War, What is it good for? Absolutely Nothing! (Invasion of The Silken Asteroids) [Crusade + Horde]

[Mercury Zealot]

Moross Crusade
Sol's Asteroid (Before he left)

[member="Darth Ayra"]

The Metal beast roared in rage, though to his own it was a pitiful discharge. It expressed emotion alone, it was no official attack. The shining rod thing of heat hurt him... or his blade rather. It was still his flesh though, and he felt the wound, and it enraged him. He could not even been bother to be satisfied with the poisonous scrape he caused to his opponent, he was too fixated on tearing her apart.

The four meter 200+ kilogram monstrosity smashed into the ground at the heading of the Sith lady, leaving behind a sizable dent in the Hangar. But unlike an organic, who currently was hesitated due to pain, the essentially inorganic Resu immediately scrambled from his fallen position (almost in the appearance of some animal unable to get a grip on a polish floor). He felt the impact, and perhaps even felt the pain, but with the combination of a technological frame and the hardwired blood lust of the Resu, it was essentially unacknowledged.

On all fours (with the exception of his blade arm) the beast dug its claws into the Hangar, its razor sharp durasteel pierced holes into it as his metal muscles were fueled with battle-rage. With his immense strength, he essentially hurled himself like a bullet train at the woman, without relent or mercy. He swung horizontally away from him with his blade, whilst he reached out with his other arm for her bodice. His jaws snapped at her, lugging the large tusks as a result, and his momentum was such that he would trample her if she was not caught in any of these.

His body was charged with blood lust and zealotry.

"RGARAGAWA!" He roared voraciously.

 

[Darth Ayra]

Ayra landed on one knee off the push; and felt the effects of the virus taking hold of her. It had an adverse effect. The unconscionable hatred, the unrelenting rage that coursed through her veins, exploding in an avalanche of fury. Her blonde hair seemed to light up with her yellow, sulfuric eyes.

Vaulting to her feet as the Force Rage overtook her, Darth Ayra turned as [member="Stone Hermes"] charged. His screams filled the hangar bay, louder than all of the rest, shaking the floor beneath her. As he charged, she took a step, then two. Suddenly, she was in a charge as well. The metal floor beneath her began to break as she ran towards her opponent. Her Saberstaff flashed in her arms, spinning as she ran forward.

Technique was a term left for efficiency, precision. The Sith Marauder had none of these as she slashed her weapon at the Resu. It was a long, powerful strike, full of rage, hatred, momentum.

Center to the Sol Asteroid, Ayra and [member="Stone Hermes"] clashed. The force of their attacks hitting one another sent ripples along the area. Entirely destructive.

 

[Crystal]

FOR THE CRUSADE
ABOARD THE CRIMSON STRIFE

[member="Kassandra Distorith"] [member="Vascious Relens"] [member="Siara Vorru"] [member="Anaudius"]

The curses coming from Kassandra expressed Crystal's displeasure as well. That tingle of impending doom would have made her leave her seat were she not strapped in. But she was safer in her seat. Now the ship on the other hand....well, the Sith Master could help a little.

Closing her eyes, the Sith Princess pushed a Force Shield outwardly from the ship to deflect and absorb some of the impact. She hardly heard Kassandra shouting, but she knew what to do. The unnatural movements of the ship had her head spinning, but not her resolve.

It wasn't until the woman hissed that Crystal opened her eyes and she nodded in agreement.

 

[Sal Katarn]

LOCATION: Crimsonstrife
FIGHTING: Vereor

Anaudius felt [member="Vereor"] fight off the demons. The Dark Side rippled outward from the man. In truth, Anaudius had thought the Sith would perish in the fires of Vulcanus' wrath, or when Siobhan had ripped the very bridge tower apart and sent it crashing down upon the rest of the Star Destroyer. Yet, he survived. Resilient, it seemed, even against Anaudius' sorcery.

The voice of the defiant Sith Lord echoed throughout the strands of the Force, reaching Anaudius. The Leper heard the claims and in his heart he laughed mirthlessly. Laughed at one who thought to make him suffer. He lifted up a hand and removed his mask.

A scar slanted from the right corner of his forehead, down across the bridge of his nose, and onto his left cheek. Melted flesh, warped by the flames of Disciple's ire, distorted his features into a heinous mass of red. Velok's meddling alchemy had altered his vocal chords, making the very act of speaking an excruciating exercise.

"Suffering? Do not speak to me of suffering." A telepathic whisper of cold fury. "Have you felt the searing hatred of a brother? Or the bite of a devaronian blade? Have you been tortured by two Sith Lords and had your body burnt away, then mutated? Does the tiniest of whispers make your vision blur with agony? I can no longer laugh. I can no longer cry. My own family wouldn't recognize who I am. The galaxy shuns me out of disgust and fear. You seek to give me pain, when you could not even comprehend the agony that is my life. Here, let me show you my PAIN!"

Anaudius gathered all of his torment, physical and emotional, and hurled it toward Vereor in an unprecedented display of Force Affliction. The Sith Lord might have been able to deflect it before, when he was not its subject, but now he would feel Anaudius' agony a hundredfold. The Force Affliction would race through the man's body like a fast-acting poison, killing him in excruciating pain as it shut down his body's functions one by one.

Or so the wrathful Leper intended.

 

[Dredge]

LOCATION: DREAD LORD HORDE FLAG SHIP
OBJECTIVE: 1 V 1 ME BRUH

Having his Vonduun crab armor attached to him the Yuuzhan Vong overlord stepped out of his throne room looking down at the chaos and battle that was going on in hanger A. Taking a good long look dredge assessed the situation "Nope, ain't nobody got time for that." He said before walking over to a closet near the throne room to ready himself. After emerging the fresh faced clammy skinned creature walked out and moved to the next hanger where the coral skippers had came out of to attack the "god" and his redhead house girl. Sighing dredge stepped into the still operational hanger in a jerky and slightly robotic manner, more than likely he was still feeling the hits from the sonic blast but he made due even though he no longer felt like himself. Now standing straight and firm he awaited a message to be delivered. Running up to him was a crew holding a lot of transmitting gear. Setting it up dredge was quite tired of this frakary and needed to get into the fight himself. He needed to be in the front lines with his men as he always was, he needed to get his mojo back by beating the ever loving poodoo out of this woman. As the gear was set up dredge dusted himself as his image began to go out on all open comms including the bridge of the freya or whatever it was called.

"It seems we are at a stalemate. Black sun reinforcements have arrived with fresh ships to turn the tide in our favor. Now I want you to listen to me very carefully, we will leave this place and let you have claim over it. And we at the horde will not find you out, kill your people, rape your lands, and glass your people. And where we are sitting we are ready for a very very very long war. But all that can be avoided. All you must do is defeat me in single combat, that's not hard is it?" With a chuckle Dredge looked to his personal coral transport and spoke once more. "If you win, we will leave this place at once and the crusade alone forever. If I win, well." With an evil grin dredge smiled rolled his neck "Lets just say we will be spending quality, very close, intimate, uninterrupted, time together with my shapers and myself. Now there's a mining facility towards the outskirts of the field [member="Amorella Mae"] I want us to settle this there, come alone and so will I." Giving his little speech and terms dredge spoke one last time before moving away from the blasted technology

Awaiting to see if she would accept Dredge kept his calm demeanor and sighed happily. "It's the little things in life you have to enjoy." He said with a smile on his face. Grabbing a transmitter and a comm unit dredge kept them on himself in case he needed to be picked up if he did lose. But he was stronger now, he would fight this woman and take her to the grave as if the gods had programmed him to do so. The Yuuzhan Vong overlord was not to be messed with

 

[Seris Vant]

[member="Supreme Overlord Dredge"] [member="Mikhail Shorn"] [member="Amorella Mae"]

A large shriek of grinding metal pierced the bridges atmosphere. "What the kark was that"? The entirety of the bridge crew looked upwards or outwards to locate or simply a reation of the noise. Cypher himself looked up. A short moment latter another booming noise erupted, and the ceiling itself bent out of shape. Slowly it lowered; the walls bent, and more horrific grinding and mashing resonated.. Cypher took fast action ascertaining the situation. Nothing had snuck up on them, no stealth ship or the like. It was either these gods powers, or more likely an absurdly powerful Force user. The bridge wasn't going to last another minute at the rate it was crumpling. Cypher jumped upright and shouted his order. "Abandon bridge"! Captain and crew bolted from their positions. Moving as they've all drilled for many times. It was efficient in that no loss of life occurred. The bridge on the Errant was a complete loss, but there was an internal auxiliary bridge control station from which to run the ship. And that is where he and the rest would head for as swiftly as possible. The Errant was adrift now, the engines were stopped. Physics, glorious though they may be, kept the Star Destroyer chugging along. And Cypher would like to regain control of the ship before they had a lovely debate with an asteroid.

As for the other vessels in the formation. The second Pellaeon and Nimix were going to take action with or without the Command Ship. Bless those interdependently thinking Captains. They broke away from the Errant and swung round a few large asteroids to take on the Freya and Chivalrous. Turbolaser fire and a hail of Mass Driver Slugs were being thrown at them. Cypher would be grinning like a madman if he could see it.

 

[Vereor]

The hallway had shifted passed with innumerable instances of decay inside the flaming star destroyer. Bodies and pools of blood, covered by metal strands and wires, carpeted the floor; killed in their desperate attempts to find somewhere safe during the breaking of the bridge. Doorways and turbolifts remained open although some of the former were still operational as the Sith walked closer to the engine room – where the reactor cores remained, unignited and dormant in slumber. The hissing of the doors that tried to close, blocked only by debris, broke an otherwise eerie silence in the lower levels of the starship.
That was, until the voice of [member=Anaudius], broken and cracked, spoke through the Force. It was direct to Vereor, a statement of intent to do harm to the Sith Lord. How foolish the Dark Jedi Knight was to openly allow himself to communicate.
Vereor stopped in his tracks; the words still forming through the telepathic link from his opponent becoming insignificant in his new plot. He focused on interpreting the feelings of Anaudius’ telepathy and began to draw on the emotions left hovering on the burning destroyer. The Force, once more, would heed his call, but this time in a different way. It began to reach out, to trace back through the minds of those involved in this battle the location of Vereor’s would-be tormentor.
All telepathic links created a connection between two beings, whether it be in the same room, or across the stars. This was no different. The Force could track beings just as much through meditation as raw, emotional power and this star ship oozed in it.

The Force finally brought the traversing Lord’s mind to the forefront of Anaudius’, in his mental vision, in his imagination. The latter darksider had previously discovered the former only because of Vulcanus being an original target.
But now, finally, the Dark Jedi was going to be a target. The powers of the dark side swirled, figuratively, around Vereor, still deep within the Xo’Xan star destroyer. Far enough away from the edge of the hull to not be able to use the powerful Force energies which had been discharged across the asteroid field. He called it to his hands, before Anaudius had finished his speech and Vereor’s presence began to envelop the Dark Jedi. The Affliction that would have been cast again did little to the mind of the Sith Lord, for the energies casting it were also used in an incredible display of absorption, channelled through his very being into the telekinetic link now sustained not by the Knight, but by the Force. It provided a channel through which all the emotion of the long-dead, all their residual feelings and power were pushed through.

When enough power had been transferred through the fabric of space, a pain churned its way through Anaudius’ mind and wreaking through his body. A pain comparative of one person forcing their way into another: his body would feel like it began to tear apart – flesh being torn asunder from underneath him, but no rips ever occurred on his skin or through his robes. His brain would start to feel as if it was throbbing, pounding against the very skull which protected it. His limbs would commence their own movement, independent of his commands, convulsing at terrible speed. The drums and blood vessels in his ears, running down his jaw and into his neck, feel as if they were about to burst, banging with every breath and beat of his heart – which too, felt as if it was being withered, drained of anything that could sustain a life.

This was what Vereor did to those who dared challenge him. This is how he Dominated Minds.

 

[Mercury Zealot]

[member="Darth Ayra"]

The saberstaff lodged itself into the much more lenient of blades in this fight, but the power of his strike only slightly hampered by his usage of a one handed strike. His immense strength alone kept it into a short term lock. His claws still reached out to tear at his opponents flesh, and his charge was halted, with his feet setting down its downs like roots into the floor. He pressed on with his blade, not because he meant to overpower her (which under normal circumstances he probably can, due to his ability to lift three times his weight) but because he was pressing his head over his own blade trying to impale her face with his tusks.

While he snapped and snapped at the Sith, the blood lusty Resu decided to let her know, that he really didn't like her... and that he REALLY wanted her dead, right now. The measly human was making a disgrace out of him, he had yet to come into combat with a creature that could last this long against him... or at least, no creature that wasn't a Resu, even then he couldn't be touched until he was crippled in battle. And frankly... that pissed him off, a LOT. As he snapped at the woman's face, he let her know he felt about her by releasing a sizable electric roar, to electrocute the crap out of her face. Pretty soon, his blade would break anyway, especially with the saber turning it into a molten mess while lodged into its center. That also, relatively pissed him off, because he could feel that, and it hurt. If the woman had thermal vision like he did, she would see the rising unrelenting rage building up inside him, the unbreakable fixated focus on absolutely dominating this woman, tunnel visioned on her absolute crushing defeat. When she was dead, he would feast on her, but he would spit out her repulsive meat afterwards, to further embarrass her. A Resu rejecting a meal was an ultimate disgrace to a "chef", or in other words, a Resu who worked hard to herd a pack of fish into another's maw. His opponent was both the chef and the fish, while he was the customer.

Of course, such a situation was rare in Resu nature, very rare. It was ceremonial in fact, essentially the signing of armistice for one reason or another between two Familial Empire's of the Old Age. Spitting the offering out was a sign of absolute genocide, that the families could under no circumstances ever cease fire, that they would fight until one lineage was completely eradicated. Since there was so high a risk involved with the ceremony, official armistices were exceedingly rare. Stone Hermes took it upon himself to consider his opponent as deserving of total annihilation.

 

[Sal Katarn]

One did not dominate the mind of a mentalist with anything approaching ease. Anaudius knew pain, he embraced pain, therefore this Sith's attempt to make him feel pain had already failed well and truly before it had even begun. Long ago, Anaudius had learned the power of Crucitorn, the ability to withstand incomprehensible pain. It was either that or be driven insane by the devaronian poison in his blood. The man would have done well to heed Anaudius' words.

On top of this, Anaudius held the Soulsaber in his hands. The ancient saber was a nexus of the Dark Side that granted the Leper power well beyond what he should have been capable of. Furthermore, it granted him the ability of Battlemind. Attempting to dominate his mind while fueled by such a weapon would prove futile indeed.

Anaudius pushed back with his own considerable telepathic power. Rather than attempting to push the Sith Lord away, he drew him in. The man's mind, so desperately attempting to gain control over the Leper, would now find itself in a place of gnashing teeth and shadows and flame. The Leper had paid attention to the shape the demons took when haunting Vereor. He replicated them inside his mind. All of them. The beings of [member="Vereor"]'s nightmares converged upon him as Anaudius attempted to seal the man inside his mind. He would not be able to gain control of the Leper's body. Not while his demons plagued him.

And here, in this place of darkness and hellfire, these beings could inflict very real pain on the Sith Lord.

From the darkness emerged the form of a Cathar, face in firm disappointment. "You are a traitor, boy. You betrayed your oaths and your family. You betrayed me."

Another face, Raith Dista, "Failure. What a failure."

Wounded features, body soaked in blood, emerged from the shadows. Iocus. "They killed me.... and you let them! YOU LET THEM!... YOU KILLED ME!" He screamed.

As one, the wraiths of Vereor's past converged on his mind. They might not be able to harm his body, but they could tear his mind to pieces and send him into a fit of hysteria.

"Welcome to my mind.... Adredi Vadith."

 

[Darth Ayra]

Ayra swung her Saberstaff up in a rotation, slashing up with both begins in a three hundred and sixty degree spin, before blasting backwards from the blast of energy emitting from [member="Stone Hermes"]

Her robes ripped and a clang of metal smacked into the floor as the Sith Marauder slid backwards. It was with a sincere hope that her last gasp upwards slash with her weapon severely hurt the Resu as she came to a stop, among the dead bodies of Vong, Crusade and New Order forces. Her Saberstaff was turned off, rolling out of her hand to a stop inches from her body. Her other hand was concealed, in which a disruptor pistol was in her grip. Due to the position of her body, Stone wouldn't see the concealed weapon in which she held. Pain ached her through her, from the severe burns inflicted from the blasts her opponent has launched on her, the impacts on the ground and the poison running through her veins, which was unknowingly changing her.

Despite this, her body was still and smoke rose from her body. Deception was a tool of the Sith and she harnessed it well. The dark side was with her and if the facade was maintained, the Resu would be deceived. It was break or take time now. If this didn't work, she was surely dead, much to her dismay.

 

[Mercury Zealot]

[member="Darth Ayra"]

The Resu roared as the woman sliced off the blade it had been lodged into, and severed one of the tubular structures jutting out of his head, that carried the hydrogen he needed to live into his interior gills. Hydrogen spewed quickly from the side of the Resu's face, and quickly in a fit of anger he threw the molten slag of the remainder of his sword at the woman, while his hand reached up and crushed the tube spewing the hydrogen to the point that it fused together. Half of his face was on fire due to the woman's lightsaber ignited a small portion of the hydrogen. Luckily, he crushed the tube in time to save him from complete annihilation. Having dealt with the wound that reduced his stamina by a degree, due to the fact now only one tubular structure distilled his interior water with hydrogen. Essentially what Ayra had done, was tantamount to puncturing a lung, though much less sever to his biology.

When the smoke rose from the sith... the Resu didn't even react to it. His vision was infrared, he saw through the smoke like nothing. However, what was distracting him considerably was the wee bit of fire on his face, which he was promptly distracted by. He clutched his head to smother the fire, but obviously the heat still lingered. In essence his vision was a bit murky on one side. He only needed one side though to squash something.

In a rage unmatched by any of his other displays, the Resu flexed every muscle in a gigantic expression of fury.

In lay man's terms: He. Was. PISSED.

He roared a trembling roar that distracted even his own troops, of what was left of them. His claws were out and extending (one arm had a slash in it that was also quickly stitching itself together), and teeth seemed to grow while his tusks enlarged. His body arced furious shocks in every direction for a full meter, grounding wherever it could and circulating back into him in a continuous cycle of rage. The sparks of light danced all over him even when his roar subsided and the lightning died a bit. His electric glands were going to be soar tomorrow. Like a cybernetic bull on steroids and meth the beast charged like he was trying to break down the gates of Hell.

Directly at the Sith woman. No amount of smoke could save her, even with his slightly hampered vision. This charge though would take a lot out of him, and might even lead to a biological attack akin to an asthmatic one due to his hampered "lung". It was rampage time, and consequences didn't matter to him.

 

[Aedan Miles]

In the Cell that Ordo and Aedan had been placed in the young man took the game board and set it up between two seats and gestured lightly at @Ordo. "Shall we play a few games sense we have nothing better to do at the moment?"

 

[Vascious Relens]

Moross Crusade
Aboard The Crimson Strife

When Darth Vulcanus went super nova, even Vascious emitted a gasp in surprise. Then another powerful force user had dissipated most of the energy at his own expense. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to stop Vulcanus' attack from inflicting heavy damage to both fleets first.

"These fools are going to burn themselves out," shouted Vascious. The Mandalorian had the same instinct as Crystal as he summoned his grip upon the force to generate a force shield around The Crimson Strife. Whether or not his shield activated under or above Crystal's own shield was unknown. Both Sith Masters found themselves tested against the mass of energy that flooded the space around them.

Somehow Kassandra managed to steer her way through the storm. Relens was rapidly checking several different radio reports on sustained damage when more ships came out of hyperspace on the Horde's side. More chaos stacked on top of the anarchy that had already been difficult to follow. Kassandra made clear her intention to change targets to the Star Locust in her rage.

Then something caught Kalee's attention. A transmission had come through the private channel that Amorella, Vascious, and Solaiel had shared between them. Amorella or Aesir Inari as she was known by her goddess name, was a healer and leader. She was combat ineffective if it came down to a one on one honor duel. The Sith Lord listened as the Vong leader tried to single out Inari in a fight to end the war. This must have been why she had patched the transmission through.

Of course the leaders of the Crusade had to many resources available to even consider a desperation attempt at stopping the war preemptively with a duel. It was a tempting thought at first, but the Vong could hardly be trusted.

Laughter immediately enveloped the Mandalorian which drew concerned looks from several of the inhabitants on Kassandra's ship since they couldn't hear the transmission that went through his helmet. Vascious was highly amused by the whole scenario. Both sides were comprised of religious nuts that wouldn't flee the battle even with losing odds. There was the potential of a long drawn out war, but things were going to well for the Crusaders.

"I don't feel the Sith threat like I did before, but I believe Neth failed to kill his target. Lets cut through some of this desperation in the air. Kassandra, be a dear and ram this ship as far into that Horde Flagship as you can. I'll happily buy you a new ride if needed."

@Crystal @Anaudius [member="Kassandra Distorith"] [member="Siara Vorru"] [member="Amorella Mae"]

 

[Siara Vorru]

The amount of power being thrown around this little system was amazing to Siara, she had truly never seen anything like it. She knew force users were strong but the abilities being demonstrated were well beyond her wildest imagination and it made her stomach twist into knots at just the thought of facing off against someone with that sort of power but she showed no outward signs. She was being paid to be here and so far she hadn’t had to do anything but sit in a seat watching a bunch of fireworks out the viewport, not a bad way to get paid in her opinion.


Not wanting to give anyone even the slightest hint she of what she was feeling Siara swallowed and let her expression turn neutral. She buried her feelings that would prevent her from acting when the time came and drew on those that would help her. She had been in enough situations to know certain feelings were useful in combat as warnings and others would paralyze you when you needed to act.


Hearing Vascious’ laugh she couldn’t help but wear a puzzled expression, either he was truly insane, which wouldn’t surprise her or even discourage her, or he knew something she didn’t also entirely possible but it didn’t really matter as long as the money held out. He all but confirmed the former as he requested the pilot to ram the enemy flagship.


“Hold on a second, some of us don’t have the benefits of your force tricks, you best have a plan how we are all going to survive ramming into a ship that big before we go ahead with it, I didn’t sign on for a suicide mission.” Siara knew these people were zealots and that made them prone to actions of self-sacrifice which was fine as long as they weren’t sacrificing her at the same time.


“Perhaps a less direct entrance would be in order, I hear that there is this wonderful invention called a docking bay, perhaps we could even use the ship as intended and land properly. I know it would mean a longer distance to the target but that just means we get to personally end the life of that many more of the enemy on the way which I am all for.” Sarcasm dripped off every word Siara spoke.


The Kiffar woman knew that if they rammed the larger ship there wasn’t anything in her kit that would protect her from a long term exposure to hard vacuum, and there was no guarantee that there would be any way into the relative safety of the interior of the enemy ship once they hit it.


@[member=Crystal] @[member=Anaudius] @Kassandra Distorith @Amorella Mae [member="Vascious Relens"]

 

[Vereor]

Apparently the power that Vereor had summoned to do his bidding, the latent energies in the Force from all the bodies of the deceased, had not been enough to even inflict pain. There was something wrong here, he knew. It grew ever more-so until it seemingly became fact with the pulling at his mind. It seemed to drag him through the very confines of the telepathic link created and upheld by the dark side that he had created but only held him there with the power of [member=Anaudius]’ mind, despite his possession of the Soulsaber.
The Master’s opponent did prove to be a competent mentalist; augmented by powers in the Force that pushed and pulled and compelled him to his knees. The faces that the Mentalist had conjured, those of his old Jedi Master: Cazer Kresh, the Consular tutor: Jedi Master Raith Dista and his very first Master in the dark side: Iocus, or Jécht Bordrlood (by his Jedi name) did not faze him. He had seen the former twos’ faces far too often since his fall to worry about what they thought any more. The latter, however, was weak. Iocus did not truly know the power that he sought and was slain because of a lack of knowledge.
These were not fears or wraiths constructed through the Force, merely people he had known in a time long passed. They were the creations of the mentalist who only thought he knew who he was trying to trap.

The Sith Master could do no harm to the Dark Jedi Knight, as evident from previous attempts, not from such a distance. The enhanced powers of the dark side faded, having used up the residual energy from the former stromtroopers, forcing the telepathic connection to break – it had been Vereor who created it, and he who maintained it. Slowly, even while the darkness and fires and ‘fears’ crept up, his consciousness began to retract from the Mentalist’s grasp. He may not have been able to overwhelm the reclusive Leper, but he could certainly resist his efforts.
Eventually the hold of the mind broke, releasing Vereor back into corporeal reality. It was a shock to the senses to find they worked so well after being so tied up by another’s. He remained, on his knees for a while to recover himself and regain composure.

He could not fight Anaudius from where he was, at the other side of the battlefield. So he decided to skip through the battlefield.
He strode, nay, ran through the corridors leading to the lower levels of engineering before another attack was presented. It may have been too soon to enact his own defensive, mental measures, many of which he had not needed to use for years. Until finally he stopped at a number of consoles, some of which were operational while others were not.
It was not just the bridge that provided controls for thrust; the entire engineering sectors were dedicated to it, amongst other things. Tapping at the controls, the engines began to roar, pushing the burning, smoking, air-losing star destroyer over the field of asteroids and at the enemy on the opposing side: the Moross Crusade fleet. Direction could not be altered, so where the Xo’Xan made ‘landfall’ was uncertain, but the thrusters would provide enough speed to ram into at least one of their ships – a tactic being discussed by some of the opposing team, unknown to the Sith Master.

Heading had not been determined, it could not: the console was inoperable. Even if the engines were somehow taken out, the moment would carry along the starship until it reached a destination of hull and bodies and explosions.
Such a move had left him little time to act. He sprinted down corridors, leapt over girders and flames and fallen parts of walls or doors, back until he reached the Grand Master of the New Order: [member=Darth Vulcanus]. His massive frame could not be physically lifted, nor did Vereor possess enough ‘recharged’ energy in the Force to carry him with it. Instead, he rolled the sleeping giant onto a sheet of metal and dragged that along instead. Twice as long as a casual stroll. His destination was clear, conflicting that of the ship he was on: the escape pods.

The Beast with a thousand bellies, and muscles that surrounded it, pulled the air from the comparative weakling that hauled it through the starship and into a pod. Only when the Emperor was secure inside, did he close the hatch.
Vereor had found himself a separate pod in which to curl up in, before jettisoning most of those capable into the surrounding space. Many empty pods were launched with a single command, some had piles of corpses in them, others had none. While few were left onboard.

The battle, this invasion, was over. At least for Vereor and for his Emperor.

 

[Darth Ayra]

Ayra both sensed and felt [member="Stone Hermes"] going in for the kill. The aforementioned smoke this writer included was merely the after effects of the previous blast that his character had taken from the beastly Resu that was trying to kill her. Sensation soon turned to being lifted into the air, as the Resu went to work, biting, gnawing, slashing at her. More pain, increased by the poison on the Resu's blades, teeth and body was intensified. Yet the Sith Marauder was deadly still. Stone could be forgiven for thinking Ayra was already dead by the previous attacks. After all, no normal Human could withstand such damage and live to tell the tale?

It was then, went it seemed victory belonged to the Resu and that Ayra had fallen amidst battle, another Sith to add to the casualty list dating back to the inception of the Sith Order thousands of years ago, that the tables turned with blinding ferocity.

You see, Ayra had lured Stone into a sense of victory; and this was only helped by the blind rage that the Darth had brought him into. Indeed, Darth Ayra had an equally, if not more intense rage than the Resu could muster. But she was Sith and her rage was controlled, manipulated and used in ways only a Sith could manifest. So, with the dark side her master and she it's guide, Ayra rolled on her back among the assault, blood covering the face of Stone from the pieces of bare body that her Armor had not protected and opened fire with her disruptor pistol.

The energy discharged by a disruptor pistol disintegrated anything it touched. There were only few substances in the galaxy that could take a hit from a weapon such as the one that Ayra had turned on [member="Stone Hermes"]; and a Resu wasn't one of them, especially at the point blank range that the Sith Marauder had opened fire. Ayra continued pressing the trigger of the pistol until the clip was well used and then discarded it to her side to pull out her second one and do it again. Her aim was precise, aided by the force and her intense hatred for the Resu that she had faced off.

 

[HK-36]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"], [member="Zoey Marix"]

Aboard the Knight of Eclipse,

Heading Towards a Safe Moross Ship That's Not About To Ram The Vong

Well, things were looking up as it seemed the Knight of Eclipse has gotten a clean get-away and now they were heading towards one of the allied ships.

"Well we sure did show those Sith what is what."

The HK-Copy said, reaching for a pair of shock pads to revive Sol.

"And now, let us speak of the payment for our services."

The droid said, looking to Zoey, the one who was still awake from the Demi-God Duo.

"We want phrik, in shipments, but in small quantities. We do not need a lot of it, but we need it regularly. Consider that the price for our contributions today and that we did not back-stab you when your god has passed out."

HK-Copy spoke to Zoey in his mechanical monotone, the price for Iron Company's services was on the table, Moross could take their time to decide whether it was worth it or not, but the Knights will come back asking for it sooner or later. Well besides, the Moross wouldn't have to just give it to them for free, Knights could always pay some credits in exchange.

Either way, the Knight of Eclipse has shook slightly as the stealth-ship landed in Moross hangars, the droid was busy rubbing the pads together to charge them up.

"Clear."

He said, letting Zoey know to not be touching Sol right now as he pressed the two pads to Sol's chest and released the charge, hopefully his armor wasn't too resistant to electricity running through it or they would be forced to strip him. Although HK didn't really mind to get a hold of nude pictures of Moross' God.


And Aboard the Siege Tower

The starfigher escort and decoy dropship landed in the hangars of the Nebulon frigate, returning from their incursion against the Vong as the crew inside rushed to repair the damages and re-fill their ammunition supplies.

In mean time, HK sent a transmission to [member="Vascious Relens"], and [member="Amorella Mae"] the two current commanders of Moross Navy it seemed.

"This is the Siege Tower, our starfighters will soon be ready to provide support once more, what is the current plan? Perhaps we should fire at the deactivated Star Destroyer and detonate its reactor?"

The droid proposed, the Siege Tower has gotten closer to the battlefield, still staying at the back of Moross forces but this time they were able to provide support to the fleet with its turbo-laser batteries.

Well it was a bit too late for that, it seemed the damaged ship was coming straight for them now. The Siege Tower adjusted its position, keeping at the back of the fleet, being nimble and quick, it wouldn't be too hard for the frigate to avoid getting rammed by the ship.
"Never mind, they are going straight for us, evasive maneuvers suggested."

 

[Mercury Zealot]

[member="Darth Ayra"] (OOC: I'll admit, that took me for a tumble for a bit. Thought I was dead )

Satisfaction. Satisfaction. Satisfac- What in Neth's name happened? The Resu beast thought these base thoughts, as he ravaged the human girl. It was no great accomplishment, but the savory of victory was nonetheless sweet. It would take 1,000 worthless Vong to bring this kind of satisfaction. She had hurt him, and defied his over bearing presence, to the point the disrespect he wanted to cause in her was boundless and infinite in the typical Resu fashion. But as tooth and claw made bloody the woman, who was being so viciously being infected with the harsh Techno-Virus poison, that in due time would begin the conversion of her flesh into metallic droid if a cure could not be found in due time. As far as most knew, there was no cure, the poison being so rare in these days after its initial discovery hundreds, perhaps even thousands of years ago. Since that time, there has only been one who was able to retain their identity after the poison, and thus far now only one who knew how to protect the minds of those afflicted with it. One was long dead, and the other was his God.

But in the last moments of this seeming triumph the unexpected happened. The harsh and evil thing blaster through his hulking forearm, and as much as the Alchemy skin tried to maintain itself, the very atoms that made it up began to push against each other, and suddenly, his arm turned to ash. Howling in pain, the Resu's electric glands blasted in pained fury to the point many of them became injured and silenced.

Quick as lightning, he did not allow the woman any hope of pulling a second shot... ever.

With his remaining arm, he took his massive freight train strength, claws down, and punched down over the face of the Sith lady in point blank range, while he went in to bite at the elbow. He would make her pay for taking his arm, by depriving her of her arm too... and her face... and if he had his way, her life. With his foot, he reached up to pin her other arm down as well, so he might get the strength to completely rip the arm off, and puncture and crush anything that was underneath him. His shoulder was still smoldering and turning to ash even as he did this. The instantaneous effects of the disruptor had disintegrated his entire arm, but where it had been attached the ashes still fell very slowly, suggesting the de-atomization to a much smaller degree was still going and eating away at his flesh.

Liquids leaked out from his arm in almost consistent drizzle from the socket his arm was attached to formerly. One thing was for certain, neither opponent looked very good after this fight.

 

[Ereza]

Aboard The Freya - Bridge


"The Freya is holding steady, Your Holiness. Chivalrous successfully shielded us from the blast. Shields are at 86%, engines 81%, weapons are armed and ready."

Though the bridge was buzzing with activity as the staff moved, like clockwork, to save those remaining on the Chivalrous, surrounding the throne-like command chair where Aesir Inari currently sat was a calm, heavy quiet. She watched and listened, unsmiling, pensive, constantly aware of the ache in her chest. By now she wondered if it was the remnants of all that Darkside power, or if the massive amount of death and destruction was also ringing dully along the Force. The woman took a steadying breath, turning her gaze to Captain Mortain, "and what about Chivalrous?"

The Captain frowned, brows lofting as he, perhaps, attempted to bring some levity to an otherwise dire situation aboard that particular frigate, "Communications aboard the Chivalrous are down. Artifice was collecting transports and escape pods, but it's a bit tied up with-"

"Incoming transmission from the Horde flagship! Shall I bring it up on visual?"

Inari's expression remained impassive, "No, audio will be fine."

"It seems we are at a stalemate. Black sun reinforcements have arrived with fresh ships to turn the tide in our favor. Now I want you to listen to me very carefully, we will leave this place and let you have claim over it. And we at the horde will not find you out, kill your people, rape your lands, and glass your people. And where we are sitting we are ready for a very very very long war. But all that can be avoided. All you must do is defeat me in single combat, that's not hard is it?"

The Reviver blinked, a look of sanguine patience held firmly on her face - the same look of a Queen who suffered fools daily and with some amount of bated humor. Quietly, casually, she leaned over in the chair towards the Captain and asked him in a low voice if Phase II was ready. He replied that it was, and awaited her orders for jump. Inari offered him the smallest of smiles, bid him send coordinates of the Vong flagship to The Countess and gave the man a nod, motioning with her hands the location of said ship and the space occupying it directly behind. Mortain smirked and moved off to enact the plan.

"If you win, we will leave this place at once and the crusade alone forever. If I win, well. Lets just say we will be spending quality, very close, intimate, uninterrupted, time together with my shapers and myself. Now there's a mining facility towards the outskirts of the field Amorella Mae Aesir Inari [because her name is not public knowledge] I want us to settle this there, come alone and so will I."

Straightening herself, Inari gently smoothed her robes and took a moment to herself before responding to [member="Supreme Overlord Dredge"], "That's quite a proposal..."

For the briefest of moments there was a palpable jolt of insult that seemed to permeate the bridge. Under Neth's reign the crew and warriors might've cried out their anger at this leader and his challenge. Yet within the presence of Aesir Inari, the bridge remained silent, if not under the strong will of its occupants. They looked to her with mixed emotions, as most all Crusaders held some form of reverence for the Reviver, no matter which Aesir of the pantheon they devoted themselves to.

Inari fell reticent as she considered this. It was well known by both her people, her allies, and likely her potential enemies who had paid any sort of attention that The Reviver was not a fighter - nay, she was a healer, a caretaker, a guiding force, a scion of unity amongst her people. To the Crusaders she was surrounded by, this was the most absurd thing to ask of her.

"Excuse me, Lord Vong, for just one moment," Inari spoke up, and promptly signaled to her comm detail to mute the link to the Horde flagship.

"Name a Champion, Bright One, do not sully yourself on the likes of this heretic," said a warrior with a hushed tone to her right.
"I will fight for you, your Eminence, and rid you of this pestilence once and for all," hissed a Priestess to her right.
"Aesir," Captain Mortain was at her side again, "Phase II is underway and we have just received word from The Knight of Eclipse. They're closing in to board with Aesir Neth and Crusader Marix aboard."

"Incoming transmission from The Siege Tower," [member="HK-36"]

"This is the Siege Tower, our starfighters will soon be ready to provide support once more, what is the current plan? Perhaps we should fire at the deactivated Star Destroyer and detonate its reactor?"

These people and their brilliant ideas. The leavening of Inari's expression and mood could quite literally be seen and felt throughout the bridge. Seemed others were of the same opinion, and at that moment she was very grateful to have the aid of the Protectorate. Inari made a mental note to personally speak to their leader when this was all over. She was about to respond when-

"Never mind, they are going straight for us, evasive maneuvers suggested."

"Duly noted, Siege Tower, Artifice will maintain cover for you. Chivalrous is down," the woman sighed, uttering honors under her breath for those still remaining upon Chivalrous. It was likely that beast of a destroyer would hit it straight on. At that moment, feeling the engines of The Freya kick in, she motioned for the comm to the Vong Lord.

"After some consideration, Lord Vong, I'm afraid I am disinclined to acquiesce to your request. Namasté."

The link to the vong flagship dropped.

Artifice and The Freya, two ships still functioning at a majority of power, much faster and more agile than the hobbling SD, eased their way out of the behemoth's path. Freya pulled back, shields flaring at the oncoming barrage of the Black Sun

"Connect me with The Siege Tower," Inari gently commanded, then waited expectantly for the ping, "Siege Tower this is Aesir Inari. I have four ships inbound. Your idea to waste the approaching Star Destroyer is sound. It's shields will be null, the debris will provide us cover against enemy forces and buy us time."

She turned to the crew who eagerly awaited her order, "Fire Proton Torpedoes at that Xo'Xan, signal Artifice to do the same." The next moments, as the pair of Crusade ships panned upwards and unleashed hell upon the massively slow moving SD target, were brilliant to behold. Joined [or not] by the Protectorate forces, the explosions sent shock waves through space, and tore into the Xo'Xan's unprotected hull relentlessly. Inari watched with bated breath as it buckled under a belt of fire and tore in two, sending a blast of debris and detritus alongside the two enormous halves into space and the route between them and the Black Sun ships.


"Aesir Inari," Captain Mortain looked up with a pleased expression, "Phase II has arrived."


Directly behind the approaching ships of the Vong fleet, several silhouettes dropped into realspace: The Countess [Victory II Class SD 900m], Sacrament [Ithari Swarm Frigate 850m], The Vifor [HARC-1 Class Corvette 325m], and Heretic Slapper [Missile Variant Marauder Class Corvette 195m].

She nodded, "Signal Knight of the Eclipse and tell them we are ready to receive them."

 

[Garza]

I looked to the god as the HK droid fired up the pads that would shock the mans heart back alive. Also giving me the proposal that they have steady shipments of Phrik ore. Rare and as it happened to be on he planet Demonsgate in which I had almost died on. I nodded my head to the droid. "We will consider your proposal. But I will be determined at a later date I am afraid."

I knew that they would come back weither we were ready or not. I picked up my beskad that I had clutched onto when I was contorting on myself. I had gripped it so hard that my hand print was bent into the simple iron handle. I shook my head, realizing that it fit better than before. I scooted myself back away from the god as the droid proclaimed clear. Wanting me not to get shocked in the process.

I allowed myself to bend at the knees and neck. Saying a silent prayer. Mentioning all of the ten gods, including the three living gods to keep him alive. I had a gut feeling that he was supposed to live. And I he died, who would take his place? What god would stand up in the place of him? That I had no idea.

As the pads were being pressed to his chest I spoke into my com, maybe it still worked? "Inari, we are inbound with Neth in not so good of condition. Have medical team on stand by."

I could felt wet in my suit. Only finally did I take my helm off to look down at my skin underneath. It was a deep red color as though I had bled from every poor on my body. And that's where my stomach caught up to the gore. My meal was no longer in my stomach.

[member="HK-36"], [member="Amorella Mae"], [member="Soliael Devin Talith"],