The Fires of Chaos (Heralds vs CIS)

[Ak'lya]

Into his radio, which [member="Isley Verd"] would hear, as well as [member="Ashe the Reaper"], the Spymaster called out. "Strask here. I've got an unconfirmed kill on one of them. Can anyone confirm?" He couldn't find her, no matter where he looked. Scanning, he noted the giant force ghost... spirit... thingie. Not much he could do about that, but he fired a round over that way just in case. It would most likely pass through [member="Darth Voracitos"], but you never know. It could always hit.
Sweeping over to [member="Nemene Talith"], he took a shot at her chest. The same target as last time. But now, a new Sith to hit. A new enemy to remove.

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Ember Rekali"] [member="Evelynn Zambrano"]

Those fething Mandos cheat.

That was the first thought that came across my mind, when his mind suddenly vanished into thin air. Normally, I would panic right about now, because.. let’s be honest. I am a one-trick pony, if I can’t blast your mind out of its hinges then I am pretty much screwed.

But I have seen an increasing amount of people who, for some goddamn reason, are suddenly resistant against mental attacks. Nemene, whose mind is somehow closed off from the outside world, Dak Canton who is some weird species with a genetic trait which makes him immune against mentalism (Who the hell comes up with that stuff, I mean.. really. How did nature decide to evolve such a trait? Were his forefathers hunted by pre-historic Vornskr look-a-likes? No sense at all.)

And now this guy, who somehow just became untraceable. As I said, once upon a time I would be all about to piss my pants and start crying for Spencer, but experience had taught me to keep my head in the game and keep it cool.

Until the fether started to shoot damn nades at me, I did the only thing a sane person would do. I took out my trust iFruit-gear and put on the earplugs. Stylish and functional. I mean, sure. The first two nades hit my shield, before I had the time to scramble to the iFruit, hurt like hell.

I mean, hell wasn't even a proper word to describe the pain that scratched through my ears. I stumbled to one knee, trying to stay conscious and finally found the presence of mind to... well mindtrick myself to ignore the pain. After this was all done.. I'd probably have to check my ears, probably will be deaf in one ear. Damn it.

Slowly I straightened myself, barely keeping myself from puking and started to back away from the enemy fire, and started to reach out towards the people behind me and behind the damn Mando. If I wasn’t able to blast his mind directly, I’d sent in the auxiliary forces.

Let’s see how he reacts to a mass of innocent people running, shooting at and glomping him.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Jared Ovmar"]
While he's on the ground, I've got time to start ensuring that he won't have the chance to gather his strength again, so I start prepping my counterstrike. My head tilts as I start to sense aggravated emotion, or nulling, or shifts, from all over the place. Mentalist calling in the troops -- sociopathic but smart, using his primary skill even when I've denied it purchase on me. At a guess, in about thirty seconds my lifesigns detector will be going mad with converging signals. I'll be overrun with gangbangers, shockball moms and cops. Especially cops.

Good thing I started prepping my one significant ranged technique while buddy was re-sampling breakfast.

I raise my off hand. Radiance slashes out across the space between us, like I've turned on a flashlight. Some people claim that Force Light can overwhelm and destroy anything of the Dark Side; those people don't know their history. But buddy's just gotten off his feet, his focus is indubitably elsewhere, he's flat-footed. I've got a legitimate shot here.

Oh, and I fire the shotgun again. With serenity.

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

[member="Strask Ak'lya"]

Lightsaber moved without thought to bat aside the sniper shot, for it was just another hail in the storm of fire coming towards her. She danced in the strobe lights catching blaster bolts and flinging them back in the directions of their owners, moving out of sight of the sniper as she did. The child whose mind she warped earlier appeared at her side at Anaya's mental summons and the blaster fire slowed. Red eyes lifted from the troops on the ground to the skyscrapers above them. There was something about snipers that made them stand out from the rest, there was a coldness to them. Each target was the same, there was no thought to it, no passion, just line them up and pull the trigger.

So Anaya went on the hunt, darting for the shadows and leaving her acquaintances to keep the rest of them busy. She passed a dead soldier then paused in her step and retreated back to him, pulling free his comm link she cleaned it with a noise of disgust before slipping it into her own ear.

"...I've got an unconfirmed kill on one of them. Can anyone confirm?"

Timing was perfect as always. She smirked and responded on everyone's behalf. "No, soldier, you missed. Maybe, if you're lucky, I'll give you another shot. Are you feeling lucky today?" She slid into an alleyway "How about a bet. I bet you, I can put my saber through the back of your skull before you can hit me with that sniper."

 

[Louise]

Who creeps on the creepers?

[member="Kiyala Demont"], that's who.

The bird that circled the duel below caught glimpse of a figure, on a roof top? Just out to catch some solar eclipses? See the stars? The moons? Pray that one of those that fought below would rip of their shirts, sweat glistening on their muscular bodies? Evelynn the Valrain did not know who this girl was or why she was here, but she had a touch of intrigue about her.

Ladies and gentlemen, we've found our evening's entertainment.

The large predatory bird that was actively possessed by its owner swooped down. The mute was half tempted to just go elbow deep and claw out this woman's eyes but that, that would have been rude! So the bird came down, landing in front of the brunette with a flutter of that impressive wingspan.

There was no aggression, only curiosity as the bird tilted its head towards the woman. What would she make of the valrain?

 

[Kiyala Demont`]

Much of the action was drowned out by her rather loud and incessant music however her eyes watched the whole scene as the giant hawk like creature landed before her. She could have mentioned the fact that her armor made the bird rather ineffective or that it was rather insulting that Evelynn didn't see it fit to face her truly. She looked past the bird towards it's master flashing her a malicious smile before her face contorted.

Behind the helmet whispered prayers of strength as she opened her eyes again casting Force Combustion targeted for both of it's wings. What was a worse fate than being flightless and a bird to which irony was not lost to Kiyala. She sighed turning off her music and leaping into the air, arcing over the Valrain and landing on the ground floor. She looked at Evelynn while igniting both of her lightsabers as their sickly green presence lit up the night air.

"You really shouldn't send your pets out like that on the battle field."

[member="Evelynn Zambrano"]

 

[Lira Dajenn]

(I'm assuming you're using a slughtrower, if not please PM me and I’ll edit)
[member="Isley Verd"] [member="Strask Ak'lya"]
Nemene's eyes bulged slightly as the force screamed in her head.

She twisted and turned away from where the sensation was coming from, then suddenly a piece of metal pierced through her shoulder. Metal tearing through cartilage and flesh as though it were a hot knife through butter. Luckily, the bullet hit no bones or solid mass, it simply passed through Nemene's shoulder nearly instantaneously, remaining intact as one solid mass.

The Sith let out a gasping breath, slamming her hand to her shoulder and sealing away quick flows of blood.

She barely managed to maintain her grip on her lightsaber pike as her shoulder weakened slightly, then a purple spark of light pumped across the wound. Flesh knitted back together, muscle repaired itself, and cartilage formed anew.

The Queen of Rattatak let out a very shrill shriek of anger and hatred. The air seemed to vibrate, and the floor beneath her cracked slightly as the tone heightened to that of a banshee.

Strangely enough, she made no move to leave the snipers line of fire.

 

[Louise]

Now that was very rude.

Unfortunately when you become the beast you accept all sensations, from flying to feasting, that primal surge of the hunt and the kill and even the combustion of wings, the wounds, the pain. Fire spread throughout Meresi's wings and by extension, Evelynn's arms. The valrain screeched and fluttered, and in her panic went spiraling from the top of the building to the ground below.

NEMENE!

Evelynn's telepathy came screeching through the entire city as the mute tore herself from the mind and body of her beloved pet. Granite eyes returned from the back of her skull. Rage. There was absolutely nothing but fury. The mute loved animals and took it as a personal slight against her if she witnessed any cruelty against nature.

The Silent Sister stood taking her staff up with her as she did so, arms still aching from those phantom burns, mind still burning with fury. How dare she? How dare this vile woman?

Her hands twisted through the air, crumbling the concrete of a building they stood next to. The material eroded as if it were gravel. If only it was this woman's skull instead. Breaking up the concrete revealed the rebar beneath, which the beast master so succinctly snapped off.

As if it were the Jedi Olympics Evelynn sent her newly acquired weapon rocketing though the air via the Force, hoping to spear the brute through the mid-section.

[member="Kiyala Demont"]

 

[Kiyala Demont`]

Kiyala drank it all in as soon as it came; the pain of the bird who would probably never fly again and Evelynn's pain not only ringing through the force but telepathically her screams were like a fine drink of Corellian Ale on a late summer's night with the finest escort money could buy. You know, if your into that sort of thing for you own personal pleasures; meanwhile the anger that could be felt from the Sith Lord was definitely nothing to laugh at. Kiyala found herself opening her perceptions as it seemed as if it was time for the real battle to start, Kiyala stretched out back towards the Valrain initiately to drain it's life force for a little boost in the energy department but found a rather sizable piece of rebar flying towards her.

Kiyala wondered how much guilt would Evelynn feel for what Kiyala was about to do. As she lifted up the helpless bird in the way of the rebar which would find it's home in the Valrain's gut. Kiyala intended to drink in the power that would come from the Valrain's death. "You have to stop treating your pets so horribly. One would think you very abusive to your pets." Kiyala did not know what Evelynn's close ranged skills were and she had made that mistake against her father so she did not rush in for an attack as she normally would. No, Evelynn would have to serve as this battle's ice breaker or allow Kiyala to simply stand there and make smart comments the whole battle. Either option was better than losing to her or you know dying.

Kiyala drew out three grenades, two of them were her trademarked Eater grenades while the other was a Cryoban grenade. Kiyala threw one of the Eater grenade first, then would time the cryoban to be thrown as soon as Evelynn attempts to dodge it and finally she would throw another Eater behind the Cyroban grenade.

[member="Evelynn Zambrano"]

 

[Lord Ghoul]

The grenade reversed course almost as soon as it had left [member="Kiyala Demont"]'s hand. A half-dozen meters from [member="Evelynn Zambrano"] stood Mikhail Shorn, clad in his black armor gilded with gold at the fringes. The palm of his left hand pointed toward Kiyala and his fingers curled inward as if grasping something.

Mikhail did not remember the girl who he had met at a ball so long ago, nor did he care. After watching Salem's body fly halfway across the city he'd stalked his way over to the nearest opponent. Saving Evelynn was more of a byproduct of him killing Kiyala. At least, that's what he told himself.

Almost immediately after returning the grenade to its owner, Mikhail wrapped fingers of his telekinetic will around Kiyala and attempted to rip her off the ground and slam her into the building on the other side of the street. Lost in the miasma of the Dark Side's energy, Shorn very much wanted to see this woman's blood paint the road. He would lap up whatever remained.

These Templars were nothing but an appetizer before the main meal. Shorn could hear Voracitos' thundering laughter as the behemoth ghost sent waves of the Force to terrorize the populace, infecting them all with diseases that threw thousands of people to the ground, clawing at puss-filled boils on their skin. Yes, this was nothing but a taste of what was to come.

 

[Louise]

It happened in slow motion.

A piercing shriek came from the beak of her precious companion Merisi. To those around her the valrain may have seemed like just a bird, a mere pet, something else for Evelynn to treat with the same contempt and malice as everything else.

This was not the case.

Evelynn Zambrano was not in the habit of using and abusing animals. She ate their meat and wore their furs, because that was the cycle of life. The mute wasn't some pious vegan ready to skin her fellow sentience because Joe'ske Bloggs had a bantha burger. It was cruelty that she could not abide by. Needless cruelty to beings of pure innocence. No.

Merisi. There was a name. It was Merisi.

Gifted to the Silent Sister by Nemene when they had first conquered Rattatak the bird had grown to be Evelynn's favourite, they had bonded, the feathered creature filled a hole that Chomp had taken with him when Kaine had him slaughtered. So in synch were Master and bird at times that the blonde considered them to be a single entity, feeling together. Man and beast.

And now...

This woman's mocking taunts found themselves muffled as Merisi fell to the floor. It hurt. Not that beautiful searing sensation of pain mingled with pleasure but like a void forcibly torn through the centre of her very being. Had Evelynn been born to suffer? She had tried to be compassionate and kind, that did not work, karma did not find itself on her side but not even being a monster gave her any shred of relief, any inch of a remedy for the cloud of malady that seemed to be permanently poised above her head.

Through the Force she gathered Merisi to her, crumpling to her knees to clutch the dying beast to her chest. Nemene was too far, it was too late. Again the Galaxy had wanted, and it had taken.

Rodia was lost to her, and a girl and her bird shared a dying embrace.

 

[Kiyala Demont`]

Two things went wrong with Kiyala's plan first one of her grenades flew back into her. Luckily, the first was an Eater grenade and it would not harm it's master so with a look and a mental nudge in the force the nearly microscopic bugs would work their way toward's Mr.Shorn to devour whatever metal clung to his body. Like his armor and whatever metal prosthetic he had supporting him but that matter not to Kiyala who now was flying at impossible speeds towards a wall. Kiyala had a choice to make face Shorn and another very angry Sith Lord or do what any sane person would do and run. So what Kiyala decided to do was react first by using her own telekinesis to blast a hole in the incoming wall mere seconds before impacting hoping Mikhail or the others wouldn't notice the difference. Secondly, she had a choice between those seconds which was either utilizing Inertia to slow her descent to one without potentially breaking something or to simply disguise her aura.

She chose the latter as she instead crashed inside the building obscured from eyesight as she held in a scream. Her left shoulder was completely broken and she nearly suffered a fracture in her arm but she was still alive for now. Kiyala stumbled to her feet before attempting to center herself she dashed out off the other side of the building of which would naturally be out of the line of sight of her attackers. All she needed was a place to lay low for a while so she could properly heal and maybe find another fight that didn't involve her being figuratively and probably literally being killed by two sith Lords. She cursed the Shorn name under her breath as she ran meanwhile keeping her HUD display signaled a CIS transport to come get her but then she remembered that day at the Senate. That Shorn could fly but hopefully she was too small fry for Shorn to chase down.

Hopefully. . .

[member="Mikhail Shorn"] [member="Evelynn Zambrano"]

 

[Lord Ghoul]

CRASH!

The woman's body broke through the side of the building and disappeared in a haze of dust, but Mikhail's eyes were drawn away from the hole in the wall and toward the small, buzzing cloud that swarmed down at him. Shorn threw up a hand, fingers splayed. Hatred-fueled lightning erupted from his fingertips and stabbed through the swarm. The flashing tendrils of blue burnt the near-microscopic insects to a crisp.

He turned, shoulders sagging somewhat, and regarded Evelynn's kneeling figure as she clutched a crumpled, feathered form in her arms. Pain rifled through the daughter of Dorn, the pale-skinned Queen of Rattatak. Shorn felt her agony, her loss, her suffering. How could she be so affected by the death of a bird? No, it was more to her than just that, Mikhail remembered. The avian had been her companion. And now it was dead.

Heavy steps carried Mikhail to Evelynn's side. He placed a gauntleted hand on her shoulder and squeezed tightly. Behind the mask, his eyes burned a liquid gold. Cold fury blossomed in his heart as he looked out on Rodia's capital city. His gaze settled on two figures far down the street, a path of dead lying in their wake. Ovmar and... someone else. Mikhail trembled with anger.

He would make them all suffer.

[member="Evelynn Zambrano"] [member="Jared Ovmar"]

 

[Lira Dajenn]

Nemene heard the shutter of a voice through her skull, the sound of a scream so intense it hurt worse than any shot from a verpine rifle could have. She winced, the voice tearing through her heard and threatening to eat up her very thoughts. A quiver ran through her and goosebumps raced across her skin. She frowned, a mist forming across her eyes as anxiety overtook her.

Evelynn was angry, very angry.

The Queen of Rattatak frowned slightly, looking in the direction where her sister was. Anxiety built up in her as she felt the rage peaking. Was she to go there? Was she to help? She fidgeted slightly, unsure of where she should go or what she should do. Her eye drifted from the direction of Evelynn and towards where the Sniper Nest was likely located.

She shook, the anxiety growing stronger and Evelynn's emotions shifted from rage, to despair. This was not good, sadness. What could have happened?

Slowly Nemene turned towards the direction of her sister. She began to move, not quite a run, but a jog. She could have gone faster of course, she could have been there in a matter of seconds, but she did not want to be. There would be punishment later, punishment for the rage, for the despair.

Nemene did not want that.

 

[Sebastian Santelli]

As the little CIS shuttle rocketed downwards near the building to recover the severely wounded form of [member="Kiyala Demont"], Davin sat at the helm of such a vehicle. "Recover the wounded." He simply commanded, shifting out of his seat to let the Co-Pilot take the reigns of this mechanical beast and guide the craft downwards. This particular Admiral had taken it upon himself to personally see the ground operations of this engagement, even though that was entirely out of his sector of authority. It didn't really matter. What mattered was ridding the galaxy of those dark beings who dared attempt to corrupt the minds and souls of the nation he so dearly defended.

Adorned in his jet black Imperial Knight armor and equally dark cape, the Chiss slid his lightsaber into his hand, relishing the thought of igniting his silver blade once again in the name of the light. His crimson eyes flicked to his right, setting upon the rather large and muscular form of a comrade once lost, but found. [member="Hayato"], an age-old friend of his from the age of the Fel Imperium. He was a Master now and Davin cherished his brother more than ever now. "Light protect us." He muttered to himself as the vessel touched down, various personnel scampering out to set Kiyala's body on a stretcher before packing up and leaving almost as fast as they'd arrived.

Death and destruction was everywhere. War was a horrible thing at times.

But more so interesting than the pair of warriors fighting in the streets was the duo of figures near the outer edges of the city. Crimson eyes shimmered with mirth.

[member="Mikhail Shorn"], [member="Evelynn Zambrano"]

 

[Lord Ghoul]

A sudden presence flared in the Force, a light in the oppressing shadows which the Heralds had brought to this city like a fog of volcanic ash. Shorn's eyes swung toward the presence and settled onto a small transport which was just touching down at the end of the street. Confederacy crew scurried about like frightened rabbits amidst a chaos which they did not truly understand, only amplified by the roars of Voracitos, who stomped about the city in his ghostly nigh-unkillable form.

Slowly, Shorn exhaled, gut tightening. He closed his eyes and drew in the Dark Side, fueling his strength with the raw pain and anger swirling about himself and Evelynn. He would kill the figure just over there, the one in the black armor and the flowing cape. Mikhail's eyes flared open, a mesmerizing, molten yellow and red, a lava flow encapsulated in a human gaze. Well, not entirely human. Shorn bared his fangs in a snarl and leapt, using the Force to propel him impossibly far through the air.

He landed just in front of [member="Davin"], his heavy boots connecting solidly with the ground. Mikhail straightened his back and stared at the man from behind his expressionless helmet. Sable scales fringed with gold rustled against each other as Shorn raised a single gauntleted hand toward the Confederate. Power radiated from Mikhail as he attempted to wrap his telekinetic will around the man's throat and simply crush his trachea. So little pressure was required to cave it in. Humanoid bodies really were so very fragile.

 

[Sebastian Santelli]

It seemed his uncloaked presence was one demanding of the attention of the infamed Mikhail Shorn. Davin had heard tales of the vengeful Sith and his glorious conquests of both man and throne. Such a powerful foe to directly stride forward and meet him was a great honor, or so the Chiss thought. Arrogant and confident in his abilities, Davin never figured for this Sith to close the distance between them. Before Davin could even make a movement forward to shine his holy light upon a cloud of darkness of suffering, the shadows overcame his little lamp in the caves of despair.

"Your darkness ends to-" A pinch at his throat halted his warning given to every Darksider, as deemed necessary of any Imperial Knight. Blood rushed to his throat, the air in it clogging with a quickly tightening grip. Black gauntleted hands reared back in a double-palm motion. The Chiss attempted to swallow the cold feeling, but his physical strength was dying.

Both palms jammed forward in a last ditch effort of the first moment of their battle, emitting the strongest Force push he could muster.

[member="Mikhail Shorn"]

 

[Lord Ghoul]

The nearly point-blank Force Push was not an unexpected maneuver. Most Force Sensitive beings Mikhail had encountered tended to react in such a manner when the life was being choked out of them by an invisible hand. The rippling waves emanating from the Chiss' palms surged toward Shorn. He let them come and in the process dropped his hold on the Chiss. The Force Choke vanished as Shorn put all his willpower and focus into executing a monumental counter-push from his upraised left hand.

With one hand burnt off and half his armor a molten mess, Mikhail did not appear to be capable of standing on his two feet. The feat seemed inhuman.... because he was no longer part of that particular species. The Garhoon's regenerating properties had restored most of his faculties to their full strength, thus the telekinetic shockwave that shrieked from his palm carried no reduction in power. The two waves collided. Davin's push met the full, unadulterated strength of a master of telekinesis and blew apart like leaves in a hurricane.

Shorn's shockwave didn't stop there, it hurtled on straight for the figure armored all in black, carrying with it enough power to send the Chiss flying like a rag doll. Mikhail followed it up swiftly with a bolt of lightning that leapt from his fingertips and crackled after the Chiss' body, intent on frying him to ash.

[member="Davin"]

 

[Kiyala Demont`]

Meanwhile, Kiyala was delirious as she scrambled for whatever energy she could muster devoting it to keeping her healing going as well as contacting the various spirits in her possession or rather than she possessed. They screamed to her finally seeing a chance to spring forward as her left arm; the least injured from the capable Shorn's attack was already sealed but the bones itself would take some time to stabilize. She imagined she should have been happy that when given the chance between crushing her and simply tossing her [member="Mikhail Shorn"] decided to toss her. But for what reason is the question that was plaguing Kiyala, she could imagine maybe deep down he had not wished to kill her or the lesser option being that she wasn't worth him killing. Anger surged fresh but bitter power through her veins as she could now completely feel her arm however her shoulder was still shot.

She opened her eyes for the first time in which seemed like some ages but had probably been but a handful of minutes. Her Rancor Armor Mark 2 had not suffered any damages due to it's general form. The medical probes began injecting her with painkillers but with a simple wave of the force, the droids were sent flying away from her. "I need to remember and feel this pain!" Utilizing the force slightly only to help herself up into a sitting position did she rather nimbly slide off the medical bed. Kiyala could feel the presence of her savior [member="Davin"] and Mikhail clashing and struggled to her felt but stumbled against the wall sending fresh pain shooting through her shoulder.

She had to help him, not that she doubted his skill but she wouldn't send nobody after Mikhail alone except maybe Ashin or Jared just because of their skill set. She felt her shoulder finally crack back into place and she shuddered in pain but still had a serious problem. Where the feth was she going to have time to fight and refresh her stores of energy? As she crouched down in meditation and to commune spiritually with the planet she prayed either Davin would beat Mikhail or at least hold him off until her energy was restored.

 

[Sebastian Santelli]

Even with his beloved jet black armor, Davin would become the very definition of ragdoll very shortly. He indeed was fighting for his life against the master of telekinesis and the arts of the Force, but he had more than enough ideas to shake him from this world. Some were more cowardly and others were honorable yet difficult. It mattered not to Davin, as long as he got the job done. Surviving was doing the job, it seemed.

Just as soon as the invisible fingers unlatched from around his throat, the Chiss warrior jumped into action. He'd already seen enough of this man to determine his strengths and weaknesses, and he was going to put a major amount of his effort in some plan that was nearly bound to fail. Igniting his silver hued lightsaber, he made a last ditch attempt to charge. Wrong. He'd barely made the movement forward when he was snatched up by a gust of unseen strength and wind, hurling his body backwards and out into the street, his figure sliding across the ground with a crack. "Damn." Another attack, incoming. The man's red eyes flickered with determination.

Again, he charged forward into the cascading snap-crackle of blue electricity, silver saber poised forward in an attempt to absorb any amount of the blow as it could. In that instant, the full awareness of his body's breaking point became nonexistent. Davin of House Nuruodo was to become unstoppable, if at least a chance to survive against such a foe. The Force flowed through his form as he barreled towards Mikhail, the singing of the lightning making its way past the physical defenses of his armor, the crackle of energy turning portions of his flesh to a crisp. He thought he would falter even with the help of Battlemind, but another presence arose in the back of his mind: [member="Kiyala Demont"]. The Admiral felt twitches and tugs of energy from her, amounts of it pouring into his own reserve of energy that was nearing depletion.

An Imperial Knight does not falter.

And he continued the charge, growing ever close to the epicenter of hate and destruction. With that dull silver blade, he gave a strained war cry and drove forward with that blade, intending to plunge it into Shorn's throat.

[member="Mikhail Shorn"]