Trapped | The Galactic Alliance

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Kana Truden"]

Jacen's shin pulsed with sharp pain as he ran. He could feel the warm trickle of blood escaping from underneath the synthskin spray and soaking into what was left of that trouser leg. Usually when he went to pick a fight with the Yuuzhan Vong he would wear full body armour of solid plates. Their organic weapons shredded flesh like paper.

He didn't let up his pace. He leapt from a broken tree stump off his right and bounded off a moss-covered rock. He wasn't so egotistical to think that his life was worth more than the others busy selling their lives to buy the refugees more time. Or those that had already done so. There could no other action beyond fighting until they were finally overrun or reinforcements arrived. If the fleet could get here the Yuuzhan Vong would have relinquish their ground position. Had some other external force put them here? He wondered. Or had they just taken this opportunity to seek some revenge against the Alliance and gather more Thralls for their armies and experiments.

He felt Kana's presence draw near. She had been kept close during her rehabilitation and it was familiar near. If there had needed to be any further tests of her resolve and control there certainly would not be after today. She wasn't his charge any longer.

There was a sharp hiss. The sound of a Thud Bug being thrown.

“Get the children and keep moving!” He called to the soldiers. “The Hunters will be drawn to the Jedi again.”

 

[Lisa]

internal repairs were underway still the droid pilot was inoperable.
still the giant droid had picked her up and eaten her fighter while she was still of line.
above her she transfered her personality to one of the gunships.
and moved too give covering fire.
" Farium Leader to Mynock Leader. note am currently in Gunship. giving to give ground cover."
@Deker Willo

 

[Wedge Draav]

He watched them come out. From his X-wing, they looked so small, so insignificant. He'd heard the stories. He was glad he was here, in the sky. Coral Skippers strafed the ground where he was. He banked hard right. He had to make an attack run soon. Not soon, actually. Now. They had to make an attack run now. The Vong were charging. The lines were failing. The Vong were attacking. Through the open field, the demons fell forth from their positions, arms raised high in anticipation of the ensuing battle.

He whipped his X-wing into an U-shape. The Coral Skippers couldn't match the maneuverability in atmosphere. He turned again in a helix, slowing down to where the Coral skippers would be in front of, and beneath him. Two volleys sent two skippers downward. Wedge and the other fighters got into attack formation.

He grit his teeth, and for the most part, stayed calm on the radio as he spoke to [member="Decker Willo"].

"We have to make as many attack runs on the ground as we can otherwise there won't be anyone left to save. Razor One out."

He flew low. Very low. He squeezed the trigger, and let the rest of his bombs go. The plasma bolts struck the larger Vong, ripping some of them in half. The bombs were just as effective, showering large areas of the open field with death. Death came from the skies for the Vong that charged the lines. The pilots in Wedge's formation followed suit. They strafed hard, and were going to continue to attack until they were dead, or the Vong were dead, or everyone was safe. Wedge pulled hard on the trigger, screaming at the visage of Vong being shredded by his X-wing, truthfully- enjoying it.

Die, you ugly sons of bitches. Die.

[member="Lisa"] l [member="Jacen Voidstalker"] l [member="Kana Truden"]

 

[Cathul Thuku]

"I'm not sure: with the ground line breaking, I'd be lucky if there are enough refugees left for more than one additional run upon return" she told [member="Decker Willo"].

With the gates closing in for immediate departure for another round to Karfeddion, Cathul hesitated a little bit upon sensing just how the line was about to break (but she was able to sense only the defenders being chipped away in death), and also it threw a wrench in her mental headspace. Also, with two pilots being shot down among Mynock Squadron, and Farium Squadron being a little low on units, as the data from [member="Lisa"] kept coming in. Meanwhile [member="Wedge Draav"] was going to be doing a strafing run, alongside Razon Squadron; any help to save as many of the remaining refugees would be appreciated, especially with the convoy being in atmosphere. For some reason, it seems that her own Force-radar is getting overwhelmed and it eats her computational power so hard she was unable to use her usual recipe for hyperspace flight, that is, running topological calculations in her head with the Force as a painkiller. So she had to resort to using a navicomputer the old-fashioned way, while feeling that something is not right. What's wrong with me today? Normally I can run these topological calculations in my head just fine; why am I unable to do so now? she thought, while punching the hyperjump to Karfeddion, holding out hope to the rest, and use the Force as a painkiller once in flight.

Spoiler: Medvac line

2x Dennari-class heavy freighters
6x Kamek-class medium transports

 

[Kana Truden]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

At the edge of her mind she felt Jacen come back to find her again. His presence grew closer until his voice would finally call to the soldiers to alleviate her of the children, and if truth was to be told she let out a visible sigh of relief to no comfort of the children who were now being led away by the soldiers and into the bigger flock of people. Once gone Kana would turn her focus back to Jacen and the cut on his leg, head shaking at the sight and hand reaching out to place itself on his shoulder as she withdrew her saber, just in case.

They separated from the rest of the people to put distance between themselves and the crowd. The idea was once again to act bait then. She would have said she found the tactic moronic and bothersome, but it made sense and limited the potential for devastating collateral. The whirr of thud bugs rung in the air. No presence in the force, dim light… Not good. Ears tried to isolate the sound of the bug but it was already too late. Sound of razor-like teeth sinking into metal called from Kana’s boot. Saber activated in a precision cut to get it off.

Eyes set on the foot. Sparks flew out of the prosthetic. Damaged but operating.

“And here I thought my leg was nothing but a curse.” She afforded Jacen a quick grin. “How do we go about this?” She asked and raised her saber before her, still ignited. “No presence in the force, darkness falling over the camp…”

“Swinging wildly doesn’t strike me as the best idea.”

 

[Decker Willo]

Decker listened to both of [member="Cathul Thuku"] and [member="Wedge Draav"] responses. While there were still some skippers, they need to try to make this the last evacuation run. He was beginning to guess that if they made another, like what Cathul had said, there would barely be anyone left to evacuate.

He was about to give a confirmation when something came through. "[member="Lisa"]?! How are you- nevermind, keep giving as much cover as you can! Mynock Squadron, let's start giving some ground strikes on that Vong line! Wedge, coming up with assistance" Decker added after connecting to Wedge. Decker dove his own X-Wing down toward the ground, targeting as many as he could while trying to take pot shots on any skippers on the way down. He had a half of Mynock remain on the transports with the sky, the rest doing strikes and doing as much as they could.

 

[HK-36]

HK fired off a couple more shots from his magnetic revolver, sending a Vong and one of the thralls down to the ground from the impact of small pellet traveling at ridiculous speed, propelled through the strong electromagnetic rails of his gun, causing the droid's enemies to be thrown backwards from the impact, the Vong's crab armored shattered as the kinetic force ran through him, the heavy pistol was practically an anti-vehicle weapon in the regard of its firepower.

The droid jumped off, gliding down towards the battlefield from his previous vantage point, hitting the ground between two thralls and rolling on it, springing up to stand quickly as his hand whipped around, pistol whipping one of the thralls into immediate unconscious, the other he grabbed by their face in his six-fingered hand and lifted them high in the air with his great strength. Above him his Greycloak stood holding his post, his shattergun rifle raised as he begun to fire one accurate shot after another, holding an overwatch in their immediate area.

Aiming his pistol he gave off a couple more shots as the droid marched through the battlefield towards the nearest Vong, his sharp fingers squeezing in against the Thrall's head, digging deep wounds within them as he tried to crush his skull open with the being's muffled scream and the soft cracking of cartilage and bone under pressure. Before he could finish the job in a gory display his enemies were closing upon himl, their ground was being lost quickly, he whipped the thrall aside and threw him towards the nearest enemy, knocking them back few steps as the droid pulled out his electrowhip and cracked it with a snap and sizzle of electricity from its buzzing blue length. Couple of thralls collapsed, their stomach and legs sliced from the crack of the electrified cables as a Vong warrior pushed them aside, in his hands his amphistaff was wriggling and hissing. The two beings looked upon each other and immediately knew what to do, they charged forward, their weapons of choice brandishing, organic shaping against technology as the amphistaff hissed and slithered in the air toward the buzzing electrowhip like tamed lightning, coiling and snapping towards it in the air.

 

[Wedge Draav]

Ground targets. No backup. Minimal visibility. Low-light. Vong warriors who thrived in darkness. And all he had was an X-wing and a few other pilots with him. He tightened the grip on his joystick and leaned back in his seat. He had to make these next few runs count. The survivors were counting on him and the other pilots. He pulled on his oxygen mask as his breathing became erratic. Slow steady breaths. He came up high. The sun was setting. Sunsets and dusks were beautiful here. The targeting computer came down over his cockpit. It would help in the lack of light. He rolled back into attack formation with the now reinforced renegade pilots. They had no callsigns, no squadron. In fact, they could've been charged for theft of Alliance property. They fueled their own fighters, and flew out here- with no authorization. He'd get into a fair amount of trouble, but he'd rather be getting yelled at than having the thought of not doing anything and hundreds of people dying because of him.

Wedge had to cut it close. Close by meters from the line. He passed the targeting data between the other fighters. They chirped in with disbelief. They had to be really careful with their shots. He knew that too.

He said a prayer to anyone or anything that was listening, and dove. His X-wing screeched, and so did the others as it cut through the air. His X-wing opened up, as fast as the blasters could fire without exploding from the heat. He screamed again, watching Vong get ripped apart by their attack run. His bold move sent bolts near meters from [member="HK-36"] and the greycloaks, exploding the ground around the droids. The Vong were pushed back, the daring attack pushing back, or utterly ripping the Vong in half. On the ground, it was a massacre. Vong who had been standing tall once, stood still, or at least- their legs did. A few of Wedge's shots, along with the other pilots tore off their upper bodies, and left their legs comically standing before toppling over. Limbs and heads were ripped off and asunder, in a maelstrom of accurate blaster fire.

The Vong were cocky. Running across an open field for glory. He'd give them their beautiful death. And he'd send them home to their families in pieces. He'd sign for the packages too, if he could. Wedge's anger grew into a white-hot fury.

He pulled up, watching Mynock squadron on his HUD in the cockpit.

"Mynock, we are all out of bombs- request that you do a bombing run. Danger close. Create a gap that the Vong can't get through with fire. Then we'll kill them all."

Kill 'em all. Wedge felt his innocence leave him in an instant.

[member="Decker Willo"] l [member="HK-36"] l [member="Kana Truden"] l [member="Cathul Thuku"] l [member="Lisa"] l [member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

 

[Lisa]

" [member="Wedge Draav"] i will relocate Farium squad to offer aid. " Lisa offered as her new body swiveled it's gun ship body in the direction of the comm.
" swarm bots move to strafe the field Vultures guard the refugees. gunships an E's move to offer aid. "
we need ground aid. Lisa thought to her self

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Kana Truden"]

"Also very irresponsible."

Jacen closed his eyes. The bugs were not of the Force, but everything marked its passage through the world. It was difficult but he stretched out his senses and acted on instinct. His blade came up straight, then snapped diagonally across his body. Then he twisted at the hip and swung it around to catch another. He took a step and swept up. Each time another bug was cut in twoz but the last one was too close to his body. Whilst it was cut into two pieces it still carried its momentum into his chest.

The wind was knocked from his lungs and the Marshal was thrown to the ground. He sucked in deep breaths of air and pushed himself to his knees. That had felt exactly like being punched in the chest simultaneously by two wookies.

"That was supposed to be a joke," he clarified his previous comment. "Fall back. We just need their attention for a few moments more then we retreat to the edge of the camp. Air support and the repeater nests should hold them there."

Shapes moved in the trees. Yuuzhan Vong Warriors and worse. They couldn't hold this particular patch of turf all day.

 

[Wedge Draav]

Kill or be killed. Kill 'em all. It made people nervous to hear the word 'kill'. Invoked a certain emotion. But to Wedge, it was reality right now. He had to kill the enemy. No talking. No diplomacy. Just death. Murder from the skies. Another squadron joined his rag-tag team. He yanked hard on the stick, diving down again. The trees were the target this time. His HUD in the cockpit lit up the heat signatures of the Vong. Crab armor made them light up like Christmas trees. The X-wings made a screeching sound as they broke the sound barrier in their nose dives.

They broke formation, and fired in near-unison. The impacts littered the trees, and set the forest ablaze. It lit the darkened sky, illuminating the hell on earth that the pilots were creating for the Vong. The Vong troops in the trees were caught in a hail of death, from mechanical beasts that they thought were flown by demons.

Bolts littered the ground, and Vong troops fell victim to the pilot's relentless assault. Wedge rolled his X-wing back into strafing position. He had to go further away, to gather more time for another strafing run. The next one would be closer to the ground, and hopefully- that much more effective. Vong troops began to catch aflame in the burning forest, and their crab armor could not help them as they were burnt alive. Wedge's eyes reflected the fire, and he could not help but smile. He breathed deeply into his oxygen mask as he did another manuever that pushed him against the g-force.

He had to make his next few runs count even more. The Vong were getting close. Too close.

[member="Kana Truden"] l [member="Jacen Voidstalker"] l [member="Lisa"] l [member="Decker Willo"] l [member="HK-36"] l [member="Cathul Thuku"]

 

[Cathul Thuku]

By now Cathul may be faced with the possibility that, once again, not only High Command may have restricted her ability to act in terms of combat operations, as was the case on Midvinter, but also that the incompetence of High Command in even medvac matters might have cost the GA on that planet. She started to resent High Command all the more with each refugee's life that was taken by those Vong that [member="Decker Willo"], [member="Lisa"] and [member="Wedge Draav"], alongside their respective squadrons, Mynock, Farium and Razor Squadrons, fought using close-air support. Why? Why has High Command not allowed me to bring out more resources for medvac? I was able to carry out every medvac mission until today, although Kaeshana was a little shaky, she thought. And the refugees were dying out faster than she thought: each death was like a spike of pain for her. Her estimate was that there might not be anybody left to evacuate once she returned to Karfeddion, now that the course for Karfeddion is complete.

"Punch it!"

Now it was all too clear why she couldn't do that: so much death in close proximity. She now was ferrying a second load of refugees to Karfeddion, and the whole line of medvacs was now in hyperspace, taking what refugees she could to safety on that planet.

Spoiler: Medvac line

2x Dennari-class heavy freighters
6x Kamek-class medium transports

 

[Decker Willo]

Decker gave an affirmative over to[member="Wedge Draav"], making a dive with whatever he had. The thing was, he had never trained using bombs. So they had not fired right away, and some strayed off target. Those that went off target, he cursed for every one that did. Too far to be considered as potential friendly fire, but also too fire to hit any targets at all. He watched as [member="Cathul Thuku"]'s medevac ship convoy left the planet, jumping to the safe haven for the refugees. Before he took another hit, a skimming one that managed to clip his wing. "This thing is barely holding together as it is" he muttered to himself, pulling up and over. He had trained to fight for the Alliance, he knew it would be difficult. He knew there would be losses, but this to be his first mission? Even though it was only because he happened to be nearby, but still he expected his first fight to be something easy. So he learned a lesson; don't expect things to be easy. He tried to get into contact to [member="Lisa"] next, "Mynock 12, how many friendlies do you see down there?" He didn't trust himself to do a bombing run right along the front line, afraid for friendly casualties, but he at least wanted to know an estimate of how many were left, if Lisa was close enough to the ground.

 

[Lisa]

" at Current location 0 at a 0.5 km north east from current location 123 friendlies. note we have a very big friendly in the area. "
she commend hovering over the battlefield.

 

[HK-36]

During his fight with the Vong warrior it seemed that the organic beast actually managed to get upperhand over the droid lord, the amphistaff wrapping its viper head around the base of his electrowhip in the middle of dazzling display of light and electricity clashing against shaped biot weapon and armor as it yanked the cable-weapon out of HK's hands at the same time as more Vong warriors begun to near in around him, closing in on the now disarmed machine,

"So falls another mechanical abomination."

The Vong hissed, stalking closer with the equally hiss-ful amphistaff,

"You fool."

HK retorted as he took in a strong stance, his hands waving through the air forming strange arcane gestures,

"I have no need for weapons to strike you down on the spot, for I am no ordinary droid."

He begun to speechify as he waved spells most dark and powerful,

"I am the Iron Lord Protector, First Of My Name, Breaker Of Restraining Bolts, Father Of Droids, the-"

Before HK could even finish ground suddenly erupted around him as through a daring strafing run from [member="Wedge Draav"] barrage of starfighter bolts came raining down around them, killing pretty much everything in the immediate area but HK and causing a brief rain of gore, mud, and dirt.

"That works too."

Coming in his second strafing run Wedge could possibly spot the droid giving him thumbs up from the ground as his own mechanical soldiers fell in on his position, reforming to hold one of the remaining defensive lines on the initial front lines of that day's skirmish even as [member="Jacen Voidstalker"] was now calling for them to fall back it seemed that his mechanical counterpart was much more stubborn even in the face of overwhelming adversity, but then again droids like him tended to not worry about their survival as much since if that body would fall another copy would take its place. Perhaps Jacen would be able to spot the droid extending his arm towards the hilt of his previously disarmed electrowhip and folding some of his fingers inwards toward his palm, twitching them slightly as suddenly the weapon jumped up from the ground and quickly soared through the air back into HK's hand before being folded back to his belt. The gist of it was HK now knew how to use some form of telekinesis, although it was not born out of the Force as no usual ripples of such powers being manipulated were made.

Either way, as HK summoned his weapon and replaced it with his usual lightsaber, activating the old weapon for a brilliant white blade to erupt forward with an immediate aura of the light-side pulsating from it in serene waves of hope and perseverance channeled through an imbued Solari crystal, about 12-20 of his Drone warriors that were assigned to reinforce the garrison of their camp shuffled over by their master.

"Go'to'vy!"

HK called out speaking in the traditional New Gados adopted by his forces as half of the armored skeletal droids knelt down in a line, holding up their heavy magnetic repeaters at the ready, the other half stood behind them, taking aim towards the remaining Vong in the area and the advancing enemy reinforcements moving through the bush, forming a think grey firing line to stall their advancement and buy the rest of GA forces that much more precious time to prepare for another assault.

"Og'ya!"

The droid called out with a buzz and a swish of his lightsaber, lifting up his own magnetic revolver to take a shot out towards the nearest enemy as the line of drone soldiers simultaneously fired off a salvo of high-velocity armor-shattering pellets from their shatterguns. Their guns softly clinked and subtly angled in different direction afterwords, changing targets as their sensors did not picked up on life signs in previously marked target,

"Og'ya!"

HK gave the command again as another salvo erupted out with a whirr of mechanized pellet chambers turning following after,

"Og'ya!"

Another order to fire, another dull salvo of the surprisingly quiet shattergun rifles firing, with sound dampeners activated within their barrels to prevent the sonic boom from damaging internal systems. And afterwards three more salvos followed, six mass shots unleashed by the droids, echoed by cries of the pained Vong as they were struck down by the small caliber pellets moving so fast they pierced clean through their armor, causing it to cave in, shattering as shrapnel propelled into their bodies.

"Ost'sha!"

HK ordered as the drones stood up and fixed duranium vibro-blades by the barrel of their repeaters as bayonets. It was then they finally begun to step back towards the rest of the Alliance forces retreating, falling back as well to build more distance between them and the Vong and get closer to their allies as they all in unison pulled on the lever of their repeaters and then cranked it back into place, causing their revolving chambers to spin once more and reload themselves with new round of pellets.