Why Are There So Many Dominions? [CIS Dominion of Styx]

[Ginnie Dib]

To @[member="Darth Metus"]'s helmet a secure transmission was sent. It was a recording of his sister's voice perturbed, whimpering and much put out.
"Dear Older Brother Isley,
How out of your mind have you slid, Isley!? You're going to go off to a secret planet and do secret things with secret people and leave your doting sister behind!? What kind of brother leaves his incredibly talented and amazing little sister to sit by herself in a haunted castle with no one but the best girls ever!? You know what!? I'm going to enlist Phoebe and Siqa and we're going to have a glitter party! And and and build a blanket fort!

A real blanket fort! With pillows! And and and a tapestry! Come on, Isley, what're you doing that I can't be around to shoot at things and prance around in my armour?! I wanna come! I wanna show you I've been practicing my aim! And my knife throwing! And and and what're you doing that I can't come? Huh?" The sound garbled, his deaf sister huffing and hopping up and down. . . No doubt on Isley's own bed. . . the sound died down and a deep sigh took.

"Isley, be okay. Don't do anything I wouldn't do. Okay that doesn't leave a lot, but if you're not letting me come that means you're doing stuff you don't want me around. Please be careful. Please come back and be all in one bit and don't be any worse off than you were when you left. I can fix it, I'll make all of this go away. Make it better, but you have to trust me. I crossed space! By myself! I can make you feel better. Just promise you're going to come back with victory and honour.

I love you, and when you get back you owe me an adventure! Just you and me! Promise! Promise me! I didn't find you just to give you back in bits."

 

[Revenchent]

Calico had had just about enough of this Nerfshi-...kriff. Nerfkriff. "Alright boys, on the move; make sure you watch out for tap-on-glass!" He grunted over the comms. The doorways of the LAAT slid closed. There was no time to put 'Oddball' back on latrine duty anymore. A team of Republic Commandos, the Clone Commander, the Dread Guard Leader, and a very, very special little clone.

"Oh...osik...karking...why do you need to smoke ner'vod?" He grumbled toward Galaar as the LAAT took into the air. The huffing laughs of the two Commando squads rumbled throughout the ship.

"Get in your straps lads! This is a hot entry!"

 

[Oddball]

"Hey smoking is bad for you! And it leads to lung cancer and bad things! I'd never smoke!" He said aloud before slowly reaching into his bag to underhandedly toss a small baggy of a mysterious green plant. It was quite ok for him to have it, it helped with his fritz and almost ADHD behavior. But that was his victory doobie dammit and he was gonna give it to the man. But oddball buckled up and laughed a bit to himself as he went over a basic gear check of his equipment.

 

[Galaar Tal'Verda]

Galaar took the bag and slid it into one of his bandoleer pouches. He checked his kit, he had his Deecee strapped to his chest in its webbing, his sniper on his back. His three frag grenades. His fun pouch, and finally he made sure he had Lord Cabur. He looked up at him.

"I'm ready, lets smoke some slaggers and chakaar. I call their credits!"

@[member="CC-953 Oddball"] @[member="Commander Calico CC-247"]

 

[Darth Metus]

It took every ounce of restraint for the Mandalorian not to say the words that popped into his mind out loud. As such, he muted his mic and opened a private transmission to both Calico and Galaar. Then said simply. "This is exactly what happens when you tap on the glass..." However, he did not have time to continue his remark, as a private transmission from home sounded within his helmet. It was from Ginnie Verd, and contained a cute, yet heartfelt message from the little ray of sunshine that made him happy day in and day out. He listened to the message with a smile, before making a quick response.

"We're going on one of those missions that are secret...So I can't tell you much. Just know, I'm safe. I've got the Dread Guard with me and we'll be a-okay. Stay outta trouble, keep Siqa in line and spoil Phoebe for me. You're in charge, ya hear?" With that, the transmission ended and he unmuted his mic. At this point, the dropship had finally ascended into the air and began to fly out into the darkness of space. The journey to Thanatos Station had begun.

And as a monumental sidenote, Isley eyed the green plant that was tossed across the dropship. "What the kark...I've got druggies for teammates...Force save us."

@[member="Ginnie Verd"], @Dread Guard

 

[Darth Metus]

"Sir, we have confirmation that the Dread Guard is on the move." came the response from the communications officer. With that confirmation looming in the air, the Archmaster then gave the Order. "Fire at will. Clear those moons so that they can pass!" With the command issued, the trio of vessels began to unleash hell upon the planetary defenses, peppering the moon at range. The Long-Range Turbolasers sang a deadly song as they fired off round after round, causing explosions to erupt upon the moon-based defenses. Of course, this would not be enough to completely clear the path, but hopefully the automated systems would target the trio as opposed to the single dropship due to the sudden aggression.

 

[Revenchent]

"You know what they say Sir; soldiers know how to relax." Calico chided, slapping the private on the back in a fatherly sort of way. These were his boys--his and Galaar's. It was their duty to keep them alive: keep them safe, keep them happy. There was little else that mattered to the Clone Commander.

Kripes...I miss everyone. Delta, Omega--Atin you lucky di'kut. You still owe me thirty big ones...I hope Comic and Nutzy are alright.

He held on tight to the ceiling rail. The silence of space was uncomfortable. All the commandos had stopped laughing. They had begun to jam in new magazines and setting their weapons. Calico took in a deep breath.

I hope you boys would be proud of us.

 

[Oddball]

In the process of his gear check his comm pack picked up a new signal. It was pretty encrypted and was hoping frequencies like no tomorrow. But the radio operator could crack it. Adjusting the frequency and squelch on his system he tapped into the conversation and had a listen muting his mic he began to hum a song to himself. Through all his oddness he really was quite the slicer and operator he just had his "moments" starting to do more than humming he accidentally unmuted his mic and sang into the chat "Oh oh living on a prayer! Da da da da don't know the lyrics but I know something something living on a prayer!" afterward oddball coughed as a large hand gave him a firm pat on the back

 

[Darth Metus]

It was the sound of turbolaser fire that snapped the Mandalorian into "work" mode, and straightway he began to focus on the task at hand. As the dropship began its journey through the black of space, heading through the defenses towards Thanatos Station, Isley began to bark orders for the entrance strategy. "Alright gentlemen, the time for banter has concluded...Unless it's about Galaar's one nighter with that Atrisian whore. Got that itch ya just can't scratch, Vod?" He was obviously joking, as evidenced by his chuckle. "Alright, once we land, we're going in hot. I think that there are going to be some automated defenses, even though the personnel have long since cleared out. Deadly force is authorized all around. Understood?"

 

[Darth Metus]

One by one, the moon-based defensive emplacements were quelled by the relentless fire of the Long-Range Turbolasers. However, there was still immense sums of work to be done. The host of defenses were too numerous to clear in a single volley, but at least the task force had managed to draw the fire of the defenses to their trio than the dropship attempting to quietly infiltrate. To this end, fire was exchanged between the defenses and the Star Destroyers; whilst the latter remained ever so slightly out of range. It was rare for impacts to occur, but they happened just enough to keep them as the priority target. "What's the status of our shields?"

 

[Galaar Tal'Verda]

Galaar fell silent and looked down at the strill who looked back up at him with yipping bark that shrilled throughout the LAAT/i as it lifted off. It's six legs kept it in place rather well as they flew toward Station no matter how much the gunship shook and rocked in the dead of space. It was these times between missions that his brain jumped him and proceeded to try and shank him with the knives he threw into the metaphorical closet every chance he got. He wanted to cry for a moment, he really did but instead Oddball began to sing and he snapped out of and shoved the White Job gently. "Keep your head clear ner'vod. I like you and I'd prefer you not to die. I'--- I don't remember an Atrisian, I prefer not to have my credits stolen..."

@[member="Commander Calico CC-247"] @[member="Darth Metus"] @[member="CC-953 Oddball"]

 

[Darth Metus]

"Remember kids, when offered drugs, just say no...Otherwise, you'll wake up with the clap and not even remember the Atrisian prince who gave it to you. Anyways...We're landing in a few seconds here. Weapons check." said the Mandalorian, rising to his feet. Straightway, he produced his duo of machine pistols and readied them. He had no idea what sort of defenses awaited them, as such he had one equipped with SHOCK Slug and the other with BANG Slugs. With these prepped, Isley awaited the mission's official commencement as the ship landed in the hangar bay of the station and was one of the first to disembark.

"Keep your guard up."

 

[Revenchent]

Calico quickly cut Oddball's comms for the moment. Being the Commander was a wonderful things at times. "Alright lads!" He began; moving to stand in the center of the LAAT. They were about to land soon--even though these were Commandos, it was likely some wouldn't return. You heard the Colonel! Now, we're about to take this station!"

Calico rested his hands behind the folds of his back. He retained remarkable posture, even as the ship began to shake violently. "Alpha, you lads will head for the main shipping bays. Cause problems, make them think we're taking the docks." He paused to take a breath. "Sigma, you will move to take the central computer frame." Finally, his gaze rested on Galaar. "Ner'vod, you have to disrupt the turret controls on the secondary bridge. A few wets, maybe a tinny, nothing to worry about. I have faith in you."

The Commandos slammed their fists to their chestplates as the gunship's doors swung open. "Private, what's your name? You run comms from the Laarty."

 

[Darth Metus]

When the confirmation arrived that the dropship had arrived on the station, the Archmaster was free to engage the moons as he saw fit. He no longer had to worry about the dropship being gunned down, and as such set his focus upon taking out the defensive emplacements on at a time. Ordering the trio to move back, just out of range, the Archmaster then had them begin to lock on upon the various cannons and emplacements on the first moon. "Alright, prepare the second volley. Lock on, make ready, and Fire!" There was a grand affirmation of "yes sir" which filled the Bridge as the various officers fulfilled his orders.

 

[Galaar Tal'Verda]

"You have faith in me? Woah... Thats a first, vod, you sure you ain't smoking either?"

Galaar grinned and gave Calico a nod that he had the orders. Then he suddenly became serious and this was one of the few things he did get serious about. Galaar began singing Vode An with his brothers. Galaar's voice became deep and husky, his faint Mando accent suddenly becoming dominant over the rest of his voice and dived out with the Commando teams. "Aye! Aye! Aye! Oya! Commandos! Oya! Make us proud!"

He lunged in the other direction, blaster already blazing to shut down the security systems. The strill was of course, at his heels all the way.

@[member="Commander Calico CC-247"] @[member="Darth Metus"] @[member="CC-953 Oddball"]

 

[Darth Metus]

"Sounds like a solid entrance strategy." commented the Mandalorian as he took a few cautious steps forward. He then turned his attention upon Calico and stated. "To the Bridge for us then. Hopefully we won't have too much opposition between here and there." With that said, Isley gave a nod of confidence to his subordinates and strode boldly forward towards the main door of the hangar bay. Through but a few taps upon his micro-datapad, Isley sliced into the door controls and easily had them opened; for that was just one of the few hidden talents the Mandalorian had up his sleeve. "Alright, let's move out!"

 

[Oddball]

"Oddball sir!" he jumped up then hit his head on the roof of the transport falling back to the ground flat on his back he coughed. "Is this real life?" he said to himself before sitting up again. "You know what it was probably wise for oddball to stay back and work on comms." He said allowed before he set up his pack to work communication for teams one and two. He would serve as the operator until his writer woke up from his slumber to join the fight once more. So here he would stay, and do his thing.

 

[Darth Metus]

Once more, the Archmaster turned his attention to the holographic projection of the theatre of battle. This time, that which was displayed before his very eyes consisted of a single moon, whose "territory" was divided into four parts. The entirety of the second volley's lock-on signatures were clustered in the north-eastern portion of the moon; which signified the strategy to eliminate the defensive emplacements one after the other in chunks. This seemed like the best way to go about things, as this would allow the task force a large opportunity to do the most damage whilst the operation went on. "Sir, all the targets have been locked on, awaiting your signal." came the voice of the helmsman.

 

[Revenchent]

Calico gave Oddball a short; albeit pitiful salute. Oh, that poor clone would not enjoy his time in the Army. Calico followed after Isley as the Commandos filed out. They had a lot of ground to cover, and very little time to do so. He checked his sidearms to make sure they were fully charged. It was the best choice of weapons for such an encounter. Small, nimble, and took a very long time for the clip to run dry.

"No force speed-ing off Sir. I'm fit, but I'm not a space wizard." Calico grumbled as he monitored the I.D. tags of the entire team. He followed on after Isley, curving down a path completely different from the Commandos or Galaar. The elevator to the bridge should have been down this corridor. Calico stared at the reflective metal and the flashing lights across the walls. It was a very, very odd place to move through. "Let's just hope Od'ika doesn't 'take a break' while we're in a firefight."

 

[Darth Metus]

"Fret not, we move together." Isley said, all but promising to not go "Force speeding off". So now it boiled down to the efforts of the two: Isley and Calico. Before them laid a rather extensive corridor, with intimidating lights of the purest white illuminating the way. There was something immensely eerie about the aesthetic of the place, but the Mandalorian made no comment on it. Holding his machine pistols at the ready, Isley made the first steps along the corridor. So far, so good, but the silence was getting to him. "Calico, take a scan of what's ahead. Anything alive?" he inquired, hoping for a positive answer.