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

[Revenchent]

The Commander holstered his single weapon and folded his arms over his chest in a you're-an-idiot-stance. "Aologies, Sir, I've never been with a lady." He turned to face the doorway; making sure no one was coming to greet them. The rest of their force had all made it back to the LAAT. Now it was simply a waiting game. "But I'm pretty sure which path of the force I'm walking down." He huffed a rare laugh--gaze flickering over the flood of information forming before his eyes.

The space battle had gone swimmingly. Soon, the system would belong would belong to the CIS, and with almost no casualties. The missing clone, Knock, had turned up at the LAAT unharmed.

The di'kut must have stopped to take a leek.

"We ready to move Sir?"

 

[Darth Metus]

"Absolutely." came the confident response of the Mandalorian. He quickly downloaded the schematics for the ship into his HUD and fished through the remainder of the contents. His finger was about to touch a file labeled "classified" when the download completed...thereby triggering a secondary failsafe. An alarm blared throughout the entirety of the station and a female voice blared over the PA system. <<Self Destruct Sequence Initiated>> "Ah kark, you've gotta be kidding me!" exclaimed Isley, quickly stowing the micro-datapad before rushing forward towards the stairs. "Relay a message to the Vod, tell them to get the kark out now. We'll find another way out, there's gotta be ships in this place somewhere." Isley said, rushing down the rusty stairs.

 

[Darth Metus]

As the process of cleansing the moons from the emplacements continued, the Archmaster decided to listen in on the communications taking place on the station. With a nod to the communications officer, he was then clued in on all the happenings that had occurred thus far...including the activation of the self-destruct sequence. A pang of worry characterized the stomach of Josiah in that moment, and he looked to the communications officer with widened eyes. "Good grief," he began, "send them a transmission. Let them know we'll have the way cleared for their escape and the hangar doors open."

 

[Revenchent]

Calico just kind of stood there for a moment. Was Isley serious? Was this honestly how this had to go? "Frakkin'....di'kutla space station just...fine." He grumbled; breaking into a mad dash after the Mandalorian. His heavy footfalls perfectly matched those of Isley's as they reverberated over the ear-piercing alarm. "Alpha, Sigma, start to exfill. The Admiral and I will improvise."

They rounded one corner, then the next as they backtracked. Calico honestly had no idea what to do; he was on auto-pilot. His body moved all on its own. "Have any plans Admiral?" He huffed; refusing to let himself become tired. This was not how he was going to die.

 

[Darth Metus]

As the Mandalorian and his subordinate rounded the corner, Calico inquired what the plan was. Tiltinghis head back, Isley quickly said: "According to some of the reports on the space battle, there were fighters launched against our squadrons. They had to have come from somewhere on this station, down in the lower levels. We go there, we find ourselves something fast, and get the kark outta here!" With that said, the Mandalorian booked it as fast as his legs would carry him; literally hurdling over fallen droids and machinery as the countdown began. The clock was ticking, and they needed to get out as quickly as possible.

Upon arriving at the lift, Isley was glad to see that the door was open to receive them and he quickly jogged inside.

 

[Darth Metus]

Upon the command of the clone Commander, the dropship began its exit from the station and quickly made its way through the black of space. As promised, the Confederate task force had its hangar bay doors open to receive them. It did not take long for the Dread Guard to arrive, safe and sound, back within the hangar of the vessel they had left from; but there were two notable figures unaccounted for. The Archmaster could only wait on baited breath to see if the duo would escape the station before it self-destructed...and he prayed to the Force that they would find a way to make that happen.

 

[Revenchent]

The doors were open for them. That was just...absolutely wonderful. Calico simply charged through the rubble; kicking pieces of metal and generally desecrating the robo-dead as he trod on. "You mean the fighters the droids used? The kinds that have no need for pilots of any kind." He grumbled as soon as his feet met the silver flooring of the turbolift. The door closed instantly behind him.

"Because those don't have cockpits...also...Galaar had to be sedated. He wasn't going to leave us." The Commander reached up to wipe off some of the droid lube from his helmet. ​"And the others are clear. So generally, this was successful. Except the part where we explode. Not a fan."

 

[Darth Metus]

"No surprise on Galaar." acknowledged the Mandalorian, pressing the bottom-most button on the console in order to get the lift moving down. They were bound for the secondary hangar, where the vessels were supposedly held. "Yes, that's where the droid starfighters came from; but you've gotta think, this station was manned by people not too long ago. There's bound to be a shuttle or something still hanging around; and if not that, escape pods. Our ticket to freedom is in this hangar." he said with utmost confidence...and then the elevator came to a screeching halt prematurely. Apparently it was damaged more so than they had even acknowledged and decided to stop working only three floors above the hangar.

"Ah kark!" exclaimed Isley, reaching out with the Force. He telekinetically punched a hole through the bottom of the floor and dove through, without another word. Relying upon his jetpack, he descended to the bottom of the shaft with little incident. "Hurry up Vod!"

 

[Darth Metus]

Now that the dropship had arrived within the hangar of the San Hill-class Star Destroyer, the Archmaster had to wrench himself away from the plight of the duo and place it back upon the task at hand. The countdown was still fresh, and in that time there was still one moon left to clear of defensive emplacements. As such, he ordered that targets be locked on and that the fury of their cannons be unleashed upon the Sith-made cannons. One by one, the task force's cannons lit up the moon, causing widespread explosions. The purge of the Sith presence would not be denied.

 

[Revenchent]

"Fancy kriffing jetpacks." Calico growled; staring out from the entrance of the turbolift. With an overly dramatized sigh, the Commander dug into his standard issue utility belt. He retrieved a small grappling hook with a personalized bat symbol on the side. He hooked it to the side of the turbolift, and ever-so-slowly lowered himself down to plop upright next to Isley. With the click of a button on his tac-pad, the grappling hook was pulled back into his hands: and quickly stashed into his belt.

"I really hate you Ir'ika." He grumbled heavy under his breath--listening intently to the comms. "The Laarty made it back to the capitol ship...another one with actual fuel is being shipped to scoop us up from an escape pod so-" He paused to heft himself up into doorway that led into the hanger. "I sincerely hope you're correct. I owe a pretty lady from Triple Zero a caf or two."

 

[Darth Metus]

The Mandalorian deliberately pretended that he did not just hear his subordinate say what he think he said, and instead focused upon getting the doors open to the hangar. They were closed tight; nothing a little bit of telekinetic elbow grease couldn't solve. With but a wall of such power, Isley blew the doors down and leapt through into the hangar...where there were karking spiders waiting for them. It was like they knew they would come down to this particular area in order to make their escape, and they were going to block the escape pods. "Looks like we've got one last obstacle in our way." growled Isley, this time reaching for Tal'galar, his saberstaff. There were too many to simply rely on telekinesis. No, he'd need to take them out as he ran.

"Let's make this quick!"

 

[Darth Metus]

The eradication of the Sith presence upon the final moon was almost complete. There were only two more quadrants in need of the special attention only a Confederate turbolaser could deliver. As such, the Archmaster gave the order and the targets locked on once more, filling the holographic projection with crimson circles once again. The cannons then fired once he roared "Fire!" and rained down devastation upon the moon-based defenses. Due to the range, the emplacements were powerless to defend, and the Confederacy was going to exploit this advantage until every last cannon had been destroyed.

 

[Revenchent]

Today had just about been enough. The Dread Guard had asserted their power; their new place in the galaxy. It was an all around victory. Except now, the droids god-makers-whatever had decided that he and the Admiral would make wonderful sacrifice. This did not appease the Commander, not one bit "GO TO TOWN SIR!" He roared; the Deece raining azure hell-fire down on the spider droids. The screamed and popped as the super-heated plasma melted their metal casings. "Go tooo toooowwwwnnn!" The other hand was firing from his DC-15; making one droid explode in a shower of shrapnel upon its brethren, and another fold over as its upper half ceased to be solid matter.

Calico's boot ended the electronic life of one that grew to close; and a final larger droid was met with the stock of the pistol--followed by a vibroblade to the eye. "Spin that glowstick and show these di'kutla droids how the Dread Guard takes care of business!"

The roar of the alarms, the very real threat of a cold death, fighting alongside a loyal comrade in an impossible situation, it was all so familiar. Calico missed that feeling; true on the edge of excitement. Adrenaline flooded his system as he combated one droid, then another. "I'll keep an eye out for a pod---you do the same!"

Is this the only real joy I'm ever going to find in life?

 

[Darth Metus]

The clone did not have to tell the Mandalorian twice. Isley's finger slid over the dual ignitions of his saberstaff, causing the two blades to erupt into being simultaneously. Then, with the Force pumping through his limbs in order to augment his swiftness and strength, the Mandalorian surged forward into the horde of droids. Blaster fire came his way, but was harmlessly deflected back upon its originators with but a twirl of the saberstaff's blood crimson blades. Isley then leapt and sailed through the air, rending clean through one of the taller spider droids before landing and tearing apart its adjacent compatriot's legs.

His blade sang a symphony of plasma meeting durasteel, and with each step the Mandalorian slowly fueled himself upon anger and general negativity. Time was of the essence, and this was one of the rare moments that Isley would fight like a Sith before his comrades. As he advanced, he managed to spot a wall of escape pods towards the rear, and cleared the duo a path with a wall of telekinetic force.

"There's our ticket out! Let's move!"

 

[Darth Metus]

Little by little, the quadrant fell until there was but one left standing. This final quadrant was all that was left of the defensive emplacements of Styx, and as such needed to be eradicated just like the rest. The Archmaster gave the order once more and the targets began to be locked on. Turbolaser operators sounded their affirmations into their comms, which was then relayed to the helmsman. Once all the weapons across the task force had locked on, the helsman announced that fact to Josiah; as he had done each and every time. Now was the moment to put an end to the Sith presence on Styx, once and for all.

 

[Revenchent]

The droids were like paper. That was what Calico realized. Paper to be cut, burned, and shaped in whatever way he truly wished them to be. It had always really been that way; back on Geonosis, back in the simulations on Kamino, back on that ship were two irreplaceable men had met a horrible fate.

That's why you're doing this. For their legacy. For the entire GAR's legacy.

His blade pulled free from the eyes of a spider droid splattering oil and rotary fluids across his visor. Calico paid it no mind. His shields had fallen already as he charged for the pods. One droid was elbowed away, another met a bolt to the center chassis that sent it tumbling forward. They were all paper that needed to be thrown in the trash.

And suddenly, he was in the air.

The wind air left his lungs. He opened his mouth to scream but no sound issued outward. Calico tumbled across the metal floor just below the pod. His back felt like a thousand ants were biting as hard as they could into his exposed flesh. "K-kriff." Was all he managed as he pushed himself to his feet. A cannon blast had met the center of his back head on and sent him flying. The armor had barely saved his left--it was still warm from the super-heated plasma. Calico rolled into the pod, providing cover fire as best he could with one of the DC-15s.

"Come on then!" He roared in obvious pain; struggling to retain his aim through the violent shakes that the blow had sent through his body.

 

[Darth Metus]

The Mandalorian turned, just in time to see his comrade brutally blasted across the hangar until he skidded to a halt before the escape pod door. The droids were closing in, and his single DC-15 would not be enough to deter them if he was not quick...No, Isley would give him all the time he needed to get into the escape pod. He would fight at one hundred percent and make sure that Calico survived. Utilizing telekinesis as his weapon of choice, the Mandalorian slammed the droids into each other, one after another, and relentlessly cut them down. Then, once he heard the hiss of the escape pod doors close with his comrade inside, he quickly dove back and pressed the eject button in order to jettison him into space.

Isley then dove into the next pod, and strapped in. He pushed the eject button on the interior and was rocketed out into the void, awaiting pickup at the hands of the dropship promised by the transmission Calico had received earlier. "Mission Accomplished." Isley said, then opened a transmission to Calico. "Are you alright in there Vod?" he said, before sending a medical emergency signal to the task force.

 

[Darth Metus]

The Archmaster uttered the command one final time and straightway the host of turbolaser cannons responded in turn. They relentlessly assaulted the defense emplacements with their wrath, decimating the cannons indiscriminately. At long last, the moons had been cleared of that which the Sith had wrought; and the vessels that would be criss-crossing Confederate space in the future need not fear aggression from these weapons in the future. Now Josiah had to face the new task that was at hand: dispatching a dropship to pick up the duo before they got caught in the explosio of the self-destructing station. This order, too, was fulfilled the moment it was uttered by the Archmaster; and medical personnel had been sent aboard this ship in order to tend to Calico's wounds immediately.

 

[Revenchent]

Calico attempted to protest, but the pain stopped him. From the data flying across his HUD; he knew it wasn't serious. It was only a second degree burn that could be taken care of with a short soak in th ebacta tank. Still, it felt serious. He grumbled a silent curse as his pod was jettisoned free from the station. Where was Isley?

"This is Commander two-four-seven, where is that Laarty?....I'm alright Colonel. I see the LAAT." He managed to ask; a sigh of relief escaping him as Isley's pod escaped the doomed station. For a moment, all that could be seen from the viewport was the twirling fleckers of light caused from thousands of stars. Then, the dropship sidled up to the pod: opened its hatch, and a Clone in standard white armor held a hand out for Calico. The Commander took it readily.

"Your team is all accounted for back on the cruiser Sir. One is cursing vehemently about your whereabouts...his strill bit me."

Calico rumbled with a pained laugh, taking his position in the side of the LAAT. With his scarred armor, he looked like he had just walked out of a wild fire. Perhaps he had. "Good, we move on from here. Tell the boys to get a rest, we jump for the next world as soon as Colonel Isley is aboard."

The junior Clone simply nodded in response; insisting that the Commander's wounds be tended to. Calico complied, sidling down on the cold metal floor to have his chestplate removed. The soothing sensation of bacta quickly set him at ease.

So much to do.

"Grab the COlonel ASAP.o

 

[Darth Metus]

Dedication.

That was the word that most described the Dread Guard. Despite near death, loss of limb, and injury, the brave clones under the Mandalorian's command were still raring to go; even after the close cal on Thanatos Station. One man lost a hand, and Calico had new scars from the battlefield. Yet all of them were ready and willing to take the fight to the next world in the name of the Confederacy. Isley was deeply touched, to the core, by the tenacity of his comrades and he felt deeply honored to be able to fight alongside them.

"You all did phenomenal work out there today. We're taking a week before our next operation, so I can be sure that we're all back to one hundred percent. Then, we move onto the next one. For the Confederacy, we Fight!"