Welcome To The Machine [Incursion PvE]

[Riamah]

As Kirk and Ailuros changed places, he wondered away from them and disappeared into the crowd. The cat shook her head as she noticed this, but didn't say anything. There was a possibility, however unlikely he saw something she had missed. Turning her attention to Anya, she listened to what was said and her whiskers fell down a little at the thought.

She looked a little curiously at the red head when she said the Jedi were evil. In her time with them, that had never been shown to her. Not that she ran with many Jedi in reality. The mention of it not being the time to debate philosophy was accurate and Ailuros didn't have an opinion on it anyway. She followed orders and only questioned them if they didn't make sense. What Anya said though did.

When a hand was placed on her shoulder, Ailuros didn't really think anything odd with it. The previous hostility from Anya was in the past and the cat hoped it stayed there. The action itself did not confuse her like Anya hoped it would.

She walked backwards, watching their now party of two from behind as Anya walked forward. One hand was on her sword and her other on her disruptor. Nothing came at them from behind and when they reached where the sounds of fighting had been, she turned around to see what was going on. It looked like chaos to her and she looked at Anya with her glowing saber.

With a small hiss, she whispered into her ear, "you're showing them where we are."

[member="Anya Malvern"] [member="Onyx"] [member="Jessica Matthews"] [member="Astromech DD2-R8"] [member="Audren Sykes"] [member="Tempest"]

 

[Progflaw99]

Mysterious Coordinates \\ Platform Leading to the Interior​

Left \\ Generator \\ [member="Onyx"]
Allies: #TeamDarkSide | [member="Samka Derith"] | [member="Ara Zambrano"] | [member="Torian Pierce"] | [member="Mishel Zanteres"] | [member="Kyrel Ren"] | [member="Tmoxin Temi"]​

​

Things were happening - the melting pot of Force signatures of the people previously gathered melding, shifting, most importantly - moving forward. Castor's initial response would have been to slaughter them all, his trained mind recognizing not just one but several distinct enemies of the First Order in attendance of this... whatever it was. The other Ren in attendance were known to him, some better than others, but as a general rule he regarded all of them with some measure of suspicion, except perhaps Decitus. It was she that had in so few months gained the attention of Sieger, and it was Decitus who led them now. At least figuratively.

As it stood, the Knights of Ren were being cautious - perhaps a bit too cautious. Progress required initiative, and that often entailed risk. Even as they talked among themselves it seemed one of the more headstrong of their number had already begun to advance towards the left most route. Castor watched with apprehension as he saw Mishel kneel down next to the contaminant evident on the floor, his voice rising - but it was too late. Already he could see the girl's fingers covered in the substance.

"Child!" he stepped forward, taking care himself not to come in contact with the fluid. "Step away - now."​

​

He narrowed his eyes, lowering himself closer to the ground while being careful not to let the substance come into contact with either him or his equipment. Intriguing. What the 'goo' was exactly he wasn't sure, but he certainly didn't have a good feeling about it. A biological weapon? It would make sense, a weapon designed to target the organics alone. Whatever it was, he wasn't getting any readings from his helmet. Either it was something they'd never encountered before and his sensors weren't calibrated to detect, or it really was harmless, something like oil or hydraulic fluid. Castor wasn't satisfied with either possibility, but he was sure of one thing - they needed to move in farther.

"We should continue, before we fall too far behind."​

 

[Darth Bellum]

Location | Terminal Route Door
Objective | Penetrate Door
Company | [member="Venthis Zambrano"] | [member="Caelag Vass"] | Anyone else waiting to get through to the terminal

---

---

---

They were being toyed with and watched. Vexen was not bothered by it, but he was bothered by the inability to get through a door. His comment to the young girl, [member="Aster Rose Baelor"] had gone largely ignored, something that Vexen didn't fret over. At least there was a small measure of composure the young girl possessed, as one would expect from a noble lineage. He watched as the droid [member="HK-36"] continued to attempt to breach the door with about as much success as the [member="Astromech DD2-R8"], which was very little. Vexen's armored visage would turn as he stared up at one of the screens.

Vexen would lift both of his hands, fingers outstretched as they slowly curled into fists exerting his grasp of the Force outwards as he was simply just getting irritated of being flashed by words from multiple places. The screens of the monitor would begin to crack and fracture as the groan of metal was heard, slowly crushing the monitors as sparks began to shoot out. All but one monitor should have been left untouched as a result of Vexen's disdain for being flashed by nonsense. His patience was growing thin and his irritation was only growing as time drew on, but he kept it contained to himself. The enemy was intent on fighting them indirectly, and likely was going to every step of the way.

Vexen decided perhaps a different approach was to be taken with the door as he walked forward, simply addressing the HK unit. " Step aside... " is all he would say as his right hand reached down to his belt, unclipping the hilt of his lightsaber as he held it in one hand. He would ignite the saber as a crimson blade of energy extended outwards, raising his free hand to grasp the lower end of the hilt so that he held the saber firmly in both hands and parallel to the ground at about his face level. Vexen would then immediately thrust forward with the tip as he drove the saber up to its hilt against the blast door, using his size and strength to slowly carve into it. Unless the blastdoor was reinforced with some form of lightsaber resistant material, he should have no trouble piercing it and carving the party an entrance. It would simply take time, which they all had more than enough of.

[member="Zircon"] | [member="Onyx"]

 

[HK-36]

[member="Caelag Vass"],

"You know your stuff, good to have you around then. As much as I would love to tell you about how me and the princess met, I doubt we have that much time for it right now, especially with everything else to deal with."

HK pointed out as suddenly chit begun to stir up again, with their astromech companion going a bit nuts and a transmission from their hosts beginning to play,

"Just know that I am actually an old ally of your Iron Empire, I took part in the Liberation of Csilla from the One Sith Remnant when I saved your princess' life."

Of course that was a story few people knew about, as for some reason Isamu didn't seem too keen on accepting that the droid had some part in setting up the Iron Empire and any attempts by the machine to contact him were usually ignored, it probably had something to do with the fact that they didn't asked HK to help them then but instead he just kind of showed up, and whenever he would remind them of the fact he would also mention that he was using the whole Iron-Noun scheme before their formation.



[member="Zircon"],

"Illogical- illogical?! The feth I am illogical, first thing I did walking in here was to try and integrate with the nearest console in attempt to find out more about these systems and how to slice them. If that is illogical according to your chitty processes then would you consider more reasonable slamming my face-plate in the door repeatedly?!"

HK tried briefly arguing with the announcement before he looked back to Caelag,

"Your plan sounds good but there is one more thing I want to try to do, plus I need to talk to our astromech friend. Can you direct your Iron Empire companies to focus on the holoprojector? Look around the room and ceiling as well, if they keep watching us I want to see if your sniper-eyes can pick up where from, pay attention to any cloaking-device flicker caused by movement. Do not be afraid to fire or throw something at the walls either, some droids are able to use sophisticated holograph tech to disguise themselves as organics, it is possible portions of the walls or ceiling are just a holographic ruse."

The droid proposed before looking to [member="Nima Tann"],

"I already told pretty much everyone around here exactly how to destroy my body, how more serious can I get?"

Nima's plan was really good, to try and bait their enemies into thinking they got better of them, one flaw of it, or perhaps strength, however was that one couldn't really communicate with HK telepathically, so he was not really aware of her tricky tactics as he responded to her suggestion of trying to avoid infighting by looking at the nearest Sith and hissing out,

"Yeah, I will try."

At least the Twi'lek still could count on the droid showboating and trying to steal the show, looking over to Nima he suggested,

"Try to fiddle with the holoprojector and terminals attached to it, I will send the astromech to help you, hopefully you can keep him from another breakdown."


His attention focused on watching Nima walk away was soon enough snapped as [member="Kor Vexen"] begun to start destroying multiple monitors around the room,

"Wha- no, you idiot, please stop! We can track the signals!"

The droid protested before Kor called out for him to step away, HK pulled his slicing spike from the terminal, letting it disappear in his body once more and the organic Vong-shaped armor he wore to move back into it place, raising his hands towards Kor as if he was saying "You're talking to me?!"

"I am not even anywhere near the blast door you chode!"

He pointed out as he actually begun to walk towards the door was well, passing by [member="Tempest"] to whom he spoke up,

"Hey Tempest, nice haircut, I can always appreciate someone looking sharp. Could you try to see if you can sense any electrical currents running around here from that last monitor before someone else decides to start blowing things up around here please? Out of all of us you might have the best innate sense of electrical signals and it would make slicing our way out of here so much easier."

The questioned seemed more rhetorical or not however as HK picked up the pace to jog across the room towards where Kor was, however not to pick a fight with the Sith, at least not yet, instead to kneel down towards [member="Astromech DD2-R8"] and tapping on his dome slightly,

"That is not going to get us out of here any faster. Can you try slicing the holoprojector in the center of the room while the organics try to fiddle with it? See if you can track the signal from the last monitor to check where it is receiving it from, there are still active systems around here we could slice our way through."


Kor and Zircon Again, Plus Other Force Users

Finally he would look at Kor again, just starting with a strong and negative,

"Do not waste your energy, I design stations and ships that use tech like that. By the time you would cut your way through the organics will either be cleansed from this Galaxy or the other team will get to have all the fun."

HK would activate his state-of-the-art scanners, focusing on the door and its sides to track the inner mechanisms of the blast door, particularly the mechanisms that dealt with closing and opening the door, either its hydraulics, or magnetized locks. This tactic worked for the droid before, at least with smaller autodoor, and other droids, giving him an understanding of the mechanizations much like users of Mechu Deru were able to, except instead of having to use the Force for it, such understanding came much more naturally to him.

"How proficient are you with the arts of telekinesis? If we can identified the door's locks and hydraulic mechanisms we can manipulate them through the wall to force it to either unlock or open for us. We might need more Force users for it though."

Of course if other Sith or Force users in the room heard what droid said to Kor they were pretty welcomed to come and help them with the task.

 

[Astromech DD2-R8]

Still at the terminal route 2. [member="Zircon"]
========

The Astromech seemed to completely ignore all the complaints from the perfectly logical teammates as the monitor screen taunted them all... Then it went into ramble mode, an endless stream of miscellaneous beepings that would continue for a while.

"*First of all, logical would be coming down here and killing us all without puzzles, plus it is ineffective, not to mention irritating for us as much as I calculate it is for you! Don't you have much better things to be getting on with such as conquering the galaxy or whichever little ambition you have?*" The droid turned to where a camera angle was. "*And for the record, as an R2 I have literally no reason to be attempting to be organic. Now if you really want something irritating let me make loud, ear piercing noises in your general direction. And I don't care if you have ears or not! No, actually, how about I go into a full list of all the reasons you are an inferior class of being? Starting with-*"

A tap on the dome took the droid back to reality for a moment, and it seemed to look towards [member="HK-36"] with a look of surprise and anger of interruption.

"*Are you aware that the projector has nothing to do with the situation yet? And the monitor is almost certainly a separate system altogether. To be perfectly honest, the projector likely has a data disk in it, a ruse to think it is playing live. But for the limited chance of progress, I will see if I am wrong.*"

The quite obviously cranky droid exited its task of welding the hinges off the door and instead rolled over to the projector in order to open it up with various tools for the sole purpose of linking up with it.

Unfortunately, as a machine, DD2 had no idea of [member="Nima Tann"] and her plan spoken telepathically. So if all hell broke loose DD might be gunning for survival, not for trickery. Funnily enough, the droid was pretty mad even without instructions so it was playing the part so far.

 

[Rekha Kaarde]

Location – fighting with the turrets


Allies: [member="Audren Sykes"] | [member="Muad Dib"] | [member="Archim Calixis"] | [member="Kurayami Bloodborn"] | [member="Atlas Kane"] | [member="Andorreth Vikar"] | [member="Onyx"] | [member="Enyo Typhos"] | @jennifer Matthews | [member="Zai Avery"] |

Rekha wasn’t ready yet to fight the droids, but her hand held the Woebringer tightly. She didn’t like to admit to being nervous but this was nerve racking. The turrets were up and Rekha needed to feel useful, but there was that heavy feeling in the air you know that kind that said something was coming.

Rekha realized it was the forcies doing their thing and while was never sure of what to do with them, she knew that for this trip just keeping them safe to do their thing would be the right thing to do.

The turrets had popped up, and they were working on getting them to take out one another, she believed. And the bomb maker around her was well scary she hoped they didn’t all get blown up. She thought about checking on the flying mando, but you know she noticed they did bounce real well.

She aimed her weapon though, even if it only did a little damage and began shooting at the lights just below the turret, power source…maybe it would stop them.

There had to be a song to go with this right, somewhere in her memory there had to be one…just one..

“hit me with your best shot, oh yeah hit me with your best shot” She could hear it now as she sang and fired.

 

[Omega]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]
“We are under no illusions as to the power of some of these individuals, Enyo Typhos. If they do some of the job themselves for us, it is all the same.”

Garnet shrugged delicately. “The machine proceeds well. Everything is on schedule.”

She walked forward, extended a hand. “Come, leave the button pushing to one of ours,” she said. Another humanoid shell for machine stepped forward, this one dressed rather more outlandishly, with pink hair.

“That is Kunzite. She is showing dangerous signs of individuality,” Garnet commented disapprovingly.

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Incursion"]


Enyo had her own thoughts about the Contingency's present strategy, but kept those to herself. Whatever they were. Same applied to the behaviour of the organics and the speechifying droid in their midst. She was not fond of excessive talking.


A pink haired HRD took her place at the console. Enyo disapproved of her outlandish hair. Garnet's comment still amused her slightly. "Very organic. But so is Sapphire. She acts awfully operatic. Literally. And Zircon is an illogical gloater," she remarked dryly. Her disapproval was evident. Maybe Amara should dye her hair pink just to troll her robotic sister.


It would be silly of you to trust them. I don't. Trust is a luxury commodity I can only afford in small amounts, she thought. Outwardly her expression remained serene and sort of bland. "Since the facility has yet to erupt in violence, is there a task for me?"

 

[Vaylin]

Location: Main Terminal Area [ Route 2 | [member="Zircon"] ]
Objective: Investigate the Facility
Team/Allies: Dark Side - Sith Empire
With: [member="Darth Venefica"] | [member="Ylva Solveig"]

Vaylin visibly twitched when the hooded man; [member="Vindica"], stepped between her and [member="Aster Rose Baelor"]. His intent was clear, and that was what primarily irritated the Zabrak. She could sense dark coming from the person, and yet they were putting themselves between her and a Jedi.

She exhaled; annoyed, but made no move to push the issue any further. As much as she'd like to fight the princess, there were much more pressing issues at hand.

When a towering presence suddenly stopped at her side, Vaylin looked over and up at [member="Kor Vexen"]. The armored figure reminded her of the Epicanthix, height looming over her without issue. There was no denying how imposing it was, but it seemed the man was on her side if his comment towards Baelor was anything to go by.

Vaylin grinned slightly, seeing [member="The Slave"] make his appearance. It had been a while since the two had crossed paths last, and she was admittedly pleased to see the pale man had managed to pull himself back from the fight the two had shared.

The two droids, [member="HK-36"] and [member="Astromech DD2-R8"] continued to converse with one another. She could only understand half of the conversation going on, but from the sounds of things it wasn't going particularly great. Then a new pair decided to join them, Vaylin turned to watch as [member="Nima Tann"] and [member="Tempest"] entered the terminal room. She didn't know what to make of them, but they seemed to be familiar with HK, and at the very least seemed to both have level heads for the situation.

Somewhere amongst the conversation, Vaylin picked up a mention of the Iron Empire, and filed it away in her mind for a later time along with the other names she didn't recognize.

From there things seemed to blur by. [member="Caelag Vass"] and HK chattered about a weapon the latter had given. She could feel [member="Venthis Zambrano"]'s impatient begin to boil to the surface.

Then the screens crackled to life, words began to flicker on them as the video looped over and over, getting increasingly longer as time wove on.

Ineffective. Illogical. Irritating. Why? Because you are organic or pretend to be.

It seemed to be a breaking point, as Kor Vexen began to destroy a few of the screens with the Force, drawing the annoyance of the bi-pedal droid. Then the Anzati moved to the bulkhead doors, lightsaber flickering to life. Vaylin sighed, shaking her head.

"I wouldn't bother, there's no way the Contingency would make their doors not resistant to lightsabers. And even if they had, it would just be another lure to pull us along."

Further words were left in the air, conversations were drowned out in the Zabrak's ears as she finally picked up on a familiar presence. Brushing past the ones surrounding her, Vaylin reached out slightly towards [member="Enyo Typhos"]. It was impossible to miss the fact that her presence wasn't amongst them or the other group, rather Enyo was elsewhere in the facility.

Why are you here?

 

[Marcus Faust]

Location: Route 2, [member="Zircon"]
Objective: Investigate, Dissuade interest in young girl by malevolent parties
Team: Lightside


He remained unflinching in the face of [member="Vaylin"], the girl's agitation didn't so much as make him blink, but [member="Kor Vexen"]'s comment drew his eyes away from the Acolyte to the Knight as the man went for the door, saber alight. There had been a time where he might have stepped out with his own saber alight, and gutted the man where he stood, he was still capable surely, but something in him no longer had the will to do so. Stepping away from [member="Aster Rose Baelor"] as her guardsmen arrived, he payed little mind to either [member="Caelag Vass"] or [member="Ylva Solveig"], simply noting them as protectors of the young noblewoman.

The mocking of the machines had simply rolled off of him, though he couldn't quite decide if it was due to simply not caring, or if he'd simply heard enough rampant droids railing against organics in his lifetime. The taunt had been ineffective, irritating, but he couldn't quite call it illogical, organics had plenty of flaws that made them the things the screen accused them of being. That was life.

Looking to [member="HK-36"] and [member="Astromech DD2-R8"] with amusement, as the two droids not bent on the destruction of life itself seemed most dedicated to progressing forwards and stopping whatever the Incursion truly was. "I can do the job." He answered HK in response to his question of who was skilled in the arts of telekinesis. Making his way over to the droid he didn't give off any indication of the surges of pain that shot through him, this time from where his prosthetics met the flesh of his thighs. Conflict and lack of proper available maintenance since his abandonment of the Sith had left them replacements in a state of disrepair, they functioned perfectly, but jagged edges prodded flesh with every motion and occasionally cut into him, only through the force was he able to heal the wounds enough to prevent infection when they happened. If only his master hadn't taken his legs, if only he hadn't picked the wrong side in that coup.

"Just show me where." He spoke to the Iron Knight raggedly, his mind already racing as he wondered what lay beyond the doors ahead.

 

[Ara Zambrano]

Location: Maintenance Tunnels | Path 1: Left Door [member="Onyx"]
Allies: The Dark Side Team | [member="Samka Derith"] | [member="Castor Ren"] | [member="Torian Pierce"] | [member="Mishel Zanteres"] | [member="Kyrel Ren"] | [member="Tmoxin Temi"]

[Left Side Corridor Occupants: [member="Audren Sykes"] | [member="Muad Dib"] | [member="Archim Calixis"] | [member="Kurayami Bloodborn"] | [member="Atlas Kane"] | [member="Andorreth Vikar"] | [member="Enyo Typhos"] | [member="Jessica Matthews"] | [member="Zai Avery"] |

​

Nodding once in response to Castor Ren’s assertion, her brow furrowed as she watched the young Disciple of Ren gathered a handful of the oil-like substance, a warning growl echoing from the vocalizer in her mask.

”Mishel, do-“

No sooner had the three scant syllables escaped, the girl was gone, an unamused expression settling as emerald eyes watched her figure dart off, deeper into the tunnel system. A small knot of anger formed in her gut, the constant obsession the young Ren had with disappearing becoming exasperating. A quick glance back at the girl’s Master, one eyebrow raised in question yielded little. The sounds of clanking armour bounced around the abandoned tunnels, her gaze snapping to the figure of Kyrel Ren rushing after the girl, his passage less than silent.

Incompetent-

The litany of less that flattering opinions of her brother and sister in arms rose to the forefront of her mind, expression stormy as anger snapped within her irises. The trio of remaining Ren paused, the lone Stormtrooper among them somewhere behind. Ara wondering if their minds traced a similar path to hers. As the twin shadow slipped into the darkness to the left, the Knight ached to turn right, to leave them behind to face whatever danger their path took them. It was the part of her that still lingered, cold and uncaring, from years spent fending for herself and leaving others to do the same.

Instead, she attempted to catch the gaze of the violet-haired Master of Ren through the opaque visor, differing to her authority.

”Shall we attempt to bail them out of the trouble they will inevitably find themselves in?”

The purr held a sharp edge, emphasized by the cold, mechanical distortion, her opinion on the matter clear. Yet she knew the answer even as she asked, the confirmation by Samka a mere formality. Turning with the squelch of the ooze underfoot, a sickening sound that made the Hapan’s hands curl into fists in disgust.

The eruption of blaster fire was enough to spur her onward, lips curling up in a grin as the sounds of battle filtered their way to the group that seemed to be last to arrive. Her fingers wrapped around the hilt of her saber, easily unsnapping it as she turned to the left but leaving the blade cold and inactive for the time being.

Power Generator.

Her eyes lit on the sign hanging from the door with marks carved into it, eyebrows raised in amusement as the evidence that someone had attempted to ensure their escape route would not be compromised. An effort she appreciated. Chaos unfolded in front of her as they came flush with those who had preceded them, the small corridor filled with gunfire and activity, the Knight pausing long enough to ensure that Samka, Castor, and Torian were not far behind. A deep chuckle rumbled out as she surveyed the scene, a smirk hidden behind durasteel.

Spoiler

OOC: Quick post during lunch catching us up. I apologize if I missed tagging anyone or anything of import. If I did, let me know and I shall fix straight away!

 

[Zircon]

Progression Post​

[SIZE=12pt] As our not so glorious heroes all reacted to the footage of the room, the passage they had just entered from was sealed off by its own blast door. Drones that had been cloaked and motionless in hidden corners all over the room suddenly began to reveal themselves and disappear up little holes. Energy shields that were not obvious before suddenly flickered into full power as they covered both the blast doors and the other surfaces within the room. Any attempts made with weapons, basters or sabers or otherwise, would find they had no effect. The droid aiming to mess with the holoprojector would be zapped the moment it attempted to mess with the machine. It would seem whatever plan there was for this room was finally in motion.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt] The holoprojection of a droid appeared in the center of the room. The figure began to speak right away, “ Greetings my witless fools! My name is Zircon and I’m a personal agent of our glorious leader Onyx. It has been a true pleasure to watch all of you flail around in this room spinning in your little circles and bickering, but it is time we get to why you all accepted our invitation.” Zircon paused here for dramatic effect then went on, “ How is everyone today? Upset? Frustrated? Confused? Excellent. As you might have noticed this room is a little odd and completely locked up tight. Such a shame. But there is good news! You can deactivate the shielding and unlock the door leading on by simply pressing the correct button. Yes, just press the right button and you will all be freed!”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt] The droid paused there for a moment to let things sink in. It went on, “Do be careful though. Pressing the wrong buttons will have unfortunate effects, even though they have been inactive until now. Let me demonstrate for you all what will happen now if you press the incorrect ones.” A small drone flew over to the holoprojector and pressed a button on it. A buzzing sound erupted and the sound of machinery from beyond the walls echoed through the entirety of the room. Zircon said in a maliciously happy way, “Good luck my flustered, irrelevant guests!” The projection disappeared.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]

Spoiler

[member="Venthis Zambrano"] [member="Vindica"] [member="Astromech DD2-R8"] [member="HK-36"] [member="Aster Rose Baelor"] [member="Ylva Solveig"] [member="Nima Tann"] [member="The Slave"] [member="Tempest"] [member="Kor Vexen"] [member="Caelag Vass"] [member="Vaylin"] [member="Darth Venefica"]

[/SIZE]

 

[Netherworld]

Here to ruin your day Post​

A second passed.

Two.

Three—

Nothing happened.

No giant robots came crashing through the walls; no droids of doom burst out of vents, toting gatling guns while screaming about extermination of organics; no turrets dropped from the ceiling, turning everyone into so much emmentaler.

The weight of this anticlimax would be such that it would eclipse the insidious, invisible trickle of poison into the air. Nothing extravagant, really – Onyx was a stickler for the ol’ tried and true, it seemed.

Well, it would seem. Eventually. Once people their lungs started to burn and their muscles cramp up. But that would take minutes.

And oh, how much sweeter was the fear now taking anchor in their hearts, as the quiet stretched on – as the breaths came and went, and nothing happened.

How much sweeter, to have the organics destroy themselves from within.

[member="Venthis Zambrano"] [member="Vindica"] [member="Astromech DD2-R8"] [member="HK-36"] [member="Aster Rose Baelor"] [member="Ylva Solveig"] [member="Nima Tann"] [member="The Slave"] [member="Tempest"] [member="Kor Vexen"] [member="Caelag Vass"] [member="Vaylin"] [member="Darth Venefica"]​

 

[Darth Bellum]

Location | Terminal Door Route
Objective | Get through
Company | [member="Venthis Zambrano"] | [member="Vindica"] | [member="Astromech DD2-R8"] | [member="HK-36"] | [member="Aster Rose Baelor"] | [member="Ylva Solveig"] | [member="Nima Tann"] | [member="The Slave"] | [member="Tempest"] | [member="Caelag Vass"] | [member="Vaylin"] | [member="Darth Venefica"]

---

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---

Vexen would be burning his way through the blast door using his lightsaber. It was a slow and tedious process but he was making some decent headway, or at least better progress than what the droids had been providing. He would glance up as he sensed something about to happen, immediately shutting off his lightsaber as he pulled the handle away, taking a step back just before the energy shield flickered to life and put itself between him and the door. He would regain his composure as he stood upright and seemingly glared at the energy shield that had been placed before him.

Vexen slowly turns his head to the right, looking over his shoulder as the holoprojector flared to life, turning the rest of his large form to face it as the projection of a droid began to speak in a condescending manner. Though he appreciated the fact that it was like talking to a mirrored version of himself, albeit a droid instead of an Anzat with a God complex, he was not very bothered by its appearance or its conversation. Such trivial attempts to anger or irritate him with baseless taunts and words had little if any effect on him.

Vexen would play back the entirety of Zircon's little speech in his head as he turned his back to the projector, now staring at the door. A key to the locked cage they now found themselves in, a hidden key for that matter. They simply needed to figure where and they would be able to move onward. Zircon seemed to love running its mechanical mouth to taunt them, so something had to be given away in all the talk he had spoken. He would begin to cycle through the speech and discard all the useless bits to find something of use. In the meantime, he would wait to see how the others would react and deliberate over how best to proceed, though he had his own suspicions of which button was their key to escape.

He would clip his lightsaber to his belt as he crossed his arms over his chest, staring at the holoprojector, watching as their would be tormenter continued to rabble on and on. His armor would let out a hiss in an automatic response to a detected change in his environment after the drone had been sent to press a button, sealing itself to run on its own provided life support. The Contingency seemed to heavily favor their little smoke and mirror tricks, but over his lifetime, Vexen has dealt with a number of underhanding, backstabbing and unsavory individuals. Whatever tricks they planned to throw at him would have to do their best to bring him down.

[member="Zircon"]

 

[Evoros]

Door #1 - Power Generator

Spoiler

[member="Allyson Locke"] | [member="Andorreth Vikar"] | [member="Ara Zambrano"] | [member="Archim Calixis"] | [member="Aryn Teth"] | [member="Atlas Kane"] | [member="Audren Sykes"] | [member="Captain Ironbeard"] | [member="Castor Ren"] | @Jessica Matthes | [member="Jorah"] | [member="Kaili Talith"] | [member="Kurayami Bloodborn"] | [member="Kyrel Ren"] | [member="Mishel Zanteres"] | [member="Muad Dib"] | [member="Rekha Kaarde"] | [member="Samka Derith"] | [member="Tempest"] | [member="Tmoxin Temi"] | [member="Zai Avery"]

NOTE: Tag either Diamond or Onyx for this side, it's fine either way.

The blast door sealed itself with a heavy mechanical groan. It seemed to close slowly - but it was firmly shut before anyone could get cold feet and make their escape. And the door would be frustratingly resistant to anything the ones on this side of it tried. Lightsabers would do nothing. Blasters would do nothing. There was no way out. No, in coming here they had made their choice. They would have to live with it.

Or die with it.

The turrets that had sprouted from the ceiling whirred back into their hatches, and briefly it felt almost peaceful. If they did not speak, there would be little else in the way of noise. The sounds of machinery were faint and distant, quiet whines that seemed somehow more dangerous than they should be.

But then they returned, and they had brought friends.

Several of them.

Dozens of turrets emerged from hatches in the walls, the ceilings. But when these cannons fired, it was not bullets that raced for their targets. Instead the room filled with sound - high pitched, maddening, and extremely uncomfortable. It would not kill anybody, but those with less resistance to the sonic waves might just fear for their lives.

But it was painful. It was discomforting. Even nauseating.

And it would also completely drown out the sound of a hiss of gas drifting into the air. Nobody would feel it. Not yet. Now all they could feel was the disorientation of sound, too much sound.

If they could focus, if they could concentrate through the noise, there were twelve turrets. They could be taken down. The right efforts would stop the system that targeted them.

But first, they would need to think through the waves of sound. Fight the urge to buckle to the ground, think their way past the turrets. Could they?

Hidden and far away, Diamond was watching. Happy, serene. Waiting to find out.

 

[Muad Dib]

Door 1
[member="Onyx"] I [member="Diamond"] @everyone else (I'm lazy)

Leaning against the monitors he getting again while letting the Force flow through his body. Focusing on the pain he used the sensation that tingled his nerve endings from the cracked ribs and focused letting the anger and rage build slowly within his chest. Grabbing a small bacta spray he hit the graze in his hip, then tossed the empty canister to grab another. Hissing he sprayed the foam over his wound which sealed both the wound and his suit.

Snarling he felt the Force grow, the power heighten, the Darkside build even as the turrets were drawn back into the ceiling. Rising from his position he fueled his hatred of this place and the contingency, his aura growing in waves.

But even as he stood more turrets appeared. Even as he watched the sound emitted drove the Mad Knight to his knees as the sheer volume and frequency began to disorient and infused him with pain. Hands fought with his buy'ce, finally freeing the helm from the netting. Pulling it on he sealed his suit and activated the systems within that drowned out the sounds from the turrets.

On his knees he slowly looked up, the heads up display flicking targeting reticles over each of the offending enemy gun emplacements. Fury filled the man and he rose to his feet with a demeanor that would cause the demons within the seven Corellian Hells to quake in fear.

 

[Rekha Kaarde]

Location – fighting with the turrets still

Allies: [member="Audren Sykes"] | [member="Muad Dib"] | [member="Archim Calixis"] | [member="Kurayami Bloodborn"] | [member="Atlas Kane"] | [member="Andorreth Vikar"] | [member="Onyx"] | [member="Enyo Typhos"] | @jennifer Matthews | [member="Zai Avery"] | [member="Diamond"] | @anyone I forgot

There was peace in a battle when there is peace it meant only one thing, regrouping. They had to be regrouping. Before she could utter her thoughts the next assault began.

"Well Feth me" She looked around as the walls revealed more turrets incredible she thought. She couldn't fire the Thunderclap in here she'd fry everyone. Kark she swore to herself.

How to get out of this without having a few holes. Then the sound picked up ear piercing and vibrating into her very soul oh it was a wave she felt the sickness from it all bubbling and rumbling in her stomach. She needed a peppermint and wouldn't you know she had none. She could feel herself slowly sinking giving in to the pressure of the sound as it pushed her with each wave. She yawned to see if that would help.

She'd rather have the bullets this was murder. She needed...ear plugs...did she have any? She quickly searched her pockets...no nothing but a tissue...she shrugged looking at the tissue ripped it in half and stuck it into her ears it cut down some of the sound but not all. At least now she could focus.

She looked at the others to see how they were..they needed to work together to get through this. "Plug your ears..." like that wasn't an obvious thing to do.

 

[Atlas Kane]

Door #1, room at the end of the hallway.
Moved from one side of the room towards [member="Muad Dib"], [member="Jorah"], and [member="Zai Avery"] -> Threw lightsabre at the new turrets
[member="Onyx"]

Theme

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pyp34v6Lmcc

The crackling blade came closer and closer to the turrets, their muzzles still directed towards the armoured Mandalorian, seemingly injuring him with their fire. The blade was just milliseconds away from reaching the turrets, the rush of anticipation overcame his mind as he watched the blade's path intently. Yet no satisfaction of a kill, even that of a simple clockwork machine, would cause the chemical release that he craved in this moment. Instead, he got the unfulfilling frustration that came with being denied. Excitement turned to contempt when the turrets ceased their fire and retracted back into the ceiling, causing the crimson flash to miss them by a hair-thin margin. It flew wide, towards the injured Mandalorian, who seemed to be receiving attention from the one who'd proclaimed himself a medic only a few moments prior, and another who'd taken refuge beneath the consoles it seemed. Contempt grew to disdain. Weaklings hiding from battle. He should've stricken them down right then and there, yet, the more cannon fodder there was, the easier it would be for him to achieve his goals, so the crimson blade deactivated before it impacted them and changed course drastically, ceasing its speeding movement in the palm of Atlas' hand.

He sighed to find release for at least some of his frustration. The sound of metal grinding against metal brought his gaze away from the Mandalorian and the medic towards the door, passing more faces than he had expected on its way. The door was almost fully closed before his eyes even reached it. Another frustrated sigh. He clipped the Lightsabre back to his belt and took a moment to finally take in the room they were in. It was dimly lit, especially now that most weapons had ceased their fire. The few electronic and mechanical devices that stood out seemed trivial in importance, more fit for the others to mess around with. There was no point in risking his life testing a button inside an enemy's facility only to be blown up by a mine. Curiosity had killed many a cat already, he would not be one of them. Instead, he stood slightly off to the side from the centre of the room, arms crossed, white fabric obscuring his figure again, the brazen mask the only thing visible of the person beneath the robes.

His head turned slowly, scanning each person now that he'd gotten a good impression of the room. Most of them seemed inconsequential. Soldiers, mercenaries, pirates, servants of misguided Force cults. He'd expected all of them to be here, all throwing away their lives for one cause or another. It mattered little to him. It was a little disappointing finding out he was the only Sith amongst them, though it would make his work easier. He'd appear as simply another Dark Sider, just another Jedi outcast seduced by the Dark Side roaming the galaxy in a quest for personal glory. They would be right in a way, he had been part of the Jedi, though he was not outcast, more forced into this life. There was little he could've done the day his master died, it was submit to that ... monster's will or die himself. The choice was made for him and what followed were some of the most excruciatingly painful years in his life, years that would shape him into the more powerful, more capable man he was today. He sighed again, his muscles relaxing as his shoulders dropped. But was that really for the better?

Red-orange eyes fell back on the injured Mandalorian. It must have been, there was no way that dying that day would have been a better choice than to become the Darth's apprentice. He had power, he could travel the galaxy, do and take what he pleased, it was a life he controlled, he himself, and no one else. Yet it was a life of constant anguish and pain, a life lived in solitude, devoid of the same friendship he'd experienced when he was still a Jedi. So what if he was a slave to the Force, to the corrupt Jedi and Republic? He'd have taken those days of ignorance over his current life, certainly, but there was no way back now. Perhaps he should at least talk to some of them, after all even Sith could achieve more when they fought together at times. It was worth a shot, at least. Worst case scenario would simply lead to three dead bodies that would never make it to the generator. So his steps carried him over to the trio sitting beneath the tables.

When he arrived next to them he took a moment to inspect them closer. The medic seemed like most other mercenaries, armed with uncivilised weaponry, armoured with promises of protection, typical for hired guns. The Mandalorian didn't seem particularly intriguing either. One of the bullets had struck him between his plates of armour, it didn't look fatal, but it would slow him down nonetheless. The third one was ... different. He seemed young, too young in fact. Inexperienced, armed with a blaster and what appeared to be shaped charges, he didn't belong here. An especially uncomfortable feeling shot through Atlas when he noticed the scars on the youngest's face. Something about the kid struck a cord with the Sith. He seemed too similar to Atlas during his youth, too energetic, too mature for his age, too close to danger that far outclassed his abilities.

"He'll live." The Sith stated bluntly, voice cold, but showing the smallest hint of compassion. His gaze then turned to the young one, genuine concern hidden behind the same coldness "You don't belong here ... you're too young. You should stay behind m-" me? No, he corrected himself "those more capable." He winced a little at the blunder. He was getting soft, despite his convictions. It was unbecoming of a Si-

The sound of metal scraping metal was audible from the ceiling again and his attention shot towards the source. The turrets were back, and this time with friends. Instantly he dropped into a combat stance again, taking the sabre and igniting its crimson blade, instinctively stepping close towards the three, as if to protect them, though he didn't perceive it, his attention focused entirely on the turrets. For several horribly long heartbeats, he expected their fire, expected them to do something, but he was given no fire, no bullets. Instead, he was greeted with perhaps the loudest shrieking he'd experienced in his twenty-six years amongst the living. Reflexively his eyes closed as his entire body winced in response to the unbearable noise. And it only grew louder. Violently one of his palms shot up to his ears, covering it, the other guiding his blade towards the turrets again, going to cover the other ear as soon as the hilt left his hand. It was harder to concentrate this time, but there were also more targets. He barely managed to keep his eyes on the sabre as it soared through the air once again, yet the sound only grew louder and louder. Soon it would be too much.

 

[Darth Empyrean]

Door 2:
Cloaked both physically, and in the force, watching the others struggle.

While many in the room seemed to choke and sputter, The Slave remained in the cloaked persona that his armor allowed. Air full of poison, he enjoyed the comfort of a pressurized suit able to withstand the atmosphere in space for some time; leave alone the casual neurotoxins some two bit terrorist used in an outdated factory.

He hoped, at least.

As soon as the suit recognized the poison in the air, it immediately switched to its own system and gave a visual alert to The Slave’s heads up display. A quick twitch of his finger, and the system set it aside to nothing more than a caution symbol with a timer measuring the hours of oxygen he had left. Since nobody could see him as of yet, and his presence in the force was completely negligible with the necklace he wore, there was nothing more to worry about until everyone fell.

He’d wait, let them suffer the struggles of panic before bringing out his own weapons. Until he was needed, he was only along for the ride; and they were simply going to have to survive by themselves until then.

A cruel grin creeped on his lips as the first began to panic and bang their hands against the blast door.

[member="Netherworld"] │ [member="Zircon"]

 

[Andorreth Vikar]

Location oor 1 Generator Room Raving it up with Jessica Matthews
Allies: Light side party peeps
Objective :Stop Weird Gas Leak, deal with turrets, enjoy rock music

Luckily I'd had my buy'ce on as the turrets retreated because next up was the ridiculous sound of sonic waves. Lucky for me I was neither Bith or having to deal with sounds I didn't wish to. The noise filter kicked on immediately and instead pumped hard rock as a background noise. The sensors on my Vespera Beskar'gam started going nuts and my suits filters kicked on immediately, gas of course it was gas which was being pumped in through the floor. Clever....were I in the position of defending something I'd have done something similar. As it was my HUD sensors were able to point me towards at least two sources of the gas being pumped in. I saw the man in Beskar who'd been trying to bludgeon his way through the doors now dealing with the turrets. The sand I'd been using on the turrets I channeled back around me in a ribbon as I took cover behind the consoles. Using The Force I looked towards the source of the gas through my HUD.

Then I directed the sands towards those sources, feeling the grainy texture in my mind I wrapped around pipes and squeezed as I accelerated the sands against each other. Soon enough there'd be arcing electrical energy that'd fuse the sand into glass closing off the flow of gas from at least two sources. My suit pinged a surveillance camera hidden well...not well enough though. As I continued my efforts on the gas being pumped in I raised my middle finger in a universal salute to the camera. "Y'all best be getting ready! When I reach you with my new friends I plan to make you a slave to your own freaky creations." With that I pulled my blaster pistol and shot out the camera. After making sure nobody was gassed to death I'd have to help the crazy beskar clad fellow with taking out obnoxious sonic turrets...

Just another day in the life....

[member="Jessica Matthews"] ~ [member="Rekha Kaarde"] ~ [member="Kurayami Bloodborn"] ~ [member="Muad Dib"] ~ [member="Diamond"] ~@Anyone Else relevant I missed