobhan was really reminded of herself. As Charlyra clung to Tempest's back like a child to her mother, the young Acolyte would feel a telepathic brush against her mind. Remember, your fury is your weapon, not your master. Be the eye in the storm. I'll be coming soon, my little whirlwind, Siobhan broadcast. Her words were accompanied by a somewhat calmning, soothing feeling.


The Thunderers had belched out ion shells, Coalition soldiers were going on the offensive across the battlefield while Siobhan watched events unfold via her macrobinoculars from the command post with the artillery, which was far from the frontline. There was only so much she could perceive at this point, especially since communicating over large distances was so damn difficult the closer you got too the city. The drones were too far away for her to actually see, but soon she could see explosions erupt in the distance when Kei's boys approached the city. Soon soldiers were shouting about land mines and drones causing casualties. The jamming could not stop soldiers and droids from ferrying around messages.


So she soon received Kei's request for a strike to take care of the threat posed by drones and mines via a messenger. "Have battery 2 launch ion barrage further forward to clear. Make sure to avoid the perimeter buildings," she ordered one of her minions. Soon the Thunderers would roar again, belching out Rapier guided rounds loaded with ion shells.


Spotters and messenger droids' recordings would ensure precise accuracy and prevent them from hitting their own troops. While all this took place, Siobhan spotted a familiar presence out of the corner of her eye. The strong light side presence was unmistakeable and she recognised the Jedi as Audren Sykes. He was an alright sort and competent. Besides, a Sephi was close enough to an Eldorai!


"Jedi Sykes, glad you could make it. Our vanguard has moved in to attack under Captain Tempest and Master Amadis. You're welcome to join the assault. Amadis could use your support," she said. Could she directly order him to? It was always tricky with Jedi.


"My Lady, we just received a message. Republic forces are landing!" One of her staff officers called, hastening towards Siobhan. Indeed, almost in the same moment swarms of heavily armoured transport ships descended down from the atmosphere, escorted by fighter craft.


"The Republic?" Siobhan raised an eyebrow beneath her helmet's T-shaped visor. She had her own thoughts about that nation, but if they wanted to help, she'd accept their aid. Based on the messages she was receiving, few of the Sith's main forces were actively engaging the Coalition attackers head-on. Some sort of scheme had to be in the works.


Olmondo was not much of a city. Indeed, it was largely composed of ruins and reconstruction efforts had been ongoing when the Coalition fleet arrived, which was why only a few thousand people had lived there. But house-to-house fighting would probably be fierce, especially if Coalition troops got trapped and bogged down. Urban warfare would make Coalition tanks vulnerable due limited manoeuvrability. Nonetheless, they had a lot of firepower at their disposal. Hydra-class anti-air tanks would help keep their airspace safe and protect the artillery, backed up by Mobile Weapons Platforms.


"If you can reach them, tell them Lady Kerrigan thanks them for their aid. We'd appreciate air cover for our forces. We have spotters in the field. Be advised, we've lobbed ion shells." she spoke, having finally caught up on all the new entrants to the Anti-Sith Jihad in this sector. "And get me a speeder," she added. Siobhan would not be hanging back, she'd join the fight.

 

[Cathbodua]

Location: Olomondo
Allies: [member="Kei Amadis"] [member="Arisa Yune"]
Enemies: None yet

Any suggestions? She looked at the jedi master for a moment as the others were going about it, a dangerous game maybe. Somehow she wasn't expecting a standoff to last long while speaking with her eyes forward. "Stunning and freeing any human shields would be one of the things to do and breaking their lines to send in a unit to wedge it. I wouldn't recommend rushing in but a foothold getting in or convincing the big one rolling darkside energies off of himself somewhere in there. If he is the one to talk with and convince to give up then it might be best." She was feeling it out there, someone was scattering their presence so it was over the city instead of in a place. She didn't want to fight unless they had to but [member="Cameron Centurion"]'s presence showed at least something to find for maybe a solution to the fight before [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] smashed all of them Hard at times to convince people to surrender when she saw some Republic forces arriving to get her attention. "Looks like we might have some interest and this could get very interesting." The jedi healer moved touching the field hypo for the tranq darts ready to go and handle some of the things.

 

[Grrwunhoooll Agaburry]

Location: Valley of the Jedi
Allies: [member="Darth Orcus"] [member="Darth Carach"] [member="Haytham Kaze"]
Enemies: [member="Joza Perl"] [member="Connor Harrison"] [member="Jericho"] [member="Solan Charr"]
Objective: Love others.

" Let me...Love... You." Shargon blotted out while pointing at [member="Solan Charr"]. This man was eating popcorn and seated. " I can...be yo-ur cruell mast-erss." The black clan figure stepped closer and closer extending his black wispy hands toward the humans neck. The masked man tilted his head some and his eyes changed to a deep blue color showing the current emotion he was attempting to portray. " I want to...be yo-ur...friend, Hu-man." Shargon said once more. Unstable both physically and mentally the Filar-Nitzans reach for a loving embrace. Things were getting weird fast and intents were changing like the winds. Scanning the mans body Shargon glared at Solans face.

Forming a Telekinetic barrier around his hands Shargons aimed to straggle the man alive if he could all the while muttering. " Love. Love. Love. Love. Love the slave."

Once again Shargon'Ta was projecting his feeling apon others instead of expressing himself.

 

[Aithne Charr]

Obj: PVP with them Sith.
Location: Valley of the Jedi.
Allies: [member="Jericho"] [member="Connor Harrison"]
Enemies: [member="Shargon'Ta"]
Observing: [member="Joza Perl"], [member="Darth Orcus"], [member="Haytham Kaze"]
Equipment: 2x Lightsabers, 15x Vibrodaggers, Jung-jii Fiber Armor, belt with number of pouches for seeds


Solan's attention was focused on the scene rather than the creature but be it as that was he was in no mood to let the being's hand get too close. Just as a Telekinetic barrier could be used to give shape to the being before him, it could be used to block the being out of coming too close to him. It was essentially the same practice used when it came to Breath Control, something that was essential when it came to dealing with plants and the effects that they can cause through the air. Now while it was not the same, as breath control dealt with inhalation, it was the use of the force to mitigate the passage of gases and toxins from being breathed in.

If one could, as he was doing now, project that guard outwards rather than on themselves, then that was exactly what would be achieved by him here and now. Of course, there were exceptions to that rule and his eye slid to make sure that this man was no such exception. Solan would not be so easily strangled and that was when his focus had been drawn in the direction of the screaming voice. [member="Connor Harrison"], and not far behind him would be @Jericho. They were interfering with a choice that the Zeltron needed to make. To sacrifice this demented love that her friend was trying to cause, or to simple fall to the darkside so that she could be with him. His mind stretching out to Harrison's, looking to send a simple phrase to him that the Jedi would understand far better than Jericho hopefully. 'Connor, you and I both know how important it is she choose your path or those like me. Do not think that she will fall if you are correct, and if she does, trust that she still knows who those that will stand with her are. If you interrupt this, you are showing no more faith in her than if you had shut her in your temples."

[member="Joza Perl"] needed to make this decision on her own. Otherwise, it would not hold any weight and if that meant he would need to actually side with the Sith just long enough for her to do it, then he would do so without hesitation. What would stand between him and that was this strange creature that was held in its existance as a being of gas and nothing more than that. [member="Shargon'Ta"] was a being that Solan was more than curious about and he wanted to talk to, but he was not in the mood to have it try to kill him. "I have no friends, or love left for anything in this world. Leave me to find something else which does."

 

[Lok Xiangu]

Location: Valley of the Jedi
Objective: Keep up and get some Points
Allies: [member="Darth Orcus"] and [member="Haytham Kaze"], [member="Shagorn'Ta"]
Enemies: [member="Joza Perl"], [member="Connor Harrison"], [member="Solan Charr"], [member="Jericho"]
Gear: Sig and two thermal detonators

Ever since their departure from Fort Nowhere there was a lot of chatting between the Herglic, the Human, and the Zeltron. Dagorn was very antisocial and didn't ever partook in the trios conversation whatsoever. He talked through his violence most of the time. And as soon as the dropship left them in the historical landmark of the Jedi things escalated very quickly. Not only where the Jedi and their forces closing in on their position, but there was defection coming from the female Zeltron as she questioned the Sith and the Darkside. Was she actually betraying them for the Jedi? Did Dagorn cared for this and all the emotions that Haytham and Joza were spilling out to the public eye? Absolutely not. The Trandoshan mastered all of his emotions which was a factor of him being a cold blooded killed that only had a greed for Jagganath Points.

His slithered the tongue and smelled the air with it, and he smelled new odors that were mixed with the ones he was around with. The two new scents belonged to the like of Humans; one in power armor and the other in no suit of armor. Without hesitation the Zealot raised his rifle at the Jedi in power armor and was ready to fire opon him.

However, he would only fire until ordered to do so which was something that irritated the Trandoshan very much. How much he would enjoy to slay this man and offer him to his deity and be rewarded with a bountiful of Jagganath Points. A vile grin was on his scaly face which demanded blood and death. Surely Orcus would unleash him and minute now, and stalk those that opposed Dagorn and his fellow allies.

Another hiss came out from his mouth and awaited for the fight that was about to become unfold itself with every passing second.

 

[Subject 37]

Olmondo: Main Road
Allies: [member="Laguz Vald"] | [member="Cameron Centurion"] | [member="Lassiter"] | [member="Dak Canton"]
Enemies: [member="Tempest"] | [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] | [member="Kei Amadis"]

Dust rose, a massive cloud of sand and debris that had been tossed into the air. The Artillery had been ionic, but the impact, or rather the detonation of the weapon still caused a burst of energy that saw loose dirt thrown into the air. Vision was obscured for a moment, the air shifting slightly as a gust of wind pressed away the cloud of debris.

Hidden at the forefront was a large shield bubble, it stretched five meters in diameter and reached over Kiran and Jeremy. The two had not moved from their original place, with Jeremy still on his knees facing the army and Kiran directly behind him. The Mercenary still held the dead-man's switch, the device pressed in by his thumb. The two of them seemed to be secure and protected, Jeremy's head and collar still whole. The Zeltros shifted slightly, his armor making an odd clatter as he looked behind himself.

The other hostages had not been so lucky.

Though Ion weapons had in fact been an ingenious idea, they hadn't quite had the effect that one would have hoped. The detonator that Kiran had been using was once that sent out a constant signal to the communicators within the devices that sealed the detonation cord around the hostages neck. That signal needed to be in place in order to keep the device from setting off the explosive, hence why it was called a dead-man's switch. The moment Kiran stopped pressing the button, or the moment the detonator was forced from his hand the signal would stop, and then boom. Of course, what had happened hear is that the detonators had simply been incapable of receiving that signal, the electrical component within the collars being disabled by the Ion weapon, and so the chemical trigger within the device had been set off.

A field of corpses now lay behind Kiran. Mangled bodies that all lay without heads. A few of them had damaged hands or arms, some of them having attempted to claw the detonator cord away before it went off. The scene was a miserable one, and Kiran could hear Jeremy begin to cry as he too looked upon the desecration that the Sanctum had caused. The Mercenary frowned for a second, then turned back towards the quickly approaching army.

There was a loud shink, as a knife popped from Kiran's gauntlet.

The blade was quickly struck forward, and in one quick move the Zeltron slices through the detonator cord and cut Jeremy free. "Come on Jeremy."

KIran grabbed the frail man by the scruff of his neck, wrenching him up from his knees and half tossing him towards the building that the other Saeva Mercenary had entered. It wasn't long before the two fleeing men broke out into a flat spring, the sound of a marching army sounding out heavy bootprints falling on paved road. Blaster Fire began to sear the air as the two men jumped over a large guard rail, Jeremy half stumbling, confusion, fear, desperation clawing on his face. Kiran picked him up, urging him on and practically pushing him into the entrance of the building.

 

[Laguz Vald]

Olmondo
Near the main road
Allies: [member="Kiran Vess"] | [member="Dak Canton"] | [member="Cameron Centurion"] | [member="Ameli Trahir"] | [member="Lassiter"]
Enemies: [member="Tempest"] | [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] | [member="Cathbodua"] | [member="Kei Amadis"] (pew pew)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diSN8l1DyNY​

The shells exploded over Kiran and his bundle of gifts instead of ramming into the asphalt and wiping them all out. A curious phenomenon, but none of the Saeva cared. That’s why they’d brought shields. Far less fortunate than Vess and Jeremy were the other ninety-nine hostages who were bound and kneeling outside of the shield generator’s bubble when the shells went off.

With a ground-shaking explosion, the detcord fulfilled its destiny. Aardveren snorted over the comms. “Goodbye, civvies. We hardly knew ya.”

Xe groaned and tuned the [SIZE=14.6667px]zabrak[/SIZE] out as xe scanned the aftermath below. Xir partner on the ground was more than competent enough to handle the current situation, and Laguz had a job to do.

Finally.

Well outside the range of the shells, the sniper didn’t bat an eyelash (mostly because xe currently didn’t have one to bat). Xe adjusted xir aim, popped a D-grade, and got to work. A merc must earn xir pay, after all.

The soldiers who’d been sprinting before were now moving at a leisurely stroll through the shifter’s field of vision thanks to the drug coursing through xir system. The people running towards the artillery positions were now nothing more than obvious targets in wide open space. With a bit of help from the advanced scope, picking them off became child’s play. Incidentally, [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] would likely observe a swift decline in the frequency of messages, and, indeed, messengers.

The sniper drones scattered throughout the streets were far less silent, but the destructive firepower their weaponry doled out more than made up for that deficiency. With the mines going off left and right, tracking the enemy’s position was rendered laughably easy even without a droid brain running the calculations.

Aadveren’s voice in the background kept xem updated on the foe’s movements deeper into the city, but for the most part, Saeva hung back while the invaders happily ran into their traps.

It was during a small lull of paired-off soldiers that the sniper spotted the best target yet. @Kei [SIZE=14.6667px]Amadis[/SIZE]. If xe’d had a mouth at the moment, Laguz would’ve grinned like a drunk firaxa. Better for everyone that xe didn’t.

A small adjustment in aim later, the shifter had xir sights right on the back of a wildly gesturing Jedi. A nearby mine had collapsed part of a wall, revealing the man and a knot of other soldiers hiding inside the decrepit building. Mooks were mooks, but a glowstick-boy?

Prime game, baby.

Laguz settled the bead on the man’s torso, darling centre mass, exhaled, and let xir flesh glide down the trigger. Somewhere along the line, Tessie bucked back against xem, and the beskar bullet (from Primeval with love) ripped through the air towards the Jedi.

 

[Grrwunhoooll Agaburry]

Location: Valley of the Jedi
Allies: [member="Darth Orcus"] [member="Dagorn"] [member="Haytham Kaze"]
Enemies: [member="Solan Charr"]
Objective: Black

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izHxUkF4ZAQ​

Nothing was working! No matter how hard to tried he could not get it done. Suddenly the cloths on his Gaseous body fell to the ground and blew away in the wind leaving a thick black cloud with Blue eyes to be left in front of [member="Solan Charr"]. With a simple blink Shargon wafted forward dropping it TK grip and stood directly onto of the humaniod to blurr his vision from what was going on with the two love birds that were fighting? How could one see when a thick black smoke was all around you and in your very breathing space. " Em-brace...me.." he stuttered attempting to make [member="Solan Charr"] breath the gas into his lungs.

Eyes turning red the Filar-Nitzan smirked to himself. " You will be my friends. Hu-man."

" So much sadness and pain.... I am useless. If I died today no one would care. My existence is noting..."

 

[Aithne Charr]

Obj: PVP with them Sith.
Location: Valley of the Jedi.
Allies: [member="Jericho"] [member="Connor Harrison"]
Enemies: [member="Shargon'Ta"]
Observing: [member="Joza Perl"], [member="Darth Orcus"], [member="Haytham Kaze"]
Equipment: 2x Lightsabers, 15x Vibrodaggers, Jung-jii Fiber Armor, belt with number of pouches for seeds


Solan watched as the black cloud moved around the barrier, dropping its physical form to try and move faster and with more intent in getting into Solan's personal space. The problem was that that all gas faced, it could only go as fast as the wind could carry it. Now of course the fact of the matter was that while this was true, Shargon was a unique being in that fact and it had surprised Solan for a few seconds how quickly he could change his position. The problem came the moment that Shargon dropped the Telekinetic barrier that held his form together and kept him from being blown away from a gust of wind.

He didn't need to breath by the time that he would be done with what he would do next, but even then if he had to take a breath he could simply apply breath control. It was a tactic that was essential when it came to Solan's use of fire and plants, the fumes given off by the results of either could be potential lethal if he did not train in the ability. But that was not how he would deal with the creature that tried to take on his body for its own, the action was stupid to take. Sure it would scare someone being trapped in a cloud of smoke, but Solan did not care.

His favorite activity was burning down the Slavers who he hated with a passion. And when you burn down a warehouse around you, smoke is surpringly not easy to see throuh or breath in. This was why Shargon's tactic did not panic himm and he could stay focused. It was like fighting against the smoke that he caused over and over again in his raids, and that was something he had learned to do like it was as simple as eating.

So he closed his hands behind him and focused on the world around them. Alter Environment, it was the ability to influence the world around oneself to bend its natural processes to one's will. He would need to focus in order to do this while protecting himself and that meant that he would need to drop the illusion he always kept up. In doing so his skin began to pale, turning from that healthy color into a chalk white, almost as if he had already been dead before this battle began. His veins grew in visibility but also shifted in color, turning ebony as his eyes matched their change and turned the orange that was normal for one corrupted by the darkside. He smiled though as the creature tried to look into his mind and say what he was thinking.

'No actually. If i died today many would care, my daughter, my friends, and those i need to protect. Yes i am sad, i am sad about the death of the woman i love all those years ago. I am sad that i have to see people in pain around me and that is why i would rather suffer than let them. You are feeling not only mine but the suffering of others... Question. Do you know what its like to be an empath in the middle of the battlefield, one who is also rooted in the darkside and where their power comes from?'

Just as Shargon spoke to him without words, so did Solan. Letting his mind open up to the creature before him, inviting the creature to try his luck.