Invasion Thou Shall Not Suffer an Empire to Live | AoC invasion of CIS-held Siskeen & Ryloth

[Adron Malvern]

​

Location: Empty Barrens, Ryloth
Thoughts: "Interesting..."
Tags: Xobos Yakieer Darth Miseria Shuulk
Equipment: Armor | Lightsaber | Sith Sword | Healing Tonic | Trinket
Troop: 17 Commando Droids, 2 Ouroborus Krayt Dragons

He'd turned his back on the man. A man whom he'd never even learn the name of. A man who shook the stage before him, defying no small amount of logic while he did. What he did not turn his back on was a defeated man.

A sonic pulse echoed out from behind Adron, causing him to turn his eyes back to the sky. He looked to what he believed to be the Twi'lek warrior's grave of cloud and dust and found something he could not believe. There it was, showing itself one last time before the man's death. The weight to shake the galaxy. Obsidia was a mighty dragon, favored by Adron since he'd had her genetic code crafted. However, as she flew down towards the planet Adron knew her light was being extinguished. He watched with silent, interested eyes as the two slammed down into the hard ground below.

For a time Adron's crystal blue eyes set on the scene without a notable change. Obsidia's massive body was limp, curled into a mass of thick leathery hide beside Shuulk's corpse.

He said nothing as he made his way over to the scene. They'd landed a few hundred meters from the Viceroy, but it felt as if only a few steps from Adron. Two of the Commando droids strode up beside Adron as he closed the distance to the scene. Obsidia laid in rest, her life force spent from the crashing fall, let alone the sonic blast that pierced her eye. An impressive shot. Shuulk's body was even more of a disaster. Even in death Obsidia did not free him from her clutches. His torso had broken against Ryloth's hard surface while the back of his head was a cracked mess against the ground. One of the Commando droids stepped up, glancing over to the Viceroy. "Sir, should we bag the head?" He asked, but Adron said nothing for a few moments.

"No." He finally said. "Record a picture of the terrorist and notify Darth Metus and Srina Talon of his death."

The droid did as he was commanded, making sure to send the image to those in the upper echelon of The Confederacy. Adron turned away from the mess before him, wanting no more part in this lesson that the galaxy had seen fit to give him.

As his steps led away from Shuulk and Obsidia, the ground would slowly tremble. The Force exploded out from Adron and the rock and sand beneath Shuulk began to slowly swallow him whole. As the dark lord walked away, the Twi'lek warfighter would be returned to the planet that birthed him.

 

[Judd Hunter]

Location: Alter of Spirits
Objective: Desecrate the Alter
Loadout: Phase 1 Haywire Armor | R91 Assault Rifle | Phase X-E “Hyper Frost” CyroSonic Heavy Pistol | JH-70 Glitter Grenades | Elemental Grenades | Whimsy Knife | Neurotechnical Inhibitor | Vita Stone
Essential Gear: BD-9 | Cigarettes | Lighter
Allies: Jai'galaar Gred | Hanna | Katrine Van-Derveld | Anesia Jy'Vun | Madalena Antares | Samatharis
Enemies: Shamira Karuto | Vytal Noctura | Kyyrk + Anyone else not hiding

Vision blurred from the concussion Judd probably had after the blast and blood and dirt caked his face. It was not the hardest fight the former commando had ever been in. But back then he had a whole squad of highly trained soldiers to fall back on. Here it was a loose collection of witches, mercenaries and what ever Samatharis was. No years of constantly training together. No real tactics. Just brute force as they tried to survive this onslaught. At least Madalena Antares and the other force users had the force to help them. Judd only had his wits and training to keep him alive.

Turning towards the voice Judd's battle instincts kicked in as the world slowed around him. He saw the green blade pointed at him and he really wished he had a cigarette right now. Shifting his body weight to his left foot Judd stepped into the witches personal space, side stepping the blade with practices reflexes. He was really getting tired of all these witches and lightsabers. Did they think just because he had been the only one in his family without force sensitivity that he was completely helpless. The Hapan's had spent tens of thousands of credits in training him for every situation, including combating those like this witchie. His own sister had spent countless hours teaching him how to take even her out. Vytal Noctura may have had the advantage at a distance, but now he would make her regret coming so close. "Lets not and say we did sugar."

Balling his hand into a fist his thumb flicked the safety off his wrist laser as his fist swung up. The wrist laser was not as useful as the blast guantlets on his commando armor, but it would work in a pinch. He would give this witch the good ol' Hapan greeting trifecta. He brought his right fist up in a powerful swing at the witches' elbow on her saber arm, at the same time squeezing the palm trigger to deliver a close quarter blast with the hit. Under that kind of assault bones would break and the hand would release the lightsaber.

Part two of the trifecta was bringing his left knee, the Flex Armor guard backing a hard surface, up towards the woman's kidneys. A kidney hit was not a joking matter. So many times had he taken the hit only to be racked with pain for several minutes. Lastly was the head shot. Judd brought his helmeted head back and swung it forward in a powerful headbutt with the witches own head. A knock like that would scramble anyone's senses long enough for Samatharis' shot at the Nightmother to hit.

 

[Nerium]

Objective - Bird is Word
Location - Riding a Churi
Gear - Generic Lightsaber | Daggers | Pouch of Flowers and Buttons | Melekki
Friends - Kyrinov | Herah | The Bridesmaid | Zaldros Sabolte | AoC
Enemies - I mean what are enemies anyway | CIS | Darth Miseria | Asher Mossa ​

Riding a Churi was a conundrum in itself. On one hand, any time spent with animals is time well spent. On the other hand, however, it wasn't the smoothest of rides. And while Nerium was very vocal, both mentally and spoken, in her praise and coaxing the bird forward, it squawked and flapped its wings in a weak protest. Something was spooking the bird, which in turn had Nerium on alert, though perhaps out of anticipation rather than fear. A story was only as good as its parts and the travel arc was starting to drag.

At Kyrinov's announcement, she glanced at each of her other traveling companions, brow furrowing in confusion. "Congrats?" Her response was slow, subdued in comparison to her previous commentary, head swinging to the side as she did so. It was met by a light smack from Melekki's trunk in a chastising manner. "I mean that's horrible. How dare they?" Even in trying to play up the horror of the Scintilla being breached, her mind and voice wavered, attention absorbed by trying to determine the source of the Churi's anxiety.

"Yep, super bad. Not allowed." The mumbling went on as she brought her Churi to a halt, dismounting with a vacant expression upon her countenance. If she could not understand the bird in this form, why not try another? Using the Churi as a model, her form began to shift. Joints popped as she did so, something not quite fitting for the otherwise smooth transformation. Within a few moments, another Churi took Nerium's place, though one that was far more colorful than the others. She trotted to keep up with the rest of the group, trying to dip into the Churi's senses and instincts as she did so.

 

[Gabriel Volturi]

Location: Siskeen
Personnel: Alwine Daye , Annasari , Derek Dib , Holly Starstorm , Larentia , John Locke , Raven Thystle , Faye Malvern , Visanj T'shkali , Kyyrk , Daegon Corvinus , and @ everyone else I missed

The fire tried to buck backwards with the ship as its target. This would not do. This fire was him. He was the very thing the man had tried to manipulate. Reaching out his left hand Gabriel seized the errant fire with a telekinetic grasp. He turned the blue hot flames back around and formed it into a spear as he flung it back at Derek. However he was surprised as Alwine stepped up with a pistol and fire. He watched as the man's forehead opened up right before the firey spear hit the man full force. Just a moment ago he'd believed the woman to be somewhat helpless. Now he found his opinions changing.

Gabriel returned his focus to the wall. He had heard Luca Donskoi 's words before his assault. Though they had hit a cord and he wanted to at least here this man out if for nothing more then he'd spoken reason the entire time the die had already been cast. The reason of one man did not cancel out the lack of honor of the many. He was not a butcher though. Death was only for those that deserved it. It served no purpose for those that held no offense. With that in mind he did manipulate the fire away from Luca Donskoi , Faye Malvern , and Seraphina Corvinus .

Everyone was going far to slow though, and as Daegon Corvinus and Lesya Kosarev both appeared he knew more drastic measures where needed. His mind looked to Project Mimetic. The last upload had been right before the meeting, and though the ship had the equipment a new upload had only began since arriving. The memories of this meeting would be fragmented. Not to mention he hated the dysphoria he felt for weeks after an upload. But it would need to happen if the others were to survive today.

Taking a deep breath Gabriel released his control on the fire. Though much of it died out a great deal of it had found fuel to continue. This next part was going to hurt. Gabriel focused on all his allies. Though he initially was going to include Enlil amongst them he could feel the man's resistance. He wanted to stay. That was fine with him. Diving deep into his well of energy Gabriel focused on the realm of space-time every being existed in. The skills he'd learned from the Aiing-Tii hadn't been very useful for years. And though he'd not flexed these muscles in as many years everything came back to him. Though he had been warned not to try this on so many at once. The strain could kill even someone as strong as him. But he guessed that was the whole point. The fabric of space warped around them for a moment before they simply vanished, popping back into existence safely on the ship.

Gabriel collasped to his knees, the power draining his life force. Even now while he still had the strength to remain on his knees he could feel the life leave him. Out of the corner of his eye Gabriel watched as the ship began to turn away from the window, its boarding ramp raising. The droid that was piloting it was nothing special, but its commands were solid. It knew to leave him behind if all were aboard save for him. Slowly rising to his feet on shaky legs Gabriel looked between Daegon Corvinus and Lesya Kosarev who now flanked him. He knew he had enough energy for one last attack. After that who knew. Calling on every once of the darkside left for his weakened body to call upon the dark master focused it into his right hand. A spear as black as midnight formed over his palm. Though far weaker then any he could have summoned at full strength it was still as deadly.

Looking one last time at Luca Donskoi he spoke. "I do hope we have a chance to discuss this. I believe you and I are of the same mind, despite these unfortunate events." Before the last syllable had left his lips Gabriel threw the spear at Lesya Kosarev .

Spoiler: OOC

Either of you have my permission to deal the killing blow to this character.

 

[Toph Graystone]

Actual Face | Holographic Avatar
Actual Voice | Avatar's Voice​

Location: Ryloth, Port Authority Office
Objective: You can't stop the Signal
Holt | Ciri Jade | Madalena Antares | Daiya | Ripley Kühn | Alwine Daye

The last hour at the dock master's console had become a time of reflection for Toph as she worked away at it. The brute force attack on the network firewall was in full swing now, slowing down all traffic on the network. She'd seen the live feeds coming from the Scintilla. The slicer never dwelt on the repercussions of her work. People may die because of her actions. It was just a fact of life. But she wasn't heartless. To watch millions of people die because of one terrorist. The CIS was labelling her employers as terrorist, yet nothing she'd seen so far showed any purposeful civilian targeting. This however was blatant and in your face. There was no denying what it was that was happening. The facial recognition came in just as the Scintilla its self confirmed the identity of the ringleader. It was Muad Dib , of relations to the Viceroy of Siskeen. There was no way this had been an coincidence. It was purposeful. The Miraluka's blood boiled as she watched the scene over and over again.

Up until now this had all been fun. Get paid a lot of credits to wreck havoc on the CIS cyber security and broadcast anything of relavence. But now she was taking this personally. The Dibs had proven one thing today. They were just as evil and corrupt as the sentors she'd vowed to bring down. It was time to start bringing down the house. Pulling her portable console from the bag Toph set it up on the desk and connected to one of the near by dark hyperwave transceivers. With a far better connection to the holonet the slicer opened her hologram program and began to write her next broadcast. She watched the program compute the script she was writing into the animation of her persona. After thirty minutes she had completed it. Without access to the Confederacy's EBS anymore she would have to transmit over the holonet. It wouldn't be as targeted, but would reach a wide audiance.

​

The broadcast played for her on the screen just as it was all across the holonet. The animated avatar appeared again. This time not as hyperactive as previous hacks.

​

"Ladies and gentlemen I come to you again from Ryloth. In my short years I have seen many things in the galaxy. But nothing like what has happened here as well as abroad as a result. Let me take you make to the beginning. To a time just days ago. Two groups reached out to the organization that calls themselves Agents of Chaos. The first was the Viceroy of Siskeen, Derek Dib. He had joined a coalition that had sought freedom of their world from the Confederacy of Independent Systems. The second were Twi'lek freedom fighters asking for help to throw off the shackles of the same Confederacy.

The first desired a peace meeting to hash out an agreement. The second wished for a violent revolution. Though the AoC pledged to help both, their leader Madalena Antares did not wish for blood shed on Ryloth. Yes, she and her people came ready for a fight, but began with peaceful overtures. However, despite an agreement with the rebel Twi'leks those rebels decided to take matters into their own hands. Killing an author in view of everyone and began to terrorize the city. And though the AoC leadership tried to publically denounce the actions and try to maintain their non-aggressive stance this happened."

The animation switched over to the footage of the space broadcast K Kaine Australis made.

Kaine cleared his throat and began narrating the recording.

::We came in peace to Ryloth. A malfunction in our experimental reactor threatened to destroy our ship.::

::Without warning, provocation, or even opening communications, the Confederacy of Independent Systems opened fire on our ship.::

The holofootage of the Aegis beginning her attack flowed through the display.

::Further Confederate forces assaulted our ship, despite our restraint in holding fire in the hope of mercy. We managed to jettison the reactor in time, however fire from the enemy fleet caused an explosion that has crippled our ship.::

The unobstructed view from the stern holocams on Golden Lance shows the Confederate fleet coming out of hyperspace and beginning a massive firestorm at the Golden Lance's stern.

The fire strikes the floating Daedalus Cannon and detonates, even as the Aegis and the Golden Lance are consumed in the explosion.

::Thanks to the blood-crazed space vampire in command of the Confederate Navy, we are now falling towards Ryloth out of control. Their fleet continues to fire on our defenseless ship, and now puts your planet at risk for their revenge.::

As it ended the image returned to the Melon Lord animation.

"And despite the repeated attempts to alert the Confederacy that the actions of the rebels were not their own as well as the warnings about the malfunction the Confederacy opened fire on defenseless ships. Killing hundreds as well as destroying tons of relief material meant for the people of Ryloth. As a result the planet and its people are suffering now. Untold lives have been lost and damaged infrastructure means many more will die before anything can be done.

But what of Siskeen. Surely that had to be going better. After all the leader of the movement was one of the Confederacy's own Viceroys. While it can be said it was a success one important admission of Viceroy Dib provided a startling revelation that had reprocussions on Ryloth."


Once again the animation left the screen and another recording replaced it.

​

"The Confederacy had prior knowledge of the AoC plans for Ryloth. Yet no defenses were prepared. No overtures prior to their fleets being over Rylothian heads. Nor did they cancel the festival, a prime target for the so call terrorists. Instead they hide themselves among the civilians, and when the Twi'lek rebels struck it was the people that suffered. When the Confederates open fired on disabled ships it was the people whose heads the debris fell on. Still the Agents of Chaos pressed on trying to limit this battle. Hoping that with an agreement on Siskeen the bloodshed on Ryloth would be ended.

That peaceful end was at hand. The CIS agreed to Siskeen secession. Fighting could have been ended on Ryloth. Instead once again the Confederacy showed their total disregard for its own population."

Derek waved a hand silencing the image and tossed the misshapen presidential insignia to the table. His left hand opened revealing the insignia of Viceroy which he pinned to his jacket’s lapel. He looked to the Agents of Chaos as the soldiers in the room leveled their weapons at the AoC. The servers lifted the domes from their carts parked next to the Confederates revealing their personal weapons.

“I warned you I would do whatever was in the best interest of my people. Our agreement was for talks with the CIS without deadly force being utilized. When I was informed of the AoC striking into confederate space I knew a ploy was needed to protect my system. And still I warned of Ryloth’s attack. I never agreed to support the AoC in any form. And this secession is invalid."

"Despite the attempts to communicate with the CIS about the rogue actions of the rebels, and knowing Siskeen independence could be the key to ending hostilities over Ryloth the Siskeen Viceroy used his people. Though he claimed it was for the protection of his people when it came to the end. When the people he represented finally got the freedom what demanded the Viceroy threw it away to deliver his people right make into the very hands of the government they despised. And what of the AoC representatives who came to support him with the understanding that a peace meeting came with it the promise of clemency. Believing their safe conduct on and off the planet was assured, having given up most protection for that promise. He used hidden thugs to draw weapons upon them, charging them with crimes yet proven and revoked their safe passage for the sake of arresting profile members to add to his resume. This was not the actions of a just and honorable leader.

And though the representatives showed no wish for violence even this was to much to keep their composure, pushing one of the delegates to act defensively. Even now they have had to kill to assure their own escape. But why not hear this Viceroy out. Maybe things could have still worked out. Well people we have finally reached the part of the broadcast that prompted it in the first place. This next recording was taken from the security files of the Scintillia, home to millions of civilians, recorded while the meeting took place."

The recording showed a man with a small army as they marched through the moon size space station killing indiscriminately. The view switched to an exterior view as an explosion rocked the H.O.P.E. sphere. A large hole appeared in its hull, millions of bodies could be seen floating out into space. Finally the image returned to the leader and froze on his face. It switched to a side-by-side view with Toph's avatar.

"This is the man guilty of mass murder. This man is the man known as Muad Dib, brother to Viceroy Derek Dib. While the Confederates strung the Agents of Chaos away from their home in hopes to free oppressed people they sent a man to kill millions of innocent people. They can call the AoC terrorist all they wish, but this was premeditated. It was no accident or rogue elements like on Ryloth. They sent a man to a civilian population with one goal....death. The so-called Confederacy of Independent Systems is nothing but that in name. They have become a corrupted tyrant willing to kill for the sake of holding onto their power."

​

The recording ended, having run its course. It would be broadcast throughout the galaxy, forever existing on the holonet now. Even if the CIS still somehow survived a thousand years this black mark on their history would still follow them. Until the day their own people rose up and buried their leaders. Tears leaked from under artificial eyes as Toph continued to look at the now motionless screen. She hated the fact that despite having no working eyes some in her species still retained vestigial tear ducts. It was the one thing that always betrayed her true emotions. She'd left her home in the former Corporate Sector to escape tyrants and prejudice, yet here it had been right under her nose.

The alert snapped Toph back to the present reality. She looked at the dock masters terminal again. The virus she'd installed had informed her that attacks on the firewall had reached critical levels. It was now asking to proceed with its function. With new righteous anger filling her chest Toph slammed a finger down on the enter key. The virus immediately unleashed its payload, working in conjunction with the slicer's attack from outside the network. The screen glitched out as in one final push the entire Ryloth Security Network came down. She had done her job. Control across the planet had been lost.

Picking up her datapad again she quickly accessed the now unprotected comm relay. Toph quickly sliced in a string of comm codes and gave them access to unrestricted broadcasting. It a final sigh she sent off a quick message to the individuals who the codes belonged to, Alwine Daye and Madalena Antares , "Jobs done. Comm relay is now under your control."

Packing her gear back up Toph set out for the hanger bay she'd sent Daiya to. After this the slicer needed a long vacation on some beach.

 

[Seraphina Corvinus]

​

CIS: John Locke | Raven Thystle Faye Malvern | Visanj T'shkali | Daegon Corvinus | Derek Dib
AoC: Alwine Daye | Gabriel Volturi Annasari | Larentia | Izwi Kutaurira + Others [Sorry if I missed you!!]
Other: Holly Starstorm | Enlil
Location: Palace, Pristine City, Olanet [Conference Area/Room/Hall]
Wearing: XXX
Weapons: None
Musical Theme: Please Listen I'm Pretty

From her position behind Exarch John Locke it seemed that the situation was rapidly spinning out of control. No matter how she pleaded it seemed that neither side would lessen their aggressive standpoints. She peeked over the shoulder of Exarch Locke very carefully. If words could maim, if looks could kill, the entire room would be full of nothing but the dead. Her stomach bottomed out when the doorman ( Enlil ) finally added injury to insult. She was near enough to Alden that she could feel the air become dry. What exactly had he done?

Sera couldn’t say. But—she felt the Force move. She saw it in ethereal, bright, rippling waves.

Then the room exploded.

Flames swept through the Conference Hall, moving and flaring, as if it had life and a will of its own. Her skin burned from the warmth and panic began to rise in her chest. She couldn’t breathe. Exarch Locke took the brunt of the initial attack and she could only imagine the welts that would form over the parts of him that were still human. How very, very much it would hurt. “Exarch—“, she called quaveringly and tried to pull on his shoulder to get him to turn around. Her words were cut off by the next act.

The Aegis Knights that had been summoned were summarily vaporized.

Bright red liquid and meatier chunks sprayed against the white of her dress. Splotches of crimson ruined flawless skin. It took her a moment to realize what happened. The horror that rolled into her expression was the purest form of shock. Disbelief. The sound that escaped her throat against her will, though small, caused objects in the room to shake. She inhaled sharply and the air in her body seemed to make her very being shake. Gabriel Volturi had killed them. No. He had murdered them.

Derek Dib had promised them safety.

He offered them a chance to walk from this hall with their heads held high, simply, in his custody. This was the response? Terrified eyes fell to Derek. The flame engulfed him after they flipped tables for protection and the diathim felt her wings manifest. The fire scared her. Mr. Volturi, above all else, terrified her. Daegon had come between Ms. Lechner and their escape route and she couldn’t help the frightened flutter of her wings that kept her in the air.

They were all so angry. She had never seen some of them with so much rage. So much fury.

Viceroy Raven Thystle sent one of her bodyguards to aid them. Seraphina could only watch the fight unfold. One thing after the next. It all happened so fast. She could no longer see Faye Malvern in the madness and she hoped that the Minister of Influence hadn’t been caught in the chaos. Lesya Kosarev seemed to be charging something and the floating diathim gave her a wide berth. Her birds eye view let her see more than most. Sometimes, more than she wanted to see.

The viscera that was smeared along the floor, for instance. Or the weapon that was flying through the air. The seraph had noted them initially. She had loathed their return. But seeing it fly through the air?

Toward the—

“Derek!”

The honorific was lost as a panicked voice screamed through the battle. Tears ran down her cheeks in a combination of powerlessness and dread. He didn’t seem to know. She dropped through the air like a stone without thinking. Her wings folded while the aim was taken. Time. She only needed time. Time to react, time to warn, time to prevent what was happening. She so desperately wanted all of this to end. It didn’t need to be this way. No one else needed to die here! No more!

A shot from the weapon of the Agent rang out.

It was one sound. One, minuscule sound. It was the shot that would be heard throughout the Siskeen Systems. The shot that could be heard around the world of Olanet. The shot that caused her heart to clench, squeeze, whilst panic and utter desperation to save a friend drove her to free fall. She should have stayed where she was. She should have stayed safe. Daegon would never forgive her.

The pair crumpled as if someone had cut the strings of marionettes into an ungainly heap.

Neither Seraphina nor Derek moved.

Spoiler: OOC

If I missed anyone or something I should not have please let me know and I will edit. Post cleared w/Derek's writer. My edits were fixing tags and color. I can ever do it right the first time. I also added mood music!

​

 

[Dasmi Lindervale]

F L E E T - A D M I R A L | D I M I T R I​

ALLIED TAGS: Lash | Bella | Salem Norongachi
OBJECTIVE: Takin hits and dolling out
ENEMIES: Tyrias Aran Amelia von Sorenn Kathryn Foster

The two monarch's fired upon The E'care Shukur , the pulse cannons now slowly charging in the background of the other systems while the hypervelocity cannon's trailed ten second spurts of fire between the two emplacements on each at the same target. The ships frontal shields doing their best to keep them covered as the barrier tempered the now quaking hail of fire from the enemy fleets. The ion shots to the aft of the ship shut down half the engines, crews in that section beginning to fight to restore power to them as they began to slow in speed.

The laser shots were doing more damage however, destroying what the ion shots had already knocked out as the captain's of each received word of the damages. "Wild Stallion and Free Bird requesting fire on that fethin ship on our six!" The message was set to internal comms, the Unicorn receiving scrambled bits of it as they repeated it over and over until they received a copy.

The two vessels did not seem to relent or stop in their forward motion however, attempting to close in range for their collective eighty ion cannons, hundred and twenty medium turbolasers and eighty laser cannons to begin chewing into The E'care Shukur, their forty heavy turbolaser cannons opening up on the The E'care Shukur wherever the gunners decided to place the shots.

[Monarch Class Shield's - Wild Stallion - 65% with half the engines knocked out / Free Bird - 65% with half the engines knocked out]

The starfighters assailed the enemy, even with the constant hits they were taking. They pushed through the wave of flak made by the missiles and wall of fire from the other systems in a deathrace to the end. The bombers were taking the brunt of the force against them as the missle octects locked onto their munitions and detonated them. More torpedo's were behind them shortly though, risking hull integrity for the sake of striking at their enemy.

The Interceptor were catching a break at least, speed like the Oni's keeping them dodging the majority of the incoming fire as the Toscan's were catching most all of it along side the bombers. Even with the limited shielding, they were little more than ducks plodding through the enemy airspace as they closed in and wove themselves inside the enemy position as best they could.

They shot down whatever approached from the front, skirting along enemy vessels and intermingling with enemy fighters as they opened up with everything. They worked together, baiting whatever would cling to their six before their wings took the shot. And the same could be said for the enemy.

[Interceptors - roughly an 1/8 lost due to previous ion damage and incoming fire]
[Oni Prowler's - roughly 1/8 lost due to incoming fire]
[Ghost Bomber's - roughly a 1/4 lost due to incoming fire]
[Toscan Fighters - Roughly 1/3 lost to incoming fire]

The Unicorn had swung around, in time to take the rail gun shot in the face as it's shield took the brunt of the railgun. It rocked the vessel with the expulsion of energy however, enough that everyone aboard had a brown alert moment. Dimitri hung onto the top of the seat, Rime's manning the comm station and relaying the requests from the two Monarch's. The heavy ion cannons were brought to bear on one of the Tho Yor II class Star Destroyer's. The laser point defense's from the six spectre's and missile octets attempting to fend off the full spread of missiles coming at them.

The large kilometre wide explosions made the CIC's eyes go wide as most of them were destroyed. two of them slipping through and striking the far flung Spectres with instant destruction as their shields collapsed under the damage, and rocking the whole formation as the other swept past what would have been a viable shot to the engines. The back side of the targeted spectre's laser point defenses taking a shot and detonating it. Once again, the detonation was close enough to rock the formation. The long range turbolaser's sporadically fired until the ships settled before aiming at the Providence II class Assault Carrier harassing the two Monarch's.

[Unicorn at 45% shields with some most internal damage controlled]
[Spectre's - 2 destroyed, 4 with shields at 90% due to proximity explosions]

"Admiral, move the Unicorn behind the Spectre's at least. Whatever we have left can be-" Rimes began to protest as Dimitri silenced her with a look.

"I will not play coward after sending my people to their deaths! We stand here!" Dimitri spat, moving to the comm station before turning away from her. "Do no-" He choked on the words as she put him in a choke hold and drug him to the floor. He was a fit man, but he was not combatant.

"They volunteered sir! They know what they are getting into! You can't die with them!" Rime's hissed, arms tightening around his neck while shocked crew members stared in disbelief. They were in the middle of a battle and this was going on!? His arm came up to bat at her, but fell limp before he could attempt to fight back.

"Get me MP Varn's. I want him to get this lug down to the launch bay and secured on one of the support vessels. Take him to a Spectre regardless of his order's and get him home." Rime's hissed, pointing to the former Admiral of the vessel to approach as a line was sent to the requested person. After a few tense seconds, Dimitri gasped, sputtering and spitting as he rubbed his neck and sat upright. A large Rodian appeared in the doorway, saying a few word before Dimitri looked between Varn's and Rime's.

"This is-" He choked, still gagging from the hold.

"For your safety sir. You should not have come here in the first place." Rimes hissed, kicking his leg as the ion cannons from the enemy battered at their shields. "Move, we have a Spectre to catch."

With both the Chiss woman and Rodian helping, Dimitri was upright and walking before long.

​

Spoiler: Action Report

• The Monarchs have taken damage, fired their pulse cannons at The E'care Shukur and have half of their engines knocked out but are still advancing. They are pouring on the fire with heavy turbolaser cannons, firing everything else upon closing to a proper distance.​
• Starfighters are hurtling into the enemy position taking losses and weaving themselves into the enemy lines to attempt to do some damage.​
• The Unicorn and 4 Spectre's survive the salvo of missiles with having their position disrupted. Shield damage from proximity detonations from defensive fire.​
• Turbolasers from the Spectre's are focusing on the Providence II class Assault Carrier.​
• The Unicorn is firing it's four heavy ion cannons at the Tho Yor II class Star Destroyer.​
• Dimitri is being removed from the Unicorn by his XO Rimes and MP Varns.​

​

Spoiler: Equipment

1 G47 - Pipsqueak | Hip holster
1 K914 SMG | Concealed in right side of jacket
Phase I Haywire Armor | Worn beneath his lined leather jacket

Spoiler: Fleets

MAIN FLEET* - (8.1km)
SHC Unicorn- Dimitri Lindzinsky (12 active squadrons)
Pocket Carriers - 6 4 (4 active squadrons each)
Monarch Class Destroyers - 2 (5 active squadrons each)
Wraith Vessels - 1 - Disarmed of Weapons (drifting into the great beyond)

SECONDARY FLEET** - (Returning to the Scintilla)
Sentinel Class Heavy Explorer - 3 (1 active squadron each)
Wraith Vessels - 20
Pocket Carriers - 4 (4 active squadrons each)
Kessel Class Armed Couriers - 57

STARFIGHTER SQUADRONS -
Numerous - Oni ClassProwler (12 per squad)
Numerous - iNf-46 Needle Interceptor (16 per squadron)
Numerous - Ghost Starfighter/Heavy Bomber (12 per squadron)
Numerous - CST Toscan 8-R Fighter (12 per squad)

 

[The Bridesmaid]

Objective: Protect the spooky Ne- bird?
Location: Birds go woosh
Allies: Nerium | Herah | Kyrinov | Zaldros Sabolte | + AoC friendlies
Enemies: Asher Mossa | + The wonderful CIS meanies


"Woah there buddy", Morgan laughed as she gave the bird a pat on its head. The ride was definitely wobbly, but she enjoyed it nonetheless. She hadn't had this much fun in a while. Who would've guessed riding weird birds could be so much fun? The bird was eager to speed up and didn't seem to care a lot about making the ride comfortable for their passenger, so Morgan had to hold on tight. She didn't really know how to control the bird that well, but it seemed to be following a few of its friends that were going in the right direction, so all was fine.

She was still a bit behind the others though, but she didn't mind. She didn't really know where exactly they were headed anyway, so she was fine with just following the others. The bird however didn't seem to share the same feeling as it started to speed up.

"Hey buddy," Morgan chuckled as she patted the bird, " it's not a race. We're fine where we are-"

She wanted to say more, but she was cut short by her own surprised yell as the bird suddenly took off, rushing after the others at top speed. She instantly grasped onto the bird tightly, focusing on not falling off. At least she'd catch up with the others.

When she did, she heard Kyrinov say something about an attack on H.O.P.E. "They attacked Hope?", she mumbled sadly. "But that's our home, right? That's not very nice."

While she was pondering about how she felt about all of this, she noticed Nerium slowed down, and eventually dismounted her bird. Curious as to what was wrong, Morgan managed to bring her own bird to slow down a little near Nerium for a moment. She wanted to ask what was wrong, but as the woman started to... change, she instinctively looked away. "Nope. Too much for one day", she whispered to herself as she let the bird speed up again. "I don't need to see that. I want to be able to sleep in the future. Besides, curiousity is totally overrated, right? Yeah, totally!" She kept talking to herself as she forcefully shifted her attention from the woman, or bird, apparently, to the task ahead. She could tell they were nearing their destination, but she also felt her bird grow even more rebellious.

It seemed almost as if the bird was afraid of something, and that fear seemed to grow stronger. It became more difficult for Morgan to control the bird as it stopped responding to her sweet words and encouragement. She hoped they'd soon arrive, before the bird decided it didn't need Morgan riding along on its back. The bird didn't even respond to Morgan's death threats anymore.

Yes, she tried that.

 

[Luca Donskoi]

Location: Siskeen
Wearing: Wedding Ring | Prosthetic Arm | Semi-Formal Winter Wear
Allies: Faye Malvern | Daegon Corvinus | Seraphina Corvinus | Visanj T'shkali | John Locke | Raven Thystle | Corius Harckon | Kyyrk | Derek Dib
AoC: Annasari | Gabriel Volturi | Alwine Daye | Enlil
Other: Holly Starstorm

​

There was a strange tingling sensation that enveloped Alden’s tongue as he spoke. A sensation reminiscent of when someone tried to drink their caffe before it had been allowed to cool. Or bite into any of a number of hot entrees which would threaten to scorch one’s mouth. It wasn’t significant enough to be the end of his speech or sway the intent behind his words, but it was enough for him to swallow and take a momentary pause. Who exactly had done this wasn’t a mystery for long, however, as Enlil would speak up, pompously, once again.​

For a doorman, this arrogant, self-serving individual sure had a lot to say. Which struck Alden odd as, once again, this Enlil character drew no connection to any of the one’s gathered. Nevertheless he spoke and snobbishly interjected with his unnecessary, and undesired thoughts on the matter.​

But, even that would hold his undivided attention. Not when one among the Agents had chosen the path of violence to that of civility. This Gabriel Volturi character who chose a path of destruction and damnation to that of peace which the Agents seemingly swore they had been here to keep. Instead, it was death and destruction of men who simply followed orders of their superiors that faced the brunt of this man’s temper. Fire and flames engulfing so much in the room. Stretching high against the walls and windows. Glass shattering and spraying out into the city-scape below, screaming in a charred anguish from the inferno that sought to engulf them. ​

Pain. That is what palpated in this place. A pain driven rage that sought nothing more than to consume and destroy each and every vassal that stood within these very halls.​

But. This was a construct of the modern age. It had no doubt been equipped with common equipment and systems meant to battle potential disaster. Systems in place such as those of fire suppression. ​

Yes, there it was. It hadn’t taken long for the rains to begin from within. The jets of water to spread forth, desperately attempting to quell the threat of the flames’ wrath. It would cling to whichever surface it could find, be it fabric, ground or flesh. Either pooling or drenching each in its wake. The chamber cried in this moment. As would the peoples of the Siskeen system. For a concussive blast rang through the cacophony of cracks and wisps belted forth by the raging flames. Through the metronome like drumming of the water as the showers clacked along every discernible surface they could reach. ​

It was the firing of a gun that shattered through this chaotic symphony. And with it, it brought death and destruction. Heartache and rage. For now two more bodies found themselves added to the motionless heap. Two bodies of souls Alden felt at least some connection to. Even if only faintly so. Their deaths were unnecessary for neither posed such imminent threat. It was in this moment that these Agents of Chaos had tacked on yet another layer revealing to the galaxy what heroes they were. Heroes would strike down the innocent without so much as even batting an eye. The kind that swore to come in peace yet seek to leave with a wake of senseless death and destruction. ​

These people were not the messiahs of justice they sought to be, but the bringers of tyranny and virulence. They were no heroes. Only insidious men and women forwarding an agenda beneath a veil of lies and deceit. A veil so thin built over a mountain of confidence and arrogance so high the Viceroy was able to play them into his hand from the start. To expose them for what it was they really were. In front of the cameras for an entire galaxy to see. ​

It had all happened so fast and there was now an ire that burned hot within the High Marshal’s very core. A rage unknown to all - even himself. One Faye Malvern would feel strongly through the bond in the Force they shared in each and every moment. A rage to an extent that the Minister might never find it in herself to love him again. But it was fanned into its inferno through the pain of the harm done to those he cared for and that was no doubt wished for upon those that remained. ​

The water had soaked into his uniform and logged his hair until it had begun to drip. It pinged with a metallic ring from the metallic extension that served as his right arm. Sapphire orbs turned to rubies in a flash as the man known for his composure and amiability was consumed in a rage he’d never known. For the first time in his life his willfully wished harm - and even worse - death upon another. And so he found himself in motion. ​

Gabriel Volturi had already fallen to his knees in defeat and utter exhaustion due to his over indulgence in the Force. He would be too easy, but it wouldn’t stop the rage driven husk of a man. His right arm snapped to a position where it aimed directly to the man who sat upon bended knee and within a blink of an eye, the armed raged with a power of its own. Three fanged disks rose and subsequently fired upon the man heaved over. Electrified - when they struck, it would force the man’s body to convulse as an electrical current would be sent pulsing through the body. And the man would be incapacitated in such a way he’d not be able to find his feet, much less speak, until freed of the effect. The man, Gabriel Volturi , would be effectively tased once the three projectiles found their targets.​

But that wasn’t the true subject of Alden’s attention. No, that came in the form of the man he stepped toward. The last remaining who had chosen to try to start something further into aggression with the Confederacy. And Alden’s eyes never left him. Not once since he began this act of his. This Enlil could try to hide behind his flames like a coward, but it would not stop Alden. Not this time. His civility had gone out the window at this point and what course through his veins now was undeniable rage. ​

The Force swelled around the man, enveloping him like a cocoon and power by his rage. An energy that sought to be impenetrable by any means. The waters of the fire suppression system now seemingly redirected away from the man as though he were enclosed in some thin force field. And in a way he was. A cocoon of the Force to serve as a barrier for the beyond. ​

Gears revved and moved within his arm and repulsors flared to life. The metallic fist shot forward with a supernatural speed powered by the series of repulsors held within. The fist would surge through whatever flames still encircled the man of no allegiance except that which he held to himself. The man of idle threats and pompous arrogance. It would had a concussive impact should it hit. Enough to break ribs. Enough to damage the body internally. And enough to incapacitate whatever was on the other side. And had that not worked? Well, even a rage filled Alden had other plans of attack. Not to mention, Alden was not alone, but Enlil certainly was. ​

​

 

[Jai'galaar Gred]

Gear: Jai'galaar's Beskar'gam Armor, 2x Trayc'kal, 2x trained Strill
Ally Tags: Madalena Antares Judd Hunter Hanna Katrine Van-Derveld Anesia Jy'Vun Samatharis Niki Priddy
Enemy Tags: Vytal Noctura Shamira Karuto Kyyrk

The anger that had finally showed itself in Jai didn't seem to give him any leave. He continued firing until he was face to face with a wall of flame. His eye narrowed behind his visor as he turned to see the other witch, asking for a fight. He was about a oblige when....


BOOM!


The Mandalorian's ears were buzzing as he finally got up. He looked around, seeing the rock reminders where gone, but the alter still stood. His hands shook as he reached for his Trayc'kal again, and his Strill quickly ran up, clearly seeming to know something was wrong. He got up, but all he could do was look around. His head shook as he saw everything. Why did they even do this? What did it even do!? He.... Jai looked around, quickly hitting his comms.

"It's done. Let's just move." While his voice didn't show it, he was hurting, both physically and mentally. Was he..... Jai just looked, aiming a few scattered shots, but he couldn't get himself to pull the trigger. He just lowered his weapons, and quickly called to the Strill to follow him.

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

LOCATION: Climbing up to the Altar of Spirits
WEARING: Nightmother's Armour, Taak'tabi boots, Light-shield Bracelet, Leather Coat
WIELDING: Chakram, Sword,
ALLIES: Agents of Chaos, The Siskeen Coalition, Twi'lek Freedom Fighters
ENEMIES: The Confederacy of Independent Systems
TAGS: Anesia Jy'Vun , Madalena Antares , Jai'galaar Gred , Judd Hunter , Hanna , Samatharis, Vytal Noctura

From the side, Katrine could hear @Madalena speak of HOPE, the refugee sphere. Scherezade had mentioned this place, told her of its purpose. It was a good cause, a good reason to exist and now it had been destroyed by the Confederacy for whom they had once fought. The Confederacy with whom they had both saved worlds, saved civilians, ensured the safety of the innocent. Now, they had harmed the innocents, the weak. This went against everything the former Confederate stood for.

Everything.

Losses, Lylek made a note. Bare witness, child, Doashim roared in the back of her mind, offering a quick flash of events occurring on Siskeen, her vision connecting with that of Larentia for a brief second as she declared the betrayal of the Dib bloodline. "...Today, the Demon severs those ties. I will never fight beside another Dib." The first of them, the strongest of her Shamans once. Now, his brother had played and schemed like the politician he was; and a refugee world had been destroyed, innocent lives had been lost. Ascend, child of the demon. Doashim had sent out through the ichor, giving strength to the one he chose.

Her focus returned, summoned by the vibrations of power building within Madalena, just before she would screaming, releasing the Dark Side Web from her fingertips, straight for the Altar and anyone who would meet it half way. The spirits grinned and watched with interest, waiting for the little one to release her own anger. The spirits were neither good nor evil, they did not reward one or punish the other. Family and loyalty came first. Loyalty to them, that was, but family followed closely. Causes worthy of holding causing rage now was respected by them, letting the child release what she felt.

Then Lylek hissed at Samatharis, her head turning quickly as she noted something inside her hand before it had been put away again. It seemed somewhat of a void surrounding it, one that the spirits kept an eye on the girl as another spirit visited her before the tentacles pressed harder into the Nightmother's skin, pulling her back. Katrine followed back, separating herself from the girl before she'd be within the range of that dangerous artifact. She recalled now what Scherezade had warned her about Madalena, turned out it wasn't going to be her at all.

Vytal Noctura spoke again. Could she not face the ones she had once led? "And who is it that remains of the old. It's the Lylek Shaman (Asher Mossa) that lingers, still speaking to the Ancient Spirit. He's not here today to stop me or try to reason with a spirit that won't be reasoned with." And there was something else in those words, the Nightsister would fail to understand a simple truth of old. "I do not claim the Spirits, Vytal. They claim me. With their markings and presence, they always claim me." It was true, a Witch claimed another but when it came to the Ancient Spirits, it was they who be claimed and never the other way around.

She claimed they were not deaf to the Spirits. "Aren't you?" She questioned, her eyes switching to the creatures summoned by the Nightmother of New. They bore the same name, they had latched on to a new belief, but they were not the Ancient Spirits. The Ancient Spirits of the Mandragora took the form of the Rylothi creatures. Doashim, Jart, Lylek. Each had a living counterpart on this planet. The spirits here were quite different. If the Mandragora of New chose to follow them, so be it. The Ancient Spirits would not stand the same ground. "I do the biding of those that claimed me." She spoke of benevolent spirits, yet the Ancient Spirits weren't always so. For betrayal, they had banished one and her lover forced into eternal damnation, even after death not to rest before he had been banished by the living. They weren't always so forgiving as they would seem to be. Even Katrine, in all her strength, needed to obey their wish. Their wish was not to harm to innocents at all though, it had been been to destroy something that belonged to them and had no business being here if they were not. Or perhaps, it would to allow a new true new dawn for the order. In union, the three had nodded. A simple sentiment, it seemed but the Ancient Spirits held more secrets that any knew, even those that obeyed their every command sometimes.

Her offer of no more violence was welcomed with commanding words. "No," the simplest of replies came behind the mask. If Vytal would not let her break the altar, then it would have to be. "You will grant me?" A giggle erupted from underneath the mask. You would grant her lover? Katrine didn't need the love of someone who violated all she had worked for, saying it was all in the name of love and acceptance. They would blame her, say it was her fault that she had left that the old religion fell; forcing the rebuilding of the cult it was now but that simply was not true. One only had to open the pages and see the truths, listen. Asher still knew the old ways, if he was here, it was among his duties to keep them. He did not. They did not, old followers had abandoned the new cult. Katrine knew one that left, and he had now committed a horrific crime in the name of his brother, in the name of their loyalty to the Confederacy. Her own Shaman once, Doashim's favorite. A monster in his own right.

The false Spirits of Mandragora begun to attack her allies. The blind bird for Hanna , who saved herself under the vita stone, the monster for Madalena Antares and the serpent for Judd Hunter . Perhaps she was wise to employ others We would never do her bidding like that, Jart suggested. Katrine narrowed her eyes at him. "Jart," Katrine quietly pleaded the first of the spirits that had claimed her before he perched, and flew away from her, towards the large bird under Vytal's control, flying at high speed to engage her, his large wings causing the air to move beneath it at flight. With the barriers between the spirit and living realms, those that couldn't see him could still feel the flutter of wings. Judd had caused lives to be lost, the Spirits' Nightmother still had some doubts of harming them but Hanna had caused no harm to anyone who had not engaged, there was no cause for the large bird spirit to harm her.

Another one of them, Jai'galaar Gred , was charging at Vytal for the actions committed on H.O.P.E., this rage evident in his foolishness as he continued to fire. Katrine just sighed. He'd be stopped soon enough, with a wall of fire suddenly separating them. Hopefully, the boy would not be harmed by the fire he was charging into, Katrine hoped. "Nice theatrics," she'd only say to Shamira Karuto before she returned to the others here. Voph seemed more focused on Madalena, eager to kill her. Katrine didn't care for Vytal's death, in fact, she had no intention of killing her today. She could keep her cult, here on Ryloth. Just as spirits saw their wisdom spread od Orcus, they would see it grow differently, elsewhere, as long as their own Altar was gone from this place when it was undeserving. There would be nothing else as the detonations began to execute, one by one, the remains would go. Three more stones would be activated from behind.

"Blessed art thou,
Oh, Ancient Mothers.
Spirits of Old.
Fire breathe, Fire be.
Protect me."​

As the ring of fire had formed, the flames now danced to her will, some of the flames breaking formation as they gathered before her, deflecting the rubble that followed. The stones exploded, the flames once fueling them erupting high before they would weaken. The flames subsided as sapphire gaze looked to the flames coming away, visible through the rubble and smoke still, the memory still strong.

To the corner of her eye, she noticed an emerald lightsaber come alive, Vytal's voice now speaking to Judd Hunter. Samatharis was already calling out to her to leave him alone. Katrine stood still, sword still in her hand, feeling a stronghold on her, preventing her to move. He's killed, Doashim demanded. He can still walk out of this, he can fight her and win. He's been trained. It didn't seem right, he should have been tried for what had done to the Witches but could he survive a trial by combat against a Nightsister. "Is he trained enough?" Katrine debated through the smoke, still not seeing well enough.

Perhaps.

Once the other Witch had gotten up close, the man seemed to stand his ground well enough against her.

 

[Enlil]

Thanks to the sacrifice of Gabriel Volturi , Enlil already had all he needed. Flames were dancing around the room. Heat was prevalent. The King need only feel the air to unleash the tool that would see the end of things.

No, an impact never came- to the man. The flames twisted and writhed like a liquid as they were altered, horrendously. Instead of a wall of flames, as Enlil's gauntlet touched the air, the Firestorm crafted by the Agent of Chaos was reborn into a sea of molten Plasma.

The metal met with a wall of gentle energy, a barrier of faint light that was now enveloped by liquid flame. An explosion rocked the room, and behind his protective, destructive wall, the King staggered.

He grunted.

The impact, when it met plasma, would easily have created a concussive force in the inverse as well, and sent more plasma streaming inward toward those gathered within. Chairs, tables, walls, the ceiling, and the door itself ignited as the destructive force had its way with them.

The way to Enlil was shut.

The Confederates gathered had more to worry about, now that the structural integrity of the room was compromised.

Once that was set in motion, the King left without a word.

Luca Donskoi , Faye Malvern, Daegon Corvinus , Seraphina Corvinus , Visanj T'shkali , Raven Thystle , John Locke

 

[Bella]

Objective/Location: From the Chandelier - Reestablish Position and Initiate Firing Solutions
Fighter: iNf-46 Needle Interceptor - Miracle Seven
Onboard Equipment: AoC Flight Suit, Survival Kit w/ EVA Suit, G47 “Pipsqueak”
Allies: AoC (Dimitri Lindzinsky), Allied Chiss Fleet ( Lash Salem Norongachi )
Enemies: CIS ( Amelia von Sorenn Tyrias Aran Kathryn Foster )

“Missiles are ineffective, repeat, missiles are ineffective! Maneuver exculsively for firing solutions!”

“Miracle Sixteen, watch your six! You have two Vultures closing fast!”

“All elements, activate any jamming equipment you have!”

“Three bandits on my six! I’m under heavy fire and need-AHHH!”​

The dreadnought’s point defenses seemed to be tearing the fighter formations apart. Bella could only hope that the two Miracle squadron pilots who had been shot down had managed to eject from their craft. Unfortunately, outside of their craft, they would be in grave danger of being struck down by any errant turbolaser, fighter, or projectile. It was a harsh reminder that every time she climbed into the cockpit, survival was never guaranteed.

Another seemingly aimless Vulture droid found itself in front of the nose of Bella’s interceptor before being cut down by her laser cannons, its sensors presumably overloaded with false readings as the droid brain sought to unscramble the data. Gunning her engines, Bella angled her craft towards the left in order to create a lead pursuit angle with another Vulture. However, a sudden impact rocked her craft as lights began to flash red in her cabin. Her shield readings were down to 5% from a single hit and she had also sustained mild hull damage. Maneuvering quickly, she flew her craft closer to the hull of the SSD while her shields recharged, knowing that the gunners would have a more difficult time tracking her fighter the larger she appeared in their sight picture.

It was only then that she saw a group of bandits flying towards her in a finger-four formation. Pushing her engines to full power, she angled her fighter slightly to the left and drove her interceptor in a dangerously-close head-on pass between the two lead fighters ( Kathryn Foster ) in the formation. With her shields already on the verge of collapse, Bella had no intention of taking a fight with the bandits, especially when she was separated from her wingman. She had no idea whether or not the fighters would break to follow after her, but if they did, she hoped that her interceptor was fast enough create separation to allow a chance for her shields could recharge.

 

[Larentia]

LOCATION: Aboard the Ship, after being transported by Gabriel Volturi
WEARING: Phase I Hayywire Armor
WIELDING: Phase I Sword of Eve, Taozin amulet
ALLIES: Agents of Chaos, The Siskeen Coalition, Twi'lek Freedom Fighters
ENEMIES: The Confederacy of Independent Systems
TAGS:
(AoC) Alwine Daye Enlil Gabriel Volturi Annasari Izwi Kutaurira
(CIS) Derek Dib John Locke Daegon Corvinus Seraphina Corvinus Visanj T'shkali Kyyrk Faye Malvern Raven Thystle Lesya Kosarev Luca Donskoi Raven Thystle

Derek Dib had gone to justify his reasons, speaking of avoiding chaotic madness upon Siskeen. Larentia's lip curled slightly to the side in disbelief. The politicians, the serpent capable of picking all the right words. Allies are scarce and far and few. When you cannot trust your own kind, you must pick your friends even more carefully, wise advice flooded her mind then, one she had received not ago. She hadn't thought of those words in so long, until now. Larentia wondered if her Mother remembered this day. Through time and space, she felt the Nightmother's presence through the demon at her side then. Ascend, child of the demon. Doashim spoke, the Nightmother approved. Larentia wished she was fighting side by side her on Ryloth now. The blue in gaze shun a little darker for a split second before her senses regained to the present time, eyes seeking Alwine Daye . One person here still held her trust here, today, and she would receive her back up. Two wolves, side by side; they would fight out of this if necessary.

It was Daegon Corvinus that was threatening Alwine now, though he hadn't drawn his weapon yet. It mattered now, Alwine played her role through and through, speaking while the cameras still rolled; she understood. So, the Lupine stood down and waited until she would speak, moving closer to the woman as she did. While she spoke, Gabriel Volturi played his part, summoning a type of magic Larentia didn't fully understand, it seemed like elements yet far more powerful than any of the Elementalist she had witnessed before. Now though, it served a different purpose as a ship came to view at the window. It looked like they were getting out of here, after all, the Lupine understood as he spoke to Alwine. It was time to leave, indeed.

Larentia's gaze drifted to Derek before it wandered around the room, around the Confederates. Today, the Warrior of Ulf witnessed defeat, yet she would see their survival none the less. She stood beside the other wolf, moving towards their escape when Daegon Corvinus positioned himself between them. It was the Force, she would summon now, her sword far from her research. It could be replaced. The weapons she held inside her were stronger than a singular blade. The demon inside her was far more powerful than any gun or sword.

It was when the shot fired, making its way towards Derek Dib, from the other wolf herself, she realized, still empowering herself as the bullet met its goals, striking the Viceroy down. It was done.

Her whole body surged, from her toes to her fingertips, making her jump high above those who would stop them in their exit, leaping towards the exit, towards the window; once she had been sure Alwine herself would follow. Bullets kept firing, blue gaze could see them aimed for the one that would try to stop them. It was mid-jump that she felt the pull forward, the fabric of space warping around her before she was truly gone from the room, unable to see anyone left behind anymore. Gabriel Volturi had ensured her exit.

These negotiations were far too long for what they had failed to achieve.

When she had dropped down, rolling against the floor from her mid-jump, Larentia had stood only to realize who was present and who wasn't. "Where is he?" The Lupine wondered, looking at those around her. The one that had ensured their escape wasn't with them. Had he sacrificed himself to ensure their freedom?

 

[Salem Norongachi]

Objective: Impact the Thoros-class Battlecruiser.
Location: Inner Ryloth System
Allies: Dimitri Lindzinsky Bella Strider Garon Lash K Kaine Australis
Enemies: Tyrias Aran Amelia von Sorenn Kathryn Foster

The Eight slipped through the darkness, each the size of a small fighter, their fuselage made of solid Mirrsteel, and their sensor package drinking in the data of the space around them. This is what they were created for, why they had patiently waited in racks upon racks of their brethren in a munitions depot until the day they were finally selected.Now they had their mission, they had their target and nothing short of utter destruction would stop them.

SL-751992-C gazed out at the fleets ahead, the firepower splitting the black, and calculated that only some of them might see journeys end. Being a droid he didn’t feel one way or another about that, they had been constructed in the same munitions factory and programmed on the same day before being shipped out together. It was a disappointing calculation that some of them wouldn’t live to see their duty complete.

A stray turbolaser barreled toward them and like a school of fish they split and then reformed. The thick of the fighting was fast approaching and without a signal or a communication they spread out wide to avoid a target rich environment. The antimissile octets found them, the rattle of their shrapnel pinging along the Mirrsteel would have been deafening if SL-551991-C had auditory receptors. The plasma shielding that flowed from his tip hissed and sparked as the chunks of metal collided and were vaporized by it.

They split their fight pattern, two high, two low, two right and two left. Their trajectories were calculated to curve, to spread the point defense targeting and maximize mission competition. They spun and rode their RCS when the need called, letting the plasma shields take as much punishment as possible when they calculated that total avoidance was impossible or less efficient.

SL-551991-C dropped his nose down hard, fired a burst of RCS that sent his fuselage spinning right and then cut thrust as a blast of ion ripped through the space ahead, the thrust kicked back in and sent him forward. He was aware of where the other 7 where, no, came the correction from his sensors, 6. The anti-missile defenses grew thicker with every meter and evasion became a hectic affair, more often than not SL-551991-C found his sensors pointed anywhere but his target as he tried to keep himself together under the unrelenting hail sent to put an end to the mission.

A hull skimmed past him and was gone as another of his squadron dropped off his sensors, and one more followed that. A friendly contact winked at him, a wing of fighters by his analysis and he slipped in beside them for a moment, using their starships as a shield to push ever further into enemy territory before he lost them to breakneck evasions. He could see her now, the object and final destination for himself and any that remained. The end was coming and somewhere deep in his central processing unit SL-551991-C felt something akin to satisfaction. The missile spun, it flicked and fishtailed, dove and climbed, every maneuver bringing the massive engines of the Thoros ever closer.

Twenty meters, fifteen meters, ten, six. A proximity warning came just before the moment of impact, then the laser bolts cut into his side. The last reading SL-551991-C got was a droid fighter punching through his own shattered body.

* * *
​

As it stood, Sal was feeling like he'd been relegated to the kitchen at this party. The action, all of it, may as well have been in a different galaxy for all the good it did him. "And this bloody piece of kark doesn't have a hyperdrive..." he growled to himself, his fingers flexing on the control stick. He felt as useless as eunuch at a brothel, less so, at least the eunuch could meet interesting people. Time ticked on and on, and he found his patience wearing to a nub, why did he even agree to this rubbish anyways? More to the point, he thought cautiously, when did he agree to this? Last he remembered he was sitting at some swanky bar in Eve, minding his own business and getting on with the serious business of getting royally karkfaced and then...and then...he'd woken up on the Termagant. The ghost of a memory swam in and out of focus, it had blue skin and red eyes...

"That smurf looking bastard!" he exclaimed.

"What was that 8?"

Actions:
Get the 8 Starlance Missiles into range of the Thoros (3 Remaining on target)
Complain with mild racism against Chiss.

 

[Nyx N1X3]

Allied Tags: Confederacy of Independent System and Allies | Kiff Brayde | Ciri Jade | Tess Valnora | Darth Metus | Srina Talon | Luna Terrik | The Monster | Anakwor Farlorn | Draconis Sederius Wolf | Vytal Noctura | Amelia von Sorenn | Derek Dib | John Locke

Uncertain: Muad Dib

AoC Tags: Agents of Chaos and Allies | Madalena Antares | Dimitri Lindzinsky | Lash | Gabriel Volturi

Ryloth? Oh, yes, Ryloth. Not very scenic in the Brightlands, hardly better in the Nightlands, and there was so little of Twilight it was hardly worth mentioning. Fortunately, Nyx almost never had any reason to go there. Not exactly a technology hub in the Confederacy. One of the times when remote computing had been quite acceptable especially with most Twi'lek not opposing rational security measures. And they had been rational. Both for their benefit and her own Confederate Intelligence Command.

So it was a bit of a surprise when the droid heard of trouble on Ryloth. Evidently today was the day that only slightly helpful warning came true.

In the back and forth between Confederate, Terrorist, Agents of Chaos, Agents of Chaos "Rogue" Elements, and Agents of Chaos Allies monitoring of the situation was at times difficult. There were people fighting over control of various communication systems, starships using communication jammers, and countless broadcast trampling over one another eager to get out. None of that bother Nyx, however. It was just data. Time delayed, perhaps, but almost none of it was ever truly lost due to buffers and caches. The blocked transmissions were, but those wouldn't matter in the grand scheme of things. You couldn't prove a negative.

So, where to begin... Ah, yes. The beginning.

"This just in... A coordinated attack launched by the Agents of Chaos and an unidentified Terrorist Cell of Twi'lek today rocked the Capital of Ryloth while countless men, women, and children were gathered to pay tribute on Founder's Day."

A video of the crowds celebrating was displayed as the Anchor spoke. There was even a shot from afar and behind a Twi'lek woman that appeared to lift her top and flash someone. It was difficult to make out the recipient of the act, but Dr. Ryan Alphonse would likely have little trouble identifying the culprit.

"A day once marked by the establishment of Ryloth as one of the first worlds to form the Confederacy, the crowds were overjoyed in marking the end of their enslavement by criminal elements throughout the galaxy and the start of their self-governance. Now, the day will also be remembered when fleets of starships jumped into the system and began raining drop pods and terror on the celebrating people of this world in an effort to undermine that progress."

"The assault began when the leader of the Agents of Chaos -- former Obsidian Knight Commander Madalena Antares," a picture of her in a neutral setting appeared in the video, "hijacked a broadcast signal to announce the Confederacy had eight minutes to comply with an unconditional surrender of the planet of Ryloth to them. Suddenly, the elation and cheer of the crowds that were suddenly under siege grew still."

A holo-vid of five second surrounding the conclusion of Madalena's broadcast took over in contrast to the celebratory display shown previously.

"Not content with the unease they fostered on such a day, another video was released shortly thereafter on the holo-net where an unidentified Twi'lek," a mugshot of the man from the video was displayed off to the side, "cut the head off of Elav Doneeta, recent author of the holonovel Ryloth: A History From Then Until Now, husband and father. Mister Doneeta had just been denounced by the Agents of Chaos' recent broadcast. The Terrorist then ended their video stating they would be coming, which to those unfortunate enough to bear witness to this travesty continued to plunge the crowd into despair."

"With Confederate Defense Forces, Dauntless, Surric Local Defense Force, and The First-and-Only Carian Ranger Regiment present to complete training the Twi'lek's own planetary Defense Force," the video changed to show the troops marching with Viceroy Elect Draconis Sederius Wolf at the lead, "what had been a parade of strength and unity soon became the Capital's greatest hope in protecting the people from the pandemonium that was to come." 'Mistakenly', a video of Draconis Wolf flexing his muscles while verbosely announcing his love of the Confederacy and her people.

The video was quickly switched to that of archived footage for the Viceroy's Manor in the Capital. "The Vicelord of the Confederacy was meeting with the Clan Elders of Ryloth, and it was one of those Clan Elders that openly denounced the Agents of Chaos attempt at claiming their world." A picture of the Elder in question was displayed with their head held high and facing the sun. "He refuted arguments the Twi'lek were enslaved, and described the very slavery that the Confederacy had only years ago banished from separating children from their parents, and forcing Twi'lek to grow up and live in deplorable conditions. The Vicelord himself," a picture of Metus soon joined the Clan Elder, "followed up on the impassioned response by appealing to the Agents of Chaos' commander, Madalena Antares, to prevent violence and to join together in ending oppression in the galaxy."

"Meanwhile, the Nightmother of the Mandragora, Vytal Noctura, known for her open demonstrations and seminars on spirituality and volunteer work among the Clans of Ryloth, seemed to bolster the spirits of those within the Capital." A video of the pale woman atop a parade float was briefly shown. "A turn that would have surely prevented utter chaos while various personnel worked in tandem to get people to designated shelters as a suicide bomber's explosion rocked the Capital."

"As the people below were subjugated to bombings, those in orbit had found themselves confronted by an unidentified and uninvited fleet that appeared, radio silent, as the Agents of Chaos' broadcast was made. One of those vessels -- that the Confederacy says was commanded by one Kaine Australis -- soon broke formation and made for the planet with an energy build-up registering as a weapons' power-up was detected," a video of the sensor screen with a single display showing power output rising above norm was displayed from the Sapphiric Scorn. "A vessel with The Dire Wolves Mercenary Company quickly declared it would engaged this ship despite standing orders otherwise. Once the battle was over, this ship, The Aegis, would be taken into custody or potentially declared a hostile vessel for their actions."

Audio from The Aegis was then played back, "The Golden Lance is currently moving to an orbital bombardment assault position. Repeat, THE GOLDEN LANCE IS CURRENTLY MOVING TO AN ORBITAL BOMBARDMENT ASSAULT POSITION. We cannot wait for the fleet to respond."

"While the Fleet was soon occupied by the threat of an orbital bombardment on the Capital dome, which would result in the loss of all life with even the survivors unable to last in the scorching light in the Brightlands, drop pods were seen entering Ryloth's atmosphere from the Agents of Chaos' fleet." A quick clip from the CDF fleet in orbit was displayed showing the vessels falling from orbit and entering atmosphere. "Another vessel made a jump to drop unidentified canisters into the atmosphere of Ryloth. At this time, reports suggest these contained only glitter, but used while the Capital was under attack this maneuver only served to distract vital resources needed to ensure the protect of the Twi'lek people. Nor was yet another unidentified and unauthorized vessel deploying twenty thousand non-indigenous animals in the habitable region of Ryloth conducive to protecting the people or the environment. Countless number of their corpses seem strung out across the Brightlands in the direction of the Capital dome. There is speculation that charges of Eco-terrorism will also be brought forward as a result."

"As threats mounted against the people in the Capital, it was Grand Marshal Luna Terrik that ordered evacuation shuttles be sent from the space station and fleet in orbit to ensure the safety of civilian personnel." Video of the evacuation ships Srina Talon called in was the footage shown on screen, however, which would also be bolstered by the Reserve Fleet of Amelia von Soreen.

"While in orbit, Grand Marshal Amelia von Sorenn of the Confederate Defense Force had this to say to the opposing forces... 'Agents of Chaos, one of your own - affiliated, mercenary, kin, ally - it matters not, is barreling their vessel towards Ryloth with the intent to destroy countless innocent lives on Ryloth.' From there she offered assurances of a cease-fire provided they assisted in stopping the bombardment. Such action was not taken in time, however, as the enemy weapon was soon dislodged from the vessel and then destroyed before it fell into Ryloth's atmosphere. All hands aboard The Aegis were lost in their selfless sacrifice to save the people below."

"Even when the fear of orbital bombardment was cleared, however, the urgency of the evacuation only grew as it was not one or two bombings, or the threat of the fleet above alone that the people of Ryloth had to deal with; but the arrival of lylek -- a formidable native lifeform even against well-armed personnel -- released by terrorists exposing underground tunnels built with the sole intention of setting the wild beasts on all within the dome. Bunkers and evacuation were the only means of protection, as anyone that attempted to venture across the scorched lands outside would not survive long. Confederate and Planetary Forces launched into action to combat this new threat and to buy the time needed to save the Capital population."

"Outside of the dome, mounted soldiers raced across the surface of Ryloth toward the Capital dome. While under siege from orbit and within, now hostile forces sought to strike from outside and prevent the evacuation of those inside." Video of the Hussar in the distance recorded from the dome's exterior cameras was displayed. There was not much detail at that range, but the camera tried in vain to focus several times nonetheless. "This would only a be temporary concern as ground forces picked up indications of a Heatstorm of Ryloth approaching the dome. Under normal conditions such a weather event would pass over the dome with its people safe from harm... until a Terrorist blew a hole in the side of the dome letting in increasing amounts of hot air that would kill everyone inside." Collapsing tunnels creating a gap under the dome and compromising the integity at the location didn't sound as exciting for the news. "Only through the swift and combined efforts of everyone on the ground were they able to stop the heated air from entering the dome and refortify it long enough for the evacuation ships to arrive." Videos of various branches of Confederate and allied personnel ushering the people and transporting them to safety were shown one after the other, along with a few stills of relieved and weary faces. A child's smile or two even shown through, often when in the presence of one, muscular Viceroy Elect.

"Even while the struggle for survival was waged below, the ships in orbit, freed of the imminent threat of a bombardment, reached out to offer aid to their unannounced visitors."

Fleet Marshal Tyrias Aran's voice could be heard calmly stating, "Disabled starfighters have been sighted in orbit of Ryloth. Support craft will render assistance.' followed by 'They are to be treated as a non-combatants[...]"

The Grand Marshall Amelia von Sorenn's message for search and rescue was played back, "I am deploying Medical and General Transport vessels to the locations of your disabled Starfighters and Vessels. Our goal is to ensure your pilot's and crew's safety and longevity. We are willing to render assistance and provide aid to your crews in evacuating your vessels and starfighters."

"As more and more damage was done to the dome by the terrorists, which some believe to have been backed or instigated by the Agents of Chaos themselves, it became clear to those on the ground that the Capital had suffered too much. The shelters built to protect the people could no longer be counted on to fulfill their purpose. Even the greatest cities in the galaxy are not designed to survive a deliberate attempt at utter devastation." The growing need to evacuate became clearer by the second. Personnel and vessels raced to get into position before the storm became too severe for small craft, though the Frigates would bear the brunt better and secure safe passage.

Grand Marshal Luna Terrik's voice played over a still image of the Capital's main gate. "[...]the structural integrity of the dome is now compromised. Make your way to a bunker not numbered 3, 5, or 6, or to the main gate and prepare to evacuate. There will be ships waiting for you to get you to safety. [...]This will not be the end of your people’s story. The Confederacy will make sure of that."

"More and more vessels soon arrived to aid Ryloth in protecting its citizens." A shot of the capital of Siskeen was displayed. "As even Ryloth's neighbor of Siskeen, and the United Siskeen Coalition forces, soon arrived. Like any people made of sovereign worlds with different cultures and beliefs, the Confederacy may at times appear fractured and divided; but whenever one of us suffers, we can always count on one another in our time of need."

A brief pause followed with videos of people of all origins and creeds working together played.

"Yet, despite renewed hope that the people of Ryloth would be spared from the devastation of the terrorists, it would be the fleet of the Agents of Chaos that would shatter that blessed moment of relief. Explosions, cannon fire, artillery fire, and starfighters were then set upon one another. The valiant and selfless efforts of those below in slowly containing the terrorists might go unnoticed while the ships above fought; the raw power, the color, the explosive majesty ensnares the senses for just a moment before the cost is tallied up. Many lives had been lost. Continued to be lost."

BREAKING

"This just in from Siskeen, neighboring Ryloth," to reiterate what was said earlier for those late or skipping around, "the Agents of Chaos have been attempting to negotiate with Viceroy Derek Dib. Sources say those negotiations have now broken down, and... Muad Dib," oh dear, "appears to be broadcasting live... he appears to be aboard the Scintilla, the Agents of Chaos' ship. We have not information on how he managed this, and out contact in the Confederacy of Independent Systems says they're unaware of what Mister Dib's plans are. There are few that could ever say they do."

"Wait... we're receiving word that the Agents of Chaos are claiming an explosion has occurred. With their forces on Ryloth we can't seem to reach the Agents of Chaos for comment just yet, and the Siskeen Viceroy's Office says a statement will be released at a later date."

BREAKING

"News from Ryloth! A massive explosion was detected in the Twilight Region... Our sources are saying-- Wait, here comes an orbital camera now." The video showed three frames of footage several times in sequence of the Castle seen from orbit before, during, and shortly after the detonation. "It would appear that the Agents of Chaos just attempted to destroy the location where countless members of the Mandragora reside. Due to the fighting in the area we're unable to establish contact and determine whether there were any survivors, however it appears the Castle is still standing."

BREAKING

"The Agents of Chaos have released various videos and audio clips in an effort to discredit the Confederacy. There's so much to cover, but first some information that the Agents of Chaos will not have shared in an effort to spin events in their favor."

A man's voice could be heard over a still image of Siskeen,“Tell the truth, your outrage over those deaths is nothing more than a public ploy to try to generate some manner of sympathy for your misguided cause. Where was this outrage minutes ago when we were discussing the fate of millions on Ryloth, put in danger by the actions of you and your ilk."

“You didn’t care about the lives lost on the planet, you didn’t care about the homes lost and the tears cried. But we did.” The image John presented to the audience on Siskeen was displayed int he holo-vid as well. One of the space around Ryloth as evacuation and hospital ships bearing the Confederation logo jumped in, before cutting to an image of the Agents’ fleet opening fire. "Not only didn’t you care, but your fleet also opened fire on us, turning a desperate attempt to rescue more before their lives could be lost into a battle to protect the transports before your reckless actions damned them and the lives they could save to the Abyss.”

"Don’t you have a shred of decency, of kindness left in your souls? You speak so flippantly about the deaths of millions, you dismiss them for your own political agenda and you think this what gives you the power to play god? It’s confederate soldiers and knights, it’s the droids and doctors of the Confederacy who are on that planet right now fighting, bleeding, dying to try to save those people."

"You wanted to speak of crimes, and so we will. The crimes of the Agents of Chaos are many and varied but can be summed up in one word. Terrorist. That most despicable of people who would sacrifice any number of innocents. The truth of the Agents of Chaos revealed to the galaxy."

"Word has also reached us of Agents of Chaos claims that the Confederacy knew of the impending attack. The Confederacy of Independent Systems then confirmed it received intelligence suggesting a threat may exist, but that the time, location, and nature of that action had not been made available, nor could the information be verified at the time it was received. Confederate Forces were stationed around the planet and in orbit for rapid response in the event an attack occurred, with additional resources on standby in nearby systems. Celebratory preparations were not cancelled after consultation with the leaders of Ryloth. Asked for comment, they declared they would not be slaves to fear any longer."

"Wait..." a long pause followed, "Is this...? There appears to be a ship that just dropped down in front of where the Agents of Chaos and the Viceroy of Siskeen are meeting. Oh gods... where...? It looks like fire is threatening to engulf the room!" Where the video was coming from they didn't know, but they didn't need to know. Nyx just made sure they got what was necessary and let them take it from there. "The ship just opened fire!"

They didn't even bother with 'BREAKING' at this point. It was evident what kind of news was being seen on camera. All their hopes rested on whoever or whatever feeding them the footage from outside the room not being brought down amidst all the chaos. "We.. we can't tell who may still be inside, or why this has happened. Wait... it looks like someone is attacking the ship. We can't make out who or what... Our prayers are with the Siskeen people and the Viceroy..." The position, angle, and everything that was happening wasn't giving away more than was necessary. The excitement and thrill of danger and the unknown kept peoples' rapt attention did it not? Just because Nyx was a droid did not mean she failed to understand organic electro-chemical based lifeforms.

The droid with full access to the Confederacy's Intelligence Network and countless planetary systems had assembled and pieced together various information to feed to various news organizations and outlets. It took far less time than those posting propaganda on the holo-net in support of the Agents of Chaos. Her only bottle neck was in the time it took to distribute all of this to organics. The bandwidth and transfer rate to such creatures was painfully slow. So terribly inefficient. Why the entire day was a demonstration in just how chaotic such creatures were. Fortunate for them such messes were educational, even if they were equally vexing.

 

[Faye Malvern]

Location: Siskeen Diplomatic Conference
Objective: Get Everyone Back on Track
Wearing: xxx | Cridhe Gras | Akaran Engagement Band
Confederate Tags: John Locke | Luca Donskoi | Raven Thystle | Daegon Corvinus | Seraphina Corvinus | Visanj T'shkali | Lesya Kosarev | Derek Dib | + Anyone I've forgotten!
Chaos Tags: Enlil | Gabriel Volturi | Annasari | Holly Starstorm | Larentia | Alwine Daye | Izwi Kutaurira | The Red of Sinner | + Anyone I've forgotten!
​

More words. More pleads. More accusations. It seemed to go round and round in never ending circles, even after @Gabriel Volturi’s violent outburst. Faye should have been grateful. Often, with tensions so high, the opposite was true. Situations that could have been solved with a few honest words instead, lead to slaughter, but not this time. Even with weapons raised on all sides, words still flitted around the room. She hated it, with an indescribable passion. Behind the words, and behind the stoic faces that spoke them, lay a violent streak waiting to burst forth.

Merely a disguise for impending violence, and the more they said, the bigger the explosion would be.

Everything about the conference room now screamed of danger. Faye could feel it attacking her from all angles. Painful, white hot reminders that nothing good would come from remaining where she was. Even the soft mutterings of Viceroy Daegon Corvinus did not stir her. Derek Dib made one more plea for a peaceful resolution. The Minister should have held her breath in hope that the Agents would accept, but she knew what their response would be before the wolf even opened her mouth. Further idle threats and false words followed their refusal to submit. Faye was rather surprised to hear of the attack on Scintilla, but most of what the wolf girl said went straight over the Minister’s head.

It was only when Exarch Locke spoke up that Faye began to tune into the words. It was strange to hear him speak. Whenever they’d had a chance meeting on Geonosis he’d remained remarkably placid. He had a strange quality that made him look like a black and white painting, but as Faye listened, she began to see the colours he kept so well hidden. Compassion, humility, appreciation, and patience. Despite her lack of intimate knowledge on the Exarch, there was no denying his patience was wearing thin. Even as Alden spoke, the stubbornness of a nation in the midst of a teenage rebellion would not budge.

The soft rumble of Alden’s voice coming to an end was the straw that finally snapped the tension in two. Moisture seeped from the air until it felt like trying to take a breath on Geonisis. Hot, dry heat. Coupled with the gratingly pretentious pomp of the “neutral” party. Faye began to open her mouth to attempt to dissuade him once more, when a blinding blue flame filled the conference room. Suddenly, before anyone had any time to react, chaos. Her vision was momentarily blinded as the table flipped onto its side, forming a makeshift shield from the sudden heat that tore through the room. Faye slunk down, pressing her back against the table, entirely unphased as the temperature began to steadily rise.

She could smell burnt hair, and the charred material of her dress where the flames had caught and licked her skin, leaving behind angry red burns and melted thread. Utter carnage raged around her, making it impossible to see where Alden was, where Exarch Locke was, where Daegon and Seraphina Corvinus were. Her only hope was the flicker of none orange light creeping under a door. It wasn’t the door they had entered, or the door that would likely lead to complete safety, but it was a door. Keeping low, Faye made a beeline for what felt like her only chance of escape. The guard crouched at the door waved through the smoke, wafting it so frantically it curled in stange hypnotic patterns as it climbed toward the ceiling. With each movement she could see his outline more clearly, she could even pick out the kinks in the bottom of the door from years of opening and closing. One of the guards offered out a hand to help her rise, and Faye reached out to take it, until it froze midair. It shook furiously for a few moments, fighting the wave of dark force that tangled itself amidst the smoke and flame. And then...

Something snagged her chest in a vice like grip, squeezing until it was almost painful to draw in the air necessary to breath. This was all too familiar. A near perfect rendition of a time gone by that Faye had done her best to bury for years. She was so young. The searing heat from the blisters left by the fire faded entirely, but a blinding pain across her thigh that she had been desperate to forget struck up. All that was left of the faded memory was the smell of burnt flesh, the warm splatter of blood across her face, the sound of bodies hitting cold marble tile, the screams, the betrayal, the dread… Trapped in her own little world of chaos, Faye furiously wiped the crimson spots littering her face with the sleeve of her dress. The pure white material came back a blinding scarlet, and it was only then that she realised it was already stained.

All she could hear was the deafening pounding of her own heart, until a hand clenched around her wrist. One of the felcatian guards attending with Viceroy Raven Thystle . A strange face was hardly ever a friendly one, but in this case Faye had never been more glad to see a stranger in her life. There was no need to speak. Just as she began to climb to her feet, the sprinkler system burst to life, but it was punctuated with a noise that would forever remain echoing in the ears of all present. A single solitary gunshot. Faye scanned the room in horror, only to watch the deadly shot find its mark. Taking not one life, but two.

Water cascaded from the ceiling, drenching everything and soothing the flames that had sought to consume. As the smoke and flame died down, and the water ran crimson around her feet, Faye could only stare in horror. What was supposed to have been an easy diplomatic mission had turned into a nightmare. A nightmare that even the darkest of hearts would shy away from.

With the Agents of chaos now gone, and the perpetrator of the needless death that now filled a room once designated for peace collapsed, silence returned to the room. But unlike the immediate danger, the tension had not yet drained. No longer the dominant emotion, it was easy to single out where it was coming from. The ring around her finger felt molton hot, a heat that rivalled the flames. Hatred seeped from every gem that Alden had placed lovingly in the polished band. Her brows furrowed in the centre. It was almost overwhelming. It churned her stomach frantically, until she was forced to clutch it to stop the pain. Her raven gaze scanned the chaos of the conference room, intending to look for Luca Donskoi …

But they instead came to rest on the bodies of Seraphina Corvinus and Derek Dib . “Alden…” Her voice cracked out, timid and broken from the smoke that still coated her throat. Anger could wait. Wherever their enemies were, they were no longer an immediate threat. Her tattered waterlogged shoes shattered the silence as they crunched over burned cinders. Faye picked her way through the rubble toward the bodies. Her heart caught in her throat, and she cast her gaze away from the swanlike frame of Viceroy Corvinus’ wife to the outline of her fiance. "The Viceroy of Siskeen. S-.. Seraphina..." Her lip wobbled when she spoke, as the reality of the situation threatened to finally hit home.

 

[Millu Lee]

Location: Vureshakkairn Castle
Objective: Defend Ryloth
Allies: Beric Layne , Sabine Delacroix , Vytal Noctura , Kat Decoria , Effie , Zlova Rue CIS
Enemies: Scherezade deWinter , Lirka Ka , AoC
Equipment: Vaela Layne's Lightsaber


Millu assumed the woman was a friend. Or at least she had to, for now. There was no way she could afford to be careful with trust right now. If Sabine said she was a guest of the Nightmother, she was a guest of the Nightmother. She'd just have to keep her eyes open.

The squire stood beside Sabine Delacroix and watched the monstruous creature and the brunette woman fight. The woman beside her asked Millu a question about the monster in front of them. She tried to feel something, she really did. But the creature seemed not to have a force signature. It was just empty. Not warm and friendly like her master, not cold and frightning either - which she thought it would be, seeing as she was so scared of the thing.

It just felt hollow. As if there was something there once, but then the beast's very life essence had been stripped from it, and now they were somehow just a body. It was somehow more frightning than anything the girl could had ever felt. That was just unnatural.

"I... I can't feel anything. It doesn't have a Force signature.. How?"

Every second that passed, Millu got more and more scared of this red beast that was fighting the brunette woman so viciously. The woman seemed so small with every second that passed, even though Millu could see she was fighting like crazy. But the squire couldn't really see past her fear. There seemed to be only one way this whole thing could end. The brunette would certainly die without help. Millu was sure of it.

There was no way anyone could take this beast alone. And so, in a fit of impulse, the squire picked up a decently sized rock from the floor, and threw it at the creature.

 

[Astrid Skovgaard]

B R O T H E R H O O D​

Location: Capitol Building - Clansmoot
Allies: CIS & Friends
Equipment: Standard Armour | Standard Lightsaber
Tags: Redd | Jason Farkas ​

Total darkness would have been preferable. The white haze of her body reached out to strangle the pitch black tunnels with tendrils of light, making it almost impossible to see anything beyond her own nose.

Astrid stretched her hands out, until her fingers found stone. Slowly encroaching heat had already begun to taint the walls, but it was nothing compared to the sweltering temperatures they had left behind. Her best bet was to use the wall as a guide to carry them through the tunnel. She wasn’t sure if it turned and twisted, or whether there were trick corridors or traps or… The wolf forced her to take a breath. Calm. A reassuring scent had drifted on the wind blowing through the craggy tunnel. Redd was back.

Bolstered by her packmate securing the back of the group, Astrid pressed on. The elders walked painfully slowly. Each step carefully measured to ensure their fragile frames were utterly steady before daring to lift their weight. The white wolf passively wondered whether or not she would take such care of herself when age came to claim her. She hoped not, as did the wolf. They liked being reckless and carefree. But they would no doubt feel differently in the years to come. Several pairs of boots shuffled one by one across the gravel ladened ground. When the only thing that surrounded you was darkness on all sides, time passed in a strange way.

It had felt like minutes, or hours, or days even, since Astrid had shoved the bookcase aside. “Redd.” She called back from the front of the group, not realising that her packmate had fallen behind. “How long are w-...” She paused, in both word and step. Her hand shot up to put a halt to the marching behind her. Carried on the hot breeze that whipped through the cave came the scent of freedom. There was no sunlight to match her assumption, but for a lupine, scent was all they needed. “We are not far now, twi’leks of great age. I think only a little further.” The group behind her grumbled softly, but their thick accents jumbled their words.

Astrid nodded, taking whatever they had said as a good sign and started their walk again.

There was no need to shout back to Redd. She knew the way and would have overheard the conversation. The closer she drew, and the stronger the scent got, the slower she paced herself. By the time the flicker of yellow sunlight began to fade into view Astrid was going at an almost snail pace. It was partially the wolf, and partially her deep desire not to run into one of those giant bug things again. “Redd, we are here.” She stopped short of a circle of daylight, where she could feel the edges of heat tickling her muscles. She wasn’t sure what she was looking for. The Confederate ships were almost unknown to her.

It was time for Redd to take charge.​

 

[Vytal Noctura]

F A M I LY . I S . M O R E . T H A N . B L O O D

Equipment: Nightmother's Ward Lightsaber; Blood of Dathomir Armor; Pouch of 8x 0.2 oz Water of Life Potions, 3x 1 oz Water of Life Potions, 3x Raxus Relief Gas Patches, 1x Raxus Relief Gas AoE Capsule, Scroll

CIS Allied: Shamira Karuto | Darth Metus | Kyyrk

AOC Allied: Judd Hunter | Anesia Jy'Vun | Katrine Van-Derveld | Madalena Antares | Samatharis | Hanna | Jai'galaar Gred
​

Earlier...
Vytal and Katrine had said words, though neither seemed to get through to the other. Though the Nightmother's countenance had darkened at one particular moment, and when one of the last, brief moments of peace existed atop the mountain, she had but one thing to add. Her finger pointed to the corpses of the fallen so many trampled over without a second thought. "Sister Allia, Sister Vhera, and Brother Thomas followed in the footsteps of Shaman before they were slain, Katrine," Vytal snapped. To think so many of the Mandragora were written off because their absent Nightmother -- whom Vytal had taken up speaking for in her place a time or two before becoming Nightmother herself -- did not know their faces... To think only the ones she even knew or recognized were worthy of the dark spirits she called Lylek, Jart, and Doashim... Yes, it seemed the two women were not even reading from the same tome. Reconciliation was neither sought nor desired it seemed.

There came a point when a Nightsister or a Witch had to recognize when a dark spirit could not be reasoned with. When conflict or dismissal were the only outcomes. Was that sad? Not when it came to spirits whose personalities and ways of thinking were set -- they were what they were. But when it came to the Living, sentients whom discourse was possible and where minds were not necessarily set in stone; well, conflict was not desired, but sometimes it was necessary.

Now...
"Lets," Vytal replied to Judd Hunter with a black smile beneath as the green energy poured through her eye sockets.

The durafiber of her armor had helped weather the heat given off by Anesia's tempest of wind and fire while it lasted; though the chill air of the Nightlands itself lengthened the time it would take to bake by induction alone. Not long, but enough for both sides involved to avoid becoming extra crispy on the wrong side of the planet. Her armor might even last longer in the heat than her opponent, which should provide enough warning when the proverbial kitchen became too hot.

The Hapan Greeting could probably work on someone with a blaster, but with a twist or flick of the wrist a saber could ruin the rest of someone's life. She stepped back with the wrist laser clipping her shoulder. The tip of her blade straightened out before her to discourage the man from trying to close the distance again, ready to thrust straight through his torso -- even if she had to spend a few seconds burning through his armor to do it. "It's been so long," the tip waved half an inch up and down in the air, "but I see this hasn't changed much."

A sharp, reverberating cry followed Samatharis' particle blast as it struck her in the back. Her features twisted into a snarl as her left hand was shoved forward to knock Judd away so her burning gaze could turn to regard the woman below. "Stay out of this." Vytal's left shoulder rolled as if that could just erase the pain caused by the splash; armor had kept it from punching a hole through her at least. In the wake of the blow, however, the black shell that had engulfed the Altar had grown less intense. Contours could be made out through the translucent field.

"And you, settle down." Forefinger and middle finger extended out from about the grip of the saber as Vytal pointed at Anesia Jy'Vun and then jerked her hand toward the ground. All these creatures scrambling around the top of the mountain making so much noise. Could someone not have a proper duel in peace any more? A little playful banter, some light cuts, and culminate in a pleasant beheading? Was that too much to ask after all this time?

Template By: Darth Metus (Guy)​