Two Guys in Red Building Stuff

[Cedric Dorn]

Kir stood in the hangar of the Crimson Wraith. His body was covered in a heavy armor unlike anything he had ever seen before. His hands felt heavy, his feet felt clumsy, and in general he felt as though he would break anything he came near. Yet he also felt powerful.

The Armor made him feel like nothing he had ever felt before. He could feel the underlying power behind it, feel the strength it would give him, feel the things it would allow him to do. His hand opened and closed, the armors sensors picking up every little twitch that the servo's conducted. He frowned slightly as a message popped up on his Heads Up Display, telling him of the strength readings in each of his fingers.

How odd that was.

“Commander.” Kir suddenly said as he snapped to attention.

[member="Commander Orin"] was the head of the Imperial Royal Guard, he stood only below Darth Mierin in commanding them. His word was law, and his presence demanded a certain amount of respect. Kir was one of the newer recruits to the Guard, and thus he felt extra respectful.

“Sir, were ready to move on the Asteroid by your command.” He commented quickly, informing Orin of the Situation. “The Chiss have held out here for three months now, since The One Sith took Csilla. Supposedly their top Ship Engineers are being held here.”

That was the intelligence they currently had. The Chiss Rebellion was on its heels and had mostly been crushed, now the last of them had found themselves a home here in this Asteroid belt. They had been told by traitors of the rebellion that the top Starship Engineers of the Ascendancy had been taken here for safekeeping, to deny the One Sith a Key Asset.

It was up to the Guard to get them back.
[member="Commander Orin"]

 

[Menoetius]

[member="Lieutenant Kir"]

The dimly lit hangar did the aesthetics of the Royal Guard's power armour no justice. The crimson paint, the intimidating angles, all lost in the dull glow of overhead lighting that struggled to illuminate the durasteel interior. That being said, Orin could still appreciate the stellar engineering of such a thing as his own suit thumped towards Kir.

"Lieutenant," Orin replied as he came to a stop before Kir. He looked the man over, HUD highlighting the Chiss as an ally in a subtle green outline. "Report." he commanded, curious as to what Kir already knew. You see, Orin knew all the details already. He was one of few who had orchestrated the whole thing.

Satisfied with Kir's report, he nodded just once and turned his gaze to the hangar. Squads of power armoured guardsmen were queued neatly beside red combat shuttles. There were five squads, totalling 75 men, and five shuttles. Alongside this was the auxiliary support, ten squads of sith troopers decked out in regular gear. They would have their use soon enough.

"Tell me, Lieutenant," the Commander uttered as he returned his gaze to Kir. "Do you think your heritage will get in the way of this mission?"

Orin doubted it would in any way, shape, or form. Kir had passed the training, after all. His loyalty was most likely unquestionable. That said, Orin found some sort of pleasure in making new additions feel uncomfortable. Kir was no exception.

 

[Cedric Dorn]

Kir shuffled slightly, which in the massive power armor was more than a little noticeable. It was true he felt slightly awkward going against his fellows, but not too much. These Chiss had decided to go against the One Sith after all, they had fought against the Empire and had tried to secede away from the Ascendancy. There was no shame in killing them, no evil in taking them down and burning the last of them to the ground.

This was good work they were doing, nothing else.

“No sir.” He finally answered the man, his voice confident and firm. He seemed to shake his helmet covered head in affirmation to himself. The Chiss were all about cold logic, there was no emotion in them. They did what was best for their people, what was best for themselves. Siding with the One Sith was simple logic, just like eliminating traitors and rebels was the logical thing to do. He smiled a little bit behind his mask as the cold reasoning sunk into his mind.

There was no reason to be upset about this, no reason to second guess himself. The Chiss here were traitors and rebels, they deserved death just as any members of the Republic did. That much he knew, that much he was sure of.

“I doubt they will put up very much resistance against us.” He pushed the subject away, not wanting to dwell. “Not with this new armor.”

That was perhaps wishful thinking, combat was always bloody.
[member="Commander Orin"]

 

[Menoetius]

A small smile crept onto Orin's dry lips at Kir's response. That was what he liked to hear.

"Do not underestimate our enemy, Lieutenant. They have managed to hold out for this long," Orin warned, his rough voice flooding the immediate area. "Still, though, I doubt you are wrong. This armour will sway the outcome of many conflicts to come." He nodded to himself after voicing his opinion, motioning for Kir to follow him towards a sixth combat shuttle.

"You're still on your probation period, Lieutenant. This mission is your trial. You'll be taking the place of my squad's NCO, so do not disappoint. Perhaps you'll even manage to impress me," Orin barked, voice amplified to drown out the hustle and bustle of the hangar. Despite Orin hand picking Kir, he still hadn't seen the Chiss in a fully fledged combat scenario that wasn't a simulation. No matter, they'd be in the thick of it soon.

As they approached the sixth combat shuttle, Orin opened a comm channel with the entire attacking force. "Be prepared, we deploy in five," he half advised, half ordered. Around the hangar, guardsmen and sith troopers alike finalized their preparations and boarded their shuttles, wasting no time in getting ready.

He faced Kir again once they'd reached the shuttle, motioning to a weapon rack nearby. "Collect one for me, too. I'll see you on board." The sonic rifles on the rack almost glistened in response, an irresistible sight for any vocational soldier. Orin boarded the shuttle in the meantime.

[member="Lieutenant Kir"]

 

[Cedric Dorn]

Kir grabbed two of the rifles without hesitation. Normally they should have been heavy unwieldy things, difficult to carry and even more difficult to use. Yet in the Power Armor it seemed like they were lighter than a feather. He frowned slightly, making sure for a second that the weapons were actually what they were supposed to be. When he was satisfied that these were indeed the correct guns, he nodded to himself and stepped into the dropship.

“Sir.” He handed the S-11 over to Orin, and then looked around the ship pensively. The dropship was tiny when one was wearing power armor, and indeed it seemed almost too small for his taste. Kir wasn't by any means claustrophobic, but it didn't seem like this ship would be able to carry them all.

He was immediately proven wrong when the ship lifted off from the ground, its bay doors sealing shut and falling into place. The ship kicked off from the Hangar Deeck of the Crimson Wraith It shot out along with a dozen of its fellows and began to float through the abyss of space. Almost immediately something became apparent, the anti-air defenses of the Asteroid had not been completely destroyed, the Crimson Wraith had not done its job.

“Badnews.” Kir said quietly as the ship weaved, shook, and ducked its way through anti-dropship fire.
[member="Commander Orin"]

 

[Menoetius]

[member="Lieutenant Kir"]

After a brief nod of thankyou to Kir for retrieving the Sonic Rifle, Orin held it out in both hands, analyzing the S-11 with a slight smirk. The weapon really was a beauty, but in a way that only a soldier could appreciate. It was like a pin up girl, but instead of a seductive smile and an enticing lack of clothes, the girl was covered in blood and waving around a chainsaw with a face of pure fury. Despite the gun's pleasing aesthetics, it was brand new, straight off the production line, and had to be broken in. Not just Orin's rifle, but all of them. They hadn't been tested in a real combat scenario yet. They may have some outstanding but hidden flaw.

With this in mind, Orin re-arranged the guard to fit his own grip neatly and stretched out the stock ever so slightly to fit perfectly into his armour's shoulder.

Then the shuttle began to shake.

"Bad news for them," he retorted, simultaneously opening a comm channel with the rest of the combat shuttles. "Auxiliaries, take the lead. Clear a path. New LZ is the crater parallel to the facility's landing pad." Closing the comm channel, he relaxed within his suit and gazed at his HUD which was displaying the shuttles and their path of attack.

With the comm channel now closed, he uttered very simply, "And that's their use." He was referring to the Auxiliaries, who were now leading the charge and paying the price.

 

[Cedric Dorn]

He supposed he would rather have the auxiliaries die than himself. It was the way of things he supposed. The ones that survived would likely be promoted and shot up the chain of command, they would be given money and status. Those that died...well they died. They were sacrificial and nothing more. All of them within the guard had once been in their place, they had simply...moved up.

“Yes sir.” Kir said in affirmation of Orin.

It wasn't long before they finally reached the ground, they cut through space quickly, and even with the auxiliaries landing first the Power Armored Royal Guardsmen made their way to the ground quite quickly. The dropship landed, and its bay doors opened to reveal the bleakness of space. They would have to fight their way into the base.

Mag boots activating Kir jumped out of dropship and onto the surface of the asteroid.

He gripped his S-11 tightly, his trigger finger falling into place as he noted the battlefield within his HUD. Ahead of them dozens of Sith troopers fought, and dozens died. With a grim look, Kier moved forward.

 

[Menoetius]

It was pure luck that this facility the Guardsmen were about to raid had been built on a rather large deposit of iron. The powerful mag boots of their MK-I powered armour did their job nicely - as if they were on a spaceship's hull. That being said, the suits still lumbered with the agility of a bantha. Mag boots just made walking difficult, as one can imagine.

"Move out," Orin commanded as the exit ramp of his combat shuttle dropped, threatening to pull out anything that wasn't clamped down when the compartment depressurized. The S-11 he gripped was already shouldered, scanning for targets on the crater's lip. When none were found, he led his squad up, towards the lip, which they climbed over with the grace of a space slug.

The sight must have been daunting to the defending Chiss, who were witnessing the humanoid mountains of moving power armour erupt from the crater. Any sane person would have recognized the new threat as superior and re-adjusted their aim to take down these targets first. The battle hardened Chiss were no exception. They redirected their defense turrets and small arms fire towards Orin, his squad, and the rest of the erupting royal guard.

A small hindrance.

As searing bolts of superheated plasma whizzed by Orin's head, he charged, S-11 shouldered and firing periodically as targets made themselves available. Through the magic of intense training, him and his squad stayed in a loose yet disciplined formation, sticking together as they charged. They truly were the best of the best.

[member="Lieutenant Kir"]

 

[Cedric Dorn]

They moved, they moved fast and hard.

It was the only way they could fight, the only way they could kill. That was how the Royal Guard were taught, to hit hard, and without mercy. It was how they operated, it was a doctrine that had stayed in place for centuries, even with the death of Palpatine, even with the death of most of their traditions, that one doctrine remained in place.

The Imperial Royal Guard were the ultimate in blitzkreig. They fought and killed in seconds, slaughtered rebels, troopers, perhaps even Jedi.

Now more than ever the Royal Guard began to tear through their enemy. They killed by the hundreds as soon as they reached the enemy lines. The Power Armored Royal Guardsmen rushed into the Rebel front lines, Kir being one of the first. He struck like a torrent, his Phrik blade piercing through armor and flesh.

He began to slice into them, he began to eviscerate them.

 

[Morpheus]

[member="Lieutenant Kir"]

Kir was one of the first; Orin was the first. He leapt into the Chiss lines with the incredible speed afforded to him by the jets mounted on his armour's back. Blurry waves of his force staff cut through the lines as if they were hot butter, melting the enemy into ragged piles of blue meat and red liquid. His face was stoic, with neither pleasure nor disgust being displayed on its scarred features. Orin was in his element, slicing and dicing - it just came naturally to the man.

Soon, the exterior defense had been eliminated by the red onslaught, a few Sith Auxiliaries having made it through as well. The Commander wasted no time in calling forth a demolitions expert to blow the exterior wall.

Blowing the wall would depressurise the atrium they were about to deploy into, hopefully sucking out any defenders in the process. Orin didn't worry about the Chiss experts they had come to retrieve, as they'd be hidden away safely somewhere deeper within the facility. When the charges were set, he gave the order, and a brief but extremely powerful blast leveled the wall. Chunks of durasteel and asteroid were sent rocketing into deep space, immediately followed by whatever air was in the atrium and about ten or so Chiss defenders.

They were probably screeming bloody murder, but Orin couldn't hear them. It was space, after all.

With that, he entered, staff stowed and S-11 shouldered.

 

[Cedric Dorn]

[member="Commander Orin"]

Kir followed behind his commander.

The S-11 wasn't a massive rifle, in act when comparatively looked at with other weapons of its sort the S-11 was actually quite compact, it was after all designed to resemble the famed E-11 Blaster Rifle that had been so heavily used by the Stormtroopers and the Royal Guard forebears. So when they entered the facility, it was not with much difficulty.

Within seconds of entering the facility, Kir began to fire. He pulled the trigger of the weapon three times, and three times the Sonic Bolt hit hard.

The weapon worked off the same principal as other Sonic weaponry, a single powerful bolt meant to jarr the inside of a person. It inflicted massive internal damage, enough to kill. When Kir fired and hit the Chiss, their insides simply turned into mush. Hearts, lungs, kidneys, everything simply rattled about and became nothing. It was simple, effective, and deadly.

The Royal Guard pushed further into the facility.

Their job wouldn't be done until they killed every single Chiss Rebel, and recaptured the lost shipwrights.