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A small squat droid, enamored with austere white plating, rolled through the spacious halls of the Red Dragon. It was just one among countless other servile droids which paced back and forth through the warship's innards, passing by unnoticed or written off as innocuous by the ship's crew. Barely imperceivable photoreceptors cataloged every inch of the droid's surroundings, boxy head swiveling back and forth as it continued on its silent trek through the ship.
Hydraulic doors parted as the diminutive white droid rolled onto the Red Dragon's bridge, the crew not even paying attention even as it rolled past them onto the central walkway leading up to the expansive viewport overlooking the rest of the ship.
The droid came to a stop and one of the antennae protruding from the top of the droid's cranium began to emit a soothing blue light.
A figure wreathed in a cerulean blue haze burst forth from the pulsating light, flooding the whole bridge in that same light. Dark shadowy robes cloaked the figure's form, disguising their identity from any among the bridge crew that attempted to look upon them. A repulsive force also surrounded the hologram and the droid projecting it, pushing back against any of the bridge crew that drifted too close. The figure made no move to address the crew in any form, rather staring straight ahead out the viewport and into the vast distance beyond, and only spoke a minute and a half after it had appeared.
"Far above, far below, we don't know where we'll fall. Far above, far below, what once was great is rendered small."
The mantra the figure uttered was one of immense ancient origin, passed down through uncounted millennia from Sith to Sith. Those steeped in such esoteric lore would be remiss to not understand the mantra's implications.
Deep down below the machinations of the Worm Emperor and his followers continued unabated, all of which were perceived by the shadowy figure through the Force. Undoubtedly, the lord of this ship would sensed his immaterial arrival.
Whether or not he would seek him out was unknown.
As Quintus would grab hold, the darkness would envelop them - and when he was able to see again, it would be upon the bridge of the 'Red Dragon', looking over the expansive planet before them. It neared, closer and closer as the ship trudged forward - despite the infestation within its belly, in face of the fleets to scared to approach them, it marched ever onward. To the death of the Jedi, and the corruption of an entire world.
"Quintus Varro.", the Worm offered - offering the only name Quintus was known by.
"I understand you felt prophecy in your bones - but do not fret. You will be instrumental in the destruction of the Jedi on this planet - you need only wait. Death will not meet you today.", the voices offered as the hand retreated beneath the cloak once more.
The faces remained unmoving even as the hologram of Carnifex grew in the bridge - and while many of the officers had a momentary lapse at the intrusion, most went back to their business while another small group prayed at the arrival of a prospective saint of the Eternal Faith. The Worm's many masks shimmered in the light of the holoprojector as the Sith'ari spoke;
"Darth Carnifex.", the main voice offered.
"The Black Iron Tyrant.", a woman spoke from the darkness after.
"Have you come to learn, appreciate, or vex us?"
Darth Apademak, the Fist of the Emperor, wordlessly groaned as he moved closer to the Emperor's side - his eyeless features striking an imposing figure in his grey, mottled sith spawn flesh.
Tags: Alina Tremiru
Location: Ossus, Jedi Temple
Equipment: What is detailed in the character sheet.
He had survived her first strike. It was good, for that one, she had had the chance to summon strength for, most likely having started her charge before he had even seen her. The gentle fall of the snowflakes seemed to have started to transform into something more akin to a blizzard as the wind grew stronger and more flakes seemed to escape the clouds above. Still, the Padawan could see his foe clearly.
Instead of pressing the attack, Alina seemed to be standing back. Still, she was not surrendering, and with that in mind, Mathieu knew that this wasn't the time for a cordial break. His friends and allies were suffering, doing their utmost to fight off the Sith assault, some even perishing in the process. Blades were clashing in the distance, some were trying to fight off the rancors and others summoned withering telekinetic blasts or force light to send across the battlefield, illuminating it as they flew past.
She started to speak - but before allowing her the chance to breathe out and speak in peace, Mathieu chose to take the initiative. It would hardly stop someone as skilled as Alina from completing her sentence but the Morellian had no intentions of standing around while his friends counted on his aid once he his fight with this one was complete. Well aware of how foolish it was to blindly charge against a sabre pike and even having fought another Sith using the same weapon, he prepared by taking hold of Purin's sabre with his left hand in a reversed grip. Closing the distance did not take long and once he was near, Mathieu positioned himself so that his left side would face her blade and promptly ignite the green sabre to have it lock blades with the pike. At the same time, he leaned forth with his right side, hoping to stab her by the chest.
The attack wouldn't take long to execute but he still managed to hear some of the words she uttered. This time, she seemed to have underestimated him for the things she spoke of were things which he had already dealt with. He remembered his first battles where he was open to the force. Velmor, Voss, Nar Kreeta - they had left a mark on his person - but the wounds they created had been healed and his capacity to handle their demise had increased tremendously. Mathieu would not crumble as his allies fell. Instead, he would fight harder and with more focus to keep the others alive. This, however, was not something which needed to be conveyed to Alina. She, just as his friend Cadere
seemed to enjoy throwing quips at their opponent during a fight - but the large Padawan tended to become more silent. Whether this was a flaw or not remained to be seen - the thrust towards her chest, however, remained very real indeed.
The AI's voice broke through Sephi's concentration as he stripped the meat from the bone he was gnawing on - raw and bloody, the remains of some animal he had kept preserved through magicks from Korriban. All the meat there had a distinct corruption to its flavor, and where most would be turned off by such - he couldn't help but enjoy the sensation of 'tasting' the Dark Side. Yet, when Typhojem's voice broke through his concentration, he threw the bone at the durasteel plate and groaned as he replied;
"What?!", he snapped.
"You're requested in Section 8BA2, Darth Sephi. We have intruders, and they seem to be causing a ruckus.", the AI replied in its courteous overtones.
Sephi mused over it for a second as he loudly sucked on his teeth - pulling what scraps of meat still remained in them before standing and dawning little more than a black loin cloth emboldened by the large Sith Eternal symbol at its base. A crack of his neck, a stretch of his arms as the door opened, and he was walking in the direction he knew he was to be.
"And what are these intruders like?", Sephi asked with a lackadaisical concern, crossing his arms over his chest and pulling on them with the other.
"At present, a small squad - counting likely between 6 and 10. From reports and security data, they have laid a trail of explosives on various escape pods and hatches; though despite their trail of destruction, they believe themselves to still be unnoticed. First Legion are on scene, but have been advised to not engage at present."
Sephi nodded at the response before stopping, leaning down to touch his toes to stretch out what few muscles he hadn't yet.
"Lock down the entire section. Bulkheads, hangers, ensure they are corralled in my direction.", he said with a nod.
"Indeed, m'lord.", Typhojem responded.
---
As Omega squad would move through the various areas on the way to the engines - they would suddenly see the lights darken, and with it most bulkheads and areas would suddenly slam shut. For those that didn't, it would be a matter of seconds before the First Legion and automated defenses would rise to meet them - courtesy of both Typhojem and its access to the Scutum Defense Network built into the ship's various walkways. Their path of destruction had become less of a subterfuge maneuver to the engines, as much as it had become an attempt at total war when they were not only vastly outnumbered, but surrounded.
The sound of the First Legion's death trooper vocoder would ring out in the red light of the hallways as they shot down the hall - a few firing while others moved, closing the distance between them and what of Omega remained in the main group. More and more would descend, until they faced odds broaching 3 to 1.
It was only a matter of time before they would be overwhelmed, Sephi imagined as the report came back to him. A matter of time before this little trail of destruction was brought to a stand still, then the fire could be extinguished.
Like any well-planned attack, the assailants on Ossus had come as a total surprise. In the span of a few minutes, they had managed to cut the power to the communication hub and invade the facility. Yula didn’t know how many of them there were, if the Mandalorians were the sole invaders, or if they’d contracted their services to another power. Both were possible, but it didn’t matter. It didn’t matter why they were there, and it didn’t matter whatever the bigger picture was.
“No!”
Kyra’s dead weight was what Yula had dreaded the most. Taking care of her sister wasn’t a burden, but when she felt her arm stretch with the heaviness of Kyra’s stillness, her heart thudded wildly in her throat. Suddenly, she was acutely aware of the tightness of Kyra’s grip. “Damnit!” She hissed with raw irritation, concern lining her tone. Yula’s worry for her sister, amplified by their physical connection, would be palpable to the young empath. She shook her sister by the good shoulder, urging her to get up without words. Emily skittered her way to Kyra's slumped form, alternatively chirping in concern and trying to hide in fear among the fallen Zeltron.
Nida had been hanging by a hair’s breadth over the point of no return for the longest time. Yula refused to come close to losing another sister today. A good marksman, an unfortunate stumble, a chance—it didn’t matter what had brought her sister down. Their chance for a clean escape was rapidly dwindling, but the Perl family never went quietly into the night. Her hand left Kyra’s shoulder, reaching to the side of her hip and retrieving a cylindrical hilt.
Their initial pursuer had closed the gap in a matter of seconds. Yula tensed, the adrenaline of being hunted and the baser urge to protect her family fueling her hypervigilance. In an instant, she had disconnected from Kyra and turned sharply on both feet, whirling around while activating her sister’s lightsaber. Cerulean streaks burned a brilliant path through the dead air, angling downward slightly to catch the Mandalorian’s foot before it could make contact with her ribs. She doubted the blade would be able to sear its way through his beskar’gam, but the pressure she put behind the plasma blade was enough to keep her lungs from being punctured.
She could see her hard-eyed gaze reflected in the gloss of Soloman's helmet, determined to protect her injured sibling.
“Ooh, what’s the matter—didn’t plan your exit strategy, big guy? I don’t work for free, give me your info and I’ll send you my consulting fee.” Yula chortled in derision, pressing back against the foot and pushing away from the Mandalorian, one hand splayed back towards her sister in both a gesture of protection and to aid her balance. She was acutely aware that there was at least another one in the vicinity, which would make this tricky. At least they were after information, not lives.
“They never taught you how to count in Mando school? That’s saaad.”
So the Jedi fought to protect his herd, he did indeed have the heart of a warrior. In his own mind the Cragmoloid saw it much the same, he would step between this Jedi and his herd to protect them. Though he didn't see them as simple animals, no to him they were fellow monsters, and misunderstood family. One could travel their whole life among the stars and never see another of Grundark's people, even being one he hadn't seen his own familial herd for decades. So he'd found other misunderstood monsters to form his own loose herds with, and to a Cragmoloid herd was everything.
Unexpectedly one of his own brethren attacked him from behind, and even as his ear tufts rose in surprise he could smell the darkness in the air from him. Ah, the madness. Everyone always thought they had a strong mind until the madness struck at them. Even Grundark had fallen prey to it's rage before, it's power as palpable in the flow of the dark side ebbing up through this planet. Ebbing even now trying to take roots in the great elephantin's very soul.
With aid though the man began to find himself and yet Grundark stood his ground and waited for his opponent to be ready. To grow one must test themselves against the strong, and win or lose the stronger the foe the greater he would grow. As one of his legion's squads began to run up weapons readied on his opponent as the Cragmoloid lifted up a hand to stop them.
"This is my test and mine alone. Go my herd and protect your brethren ahead, save those of my rancor children that you can." Eyeing the weakened knight he stopped for a moment as his enemy stood prepared in a strong defensive form. "You may try to run back to your temple, but you may die in your state, or you may surrender your blade and I give you my word no punishment will come upon you. Either way I wish you well, little one."
Turning back to his opponent he blocked all else from his mind as he brought his greatsaber up high considering the motionless man before him. Large for a human, but still not in the realm of monsters. Perhaps he was a monster hunter among humans? If not perhaps he could take the challenge today and become one. "You will be a great test, warrior. Let us enjoy this."
Many opponents were mistaken into believing that size equaled slow, but perhaps a human as large as this one knew the truth of that lie. The length of his blade and the size of his reach gave him the advantage, as far as he could see, if he kept the human at the edge of it. Still he didn't know the Jedi's limitations or abilities, but he was excited to find out. As a laugh burst from his lips he welcomed he struck hard and fast from his high stance across the Jedi's body without moving in. Would the man stay defensive and at the edge waiting for him to make an error or would he use the opening move to start his own attack?
Sith interceptors and bombers streaked across the sky overhead, nearly masking the sound of his laughter. A fine day it was indeed. Not for the destruction of the people, the civilians by any means. But certainly for the strike at what he believed to be a corrupt system. Or at least one that needed a thorough cleaning.
It wasn't the padawans fault by any means. The twisted memories of his past life painting a different picture of the structure of rules and practice that had been his previous existence seeming more like a long plotted brainwashing that gave the padawans and knights an encompassing sense of responsibility for everything that occurred around them. That they were the reason bad things happened.
And did little to actually alleviate that feeling save for allowing it to fester and grow until a padawan took matters into their own hand.
He did not lunge to attack, instead allowing the saber to turn off. The hilt never left his hand as he circled out into the open further. His eyes focused on her, the voice confirming his suspicions though her presence in the force seemed, altered.
Different.
"Inner conflict from a padawan? Not uncommon, but always troubling." He spoke with confidence, as though knowing already who he was speaking to. He put a hand to his visor and scanned around them mockingly before letting rhe hand fall to his side.
"Where are your allies? Or have you been cast aside as others before you? A lamb before the shadow to save those above you?"
His words where intentionally goading. An attempt to further cast troubling thoughts upon a padawan he knew. To goad a reaction. His body seemed at ease, confidence and gusto about his footsteps further into the open.
“This is Captain Nalos. Thanks for managing to get something in the way of comms up. We’re in a bit of a bind here, but I still haven’t shown my idiots array.”
"Understood..."
What could she possibly have against that?
"...we'll sending some cavalry in shortly."
First we have to figure out just happened, before I send any more pilots to their needless deaths. It'll take some time to fully load and fuel all of the fighters anyways. He tried to shake the thoughts of the future away as he tried to cope with the near past. The blonde man took a few paces to stand in front of a holo-tank where the ill-fated attack of the carrier's Phantasms was being replayed. He grasped the railing and suddenly felt a warm touch on his upper right arm as Sariya pulled herself in next to him before whispering in his ear.
"I'm sorry for your loss. I know that you and Captain Vroas had served together for a long time."
It didn't make him feel any better. The man wanted to forget Vroas's smiling face and the special black jumpsuit that Katarn Squadron had all worn. He shook the thoughts away, determined to think coldly, analytically just as the others around him surely would be as they watched Vroas's death. Gir stared hard at the holo-tank replay.
At first, the Sith Eternal warships seemed to hang languidly in the space over Ossus, unpeturbed by the chaos they sought to bring to the world. Suddenly, dozens of bluish blobs appeared out of thin air as the Phantasm's released their proton bombs at the cruiser's stern. Almost simultaneously, various flak fire and starfighters pounced on the stealth craft, shredding them by sheer force of numbers. The last of the Phantasms burst under fire as it attempted to escape its Sith Eternal pursuers. As it did so, explosions briefly engulfed the back of the Stygian Pride before receding to nothingness. The attack had physically accomplished nothing, save for the destruction of a dozen expensive fighters and the loss of some of his more experienced pilots.
"Their shields are at least galactic standard, quite possibly stronger," observed one officer quietly, "the Phantasms have the full ordnance load of a typical starfighter, and those were anti-capital ship specific warheads."
"They would appear to have some sort of anti-stealth technology," proposed a mon calamari female, "and rather powerful technology at that. Phantasms have specially designed systems in every aspect to prevent detection, from engines to hull coating to nonmetallic construction to the inclusion of Ysalamiri."
"But Vroas and the rest of the Katarns didn't stand a chance," said the blonde man, folding his arms, "stealth is clearly not much of advantage against them, and their basic defenses would appear to be strong against starfighters. We need to eliminate some of their support first before we try anything else too daring. Our element of surprise is partially lost. They now we're here now, but they don't know when or where we'll strike. Let's form two groups. Celest, if you'll change the holo-tank to show the space around the entire world, please...."
Mere minutes later, hundreds of starfighters, starbombers, and gunships jetted out of the carrier's hangars before jumping into hyperspace, guided by one of the hyperspace beacons laid down by the Peth Pinooks. As soon as the fighters had jumped, the carriers jumped too to another point near one of Colsassa's eleven moons. The admiral watched the holo-tank briefly change over to show the new space around them as the carriers once again altered course before running silent once again. He felt on tug on his other arm, where Ariela offered him a datapad. He briefly scanned it over.
"What's this?"
"Faint comm signals, probably from another impromptu subspace radio network that's trying to penetrate through the jamming our enemies have thrown up. There's not enough here to figure out exactly what the messages say, but there are elements of Silver Jedi coding in them."
Gir raised an eyebrow, "You said messages. You know there's more than one?"
"There are two groups in fact, based on the differences in the codes and the directional signal strength. Help would appear to be on its way..."
The admiral nodded, "That was never really a question, was it? It is only a question of when..."
“Ssshee says. Yo..you deserve this ah ahh all Jedi do an and sith too….”
Caedyn was forced to side-step the Echani man's staggering charge, using the force to widen his step, moving to distance them both by a couple of metres at a time while he sought to gauge his opponents state. The man was under some form of mental control, a puppet of another strong and skilled force user (Tegan Starfall
).
“Knock me out master Jedi I don’t want her in my head again. She showed me what death felt like and the end of everything.
She wants the Jedi and sith in perpetual war she is not friend of either side.”
What he was asking of Caedyn was entirely possible, yet within the Ossus Temple, while the Sith Forces were attacking them, the Jedi Knight couldn't be certain that rendering the man unconscious would necessarily save him from further suffering.
"I'm sorry but I can't get you to the medical wing, you'll have to get there yourself but I will rid you of this person's control" Caedyn replied quickly, not wishing to waste time and open himself up to another potential attack or the chance that the Echani might be forced to turn on himself. Instead, the Jedi Knight reached out with his left hand, summoning the Force to his centre channelling the power through to be directed towards the man.
The Echani find themselves being swept over by a wave of Light, harmless to the touch yet pure in the Lightside of the Force, the energy washing over them as Caedyn sought to eradicate any darkness or connection to the Sith that might be keeping a hold over the man. With the Light of the Force, would possibly come to a newfound resolve, a feeling of hope that all was not as lost as the Sith had led him to believe.
"Get yourself clear of the fighting" Caedyn warned him before a sudden eruption tore through the nearby section of the Ossus Temple, Cato Demora
's squad of praetorians besieging the flank by use of explosives. The wall was blown wide open, debris thrown across the Temple hall and the shock-wave nearly taking the Jedi Knight off of his feet.
"Go now!" Caedyn ordered the Echani to flee the scene, turning on the new arrivals with his lightsaber in hand, lifting the saber high and taking the grip of the hilt in both hands, currently still only using one of the staff's two blades.
A report came on Tithon's screen showing the casuality report on the oppositional fighters. None had escaped making for an effective advantage to begin - but their anti-stealth ambush advantage was gone. Now whatever was coming knew they had a strong starfighters screen - but they still had yet to see the offensive capabilities of the 'Lussk' Assault Cruisers. At the moment, it, and the 'Khan' were there only unknowns.
And Tithon still didn't know anything about the oppositional fleet.
"Arthos Vynea
-", Tithon offered as the communication systems bridged their systems.
"- Typhojem is transmitting the direction the fighters flew in at. Aim capital weapons in that direction. Pickets can remain in their positions."
With that, he cut the communication once more, readjusting in his seat as the 'Red Dragon' moved ever onward to the planet. They were nearing their destination, but he was not yet sure the status of the mission. His communication relay came to life once more as he made contact with the Red Dragon's bridge -
"Admiral.", the communications officer said with little more than a passive glance, obviously busy.
"Warrant Officer.", Tithont replied.
"What is the status of the obelisk?"
"From the sounds, near completion. The Worm has returned with Quintus Varro - but the Sepulchral remain. However we have a variety of forces onboard the ship currently assaulting internal systems, but Typhojem and the First Legion are responding. Current operational status is waning, escape pods are partially destroyed."
Tithon considered the situation for a short moment before exhaling heavily through his nose.
"Duly noted, Warrant Officer. Keep me informed of the situation as it unfolds."
With a nod, the Warrant Officer disconnected the call, and Tithon was once more experiencing the quiet bustle of his own bridge. A light concern building for the situation on the fleet's flagship.
As the explosion ripped through the wall, his soldiers moved through the hole without hesitation. Their movements were quick, and as soon as Caedyn had taken his lightsaber up in two hands - he was being fired upon by Cato and Reaper from the opening itself. Two groups of Two moved to the edges - flanking, shooting anyone that charged in their direction, anyone who brandished a weapon. Their instincts were lightning fast, and their aim was deadly.
"The Worm wants the unarmed alive!", Cato said as he continued a relentless onslaught of shells at Caedyn.
Yet when his rounds had finished, another of the two groups turned on Caedyn firing their charric shells - forcing the lightsaber back with force with every shot. Cato reloaded quickly before breaking free of his death trooper vocoder - gun shouldered as another of the group fired.
"Put down your weapons, surrender, and you will be treated with the respect of a prisoner of war!", he shouted, his voice, although understandable now, still modulated into a deep and gutteral tone that sounded more demonic than diplomatic. Likely unfitting, given the situation.
As soon as one of them dropped she knew the next few moments were either going to go very well or end with at least one of the three of them dead. Still, Jorii didn't stop Soloman from pressing the advantage, coming up behind him as he charged the one still standing. It was better to keep their kind backpedaling and not give them a chance to recoup and counter. She'd experienced firsthand what happened in that instance, and been raised on tales of worse.
All of that came to the forefront of her mind once the lightsaber ignited. In a split second the rules of engagement had changed. Her rifle was slung across her back in favor of the ripper she drew with her off hand, bringing it to bear on the other woman and aiming for center mass. If there was one thing they couldn't block, it was slugs, and she felt better knowing that if the attempt was made the only reward was melted lead in her face.
There was no need to communicate her change of strategy to Soloman, as he knew full well what that lightsaber meant. Mandalorians were raised to kill Jedi, and here was the chance to prove just that.
"Think carefully about how you want this to end. All you need to do is tell us where the exit is and what our odds are of running into any of your friends. Everyone can walk away." That was becoming less and less likely the longer this confrontation dragged on, and as good as their odds were she wasn't keen on testing them. Damn Jedi.
The starfighters clashed, making passes at one another as several of the sith interceptors dropped chaff and flares while chasing after the Y-Ties that had broken away. The two enemies were matched in maneuverability, but only slightly better were the sith interceptors in speed. The difference was negligible with the maneuvers being pulled, pairs of interceptors working to try an take down a single Deathseed while leaving themselves open to a flank. The DP20's continued moving forward, not seeming to be phased by the appearance of the Deathseeds or the incoming fire and unleashing their own volley of heavy concussion missiles in return of those incoming.
Eight streaked across the field from the pair of DP20's at the large frigates. Missiles passed one another in the vacuum, a macabre dance of steel and promised destruction.
The first torpedo strike on the DP20 knocked out a port double turbolaser as they attempted to angle away, fire ceasing from that side as the crew inside began work securing that sections bulkhead. The unique torpedoes were nearly ignored, a pair being shot and destroyed by laser cannons before a number of them dazzled the space around the missile frigates. Internals alarms sounded, systems malfunctioned and readings went haywire as the captains of the vessels scrambled maintenance teams to restrict cascading damage. The lights sputtered briefly as the gravity from the planet below caught the pair of frigates now adrift with momentum and slowly pulled them from their assault formation.
Errix watched from his bridge as the frigate before him began to shine brilliantly, a last minute order to divert power to the nose shielding as lightning arced across the inky black and reached out to them. The lancers pulled stray static, each blinking rapidly as port and starboard sections lost power briefly. The entire nose of the vessel went dark, systems malfunctioning as rolling outages crept through the forward sections of the ship.
"Damage teams, move forward, secure the lines and reestablish connections! I want this vessel operational with haste! Move!" The temporary commander hollered over the comms officer, hoping whoever was down there had the better sense to act quickly rather than dilly dally. The ion cannons at the front were silenced, the turbolaser batteries set port and starboard of the bridge began to sing with their retribution against the offending frigates as turbolaser fire streaked from the partially dark Perilous.
The three DP20's astride the formation moved forward now, having waited for their compatriots to alert them to the dangers as their own assault began anew. Double turbolaser cannons opened fire at whatever frigate was nearest, little attention paid to the deathseeds as they concentrated their point defenses against the torpedo's that had struck their compatriots earlier.
The bombers tucked low, having to break formation in light of the falling DP20's over them, one bombers losing a small section of their wing from the alarming proximity to the falling vessels. The pulled up, attempting to rise beneath the two frigates and unleashing a single volley storm of concussion missiles from below.
The Assessor watched in silence at the scene ahead of him. Errix attempting to swat a fleet from space. He pondered assisting, the thought taking more prevalence with the sudden slice of lightning that erupted from the enemy fleet afore them. His eyes narrowed, now unsure of exactly what he had witnessed.
"Report on the fleet Feh'room is engaged with." He called, taking a look a the map beside him. He could spare little given the advantageous position he was in, but an example had to be made of those attempting to cling onto that last holonet relay.
"Aye aye, sir." He ignored the source, chewing his lip a moment and letting his head rock back and forth slightly, as though the motion would sooth the sudden worry of dissecting his fleet. But the relay had to be secured, and Errix had taken long enough to deal with it already.
"Sir. What little we have suggests at least one ship is of Yurbean design, the other is a mass production model cargo vessel. Likely converted."
The man stared across the void, wondering silently before deciding his next move.
"DP20's will take the Guardian's position over the interdictor." He ordered. "Plot a course for the enemy fleet Feh'room is engaged with. All vessels at combat ready states. The Guardian is moving away from this sector."
The Guardian slowly lumbered forward, all weapons rotating forward and calculating trajectories at the enemy fleet they were slowly moving towards.
-Errix's first 2 DP20's headed to the planets surface after suffering electrical issues from Ura Iolar's Bolt Torpedo's.
-DP20's launched 8 concussion missiles before electrical failure at the two frigates.
-3 more DP20 frigates are moving forwad on Ura Iolar's formation.
-Sith Bombers attacking the two frigates from below with concussion missiles.
-Assessor ceased acquiring targets and is moving the Guardian forward to assist Errix.
-Assessor's formation is moving to protect the interdictor and close the gap left behind.
Tegan’s had control of three puppets and even as one was released from her control by Caedyn Arenais and was now running for his life into the temple, her concentration had been focused on the three minds. So she was not aware of the cloaked and concealed Jedi that appeared before until he spoke and let loose his powerful force push. Which knocked the diminutive Tegan through the air who had been sitting on the ground concentrating at the time. She rag dolled through the air her concentration broken and for the moment the two minds she yet had her web ensnaring were free.
As she flew back through the air from the telekinetic push she felt the rushing wind around her and took a deep breath. Her back arched and she did a flip landing on the ground in crouched three-point position with her right hand also on the ground. Her head was down the purple hood of her jacket facing Vexander Graves
.
As he spoke telling her to surrender Her head rose up and her masked face stared at him. Behind the mask her eyes flashed orange and she had a wicked twisted grin on her face. Slowly it started so quiet but rose to nearly uncontrollable laughter. “HehehaahhhahahaMwuhHehe haha…” It went on for a few moments and got to a fever pitch on of Maniac levels. The thought of surrendering reminded her of the time she did surrender herself to the Jedi not these Jedi but one of the Orders that existed before them. She so utterly terrified them that when her and a sith inmate named Karen broke out in a fight in the middle of their temple where they were to stand trial no one dared to stop them. Not much of the temple stood in the aftermath and both her and Karen walked away while the Jedi stood helpless to stop them.
The Laughter began to subside and Tegan pulled back her right hand and sat there on crouched legs before the Jedi that stood a ways away from her. In the crouched position Tegan was even shorter than her normal four-foot ten (1.47m) frame. Tegan was not at all intimidating, short in stature and didn’t weigh more than Ninety pounds (40.8 kg) soaking wet. Yet if only he could see those beady orange eyes behind the sith mask he would see those eyes staring right through him like he was nothing. Those eyes the one glimpse into Tegan's crazed mind and what she thought of all existence.
She hadn’t even once eyed the Saber he had pulled though it hummed there in his hands at the ready. “Yes Bring your allies, bring them all it matters little.” Though her laughter was of a crazy person her voice came out soft and almost innocent sweet and not at all intimidating. That was the thing about Tegan and how she grew so powerful nobody saw her. No one noticed her for a long time, the scoff at her and mocked her. When she threatened them, they just laughed at her how could something so small and with such a sweet voice ever stand up to giants with muscles for days. Yet as they ignored her she grew powerful and gained power right under their noses because e they weren’t paying attention. They did notice her until it was too late, and the unassuming little girl became master of the force and Magicks several times over.
“You Jedi, perplex me?” Tegan spoke as her left hand dropped to her side fingers touching the ground at her side. “This battle that the sith are putting on it’s all theater. Smoke and Mirrors if you will for some grander design.” Tegans fingers moved at her side in a slow but fluid motion across the ground. Her sigil from earlier the one that cast the mental web was mere steps from Vexander Graves
. “Do you want to know what the plan is?” She asked as she finished drawing her rune at her side. With the rune finish so was the spell of protection upon herself. Tegan Began to stand up then.
The team leader stopped and looked at the tech as if he had three heads. The failure to recognize the chain of command was never an issue among them and all were welcome to bring up any issues or counterpoints. The thing is, Bartleby never did it like this, he would always bring up “Boss” or be respectful to rank and station first. This choice of words meant that there was a problem and a big one. As the team set a fast perimeter, Azrael looked over just what the problem was. It was not a normal thing for his eyes to bug out the way that they did.
The entire section was closed off and he hand-signaled for the team to move into the room, moving straight to one of the access panels, he, and Samael ripped it off. They could not get through the hallways, but the access paths were still open but not for long. If they knew this, no doubt the First Legion did and they needed to go, NOW. Bart was busy calling out troop positions and movement as Gabriel was setting charges, not only to the door but he climbed upwards in the access path and set a couple of shaped charges to surprise any troops coming down from above.
He waited, rifle in hand and aiming upward as the team entered and descended, Michael made the point that he was the “drag” man, meaning he was the last man out. So the Demo guy followed the rest of the team. Castiel was just climbing in as a Legion trooper made his way into the room and got a shot off, center mass just before the charges went off, killing him/her/it.
Hang on man! I got you!
I’m cooked! Go!
No! No man gets left behind!
Mission first!
They could both hear the blast doors to the access path shutting, both knew that Gabriel had to move. Silently, he gave Castiel all of his grenades, the two nodded and gave respectful a respectful forehead touch. The blast door shut JUST after Gabriel made it out of there, all he could hear was Castiel yelling and firing his grenade launcher, throwing the shrapnel grenades with his free hand.
There was nothing that they could do but move on and work to complete the mission now. Make Castiel’s death mean something. Bartleby was climbing down the ladder, but leaning against the opposite wall as he did so, in order to try and do some slicing. With any luck, they could buy themselves enough time to get to the main launch bay by his attempt to send “sensor ghosts”, in a manner of speaking, or at least recordings of their movements and fake them as the real thing. If they could send troops the other way, even for a little bit, they could maybe still pull this off.
Bartleby only had about five regular detonators left, the ones he had otherwise were for the Baradium charges that were for Gabriel’s “big boom”. They were going to need them where they were going. The challenge was not finishing the job at this point, the challenge was getting there. Sauriel just wanted to waste as many of these womprats as he could. He liked Castiel, no, not in that way, but he thought the “drag” man was a good soldier. He wanted to fill his rifle full of kill notches just for this. Bartleby was having flashbacks of watching his husband, the original “Gabriel” die, and it was only making him angry. The new “Gabriel” or the old Scion, whichever you wish at this point. He was wanting to cut loose and blow up the entire ship even if it took him with it. Michael? Samael? They were just quiet. Sure, they had lost friends, but never like this before. Neither of them was really sure of how they should be acting. Azrael was blaming himself, and at the same time being hard on himself as well for not being strong for the others. They had a mission to finish and it was his job to get them through it, preferably as many of them as safely as possible.
The hologram flickered as the figure shifted to face the Worm Emperor in the span of a single transmission frame. A pair of eyes, shining brightly like molten copper, stared out from beneath the wide concealing hood that obscured the rest of Carnifex's features.
"To observe," he spoke after a few seconds, the sound reverberating across the bridge as if he were next to each and every individual. "And to learn, to see what will come of this struggle against our ancient enemy." He was not here to help, he brought nothing except the droid which projected his appearance on the bridge. But he was also not here to hinder, he would not stand in their way or undermine their efforts. The Worm's followers would succeed or fail based entirely on their own merits.
"Vulcanus' rage burns hot and bright, I can sense it halfway across the galaxy. Careful that it does not burn you along with your enemies, Worm Emperor. It would be a shame to see your machinations cut woefully short."
Soon enough the entire room full of children were chanting along, as well as their caretakers and those otherwise unfit to defend the temple. Even Thirdas, untrained in the use of the Force though he may be, couldn't help but feel apart of their little community in a way he'd never felt about Jedi before. The Force was still an alien concept to him, despite his family's history and several incidents where he'd somehow managed to channel enough energy to manipulate objects. All he really knew was how dangerous the Force was in the wrong hands.
He knew how to fight; to pull triggers and swing swords, and how to take lives. Becoming a soldier was everything he'd ever wanted growing up, but perhaps... Perhaps there was something else waiting for him. Something more.
His thoughts were interrupted by reflexes kicking in. Somebody was knocking on the sealed door behind him. Immediately he broke away from the chanting, leaping to his feet and pressing himself up against the wall beside the locked entrance. Several of the younglings ceased their reciting of the old phrase, looking up at the blonde giant with mouths agape. Thirdas gestured for them to keep quiet while reaching for his Valkyri handaxe hanging from his belt.
Gently his other hand grasped around the lever in charge of the locking mechanism on that particular door, pulling it sideways to unlock it. The security door opened just a smidgeon, enough so that the eyes of Thirdas met those of the man on the other side. Always cautious, he adjusted his view enough to find another person standing next to him.
"Rand, huh? Who's your friend?"
He wasn't about to jeopardise all these children by handing them over to complete strangers he couldn't even be certain were on their side.
Over on their side of the door, Lee-Loo sidled up to Thirdas and wrapped her slender arms around his made of metal. More and more had gathered around that particular door, with several of the adults making their way through the crowd of children to see for themselves whether rescuers had truly come for them. Still, Thirdas was the one operating the door; those two on the other side would not get past him unless he deemed their story truthful.
Where Jorii had seen it fit to shoot at the standing zeltron, Soloman knew that fighting a Jedi was rarely about going directly at them. Unlike his Mandalorian brethren who chose to overwhelm Jedi with bigger and bigger guns, Soloman had some strategy in mind - but it was what had garnered him the marred reputation for being less than honorable.
All was fair in love and war, he imagined. So he took advantage of both in a single move. His two handguns twisted to point directly at the Zeltron still on the ground, hammers cocked, fingers already through the first stage of his trigger - even slightly more pressure releasing two verpine rounds directly into the drugged up Perl. His vocoder came through slower this time - darker than it was a moment before.
"These pistols have targetting assistance. Push me with the Force, move in a way I don't like, and your friend gets two to the head. Don't make me slip, Jedi - they didn't teach me how to clean in Mando school either, and I'm about to make a mess."
He motioned with his head towards Jorii without taking his eyes off Yula -
"Listen to my friend. Put the saber down, and you both might live."
"- he is doing exactly what is required of him. For all his strength, he has not realized how much a Sith he is - and the ritual he has chosen to taken on will awaken him to such realities. Whether he destroys this ship, destroys the Jedi onboard, or even all the Sith; he will have been readied for the finalization of his canonization with the Sepulchral waiting."
The Worm's robes seemed to widen a bit - as though he were full of air as the masks stared emotionlessly forward.
"This ship is immatieral, but a powerful Sith such as him learning the truth of his strength will make up for any losses occured on this planet. In time, Darth Carnifex, you too shall take this ritual on - if you are willing.", the Worm offered the hologram.
Beltran and the rest of Team Paladin had made it out of the hangar, following Aaran Tafo
and Thalia Senn
as they surged forward. To the rear, the Paladins could see the operators of Omega Team making their own way out of the hangar and splitting off from the rest of the group. The fighting remained heavy as they moved through the corridors, bogging down the larger unit so that they'd lost sight of the Jedi leading the charge.
"Now what?" Asked Lieutenant Mrawr, Team Paladin's second in command. The massive Togorian flashed his razor sharp teeth in an expression of frustration. This wasn't the first time that the Jedi had run off, reacting to their heightened senses and leaving the non-force users in the rear to get shot up.
"There's something wrong here," Beltran replied. "This isn't just a raid. They're preparing something for the planet."
"You know," Sergeant Reece piped up. "I liked it better when you didn't have the Force. Then it was get the job done and kill Sith. Now it's all vague and ominous signs and portents. Reece no likey."
Beltran held up his hand, forestalling any further conversation. He could feel the buzz of the Dark Side all around them, but there was one place where it was growing in power.
"We need to mo-" Beltran was in the middle of saying when a figure approached, running through a hail of blasterfire.
"I-I'll just follow you!"
Beltran began to move, but Reece was already on it. Stepping out from their cover, the operator physically grabbed Jedi Auteme
and pulled her down behind the supply crates they'd been using. Coming back up on his knee, Reece sent a spray of pulse fire back at the enemy troopers-driving them to seek cover of their own once more.
Crab-walking down the line, Beltran came to where they were and spoke. "Jedi Auteme," He said calmly, as if the chaos of their current situation was nothing new to him. "There's something more at work here. The Sith are preparing something. I can feel it growing in power, have you felt it?"
While Beltran waited for the young woman's reply, Reece's com's device sounded off indicating he had a message.
Slacker,
Don't know if your little cake-job has afforded you the intel of seeing just how many
troops are on this ship and just what type they are, but something huge is about to
go down. If you have an objective, fulfill it and get off the ship. We're gonna go launch
ourselves into a real job and blowing something important.
-B
He sent back: Acknowledged. Stay safe. And you still owe me those 50 creds.
"Boss, Omega says some bad shit is about to go down. If we're going to move, we need to do it fast." Despite the seriousness of his message, Reece took a moment to lean over to Auteme. "Love the show, by the way. Think I can get your autograph later?"
Beltran ignored the exchange, and instead keyed his coms. "Alright Paladin, we need to move. We're heading out by fireteams, moving this way." He motioned down a corridor that felt like it would take them closer to the source of the building power (The Obelisk). "Move! Move!"
Leading from the front as he preferred, Beltran and Specialist Argos were the first to dash out of cover, moving down the hallway quickly. The rest of the team opened up fire, providing cover as they did so. Next went Lieutenant Mrawr and Sergeant Doss. Then it was time for Reece and Auteme
. "Alright, love. Time to RUN!"
The operator grabbed the young woman's hand and yanked her easily to her feet. Then he pulled her quickly down the hallway. The final group, the Graves twins, brought up the rear. They were able to break contact with the enemy a few moments later and began to move rapidly deeper into the ship.
