Visiting a Dark Past (SJO/ORC v TSE)

[Sol Stazi]

The Gang: [member="Coren Starchaser"], [member="Nida Perl"], [member="Cambria Zadira"], [member="Loske Matson"], [member="Amea Virou"], [member="Griet van Vliet"]
Equipment: Field Kit, GLX Firelance, Combat Scatter Gun, SSK-7 Heavy Blaster, GA Officer's Vibrorapier, Bandolier (Spare Power Packs, Thermal Imploders)
Nemesis: [member="Balfur Zaine"]


Captain Stazi landed in a textbook roll, discarding his spent grav chute with one fluid motion. As soon as he was free from encumbrance the duros neatly sliced through his rifle's restraints. Less than ten seconds after he touched dirt on Wayland Sol was in fighting posture. His clothes were dampened by afternoon rains but he knew they were fortunate the weather held off for as long as it had. In less than an hour the winds would likely be too strong for a grav chute drop. This far down the mountainside his surroundings were still mostly subtropical, noticeably elevated yet not uncomfortably steep.

Above him he could barely make out the faint glare of repulsor trails. Their passengers offloaded, the Coalition starcutters boosted up and away. Before long they were out of sight as if they had never been there at all.

"Let's get some spotters in those trees," Sol was brusquely issuing orders over internal comms the moment his squad of Partisan troopers began to land, "I want eyes on that hangar if its still there."

They weren't the only ones coming in for a landing. Aside from [member="Veino Garn"] who survived the jump after all he noticed a young zeltron girl and more importantly one corellian Jedi Master.

"General Starchaser," he called out to the man. Sol was mid jog when a shot rang out, "Sniper!"

Instead of taking cover the duros sped up. He dove for Coren, tackling the ground commander to safety.

"So much for the element of surprise", Sol grumbled just much to himself as Coren, then crawled over to a nikto still fumbling with his grav harness, "Jester, do me a favor and set this mountain on fire."

True to his moniker Jester humorlessly began to spray the surrounding flora with his flame projector. Captain Stazi crawled a few meters over to a nearby rodian taking cover behind an as yet unscorched tree. There was a bulky looking device slung across the creature's back, and Sol yanked on the integrate comm unit until it sprang free before punching in the frequency [member="Yuroic Xeraic"] supplied them.

"Phoenix to Hummingbird. Come in Hummingbird," he shouted over the roaring flames and shouts of troopers trying to hunt down the source of all the commotion ([member="Kirie NPCs"]). Wiping the rain from his face Sol checked to make sure they were broadcasting, "Phoenix is planetside! Encountered resistance. Redsaber, repeat redsaber."

 

[Darth Trellux]

There was quite a commotion engulfing the mountain.

Trellux kept his snout in his work, watching intently as the pair of Zuguruk tinkered with the control panel set into the waist-high console that encircled the small square watch-tower that overlooked the immediate approach towards the giant mountain door. The Force guided their actions as they rerouted power from auxiliary systems, essentially hotwiring the mess of Mandalorian wiring they had come upon. Permacrete barricades had been erected near the watch tower's base, the soldiers of the Inquisitor's platoon squatting behind them with macrobinoculars scanning the distant horizon.

They knew that they were not alone. Reconnaissance drones had picked up movement beyond their position in the forest and up higher on the mountainside, there was little time left.

"Almost got it, sire." Grunted one of the Zuguruk as they maneuvered another piece of hardware deep inside the console with the Force, twisting it into position with a hiss of sparks. There was a click as the console's controls sprung to life, power restoring in a cascading wave across the tower. Trellux walked past the two engineers towards a large handle-lever set into the console, gripped it with one hand, and pulled it down until it snapped into position.

With a great rumble, the door leading into Mount Tantiss began to open.

"The way is open, press onward!"

[member="Sol Stazi"] | [member="Kaine Australis"]​

 

[Jegy Sesara]

Silence would echo through near the Temple of the Flow, it was somewhat unusual. Very slowly, the Sullustan regained his composure as he breathed in rather harshly before exhaling with his thoughts connected. Feeling his clothing a little, he felt his two lightsabers underneath his robes along with his medical kit, datapad and blasters. Nodding to himself, he carefully got up as he looked down into the water, seeing his stone knife lay at the bottom of the shallow water. Before he could think of picking it up, he heard a whisper from behind him, the taint of the Dark Side tempting him forward into the Temple. While it was always unwise, the Sullustan wished for and pined for his death which very slowly, he walked up the steps of the temple and down a very long dark hallway.

​

The Sullustans steps would echo through the Temple, the Taint of the Dark Side growing stronger with each step into the long hallway. As he got closer, a single torch would illuminate what was before him, a single door with a rather imposing lock. The skeleton nearby seemed to have had better days but it been around for a long time though it begged the question...why was there a locked door still? The whispers of the Dark Side seemed to grow stronger as he approached the door, whispering in begful tones to let it come out, to free it as it promised him rewards only it can give him. Having dealt with this nearly all his life, he would grant the whispers the wish it wanted, activating his ancestral lightsaber with his left hand, an emerald green blade would ignite and slice the lock off with relative ease. Deactivating it, he would use the Force with his right hand to shove the door open as it led down another dark hallway. Begging for his own demise, he slowly walked down into the hallway as his senses became bludgeoned, the Dark Side filling every corner of the hallway as his vision would turn black and he could no longer proceed with sight.

The Force has many abilities, even to see without sight. Breathing slowly, he would connect to what all was connected to, The Force. Seeing gentle outlines of the hallway but in many directions, he would walk forward with his eyes closed, his clothing tugged with a burning feeling, his skin feeling as if it would tear apart and his own eyes feeling as if they were being torn out. However with the Force, he felt none of it as he kept going forward, ignoring the phantoms, those that seek to take complete control. He slowly would feel an opening in the Force in mere minutes as he walked towards it, perhaps the freedom he so sought. After exiting, all the temptations would cease with a scream from behind him as he finally opened his eyes.

​

The lushness of the swamps before him would stun him in beauty, the large trees growing ever so higher. The destroyed machinery before him would not even bother him, seeing the flocks of birds silently watch from above their home in the trees down onto unsuspecting fish of the swamps, bugs that crawled on the plains. Moss grew over some of the plains before him as he gently took a few steps forward, each one making a unique sound as it was pleasing to hear and soft to walk on. The mountains cold air would come forth from the jungle area, it was rather pleasing to feel though the warmth would make a conflicting temperature change. The Sullustan would not even notice as he walked forward how he could soon be watched, oblivious to everything around him as he carefully stopped to observe the tree before him.

It towered over all the others, the limbs stretching to freedom towards the sun to give it all the substance it needed to grow, several creatures he could never understand nor fully learn about would leap on the tree as it was their home. An entire ecosystem, all in one small place. Looking behind him at long last, he did not see an entrance to a cave, nor any form of exit. Once again, The Force deemed him to arrive somewhere, to deny him what he desired and brought him towards something near fate. What was its goal? At that moment, the comnlink would go off in his datapad as he carefully pulled it out, listening to a frantic plea of a woman on the other side by the name of...Stacey? Sighing out softly, he would attach an earpiece as it stretched out towards him and spoke into the speaker of the datapad, acting like a large communicator as he would speak on all frequencies as well, be damned at this point.

"This is Doctor Sesara, I just heard your frequency. I am out here, are you injured? If so, remain calm and I can walk you through procedures on stabilization till I arrive. Explain your surroundings to the best of your ability and I will be right there to assist you Mamn."

[member="Loske Matson"]
[member="Amea Virou"]

Allies: Unknown
Enemies: Unknown
Current Objective: Help Stranded Person named Stacey​

 

[WelshPsych]

Location: Wayland
Objective: Get somewhere safe and away from Sith baddies!
Allies: [member="Kyra Perl"] [member="Lex Del'Fino"] [member="Reggie Faayare"] [member="Kaili Brand"] [member="Griet van Vliet"] [member="Sol Stazi"] plus others
Enemies: All the mean Sith

Things were not going well, Yuroic heard the comms calling out as Sol informed him that the ORC forces were coming planet side, which would be good news however, Yuroic didn't like the fact there was already a strong Sith presence here. Yes, it was a world in the Dark Side but to be occupied by Sith already was not a fact he liked. Especially since they had Padawans here with them. Tapping the comms, he contacted Sol, "Phoenix, this is Hummingbird, hear you loud and clear, Redsabers probably know where we are too so will have to move to a new location. Will get back in touch when we are in secure place." Looking over to the others, he wanted to offer them some comfort and peace but wasn't sure what he should say, then he watched as Kyra ran from his side to the window. He could sense the fear and worry that was blinding her. It was not good, he could sense it was a worry of her sister but there was little anyone here could do, Yuroic trusted that the ORC could handle their own.

"Kyra. Kyra, she will be fine. There is nothing we can do from here, we must find some place that is safe and secure it so that your sister and the others with her can meet us. She will be safe with the others, but we need to focus on the people with us and the here." Yuroic placed a hand on her shoulder, letting off an air of confidence and certainty. Looking to the others, they had planned on splitting up and spreading out, it was risky but at this point any plan would be risky. They were the smaller force in this battle so they needed to plan properly to stay alive. "Okay, I will take Kyra with me, you take guys stay on comms and get somewhere safe. I don't like the idea of splitting up, think we should find somewhere safe as a group and wait the Sith out but I am not sure that is an option so I will be fine with you guys making your own ways. But stay in touch, need to let the ORC know that we will be split. I say we try finding a secret entrance into a building or two, look around some of the larger buildings for ways out of here and what the Sith are doing here in such a strong force."

Looking to Kyra, he gave her a nod then pulled out one of his Lightsabers, "Might need this, when I faced a Sith with a practice saber, it did not go my way. However, please don't lose it, the Lightsaber crystals are a pair." Yuroic mentioned, his crystals were fairly unique, a single large crystal broken into two separate Lightsaber crystals. It mirrored his Lightsaber hilts, two separate hilts that could join to be one.

 

[Kaili Brand]

Tags: [member="Yuroic Xeraic"] | [member="Kyra Perl"] | [member="Lex Del'Fino"] | [member="Sol Stazi"] | [member="Coren Starchaser"] | [member="Reggie Faayare"] | [member="Bacu Topol"] | @[member='Griet van Vliet'],
Location: Wayland surface, area unknown
objective: Establish secure location, look for PvP.
"Splitting up it is then. Master Lex and I will make the final pair." Kaili grunted, opening up the ships doors and surveying the territory and regretting not making a more serious effort to studying the map of the area they'd been given before hand. Spying the glint of Dursasteel along the rock face of Mount Tantiss. "We'll meet up there." He said, pointing out the feature to the group. "Looks like an old military installation. We can probably ditch the hummingbird here and grab an old supply ship there to re-enter orbit. if not, we atleast have somewhere defensible to hide while the ORC sends us a pick up. Plus it lets us do the job we came here to do in the interim." he said flatly, feeling that if they returned empty handed the whole risking his life thing would feel a little empty.

"Lex and I will go on point. ...since we seem to be the only quiet ones." He said, giving [member="Kyra Perl"] a heated glare before continuing. "It also gives us a better chance to scope out any security that might still be active and see what we can do. Reggie and Van Vliet can cover the rear, since I know atleast one of you.." He said, turning his glare back onto Reggie for a moment. "Is atleast versed in Soresu and can handle it. And Master Xeraic and Kyra will be the middle guard. Puts our strongest asset in the best place to help when, not if, things go ploin shaped. Try and keep far enough back that you can't see the group in front of you." He finished, feeling surprisingly at ease with the otherwise hostile situation. In a way, it reminded him of when he and his siblings would plan to steal something especially valuable back home.

With a swift jerk of his head to Lex Kaili hopped from the ship, carefully pushing his way through the brush. He didn't bother letting the frustration in his gut cool against the two padawans as he walked, only deeply ingrained habit keeping him from stomping into the brush. Part of him knew he was being unfair, but right now survival overrode everything else. And those two were the weak links in that chain...especially the Kyra girl. Even thinking the girls name sent a new bristle of light anger up his spine, particularly towards Reggie. Though why HE was the particular target of his anger was something Kaili couldn't really pin down at the moment.

"Sense anything Lex?" Kaili asked after they made their way deeper into the bush, atleast far enough away that he could justify the question. If only to give him something else to think about.

 

[Reggie Faayare]

Location: Wayland
Allies: [member="Kaili Brand"] | [member="Yuroic Xeraic"] | [member="Kyra Perl"] | [member="Griet van Vliet"] | [member="Lex Del'Fino"]

Reggie looked at where Kaili was pointing, making sure to remember where everyone would meet up. He listened to how the plan, though was a bit frustrated because of some of the choice words and the glares that his fellow Padawan was giving Kyra and him. Reggie calmed himself down though, deciding to focus on the situation at hand and question his friend on how he's acting later. It was a good plan all in all.

Just to make sure the formation didn't get messed up, Reggie waited for Master Xeraic and Kyra to exit the ship behind the first group before leaving himself. Reggie turned towards Master Vliet to speak to the Jedi. "I'll take the lead to defend against any attacks if that's alright with you. As Kaili mentioned, i'm proficient in Soresu and will be able to defend against most incoming attacks. If you could pick off the opposition with your sniper rifle to make up for my lack of offensive abilities, we should be good. Does that sound good?" Reggie was ready to get started. The faster they were able to get what they came here for and make sure everyone had a way of escape, the faster they'd be able to leave. This would surely be more difficult than expected.

 

[Kyra Perl]

Location: The bush with [member="Yuroic Xeraic"]
Objective: walk without tripping

Kyra stood dumbfounded at the situation before her, her heart and mind torn towards the window Yuroic tried to distract her from. She had to believe her sister wasn't dead. She had to believe her warning had reached Nida in time and that bullet had not gone through her precious sister's head. She chanted this to herself almost manically, reminding herself that she would have felt it in the force if something had happened otherwise. Kyra may have had training saber, but she was proficent in other things

When she focused.

It was hard to focus with [member="Kaili Brand"] 's anger tossed so pointedly her way. Kyra's mind had quickly turned chaotic and distraught, the girl trying to sense too many things at once without first clearing her own thoughts and emotions. "Since when do padawans give orders?" She snapped at Kalli's retreating back as he walked away. "Gah!" She shook out her hands, acutely aware she was taking on emotions that were not her own again. Damn, that toxic McGrumpy pants.

"How are you not worried he's a sith!" She proclaimed to the others. It was a rhetorical question, the padawan and her assigned master walking out as the next group. As ordered. As soon as Kyra's feet hit land it got easier. It was just her, the plants, and Yuroic's radiating calming. Kyra made some genuine attempts to center herself again. She barely seemed to register that she was holding Yuroic's saber, her neck straining to catch a view of their comrades on the mountain. Kyra took comfort in the fact that it must be equally hard for any threats to see them from land as well.

"Are you sure they're okay?" She pipped, her brows furrowed in worry. "Can't you just check?"

[member="Reggie Faayare"]

 

[Darth Voyance]

Location: Wayland Surface Near Mt. Tantiss (Force Projected Form)
Objective: Seek out [member="Kirie Ito"] and any other SJO Jedi in the area
Allies In the Area: [member="Kirie NPCs"], [member="Keva"]
Enemies: [member="Griet van Vliet"] [member="Reggie Faayare"] [member="Lex Del'Fino"] [member="Amea Virou"] [member="Kaili Brand"] [member="Loske Matson"]
Note: Probe droids are everywhere, feel free to encounter them and RP destroying or running from them. Have fun with it!

Music:

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISlPINGa_7E

On the surface of Wayland, the probe droids sent from the Soothsayer had been conducting their secret work. Drifting through the shrub and plains around the target mountain they scanned, recorded, and transmitted data back to Darth Voyance meditating inside her chamber. What was discovered was the Sith operations first, and the work of [member="Inquisitor Trellux"] who had managed to open a door within an old sentry tower. The video feed of the opening of Mt. Tantiss blinked and hovered in front of Darth Voyance.

She watched it as she kept feeling the force for all those twinkling glimmers of light that dimmed upon her call to them. She drew in a deep breath and let it slip from her black lips. She squeezed her hands as the pressed against the Sith Oracle Stone they cupped. The dark side howled and Voyance let it bleed through her. The Voss Mystics felt her craving for more power. They harnessed their kyber crystals to magnify their channeling, and their suffering.

Voyance focused all her attention on the feed near the opened door, her mind was fixed on it and so was her consciousness. The dark side screamed, and it pulled at her mind. She let it carry her. Let it rip her mind and soul from the ship and throw it to Wayland. She closed her eyes and her body froze still. The Voss Mystics continued supplying her power and focus. In that focus, Voyance had Force Projected her consciousness and soul down to Wayland.

She materialized in a black haze of foul vapors and mist. A swirling maelstrom of darkness that congealed into a black undulating silhouette with burning bright red eyes and the very hint of her true Twi’lek form. The Sith around her flinched in shock from her sudden presence, but, Voyance said nothing. She marched away from them, away from Tantiss and made her way into the wilderness. For in her call in the darkside there was one that did not hide, but, felt back ([member="Kirie Ito"]). Voyance would find this little candle in the dark. Hopefully, others would appear as well.

 

[Lex Del'Fino]

In the few beginning minutes of the mission, Lex was reminded of why he'd avoided even considering to take a Padawan, or try to raise to the rank of a Master. It was all too much of a hassle. He wasn't made for the responsibilities of others. He didn't really like lecturing nor teaching, and he certainly didn't enjoy it when people lost their composure around them, like [member="Kyra Perl"] was on the brink of doing. Her ripple through the Force seemed to echo, some kind of warning to another. Who, he wasn't quite sure, but he found himself in a rarely annoyed mood with the outburst. He held himself back from commenting, figuring it'd only make matters worse, but thankfully, [member="Yuroic Xeraic"], proved a calming voice.

With Kyra and Yuroic pairing up, it left him with [member="Kaili Brand"], which suited him just find. The Padawan's plan of action was sound, enough that Lex didn't see any reason to disagree with it. But his later tone, coupled with the strare he directed towards his fellow Padawan, concerned him a bit. He may have not been able to read minds, but he could read a room well enough. And there was something brewing within the trio.

"Well... let's not delay then." As he and Kaili were the first ones off, he heard Kyra's questioning of her fellow students' dark side corruption. If the kid had heard it too, he didn't let on. Once they'd entered the brush, Lex deactivated his wrist-pad and holonet. Using the vibroblade from his sheathe, he cut through any restricting foliage as they walked.

"You and Kyra have to calm down. Strong emotions, like anger or jealousy, are just as vibrant here as a non-cloaked light-side presence." He advised him. They didn't need anymore flair up, from either of the two, now that they were actively on the move. Just as Kaili asked, he felt a presence nearing them, at a quick speed. "Kaili, move!" He said, pushing the Padawan out of the way.

He reached out with his hand, just as the probe droid cleared the brush, and came into view. He released a pulse that'd momentarily blind it's sensors, and then stab it with his vibro-blade, disabling it. Kneeling beside it, he touch the frame, and reached out with the Force. "It's a probe droid. One of many...", he reached further. "...its feeding back information to...", a headache came on, similar to that of the one caused by the presence before, "...one of the Sith. A Sith Lord. They're hunting us down with these."

Standing, he used a telekinetic crush to further destroy the probe. Pressing his hand on his comm, he sent out a warning to their channels. "All points, whether your Jedi, Judge, or just a tourist. The Sith have probes roaming the area. Be careful."

Tags

• Allies: [member="Griet van Vliet"], [member="Reggie Faayare"], [member="Coren Starchaser"], [member="Nida Perl"], [member="Cambria Zadira"], [member="Loske Matson"], [member="Amea Virou"], [member="Sol Stazi"], [member="Bacu Topol"]
• Enemies: [member="Darth Voyance"]

 

[Griet van Vliet]

Location: Wayland
Allies: [member="Kaili Brand"] [member="Yuroic Xeraic"] [member="Kyra Perl"] [member="Reggie Faayare"] [member="Lex Del'Fino"]
Enemies: Sith [member="Darth Voyance"]
Equipment: In signature

"Sounds good"

Someone had to be on overwatch, and that has to be me; plus it seems that my mind is very easy to fill, she thought, while her Force-concealment seemed to turn into some sort of Force-jamming where, rather than to hide her signature completely, made some background noise in the Force that could appear like something else altogether. It seems a lot easier to her to maintain that sort of Force-jamming than since said Force-jamming seemed to feed off her mental activity also. Anyhow, with her rifle at the ready, set on sniper mode, she was to stay behind cover to cover for them, and pick off any opposition at range before the enemy can close in on the others. Once out of the ship, she wasted no time getting on some treetop, while keeping in mind that Neural Storm only works at much shorter range than what the sniper rifle can fire at, she took up position while making sure that she was able to watch over Reggie once in position. For now, anyway, she took steady aim at what looked like a stray probe droid that appeared hostile and then opened fire at it. Direct hit! The probe droid was destroyed, and there was one less opportunity for these Sith to find out where they were.

 

[Coren Starchaser]

The Jedi Master had a lot to work with, but here he was, helping out on a field trip, as part of the Outer Rim detachment. It wasn’t a military operation, it was exploration, something he should be fine at. But the way the world, the way Wayland was feeling, something wasn’t here. With a Perl here, they became his primary concern. Starchasers knew how to handle themselves, but Nida? Well, he was threatened at knife point. Focusing on the people at hand, he wasn’t looking for a sniper, but when he heard Sol, the Jedi had his lightsaber in hand, dark. The Captain was incoming and the General didn’t want to skewer the Duros.

“Yeah… Looks like we may have their attention, but better us than the Silvers, yeah?” He was calling the Force to him, and reaching out to the other Jedi around, including [member="Veino Garn"] and [member="Nida Perl"]. “I can keep the non-mil Jedi safe. But I’ll see what I can do about luring some of the Sith to look at me.” He said, after Sol was giving the call out to the Silvers.

Guerilla strikes were one thing, but this was something else. He looked in the direction of the blaster shots and threw up a Force shield, at least to give them some breathing room. I wasn’t a full bubble, just something directional to keep stray shots at bay. “Prep yourselves, team!”

 

[Loske Treicolt]

a quizzical expression was obvious when Stacey entered the conversation, and promptly left after declaring that she was lost. Loske wasn't so sure how much time she'd want to spend with a valley girl in the jungle, and yet.. "Sure.."

Beyond the canopy of greenery and stretches of foliage that swooped and dangled, arched and dipped, were the overcast skies and a leering spread of rock and land that peaked. This was one of the rendezvous points, and interesting locations for scouting. There was something foreboding in the air, but the apprentice couldn't quite put her finger on it. Akin to being familiar with a word, but when you need to speak it, all irrelevant synonyms are available.

Stacey's commlink cackled to life, and a helpful voice introduced itself.

"Our surroundings are a lot of greenery." The pilot muttered. "He seems helpful enough." With a gesture of encouragement, Loske, ever the trusting individual, suggested [member="Amea Virou"] respond to [member="Jegy Sesara"].

 

[Samatharis]

Rendezvous Point
Obj: Meet with: [member="Loske Matson"] , [member="Amea Virou"] , [member="Jegy Sesara"]


Much like Loske and Amea, Diana had only the dossier to fly by at this point. Thusly, her small Travelsprite Interceptor pulled up next to the S.S.Blue and made a quick landfall among the trees.

Notably. Yurioc and the others had made straight for the mountain via some other drop method. Alas, with the presence of a scrying Sith Lord and probe droids running about? Diana reluctantly refused to search the Force for them at such a great distance. Besides, Griet's Force-jamming ability was enough to hone in on anyway. Like a Boy Scout armed with only compass and a map, Diana could understand the mountain objective easy enough. No biggie.

She opened the canopy and descended to the ground. Diana was dressed in her fuzzy Denon Flight Jacket, utility belt, and saber. No gun.

"R2. Stay on comm check. I'll be right back."

~ Dweet donk ~

The tall blonde walked over to Loske and Amea at the ramp to their ship,

"Sup. I'm Diana. Silver Jedi. No sign of the other dropships yet huh?" Her eyes scanned the sky for friendlies, "Mmm. Could have gotten spooked coming this close to the mountain. As, word from the ground teams suggest a Sith Advance Force already beat us here planetside. Probes and snipers. From what I remember."

She motioned back to her fighter,

"Anyway. I'm gonna stay here for a sec. Build a camo-net for my bird. ...You two thinking about making contact with this Doctor fellow? Fair enough. Just watch out for any leftover Mandos. Always a few crusty old hard-liners left in remote places like this. Ya never know. Especially on open comms."

The sound of natural thunder could suddenly be heard from afar.

"Oh. Yeah. And it's raining up nearer the mountain objective. Bleh. Hehe. Figures, right? And just when I was going a pony tail was going to cut it today. Meh."

Tactical hair styles.

Poo.

 

[Amea Virou]

On radio: [member="Jegy Sesara"]
Nearby: [member="Loske Matson"], [member="Diana McClaine"]
Task: Get to the temple. Avoid death. Average day in the life of Amea Virou.

It wasn't hard to notice the displeasure felt at the prospect of Stacey being around. At the time it was a safer bet. Amea would rather not have her own presence announced to the world, just in case someone knew who or what she did. Would make her work here just a little bit more difficult. The bait was at the very least picked up by someone else, and from the sound of it just the right person. Doctor Sesara, seemed like he genuinely cared for the character Stacey that unfortunately did not exist.

"It's green, and..." Amea lowered the commlink and kicked into her real voice, she owed him that much. "Look, I am actually fine, my name is actually Amea Virou, I am here with Loske Matson and we've got someone setting down. We're coming your way shortly. I'd recommend not delving too deep into the ruins by yourself."

Amea let in a trepidatious inhale. "And just to have it said: Don't. Touch. Anything. The place could be rigged to blow for all we know."

She lowered the device and cleared the commlink to let the good doctor speak and for Amea to greet the newcomer. Spoke of something about the task. Silver Jedi? Amea missed the first part of the conversation and came in at the very end. Ponytails? It was the default go-to for any situation! And naturally it rained. Amea frowned at the news.

"Snipers. Probes. Slipping to our death on a wet little rock..." She shook her head and went back to the commlink with one final word for her current companions. "Just another day at work, right?"

 

[Joycelyn Zambrano]

Location: Wayland, jungles.
Tags: [member="Kirie Ito"] [member="Kaili Brand"] [member="Reggie Faayare"] [member="Yuroic Xeraic"] [member="Kyra Perl"] [member="Keva"] [member="Lex Del'Fino"] [member="Syd Celsius"] [member="Diana McClaine"] [member="Amea Virou"] [member="Loske Matson"] [member="Cambria Zadira"] [member="Veiere Arenais"] [member="Darth Voyance"] [member="Balfur Zaine"] [member="Kirie NPCs"] [member="Anden Fancelo"] [member="Veino Garn"] [member="Bacu Topol"] [member="Coren Starchaser"] [member="Nida Perl"] [member="Sol Stazi"] (Is that everyone?)

As the Blackblade commander left her to prepare her escort, Joycelyn half unsheathed the large sithsword, Zaudraka. She reflected herself in the polished metal, looking into her own burning eyes until another pair stared back at her.

"You are restless today, what disturbs your slumber?" Little lights, dancing in the shade. Cut them. Rip them. Burn them down! "We have found no trace of-" She stopped herself, as if something had just come to mind. Her ears perked at the sensation crawling up her spine. "The Jedi. I see. So they have come to meet us at last." Little flies, feasting on the bloated corpse. Crush. Crush. Crush! "We will not be taken by surprise."

She lowered the blade and looked up to the sky as she felt the eye of Darth Voyance upon the planet. In her soul, she could feel the tremor of the suffering of the Voss mystics; their practices now not unlike those of her own Ember of Vahl. She did not scorn the appropriation, but rather approved use of the true path. Perhaps one day they would see the majesty of Vahl as well. And now, in Her honour, Joycelyn had been presented with sacrifice.

With a swift motion, she pressed the camp's alarm: Wayland was under attack. She shifted to the coms, issuing new orders: Consolidate borders, all scouts report in and all troops be ready for deployment. But the captain of the Blackblades was given order to resume his orders. Their enemy may have changed faces, but the goal was yet the same: Fall upon them with mobility and strength.

Joycelyn pushed Zaudraka back into his sheath and strapped the belt to her hip over the Zealot's Maille. She picked up a helmet, made like those used by Sith-Imperial speeder scouts, painted to match her armour in black, red, and silver. The din of speederbikes revving up greeted her as she strode out from the command tent and placed the helmet on her head. The captain gave a wave, signalling them to maintain a loose wedge formation, and they were off.

Riding on the high-pitched whine of their speederbikes, Joycelyn and her squad of Blackblades shot through the jungle, following the lines already scouted. They were the vanguard, the skirmishers, the raiders that brought the first taste of Sith-Imperial dread.

And the Force spoke to her, whispering to her: Find them, burn them, rip them to pieces. Look, there.

 

[Elena Lowe]

The Sniper
Waylands Foothills
Enemies: [member="Coren Starchaser"] | [member="Veino Garn"] | [member="Cambria Zadira"] | [member="Sol Stazi"] | [member="Nida Perl"]
Tags: [member="Balfur Zaine"] | [member="Kaine Australis"]
Equipment: Type-51 Railgun, FO-S1 MK1 armour, P-23 Sidearm, Knuckle-plate vibroblade

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Npvi6lpWfn0

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The sniper's mouth quirked up as the railgun charged, the rifle emitting an electric whirring. Her finger squeezed on the trigger, and the gun let out an almighty boom that echoed across the hills and sent the rifle bucking in her grip. The recoil was substantial, and even having used the weapon extensively the shot still left her shoulder aching. That was the price of sending such a hefty projectile out at hypersonic speeds. A slowly fading orange trail traced the path of the shot, rocketing from their position on the bluff to the Jedi soldiers below. No doubt it wouldn't take long for the eagle-eyed among them to spot it, if the booming report hadn't given her away already.

The effect of the shot was immediate, with the party on the hillside diving for cover and protection. Within moments, sheets of flame roared up from around the group, the flickering fire spreading quickly across the grass, blocking a clear view of the targets. In the chaos, the sniper lost track of her target, not knowing if her shot had connected.

Through the sudden haze of fire and smoke she scanned her scope across the half-hidden figures, seeking out the one starting the conflagration. After a few moments, her sights flicked to a silhouetted figure, demurely spraying fire from a personal device.

Whirr. Click. BOOM.

Another shot. The sniper didn't even wait to see if she'd dropped him, already moving to another target, this time the Duros rising to his feet ([member="Sol Stazi"]). As she took aim, her radio chattered beside her. Encrypted, but likely a call for assistance. Holding her breath, Yves let loose another shot, aiming for the man's centre-of-mass, and almost losing sight of her target in the drifting smoke. She watched the trail of the shot: right on target, but the soldier stood unharmed.

Grimacing, she let loose another shot, and another, and still she didn't hit. Then, she noticed the shimmering air, and the raised hands of [member="Coren Starchaser"], and switched targets. Her mouth a thin line, she squeezed the trigger again and again, willing each of the heavy, speeding projectiles to be the one to break the barrier. The recoil kicked at her again and again, but still the shield held.

Steam hissed from her rifle, the barrel glowing red hot, and the sniper let go of the trigger with a sigh.

Beside her, the spotter reached into his pack, producing a rough, handmade device, consisting of a few unmarked canisters, tied together with wire and attached to a mechanical timer, which the soldier wound with practiced ease. She wrinkled her nose at the device, but said nothing.

"Two minutes." Said the spotter, placing the smoke bomb down beside himself. "If they haven't found us yet. They soon will."

The sniper, for her part, nodded in affirmation.

"Radio the Tortuga, and tell them to commence comms jamming. I want these Jedi to be running around in the dark."

With the heat from the barrel fading, Yves' eyes returned to her scope, readying herself to fire again.

​

 

[Sol Stazi]

The Gang: [member="Coren Starchaser"], [member="Nida Perl"], [member="Cambria Zadira"], [member="Loske Matson"], [member="Amea Virou"], [member="Griet van Vliet"]
Equipment: Field Kit, GLX Firelance, Combat Scatter Gun, SSK-7 Heavy Blaster, GA Officer's Vibrorapier, Bandolier (Spare Power Packs, Thermal Imploders)
Nemeses: [member="Kirie NPCs"], [member="Balfur Zaine"]
Squatter: [member="Kaine Australis"]


The distant crack of a shot being fired preceded Jester's grunt of agony by nearly a full second. His flame trooper had taken a direct hit to the torso but nikto were a notoriously hardy species. To his credit Jester barely paused in his ministrations before reactivating the flame projector and bathing another tree in liquid fire. By now there was a healthy blaze all around them filling their position with thick acrid smoke. Whoever was pinning them down only had a limited window left on visibility, but Sol didn't plan on letting the sniper get away. Already Jester was wounded and another trooper was down.

"Contact!" one of Stazi's spotters in the trees shouted down at them, "Muzzle flash! Hilltop above us!"

As concealed as they were the scout could not give an exact location but one of Yves' last desperate shots against the General's force barrier hadn't gone unnoticed. The captain gave a predatory grin from behind a still ununscorched tree he had scurried to for cover. Now they were in this fight. A good soldier brought the right tools for any job, apply them correctly and Sol didn't need to know the sniper's exact location to neutralize the threat they posed. He called for Bull, the second of his team's two heavy operators. Bull was klatooinian, and entrusted with the squad's sole repeating cannon.

"Pepper those hills, will ya Bull?" he asked the big guy conversationally, yanking his head to indicate where he meant.

"You got it, boss."

Bull took a grazing hit to his shoulder as soon as he rose from behind cover, but then the heavy cannon opened up and a veritable barrage of las fire eviscerated tree stumps and bushes all over the hill. Sol wanted to shout words of encouragement but already he was beginning to cough from all the smoke.

"Starchaser!" he threw a rock at the Jedi to grab his attention, "We've gotta move! Make for the emergency hangar!"

They couldn't stay here. Even if the smoke didn't claim them every Sith within eyesight of the mountain would be able to see their manufactured inferno by now.

"Phoenix, this is Hummingbird, hear you loud and clear," the voice of [member="Yuroic Xeraic"] crackled back over the squad's signal booster. Sol yanked his rodian comm operator down next to him so that he could make out the rest of the static laden message. So much interference could only mean one thing, the enemy was jamming them.

Or they were trying to.

No doubt the Sith assumed all coordination against them would now crumble. On this day for as long as Captain Stazi's team could keep their booster operational their enemies were sorely mistaken.

 

[Loske Treicolt]

On radio: [member="Jegy Sesara"]​

Mission party: [member="Amea Virou"] / [member="Diana McClaine"]​

​

The arrival of the starfighter so near to their ship was a surprise, almost as surprising as Stacey had been. Loske shielded her eyes as loose bits of leaves and torrents of air circled around them, gratuity of the fighter's repulsors.

All too soon, [member="Diana McClaine"] interjected herself into the companionship of [member="Amea Virou"] and herself and Loske was nodding happily through the conversation. New friend! Sweet. Silver Jedi. Ponytails. Subconsciously, she touched her own pulled back hair and wondered if a braid should have been a better option. "Nice to meet you, I'm Loske, this is Amea...

"If the doctor is that way, as are the rest of the folks, maybe we should get going that direction. Especially if what you said is true Diana, they may need our help as some sort of back up or something." She shrugged, and jabbed a thumb over her shoulder.

"Shall we?"

 

[Nida Perl]

Dorks: [member="Coren Starchaser"] | [member="Veino Garn"] | [member="Cambria Zadira"] | [member="Sol Stazi"]
Nerds: [member="Kirie NPCs"] | Sith

Kyra’s cry rippled through the Force, slamming into Nida with enough intensity to rattle her skull. Perhaps because it was so unexpected—or perhaps it was her danger sense flaring—but either way, the Zeltron dropped to the ground, narrowly missing the shot that had been streaking towards her head. The remainder of their group and Stazi’s company was on their location in an instant, and Nida watched in baited confusion as the Duros tackled Coren to the ground.

Cautiously, she stood. “Is anyone injured?” The shot had disappeared into the forest behind them, and Coren’s barrier seemed to be holding out against the rest. Nida was no tactical expert, but smoke and fire were generally not a good thing to be caught in when you were trying to be sneaky.

Heeding Stazi’s order, she grabbed Coren and Veino each by the arm in an attempt to usher them along towards the hangar. “Come on!” It wasn’t that they couldn’t handle themselves, but time was of the essence. Something something Sith.

[member="Kyra Perl"]’s voice was still ringing in her ears like the haunting cry of a ghost. “Coren, I think that my sister is here.” She didn’t specify which other Perl was on Wayland, but she seemed concerned.

 

[Samatharis]

Rendezvous Point
Obj: Tactical Ponytails P2, [member="Loske Matson"] , [member="Amea Virou"] , ([member="Jegy Sesara"] )


Loske, Amea, Stacey. Got it.

"Shall we?" Loske thumbed.

Diana was about to speak when her droid barked up, ~ Dwee dwoo! Beddle beddle dee! ~

That meant, "Diana! Static on all frequencies. I can't hear anything over the radio!" ...Ya know. If you speak droid, an all.

McClaine pursed her lips and sighed visibly,

"Well. So much for camo-netting. I guess they know we're here."

She looked up at the sky above. Wondering what the Navy would do now.

"R2!" She shouted across the clearing, "Get the ship out of nuke range! If that carrier up there starts bombing the mountain! I don't want you around close enough to even see it! Got it!?"

The droid bonked, ~ "Dweep dweep!" ~ Or, "Yes ma'am!", in basic.

"Good little soldier." Diana smiled proudly as her Interceptor began to spin up it's engines. Then she nodded back to Loske,

"Yeah. We should get underground ASAP. I wouldn't put it past a Sith Fleet Admiral to start blowing up his own men from orbit. Especially with Jedi around to pop-shot. Kinda, basic strat for them at this point. Meh."

She shrugged.

Tactical ponytail time it was then.

"Anyway. Your lead ladies. I'll keep the ol' Jedi brain open for stray radio calls and such. Ahem. ...After you."

After all. With somebody jamming open comms from the direction of the mountain? It might be harder for Jegy to hear them.

Poo.