The Holocron Auction Redux

[Domino]

Now there was a question, the last of her troops were leaving the city now, those still alive anyways. There were far to many ident tags still and dead in the city outskirts. One was too many. "Not at the moment Governor. The Guard seem to have matters well in hand at the moment and are nearly done withdrawing to my ship." In fact the last of the at-sj indicators were falling back now, running interference for the walkers. In just a few minuted they'd be aboard and the loading ramps closed. Already the Vigo's big guns were firing into the city while her flack guns, point defense, and laser cannons were making the whole area a very bad place to fly if you weren't a friendly ship. And right now that meant you were either a member of Black Sun or a signer of the Ithorian treaty. "Give us a few moments and we'll be airborne."
@[member="Sargon Vynea"]

 

[Kei Amadis]

@[member="Domino"] ​@[member="Sargon Vynea"]​

Sticking to the city, not the field, running into the field would be suicide that close to a large ship and overwhelming force. They only managed to catch the stragglers on the flanks of the black sun, any of his men stupid enough to break cover and advance closer were cut down, pretty easily picking off a few. Though most were not that stupid, they were well trained and stuck deep into cover, as laser fire erupted all around them, digging in as best they could to minimize their exposure. No hiding it though they were sitting ducks here, barely able to offer any resistance except getting shot at, and returning fire. Delaying.... for those split seconds, split seconds which were critical.

"Clear Skies." He said over the comm-link to the orbital force, spotting what was finally coming.

They had done what they were ordered to do, engaging the black sun, delaying them just long enough for the boom of fighters above to crack into being, sending out a shockwave as finally the promised fighters broke atmosphere at incredible speeds. Bombers were now vertically above @[member="Domino"]'s ship heading directly for it, screened effectively by A-wing fighters, most of which broke to engage the Black Sun's own. They were coming in at dangerous speeds, which one gave them the advantage of surprise, but two meant they'd not be able to pull out, committed they were. Just ahead of them.... came orbital ion cannon shots, right on the ship's position, the entire area buzzed and cracked and to be honest knocked most of his men off his feet along with a few of the outermost buildings nearby. At this point it was all his forward recon force could do to stay alive with all they were being hit with.

"Stay down, get clear."

In his mind, it wasn't wise to leave a large ship on the ground as an exposed target, it was just too easy to hit. Not using torpedo's.... in came electromagnetic pulse bombs from the bombers, designed to disable, designed to take out their ship's systems leaving them vulnerable, unable to fire, unable to get off the ground or attack the civilian targets if it all worked out. It was a lot of if's but in they came, shielded bombs, vulnerable to enemy fire if they took their eyes off the wildcards, but shielded and coming in just as fast as the bombers were plus gravity. The waves of Y-Wings started to veer off so not to hit the ground, and unfortunately for the suns, most of their forces were retreating inside the ship, leaving them less and less guns. The bombers though were badly exposed... the price they paid for the bold move, deflector shields up only increasing their speed as they pushed through the air resistance.

On the ground, still not much else had come to back up the wildcard's own however, he did have more men arriving steadily and a heavier emplacement or two, but nothing much. The confusion on the ground plenty to delay any more forces coming into help. Not only that but the steady orbital ion cannon rain coming down on top of the ship was not without its drawbacks, as he saw one shot missing and spiral directly into a few of his own men. Closing his eyes to avoid seeing what happened next. Ion cannons were great, non lethal ways of disabling a ship.... but not that accurate fired to the ground, and not without demanding their sacrifices of any nearby.

"Stay in cover, we've done all we can."

 

[Aleidis Zrgaat]

@All of the above

There were a couple shuttles left from the evacuation. Lucky. It meant Daella and Aleidis could get off of the rapidly-decompressing ship with a destroyed command deck, and it meant that she didn't have to share a shuttle with the blonde girl. Daella had lost her friend, but Aleidis had her own things to mourn.

Like her arm. And her principals.

Each step felt like miles, and twice-over if she stopped to think about the weight of the Darkstaff in her hand and the Tsil containing Velok's soul in her pocket. Her conciousness flickered and faded as she trudged up the ramp into a shuttle, and the teenager struggled to draw in breath as she sank into the pilot's chair and quietly lamented the fact that she had no idea how to fly. But, hey, that's what autopilot was for. The shuttle lifted off and quit the all-but-ruined command ship, maintaining a low orbit over Contruum.

In spite of Crucitorn, Alei's shoulder had become a dull, red ache of magma pain. To an extent, that was the only thing keeping her concious as the shuttle's doors closed. Keying her command code into the shuttle's console, she gained control of the ship and fired up the engines, setting the Darkstaff in the co-pilots seat. She was afraid to let it out of her sight, and for good reason. Reports from the ground troops flooded the shuttle's computer, updating her on what was going on on the ground.

Which was, you know. Wonderful. She took down a monster, and was rewarded with a disaster.

The Treaty of Ithor would be invoked, Aleidis knew. Of course she knew - she'd helped to come up with the idea. One catastrophe after another.

"Open a command line to all Republic Forces on the planet." Aleidis ordered the computer - it was easier than typing with one hand. The computer blipped and notified her that she had right of broadcast, as fitting the Chief Commander. "This is Supreme Chancellor Ijet, to all Republic forces on the surface of Contruum." The Ghostling began, her voice haggard and weary. "...Velok has been killed. Please, do your best to return to the command vessel, and I'll try to sort out whatever happened down there. Let's not make this situation any worse than it has to be. Withdraw - that's an order."

Aleidis pressed a button ending the transmission, then moved onto the second thing she had to do. Leaning against the console, she nearly blacked out trying to verify the identity of the Black Sun forces the Republic had been fighting. It could only be @[member="Domino"], and likely she was palling around with the leadership of Contruum. That was fine. Two birds with one stone. "This is an open transmission to defensive forces on Contruum, from Supreme Chancellor Aleidis Ijet. I've ordered my soldiers to peacefully withdraw - this should never have happened. Please, I request a meeting to bring the hostilities to an end. Hold me accountable, if you must, but let them withdraw. Nobody else needs to die today - let's end this tragedy together." The Ghostling pleaded. "I am messaging you from my shuttle. Name a place on the planet, and I'll be there as soon as I can. As a gesture of good faith, I am coming alone and unarmed. Please reply expediently."

With that out of the way - and the sinking feeling that she'd just signed her own death warrant - Aleidis had one more transmission to send. This one, she had to key in by hand - a transmission code given in confidence, highly encrypted. One for... well, a special occasion of a rainy day. "I've... I've killed Velok." Aleidis began, her voice shaking. "He's locked into the Tsil, his body destroyed. I've got it, here - along with the darkstaff. But the price was high - and I might be going off to get arrested to prevent a war. I'm sorry that I failed you, that I broke my promise - and I hope you'll forgive me. I've sent you the tracking code and coordinates of my shuttle. I'm going to hide the Darkstaff and the Tsil in that little place you showed me. Remember? Where you told me to hide, in case of emergencies?" Aleidis's voice cracked, and she swallowed to keep it in check. Then she had to clear her throat. That, in and of itself, led to coughing. "There's nobody in the Universe I trust with these things but you. If I don't contact you in an hour, please come and collect them. Keep them out of the wrong hands - any hands. I h-hope you can forgive me. I did the best I could."

 

[Vulpesen]

Vulpesen, seeing the occupation of Velok's attention, waited for a just a little more, setting his pistol to the highest stun setting it had. He waited until Aleidis had created her phantoms and the assault had fully demanded Velok's focus. Normally, he'd be nervous about a shot with a nearby friend, but his rested position provided him with enough accuracy to take a safe shot without the chance of friendly fire. Clearing his mind, Vulpesen found a large weak point in Velok's defenses, one place he didn't have to defend against his attackers. Vulpesen took a deep breath and squeezed the trigger, sending a single blue bolt towards the Whipid.

 

[Chupa La'Roi]

"Sir, we have really good news and really bad news."

Chupa wheeled around in his chair to look at the incredibly grimaced face of his third best pilot and second best hacker. Raising an eyebrow, he murmured, "Continue, shieldbrother."

Gulping, the pirate tapped the holoscreen. "The bad news is that the bridge is decompressing due to some massive damage, and unless we quickly seal off the area, we're toast."

"The good news, shieldbrother?"

"We have minimal control of the ship's mapping controls, minimal control of the ship's engines, but emergency levels of communication. Sir, in order to-"

Chupa stood up slowly, his eyes closed. "Do we have control of the hangar doors? And the door to seal off the bridge?"

"Yes, sir."

Chupa grinned, eyes still shut, focusing on his battle strategy, his inner monologue.

"Seal the hangar bay doors, seal off the decompressed areas from the rest of the ship. Then, turn us around slowly, moving away from the planet, and head towards Fringe territory. Also, open a communication line to all Republic, Black Sun and Fringe ships in the area. That will be all for now."

His crew fumbled with the controls for a moment, and a number of things occurred on board the almost abandoned craft. The hangar bay doors slowly descended, preparing to close. Metal doors began sealing off all area of the ship that were losing precious air.

To those outside the ship, it would seem like the ship was carefully drifting around. Not enough to raise suspicion, but just enough to suggest that perhaps engine control was not....working correctly. Lastly, a channel was opened, and Chupa was motioned to begin talking. If we wanted to...

"Greetings, Republic associates and soldiers. This Republic Command vessel has been deemed unsafe for travel, and we....the Omega Protectorate....have seized the vessel for safe delivery back to Republic space. We recognize its importance to your army in the midst of your battle with the Black Suns, but the safety of your soldiers is in jeopardy. We have cordoned off areas of the ships where decompression has occurred, including, unfortunately, the hangar bay areas of the vessel. So, as we await Protectorate assistance in transporting the vessel to your territory, we ask that Republic forces resort to a secondary escape plan until further notice. This is Captain Obrias Dumas of the Omega Protectorate, signing off."

Chupa turned and motioned to the pirate behind him to cut the communication. After doing so, he whispered, "Now reopen, but only to Fringe and Black Sun vessels."

"Greetings, from the Ulfheonar Empire! We are cordoned off in the engineering bay of this Republic command vessel and require assistance in transporting the ship to Fringe territory. The Black Suns out there are wondering what you'll get out of the deal. Shall we say....any supplies on board the craft once we've docked at a safe zone? That way, both sides can get something out of this victory. Someone gets some resources in their pocket, someone gets a ship to add to the fleet and fix up all shiny and new, and someone gets a bit of recognition from his soon to be close business partners! Reply back as soon as you can. High Emperor Chupa La'Roi, signing off."

Turning on his seat around slowly to face his flabbergasted crewmates, he smiled and sighed, leaning his shoulder against the pale inner cushion of the engineer's chair.

"And now, we wait."

@[member="Domino"] @[member="Aleidis Ijet"] @[member="Sargon Vynea"]

 

[Vulpesen]

Vulpesen growled as the doors began to close. They should have been alone, and the ship's actions were suddenly suggesting otherwise. He stepped away from the door so he wouldn't be crushed, then ran back down the hall. Pirates were known to prey on falling ships, and he was willing to bet that was happening now. The other jedi would have to hold themselves, and he could only hope his bolt had hit its mark as he rushed to the control centers.

 

[Aedan Miles]

Aedan Miles had jumped the short distance to where his item was kept and picked it up before he called the rest of his armada to meet them at Contruum. He then activated a second jump heading back to that accursed planet. Once they finally came out of hyperspace he saw a sight that made him narrow his eyes and raise the Dragoon’s Roost shields. The Republic command ship seemed to be heading directly towards him. He quickly ordered his ship out of its way and all pilots to their shuttles before he cautiously hailed the ship. “Republic ship this is Captain Miles you look to be damaged badly are you in need of assistance?”

He cut the mic to that channel and looked down at a sensor read out for the planet as he started to think then activated a channel to the Black Sun forces. “@[member="Domino"] is that you down there. I should have realized you had the Vigo on station. If you require assistance I will offer the use of my men to help you out sense you know we are bored. Just give the word and we will be on our way to the party.” He looked over a few more things as he touched the second button curious to see if anyone from the pirate alliance had happened by. “This is Captain Aedan Miles to any members of the Pirates alliance if you are in sector please respond.” @Chupa La`Roi

 

[Domino]

As soon as she saw what @[member="Kei Amadis"] was doing, Domino barked a laugh. Apparently he hadn't realized this wasn't a dedicated transport, but a warship made to slug it out with enemy capital ships and the fighters that went with them. Then he called in the orbital strike and Domino knew that if he managed to survive this day, he wouldn't be commanding anything more important than a cleaning detail. The Vigo was on the ground, yes. He'd put fighters vertically above the ship diving down towards it as fast as he could, and then he'd called and orbital strike down on top of it all. First thing to go was his bombers, the ones that weren't already killed off by flack and point defense anyways. The A-wings that had pealed off early were spared that, only to be ensnared by tractor beams and die to the surprisingly fast Vaughan fighters or the Vigo's lasers. All so the Ion strike and the few bombs that managed to get through could take slivers off of the ship's ventral shields.

"Get us air born and bring the dorsal shields online as soon as we're clear of the surface. Tracking, I want plots for those orbitals, and get us..." She drifted off as @[member="Aleidis Ijet"] broadcasted her message. "Continue as instructed and get me all frequencies." It was to the entire system that she voiced her displeasure. "You don't get to do that Chancellor, you don't get to shoot my men in the back or call down orbital strikes on me and then call it 'squarezies.' You barged in here looking for blood and when I tried to walk away you attacked. Goddess help me I could have killed your entire force before it made it to the ground. But I was lenient, I expected better of you, and you took advantage of that. You forgot who and what I am. You came here, you sought this out, and I'm giving you cowards what you wanted. Don't start complaining now that I've started to remind you of why I've shied away from conflict whenever possible in the past." Domino cut the broadcast, or was it an acceptance speech for a war? Whatever, they'd attacked, there was only one reasonable response left to her. That the blood of those who had trusted her to bring them home demanded. She would kill them until they stopped.

The Vigo broke through the atmosphere as a leviathan raising from the depths to prey on the unwary trade ships, during the whole of her ascent her belly turbos fired on the city below. Now she stared down at the remaining two Republic ships in orbit, @[member="Chupa La'Roi"] had managed to save his raider crew by identifying themselves, but to Domino that just meant the largest of Republic ships no longer needed its share of firepower. "All batteries are to engage, trap them with the tractors and destroy them both." Finally Domino took her chair and brought up her personal screens to watch. "Recall any fighters left in the atmosphere. Concentrate flack fire on the enemies hanger openings. Lets see how long they last." This didn't make her happy, not at all, but it was apparently necessary. Why did it take being a monster to be treated as an equal? It didn't matter. She had pretended otherwise as long as she could, but Domino was that monster, always had been.

 

[Kei Amadis]

Blood and stone torn about, burning fire of flesh and bone. Ruthless it was, unmistakably sadistic as the entire city started to burn. A lot of good people died that day, he saw a lot of people he cared about brought to the ground, smoke and ash all that was left of them as the buildings around him crumbled. Hit by stone, hit by fire, the screams in the streets greeted @[member="Domino"]'s sorched earth policy, and they echoed in the ears of all who heard them. It was terrifying....

The seemingly invincible juggernaut of a ship took the orbital ion shots from the republic ships above it, it took the run of wings of bombers, brought down the a-wings in seconds, it soaked up the ground force shots all with barely even looking like they touched it, not even one system down for a moment, or barely a ripple on the shield, he doubted they'd even hit a fighter from the looks of it. The republic forces seemed badly outmatched, something the military would really have to look into in the future, it looked like they needed heavy investment to be on a par with the criminal organisation they had taken on today.

It looked bleak, really bleak and at this point Kei was about to pull the wildcards out of there anyway, but holding firm as per his orders. Blood from the raid at the Sith at the temple, the dead still in his eyes. Domino's casual and easy slaughter of the pilots trying to stop the artefacts leaving the planet, trying desperately to preserve a hold on some of the worst of them. Though in the back of his mind, he had to question just why that damnable staff was even in one piece in the first place, he just hoped it was shattered in the chaos of all of this.

The commanders should have brought them in with more lethal ammunition. If he ever faced the black suns again, on more personal terms, the Epicanthx vowed that he wouldn't make the same mistake. He'd go right for her, that was a promise. Picking up the injured amongst the rubble and evacuating the position, the main bulk of the republic forces backed up, the call for retreat in his ears he nodded. Only able to watch as the completely unscathed juggernaut of a ship took off and started to level the city from orbit.

On balance it'd probably win @[member="Domino"] no favors whatsoever from anyone below now being vaporized... including any of the influential guests still detained and left at the auction itself.

 

[Aleidis Zrgaat]

@[member="Domino"] was throwing a pity-party, and she'd invited everyone. Which was her prerogative and all. If she'd intended to hurt Aleidis by bitching and moaning, she'd done an alright job. But what the Ghostling felt most in that moment was relief.

She'd failed. Almost completely and utterly, she'd failed.

The Republic Command ship was crawling with parasitic pirates taking advantage of Velok's attack, thinking themselves clever. The Republic troops were all but trapped in their evacuation shuttles or on the ground. It was a mystery to Aleidis where an orbital strike was coming from, as the only ship she'd brought had been emptied for some time - nevermind that some lackwit in her forces had decided to take up arms and cross the afronted crime lord, Domino. Mysteries and mysteries. Men were dying because she'd come here to do the right thing - and Aleidis could do nothing to stop it.

Somehow, Aleidis had defeated the devil himself, retrieved the most powerful Sith artifact in the Galaxy, and she'd still lost the day.

Not to mention her arm. The child in her wanted to heal it. The Jedi in her knew she didn't have the energy to heal a papercut. The Doctor in her advised both that it'd be meaningless either way - the arm was ruined. It'd likely have to be taken at the shoulder, and a prosthetic would only be possible if the nerve damage wasn't too extreme. Unfortunately, lightning had a way of ruining nerve endings.

Yep. By nearly all accounts, a resounding failure - or looking at it optimistically, the most pyrrhic of victories.

And to a girl who'd spent the past two years of her live striving to be as perfect as possible, it was a relief. Boolon had accepted a talentless cripple as his student, and she'd aspired to be the perfect Padawan for him. To be the model Jedi to live up to her title as Je'Gan's heir, she'd accepted nothing of herself but perfection. To be an exceptional Jedi befitting the title of Knight - and then Master - in spite of her age, Aleidis had worked herself to the bone to be worthy of the honor and tried to be perfect. To be the very best Supreme Chancellor that she could, Aleidis had sacrificed health and sanity in the name of attempting perfection.

But Boolon was gone. Je'Gan was alive, and capable of forging his own legacy - her services not required there. She'd given up her prestige and life's work as a Jedi to be the Chancellor at Ben Watt's request. And in a heartbeat, some eager guns had turned her work for Galactic peace to ashes in her mouth. To top it all off, the vow of Pacifism she'd quietly maintained and guarded since becoming a Padawan? She'd forsaken it today. She'd attacked Velok, cut him with her blade, and sent him to a fate worse than death.

And here, her birthday was still a week away. If Velok had been able to wait a week more, the sense of dramatic irony might have made her head implode.

Despite her earnest attempts at perfection, she'd wound up a complete and utter failure. And that, in it's own way, was a relief. If everything she did was destined to fail, why bother? Why not just go home, and try to be normal again? Back when she wasn't a prodigy, or an heir, or a leader or anything but an excitable, idealistic girl ready to help anyone who crossed her path? Aleidis remembered being that girl. She remembered looking forward to the day when she woke up, instead of approaching it with weary resignation and dread. What she wouldn't give to love life again - to love herself.


The Ghostling didn't even try to fight it this time. She keyed in co-ordinates, her shuttle hummed - and before it jumped to warp, she was out cold, unconscious and hanging onto life by a thread that didn't even want to be there anymore.

 

[Vulpesen]

Vulpesen continued his mad dash, eventually making it to the control room. With a simple use of the force, he flicked the one switch that mattered. The hangar doors would be opening soon, and he had done it behind a door without letting himself be seen. He was an idiot sometimes, now was not one of those times. "Off we go." Vulpesen ran out, racing to his ship before hopping into the cockpit. He had no idea how long he had but he was not going to waste a single second. He clicked the startup sequence and lifted off. He was Vulpesen Espadus Torrevaso. Not a caged rat. He would cling to that fact as he beat a hasty retreat out of the flagship.

 

[Sargon Vynea]

Sargon decided this all reminded him of really bad holovid, and now a nation may very well pay the price of a few blood thirsty jedi? the very planet below him was taking the punishment of an illegal Republic action, and yet he couldn't think of a single way to stop it all. There was plenty to be done though, and he had a few choices to make. The damage on the planet was catastrophic in the fight's location. In space evidently someone was stealing the republic Star Destroyer, and bringing it into Fringe territory.

Sitting back in a command chair he just watched Sargon keyed in a message to the Grand Admiral updating her on the star destroyer, and simply watched. "Captain, I need supplies and medical teams ready to land once this is all one. Lets not leave this a bloody heap of destruction just baking in the sun. Until the fighting is done though we just wait."

 

[Vulpesen]

Vulpesen gave a sigh as he prepared to jump into hyperspace. "That was a load of cark." Vulpesen wished he could help the planet with its problems, but he had nothing except a pistol and whatever he had on his ship, which wasn't much. As it was, he set his coordinates for Tython. He was fairly sure no one had really noticed him, but he could have been wrong. With a final sigh, he pulled the lever and disappeared into the sky.

 

[Onrai]

The shuttle left the Republic vessel and entered hyperspace, yes, but another Centaurus had shown up. This one had remained steady, having evidently come up from the surface instead of entered the system proper. As the shuttle and other craft began to leave the hangar of the Republic wreck, they would find themselves scanned by the esoteric ship. Carefully, it accessed their computers. The reasoning? If any of the pods chose to use their single-use hyperdrive, the Republic would have solid evidence of their hyperspace trajectories and would be able to pick said pods up in the event of such an incident happening.

And the shuttle's trajectory likely needed to be tracked. Who knew what sort of painful situation Aleidis would be in after having dealt with someone who was perhaps the most powerful Sith Sorceror in the entire galaxy as of now? Thus, the Centaurus did so, and once the shuttle had exited the system. A series of relays were sent, pulses, each with utilized hyperspace coordinates.

-

THULE

Circe smiled. Her newest acquisition had been gently dropped on the nearby landing pad, and the Sith woman was eager to do some integrating with this, her latest fighter. A beep on her datapad would mean she had work to do, though, hyperspace coordinates officially coming in. "Hmm... Well, she is family to me. I suppose I should follow her."

And with that, business was concluded. The fighter lifted off, on its way to Serpena with a droid pilot. Circe herself had a shuttle on the way to the coordinates of the shuttle's own location.

"Salvation is at hand, darling."

 

[Domino]

Domino stared out at the two burning cruisers that had been flanking the Republic star destroyer when it exited hyperspace above the planet. One of them had been the one to fire it's ion cannon at her. Nothing but foolishness that. Even if their command ship had been intact this fight likely would have gone her way. The Vigo was designed for pitch battle and to withstand the rigors of such, a single hit, at range through a shield of republic bombers and dissipated by clouds of flack had only pissed Domino off more. And there had never been wings of the interceptors or bombers in the first place, Domino doubted that it was possible to fit even a single wing into the SD's hanger. But she was calming down now, watching explosions tended to have that effect on her.

Whatever, she was done here. Further bombardment would be pointless, the Republic had already lost all they would to such a tactic and it would only further civilian suffering. The Twi'lek watched the cruisers buckle and explode before giving the order to secure the ship for the jump to lightspeed. Any celebratory mood at her winnings was soured but she'd still pick up her prizes at their drop points. Wherever they might be throughout the galaxy. Certainly they had never been on this planet aside from the darkstaff, a fact everyone save Kei seemed to know.
<Domino out>

 

[Jorin]

Jorin did a lot of things, but questioning orders wasn't one. He turned gave a series of hand gestures and exited the building with the ARCs. He didn't give a damn if a diplomats feathers were ruffled, he had a job to do, so he did it, without question or second thought. The men would retreat onto the their transport without so much as a single word, until the doors close, after which the RSFU began to chuckle amongst themselves. One of the sergeants had cause a bidder to soil himself, and they all had the humor of a child at the moment.