The Limits of Glory (OP Dominion of Eriadu)

[Jorus Merrill]

@[member="Maelion Liates"]
@[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]
@[member="Thadd Zarr"]

The gunship, front and center, took fire from walkers and tanks alike as it fountained warheads at unsustainable rates. Jorus's hands danced over the controls; the gunship whirled through all sorts of chaos. Detonations and ion efflux drowned out the comm channels. The magazines ran red.

"Colonel, this is Gypsy. We're taking a beating up here. Think I'll need to put-"

Some combination of ground fire slammed into the gunship with unusual force, and Jorus puked a bit. Spitting out warm acid, he scrambled to bring the dying gunship down. The sucker was a workhorse, easily as durable as Gypsymoth, but two gunships couldn't take on this much firepower without effect. "Gypsy Two, this is Gypsy Lead, taking the fall. We'll hit hard but clean. Clear skies, bro."

The gunship bottomed out, squashing a light tank. Cracking out his neck, Jorus reached back for the spot where most folks kept a service sidearm -- and where he kept a Mandalorian Shell Gun. The beskar break-action eight-gauge shotgun served him as a crutch as he levered himself out of the crashed, but repairable, gunship. His gunners joined him in the shelter of the forward port wing stub.

"All right, ladies and gentlemen...let's go find the Colonel."

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

@[member="Jorus Merrill"], @[member="Maelion Liates"], @[member="Thadd Zarr"]

"Gypsy Lead...Damnit," Siobhan swore when the connection was cut, but kept her nerves. "Gypsy Two, pull back. Get me a location on the crash site."

"Gypsy Lead is down...near Squad Four. Looks like a clean landing, ma'am." Well, the Inimica Gunship had squashed a tank, but the vessel was still repairable and the crew was alive, so the description fit.

On the outside Siobhan kept her cool, though inwardly she breathed a sigh of relief as she finally got back to the troops, feeling a sharp pain in her right leg and back but with the enemy mech done.
The battle was winding down. Now that their armoured units had been destroyed and most of their drones wrecked the surviving Eriaduan soldiers were for the most part retreating up the hill. Now that a transmission had come in from above about the stealth team's presence, Siobhan did not bother waste ammo to fire on the few retreating stragglers. They would be caught in the blast.

"Good. Order Squad Four to find survivors and bring them here." Here being the improvised command position around the AT-SEs that done so well at tearing through the enemy.

Now all that was left was for stealth team to squeeze the detonator and deliver the big bang.

3...

2...

1...

 

[Jorus Merrill]

@[member="Maelion Liates"]
@[member="Thadd Zarr"]
@[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

Assorted enemy units, mostly in retreat, took the opportunity to assault the downed gunship. Blasterfire rained in from all directions as Jorus lay flat on hot debris, between the gunship's stub wing and the remains of the tank. One, then another of his gunners fell, and fell hard. He angled the Mandalorian shell gun over the bit of tank armor that sheltered him and the last remaining bombardier, a man whose name, to his discomfort, escaped Jorus. The shell gun belched dispersal aerosol and ablative ceramic flechettes, shredding a couple of Eriaduan soldiers and offering a temporary respite from blasterfire. Jorus reloaded frantically, choosing shells by instinct.

The incoming fire intensified. As his bombardier snatched up a second sidearm and intensified return fire, Jorus leaned the shell gun on the bit of tank armor and fired both barrels. A gigantic double fireball cleared the air.

And then the incoming fire ceased, and ODF Squad Four was here. The bombardier -- Porkins, his name was, come to think of it -- gave Jorus an ample shoulder to lean on as they dogtrotted across the battlefield towards the Colonel's improvised command station.

 

[Thadd Zarr]

@[member="Maelion Liates"]
@[member="Jorus Merrill"]
@[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

Thadd and Maelion ran through the underground corridors. Thadd tapped his tactical wrist unit and a holo-map appeared all the access shafts that ran under the Ion cannon. The map bounced up and down with every lunging step that Thadd took while running down the main hall. The map appeared to be a web of corridors, some leading to other bunkers, others leading back to a river that flowed on the opposite of the clifts, and others that led to no where. But there was one that glowed a hue of blue that lead to a ventilation shaft on the other side of the cliff. It was there only clear escape without doubling back and not getting caught by retreating guards. It was however, farther that Thadd had anticipated. Thadd took another good view at the holo, memorizing the few remaining turns that led to the 50 meter climb to the ventilation vent in the forest.

"Come on, come on!" Thadd half grumbled to himself as much Maelion to pick up the pace. They couldn't blow the Ion cannon from their current position. Well, they could. But he wasn't quiet used to playing the role of suicide bomber just yet.

"There it is, lets go!" The last turn that lef to the 50 meter shaft that they would have to climb was directly infront of them. But seemed to take an eternity to get there, running at full speed. Thadd heard his COM unit on his wrist beep again. Possibly Siobahn trying to get his atention to blow the thing.

They arrived at the shaft. The both stooped at the ladder that led the way up and out. Thadd glanced at Maelion. They were both breathing heavily, sweat dripping down their faces and onto the humid floor of the corridor. "We blow it first.... and then make the climb.... or.... we make the climb...... and then blow it?" Thadd asked in between heavy breaths.


They both stared at each other for a moment....

"Lets blow the bloody thing!" Thadd grinned as his pulled out the detonator from his pack. The red button flashed. He flicked up the safety switch and opened the red casing that held the detonation button. "3.....2.....1....."

Thadd pressed the button. "Lets climb Girl!" Thad grabbed the first rung and prayed to the force itself that they make the 50 meter climb in time.

 

[Maelion Liates]

Maelion dragged @[member="Thadd Zarr"] roughly into the tunnels. She had assessed his progress and believed it was time to go.
"Mr Zarr, we get to a safe distance first."

He clearly did not know who or what she was. Still, she made the appearance of being tired, but as they got close to the escape stairs and hatch she pushed him aside. "We do this quickly," she said.
Hitching a line to her belt and connecting it to the top of the stairs. Then, she just stepped down. She had forty metres of spooling line attached to her, so as she dropped down the stair shaft she was lowered down, down, down, to a point ten metres from the bottom. She disconnected her line and sent it back up to Thadd to make him move quicker down the ladder.

When he joined her she produced her detonator and pressed the button....

Spoiler

Boom.

Well, that didn't really describe it. But as Maelion ran the whole top of the mesa erupted into a coruscating fireball. Anyone within a hundred metres was killed instantly, and windows and buildings all across the city below smashed.

Maelion casually dusted herself off. "Admiral @[member="Allaina Mare"], the ion cannon has been destroyed. You may begin your landing."

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

Sarge waded his way to the first pair of bridge supports and dragged himself up and onto them. Pulling out his det charges, he set to work as heavy fighting lit the sky around and behind him. The sounds of war were home for him.

A moment or two longer, and the charges were set.

Disappearing into the night, the bridge blew just as the first column of reinforcements began to cross.

Mission accomplished.

He needed a beer.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

@[member="Maelion Liates"], @[member="Jorus Merrill"], @[member="Thadd Zarr"], @[member="Tegaea Alcori"]

From her position below the hill Siobhan got to see the impressive lightshow as the mesa was engulfed in a massive fireball. Nothing that stood upon it survived, windows and buildings all across the city below were smashed. Fortunately Auresh Strike Force had heard about the presence of stealth team and withdrawn to a safe distance, so they did not share the fate of those who were caught in the blast and suffered an agonising death.

There were cheers from the OP mercenaries when they beheld the blast, Siobhan let them have their fun for a few moments, then called them to order.
"Back to work, people. We have a city to conquer. You don't want reinforcements to get all the glory, do you? A hefty bonus for anyone who brings me Tarkin. Dead or alive."

One grizzled mercenary called Thane, whose ear had been replaced by a cybernetic, raised his hand. "If he's dead, ma'am, do you want his head in a fruit basket with blood oranges?"

Despite herself Siobhan smiled briefly. "If you can arrange it. Now see to the wounded and get those walkers moving," she said on a more commanding note. As the troops started preparing she activated her comm.

"Exarch Alcori. Budyonny Garrison and the ion cannon have been taken out. The admiral is free to cleanse the stars. We could use some extra troops down here for the final push." Siobhan figured that in front of the troops she might appear professional and use Tegaea's rank. Besides, Exarch sounded badass. "Stealth team, nice lightshow. Sending you my coordinates."

At this moment Commander Jorus Merrill and his bombardier Porkins were led in to the command station and Siobhan turned to face him. "Commander, glad to see you're alive. That was a queen of a fight. You did bloody good work."

As the corpses across the street testified the strike force had taken casualties as well, though the majority of bodies were Eriaduans. Their families would be compensated. But now they were ready for the final push.

 

[Qae Shena]

Allaina heard a nose to her side and realised what it was, casting a powerful glare at @[member="Avicus DuSang"]. "No smoking onboard any of my ships, Colonel. My bridge is not your home. Put that out and don't do it again." That kind of stuff couldn't be tolerated. A starship was not a place for that, especially not surrounded by high-value and extremely sensitive systems. She did not tolerate breaches of the rules on her bridge because order was the number one disciplinary force in a military. If an officer was breaking that? They'd get punished.

Fortunately for everyone involved, @[member="Maelion Liates"]' message came in at that moment. You may begin your landing. Those sweet, sweet words.

"Affirmative. Deploying to system now. All ships, execute microjump!"

Already loaded into the navicomputers of the Omega flotilla, the four Star Destroyers made the extremely short hyperjump into Eriadu's orbit, into a pre-planned position; the Invicta came in broadside-on to the planet, as did the three Jaegers that formed her protective shield. That shield was imperative, considering Eriadu had a small fleet available to its defence. Three cruisers, two battleships and a light carrier appeared to be the order of the day and they were going to have to deal with it. Fortunately, the big guns would be enough to break the spine of any single one of those vessels quickly.

"Deploy the fighters. Deploy first wave of the ground team to the assigned location," Allaina said, the unbidden command for Avicus to get the hell off her bridge and do his job obvious. She was not in a good mood. "Release overall command of the ground forces to Colonel Kerrigan as tactical theatre commander and have DuSang report to her while he leads his team."

She changed comm channel, this time to @[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]. "I'm here. The cavalry is on the way, but I've got problems of my own up here. We have a relatively well-sized fleet on our hands and they're overflying your position right now. I better go - this fight's about to start!"

She rose from her chair, issuing orders like the vicious bark of a machinegun. Time for Allaina karking Mare to earn her reputation as the best tactical commander there was. "Close up to General Quarters! All hands to battle stations! Take the ship to Condition Red and open fire on the lead battleship! Have the flotilla engage those cruisers and deploy the Inimicas! I want that fleet dead, now! Send @[member="Jak Sandrow"]'s squadron in as lead against their fighter screen." The sky lit up and the glorious blaze of destruction whetted her appetite for the total annihilation of gigantic durasteel behemoths. Here, she was the slayer of titans.

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

Tegaea Alcori observed the struggle, and heard from Maelion that the ion cannon had been destroyed. With this in mind she approached @[member="Allaina Mare"]. "Admiral, I shall lead the forces down to the planet and assume direct control from @[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]. Continue to provide me support."
Nothing more needed to be said. The Admiral knew her business, and could be trusted to keep the space lanes open down to the planet.

In the hanger of the Invictus a flotilla of dropships and other craft had been assembled. Hundreds of Protectorate troops had been assembled, along with more vehicles and escorts.
"Right, let's get going, people!" She picked up her comm. "@[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"], reinforcement deployment about to occur. Give me the coordinates to where you need us."

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

((@[member="One"], the ion cannon has just been destroyed))

@[member="Tegaea Alcori"]

Down on the ground the strike force was pulling its forces together, positioning itself for the final attack. The damage done to the outskirts of the city by the efficient demolition work of Maelion and Thadd was considerable, it would aid their tank. It was as she was observing the happenings in the city through binoculars that Siobhan received Tegs' message.

"Nice to see you join the party, boss!" the Colonel responded happily, checking a datapad a staff officer handed to her. "I'm to the west of the city down the hill with the ion cannon, transmitting coordinates. Enemy wasted a good deal of their armoured units and blowing up the cannon wrecked a lot of the buildings on the outskirts. Gives us a clear drive inside. Link up with me and we can break through to the palace."

Already the walkers were moving into position, infantry was moving into formation. She imagined stealth team would be here soon, perhaps they could also get Jorus Merrill a new gunship when reinforcements landed. With the casualties the enemy had taken at the battle for Budyonny Garrison, the destruction of the bridge and the ion cannon taken out, not to mention the forces he had lost there, all it would take was one big push and then Tarkin would be theirs. No doubt the fighting would be fierce, but their troops would carry the day and then the Sword of Omega could be sheathed.

She changed the frequency after receiving a message from Gypsy Two about the bridge. "@[member="Sarge Potteiger"], nice work. We're making the final push to the city. Sending coordinates."

 

[Vora Kaar]

(Delete) OOC sorry been away for a while.

 

[Avicus DuSang]

@[member="Allaina Mare"]'s glare was followed by a rather harsh order to exterminate his cigarette. Some people were just more sensitive then the equipment they tried to protect. "Apologies, Admiral. It won't happen again." he said, snuffing the cigarette out on his wrist. The sound and smell of burning flesh were brief, as was the pain. Brushing the ash from flesh, he looked back up. "Probably."

With the destruction of the ion cannon, the main forces could deploy. He stood firm and saluted. "Give them hell, ma'am." With that, he turned around and made his way to the hangars. Boarding a dropship, he strapped himself in. This was it. The Dark God would finally be returning to the battlefield.

A calm passed over him. Yellow eyes closed as he slipped into an almost trance. He was always so perfectly calm before setting foot on the battlefield. One needed a clear head to assess the situation. Calm like a sword in sheath.

A sword that @[member="Tegaea Alcori"] would wield as she saw fit.

 

[Thadd Zarr]

@[member="Tegaea Alcori"] @[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] @[member="Allaina Mare"]

Large branches and vines thudded to the floor as Thadd hacked his way through an overgrown section of the forest. With every swipe of his sword he made an elegant swooshing noise and cut through the overgrowth like a hot knife through Correlian cooking lard. He stopped a moment and looked behind and saw that the path twisted and turned sufficiently enough so as to avoid anyone following his neatly cut entrance into the brush. Overhead he still saw fighters and transports swooping in and around their last position near the Ion cannon. A smile formed over his face thinking about the blast radius around that area. He looked up at the sky and wondered when it would darken with drop-ships, troop transports, and Protectorate fighters. It definitely will be a glorious sight to behold, he though to himself.


Maelion and Thadd had parted ways after they completed their operation, Maelion didn't say much, just that she was continuing with her orders. Thadd had a new objective in mind now though.


He stopped a moment and tapped a few commands on the gauntlet that encased his left wrist, his tactical and communications unit. Another holo appeared, this time with a single blipping orb and an arrow that pointed the direction. Thadd made a mental note and deactivated the simple compass system with a tap and continued moving forward.


Not too long after, his arm feeling the burn of hacking down what seemed like half of the forest, the hand cut path came to a clearing. Thadd's eyes squinted trying to see where it was, but couldn't see anything. It seemed the newly installed cloak security system was functioning well. Thadd tapped another set of commands on his wrist and, like a ghost appearing before its prey, his modified Escort Shuttle shimmered into existence, Its tri-fold wings all pointing upwards at the sky like a bird at rest.


The landing ramp hissed open below the cockpit section, appearing to open its mouth, and Thadd walked up the ramp.


He started to run through the activation and power sequences, the shuttle vibrated and various control panels came to life. The repulser drive lift system started to buzz into activity as he could feel the shuttle lift just a centimeter. "Hold steady girl." Thadd spoke to his ship. "We are going to provide some extra guns from the sky when our drop ships need the support."


Thadd opened his com channels in the cockpit and the chaotic chatter of officers and soldiers of the Protectorate sounded like music to his ears.

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

Tegaea acknowledged @[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]'s words. "Understood, we'll drop in behind you and give some covering fire!"

"@[member="Avicus DuSang"], I need you to create a diversion on the other side of the city. Draw some of their forces out while we press on towards the palace and centre of the city."

The heavy gunships and transports headed through space, avoiding the battle and heading down towards the ruins of the ion cannon where Siobhan was gathering her forces for the final push....

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

@[member="Tegaea Alcori"]

"Acknowledged, you'll get Tarkin's head on a silver platter," Siobhan promised grimly, then cut the connection. "Let's move, people. Reinforcements are on the way. We're breaking through and getting Tarkin."

She boarded her AT-SE and the armoured column of walkers and the one tank, accompanied by infantry, pressed on towards the city. The outskirts of Eriadu City had taken considerable damage by the massive explosion caused by Maelion. Windows had been shattered, buildings had taken fire and dead bodies lay across the streets.

Eriaduan soldiers had hastily erected defensive emplacements, turrets and missile launchers. Soon a heated fight developed between the two forces, but the destruction of the ion cannon had caused a strong blow to morale. Political commissars went around the ranks, shooting at Eriaduans that broke ranks and fled. But soon the air was filled with volleys fired by the mass driver cannons from the walkers and a continuous barrage of bolts from the Omega soldiers.

Meanwhile, deep inside his bunker, Lord Tarkin contemplated his situation in the control, room. Holographic maps showed how disastrous the situation was. A coterie of generals, ministers and hangers-on was assembled around him as the lord of all Eriduans contemplated his horrid situation.

He looked upon them with a scowl, face red with anger. "Treachery, foul treachery!" he cried out, jabbing an accusing finger at a man dressed in a black general's uniform. "Mohnke, you have failed me! You promised me that your best regiment was guarding the ion cannon and now it has been destroyed! How do you explain this? Where are our reinforcements?!"

Mohnke looked down guiltily before clearing his throat. "Sir, the bridge to Phelar was blown up. A saboteur. Our forces across the river are cut off. We must..."

"You just got caught by surprise like that!" Tarkin yelled at him, clenching his fist. "I see it clearly now, I have been betrayed by the army. You were the one who advised me to get rid of Kukov. Maybe I should have purged you instead! But I won't surrender, I expect your men to fight to the last drop of blood."

Despite the rant, it seemed no one in the room had the courage to rebel and take out the failed despot, Mohnke just looked like a puppy who had just been kicked. "Every one of my men will fight and die for the Fatherland, sir. They did fight. But it was the fleet that let us down."

The head admiral, a grey-haired man in dress uniform, glared at him. "Don't shirk your responsibility. Our space forces are..."

"They failed to keep our star system clear," Tarkin snapped at him. "Betrayed by the army, betrayed by the navy. Everyone has failed me. My family united this world, we made it strong." He briefly turned away from them, gazing upon the portrait of Wilhuff Tarkin that hung on the wall, as if trying to will the grand old man to pass on some his wisdom upon him.

But the elder Tarkin was silent. In any case, considering that he had wiped out a planet just because he could and then got beaten due to his arrogance by a bunch of rebels, perhaps he did not have any wisdom to pass on anyway.

With a heavy sigh Tarkin turned back to his underlings, affixing his gaze on a small dwarf dressed in a brown uniform. "Send out the People's Guard, Yezhov. Anyone who can fight. They will either fight or die. If the people of Eriadu don't have the courage to defend the land of their ancestors, then they don't deserve to live on. The Omega dogs will pay for every inch of territory they seize with ten of their men."

Yezhov clicked his heels together and saluted. "Anyone who breaks ranks will be shot on sight. One Eriaduan stormtrooper is worth ten mercenaries, my Lord!" he declared dramatically, though no one seemed to believe it.

"To think that these dogs proclaim that I am a puppet of the Bando Gora! They don't even have the honesty to admit that they want to plunder our world, so they resort to trickery," Tarkin said with a scowl.

At this moment an aide rushed in, his face pale. All eyes fell upon him. "Sir...I have bad news...," the aide took a deep breath when he saw the Leader's scowl. "Colonel Strasser has refused to deploy his regiment and relieve us."

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

(So many likes @[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"])

This writer notes that Yezhov's spirit lives on, even in the bunker. The Downfall was coming....

To ensure this did indeed happen, Tegaea landed her troops on the outskirts of the city. Advancing in a broad arc with artillery and aerial support, they began their march on the palace and the bunker below it. Resistance, such as it was, was light. Civilians were spared and given protection as the troops moved through. The lack of enemy resistance was made clear by the fact that this did not turn into a meatgrinder. Instead the people and soldiers of Eriadu seemed on the point of giving up. A few of the 'People's Guard' tried to fight, but were cut down with ease.

Tegaea met up with Siobhan as they entered a wide plaza leading to the palace. "The wolf's lair," she said, pointing. "It'd look nice with the Protectorate flag raised over it...."

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

((Thanks!))

@[member="Tegaea Alcori"]

Thus the reign of Lord Tarkin was coming to an end. Not with a bang but with a whimper. Long had he held the world in his iron grip, as the unchallenged autocrat. Now it was all coming down like a house of cards.

Walkers trode through the streets, mechanical behemoths that seemed to make a lasting impression the Eriaduan forces. Some of the People's Guard put up a fight, often making suicidal charges at Omega squads or walkers, tossing in grenades, but usually they were blasted before they even got close. Entire squads of Eriaduan soldiers threw away their guns and held up their hands in surrender. Political commissars that tried to urge them were shot out of hand.

Siobhan met up with Tegaea at the wide plaza, nodding when her lover and superior pointed at the enormous palace. It had a large balcony from which once the Supreme Leader had received the acclamation of the masses. Gigantic posters hung from the walls of buildings, along with golden statues.

Siobhan shook her head at the perverse idolatry. "Yeah, it would. Best take a holopic," she said, gesturing to a sergeant leading a squad of soldiers.

Squads of troopers were surging forward towards the palace. Shots were heard, explosions as grenades were lobbed in. Then as a walker advanced there was silence, over the comm they heard the acknowledgement that they were moving in. Siobhan followed in their wake, a squad of soldiers was already moving up the stairs to hoist the banner.

"What are your orders about how to deal with that bastard Tarkin?" she queried. She did not mention the proclamation about the Bando Gora that had been issued. "Get rid of him right here?" she asked quietly.

She did not believe the declaration was true...but she understood and she was not the one who had to make the hard choices. In a way it made her happy she was not senior management.

 

[Linna Beorht]

@[member="Tegaea Alcori"]
@[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

The new political consultant, entirely out of place on even this facsimile of a battlefield, nodded in harmony with the Colonel's words, and took a moment to interject while the boss pondered.

"However you find him, however you take care of him, I can sell it. Tarkin did some fantastic spin work on his last name, early in his career, but there's enough footprints on the early campaign work to give me some traction when it's time to roll the whole thing back. It may be easy to smear the truth, but it's much, much easier when there's real dirt to be had, and I've put together a whole mud file on him and his family. Even if he dies in there, I can sell it just fine."

 

[Jorus Merrill]

All things considered, the new gunship was slightly better. Less damage, anyway, and more warheads left in the magazines. Porkins took the concussion warhead tubes, and a couple of new gunners took the rest. Maybe this time, Jorus would have the chance to get to know them.

Before they died.

He'd lost track of that sort of thing, lost his edge for losing men, in the time since he had last served with anything like a military organization. Time, apparently, to get reacquainted with casualties -- a painful little contradiction in terms.

The gunship hovered over the last citadel, and he called in @[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]. "Colonel, this is Gypsy, back on station. We've got overwatch if you feel the need to make some bigger doors."

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

@[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

A double click from his mic would alert her that he understood, and the coordinates were received. The man rarely actually talked on missions, and it was understandable why. If you were doing your best to not be seen, you wouldn't want to be heard either.

He began the slow process of catching up to the front lines, knowing he'd get there long after everything was done. That was fine with him: he'd done his job, after all.