Dominion The Lost Expedition | EE Dominion of Netherworld Hex

[Corin Autem]

Tags: Lilanna Kelamvor Domino Ladybug
Gear: KC-47 Hybrid Strike Rifle, KC-95 Blaster Pistol, Lucius-pattern Bayonet, Sk-RS MK. IV Armour, Valdr Skær-Pattern Dual-Role Droid
Forces: One section

Switching to thermals, Cor tried to make out the figures in the gloom. There hadn't been enough ambient light to do so beforehand, but now, with the assistance of her armor's built-in tech, it was at least possible. Or should have been. "What the hell?" She whispered to herself, unable to make out anyone or anything else in the room other than Lilanna and her own soldiers. Toggling on her night vision, the Ultranaut nearly jumped out of her skin at what she saw.

"Contact front!" She shouted, her voice drowned out by sudden blaster fire. "Contact right!" Adros echoed, streaks of red whipping out from where he sheltered to bathe the cathedral walls in light.

Drones -undead drones- crawled forth from the shadows, leapt up from where they'd lain to do battle. One of the dead scouts sat up as Corin watched events unfold around her. Twisting, it's dead eyes came to rest on her. There was no sign of recognition in those eyes; no humanity dwelt there, only hate. "Convert!" It rasped, it's voice the voice of the damned. "Convert!" It tried to say again as the word bubbled and died in it's ruptured throat. Lifting it's blaster, it began to shoot at Corin and the squad she was with.

The bolts slammed against an invisible barrier, bounced off to hit stone and mortar instead. Corin felt more than saw it drop. Raising her own rifle, she put bolt after bolt into the drone-scout. Metal and rotting flesh burst and split apart under the barrage, and the scout sagged once more, a marionette with it's strings cut. Another drone went careening across the room to smash through a wall, a victim of the same unseen Force that had protected her moments before. Lilanna's doing. Casting a glance at the apprentice, Cor swung around to put down another drone as it appeared through a crack in the far wall.

Throughout the room, her people engaged the drones. As intimidating as the drones were, these ones were no match for their live counterparts, as the fighting quickly began to swing in favour of the Ultranauts and their sole wolf droid. The fighting wasn't without casualties, however. Cor saw two of her Ultranauts back away from the fight, their armor smoldering where they'd been hit. Another was thrown backwards by the unnatural strength of one of the drones before it was gunned down from multiple angles.

"Put them down." Corin called over the closed channel, high-energy particle beams tracing bright lines across the room as she encouraged her troops to fight. Turning, her skin began to crawl as she saw one of the scouts -the one who'd been sat in the doorway- approaching Lil from behind. With only one arm, his going was slow, and instead of fear, Cor could only feel pity as he slowly but surely dragged his way closer. Whatever monstrosity that had caused this was better off dead, Cor thought, a pang of anger welling up in her gut.

"Kelamvor. You've got one on your six."

 

[Domino]

Location: City Northern Chapple.
Equipment: Vornskr Armor, Leviathan Bracers, Neti Field Cloak, Sabers, LWRC-45, Wildcat, Parabellum, Vibroknives x2, Survival Pack.
Tags: Corin Autem Lilanna Kelamvor Ladybug

​

Considering what she'd just faced, Domino took a moment to re-stack the grenades in the partially extended magazine with a trio taken from a mag of their ion-based brothers so that every third was now a droid-killer. Speaking of, she re-slung her weapon and her abandoned carbine flew into her hand where she began checking it over for damage as she headed up the stairs to her slain opponent. Now that the whole thing wasn't writhing around and trying to kill her, or convert her to something, she could see that the silvery tendrils spilling out of every gap in the shredded robes had been in addition to the android's internals.

She only had a moment to poke around in it before there was a palatal change in the force that demanded her attention and there was the sound of a wall getting knocked in followed by blaster fire, lots of blaster fire as the comm began to fill with contact reports and warnings. Calmly, Domino wedged the barrel of her carbine into the thing's guts, angled it into the chest cavity and squeezed the trigger a few times. Machines could be notoriously difficult to kill and she didn't want this chaos nightmare rising again on her flank.

Once satisfied, she rose again to pick her way through the mess of metal to a short hallway where the fighting sounded loudest. A short walk and a few blasted door locks later and Domino had found the hole created by the maddened apprentice. That thought brought Domino up short. Why had she thought of Lilanna like that? With a frown she turned her senses towards the girl and began to really look her over, doing for her what she usually actively avoided. In the meantime another part of her brought her twin sabers to bear, their orange blades snapping to life with a hiss before settling into their usual thrum. The active camouflage of her cloak danced as it shifted and tried to keep up.

Domino had begun her journey within the Force when a Sith lord had attacked her, rendered her completely helpless and then mentally tortured her for what felt like days. Since then such techniques had held a special place of hatred in her heart and using them were one of the few ways to genuinely make her despise someone. It also meant that she'd gone out of her way to study such things, even subjecting herself to them routinely as part of her meditation so that she'd never be laid bare like that again. Now she turned that experience towards the 'warden' and began to study the mind of the apprentice showing powers and control that should have been well beyond most of her ranking.

While most of her attention was taken up by Lilanna, another part of her sent the light sabers she carried into the room beyond, neatly bisecting the jambo the sergeant had warned of. From there they split off, tumbling through the air to slice apart the reanimating scouts or to bat aside a blaster shot with a casual flick of the blade.

 

[Ingrid L'lerim]

Lady Ingrid L’lerim Ragal Terassi Vandiir
Eternal Empress of the Eternal Empire, Lord Commander of the Wardens of the Shroud, Leader of the Dawn of Hope
The Red Witch, The Night Queen, Lady Stuztala, Head of the House L’lerim, CEO of the HPI Consortium, Archon of the Primyn Group​

Objective II.: The Ritual
Location: Eternal Empire's base, Netherworld
Equipment: N/A || Empyrean gland
Tag(s): N/A | Asmus Omaand

[ Requiem for a Dream ]
<"High Nelvaanian language"> | ~ telepathic communication ~ ​

<"This is a really good question… as a matter of fact, I have no idea how I kept or remained in conscious form, which was able to preserve its being and not merge with the Force. But yes, I'm Greg, so that would have been my name if I were born.">

<"No, it's not a reality, it's just a hallucination, that's why you can be here. I'm just in anesthetized state.">

< No, you don’t sleep, if you slept, you wouldn’t feel the pain. No, you are currently using Force ability. I’ve been living here long enough to recognize this, and since you’re my mother, I see through it."> he explained the Force-shadow ability.

<"Then the ritual is successful and my strength returns.">

<"Probably, but maybe because of you're a Shadow-born and that makes you capable to do it, I don’t know that.">

<"Where are you? And why are we only meeting now? I've been coming to the Netherworld for so long.">

<"I don’t know, I was trapped somewhere, I can’t leave this area. You’re not many times or in a state like meditation in this place that I can reach you… now it’s done so we can talk.">

<"Are you asking for my help?">

<"Oh, no! I feel good here. Of course it’s up to you too, I know how important family is to you, but basically I’m fine. If you want to get me out of here, I won’t protest, but if I don’t, I won’t have any objections to that.">

<"Why do you want to help me, Greg?">

<"You're my mother!">

<"You are like your father…">

<"Thank you, mother!">

 

[Lilanna Kelamvor]

.​

O B J E C T I V E 1​

Tags: Domino Corin Autem Subject 73 Red Ladybug​

Equipment: Lilanna's Lightsaber, Lilanna's Armor, BG-400 Blaster Pistol.​

​

The power she felt infused with felt so familiar, on par with what she once held during her Sith days, though the whirlwind of carnage she had felt...tame compared to once it had been. The rage was no longer there, and the rush of the carnage was no longer present. Her saber moved on instinct, as if the force itself was guiding her hand, the blade smacking away the projectiles being fired at her. 'Do not get so drunk on this power, you are neglecting your allies.' Lilanna's focus shifted, feeling danger approaching her from behind, only to be warned as Corin declared it aloud. The Warden turned back, her free hand clenching, as she seized the drone and pulled it towards her, lashing out with her blade as it moved past her, the result cleaving the drone in two.​

​

Her head moved to the side, locking eyes with Corin, the dark pupils she wore from Vagaari were there, but the alien aura that surrounded her was no longer present. For the former Sith, she felt a mix of disgust at seeing these abominations, being reminded of what she had been in her past life. Her own Sith armor had been a mess of machine and flesh, but it paled compared to these abominations. 'You need to eliminate the source, focus on the ripples and it will-' "Where are they coming from?" She called out, ignoring the voice in her head, favoring the advice of her Ultranaut comrade than that of the alien entity. They had all called out to convert them, yet, convert to what? For who? Her eyes shifted, looking to the remnants of the man she had just neatly cut into, and pondered accessing the cybernetics to gleam information off it.​

​

It didn't last long, as she knocked aside another bolt, this one coming from the drone that she had flung through a wall. What was left of the man crawled forward, the cybernetics being the only thing still functional, as it raised a sparking blaster rifle in her direction and fired once more. Lilanna blocked the attack, and reached out once more with the force, focusing on the cybernetics, as the frenzied screech of binary reached her ears. She gave a simple command, 'initiate hard reset', and was rewarded with the machine husk collapsing as it could no longer power it's damaged core.​

​

It felt nice to have control. 'To your right.' The voice spoke, annoyed now, though Lilanna paid it little mind as she slowly faced the danger; and was struck head on by a blaster shot, sending the Warden to the ground.​

 

[Ladybug]

Mikilanna Mihaly (Darth Kauhu)
Overseer of Science Development, Knight Warden of the Shroud

Location: City, Near A Ruined Building
Equipment: Dark Blessings of Kuolema / Varjokävely
Ship: Aries XIII
Tags: Domino / Corin Autem / Lilanna Kelamvor

Stealing a glance at the barely visible wound, and even without the aid of the putrid smell of impending rotting flesh, she could deduce this person would not survive the night. And, as a predator herself, she knew the bloody wound in the stomach region would act as a beacon to whatever had caused the bloody mess. To kill the person would be merciful, given the state of the bodies in the hallway; though mercy was not in her heart, and she needed information hopefully this individual could provide.

Never taking her eyes off the wavering pistol, Mikilanna slowly crept toward the individual saying, "Very few options are afforded you. Your death is imminent. However, I invite you to mull over what I'm about to propose." Mikilanna knew in the weakened mental state of the figure propped against the wall, she could easily rip information from the mind via a simple mental domination display. However, the figure was suffering from overwhelming waves of pain and despair and fear; making the thoughts nothing short of a mass of bubbling incoherent thoughts and images. Diplomacy was in order.

Crouching down a few feet from the individual, she locked eyes with the person; noticing the left eye was damaged, the right eye bloodshot. And the smell of his flesh was bordering on sending her into a feeding frenzy. She preferred to hunt, in feline form, for her prey; eating fresh flesh from a fresh kill. Ignoring the hunger for now, she continued. "Undoubtedly you are aware that death is hovering close over your shoulders. No amount of medical assistance will save you, fact. Now listen closely. I need information regarding two lost teams. Help me and I will help you."

Pondering her words, the figure slowly nodded whilst lowering his weapon. Through struggling attempts, the figure replied in a tone riddled with a quivering voice. "How....how can you help me?" Gracefully the Sith Lord gripped the weapon with her left hand, tossing it aside. With her right hand, she patted the figure's left knee replying, "You've seen the hallway. You've seen first hand what caused your mortal wound. With such knowledge, I can give you a peaceful death in return for information. Or if you refuse to lend me your assistance, I'll simply leave you for whatever hellish creature to finish what it started. And yes, I'm quite indulged in the belief that the creature is hunting you still. I would."

"Creatures," came the response, the figure laying his head back. Creatures, Mikilanna thought, made more sense than one creature causing such destruction in the hallway. Regardless, a horde of creatures would pose problems. "I accept your proposal."

​

 

[Asmus Omaand]

Spoiler: Loadout

Armor: Armor
Weapons:Scatterblaster, Charric Rifle, 3 Vibro-knives, 2 Batons, Veshet Right Sleeve Blaster,Sniper Rifle,
Tinfoil Hat, 3 Probe Droid Grenades

The omni-droid slowly, cautiously moved closer to them. Closer being relative to the size it was in the mirialans scope at full zoom. Asmus was thankful for the enviroweave in moments like this. Sweat was a tremendously tedious and troubling bodily function when it slipped into one's eyes.

"Target approaching slowly. Think it knows we're here?" He asked, albeit rhetorically.

There came an affirming snort of a laugh from Jules. The senior sniper was sliding magazine after magazine beside Asmus while getting a hard count.

"Good to know. Gonna be a womp shoot I guess."

"Don't get too excited. Where there's one, there is likely to be many, many more. Things travel together from what the reports say." Jules huffed, pulling the last mag from the bag and making a mental tally.

"How the feth did you lug all those out here?"

"You said we wouldn't have much backup. And everything is at range out here. Figured the worst we could do was practice. Sides, didn't get my workout in before we deployed." Asmus snapped, still watching the droid look about the area.

"If you spent half as much time-"

"Don't start this chit again wh-"

"EY! Send it!" Jules snapped suddenly, peering through the binoculars and tapping the other sharply. There were only a few seconds of delay between the order and the crack of the rifle. But the round was watched by both of them in its final dance towards the droid.

It felt like eons as they watched with baited breath. The droids photoreceptor sharply rising before the round connected with the front of its face and ripped the top off of it with a violent effect.

"Solid hit." Asmus sighed, slipping his finger off the trigger and cycling the chamber. The sudden anxiety the order had brought made his hand sluggish. A lazy effort as the feeling was made worse by an all to familiar sound.

The sensor beacons pinged. Once, twice, a few times more as the pair shared a look.

Tags: Ingrid L'lerim

 

[Ingrid L'lerim]

Lady Ingrid L’lerim Ragal Terassi Vandiir
Eternal Empress of the Eternal Empire, Lord Commander of the Wardens of the Shroud, Leader of the Dawn of Hope
The Red Witch, The Night Queen, Lady Stuztala, Head of the House L’lerim, CEO of the HPI Consortium, Archon of the Primyn Group​

Objective II.: The Ritual
Location: Eternal Empire's base, Netherworld
Equipment: N/A || Empyrean gland
Tag(s): N/A | Asmus Omaand

[ Requiem for a Dream ]
<"High Nelvaanian language"> | ~ telepathic communication ~ ​

<"Going back to your previous words, why do I have to learn to forgive myself?"> she asked again.

<"Because if you don't, it will consume you. You can’t play forever that you’re strong. You're not Tyrant.">

<"How do you know about this and him?"> she asked suspiciously.

<"I am able to perceive things around my family. This includes Adam… grandfather. I don't know which address is correct, Dad also calls the Admiral as Adam."> he said a little hesitantly.

<"Their relationship isn’t the best, so I think Adam is perfectly fit. Going back to your words, I'm able to endure it.">

<"And do you want to endure it?">

<"I have no choice, this is my duty.">

<"This brings us back to what Lord Tubrok and Lord Vandiir have always told you, you are not a tool, you have to care about yourself.">

<"But the duty…">

<"Can you continue your duty if you are burned out?"> he asked with a smile.

<"No, that’s not what I thought, because it’s also not something I can afford…">

<"See? And if not do it for yourself, do it for those they care about you, you should think about them.">