The Rapture - Protectorate Dominion of Kaeshana

[Coryth Elaris]

Ever been in one of those moments where you know you must do something even if it might end up working out disastrous for all? Yeah, well this was kind of like that. What no comments from the peanut gallery? Uhuh... This is all on you sweetcheeks. Don't call me that. Is sweetcakes better? No! About that part where you told me to go away? Yeah, do that ... By all means, do that.

Coryth couldn't remember the last time she felt nervous, felt like she might not come through. All her life she'd trusted herself, in her abilities, and in her talents. Now, now she wasn't sure. "I'll try my best, your majesty." She said as the Queen placed her soft hands upon her head.

With a breath in, the redhead started to pull on the strands of infinite power. But the moment she reached to see, to bring the visions to her, they came flooding in as if a dam somewhere else had completely broken. An agonized cry followed, as hundreds of visions flashed before her eyes. Making sense of them was damn near impossible, at first. Despite the pain, and the sweat beading upon her skin, Coryth pressed on. She knew in her heart, she could sort through the visions, to focus upon a single strand and find what she needed.

What Coryth needed and did not have, was time. Time is what it took to sort them out. Another breath in, and out before the redhead gained the confidence to pull something she didn't really want to. For the first time ever, she dove head first into the stream of visions knowing full well she could become lost in them ... Perhaps forever. So maybe that wasn't the wisest of choices but none the less there it was.

Finally, she spotted it ... the visions of the world so strange, the sun green and the earth barren. This was the strand she needed, the starting point. Sorting through the many visions that accompanied this. Shockingly, she spotted a vision of Tegaea, Galina and Chesna together talking in this place. Not the one..... She couldn't watch that now, no.... Only finding the source to the problem could Coryth even begin to help her friends. Those here needed information that only she could give them at this point in time.

While pushing herself this far, did not come without a price. Coryth's head had begun to ache horribly, and her nose had started to bleed. Finally, Coryth didn't see but heard, felt and sensed a name, a being. The void calling out to her, trying to offer meaning but it was just one more puzzle piece.

"Akala." Coryth spoke in a whisper as her strength was starting to fade. If not for the Queen's help the redhead would have collapsed minutes ago. Her eyes finally snapped open, as her knees grew weak, barely able to hold herself up anymore. "Who or what, the whisper in the void is that Akala has returned.... What that means? Who it is? I cannot answer that. I do not know. What I do know is she is tied directly to this in some important way."

Coryth gasped a moment for air, before trying to wipe the blood from her nose. "And I saw .... Tegaea, Galina and Chesna. Together in the place with the green sun."

[member="Anya Venari"]

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

Hastings, Lord of the Leftovers. That's what he was. Lord Protector gone, Cater not leaving Corellia which had always been dangerously close to Sith and Republic fighting. Who knew where Feena even was; was she still at Naboo? Who of their power structure truly remained? It was hard to say. It was like the early days of the Protectorate; a boundless galaxy of endless possibilities.

Except they knew the possibilities now.

And they knew what was at stake.

Dropships cruising through the atmosphere, soldiers, doctors and all manner of assistance were dropped off before the vessels clawed back to the sky to make more trips. Foodstuffs, communications equipment. All of it needed to be on planet. Perhaps the sight of Protectorate ships doing supply runs would mollify those concerned about the end of days. After all, the Protectorate was here, just as it had always been.

And, to complete the facade of control, an azure armored warrior in massive powered plate strode down a ramp and informed a nearby pointy-eared-woman that he was here to see Exarch [member="Anya Venari"].

Sarge would have known where she was in that strange way of his, but Hastings was polite. He would wait to be summoned rather than start barging around until he found what he was looking for.

 

[Veino Garn]

[member="Kaida Taldir"]

The three Jensaarai tensed and re-ignited their lightsabers, fanning out to deflect any blaster bolts that might head their way. But as bolters seemed to be more in common and in demand, that would be far more difficult, especially as the Force was... strange, to say the least. If it hadn't, it would have been possible to use telekinesis and divert all the rounds and send them circling back around to those who fired them.

That was beyond them now, unfortunately, so they deflected what blaster bolts coming towards them as they could, sending them back to the rebels as fast they could come.

Koruk took a different tact, taking cover behind the other two, and reaching again with his telepathy. If the Force was more reliable, he'd use a mind trick or an illusion, but as it was difficult to move a dozen spheres, it was too chancy to attempt those for the time being. He reached out to their minds, sifting through what they could see, and then went to multiply it. First by ten, and then a hundred, with loyalist troops all around them, in all directions and preparing to assault.

Vex and Ogreek grimaced as the bolters began aiming towards them, and they dodged as best they could to find what cover they could. They would have to discuss the use of ranged weapons with the Saarai-Kar after this, assuming the Force remained unstable.

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Veino Garn"]


Telekinesis was, unfortunately, very counterproductive against bolters. See the standard explosive bolts detonated on impact, so if you for instance tried to reflect them back they'd detonate prematuraly, since the warheads were armed at launch. Ironically due to this the Protectorate and now Eldorai forces had gained an edge against their force-using foes. It was always annoying if someone used your own methods against you.


However, the spirited defence of the Jensaarai made an impact. Dark Eldorai were taking out by those blaster bolts that were reflected, crying out in pain. More were cut down by the shards of rock propelled by the Angelii Talon's ballistakinesis, as a number found themselves struck and impaled by projectiles and pieces of debris propelled at railgun shot speed and velocity, followed by a powerful shockwave caused by one of the Angelii unloading a heavy bolter. Throw in the enhanced coordination provided by the Jensaarai called Koruk, and the rebel numbers were soon dwindling.


As the Dark Eldorai emerged from cover for a desperate charge, unleashing gouts of flame and blasts of lightning, a shadow appeared on the ground, followed by the roars of engines. From the sky Silaqui-Class Gunships swooped down like birds of prey, unleashing a hailstormof rounds. There was a loud whoosh when from one of the rooftops fired a missile at one of the gunships, hitting it despite its attempts to pull up, but the birds of prey unleashed a hail of shattercannon and laser rounds upon the rebels, wiping the roof clean as the renegades died, before a missile struck the area where the rebels attacking the Jensaarai and Angelii had been hiding. A beautiful explosion and many dead were the result.


Grimly the Talon emerged and got up, immediately directing mooks. "Get a medic to the wounded and to the downed gunship! Be on your guard, there may still be enemy!" The Angelii did not need to be ordered twice and immediately obeyed. Heavily armoured walkers and Eldorai troops were appearing on the spot, working in groups to secure the area and root out any last resistance that remained. One of the Gunships was equipped with a loudspeaker and the officer using it blared out messages, urging the population to be calm and assuring them the Queen was with them.


The Talon gave the Jensaarai adepts an appreciative nod as she fiddled with her comm, having apparently received a transmission. "Thanks for your help. Just got a transmission from command. Troops from your Protectorate have arrived to help. Maybe they'll have answers!"


[member="Sarge Potteiger"]


Hastings would be greeted by what migh be considered an honour guard of Angelii. Well, their imposing crimson armour was dented by battle and stained with actual blood, the same applied to their sarixi and halberds, but it still counted. His polite request would be immediately answered and he would be escorted into the palace, past the corpses and detritus of battle. Until he was in the presence of the Queen-Exarch [member="Anya Venari"].

 

[Elanil Saedaris]

Doctor Saedaris had been in the middle of a test weapon of a non lethal weapon when all hell broke loose. Suddenly, all of her assistants had literally vanished without a trace. She glanced left, then right. Then spun on her heels to look behind her, a sigh came as her intellectual mind tried to work through what the hell had just happened. "You know .... there's nothing in physics that accounts for this. People just don't fething disappear."

For a while things seemed calm as Elanil went from room to room looking for others. A few researchers and assistants had escaped what just happened, and were following her along. And it was then that she heard it, shots fired as she ducked on instinct alone. One of the researchers beside her slumped to the ground with a rather larger hole in her chest. Bolter. She thought to herself. "Feth." Hearing more shots, she turned to the scientists behind her. None of them were trained for things like this. But even she knew sitting here was only going to end with them all dead. "Fly you fools! Hide somewhere, anywhere!" She said to the small group she'd collected.

"Not in my lab! People want to fire damn weapons in here, kill others. I can play that game too, and you aren't going to win." The stars only knew just how many experimental and undisclosed weapons were sitting about. But Elanil knew. Racing off, she was going to do the only thing she could.

Coming to her lab, she grabbed a high powered laser cannon on one of the mobile carts. For a moment, she waited as a group of looters walked past her doorway. One... She flipped the laser on, letting it hum to life. Two.... Three ... Slowly The redhead wheeled it into the hallway. Scanning quickly she checked the group ahead for other researchers on the other side. Seeing none, she couldn't help but smirk as she took aim. Gotcha boys! Any other time, in a fight Elanil would have been worthless, but give her a high powered laser canon, and she was just fiiiine.

Finally she punched the button on her datapad and watched as the laser shot out, instantly vaporizing over two thirds of the crowd, as well as part of the wall behind it. Kerrigan might wonder about that later ... I'll just send the ... Then she came to a fundamental problem, recharge was a queen as the remaining beings turned upon her. Note to self: totally need to fix that. With that thought in mind she dove back into her lab and slammed the door, barricading it before she started to look for what other weapons she had in her lab that were functional and somewhat tested.

[member="Tarissa Cadalthor"]

 

[Vaena Askari]

[member="Elanil Saedaris"], [member="Anya Venari"]


Kerrigan would undoubtedly be happy about the high bodycount Elanil was wracking up. Truly, one should never overestimate the power of space magic, for technology could achieve miracles to. Wonders of destruction not so easily undone by weird demonic manipulations. Or random teleportation.


Scores of raiders had been vaporised, but many remained and now they were beating the door down. Well, some were looting, others were busy breaking the barricades behind which the super scientist had hidden. A telekinetic blast smashed against the door...and in the same moment Tarissa emerged from the other side behind them, having followed the massive commotion. Immediately raiders turned, blasters an and primitive slugthrowers raised.


Tarissa was not having it. She was in pain, she was pissed and for a change it seemed the Force was actually working. The great cataclysm had thrown the Force out of balance and made it terribly wonky. Sometimes it backfired badly...at other times it worked really well. Tarissa was, as has been said, not particularly powerful, but the present wonkyness seemed to amplify things. So her mind stretched out quickly and harnessed the air currents, twisting them. The air around the motley band of raiders turned...very, very hot. Boiling as a matter of fact. Then, whilst the raiders were dealing with that, gouts of scalding blame burst forth from her hands and leapt towards them.


Fire was beautiful, fire was purifying, fire was the Goddess' chosen instrument to cleanse the wicked. All those who denied her greatness and refused to bow down to her majesty in submission would be cast into flames until the sin of unbelief had been burnt out of them. And so the flames scorched and burnt flesh, raiders caught in fire were engulfed. Those lucky enough to flee would be cut down by Firemane mercenaries as they burst through, whilst for her part Tarissa collapsed.

 

[Veino Garn]

[member="Kaida Taldir"]

The three Jensaarai deactivated their lightsabers now that the battle had ended, and reclipped them to their belts, studying the carnage before them. Unfortunate, but necessary. They moved aside to let the Eldorai go about their business securing their territory and eliminating the rest of the resistance.
bling
"Well, that was exciting," Vex said dryly, "Haven't had this much fun since we busted an illegal fight club." Ogreek snorted and shook his head.

"You mean when one lightsaber blade was enough to make thirty sentients with lots of combat skill surrender?"

Vex shrugged. "After they all put down their weapons anyways."

"Quiet, Defenders. Jokes are for calmer days." He strode from where he had been taking shelter while making the illusions in the minds of the enemies. He turned to the Talon.

"Where would the Protectorate commanding officer be? Are you aware of any intel regarding possession of long range communications?"

He turned to his two companions. "Try to raise home while we travel. I need to make contact with the other council members or what's left of us. If you raise them, priority code zeta nine two. That'll get you straight to the Saarai-kar or whoever is acting on her behalf. Inform me once it happens."

 

[Elanil Saedaris]

For all her part, Elanil felt heat coming from the hallway and somewhat peered out from her office window to see what the hell was going on. Truth be told, she didn't want to step out there and find out who or what happened. Because in here with untested, unconventional weapons felt soooo much safer. But that's a matter of perspective on her part.

A sigh came as she realized the raiders were dead. But who? Did she dare to stick her toe out the door and find out? Because while it completely could have been help, there was a good chance it was just a bigger fish on the raider totem pole so to say. Finally ignoring her mind that was screaming at her not to, she stepped into the hall but in her hand was a non-lethal personal mine, that would just coat anyone within it's range in a sticky substance and pin them to the ground. In the other hand, a small pistol ... but her hands very clearly shaking as she clung for dear life to the weapons she had.

It was then that her eyes fell upon Tarissa. Seeing the Firemane mercenaries made her feel a lot better. Finally she rushed forward to the woman and knelt down beside her. She couldn't help but take note of the woman's wounds. "Are you alright?" She asked softly. You see occasionally Elanil cared about others, and actually expressed emotion but that certainly didn't happen every day.

[member="Tarissa Cadalthor"]

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Veino Garn"]


"Comm message said he's at the palace. Probably to meet the Queen. Protectorate fleet just dropped out of hyperspace. You can hitch a ride in one of the Gunships carrying the wounded to our barracks. Palace is right next door," the Talon responded, throwing in a respectful salute in the traditional Eldorai fashion, right hand above her heart. "May the Goddess protect you."


Slowly order was being restored. To Kaeshana at least. Only the Goddess knew how bad things might still get and what malevolent force was behind the cataclysm that had sent the Galaxy spiralling into chaos. Undoubtedly it would be a time of reckoning and of great tribulations.

 

[Veino Garn]

[member="Kaida Taldir"]

Koruk nodded, "Thank you." He gestured towards the closet gunship, "Load up, Defenders. I'll be right behind you." He turned back to the Talon and, grabbing his lightsaber hilt, returned the salute with the Jensaarai salute, lightsaber hilt held vertically in the right hand against the left shoulder with the arm clasped against the armor. "May the Truth be with you in your struggle. Hopefully this will all be sorted out very quickly."

He turned and strode to the gunship, leaping light aboard despite his armor, as it took off and flew across the land towards the barracks with the injured in tow. He assisted the medics there as best he could, using a combination of telepathy and minimal Force healing until it landed.

Then he and his two comrades strode from the gunship towards the palace, specifically the Protectorate dropship. That would be the first step to try to make contact.

[member="Sarge Potteiger"]

 

[Vaena Askari]

[member="Elanil Saedaris"], [member="Anya Venari"]


"I...not really," Tarissa muttered, sounding tired as she had slumped over the ground. For one, her injuries were catching up with her. Cauterising them with a lighter was...not very conducive to healing. Moreover, whilst her pyrokinetic display had burnt the raiders to a crisp, there had been side-effects. For one, her body temperature had been elevated to extremely high levels and in addition to that she looked burnt. Burns not just spread across her hands, from which the jets of scorching flame had leapt, but were spread across her body. Likewise most of her clothes seemed to have been roasted. All in all, there was the smell of burnt flesh. So Tarissa drifted into unconsciousness. Presumably the Firemane mercenaries would have medics and such to take her somewhere to get fixed up and cooled down.

 

[Anya Venari]

[member="Coryth Elaris"]
The Queen was pleased not only to get a result, but also that she could assist somewhat with making Coryth’s task easier.
Her message though brought back memories. “Akala…yes, I remember this now. Siobhan talked of a vision that she and Tegaea had, a vision where the galaxy had fallen to a god-like being named Akala. I suppose this must be the next step in her plan. But at least they’re alive, as much as you can tell. That cheers me, as does knowing Chesna is alive.”
She gave Coryth a kiss on the cheek, more friendly than passionate. “I’ll send a message to Siobhan. Whether she gets it or not…I don’t know. It may set her mind a little at ease.”

As Hastings landed the Exarch-Queen Anya came to see him. “Thank you for coming, your assistance is greatly appreciated. If in return we can offer you soldiers or supplies for your other campaigns we will happily oblige. Who is in control of the Protectorate now?”
[member="Sarge Potteiger"]

 

[Kaiden Rohn]

Kaiden stumbled out in the streets, not bothering with his armor. Overcoat and a sidearm would only be needed at the time. No need to concern himself with armor or even heavy weaponry. What he did need to concern himself however, was the sound of panic. People weren't burning buildings, but there was a panic in the air. People ran, searching. Screaming out people's names. He didn't see any signs of an attack. No bodies on the street. He looked upwards, maybe a gas attack?


Protectorate drop ships in the air. A lot of them.


What the hell was going on?