The Outbreak

[Laira Darkhold]

Laira heard a voice in the back of her mind, a soft kind voice lulling her into a relaxed state. It was a quiet sound in her mind that sought to delve deep into her subconscious.

Join us in harmony. Join us in peace. You do not need to fight us.​

Her vision blurred and she found herself sitting alone in a grassy field in one of her favorite flowing green dresses. She recognized the field as one outside the Mountain Palace on Alderaan. The grass was tall, wind brushing it around her as she sat comfortably. The redhead looked over her shoulder to see a pair of Knights standing at a respectful distance away while she relaxed in the sun.

A tall dark haired man strode forward, he was wearing nice clothes but was a few years older than her. Laira was confused by the scene, it was so serene and peaceful. And weird.

"Hi honey, relaxing after that meeting with the nobles?" He asked with a soft smile. Laira blinked, her features plastered with a quizzical expression.

"Uh, yeah... you know how they are." She was piecing everything together bit by bit, but this certainly wasn't the fairy-tale life she had imagined for herself. In fact, she wasn't sure what she wanted out of her life yet, or at least she had never admitted to herself what she really wanted to be. The princess knew that eventually she would be Queen of Alderaan, but she wasn't sure she wanted that, or whether she would be any good at ruling.

Her hands reached up to her brow, feeling the crown across her forehead. It was most certainly her future, or at least the most likely version of her future. The one that she was destined for, the same one she wanted to avoid with all her heart.

"Well you know how they can be, I'm sure it will pass and they will move on to some other crisis."

"This isn't real."

"Of course it is sweetheart."

"No, its not. There is no way things would be running smoothly with me at the helm. Its not my style. Its not who I am." Laira closed her eyes. "I like the thrill of danger, of flying fast. The sensation of being better than the person flying against me, I like winning. I like adventure and seeing every star in the galaxy. I don't want to be queen. I don't want some doting husband like my mom. I want someone to share in my adventures, not to be their waiting for me at home."

The man tried to speak to her, tried to talk sense into her, but it was going away. The fantasy world where she was a happy wife, a pretty young queen, was fading away.

If you will not willing join us, we will take you.​

Laira's eyes snapped open to see she had fallen to the ground and Tempest was recovering and on the move already. Dimeria didn't seem fazed by the illusions. It seemed like she had simply not suffered from any of the visions and was still fighting, rattling off bolter rounds into the ghouls that were attempting to get to the top floor with the AA gun.

The golden armored Knight had simply never stopped fighting, which may have been one of the benefits of her being Force-Dead. Often these horrifying Force related sith constructs simply did not affect her. Her dark purple and black hair fell around her shoulders, the bolter in her hands kicking as she pulled the trigger.

[member="Tempest"] [member="Maiev"] [member="Nima Tann"] [member="Glory"]

 

[Tempest]

[member="Laira Vereen"], [member="Nima Tann"], [member="Shamira Karuto"], [member="Maiev"], [member="Kaida Taldir"], [member="Delila Castillon"]

No reply from Kaida. The Eldorai might not be able to hear her…or worse, might be dead. Tempest shook that thought off. No time now.
Laira and Dimeria hadn’t been able to get the gun. Thus it was time for her to take action.
She jumped off the controls of the e-web, but not before jamming it in place so it could not be turned on her.

Forming the Force around her like a sleeve of energy she charged at the enemy, her power sweeping aside opposition as she closed in on the cannon.
A thermal detonator in her hand she prepared to dunk it like she was playing a strange alien sport with balls and baskets.

Again time seemed to freeze. She was thinking at full speed but her actions were in slow motion.
‘Why do you fight us? Why do you want destruction over harmony?’
“I have had enough of this. You don’t understand, none of you hive minds or genocidal AIs or cults get it. I don’t want an eternity of playing devoted housewife with Elpsis or anyone else. Without conflict life has no point. Without free will life has no point. Merely feeling good is not enough. I was a slave for many years growing up, and this is no different – no it’s worse. At least the slave understands they are nothing to their owner. I want no part of your delusions. I am Tempest, I am a free woman, and I will make my own mistakes and triumphs. Now get out of my head because you are going down!”

With proper dramatic timing, she forced the slowdown away and dropped the thermal detonator into the hole, then jumped free.
The resulting explosion might have seemed disappointing, but that was because a detonator wasn’t like a grenade. No, it obliterated matter around itself, in this case the firing and aiming controls of the AA cannon.

“Laira, Dimeria, time to go. I’m calling in the strike.”

Her commlink answered her call. “This is Major Tempest, requesting air strike on these coordinates. One of the two turrets are down, the other should be down soon.”

Zombies, monsters, hive minds. Tempest hated them all. Anything which took freedom, even the freedom to fail and make mistakes, she was implacably against. No Sith or Jedi or warlord could ever understand that. She was a soldier, but she could and would disobey an order which was wrong – a minion of a zombie hive could never do so, and that was why they must be destroyed.

 

[Kaida Taldir]

Location: Eastern half of the island, near the AA tower.
Allies in proximity: [member="Nima Tann"]
Allies elsewhere: [member="Shamira Karuto"], [member="Tempest"], [member="Laira Vereen"], [member="Maiev"], [member="Delila Castillon"]


An earth-shaking, guttural roar escaped the giant's throat when the storm of icicles pierced its flesh. Each was hyperaccelerated to the point that it matched the velocity of a slug fired by a sniper rifle. Not quite death by a thousand cuts, but close enough. Foul ichor seeped out of dozens of wounds, dripping to the ground to mix with the water and the blood that had already accumulated on it. The roar was so loud that it produced a powerful concussive wave, slamming into Kaida and sending her flying. Her fall was somewhat cushioned by her suit, and she slid across the ground before coming to a halt close to a tree.


Then the beast was upon her, with the ground as it charged. Suffering from the disorientation caused by only having one eye available, she raised her shield. The monstrosity smashed, thrashed and clawed at her. The scutum soon dropped from her grasp. Pain struck her like a thunderbolt and the beast seized her, roaring loudly.


Then there was a loud bang when she shot it in the gum with her bolt pistol. The explosive round tore through it, its grip weakened and she slipped out of its grasp. Plucking a thermal detonator free from her webbing, she activated it and dropped it to the side. A massive foot was raised as the beast sought to tread upon her, but in the nick of time, she activated her grappling hook and shot upward. Boom. Thermals did not explode the way grenades did, for they had a short, fixed blast radius. The expanding particle field tore the giant apart.


Volleys of blaster fire shot towards her, but covering fire came from the roof where two of her fellow Angelii unloaded upon the attackers. As she got close to the roof, one of her battle sisters reached out and took her hand. The two shared a look, as Kaida once again got solid ground beneath her feet. She realised it was Kardova. "Ma'am, your eye."


"Whatever," Kaida said gruffly. "Status on the AA cannon?"


"About to blow," Tela responded, having made it to the cannon while the Angelii swept the zombies. Giving her teammates a signal with her hand, the experienced battle sister prepared the explosive package, then quickly ran. Boom. The cannon was obliterated. More and more zombies, having seen the explosion, were trying to climb up the wall.


While she pressed a piece of cloth against her eye, Kaida gazed down upon the hordes of zombies. "Angelii, moving out," she yelled, hitting a button on her comm. "You have the coordinates. Raze the place," she ordered gruffly.


xxx


Meanwhile, Nima would be facing a very familiar opponent. His face had decayed, his face was rotten and his eyes were marked with madness, but it was unmistakeably the same Jedi Master Krook who had been such a stalwart defender of the Light. It was the Light Side of the Force that whispered into his mind.


Its will must clear. It was his destiny to destroy the minions of the Dark Side, no matter what masks they might wear. The Force had guided him to this world so that he could liberate it from evil and restore peace and justice to those who suffered under the yoke of evil tyrants. When he saw the fallen Jedi, sadness filled him, for she could have been a powerful weapon of good.


But as a Jedi, his duty was clear. "Tann! The time has come for you to repent. May the Light have mercy upon you," he thundered and charged her, channelling his devotion to the Light into a powerful blast of the Force. His sapphire lightsabre, emblematic of the holy order he served, glowed with a fierce, purifying light.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Dimeria simply never stopped fighting. While the two Force Users struggled with the Hive Mind and its illusionary defense mechanisms, Dimeria remained unaffected. It was her purpose, her one and only purpose. When the Dark Side sought to undo the Light, the Knights of the Flame were the barrier that stood between it, unaffected like a stone. While all others struggled she remained like a bulwark.

Bolter kicked its final shell into the horde of zombies below them and was soon dropped where it hung from the golden armored knight's shoulders on the strap. Her scarlet loincloth was tattered and splattered with blood and gore from having fought against the Ghouls at close range, and her cloak was similarly frayed at its bottom. Golden-plated armor dulled and scorched from the flames of her comrades and her own flamethrower, dust and soot settling on the brilliant eagle on her pauldron. The proud knight drew her blade somberly, gritting her teeth behind the face mask that covered her nose and mouth.

The blade itself was slightly curved backwards in the old atrisian style before the coming of the One Sith. While Laira and Tempest struggled with the Hive Mind, Dimeria continued to fight off those of the Ghouls that attempted to climb the walls or crawl up the ladders to the roof.

Laira flooded her own mind with images and memories to protect herself from the illusions and the telepathic voice. It took a lot to rattle the redhead, but for some reason seeing herself as Queen of Alderaan with some sort of caring companion shook her to her core. There was fighting to be done and the one armed Ranger needed to see to it that she participated, however what had bothered her the most about the vision was that it had seemed so alien and yet it had not been unappealing. It wasn't what she wanted, but it had been nice. A fairy-tale life that part of her might dare to dream about despite it being so, civilized.

Shaking the cobwebs from her mind Laira drew deeply upon the Force, breathing it in like a tide and channeling its might throw her body. Every muscle and tendon reinforced as she began moving. With only one arm and only one weapon worth anything against such a large group, Laira had to be fast. She had to move quickly and suddenly to keep from being bitten again.

Her spear shuddered as her movements slashed the back of the knees of a ghoul attempting to Flank Dimeria, the Knight blazing a path with her flamegauntlet while slashing back and forth in great sweeping arcs with her blade.

"Di, we're out!" Laira's voice echoed over the cacophony of growls and hisses from the ghouls. Reluctantly the Knight pulled away from the brutality of combat and slaughter, sighing with regret that this would not be her tomb. Duty required that she live with Honor even if deep in her heart she wanted the endless chaos to be done with her.

Gold armor and red hair both jumped from the tower.

[member="Tempest"]

 

[Shamira Karuto]

[SIZE=12pt]Location: Central part of the island of the island, near the right AA tower.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Allies in proximity: [member="Maiev"][/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Allies elsewhere: [member="Kaida Taldir"], [member="Tempest"], [member="Laira Vereen"], [member="Nima Tann"], [member="Delila Castillon"][/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]That nagging, prodding voice still ate at her mind as she pushed her body to keep running towards the sergeant, trying to link up with someone who knew what was actually going on anymore. Having to retreat from the back lines so quickly and being attacked by the hunter meant that she was completely lost on what was actually happening, where everyone was, or if they were even still retreating. Not a great situation to be in when the sounds of moaning, rotting corpses surrounded her and she could hear the hunters scurrying around. Especially in her first battle in front of the Firemane troops. Way to inspire confidence Shamira.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt] Sprinting back to where she remembered Freya and her squad of lackeys with the very big gun last being, she first ran into the taller, raven haired witch, Maiev. Giving her a curt nod, with a small smile, the Togruta decided it was just as good to stay by the witch’s side instead of running all over the battlefield for someone who could very well be dead. At least she would be with someone that had a decent bit more experience in than her. Well, two people. If you counted the spirit running around in the witch’s head if the rumors were to be believed.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt] Of course, staying with the older witch did have the handoff of possibly attracting more enemies. Shamira just didn’t figure it would be one of the berserkers, who decided to charge them, and let out a yell that sent the poor Togruta to her knees, clutching her montrals in pain. The initiate moaned lightly and slowly looked up to see the massive being stunned by some sort of magic, albeit momentarily. It gave her the opportunity to quickly grab her lightsaber from her belt, igniting the yellow blade and bringing it up in a ready position.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt] Her lack of experience showed clearly now, as she had absolutely no idea how to approach this aggressive monster. Speaking loudly enough to be heard over the other chaos, she stood close to the taller witch with her blade in the ready out in front of her. “So…please tell me you or whatever floats around in your head knows how to kill this thing.” Her voice cracked lightly in nervousness, even with her best attempts to hide it.[/SIZE]

 

[Nima Tann]

Location: Eastern half of the island, near the AA tower.
Allies in proximity: [member="Kaida Taldir"]
Allies elsewhere: [member="Shamira Karuto"] [member="Maiev"] [member="Tempest"] [member="Laira Vereen"] [member="Delila Castillon"]

It all seemed endless.

The more they got rid of, the more enemies appeared, climbing the walls to fill the empty space of their fallen comrades. Nima's attention was on Tela, the one that was running towards the cannon with explosives, making sure that she arrived there safe. She let out a shout as she swung her lightsaber towards the enemy in front of her, starting to get a bit too tired for her liking. It was the disadvantage of her fighting style, if you kept her busy enough you would tire her out quite quickly, and the recent mental attack didn't help her condition as well. She could just not stop imagining that she recognised some of the zombies' faces. There was no time to calm down and think clearly, so she left the thinking to her survival instinct.

At some point, she heard Kaida's voice. Following her appearance, the bombs were finally deployed and the cannon exploded with quite a satisfying boom shortly afterwards, which boosted the morale of the Angelii still fighting on the top of the tower. The help was on the way. But it didn't mean that their job here was finished, as the remaining zombies kept climbing the walls, not giving them a chance to breathe. However, there was something else. She was suddenly hit by a headache, alarming that something bad was about to happen. Trusting her senses, she jumped to the right and felt a powerful wind, pushing her further than she intended. Landing painfully on the ground, she immediately pushed herself and took her stance, turning to the direction that the attack came from. And what she saw was...

Krook. The man who was the reason why she wasn't a Jedi anymore. The man who gathered like-minded people to drive her away from her home. The man who caused her to get stabbed in the stomach. Was this yet another attempt by the hivemind to attack her mentally? No. It was real. He was standing right in front of her, a decaying body with the delusions of grandeur. The way that he said her name annoyed her, his self righteous attitude annoyed her, his decaying face annoyed her, yet she couldn't help but feel bad for him also. Even if he caused her great harm, no one would deserve something like this. A fate worse than death.

Who was she kidding?

She shook her head, feeling nauseous.

For something she barely remembered, she felt an unnatural amount of anger.

Without further ado, she launched herself towards Krook, cutting and dodging the zombies on her way. Once she reached him, she swung her lightsaber towards his chest, which the man defended himself by pushing her lightsaber away with his. Nima started to launch quick attacks, all directed to different parts of his body, trying to get him to make a mistake. Krook jumped back once he realised he would be in trouble if this kept going.

"It's your fault that my Padawan disobeyed the Way of the Light. She disobeyed my teachings. You corrupted her. It's my duty to take you down. The Lord of Light commands it." He said, letting another blast of Force energy escape his fingers.

Nima didn't respond once more and created a barrier in front of her to protect herself. The blast of energy hit her shield, pushing her a few steps back before she could stop it going any further. The blast slowly dissolved after a couple of seconds, losing strength, so Nima let the shield go and started running once more. It was her time to let out a Force wave, powerful enough to make him lose his balance and get him to move. Also, to make sure he lacked the space to get away this time as the platform they stood on didn't have infinite space.

Once she was in close range, she swung her lightsaber once more towards him, giving him no time to breathe with a series of quick attacks. He managed to defend himself for a while, but it was getting difficult to handle. He looked back, and then back to her.

"You... witch. You are no match for a Jedi like me." He said, anger replacing his previous tone. "I am the Saviour of Light. The Lord has chosen me. I am the only one who can stand against the growing darkness. Against people like you! Don't underestimate me!" He started to shout.

It was the behaviour of someone who understood the situation he was in.

She saw... fear in his eyes. No matter what, he was a victim in this. It was then her anger turned into something else.

She took a breath.

"Do you think the Lord of Light would want this to happen? Look around you." Nima finally talked, yet still kept going with the attacks. With each second passing, effectiveness of her attacks also decreased because she was getting exhausted. Better finish it before it's too late.

"They are all dead. You are dead. Whoever is whispering those things to you, it's not real. It's all a trick to control you."

"Liar! Don't you dare to speak about the Lord of Light like this. You can't deceive me! Your tricks won't work!"

"Whoever did this to you also tried its tricks on me. I know it makes you feel special and happy for a while. Believe me, for a second there it has become my reality too. But it's wrong. It's all fake. This is the reality. Open your eyes. Can't you see how wrong this is?"

"The Lord of Light warned..."

"There is no Lord of Light whispering things to you. It's all in your head. Here..." She reached out to him mentally, using the link that she created between the zombies and herself, and she cut the connection between the hivemind and him. Even if only for a short amount of time, he would see the truth with his own eyes.

"Stop it you witch!... You... Are you serious?... What is this?..." Krook shouted once he saw what was really happening here. The whispers has stopped, and the Lord of Light abandoned him. "Are those people... Am I...? No. It can't be." He asked, looking confused.

"Yes, unfortunately. But you can still do the right thing, and help us stop this madness." Nima answered, giving him a chance.

"I..." Krook stopped for a second. "I understand." Then deactivated his lightsaber. "Lord of Light give me strength!" He suddenly ducked and activated his lightsaber once more, going for an attack. Nima jumped back but couldn't prevent a wound opening. With a quick swing, she cut his arm, and then pushed the man down the tower with a Force wave.

Krook, was still Krook after all.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Tempest"]

Location: Arkas Firemane base

Meanwhile in the war room, things were going well..."Most of the civilian population appears to be compromised. Bridges have been secured, bombers are on standbye to launch precision air strikes pending destruction of the AA guns," Devotion spoke in her crisp, no-nonsense voice.

"I see. Care to explain to me why I only learned of this - a crisis on my planet - a few minutes ago, General?" Siobhan's tone was seemingly calm, but acidic. Even stuck in a hoverchair she radiated power. She wore a severe black gown. Standing in the background were her two bodyguards, Simoom and a huge Kar'zun. The stone warrior towered over everyone in the room and carried a bolt pistol and a war hammer.

Devotion did not budge. "With all due respect, my Lady, you know there's a storm going on. By the time I would have gotten through to you, the infection would have spread from the island. And I doubt you'd want the infected to knock on your doorstep...ma'am. I could sit on my hands and message you until I got authorisation to do what I would have done anyway. Or I could do my job."

"Do you know who you're speaking to?" Mind your tongue around her grace," Mikako Kuwahara interjected coldly. Devotion shot the GRU officer a glare. She'd been promoted to a position on the Lady's staff after the post-Kaeshana cleanup. Purge was such a dirty wird. Her uniform resembled that of an Imperial intelligence officer. "Perhaps you're just trying to obfuscate your inability to to keep Arkas, the world the Lady and her family reside on, safe."

"I don't have time for a sycophantic, poisonous snake like you, Colonel Kuwahara. Isn't your little spy service responsible for informing us of threats before they arise? Perhaps we've wasted credits on them. Now stay out of my business."

"Enough," Siobhan thundered, her voice like the crack of a whip. "I swear it, if this childish bickering continues, I'll have you both stripped of rank and flogged. Once this crisis has abated, there will be an investigation. If I find there was failure on any side, heads will roll. Now, what's our current status?"

At this moment, a young staff officer with the dark complexion of a Dahomian and the rank bars of a junior officer cleared her throat. "Uh, pardon the interruption...my Lady, but recon force commanders report that enemy AA is down."

Devotion breathed in, calming herself a bit. I'll put that yellow queen in her place soon enough, she told herself. "Thank you, Lieutenant," her eyes focused on Siobhan. "My Lady, I strongly advise mass air strikes. We can now deploy containment units to secure the city after the bombardment."

"Granted. Rain down fire upon them. Send in the Granite Guard and the 39th Mechanised. If possible, I want some of the infected to be captured. We need research materiel to understand them. Kuwahara, your department is responsible for this. Consider it a way to redeem yourself."

"As you command, my Lady. I will not fail you." The look the Atrisian gave Devotion could be translated as 'I'll remember you'.

 

[Glory]

[member="Shamira Karuto"], [member="Maiev"], [member="Tempest"]


The irony was that even a common Corporal among Freya's so-called 'lackeys' outranked Initiate Shamira Karuto. Regardless, the Sergeant's projectile impacted upon the giant zombie. The projectile in question happened to be a hypervelocity projectile fired by a shatterbolter. Said gun was what had happened when a shattergun and a boltgun decided to mate and produced an offspring. In short, it had enough velocity to penetrate heavy vehicle armour. There was a terrible noise, like that caused by an anti-tank shell. Alas, the gun was terribly loud.


A loud, enraged bellow escaped the beast's throat when the projectile pierced its thick skull and brought it crashing down towards the ground. Foul smelling, sickly looking ichor seeped out onto the ground, along with brain matter. Yuck. "Get a move on," Freya grunted. She'd heard the rumble of the loud explosion in the distance. The AA gun had been blown to smithereens, but the area was Zombie Central. Moreover, an air strike would be imminent, so they needed to get the hell away.

 

[Tempest]

[member="Laira Vereen"], [member="Nima Tann"], [member="Shamira Karuto"], [member="Maiev"], [member="Kaida Taldir"], [member="Delila Castillon"]

The paradox of height – it was always easier to go down than up, but inversely more dangerous. Whereas climbing a tower was hard but not dangerous if done right, going down could be as easy as a jump or a wrong step.

Tempest saw the other tower’s top erupt into flames and knew it was time. Now it was time to put the accuracy of the Firemane bombers to the test.

“Command, lay down strike patterns on my direction. Once we are clear level the island.”

Tactical map, some hurried orders. Already more zombies were swarming. She had to really, really hope she knew what she was doing.

“Now!”

In front of Laira and Dimeria twin ribbons of fire lit up, forming a laneway of safety between walls of fire. It was as though Tempest had parted a fiery sea.
It was hot, almost unbearably so, but as she dropped down with her jetpack and caught up with the two other women she started to run.

“Move! Command, hit the tower! Use HE!”

Behind her the tower was tagged by a pair of proton torpedoes, shattering into smoke, flame and fragments.

The explosion almost knocked her down, the fires to either side were hot enough to force her armour to compensate with cooling just as if they were in space or the deserts of Tatooine.

“Move! Come on, we’re almost there!” To her commlink as she ran. “Freya, check your targets we are coming towards you.”

Just a few zombies had been in the laneway when the fire lanes had been formed, and they were no match for Tempest, Laira and Dimeria’s weapons. Soon they were almost back to the survivors of the Firemane troopers.

As they ran they passed the body of a giant beastie, now burning and smelling disgusting. Whatever her troops had done to bring it down had been a good job.

“Command, we are clear, begin the bombardment when you are ready.”

 

[Kaida Taldir]

Location: Eastern half of the island, near the AA tower.
Allies in proximity: [member="Nima Tann"]
Allies elsewhere: [member="Shamira Karuto"], [member="Maiev"], [member="Tempest"], [member="Laira Vereen"], [member="Delila Castillon"]


Like a bad penny, Krook always tended to pop up again. Would this be the last time Nima encountered the self-proclaimed Jedi Crusader? Only time would tell. Perhaps the Lord of Light would give his pious paladin another lease of life.


Regardless, it was time to go. The AA cannon had gone down in flames, a swarm of zombies was climbing up the walls. From further inside the town, a huge cloud of gas billowed up into the air. Kaida did not know the nature of the gasuous stream, but she could guess. She also knew that bomber-gunships were approaching their coordinates. The roar of engines was evident. "Tann, come on. Angelii, jump. Gunship, head to evac point." It was appallingly hot when the strike force dropped down, for a moment later burning death rained down from the sky.


Lacking a jetpack of her own, Kaida hitched a ride with Kavora. It was an awkward position, to say the least. Scorching flames licked at her, she pushed them away and drew upon her kindred element to cool herself. Savage creatures were consumed by the fiery conflagration.


The trees, which had until recently been such an annoyance since the zombies had been fond of hiding in and leaping from them, now turned out to be an asset because the wood fed the flames. Zombies that had sought cover were being devoured. Then the tower was blown to smithereens by rockets and proton torpedoes.


The explosion caused Kaida and Kavora to endure a heavy landing. Kaida winced in pain, feeling the effect of broken bones. She got to her feet, limping, and helped the Host Leader up. A few zombies were still alive, but they did not last long.


"Move," she growled. "Pickup now." Their transport came swooping down from the sky. Seeing zombies charge towards the strike force, the vessel's gunner laid down a barrage of covering fire, causing a thunderous noise as the minigun tore through undead.

Firing as they went, the Angelii raced towards the transport as it touched down upon the ground, dragging their wounded with them. Kaida was the last on board, mentally counting her battle sisters as they ran past her. "Take off. Tempest, I'm in the clear." The pilot did not need any additional motivation and quickly pulled up, flying towards the eastern bridge, where reinforcements were arriving.


Death rained down upon Serenade. Kaida did not look back, as bomber-gunships dove down from the sky and unleashed hell upon the doomed town. She looked away and counted the fatalities amongst her soldiers. One battle sister muttered a prayer for the lost.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Laira had jumped alongside her battle sister a little before she had decided how she would handle the landing. The sudden realization that she hadn't had a plan to handle the fall struck her almost instantly, as soon as her boots left the tower with the AA gun. The redhead secretly had to admit, this wouldn't be the first time something like this would happen.

Dimeria had grav-boots to slow her descent, but the Princess of Alderaan had nothing but a sexy pair of boots to land on. Laira's abilities with the Force were limited, especially by her bloodline's inability to use Telekinesis. There would be no levitation or telekinetically controlled jump. Instead, she focused all her effort on the ground, pulling it upwards towards her in her mind's eye. A small rise burst from the earth, catching her and slowing her down enough that she didn't shatter her knees with the landing. As she contacted the risen earth it softened and descended with her, slowing her gradually enough that she would survive the fall without serious injury.

The golden armored knight hit the ground feet first, shaking her head. "Couldn't just grab onto me?"

"Well, I needed to figure it out on my own." Laira quipped, only just remembering that could have been an option, an option that wouldn't have strained her body and exhausted her ability to use the Force. Someone could only manage to use the Force so often, and already Laira had relied on it much more than she would normally have. Running up walls, moving very quickly during combat, and now some difficult Earth Shaping in mid-air. It had drained the redhead of her strength severely. "I'll just take a quick nap next chance I get."

Laira's grey eyes turned to Tempest, her voice becoming filled with sweetness and honey as the redhead leaned against the Lightning Shaper, putting her head on the woman's shoulder and blinking her eyes in a flirtatious manner. "Besides, I couldn't just let Tempest have all the fun. She needed to see some of my skills."

[member="Tempest"] [member="Nima Tann"] @Maiev @Kaida Taldir [member="Shamira Karuto"]

 

[Nima Tann]

It has been a long time since Nima joined a mission as overwhelming as this. Once again, she remembered the value of information before a mission. Underprepared for what awaited them in this hellhole of a city, Nima was looking forward to escape and take some painkillers for she had a massive headache.

Fortunately, Krook, hopefully for the last time, and the AA gun were dealt with, and help was on the way. However, it didn't mean that they were completely safe yet, as zombies were still a threat, at least until they could reach the evac.

She saw smoke rising from the a location not far from here, and felt some presences approaching. Kaida's words confirmed her suspicion, it was the time to go. Nima nodded to her and immediately proceeded to activate her jetpack, which then she remembered was affected from the lightning before, and she couldn't afford it malfunctioning in the middle of the flight again. She moved towards one of the Angelii and explained that she needed a ride. Luckily, it was a battlefield and there was a context to her words, otherwise it would be quite awkward.

Anyway, the two departed from the platform and started descending to the ground. Explosions and flames followed afterwards, as the bombers arrived and the zombies found out that the Order's name wasn't just for the show. The trees were set on fire, and the tower was destroyed. Nima created a Force bubble around the two to protect them from the explosions, and it protected them to a degree from flying shrapnels and debris, but their landing was affected by all the movement in air the explosions caused. It, of course, hurt quite much.

Both of them managed to survive, and a last race towards the gunship began. The Angelii soldier kept firing, covering their back. All around them there were explosions, and splattering guts of zombies that were caught in the explosions.

The gunship was finally in sight, the group kept pushing and the loud voice of the minigun was heard as they got close enough, covering them one last time before they jumped to safety, and ascended shortly afterwards.

"This is Nima. I've arrived to the evac." She reported.

Nima nodded to the High Captain before finding a place to sit. She felt the exhaustion of the battlefield as seconds passed, now that her adrenaline wore off. The headache intensified, and she had difficulties moving her body.

Watching the city getting bombarded from the window, she sighed. The mission, she would consider as a failure. Not only that they couldn't find who exactly was behind this all, they couldn't find any trace of survivors as well, if there were any.

[member="Kaida Taldir"] [member="Tempest"] [member="Laira Vereen"] [member="Maiev"] [member="Shamira Karuto"] [member="Delila Castillon"]

 

[Tempest]

[member="Laira Vereen"], [member="Nima Tann"], [member="Shamira Karuto"], [member="Maiev"], [member="Kaida Taldir"]

Tempest stared just for a few seconds at Laira. She appreciated a good flirt as much as anyone, but this was hardly the time.
“The main skill of yours I want to see is your speed. Everything else can wait!”

They burst through the ring and came at last to Freya’s command. The gunships were waiting, and they boarded, taking them away from Serenade.

In the background they could see the island being comprehensively levelled.

Tempest pulled off her helmet and stumbled to where Shamira and Freya were sitting near each other.

“Report, Sergeant, Apprentice. Losses?”

They’d gone in with 32 all ranks. The gunship looked distressingly…empty…on the way out.

 

[Glory]

[member="Tempest"], [member="Shamira Karuto"], [member="Maiev"], [member="Laira Vereen"]


Behind them, Serenade was being levelled. Bombs rained down upon the island. Sitting aboard the departing gunship, Freya had removed her helmet, exposing her scarred face. Her blonde hair was soaked with sweat. A medic was tending to her arm, using a rather large, unpleasant looking needle. Here and there, Freya grunted something or shot him an annoyed glare.


"Twelve KIA, ma'am," she grunted when Tempest asked for a casualty report. "Three more critical." That meant they were injured and in serious condition. If Shamira expected praise from Freya, she'd be disappointed. The apprentice's actions had not endeared her to the Sergeant. Such as her refusal to take action against the giant zombie.


As usual, the commanding officer, in this case Major Tempest, would get a report that, aside from the usual frank AAR, would contain a list of soldiers whose actions merited commendation or disciplinary action. Shamira would be in the second category. At least from the Sergeant's perspective. Far from being mere lackeys, Firemane officers and NCOs were encouraged, even forced, to give critical AARs, stating how they and others could have done things better.

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Nima Tann"]


Aboard the gunship, the mood was somber. Kaida had covered her lost eye with a rudimentary eyepatch. Exhaustion had set in, now that the adrenaline had worn off. She heard the sound of explosions as bombs descended upon Serenade, scorching the island of life. She did not look back.


"We came with twenty-four. We leave with sixteen," Host Leader Kavora spoke. "May Ashira's heralds lead them to Asur." Unlike Kaida, she looked back towards the island that was being turned into a wasteland.

"May the Goddess have mercy on these tortured souls," she said piously. "I'd say they're experiencing the consequences of turning their back on Her and the Queen...but they were still Eldorai."

"War is hell. Get used to it," Kaida remarked gruffly. And your Goddess is not just useless, but a fraud, she thought to herself. She had not forgotten how unwilling the Host Leader had been to get involved in the first place, but did not comment on that. She spared Nima a look. The Jedi had shown her mettle during the fight. Kaida was comfortable with revising her opinion of her...a little bit.

"High Command will demand an investigation into what transpired here. They will expect a testimony from me as well."

Kaida gave her a stony look. "Do what you must, Host Leader."

 

[Laira Darkhold]

"I guess we will need to check on the other Rangers once we get back, huh Di." Laira said, hearing about all the casualties. The operation hadn't been the largest, but its loss percentages were quite high it seemed. What did they accomplish? The redhead knew that they had destroyed an anti-aircraft weapon which had allowed the island to be bombed, but so far their had not been talk of evacuated civilians or survivors from the island. It was eriely similar to the horrors that happened on the Queen of the Core. The ghouls came suddenly and leaving few survivors in their wake.

"I'm sure they were fine. We left them with the bulk of Firemane's forces. Next time we will have to ensure they have time to gear up in the M1 armor Prince Vereen bought for them." Test beds for experimental equipment wasn't unheard of, but it was just another odd coincidence attached to Laira as far as the Knight was concerned. A Force Sensitive Ranger, five or six years younger than just about every other rookie, granted special privileges when it came to recovery and leeway at every turn. Dimeria wondered how much of a coincidence it was that she, a Knight of the Flame had been assigned to the young redhead. It was not customary that Knights be subordinates when partnered with Rangers. She made a mental note to report these discrepancies to the Prince-Consort personally.

"Yeah. That would have been nice for them to have. Did anyone discover a source or patient zero?" Laira asked, tugging on Tempest's sleeve.

[member="Tempest"] [member="Shamira Karuto"]

 

[Maiev]

Maiev raised an eyebrow at Shamira's comment, it seemed knowledge of Kalax's existence had gotten out, at least in the form of rumours anyway. It mattered little in the moment though, opting to focus on not getting pulled around like a toy by the giant zombie.

"She's a bit occupied at the moment, keeping the hive mind at bay. But I do have an idea-"

The witch paused as the beast attempted to tug at the whip that was currently wrapped around its wrist. But she used the Force to anchor herself onto the ground.

"It's larger size means he'll tire out quickly. Keep him distracted Shamira, while I further bind him to the ground. Freya, get to ready to attack once it can't move."

With that, Maiev dropped her whip and coalesced the ichor back to her hand. Shamira kept the giant zombie distracted, while the witch moved about marking parts of the ground with 'hooks', matched by a similar mark she slapped onto both arms and legs of the giant.

Once all four were placed, Maiev chanted a few words before they all lit up with a sickly green colour, and locked the giant zombie in place. It gave Freya the opportune time to fire her weapon. The noise it caused was almost deafening, but it was still possible ot hear the giant's roar when the projectile impacted.

Maiev sighed, feeling a deal more weaker now. She didn't waste a second in following the others to the closest transport and climbing onboard. The witch collapsed into one of the seats, exhausted. She attempted to contact Kalax, but all she got was a weak presence within. The spirit was present unconscious it seemed.

[member="Tempest"] | [member="Nima Tann"] | [member="Laira Vereen"] | [member="Kaida Taldir"] | [member="Shamira Karuto"] | [member="Delila Castillon"] | @Glory​

​

 

[Shamira Karuto]

Location: Central part of the island of the island, near the right AA tower.

Allies in proximity: [member="Maiev"], [member="Delila Castillon"], [member="Tempest"]

Allies elsewhere: [member="Kaida Taldir"], [member="Laira Vereen"], [member="Nima Tann"]

Aboard the gunship, sitting next to the other soldiers, Shamira sat quietly near the edge of the craft, fiddling with the silver hilted lightsaber in her hand. Her eyes were practically locked with the object. The shame and disappointment in herself overwhelmed her to the point where she couldnt even look up at Freya or Tempest. She had wlmost completely failed to act. Sure, she had killed a handful of zombies here and there. But when it mattered, when that thing was charging them, she couldn’t act. She had just stood there, letting maiev take almost all of the work herself, while Freya’s troopers had finished it off.

Sha had been close to useless. How could she think she could even take command of a few troops of she froze up at the sight of a real big baddy? How would this inspire anyone to follow her. It made her sick to her stomach at how she had fought. The togruta expected that Freya would recommend her to be diciplined. But at this point, who would blame her?

Tempest asking snapped the grey skinned alien out of her thoughts and back to reality. Standing slightly from her seated position, she looked to the mistress, any sense of pride snatched from her body language. “I’ll..I’ll be alright mistress. No bites. Not..not that I did anything worth receiving them.” She turned to the Sergeant, a look of true apologetics crossing her face. “I..I apologize for my actions. I froze. I dont know why, but it wont happen again. You can recommend me for anything you see fit, but I promise I won’t freeze like that again Sergeant. You have my word...for as little as it means right now.”

 

[Tempest]

[member="Laira Vereen"], [member="Nima Tann"], [member="Shamira Karuto"], [member="Maiev"], [member="Kaida Taldir"]

Tempest listened to the reports and words in flat, impassive silence. The losses had been bad, severe actually. They had done well enough though except that they had walked into a trap. Without the Eldorais’ assistance, let alone the experience of Laira and Maiev they might all be dead…or worse.

Someone had blundered. They had not gotten the necessary intel and it had cost lives.

“We have no information yet,” Tempest said to Laira. “I imagine recon teams will be dispatched to capture a specimen, living or dead…or undead I guess.”

She looked at Shamira. The girl had not done well, but it was her first experience. Many, even most, did not perform great in their first battle. It was one thing to train, even to fight a skirmish, it was another to take part in a raw, devastating battle. The noise, the confusion, the fear. Only experience fixed that.

“It was too early for you, and that is my fault,” she said softly. “I failed you, Shamira because we did not know what we were heading into. But, learn from this incident, and in future remember that experience is the most important skill a soldier can have. One can read all the books, do all the training and do all the simulations and not understand what it will be like.”

“Inform Lady Kerrigan that we will be arriving soon, and inform HQ we have wounded. Is there any word from High Captain Taldir?”

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Tempest"]


At the Firemane base, Siobhan had decided to assume direct control. Yes, she actually used that phrase. All would bend to her. This would hurt those who stood against her. Her techniques would tear them apart...even if she could not do that literally at this juncture.


"The bombardment has ceased. Satellite images show that Serenade is a pile of rubble. It's a necessary sacrifice, considering the kind of havoc these creatures could have wreacked if left unchecked," Colonel Kuwahara reported, passing over some images over the large table in the war room, for Siobhan to view.


The Lady looked impassive, while the GRU officer continued. "Containment forces are ready for deployment. I have a GRU team prepared to move in. We will capture and contain any surviving undead. I've got a suitable facility in mind to hold them."


"Good. Proceed," Kuwahara clicked her heels and was about to leave, before Siobhan unexpectedly spoke up again. "I expect you to lead the team in person, Colonel. If I understand correctly, it used to be tradition on your homeworld that a failed commander whose honour had been tarnished commit suicide by plunging a blade into his abdomen and slicing it open. Now I've been more generous than Atrisia's old Emperors...but don't fail me again."


Kuwahara swallowed, biting back a remark that would not have been politic. "I will not fail you. I will direct the operation and bring back the undead in cage of iron. Then get answers about this attack." She turned and walked away.


Siobhan's comm beeped. An aide was on the other end of the line. "Lady Kerrigan, message from Major Tempest: the recon force will be arriving soon. They have wounded in need of urgent care."


"Dispatch medics. And instruct the Major to come to me at once." She spared one of the photos a glance. The bombardment had left naught but desolation. For all she knew, some civilians had still been alive when the bombs dropped. But it had been for the greater good.