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Ah'hri, ah'hri ainah. H' mgah'n'ghft mgleth hnahr'luh l' throdogoth.
Hyrva felt the darkness from countless places, but in a very interesting way she also felt the Light side presences from the ship. The enemy may have tried to stop the monoliths from falling down prematurely. They won't succeed anyway. However, the woman sensed one more interesting thing down here that made her stay here and not want to go back to help there. A very interesting presence in the Force. Turned to the way she felt it; knew it couldn't be true.
Ah'hri, ah'hri ainah. H' mgah'n'ghft mgleth hnahr'luh l' throdogoth.
The whispers sounded even louder, confirming that yes, reality is what she feels. How?! To the best of her knowledge, there was no Touched who left their planet. At Ninn, they were able to take everyone home after asking for help, which should have been no problem. Hyrva knew nothing else. She couldn’t tell if it was now just a “demon” or actually Touched. In any case, it was interesting; she definitely has to follow. And not just because the voices said so.
Ah'hri, ah'hri ainah. H' mgah'n'ghft mgleth hnahr'luh l' throdogoth.
If there was anyone here from her people, she had to take it home if they were here against their will. The whisper also wanted her to go and see it all. And Truthspeaker didn’t have to be asked twice for all of it or urged. The direction of travel coincided with what she needed anyway; however, she had to go here alone. Before left, she looked at the soldiers who were nearby.
Ah'hri, ah'hri ainah. H' mgah'n'ghft mgleth hnahr'luh l' throdogoth.
"You go ahead, I'll go and check something else, we'll meet soon at point three!" after that starts to check what she felt.
So his herd was to be the spearhead, lovely. He didn't have to follow Maliphant's eyes to know what he meant either, he wanted the rancors the Cragmoloid had brought and likely a full charge into the enemy would leave him with little if any left. Still they'd push an enemy back, and if that was the plan so be it. Calling out through the force he felt his connection through the bull, but him Grundark held back as the thunder of the rancor herd's arrival could be heard far in the distance.
Taking a step towards the front he point and with a loud trumpet sent them forward feeling their hunger and rage through the force. Alchemized even as they were he knew they'd be charging into a firestorm, and far too many Jedi. Few would survive the day. Looking back over at Darth Maliphant he gave him a flat look of displeasure, as necessary as it was he didn't like the move. Nodding to the regular troops he lifted his trunk high into the air and sent a force bellow towards the heavens in a roar as he started to move forward. "To victory and glory!"
With a grace that most wouldn't believe a monster the size of Grundark could achieve he ran leading the way with the light of his greatsaber. Even as he ran forward he could feel the pain of his rancor before him as the pure white ground was stained black and red with blood. War was oh so much easier when you were just one man hunting for you own glory and challenge. The more one had, the more it all weighed.
So they were addressing the elephant in the room? Alina let herself chuckle a little at the pun in the back of her mind. Before, in war she felt anxious. Terrified. But this time? The masked woman just smiled behind the helmet. This wasn't a war. This was an extermination of the Jedi. Not just any Jedi. The Silvers. The ones who's actions and carelessness brought a city to the ground and slaughtered countless. A slaughter that took the life of her sister. To answer with slaughter was a truly selfish thing.
But she deserved some moments of selfishness.
Grundark
lead the charge as Darth Empyrean
had ordered. Good. That'd let her focus elsewhere. She could feel him. The Jedi that had captured her and ruined her initial plan. Mathieu. She slipped off from the hoard. She truly was giving into her selfish desires this time. Once she dealt with the Padawan she'd return to properly help the Sith Eternal.
For now, though. Alina sped through the halls until she found him, just a blur of movement and anger. Finally, there he was. Her run continued as she ignited the red blade on her saber. A similar movement to before. A rapid, strong thrust. This time without the slip in mud. She didn't need to say anything. He knew. She knew.
The cerulean swirls of hyperspace fell away to reveal the darkness of realspace. The bright orb of Ossus was directly ahead.
His alarms started firing. Acaadi didn't need the sensors of his Twintail to tell him that something was wrong. He could sense the darkness here, looming over the world.
A small strike fleet ahead. Acaadi tried to send another warning, but he couldn't push any messages through the hyperspace beacon. Something was wrong with long distance communications.
The mirialan leaned across his console, diverting power to the weapons systems. All the lights came on with the flick of each switch. That was reassuring. He'd been doing some tuning work on the starfighter under the assumption that it wasn't going to be battle tested today.
Ura looked around, hearing FN land next to her. She nodded to him, patting the droids dome head.
"Nice job little buddy. Maybe you're a good backup for 99." She then looked around. She was sure she felt something... no. Nothing. She then looked down at FN before hearing that voice again.
We're in trou....
"I know," she said out loud, getting a reaction from FN. "Oh.... Nothing FN. Do you have a holomap so we can get into some cover? Maybe find some backup? I don't know who's attacking, but I'd rather not be in the open." As she started walking, the astromech pulled up a map a whistled. She looked back, nodding.
"A holocomms center? Yeah, that'd work. Maybe we could get a message out? Come on!" Ura would then start sprinting for the center. All she had to do was get there and hope that it worked still.
After a short hike, she'd finally get there, looking up before grabbing the door controls and getting it opened. Looked like everything still worked, but at the same time it seemed to be... evacuated maybe. Ura walked in, but the voice chimed in again.
Dangerous....She didn't respond openly this time, but she did think one. I can't believe I actually agree.
Location: Space above Ossus
The sensors of the Sunrise blared as ships began to approach.
"Sir! We have fighters and bombers coming in!" Captain Nalos looked back, quickly calling out orders.
"Depressurize the ships, and order fighters to intercept! Swing to turrets around too and get a mayday out!" The crew would quickly respond as both capital ships vented their atmosphere, and their turrets began to turn on the approaching fighter soon, laser and particle bolts would fill the black. At the same time, a squadron of Deathseeds and eleven Y-TIEs would turn to attack the approaching fighters as well.
"Sir, I can try to get a missile lock."
"Do it! We can't turn the arc cannon until we get some distance first."
Capital ships vent atmo and target the enemy fighters.
The doors were sealed, not just sealed but literally welded shut to keep the Jedi out as the Sepulchral completed their attunement, and now all that waited was for the dark side energy that was being produced below to infuse the obelisk itself. Then the planet would fall, not only to them, but to the dark side of the force as well. A true glory awaited them all, why even fight it? Each moment of fear, and anger at the incoming invaders fueled it onwards. The pain though, the pain would overwhelm it all and then the nexus would be ready. Then winning and losing the battle would be irrelevant to Quintus, for the dark side would win through either way today.
Focused as he was on all of this it took him by complete surprise to feel the sudden wave of presence from Darth Vulcanus. He could feel him now, just a room away seething in his rage, and he felt hungry. The Sepulchral paused only for a moment before they continued on their appointed task. Their reactions were not one of fear but joy. Even in the face of death to them Vulcanus was a higher power, and he could take and give as was his want. For Quintus once long ago he would have trembled inside, a great fear of the pain to come but now it was all irrelevant to him. Pain was simply more power, a gift to the receiver.
Perhaps a wiser person would have realized the Acolyte had fallen into a dark spiral of Stockholm's syndrome, but Quintus it was clear. He'd just never known how to receive the gift before this. Returning his attention he simply waited knowing that the beast of flame would come, and when it did he'd be ready. He'd channel the passion he brought them into the obelisk and continue the ritual. For such was the will of the dark side of the force.
The funny thing about a Matteus III Fleet carrier is that, unlike many others their size, the capital ship can land on planets. This was one of those times, as "The Liberation" was sitting at a planetary shipyard on the planet Togoria getting a refit on some of the heavy turbolasers. Things were going well almost complete as there was time off for much of the crew and staff. They had been working hard lately and they needed to be able to take the time. “Angel”, a nickname that seemed to be given to him by much of the crew was sitting in his office looking over the specs of the new Jackal Fighter that was assigned to him. The 24 fighters were spread out among him, his flight director, C.A.G., and squadron leaders, these things were insane and made him want to be a full-time pilot again.
It’s not that he minded being on the bridge, it was in his blood, and he was getting good at it, but really, flying was who he was too. It still was, but this was for the greater good and Liram was on the ship that he needed to be on, a carrier. That also let him keep tabs on, and be jealous of all the new toys that would come out. The engine output on these, the speed burst, these things put even the A-wing to shame, only they had teeth too.
Halpern came barging in, this was odd, and something that would be against protocols, but it also wasn’t like him to do it without reason so he could let it go without issue.
” I’d ask if there was something you need but I’m sensing that I already know the answer.”
“I was on a holo-call and suddenly the comms cut.”
Liram just looked at Gym, as if his executive officer had three heads.
“Yes, I did try to re-initiate a call but could not send anything. Then I went to Commo to find out what was going on and they were not able to send or receive anything. Then I went onto ship-wide comms and called Engineering, they ran diagnostics nine ways to Benduday and found nothing wrong with our systems.” Halpern explained, concerned about the situation. He was tentative to what it might be and reticent to bring up his concern but the man was clearly worried.
Now came an eyebrow. ”’Our systems’?”
Almost on cue, Scott Pouil, the ship’s C.A.G. came in, his older brother Rojuh, the Flight Director right behind him. There was clearly tension between the two of them, and not because Scott was jealous of his older brother’s position on the ship. Scott looked the way of the two superiors officers apologetically. “Sorry about this, he’s a little off-kilter right now.”
Scott then turned around and stepped away from Rojuh’s attempt to clap his shoulder. “”Off-Kilter’? Superior Officer or not, brother or not, say it again and I*”
” Alright, that’s enough. What’s going on?’
He did not have a chance to answer as the ship-wide comm alerted. It was the Chief of the Boat, Chief Gribbs, who was standing next to Commander Tantor. “We have a problem, sir.”
Commander Halpern was the one to answer this time. “Go ahead.”
Gribbs was busy barking out orders to Deck personnel as the carrier’s second officer stepped forward. “A buddy of mine is on Blue One, which is assigned to “Task Force Torrent” at the moment.”
” That’s Admiral Quee’s task force, they’re over Ossus at the moment.”
Tantor nodded. “One in same. Anyway, one of his lieutenants is transferring over to us next week, and he was sending the personnel file.”
It was now Halpern’s turn to look at someone like they had three heads. “... and this is relevant because…”
Tantor expected this but was still justifiably annoyed at the comment and look. “It’s relevant because before the comm was cut, he was freaked out about Sith ships incoming!”
Angellus jumped out of his chair. ” What?
Tantor went on. “Sith Star Destroyers inbound to their position.”
” Get us secure and ready for launch. Gribbs! Get the fighters and the decks themselves ready for launch. I want Razorback and Wi Squadrons ready to go before we go.”
“Yes sir.” Both officers nodded as Liram cut the comms. Looking at everyone else, the Captain started to formulate a plan in his head.
” Gym, get on the comms with the shipyard. We leave as soon as the ship is ready for launch. If they’re not done with the refits, their crews will have to come with us and finish the job.”
“On it… I’ll get the bridge up and running too,” Halpern said as he got up and headed out.
” … and keep trying to get Task Force Torrent, or anyone around Ossus on comms! Rojuh, Scott, I want you guys in the air with Razorback and Wi squadrons. Get as close to patrol ships as you can, dock if you have to. We’re committing to Emergency Code Nine-Thirteen. Get anyone willing and able to come with us, and as soon as we’re in the air. I want all fighters with hyperspace capabilities to launch. I don’t want us caught with our pants down in case we’re flying into the soup.”
“Yessir.” Rojuh responded, Scott just nodded they knew how grave the situation potentially was and any petty issues were set to the side. The team had to get to work. Once his office was empty, Angellus pulled up his computer console.
” Computer… pull up any and all information on ‘Sith Star Destroyers’.”
“Clarification required. The Sith Empire, Lords of the Sith, or Sith Eternal.”
Thesh had wasted no time in seeking out his Master at his apparent behest, his ship had not descended too far from the point at which they were to meet, it was a short enough journey, and yet the tension in the air made it feel as though he was wading through water the entire way. In a way he supposed he was, frozen water that was. Drifts of snow... They had landed in winter, or so it would seem. A fitting chill ran through the air and threatened to whip at his robes.
The boy continued on all the same.
And as he came upon that meeting point, looked upon the familiar faces gathered there, and the many he did not know, the realization of what was to come finally seemed to strike him. He had fought all manner of beasts known to this Galaxy, he had fought off the unknown entities which skulked the Netherrealm. But Jedi...
Well Jedi were something new for him. He'd never really come toe to toe with them before. Raging rancors, sure, sinister sithspawn... But not Jedi.
That great symphony in his mind arose as the darkness seeped from those gathered, yet it was altered some by the glowering reams of ashla which pooled out from the temple proper. It was disjointing, and all together ghastly. He pursed his lips together, and listened as their instructions were given. From the North, then. Push them back. Lock them in.
He gave little more than a nod of understanding, just one among many in that space. Many, though certainly fewer than those they would be accosting. He pondered on that in full.
And then he broke away. Headed with the others, yet not quite in their tracks. With each step he took he focused on the lessons provided by Arthos Vynea
and built upon by Velok Brokentusk
to begin work on scattering his signature. They knew that the Sith were here, of course, there was no use in trying to disguise himself in full, but perhaps, just perhaps, he could buy them a little more time with confusion. One presence splintered into numerous parts, was he here or was he there?
It was the least he could do.
Stay safe in there Melydia Goldhe broadcast into the mind of one of his fellow acolytes. He hoped he'd see her on the other side.
Then, as the herd made its charge, he went dark.
Amidst the heat of the charge, when all eyes were upon that main group of rampaging rancors and seething Sith, the boy had slipped in through a different entrance unseen. At least, as far as he knew he was unseen. Presence scattered as it was it was difficult for any to really pinpoint him where he stood, and with the overwhelming scent of the darkside already descending upon this place what was one more small mark therein?
The boy wasn't sure why he'd chosen to split from the group. Certainly there was a safety in numbers, and they most certainly were lacking in numbers. He had done so regardless, and he stalked through the eerily quiet halls. Those who could not fight were no doubt hidden, not at all on the agenda of one such as Thesh. Innocence was innocence, he would not seek such out. Would not become that sort of a monster if he could help it.
He clung to the shadows, lest a wayward Jedi who had not already flocked toward the heart of this engagement lingered nearby, and listened. Spread his senses out into the Temple he had infiltrated in search of another. The soft patter of footfalls were all that drew his attention toward the Jedi who was, for whatever reason, late to join the rest. He couldn't see him yet but he knew he was there.
As he rounded the corner Starlin Rand
came into view. He did not look as surprised to see another face as Thesh might have anticipated, perhaps he'd also felt the presence of another. Heard his footfalls. As much as he clung to the shadows, he'd been relying on the emptiness of this section of the Temple more so than his own stealthy ways. The Sith were not engaging this region. Not in full.
For now he simply stared, his fingertips itching to grasp his dagger or his saber or to pull upon the Force which flowed freely through him. He did not succumb to such yet, waiting in anticipation to see what it was the other might do.
The displeasure of Grundark was palpable, but Maliphant met his gaze with extreme apathy. War was not a place for feelings and dedication to ones own - the Sith Eternal knew only the strong would survive, and if the Rancor would not succeed in their charge then they simply would have failed Grundark when their pivotal success was all the more important. Freedom, the future of their leader's goals, was reliant on them being strong - so in the end, Maliphant was doing him a favor.
Though that was only half the consideration.
"Come. Follow close to the Rancor - do not fall behind.", he said as he tapped his staff on the ground - sending out a surge of Dark Side energy with it that fed into each of their muscles. Empowerment, deep and grinding in the muscle would fill their bodies with energy, and push them towards their enemy with conviction and determination.
Most notably, it would empower the Rancor - making them feel far less pain, maximizing their rage, and offering them temporary transcendence into the next proverbial level. Their violence would know no bounds, and anything less than a turbolaser would no doubt meet their alchemized flesh with little traction. On some level, Maliphant did it to embolden their charge, but on another, he knew he was doing it in part to assist Grundark's connection to them.
Sympathy, although fleeting, was not beyond his grasp.
Maliphant crossed his arms as the staff was cradled in his elbow. His body would lift and float behind the Rancor, carefully dancing around the various bolts that flew by him as they charged down the street. He was not concerned with the planetary defense force, nor the constable - but he was awaiting the Jedi forces that would sally out to meet them. Already he could feel their presence in the Force, and no doubt they could feel his.
He would see their will broken, but he would make the attempt to do so before the Obelisk landed. To test his own strength against the many was a far more gratifying victory than to allow the Worm Emperor's ritual to undermine his contribution.
"Admiral -", another officer said with a furrow of his brow. A subtle implication of frustration, confusion perhaps. Tithon nodded in his direction for him to proceed.
"Sensors are showing multiple ships performing micro-jumps then disappearing off sensors.", the young man offered.
Tithon was quiet for a moment as he considered the implications. The primary concern was that they would have managed to bypass the interdiction - but doubted that was likely, leaving the system was impossible, and none of their vessels had taken any serious hits as of yet. Unless the interdiction of the 'Red Dragon' was somehow undermined from within, judging by the reports he was sent, he doubted the conclusion. Quickly, however, he turned to the holographic appearance of the X-02 Typhojem.
"Typhojem, report on the 'Red Dragon'. Did the X-04 pick up the location of the oppositional ships arrival point, and is the Interdiction field still present?"
The AI took no time to response, quickly replying;
"While there have been some slicing attempts on the ship thus far, no breach on the Interdiction Field has been detected. The X-04 was not able to track the arrival points due to the focus of processing power on the stealth ships. Do you have any other querys?"
"Not at this time.", he offered back.
With a frown, he rested his chin on his hand - rubbing at the stubble that had formed on it in the last few hours. The Silver's were up to something - but he couldn't be sure as to what yet. He only hoped they would have enough time for the obelisk to be deployed.
"Inform the corvettes guarding the holonet relays to prepare weapons to destroy their charges. If anyone attempts to regain long range communications, destroy the infrastructure, we can not allow them to reach Voss.", he said adamantly, and the officers collectively nodded, relaying his orders in turn.
Luckily, Dis got help from the probably Jedi woman, so the wounded on the street also got help and got to safety. Shadowcat could have been pleased to save several. Loved doing this to help others; it was a pleasant feeling. After saying goodbye to the woman, they continued on their way, just wanting to go to the museum when they noticed a strange thing through the Force.
Looked up in the direction of the ship, sensing innumerable aura from there, but no particular confusion in the Force; Light side Force Users. Did the "enemy" go on the ship? There were no enemies for them, Dis might have worked with the Sith and learned from them, but that was curiosity. The Shadowcat was equally open to Light side and other Force studies. But they did not want many to die. Who knows what happens when the Jedi are on the ship? It could even end up with crashing the ship onto the city.
That's why they decided to go back to the ship. For them, it was all just a few seconds process. They first went back to Netherworld and from there arrived on the ship, going to the place where they felt the Jedi from the city. Of course, Dis was invisible again, as always without a host, immaterial, and because of that and the Shadowcat’s presence could not really be felt either. As soon as they arrived, they immediately saw those who were here.
Tilted their head sideways curiously, the woman with lavender skin and silver hair looking more special than the others, and her aura also caught Shadowcat's attention more. Because of this, they decided to “address” her.
~ Turn around, here they will only hurt you and your peers, and you may die here. ~ message telepathically. They weren’t threatening and didn’t even want to be thought so, so they also conveyed concern and care to Sakadi.
Starlin watched Syd Celsius
as his master flew into the courtyard on a metal disk. “Ready!” he called as she sidled up to him.
The sight of her floating around using magnetism to propel herself wasn’t surprising to him. He’d gotten used to this sort of thing during their Magnetokinesis lessons. It seemed to function similarly to Metallokinesis, though it was less direct in its application—but also more versatile. He hadn’t gotten to the point where he could manipulate a planet’s magnetic fields, for instance, but it was a definite possibility. These days, everything seemed possible with the Force.
While Syd deflected a few stray blaster bolts that had flown far off their intended mark, Starlin’s attention was drawn toward a strange glowing green webbing that was spreading rapidly across the Temple grounds. “Syd—you see this?” he asked, pointing to the Dathomiri magic of Tegan Starfall
as it melted the snow. He didn’t know what it was for, but it reeked of the Dark Side.
More flakes were falling outside the Temple, the intensity of the storm steadily increasing as the violence ramped up. Starlin’s hair was soon damp and dusted with snow. As he followed the web around a corner, he suddenly came face to face with a young man. A scrawny ginger with the youthful, vaguely androgynous features of a holozine model, he looked to be around the same age as Starlin. Since the Padawan hadn’t been able to detect his presence, and the boy was alone and headed away from the battle, Starlin’s first assumption was that he was a low-ranking or non-combatant Jedi who had gotten lost and was trying to make his way to the safety of the bunkers without being detected. But… something about those circumstances didn’t feel right.
Well, only one way to find out the truth. “Are you looking for something?” Starlin asked, keeping his distance for now. His tone sounded a little more standoffish than he would’ve liked, but the words were already out now and there was no taking them back.
The doors of the elevator opened without making a sound. That silence inside the Red Dragon made him nervous, they were much more different than he was used to, for Rufus it was a common thing to show fear and despair under circumstances like the ones they found themselves in right now, but ‘the Eternalists’, as he had named them, had this fearless aura transpiring from their eyes. ‘Pious fools’, he thought to himself as he analyzed their faces, passing them by towards the bridge, the only place Praji could actually feel comfortable inside this vessel. But even there, his opinions differed, there were too many sycophants, murderers, betrayers, outcasts, and monsters gathered under the same metallic shell, all aiming for the same goal, all with their own agenda. "This is the way of the Sith...", he recounted to himself countless times. Once his had been the proud noble family that controlled Kaikielius, the glorious jewel of the Tapani Worlds, but after centuries of warfare against the aliens that invaded their world, the Praji was reduced to nothing more than mere stewards under the service of House Solidor. When he was probed inside the service, Rufus was no more than ten years old, a child to serve as the pageboy of the noble lords of Hellin Prime. Even then, he thought Lunafreya was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen, she was already hundreds of years old and would be even centuries older when he was nothing but dust and bones.
“Lord Rufus.”, the distorted voice beside him was impossible to miss, even altered by the filters of the holographic transmission, Gideon Pellaeon still had that majestic appearance emanating from himself. The Admiral of the Arrogante was to serve as his captain, to assist him on the battle ahead from distance, in the safety of the Elenna. Praji gave him a welcoming fluid nod with his head, greeting him with a smile. “I have ordered the ship to focus more power on its engines. But this vessel is too heavy, so there is little we can do about that.” “Effort pays off as much as you give it.”, another one of his wisdom pearls, from a pouch filled with them. Pellaeon showed little expression to those words but kept his gaze focused on him. Especially on the way he elegantly strolled inside the bridge, one of his arms crossed in front of his body while the other one leaned his elbow on top of his hand while his fingers rubbed against each other. An old habit that he couldn’t shake off his persona, perhaps something carved into his conditioning over the years as if it were a triggering move of his own to help him ponder on his actions.
“Reduce engine power by 12%.”, he whispered observing the numbers rising on the screen. The problem of heavy vessels receiving too much power to their engines in moments of distress such as these was the everlasting fear of overheating them. “Employ that energy to the shield generators.”, the officers never said anything, they simply nodded with their heads covered by the dark helmets and did as they were told. Even on the bridge, they rarely spoke when not requested, a fact even Pellaeon found quite tiresome. “Prepare to deploy the Valkyries! Surround the Dragon's engines and do not engage the Jedi vessel unless they approach the kill zone.”, the Fondorian howled at his side. Stirring two officers from the peaceful stagnation of their seats, Rufus took this moment to let him and the others take care of the field, as his gaze noticed the flashing lights on the command chair.
Carefully he walked towards that small throne. He did not sit down, nor he would if he had the chance, there was something about him regarding those seats as if they felt wrong when surrounding his body. He was not a ruler, not an actual lord, nor one to take a crown for himself, Rufus Praji rejoiced on thinking that he was a follower and that his very existence, much like his sins, was due to having followed orders. He pressed the buttons and examined the ship, access was granted to him to the most restricted areas where he analyzed the data available to him. Taking the tip of his thumb towards his mouth, bitting over the fleshy surface of his skin, considering the options of what could be done, and what could be avoided; Vulcanus was his major concern in regards to the Emperor’s safety, much like protecting the shields and the engine room all at once. Praji pressed the speaker to the appropriate officers, sighing heavily as the connection was established, before assuming a false powerful tone to order them around. “BattlegroupFourteen to be moved to the Engines Section. Deploy Regiment Nine and… Six to guard the shield generators. And a Regiment of our Xerxikeen to protect its majesty’s safety near the cage. Have Goldar, Palescales, and Zozoped take the lead on them.”, he still held the button for a moment, leaning closer to the speaker, whispering with a carefully worried tone briefly taking hold of his voice. “Belay to them the importance of watching the Imperial Throne closely.”, he stood upright once again as the operator agreed to his words on the encrypted battle language thought for them. “Protect the Worm at all costs!”
Tags: Alina Tremiru
Location: Ossus, Jedi Temple
Equipment: What is detailed in the character sheet.
There she was. Still far in the distance by the shuttle. The snow seemed to be falling as peacefully as ever, but behind it, a sense of angst was mounting as blaster noises and a powerful roar from the enemy position faded into background noise. Mathieu knew what was coming - he knew that there would be a battle and while he did his best to centre himself and remain at peace, it was hard not to fear the hours or days to come.
Soon, their foes seemed to commence a ferocious charge towards the temple. The small village seemed insignificant as they came crashing towards the Jedi defenders. Many of the guards and other Concord forces from the village had already made their way to the main defensive lines - but then, there were bound to be some who got caught out of position. The Padawan tried not to think of it - there would be time for reflection later. Now, he needed to hone his senses and prepare - for just as the main Sith forces were charging down at them - so was Alina.
For a moment, some of the few automated turrets nearby seemed to go quiet at the same time as many of the houses went dark. The backup generators in the temple were quick in seemingly restoring power to the nearby systems while those in the outskirts remained disabled. It was far from ideal - especially seeing how the enemies who lead the charge. First, he took a few steps towards the centre. Someone needed to be there to face whatever remained when they arrived. But then he stopped. The Morellian felt how something was pulling him away in another direction. After a few moments of hesitation and a look to both Master Vanagor and Knight Arenais, both of whom he had met before, Mathieu followed his instincts. Both of his betters were good, really good and if anyone could deal with a rancor charge, it had to be them - not to mention everyone whom he had yet to meet.
Moments after rounding a corner by a few crates, Mathieu saw Alina. Without hesitating for a moment, he drew his sabre. Her being free could only mean one thing - so now, he would once more have to fight her. The time to react was minimal, for she was moving with incredible speed. Remembering their previous fight, Mathieu remembered that trying to conserve his energy seemed to be successful, and so, he went low in a fluid motion. He fell down on one knee and brought his blade upwards as she came in with the thrust. Her forward momentum would threaten to impale her against his blade when he leaned forth and pointed it at her. If she opted to move past him, his lightsabre would follow the Sith in an attempt to cut her as she departed.
Sakadi watched from the ramp as Aaran Tafo
rushed past her, followed by the many brave Jedi and Rangers until only she remained. Her lilac eyes swept through the hangar, taking note of the undeployed Sith fighters, droids, soldiers, entrances, and exits. But in reality, her mind was elsewhere.
It felt as if someone had pierced her with a blade of ice. The cold spread through her body with each beat of her heart. It whispered to her. Demanded her attention. She knew these feelings well. But the Dark side of the force, as densely concentrated as it was aboard this ship, still took her by surprise.
Two steady and slow breaths. That was all it to force the Dark side from her mind and banish the numbness from her limbs. A part of her wanted to scoff at it. Sakadi Sinvala, master of the Silver Assembly, had lost her composure mere seconds after boarding a Sith battleship. A smile played about her lips. Sometimes, high sensitivity does not work in your favor. She thought as she finally found the strength to set foot on the dark panels that covered the hangar's floor. She strode forward, lightsaber in hand to deflect any incoming blasterfire, but found that most of the enemy's forces were occupied already. They were gaining ground. Good.
Her gaze shifted to the blastdoors, many of which were closed. All of the conventional paths were either sealed off or heavily guarded, meant to buy time for those deeper in the battleship's belly. Had she been twenty or so years younger, the Sephi would've focused all her efforts on these main pathways. But the Sephi of this day and age knew better.
Sakadi turned, scanning the hangar's walls until she found what she was looking for. The discrete grating that marked the entrance to a ventilation shaft. It would undoubtedly be a maze, but it would still be faster than pushing through the hard way.
When the opportunity arose, Sakadi made her way toward the gratin and swiftly made an entrance with four swipes of her lightsaber. But as she prepared to enter, a voice came to her. One she couldn't place as feminine nor masculine. In fact, it was unlike any she had ever heard before, mostly because she could not trace the telepathic message back to a presence. It came with concern and care, ones she couldn't immediately discern as either fake or genuine.
The Sephi's ears twitched as she thought for a moment. Could she get it to reveal itself? Reaching out to it was not possible, for she felt no presence. And without a voice…
Sakadi swiftly made her decision. If the being could speak to her, it could probably see her. So, she nodded as obviously as she could. Waited a second, and then prepared to climb into the vent as she had planned. If the being's concern was genuine, perhaps it would try to warn her again. Or better even - try to stop her.
The web outstretched across the Jedi grounds underfoot it briefly touched the minds of those it was underfoot of regardless if they were sith or jedi. It only lasted a moment until it found it’s flys to young Jedi a male and female. The pair were heading for the vaults where all the noncombatants were huddled in mass from the battles beginning to wage. There minds were touched the web and their minds became entangled in it. It wasn’t long and the flys became puppets to the spider that had been seeking them.
In there minds a black cloud came over them and all they felt pain and coldness. The screams of madness biting there already fragile minds trying to break them completely. Soon as they became full enveloped in the webbing, they heard one singular voice that of the witch that now dominated their minds.
The red haired human female ignited her green saber and the Echani male ignited his blue saber. The voice in their minds told them to seek and destroy. The two individuals stalked towards the temple their goal the vaults where the non-combatants were there mission clear kill anyone or anything that that got in the way of the slaughter the Goddess of Destruction commanded of them.
The Male turned and began cutting down his fellow junior staff members with his blue saber. He turned to face the one barking orders Caedyn Arenais, the Echani males’ eyes flashed a green color. He saw red and began to charge His saber came in low in a right to left slashing motion the attempt was wild and a bit sloppy, but its intent was to gut the Jedi master.
The Other Jedi under mind control the red head female continued into the temple her goal to get the vault and slaughter them all. The eyes flashed green like the Echani males had just moments of go time to make a sacrifice for the God whispering her commands in their mind.
The third person under Darth Sokar control found himself in the middle of a battle waging on in the middle of a storm. He had clear panic in his eyes as he stumbled through the snow, he was so out of place in his tuxedo, everyone else in their armor and armed with weapons. All he carried in his hand was a microphone and the only thing close to a weapon he had on him was the explosive collar around his neck.
Communication Blackout
Halls Yula Perl
| Open for opposition
A jitter ran up Kyra's spine as she crept through the dark hall. The spices left her senses dull, but she didn't need em to know something was off.
So the dreams had been right after all... Force be damned.
She told herself she wouldn't come, but clearly she had the self-control of a bowless bowl of jello- all jiggling everywhere whether or not it wanted to. ... Alright, weird comparison, but it was what she felt like as she stumbled through the dark halls. She wasn't too far gone that she couldn't summon a ball of light to assist her, she just didn't think it was wise. Whoever did this to the station probably had planned; turning herself into a beacon while they lurked about was a dumb idea even to her.
That was, if people were the cause at all. A pang of self-doubt crept forward-- shots went off around the corner.
Kyra cursed and threw herself backwards. She crab crawled back the way she came, not wasting time to flip over and find her feet as she found her way around the corner.
Oh, she was so right! She forced herself to concentrate and reach for the distant hum of the force. A dim ball of light appeared at her side, illuminating her cybernetic arm as she pulled up the controls. She frowned, her good hand bumbling about for the life form scanner. Which was... where again? Metal parted at her wrist. A sharp whistle filled the air.
Captain Corren Harlow: Wolf
Sergeant Corranthus Garlan: Wild Dog
Sergeant Relovan Vixos: Coyote
Corporal Illoris Carrow: Wild Dog
Corporal Zerrek Terris: Shepherd
Private Karrosil Garlan: Husky
Private Harroyar Kurnasiv: Wolf
Private Olurok Aryos: Jackal
Private Vereo Groleon: Shepherd (Carrying Additional weapon. VSF Dire Wolf)
In a sea of light, Vulpesen sat as a beacon of neutrality, a force presence which seemed dull in comparison as Vulpesen had long since accepted the darker parts of his nature. That being said, he was the closest that Ossus had seen to a darksider since the Silvers had taken over... that is, until today. The hairs on his neck rose as he first sensed it, the sickening plague of evil that came uniquely with the sith. "Kark..." Shooting up from his resting place, the Valde was quick to turn on his comlink, barking at his security team. "Harlow we got company! Get the men and meet me in the court yard!"
Frustrating as it was to not have a platoon of Vitae soldiers at his back, his elite squad of personal protectors would have to serve to carving holes through the sith line. "We're already on the way, sir!" Harlow called back, the sound of shouting vaguely coming through the comms. It seemed that there was already a commotion beginning. Of course, it wouldn't be long until Vulpesen stood before the temple, his lightsaber drawn while his squad assembled around him, weapons prepared. If the sith wanted Ossus, they'd have more than jedi to attend to.
"Garlan! As soon as you have a shot, blast the largest group to hell! Harlow, anyone left standing, mow them down! Vixos, target the officers!" Blood pounded in his ears as Vulpesen's tail flared and flagged behind him. His claws here sharp and his teeth were bared. If the darkside wanted to fight, he would always be happy to oblige. Veradune had pledged to protect the Silver Concord. It was time to make good on that pledge.
As the pair came face to face and the one spoke first, Thesh took what seemed to be a rather timid step back. Surprise, or so it might have seem, was wrought upon his expression, as he solidified his stance and played the part of a fool caught off guard. Forced upon the backfoot. That was how it would appear. That was how he chose to appear.
He still didn't reach for a weapon as he observed the one before him, took the sting of his accusatory voice wholly. Looking for something... What a strange phrase that was, in truth, in a place such as this one. He tilted his head ever so slightly to the left, and then slipped back one more step. Barely one in truth, more like a half step.
"Are you what they call jed-i?" the boy inquired, his tongue tripping over the use of a word he so infrequently uttered. Not an answer to his question, not an admission of guilt, mere curiosity. Uncertainty. His head tilted the other way. All the chaos around them seemed to melt away in that moment, in the eyes of the redhead. Only the one danger ahead of him remained in the boy who might well have been his peer had the tables of fate been turned many years ago.
It was a difficult thing to consider, to come to grips with, how easy it was for life to be swayed. One altered move, a decision that could easily be made by another yet impact only oneself, could change everything. What if it had been the Jedi who had come to Ession that day? Would he be here among them now, on the other side of this war?
As quickly as the thought arose he squashed it. There was no room for such now.
"What's our first move?" said the ysanna elder as the pair moved to the holo-tank.
Gir opened his mouth to answer, but he immediately halted as a new voice rang out.
"New contact, running on heading 12.4.87. Sensor profile is irregular...it could be a glitch in our passive sensors."
"Transponder?" queried man from Hast.
"None currently running. Not that we can pick up on passive comms at least."
The admiral grumbled. Running silent was almost always a double-edged sword. Without active sensors on, it was hard to tell with certainty just what this signature was. It could be a massive enemy warship, a civilian bulk freighter , a group of Silver Jedi Concord starfighters, or even a pod of playful purrgils. Do we risk of using our sensors to find out what they are and risk exposing ourselves? Or do we try to slip by? The man pondered the thought for a brief moment as he eyed the holo-tank.
"Adjust etheric rudders to a decline of at least 15 degrees. Let's see if we can slip past them."
A mon calamari officer nodded to enact the order as the man attempted to shift everyone's attention to the other marks on his holo-tank. Information slowly filtered into the holo-tanks as reports from the disembarked Sowa Recon Drones and Peth Pinooks filtered in, filling in large gaps of the Adega System with fresh intelligence. He could see the scrappy pair of scavenger frigates accompanied by the characteristic Yurbian uglies speed dangerously close to Ossus itself. He briefly checked their tags and known information on them in the databank. Captain Nalos is capable enough, but even that's likely going to be too many for her...
"Comm, let's get our erastz communication web of Pinooks working. Let's let Captain Nalos know we're here. Get me a line with Nalos immediately. Ask them if there's anything that we can do for them."
Across the Adega system, the subspace radios on the Red One's Peth Pinooks began to circulate signals, piggybacking from one ship to another to form a difficult to trace ad hoc communication network. Almost half of the craft also dropped their hyperspace beacons and routed all of the beacon connection signals through the Pinooks themselves, forming a new logistical web where none had existed before. Gir pondered the best tactical approach to help the Yurbian Outlander ships when Ariela tapped his shoulder, pointing to the icons where the T9 Phantasms of Katarn Squadron began to make their approach on the main Sith Eternal Fleet. The stealth fighters switched to chemical drives, which lessened their flight performance but enhanced their stealth upon their approach. Knowing next to nothing about their attackers, the squadron had opted to fall back upon a generalization - ion engine exhausts on most starships weren't significantly armored out sheer practicality - the ions had to somewhere outside of the starship to produce thrust. Point defenses were also typically more deficient on the rear of many starships for the same reason - engines took up a lot of space. As they approached their maximum effective targeting range, the elite fighter-bombers released a full load of proton bombs, relying on their ordinance's inertia to haphazardly pelt the rear of the Stygian Pride with dozens of explosives. Some of the strike craft immediately began to peal away while others kept moving forward to try and capture intelligence on the assault cruiser's defensive capabilities, whether it was shielding, point defenses, or even the abilities of screening starfighters.
The blonde man raptly watched the silent assault before Ariela tugged him away.
"The other sensor contact has contacted us - apparently they are not as shy about using their sensors as you are," whispered the replica droid, "It's the Midnight Darkness."
The man blinked in surprise. The group's jump from Ossus had taken them to one of the established rallying points in case of attack, but they hadn't initially seen any other contacts before the carrier squadron had went to silent running. The other Directorate heavy carrier would prove a welcome addition to Ossus's defense.
"Contact them immediately via tightbeam. We have a relief assault to discuss-"
The man's orders were interrupted by gasps from the group surrounding the holo-tank as the results of Kartan Squadron's attack became known.
A number of civilian craft in orbit seemed to be attempting to scatter away towards safety on the planet or deeper into space. Sowa
-T9 Phantasms unleash proton bombs on the assault cruiser Stygian Pride
-Pinooks form ad hoc communication and hyperspace beacon network across the Adega system
-Gir attempts to use this new communication web to contact Captain Nalos
-Deshet-class Heavy CarrierMidnight Darkest joins Task Force Ebony Torrent
-Task Force Ebony Torrent begins to prepare starfighter strike
