Location: Aldera Ruins, Allied Frontlines
Objective: Provide Support for Phylis, Get Her To Safety
Allies: The Last Alliance, [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"], [member="Phylis Alince"], [member="Coryth Elaris"],
Enemies: The One Sith, [member="Darth Mierin"],
Musical Selection: Margaritaville by Jimmy Buffett
//Sorry for the amount of content, I really enjoy DM'ing NPCs and showing their interactions, so when I started typing it turned out a lot, hopefully it will be an enjoyable read, Mierin, all attacks on you are done in HK's part of it, near the end of the post. Also, I got clearance from Phyllis to post ahead of her in posting order since tomorrow I'll be working early morning for 12 hours or so, so I wouldn't be able to post again for a whole day pretty much//
“Iron Hide” and “Steel Born” The First and Fourth Greycloak of Abregado-Rae
“
Are you bloody ready for the insertion?!”
Their Greycloak brother, Iron Side called out to the two slender armored droids from his position in the pilot’s seat of
the Knight of Eclipse, the Greycloak’s personal stealth transport.
“
Can you explain to us why we are the ones being dropped from the ship into a middle of battle with Sith while you stay behind?”
Steel gruffed out towards his copy-brother, adjusting the metal plates of his
Defense Power Armor with built-in standard Abregado gadgets like
jet suit,
flamethrower, or
grappling hook.
“
Because I am the only one with a bloody piloting license out of all of us!”
Side quipped out in quick response as their transport shook, evading some stray projectile, so far they were cloaked and undetected as they made their way over the battlefield.
“
Besides, Old Knight has requested evac assistance, and it seems something is holding Blade up, so it is up to the two of you to get him or whoever it is out. Do not worry, though you will have my skills by your side!”
He would quip once more as quickly he had to tumble the ship in the air to evade nimbly a crashing Starfighter, a victim of the battle still raging on and above the planet,
“
Well maybe you could finally show those skills and keep us from bloody being tossed around like a ragdoll!”
Steel roared out to his pilot copy-brother again as Hide put his hand on his shoulder and pulled on it to get him turned towards the hatch from where they would be dropped for insertion,
“
I am sure he is doing his best, come on, we have work to do.”
The droid, ready as well, was focused on the mission and the objective ahead, that was their purpose after all, use the equipment and skills given to them to fulfill whatever mission the Old Knight Baron has assigned them. And Hide was never the one to go back on either his oaths or the assignment given to him.
“
ETA!”
He called to Side as the pilot droid opened the hatch, instead of shouting back he sent a silent IM to their HUD’s, displaying
T MINUS 5
The number soon enough changed to “
4” and as expected “
3” followed, then “
2”, finally “
1”.
And the droids lunged forward, their arms spreading in the air, cloaks fluttering in the wind like wings as they begun to descend through the clouds quickly.
Why are we still with these guys again?
Steel sent an IM to Hide’s HUD,
Indentured servants.
Hide responded, to which Steel retorted with
L-O-L
Soon enough they would spin as orb like objects moved to their palms from the fore-arm segments of their armor, the propulsion systems of their rocket-gauntlets, which activated at the same time as their jet-packs and rocket boots, giving the two Greycloaks control over the direction and speed of their descent. They would head towards the coordinates sent by HK, with the help of
the DUST and Mierin’s position he was able to determine with his scanners and sensors before attacking her, all this data being sent couple posts away when he was heading towards her and Phyllis, they would know their direction. Their descent would begin to slow as they adjusted their bodies, feet lowering , palms and legs aiming towards the ground as, slowing still they would drop into the cloud of dust and debris still moving slightly above the position where Phyllis, HK, and Mierin had their fight.
As they came in, their feet touching the ground in a run with a loud clanks and thuds, and the shapes of the combatants visible, they would receive an IM from HK.
Grab the Jedi and go.
They knew what their target and objective was, in quick movement they would be each by Phyllis’ side, one of each arm wrapping around her torso to hold her securely,
“
No time to explain, we have to go.”
Hide said quickly and to-the point, not bothering to check whether Phyllis was collapsing or still conscious, if she was indeed drained from her energy, they would have her before her body touched the ground.
And just as suddenly they came, the two droids took few quick step back and they launched themselves into the air, with a slingshot from combined repulsorlift strength of their legs, which soon enough was joined with the jet-suit propulsion systems to get them and Phyllis to safety.
We need air-snatch.
Hide sent to Side,
Roger-roger.
Was a response he would receive.
“Iron Side” The Second Greycloak of Abregado-Rae,
Of course his copy-brothers would be get all the fun while he was left behind in
the Knight of Eclipse to just watch or get tossed around in the flying deathtrap. How for once Side would want to step onto the battlefield instead of watch it from above. One would not consider providing air superiority to be a boring job, but when you put a stealth transport into the mix it stops being air superiority and more of a waiting game for perfect opening to strike. Like on Silken Asteroids he had pretty much nothing to do until he had to perform an Air-Snatch on some
half-dead Moross God. Air snatch was a maneuver of opening the ramp or airlock and either letting somebody land aboard
the Knight of the Eclipse or grabbing them aboard while the ship’s systems were cloaked, seemingly allowing them to disappear in pure air.
A useful maneuver, of course, and one Side had to do a nice amount of times now, he had gotten a bit of practice truth be told. Still he valued skillful mastery of a saber or sword more than skillfully hiding himself in space or air while everyone else got to fought. But oh well, such was his assignment, there was little he could do to change it as a Greycloak.
He would close the ramp, his brothers now gliding through the sky towards their objective as he picked up on coordinates among the Alliance chatter,
“
Dropship column and gunship escort coming to Iron Knight’s position as requested, coordinate confirmation requested!”
Side was quick to open up a secure channel in a response,
“
This is Greycloak Iron Side, sending coordinates in confirmation.”
And so he did, he would see the ships’ move towards the position where his brothers were just dropped off as he circled about, keeping an eye against any enemy movements which could, frankly, majorly screw them over, that was usually a bad thing and something one would want to avoid, especially if one had advantage of stealth and overwatch over their enemies.
In his watch he saw that as the battle went on the enemies were so far too distracted to provide major resistance to the dropship and gunship support heading towards the Iron Knight’s position, it was a smaller force when compared to the grand scheme of things, of course that could always change with PC intervention, and so Side was still diligent to keep his watch over the battlefield in case he needed to swoop in.
He also saw movement of troops on the ground, a nearby group of Iron Company droids, soldiers, and
the Owlbear Knights moving as reinforcements for HK, once again part of his request a couple posts ago. Much of the weaponry and tactics they sported were still fresh and not greatly fielded against the One Sith and Vong, perhaps they would be effective, perhaps not, time and the battle would tell.
We need air-snatch.
Suddenly an IM from Hide would show up on his HUD, Side nodded to himself silently as he replied,
Roger-roger,
And in stealth mode still
the Knight of Eclipse would turn about, heading towards his brothers’ coordinates to conduct the maneuver, keeping an eye on the radar and sensors still.
"Iron Knight" The First Baron of Abregado-Rae
Seeing the flash of the Protection Bubble HK tried to stop his momentum and divert his punch but it was too late, contact would be made. So he spread his fingers in moment’s notice, clashing into the bubble with the Durasteel Cortosis-woven talons of his Electro-Cestus. There was a flash as the contact was made, electricity striking in a zap that was send into the Bubble and then send back into the Cestus, frying the Electro-padding of the weapon. However the energy was absorbed and diffused by the Cortosis woven into the talons, as that was what Cortosis did best and the reason why it could withstand lightsabers while being fibrous in nature, and the purified Cortosis lining parts of the scalpel-like Talons. Unfortunately that did not stop the kinetic force that resulted from the strike, the purified Cortosis chipping away from the Talons, taking away their ability to short-circuit a lightsaber upon a touch, as the droid’s hand was whipped back.
The claws on his feet dug in into the hardened, harsh solid of the ruined battlefield as he followed with the next move, already calculated in his mind.
He would bring the blade of the Sith Alchemic Sword down upon the barrier created by the Sith, using the momentum from the impact upon his other hand to slingshot the slash with greater force still. The barrier’s surface would light upon the contact with the blade.
And in this light the droid saw a Twi’lek’s face, the face of ancient long-dead Jedi, Master Zhar Lestin, kind smile on his face as he whispered words unknown and silent now and his hand reached out towards the droid, simple hilt of a training lightsaber resting on his palm as a gift. The first lightsaber the droid had.
With the electricity now dissipated HK grabbed the hilt hanging off of his belt and flicked the switch, the white blade of imbued energy shot forth from the hilt, aura of the light side emanating from the imbued blade of Sliver of Light. In another slash he brought it upon the Sith’s barrier like a mace, or a hammer, determined to bring down her walls tumbling.
As the two energy surfaces connected once more there was something the most likely insane droid saw. It was a flash of atomic bomb exploding upon surface. He watched it from behind a viewport of a Mandalorian ship, he watched the destruction and death. He watched Serroco burn, and the infernal fires reflected in his red photoreceptors, forever imprinting somewhere deep within their dull glow. He watched them burn. And he enjoyed it.
The droid would bring down the Sith sword upon the barrier once more, then the lightsaber would follow, and once more the Sith sword. He would hit over and over upon Mierin’s barrier, his movements quicker and quicker, like a storm of slashes and slams from the sharp sword and blunt training mace-like lightsaber, a dervish only a Bladedancer was capable of.
Each strike would bring a flash, and each strike would bring a memory, a memory of a feeling, an emotion, a dark secret, or great deed. As his movements grew quicker, his arms seemingly disappearing to become one fluid motion like a buzzsaw or whirlwind of strikes, so did prolonged the flash, and inside he saw the white bone-mask with red markings.
Darth Nihilus, the Sith who destroyed the happiest moment of the droid’s life, and who slain the Jedi that gave HK his saber, and taught him ways of lightsaber. The droid did indeed hunted him, disobeying the Jedi’s orders, but by the time he picked up trail of the Sith Lord he was already slain. It was then HK turned to hunting other Sith instead.
And so he still was, violently lives lead to violent ends, as they say, and that was definitely what the droid was determined to due to Mierin, as soon as her barrier would fall HK would aim a slash directed at her neck, whenever she would drop the last of her strength and with that her protection would shimmer away as well. The droid did not wanted any taunts, any last words or gloats, all he would aim for was a clean decapitation and quick death to the Sith. Violent lives lead to violent ends, and he was determined to bring vengeance and justice to Mierin for the lives she took, and for the lives all the Sith took in the past, as that of Master Zhar. Little did droid knew, it was a long time since he took a life of any major (PC) Sith, and if indeed he ended up spilling Mierin’s blood today, so his end would come closer. With each life taken a step is taken closer to one’s own demise.
Violent lives lead to violent ends.
What HK knew about the Force Bubble was that one was immobile when conjuring it, and so Mierin wouldn’t be able to move from her position as long as she kept her defenses up, which allowed the droid to summon that tempest of cuts and attacks directed at her barrier as described in paragraphs above. It would be easier to ensnare her as well.
During the slashes
one of the barrels on HK’s left forearm would begin to spew burning napalm, it did not bother the droid whose metal air-sealed body was resistant to it and heat, his movements calculated to avoid covering Mierin’s bubble in it as most likely it would cause the napalm to either burn away or deflect back at the droid, which he was careful of as the Sith could attempt to divert the napalm back into the wrist flamer’s nozzle to try and ignite the fuel tank, or at least the writer would do that if he was in Sith’s position. Either way, the Napalm would cover the ground around Mierin and her bubble, it would start to erect walls of fire to block her vision with some and heat, and just as well attempt to cook her alive.
During his offensive maneuvers he did notice the two Greycloaks he summoned earlier finally arrive to help Phyllis, he did not bother to acknowledge them much besides sending a short IM,
Grab the Jedi and go.
He was busy with Mierin right now, after all! He watched her still with his dull-red photoreceptors, stoic, unmoving as his body raged and clashed with her bubble in storm of saber and sword attacks. And somewhere deep in his eyes there was that burn again with each flash against her bubble his weapons caused. The same burn he watched as Sorocco was decimated. As much as he thought himself better than the Sith,
he was not entirely correct.
On his built-in HUD he also received notifications of the ships and troops he summoned earlier moving in, although it seemed there was still a bit of time before they would arrive.
