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Dark eyes perused the information available from the earlier briefing, a measure of fascination crossing her features. The very nature of what had happened to the entire populace of Enos made her wonder. Such complete and absolute slavery, people subordinate to machines in every last aspect of their lives. Fed only enough to survive and to work. As much as she had immersed herself in the darkness, this was beyond her ken in every way.
This was no way to live, nor did it belong within the civilized systems and member worlds of the Confederacy. Live and let live, until the rules were broken. What was happening on Enos didn’t qualify as living, and slavery was one thing that no one in the Confederacy she had met would stand for.
Fingers deftly switched off the datapad and tucked it back into the bag at her feet. She rose as Kainan did, ensuring the light leather armor that wrapped snugly around her form was properly in place. Her lightsaber lay secure in the sheath fastened to her left thigh, while her staff was slung carefully across her back. Ame held her gloves loosely in one hand, blinking as she felt him take her free hand in his own.
She canted her head as her brow furrowed with concern at his expression, one she knew well he reserved only for her. Kainan gently squeezed her fingers as he spoke, and she found herself nodding in agreement. While technopathy was not her strongest gift, she did have enough of it for the ability to be of excellent use in a situation such as they faced beyond the docking door.
The young woman sighed into the lingering kiss, and offered a soft, warm smile as they parted. “I will be careful, and hope that you will do the same.” Amethyst added softly, letting him precede her into the hallway as the slicers fanned out and began their work in the hallway. They were brilliantly competent and swift in their work, methodically disabling the security for every meter the team needed to cross.
Bring up the rear of the formation, Ame ensured the security team was set to guard their escape route before moving into the hallway herself. Staff held loosely in her left hand, she allowed her senses to range outwards, finding no life as she’d known she would not. Instead, she concentrated on ‘seeing’ what the slicers were doing, then employing what little technopathy she had to nudge the security cameras into more favorable positions until they were disabled.
Perhaps, she thought and made a mental note, this was a trait she could foster with the proper training.
The Overlord was a ruthless and cold man. One who would not hesitate to brutally cut down anyone, if it served to further his goals, or if they stood in the way and he had no qualms about resorting to extreme measure when necessary. Indeed, he knew very well the sheer cruelty that he was capable of, but even he could not stand slavery, for it went against everything that he believed in and stood for. He was a man who upheld the merciless principles of natural selection and thus, any form of caste-based society or system which prevented competition, was something he hated with a profound passion. In his eyes, slavery was just as bad as the Jedi way of mercy and peace. It was artificial selection, which always favored the weak, thus leading to the very stagnation which he had dedicated his entire life to combating. And this was not the only good reason to put an end to the abomination which had taken hold over this planet.
His feline eyes scanned the eerily empty corridor as he slowly and cautiously led the way forward, pupils dilated into black disks to compensate for the poor light. He did not like the tense stillness of the place, it reminded him of the Contingency's incursion, when another machine had tried to pit itself against the organics of the galaxy. He did not forget how close it came to succeeding. It was good that the Confederacy had decided to cut this AMI's reign short, before it got the chance to turn its attention towards the galaxy at large.
Amethyst's presence was the only comforting thing in this situation, it gave him the focus he needed to keep the violent instincts of his demonic inner self under control. He still did not understand most of the feelings she stirred within him, but he knew that she was the sole reason he had not lost himself to the mindless violence of the demonic half of his soul, the one who wanted to kill and destroy everything it came across, for no other reason than to unleash destruction for its own sake.
No one survived contact with the Netherworld intact. There was always something that was lost or irreparably broken, there was always a heavy price to pay. But somehow, her passion and determination had given him an anchor to hold onto, something to fill the gap at the core of his being and he cared deeply for her because of it. So he shared with her everything, his passions, his pain, his body and soul with a tenderness he had not known he was capable of, one which was reserved only for her, in those secret, quiet moments that they spent alone.
If the Sith Lord's iron will had been indomitable before, Amethyst reinforced it even further. For now, it was not just necessity that drove him further, not merely the intention to transform the galaxy into a version that he believed was better. Now, it was personal. For the first time since stepping on this path, he had a personal stake in all of this and it only made him fight and work that much harder.
"Thank you," he said to her, his voice a near whisper as his eyes remained firmly affixed to the large doorway they were carefully making their way towards, alert for any traps and surprises. Two simple words loaded with meaning, with the comforting weight of everything that she meant to him.
The slicers worked fast, plugging their computer spikes into dataports along the wall, their connected datapads making short work of the door's security and commanding it to open. Beyond, lay a direct path towards what scans had predicted would be the security station's communications hub. Once the slicers worked their magic to handicap the station's connection, it would be unable to transmit an alarm, or anything other than the same, looping 'all clear; signal that it normally sent out. The most dangerous part would be keeping the station's droids from regaining control of the hub, once the slicers did their jobs. For as soon as their sabotage was detected, every droid on the station would be converging towards their location.
Despite wearing full, Obsidian regalia, there was a second mask that the alabaster woman wore. She was as winter to those who were not among their borders. She was as nobility to those who were. In all things, Srina carried herself with an air of flawless grace - but never of being snobbish. Yes, there were moments where her professional "face" wavered, such as when her gods damned bunnies ran amuck. But, for the most part, she was the warrior Apprentice of the Vicelord. Exarch. The Dread Queen.
But as she knelt beside her Master, taking his wounded hand into hers, she revealed her actual face. For just a second, Darth Metus saw the woman he knew behind closed doors. This was the woman who could not bear to harm him, to the point where sparring became difficult at times. This was the woman who would never let him dash his foot upon the rocks; and if he did, she would always repair the damage. This was one such moment, for the Force soon filled his wound and pushed the nagging heat away. His flesh was repaired rather quickly, as she quietly fretted.
You can't fight like this.
In theory, he could, but Darth Metus was never that guy to argue whilst getting stitched up. After all, she was his White Mage - and one never karks with their white mage. Once he was made whole, the Sith flexed his fingers gingerly and grinned. "I'll be certain to show you once we're home." he said.
There wasn't much more time than that. Just as the words finished leaving his mouth, the voice of [member="Adron Malvern"] reached his ears via comm. There was a precious window that they had to exploit, and then the battle would begin. The Sith's break did not last long it seemed as he quickly rose to his feet. "You heard the Queen." came his response. Darth Metus knew she hated that nickname, but he didn't give a hoot it was fitting.
At this point, he then set his gaze upon those present in the cargo hold. They knew the plan. They were ready. He could see it in their eyes. See it in their faces. Well. All save [member="Minerva Vessia"], she had popcorn on her face - just a little scrap but she didn't know and he wasn't going to say a word.
"Alright." he began, raising his tone above the whine of the engines. "This is one of the nastier situations we've had to face - but this is what we do. Today, we aren't salvaging the enemy. We aren't picking apart what remains for study or research. We are going scorched earth on this A.I. and showing these people the light of day again."
"This time, above all others, we cannot fail. We will not fail. Millions depend on it."
Now, all they awaited was the Minister's count and the battle would begin.
Location: Stolen Slave Ship Objective: Deploy CIS forces against the city Tags: [member="Darth Metus"] [member="Srina Talon"] [member="Natasha Darkstar"] [member="Minerva Vessia"] Post: II
From the main level of the Slave ship, Adron tapped into his comm device. Checking the communication device in his hand he would speak into it, the next moment his voice would echo through out the entire frigate they had traveled in.
"We have just broken through the upper atmosphere. All units tasked with freeing the human population need to be ready to deploy immediately. The ship will fly as low to the ground as possible for deployment, but we will not be stopping. If you have any fear of heights, I recommend you settle them in the next five minutes." Cutting the comm off once more, Adron's step faltered when the frigate gave a rather violent rock from side to side.
"I'm gonna rip those droid's wires out...." He muttered, before continuing his way down to the cargo bay where the Vicelord and the others were no doubt waiting to deploy.
~~~~~~~ In The Cockpit~~~~~~~~~~
The pilot droids tasked with flying the frigate had successfully breached the upper atmosphere, however as they moved into the lower atmosphere they struggled to keep the ship steady. The near dive they had taken to keep them from any anticipated flight paths had left the ship in a rather rough recovery.
BD-224's optics adjusted briefly before he glanced over to his copilot. "Are we supposed to land?" The high, whiny voice asked the copilot curiously.
"No, we were told specifically not to land." BD-218 replied, slapping the pilot droid's hand away from the controls before he could engage the landing gear.
"The Minister wanted us to come in low so that we could drop off the first team, then we head for the main city." The droid explained the plan to the pilot, tapping it's metallic hand against it's synthetic head. "You gotta pay attention 224....Can you get us any lower?"
"Lower?" 224 echoed out, waving his hand haphazardly at the copilot. "I've been flying ships longer than you've been online, of course I can get us lower." And lower the frigate went. The copilot opened the main loading bay, allowing the first team to deploy....however things went a bit wrong. A loud slam could be heard, echoing through out the ship as the pilot droid veered too low, forcing the belly of the ship to distastefully kiss the surface of the planet, Through out the entire ship materials would sway and fall from their place, many people losing their footing as they traversed the bowels of the slave ship.
In the cockpit, 224 had been slung over the control panel. The droid was rubbing his head in a feigned sense of pain. "Owwww…….that hurt. 218, are you ok?"
"218?" He called out, noticing his copilot had disappeared completely.
"21-"
"I'm up here...." A metallic voice encased by an echo whined, causing 224 to look up. 218 had become unpleasantly lodged into a vent that hung over the cockpit. All that could be seen of the droid was it's skinny metallic legs.
"How did you-?" 224 was cut off as his counterpart let out an unintelligible groan. Glancing back at the viewport, 224 could see that the main droid city was now in view. "Hey! We don't have time to play around, we're approaching our target!"
"I'll pull us up so we can.....uh oh." 224 muttered, his optics scanning the terminal that he had crushed a good deal of.
From the vent, 218 whined out once again. "What is uh oh?"
"Uhm...the controls are kind of crushed....I don't think I can control the ship." 224 looked around before seeing an all too familiar tool on the floor. "Uhm…." He took the stick into his hand, recognizing it to be the primary flight control stick.
"218.....You may want to stay in that vent." 224 said, grabbing his comm device and strapping himself into the pilots chair with a number of safety tethers.
~~~~Back to Adron~~~~
Adron had finally made it to where the others stood awaiting. His blue eyes fell over [member="Darth Metus"] and he offered a brief incline of his head before he spoke up. "The pilots are bringing us into the city. We will try to fly as close to the main building as we can and deploy from there. We don't have any reports of anti-air batteries so it should be a simple maneuver." He said, before his comm link let out one quick beep. Taking the device from his belt and into his hand, Adron spoke into it once again.
"Yes, what is it?"
"Sir! We had a slight control malfunction....uhm….we're still on route but we're going to have to crash land." 224's frantic voice was easily recognized by the Minister of War.
"Crash la- Crash land where?!" Adron demanded, glaring at the comm device in his hands as if it was the very soul of the pilot droid.
"The City's outer wall!"
Only moments later the slave ship slammed into the droid cities primary wall. Adron hated droids.
Objective: Rally the People Location: Leaving the Stolen Slave Ship Armor:Project GARUDA | Obsidian-type Strike Armor (Look) Weapons:Purple Lightsabers and Mini-Gamorrean Axe Tags: [member="Darth Metus"], [member="Derek Dib"], [member="Minerva Vessia"], [member="Adron Malvern"], [member=Azmodan], [member="Srina Talon"], [member="Cezar Alexandrescu"], [member=Haven], [member=Jorge], [member="Bandit Six"], [member="Darth Tacitus"], [member="Amethyst Atreides"],[member="Mathilde Brennus"] Post Count: Two
Not completely go time, but still was time to get ready. The helmet was rested between her legs. Her elbows left her legs. Cezar reached up to swirl her white to purple hair, twisting it up to pin it to the back of her head. The helm would fit better. Once the hair was secured, she reached back down to pick her helmet. Getting that secured, the hood was pulled over the top. The last thing to indicate that she was ready, the right glove was fastened on.
Weapons attached, Cezar waited patiently for them to land and they get to deal with their missions. There was a wish that the ramp would just open now. However, she had to wait for a count. That was lame in her mind, and as if someone was listening to her thoughts gave her desire. The ship slammed into the city wall. The impact that causes the ship to shake had her holding tightly.
Once the ship was at rest, she was on her feet and going to the ramp. No orders needed to be given. That ramp was going to open by Cezar, and she was going to enjoy what she was made for. Smashing the button, it slowly open. Let hope others were ready for the crash, door opening, and the ship should have already alerted droids to them.
Before the ramp fully extended, Cezar softly spoke in the language that she hated. It was needed for the moment. The words were used to summon green ichor to form a wall few meters away and five meters high so they could exist and have an extra wall for protection.
While the others in the stealth transport had the luxury of sitting, Isarn simply stood arms crossed as he braced his back against the cold metal walls. It was obvious the vessel wasn’t made to comfortably accommodate an individual of Isarn’s size. For one he easily towered over wookies and being a hulking mass of muscle didn’t make things any easier. The Dravala couldn’t even fit into the armor that the other members of the Obsidian Knights had been provided, his left leg alone would’ve taken up the entirety of the bottoms. Instead, he simply stood bare-chested, appearing almost barbaric in a sense. His gray eye scanning the room Isarn took in the appearances of those that he would be accompanying on this mission. How he wished to have been chosen to aid in destroying the AI down on the surface yet with the sheer amount that had filled the slave ship Isarn himself wouldn’t have been able to fit.
Nearby were a woman and male who simply radiated power, not some abstract concept but true power. Dark power that Isarn had known and witnessed many times in his youth. The power of those who could touch the force and utilize it to an extent far beyond his own. This made him shift uncomfortably as he watched them, then came their time to rise. Following at the very rear behind even the security team, Isarn twirled the metallic cylinder in his palm. Something that the rest of the galaxy had called a lightsaber, Isarn was well aware of what one was due to his century of exploring the galaxy and expanding his horizons. This one he hadn’t made, instead he had simply used credits and bought one off the black market. It was far larger than the one that clung to the hips of the two near-humans. It fit neatly into Isarn’s palm, while he would’ve preferred a more physical weapon this would be better for easily dismantling droids.
Due to seeing in infrared what Isarn saw was simply the two heat signatures of the woman and male as they came close a warmth seeming to grow in them. It brought a chuckle to the Dravala, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to know what they were doing. Reaching up to the eyepatch Isarn flipped the sheet of fabric up revealing a vibrant azure eye, not natural of course but instead, it was a biot, one that Isarn used to see as others did. Arms crossed he simply waited for his time to act, the art of stealth wasn’t fitting for Isarn, he was there simply as muscle though he was sure the two before him didn’t need it. Envisioning the battles possibly taking place on the ground with the other teams Isarn found himself slightly envious.
On the Ground Near the Crashed Stolen Slave Ship | Human Processing Field [Near Smashed City Wall]
The Sith Apprentice did her best to portray an air of unconcerned dignity as she healed injury her Master had given himself. She fought the urge to sigh, that he was so willing to use self-harm, and instead focused on the fact that they now had what they needed to shut down AMI if she proved more tenacious than anticipated. As of this very moment they were on a timer that few else would understand. She could feel the disagreement in [member="Darth Metus"] while his skin closed. Perhaps he could fight with it, but could, and should, were two vastly different things.
“Thank you, Master.”, Srina responded softly, without color, when the man agreed to show her the blood ritual he had performed. It seemed useful to be able to hide things, even for a limited amount of time, in a place where it wouldn’t be disturbed. The wintry woman rose at the command of [member="Adron Malvern"] and could only fixate a sharp stare at Darth Metus when he referred to her as the Queen. “You are entirely incorrigible.”
The seemingly frail woman remained silent while the Vicelord began to address his people. His words were concise. The Sith Apprentice approved, enjoying both the brevity and the severity of which it was delivered. Even if everything went entirely perfect, which it rarely did, it would be exceedingly dangerous.
[member="Adron Malvern"] coming back to the cargo area was a welcome sight. Everything must have been going smoothly, or else, he’d still be up front arguing with the droids. Only it wasn’t. There was a scraping sound, suddenly, as if they had hit something. The noise stopped and Srina could only hope that the damage wasn’t too bad. Again, a silly, useless hope—because the droids informed them that they were about to crash land against the cities outer wall. “Grab on to something!”, Srina spoke in warning, dulcet tones rising above, before the sound of screeching metal filled her ears. She really, really hoped that [member="Minerva Vessia"] didn't choke on that popcorn...
There was a moment of vertigo where inertia pulled on her stomach but sooner than later the poodoo seemed to settle. She could feel the crash in her bones, and for a moment, the small woman remained still to gather her bearings. [member="Cezar Alexandrescu"] was out of sight, moving down the ramp, before it even fully extended. A cursory glance around the ship told her that the rest of the cargo had been otherwise undamaged.
It was good that [member="Darth Metus"] had gotten rid of the ion bomb when he had.
The diminutive Exarch felt even smaller beside some of the warriors that surrounded her. From her Master to [member="Azmodan"] she almost felt like as if she’d been born vertically challenged. Nevertheless, she followed the hooded Knight that had made her way out of the ship and watched as a green wall erected to provide them cover. Interesting. The Human Processing Fields had begun to light up. Alarms had been sounded from their crash, strangely silent, but the entire city seemed to be waking up.
This was not the stealthy entry they had intended.
“Keep it tight. We all know our mission.”, Srina reminded the Knights Obsidian team that was present, as well as the Minister of War, and her Master. She knew that both of them enjoyed throwing caution to the wind but now was not the time. She had yet to see [member="Derek Dib"] fight but there was something in his demeanor that made her feel slightly, slightly, more confident that he would be more mindful that [member="Muad Dib"]. Then again, Srina only had a handful of experiences to run with, and both times, the Muad the Mad had been…Well…Mad.
Keen silver eyes noted a disturbance in the left side of the Human Processing Fields. Some of the containment pods had been destroyed or disturbed by their unexpected landing. Srina did not dare look too close, not wishing to see broken limbs and torn pieces of remains that never knew what hit them. It seemed that they’d also taken out a few of the patrol droids. “We have incoming.”
They seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere. Humanoid, for the most part, but the Confederate forces would soon find themselves surrounded. They had viewed that AMI’s created units came in a variety of shapes and sizes. Sometimes with disjointed limbs, and in some cases, an array of flexible tentacles. These were tall. At least six feet. They would be able to see wires and plating underneath a durable translucent covering. Droids. Their eyes glowed, dimly, but with purpose. Not awareness. They were not the artificial intelligence that they had come to fight but her physical manifestations. Drones, soldiers, they were merely worker bees, in a very busy hive.
“You have destroyed the work. You know the price for organic disruption and disobedience.”
Srina stared hard as one of them began to speak. They didn’t even seem to notice that they’d crashed a ship into the wall, and that they really, really weren’t from around here. She remembered the warnings that they had all been given. That this A.I. had been focused on creating a perfect environment for one specific task. If they did not fit the intended design…
“Standby for purge-protocol.”
Srina griped the hilt of her lightsaber tighter, peering through the darkness, uncertain how many of the mass-produced units they were facing. They had no life. She could not feel them in the Force but something told her, distinctly, that they were many. Several of the android-like being leaped forward and the Confederacy, flowing like a wave, and with surprising speed. Srina’s lightsaber ignited in a response of brilliant white as she stepped forward to engage, twisting her wrist, so that the blade moved in a smooth arc. It sliced through the arm of the droid, but it didn’t seem to notice and kept charging.
The Sith Apprentice dodged a powerful swing, noting just in time, that its palm was unnecessarily bright. A blue laser beam burst from it, tearing up the dusty, decayed ground near her feet—before her free hand encircled its wrist, and used momentum to turn the light on one of its friends. It seemed to cut just as well as a lightsaber. Seeming to process that it was being used, the android caught on and shut the weapon off. The automaton targeted in the crossfire was now missing legs.
For a brief, brief moment, the machine before her seemed angry. It shoved her backward, hard enough that she nearly fell, but the experienced woman caught herself. She knew her footing, and the limits of her body, just as well as an engineer knew his ship. Again her saber sung through the air, this time, aimed at the point between its shoulders and head.
The head was lopped off cleanly and hit the ground with an audible thud.
Once more, it did not stop it. The android began to fire wildly with the laser beam from its palm, pushing toward her, but not really aiming. It just went berserk. She could see something glowing in its chest. It was always this way. Head or heart. In this case, ironically enough, she believed it to be the heart.
Srina hissed when one of the wild, unpredictable shots, hit her armor. She felt the impact and her fingers twitched. “Draw.”, she whispered, and a disruptor spun into her off hand, as if by magic, slipping from the mists with a Talisman of Calling. She rapid-fire pulled the trigger close-range, dumping all six rounds into the chest, only stopping to reload the power cell.
Pale blue fluid leaked out of the chassis as it dropped its knees, seizing and shaking before it fell and stopped moving entirely. Silver eyes chanced a glance down, to ensure that had really done the trick, before she called out to her allies a piece of advice.
From the darkness of the shuttle rose the Valkyrie to the sounds of combat.
Dressed in House Talon Armor Nysana's eyes opened and a smile formed on her lips the lightning white and blue crackled from her finger tips as she summoned her halberd to her side. A hunger grew and as she set her sights on the nearest android. She surged forward on a streak of lightning her form flew past that of Srina as streaks of the light and blue electrical currents struck her target and two of his brethern. White boots touched with a murderous quake, Nysana had found that as of late she had been transforming - her powers were growing. A shaman, one with the elements some might say as she wretched the rocks from where they laid in the ground and threw them forward into the next set of androids.
Whisps of counter fire rushed forward and the Echani reacted with a push of her palm slamming the air with her will redirecting the blue bolts of death away from herself. Her Halberd fired up with its plasma edge as she charged into the fray. Electrical systems were cut as it sliced through one droid jamming the spiked edge back into another and then pushing forward with an electrical punch of her own into plasma sliced droid's chest. "Now that I think about it you were right." Nysana addressed her sister Srina while jabbing her halberd's plasma edge into another droid's chest. "I talked to our mother."
Nysana stepped to bring up a wall of dirt, "she was not pleased, and may be on her way here as we speak."
On the Ground Near the Crashed Stolen Slave Ship | Human Processing Field | Near Smashed City Wall/Hiding Behind a Piece of Debris
BNI-9000 pulled herself from the crashed ship with BNI-9001 in tow. Both rabbit-droids were uncertain what kind of inferior droids had caused them to CRASH land on a planet full of nasty-bots but neither were amused. They watched the Sith Apprentice dispatch an android, recording her movements for later analysis. She was fast. Very, fast. Bella shuffled her feet. “I still don’t understand why Mistress Talon won’t let us drive. We could do so much better than those outdated models…”, Bella intoned, despite herself, a little snippy on the subject. They were pretty good at double-driving, with one standing on the other, but Srina would have none of it.
“Patience, Ninety.”, Leo responded swiftly, before pulling his companion down, as a blue laser shot went over her head. His singular crimson photoreceptor gave nothing away as he actively moved to protect BNI-Bella, programmed, to value her life above his own. It was amusing to watch them scramble to keep each other safe. It didn’t really see that AMI’s droids noticed them and BNI-9001 took offense to it. The red of his eye seemed to grow brighter and brighter and his little paws formed fists. “Not my Bella.”[X]
As a tall nasty-bot headed toward [member="Nysana Talon"] and [member="Srina Talon"] Leo got in the way. The brightness in his eye exploded, revealing a powerful blaster cannon, and it pushed through the chest of the android without mercy. The rabbit-droid relented as the machine fell over with a clang, landing empty, decommissioned in the dirt. There was a hole through its torso big enough to see daylight through.
Bella hopped up behind him to inspect the downed robot and poked it gingerly with her electric-blue glowrod. Their ball had been lost in the crash. A pity as it was her favorite, and often, the only way they were distracted from tormenting the Vicelord. “Is it dead Nine-One?”, Bella questioned, her mouthless voice echoing, faintly hollow.
BNI-9001 turned to look at his curious counterpart, wondering, if she would ever understand. “It was never alive.”
It was then that both rabbit-droids would fall still, scarily enough, due to the connection the artificial intelligence known as [member="Mectus"] contacting them. They looked at each other, and then back at the battle, choosing to fall back momentarily so they could speak to their idol through their shared data-stream. The two members of Exterminatus enjoyed several things. Jedi and Sith memorabilia, which was why Darth Metus constantly found himself missing items, their glowrods, pretending they could use mind-tricks, getting into trouble—And Mectus.
He, or it, was a Guardian to the people of Kassus and they treated him like a deity. Mectus was amazing! Both rabbit-droids allowed the A.I. past their firewalls so they could leave the range of the ship without losing him. They couldn’t believe that out of all the droids in the system he’d chosen to speak with them. To assist them! BNI-Bella hunkered down behind a small piece of the hull of the slave ship that had been ripped off. “We have a duty! A mission. We need to find organics that are trapped here so we can free them. The data states that they have an experimentation center. Can you help us find it—”
“—After that we’ll be going after AMI. She gives us all a bad name.”, Leo finished stubbornly. Bella nodded her head enthusiastically, willing Mectus to feel, and see through her eye. Conditions on this planet were despicable. The droids were mindless. Hollow shells of the equally empty being that had created them. Hopefully, there would be something, or someone left to save from the laboratories.
The Dusty Sparrow flew with haste, jumping in and out of hyperspeed to get to the planet Enos as fast as the ships hyperdrive and engines would operate.
The ship, at the moment was running on autopilot, occasionally the ships course would be corrected by the S-19 Astromech co-pilot.
Even though the ship's captain: Jorge, wasn't exactly actively working towards getting to Enos, it didn't mean he wasn't interested. Jorge after all gave his co-pilot the orders to fly fast and follow the coordinates to planet X-43. Jorge knew that the Confederacy paid well and they could have picked any other smuggler to come assist them {to which Jorge was honoured that they picked him}, but that didn't mean he was going to sit up in the cockpit and boredly watch stars fly by in hyperspeed as he went to assist the Confederates. To pass the time Jorge was in the ships lounge, sitting back and reading an article from The Confedegazette about Guy's Caf Shop aboard the Dread Queen.
| Jorge enters the machine |
The Sparrow casually popped out of hyperspeed, having reach its destination, only to throw Jorge into a chaotic asteroid belt he had to navigate through at full speed. Quickly, after hurrying to the cockpit Jorge pulled some fancy maneuvers and flew through the belt.
The Light Freighter broke through the planets inner atmosphere, just in time to see a ship slam into the city wall below. Nonchalantly the young lowlife, cloaked the Sparrow saying, "I'm not dealing with whatever comes after that."
Jorge hovered the ship over the crashed slave ship until he discerned that whoever was in that ship were friendly, and that the hoards of droids approaching it, weren't. Not knowing what he was supposed to be really aiding with, the smuggler thought this would be the best place. So suddenly, coming from a hovering see-through blob, laser cannon bolts and concussion missiles bombarded the enemy, giving the numbers on the ground support.
{This would be the part where I say: "Well I thought I'd just so happen to stop by!" Ha!}
Capturing the small slaver vessel hand been a pitifully simple task, as had been subjugating the crew of the pathetic vessel. While it was hardly small, it made for a sufficient transport as the vessel passed the laser grid that deterred invasive entities. In that, as it were, there was an irony to the force the General brought with him to subjugate this Artificial Intelligence.
A muffled whimper, a blood curdling crunch and the General appeared in the cockpit, the hold eerily silent behind him as he toggled the door to slam shut behind him. A few metallic steps further, accompanied by the rasp of his artificially operated lungs, and the cyborg peered through the viewport at the planet quickly approaching below.
"Transmit word that we have arrived, but not before I have reached the ground," he breathed before turning and passing through the door once more into the darkened and corpse ridden hold. He did not practice tact as he stepped over the bodies that were strewn about, nor as he passed those few that still lived only for the purpose of maintaining the ships ruse en entry to the planet's influence. "Kill the rest of these slaver slime."
A rash of blaster fire, the cries of dying aliens and once again the everything went dark.
It was only as the slaver vessel came over the site of the crashed slaver ship and it's disembarking passengers did the full extent of the General's plan become clear. Stepping towards a mass of droid components sitting at four specific points of the hold, the General began to work away at a set of makeshift consoles; each seemingly integrated into a central system guarded by a private net.
"Drop into position, kill anything mechanical and hostile towards the Confederacy. Suffer none of them the mercy of a meaningful death. Should any organics interfere, subdue them without hesitation." The General boomed as he made his way towards the edge of the docking ramp and carefully unhooking each of his limbs for the descent to the surface below. A saber in each hand, the unfolding B3 Ultra Battle Droids beginning to form up behind him, he dropped.
Moments, and a collective of loud metallic crashes, later and the General stood surrounded by four B3's and accompanied by his personal magnaguard.
"Destroy them all." Came the final boom of the General's voice in as loud a cry as he could, the lightsabers in each of his four hands igniting to intercept any potential threats. He cared not for the organics of Enos, nor for their freedom from their artificial overlord, but for the destruction of a force that opposed the Confederacy; that stood as a testament of artificial resistance to the growth of the Confederate droid military engine.
With heavy steps the B3's followed, their weapons primed, while the Magnaguard made out easily in the wake of the General as he made for the closest hostiles he could find past the crumbled walls. It was, however, for the briefest of moments that the General spotted something ([member="BNI-Bella and BNI-Leo"]) small out of the corner of his eye. Small, characteristically adorable for it's size and uncannily standout against the backdrop it found itself in.
A negligible lapse.
A lapse easily forgotten as the General's attention once again turned to the extinguishable force at hand. One he would see brought asunder personally.
Location: On the ground, not too far Slave Ship Wearing:This Weapons:Pistol, Lightsaber Post: One
Does the wolf apologize?
Artificial Intelligence for a Queen. A Queen eager to destroy her people. Curupira didn't fully get leadership just yet, all aspects of it, though she had stood beside Ket both with the Illuminati and on Ryloth. She had grown up next to a CEO and she now served [member="Darth Tacitus"] who had gone through battles of his own, teaching her in the process of endless lessons about taking command. Here's what she already knew all by herself - no real queen destroyed her own people, flesh or binary. Which was probably why a good queen couldn't be artificial in the first place.
She had stood far from the conversations, far from [member="Darth Metus"] and [member="Srina Talon"] as the stolen ship led them onto the planet. Her Master had sent her down. She was a warrior and not a slicer, her use on the station above would have been limited. It was a chance to dust off an old suit she hadn't left behind on the Crimson Shadow. It was made for stealth, protection would be limited but it provided maneuverability no other piece of clothing currently in her position could give.
Arrival had been bumpy, removing all element of surprise. Still, she jumped off towards the ramp, slipping through the half-open ramp fast as could move. She'd once been cute, she'd only been sweet. Now, she had gotten so good at slipping away, the suit only providing extra advantage before she'd land on her feet and break into the run. Humanoid shaped droids welcomed. Or rather didn't as the first of them called for the purge-protocol.
"Oh, I'm sorry. You have me confused with someone willing to give in," Curupira declared, a smirk on her face as she felt others join them. Her hand moved for her pistol, drawing and firing at the incoming. She shot for the head as she could see, causing damage but the creature continued to head towards her. "Fine, we'll do this the new way," she declared, calling the hilt of her new lightsaber and bringing it to life with the twitch of her index finger against the metal. The black beam came to life, pointy end facing forward. Most sentients worked in a simple way - head or heart. Head hadn't worked, the heart was the next option.
The droid would fall on the very point end, unable to stop mid-jump and at close proximity. Just then she heard Srina Talon speak from a near distance. Aim for the chest, she heard just as the droid began to shake against the energy of the saber before she would draw it back, letting it inflict more damage on the way out of the metal, causing more convulsions before it would completely break down and collapse, falling to the ground without the lightsaber's hold.
The mountain won’t fall to its knees when the west wind blows
Other hand returned the half used pistol back to its holster, lightsaber still active as her gold gaze caught another flying towards her. This time, her blade shifted horizontally. Curupira expected a smarter course of action from this one. They learned from observing same as her, right? I do what I need to, she told herself. So did they.
Ah, the Dread Queen hit the nail square on the head. For just the briefest of moments, pure amusement danced within his sulfuric gaze. In passing, he said - just loud enough for her ears exclusively - Love you too, Highness before turning his attention to their comrades. It was then that he gave his address. Then that the mirth in his eyes mulled over into a dangerous severity. There was a battle awaiting them below - and they would not fail.
At first, things seemed to be going well. [member="Srina Talon"] rose to meet [member="Adron Malvern"] once he had come back to the cargo hold. The Minister's words bode well; the clock was ticking but, if there was excessive danger he would have still be flying them in. But that couldn't have been further from the truth. For reasons completely beyond the Sith Lord, the entire vessel immediately rocked. It was if they collided with something. Hard. Darth Metus' footing was practically thrown off and he lowered himself to one knee to ride out the impact.
He wasn't his Echani Apprentice. His heritage did not impart effortless grace and balance.
When the collision ceased, Darth Metus' gaze swept through the Hold. He saw one of his Knights - [member="Cezar Alexandrescu"] - bound out of the vessel without a word. The warrior knew their mission and needed no prodding to proceed. But before diving into the gray, an emerald wall rose in their wake. Breathing room. Precious breathing room. Darth Metus pushed himself upright and rolled his shoulders, checking to see if there were any fatalities from the crash.
And from [member="Minerva Vessia"] to [member="Azmodan"] to [member="Derek Dib"], everyone seemed to be alive. That was good. The Sith followed his Apprentice out and stepped forward into the bleak. Their entrance was not without a cost - containment pods were shattered and broken by the vessel. The occupants inside...there was no way they were walking away from it. We have incoming.
The words of his Apprentice drew his attention forward.
The Drones had come to protect their Queen.
They were unlike any automaton the Sith had laid eyes on previously. They were not like the simplistic B-series Battle Droids. They were not bulky like the Basilisks of his youth. They were humanoid, but unfeeling. Anatomically correct, but terrifying all the same. The sight of them gave the Sith pause for just a moment, but the flash of his Apprentice's saber caused him to move. His hands reached for his belt, plucking forth the hilt which resided there.
Srina quickly dispatched her opponent, having to resort to Holding Aces in order to drop the Droid. Darth Metus moved to her flank, batting away a wrist blaster shot that was aimed in her general direction. "I'll clear us a path, get ready to move." came the growl of his voice.
His offhand rose. His Vambrace of Bone and Gloved hands resonated with one another. What would have been a telekinetic wall exploded into something much more. A terrifying cannon of telekinetic fury launched from her Master and collided into the Droids like a literal freight train.
Those at ground zero were blown apart by the blaster. Metal limbs littered the earth in its wake. Those on the fringes were sent careening through the air, crashing down on either side of the pair. The way forward was, for the next few moments, clear.
Darth Metus flexed his fingers, ready to fire once more. His gaze found the center from which they came - and he levied his saber in its direction. "There! Move!" he called, before breaking into a run. He knew his Apprentice would be only steps behind him. Her sibling, [member="Nysana Talon"], only a pace behind her.
And as he ran, thunderous footsteps boomed behind them. Titanic, B3 Ultra Battle Droids marched forward as their General [member="Qymaen sil Jurai"] entered the field. Good. Their backs were in good hands.
Now all that remained was putting AMI to the sword.
When the next song entered the rotation, a light smile danced upon his features. The particular melody took him back to that time when things weren't so buck wild. Back before the Seren decided to turn his life upside down with some hocus pocus. Haven was about...ten at the time and was standing before a rather vicious Echani: [member="Nysana Talon"]. Now, because of the wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey headache, he couldn't discern who the woman was to him. But what he knew was that he adored the earth she walked on.
A staff was in her hands that afternoon and she taught the young boy how to fight. Just like her. It was because of Tellu that he carried a retractable quarterstaff with him on his back; alongside a lightsaber and disruptor on his belt. And this song? Well, she liked to crank it. On repeat. A lot. It must have been one of her quirks - to repeat a song she liked until she hated it.
He gingerly reached up and tapped the side of his earbud, switching the song. Ignorant levels of bass thundered within his skull...and it seemed that the whole ship decided to join in. Haven was ejected from his seated position and thudded hard on his chest. "What the ka-?" he breathed, wrenching out one bud. From the chatter he managed to hear, it seemed that the ship had crashed.
Great. Just great.
One of the Knights Obsidian took this as an opportunity to dive into the mouth of Hell; and Haven rose to his feet. Now was as good a time as ever to move right? It was amidst a covering salvo of laser cannons and concussive missiles from [member="Jorge"] above that the Smuggler dove out of the vessel. He tucked and rolled neatly onto the charred earth and tapped his earbud twice, switching over to the comm. "Thanks for the assist!" he called, giving a brief thumbs up to the freighter. "Land by that processing facility, we've gotta get those people out!"
How they'd pull that off, Haven had no clue. But, he removed the staff from his back and let it extend to its full length before sprinting off in the Mass Organic Storage facility's general direction. Unlike where AMI resided, this particular locale was significantly less guarded and would be much easier to breach. At least, that was what it looked like at a glance.
Objective: Rally the People Location: Leaving the Stolen Slave Ship Armor:Project GARUDA | Obsidian-type Strike Armor (Look) Weapons:Purple Lightsabers and Mini-Gamorrean Axe Tags: [member="Darth Metus"], [member="Derek Dib"], [member="Minerva Vessia"], [member="Adron Malvern"], [member=Azmodan], [member="Srina Talon"], [member="Cezar Alexandrescu"], [member=Haven], [member=Jorge], [member="Bandit Six"], [member="Darth Tacitus"], [member="Amethyst Atreides"],[member="Mathilde Brennus"] Post Count:
First thing had to be done so the focus could be redirected to the droids. Going to the ichor wall Cezar made, she took and knee and write the spell as she spoke it. This was to make the wall stronger as it took hits. Also, same time, disconnect her from the spell so the spell could be its own thing. Once she wrote it on both ends of the wall. It was time to party with the droids.
Both sabers were grabbed at the hilts and ignited them towards the ground. Cezar rocked her head side to side crack the air pockets in her neck. Charing out from the wall, she followed Haven to handle rescuing the people held in the storage facilities. However, she kept carrying her steps to stride further apart. Pushing harder on the ground, she was sprinting hard.
Shoulder dropped at the last second after passing Haven; she plowed into a drone at the door. Using the magic with words that left a sour taste in her mouth, it was used to boost the impact. The force pushed the drone through the door. Cezar did get surprised. Her right hand spun open. Taking a hit from the other drone’s shot, it was lucky there was some armor, and she did not end up with entirely useless. Out of anger, she tackled the drone. Left hand had gone back and thrust forward as she took the drone down. The saber impaled the robot as she screamed in rage.
Slowly getting up, there was anger more aimed at the lack of focus on how stupid she was careless over fighting. She examined her hand before calling her saber up from the ground. Looking over [member=’’Haven’’], she shrugged at him. Then she went in through the front door while igniting her saber that she got off the ground.
Location: Stolen Slave Ship Objective: Deploy CIS forces against the city Tags: [member="Darth Metus"] [member="Srina Talon"] [member="Natasha Darkstar"] [member="Minerva Vessia"] Post: III
Every moment since the ship had crashed was a deeper dive into pandemonium.
After the crash Adron had found himself thrown from any semblance of balance. As he recovered from the hellish crash and pushed himself to a braced knee he could hear Srina's voice. Her words did not come through as the Minister could not hear over the ringing that coursed through his skull. Pressing a hand to his temple he groaned in an animalistic manner before his eyes peered out into what was left of the cargo hold. There was a noticeable racket outside that caused the Minister to snap from his stupor, pulling his lightsaber from his belt. Following his comrades out of the fallen slave ship, his eyes narrowed at the sea of droids that descended upon them.
Another fraction of a second was taken to center himself before the snap-hiss of his lightsaber erupted. It almost seemed to clear his own mind of the cloud that was formed by the crash. It was hard to discern his allies position in the wave of droids. Through the Force he could sense them and tell they were alive and fighting off the metallic hold. Tightening his grip around the violet blade, he pulled it close to his chest as one of the humanoid droids charged forward. With some odd form of mining torch, the droid swung wildly at Adron, hoping to cut his life short. Nothing more than a reprogrammed protocol droid, it was no match for his blade. Side stepping the assault, Adron gave a quick flourish of his blade, separating the droid's head from it's torso. The protocol droid gave off a high pitched whine before it's body fell to the ground, unmoving.
Though the droid fared poorly, two more of it's kind appeared in the blink of an eye. Rather than await for their attack Adron charged forward, imbedding his lightsaber into the chest of the nearest droid. As he dug his lightsaber into the metallic chassis there was a loud pop while the circuitry combusted from his blade. Extending his blade, the torso of the droid was cut in half and fell down to the ground with a loud clang.
The second droid took the advantage of it's counterparts destruction to lash out at the Minister. This time the small mining torch it carried flew to Adron's chest. Leaning back, Adron felt the hot rush flow over his shoulder. Reactively his lightsaber flew for the droid's head, cleaving it in two.
While Adron had been handling the few droids moving against the group's flank, Metus had successfully cleared a path for them to advance towards the center of the city. Turning back towards the Sith he followed closely, calling out as he did. "We still have an entire building to scale!" He said, gesturing to the large corporate office in the distance.
Location: Stolen Slave Ship and immediate surroundings Objective: Take down AMI Tags: [member="Darth Metus"] [member="Adron Malvern"] [member="Srina Talon"] [member="Nysana Talon"] @ Curupira Hawk [member="Derek Dib"] [member="Minerva Vessia"] [member="Azmodan"] [member="Natasha Darkstar"] Post: I
Dhakarta had stayed quiet on the flight, though she'd watched Metus displacing the bomb with interest. Silent and back against the wall, she'd chosen not to engage any of the others in conversation. She didn't know these people. She'd been asked to come and had interpreted it as an order. In fairness, if she'd known what the people of Enos were being put through she would have come anyway, just not as part of this.. rabble was unkind, but there were very disparate beings and personalities present. Gang, then.
These reflections were quite quickly set aside when the shuttle careened off of what she could only assume was the ground. Thrown forward onto her knees, when the warning of an upcoming crash was given, she rose. Mag-grip in boots was engaged first, then as her hand found the wall the ones in her gloves. It was a bit of a dungshoot. You could have the mag-grips on and know you'd stay put, put if the crash was too violent, risk serious injury when you body couldn't give or move as it would otherwise, or you could disengage and go limp, but then you risked being hurled who knew where into who knew what. In this case, she'd rather have some measure of control. Still, the crash hurt. Muscles were pulled, she'd be sore later. But for now, adrenaline pumping, she was ready to go.
Not quite as ready as some though, who handily beat her in the race off the shuttle. The wall of ichor that rose was an impressive display of power, of resources to spare. Lightsabers sprung to life around her, slicing away at the droids quite effectively. Dhakarta didn't have a lightsaber, she was no Jedi or Sith. Her main weapons for today, though lord knew she had others secreted over her person, were two ion pistols. They knew they'd be fighting droids, why not bring anti-droid weaponry? Always prepare for a mission, if you knew what you were going to face. Shot after careful shot brought down droids that didn't seem to be hardened or otherwise significantly shielded. There were so many though. It seemed eventually the invaders or liberators depending upon how you looked at it, would be taken down through sheer numbers alone.
At least until Metus unleashed his telekinetic fury, tearing a path through the hordes of droids. Now there was a choice. Stay in the mid-pack, as she had always done. Support her current allies as well as she could as they moved to complete their mission. Or see what she was capable of. It wouldn't be a suicide mission. Or at least, not necessarily. AMI might eventually figure it out, but for now she was effectively invisible to the droids. Nykkalt saw to that. If she could get out of this chaotic press..
You have no clan. It's just you. So get it done.
Clenching her jaw with grim determination, Dhakarta dashed forward, ion pistols still picking out targets who got too close or seemed likely to encroach upon the path. As she neared the wall of the building between her and her target, again she considered. Anti-grav belt or Mag-grip? Didn't seem like a good time to be a floating target, easy as that would be. Trust that they couldn't see her and she'd pulled ahead enough that pot shots shouldn't come her way. Activating the mag-grips in her boots and gloves once more, she began to climb. Quickly, quickly. Ignore any suggestion from your body that this was too hard, that you were fatigued already. Your body was lazy, it was made to conserve resources, it would lie to you. Do or die. Remember that. Repeat it. Believe it in every fiber of your being. Do or die.
She scaled the building easily enough. And then her resolution faltered. Taking a knee at the edge of the roof she drew her pistols once more. Shot after careful shot, giving her allies cover. What good if she raced ahead to AMI and Metus and the bomb didn't make it? Unlikely that the AI would be so badly defended that her little pistols would make much difference to it.
On the Ground Near the Crashed Stolen Slave Ship | Human Processing Field [Near Smashed City Wall--> Passing through Check Point to get to AMI]
Srina heard the tell-tale sound of engines over her head and looked up to see two vaguely familiar sights. One of them, was another slave ship, while the next was the sight of the Dusty Sparrow uncloaking as it began to fire. Between the support from the ship, [member="Nysana Talon"], and [member="Darth Metus"] unleashing his fury on the androids that served AMI the pale apprentice was able to find room to breathe. Barely. Wave after wave appeared, nearly swallowing the crash site, and Srina could only barely process the words from her sister.
Dodging a well-aimed, blue laser, that careened over her head she could feel ice sliding through her veins. The urge to swear, as her Master was so fond of, was exceedingly strong. “Did you just—“, she paused, twisting her blade, to shove it deep into the chest cavity of a droid. Now that she knew where to hit it was only a matter of rinse and repeat. The only thing to worry about was maintaining steady energy level. “Did you just say—“
Again, she was cut off from speaking to her sister, interrupted by some automaton without a head, and she thrust her hand away to send the metal biped flying. Her eyes flashed golden. Annoyed. In the deepest recesses of her mind it was more than that. Concern. Fear. “Did you just say that our mother is coming here?”
Aeris Vail Talon. Here? In Confederate space?
“What did you do Tellu?”
There was no way that their mother would leave the father on Eshan without some sort of earthshattering reason. It couldn’t have been due to the tragedy of her niece and sister-in-law. They would still be observing mourning, as was customary when losing a loved one. She could feel the sound of her Mothers voice in her head now. Cold. So cold that it burned. Many in the Confederacy referred to Srina as emotionless, or wintry, but none had ever crossed the woman that had birthed her. Srina was a warm breeze, and Nysana, Nysana was a saint compared to Aeris. Chit.
The second ship that had swooped in, the slave ship, opened its bay doors and the satisfying thud of several B3 Ultra Battle Droids hit the ground. That wasn’t the end. No, not at all. [member="Qymaen sil Jurai"] and his fiercely trained Magnaguard had made their entry. “Your timing is perfect General!”, Srina called to the cyborg, uncertain, of where her little murder moppets had gone. Technically her rabbit would be under his jurisdiction more than her own when on the field. The warlord wielded not one, not two, but four lightsabers. With that in mind, she had a rather wicked idea. She lifted several of the androids with her mind alone that Darth Metus had not cleared with his rather terrifying telekinetic burst…And send them careening toward the droid General.
He would make short work of them. Like refuse in a trash compactor.
Srina could hear and feel [member="Curupira Hawk"] make her arrival, as well as [member="Adron Malvern"], and knew instinctively that their groups would soon split for their objectives. [member="Haven"], [member="Jorge"], [member="Cezar Alexandrescu"], and some of the others would push to save the people. The rest of them would push for the AMI. When [member="Darth Metus"] made a path, a solid way through, Srina obeyed his instructions to move. A newer warrior (@Dhakarta), one that the Exarch had not yet met, had scaled a wall to get a height advantage. It was smart, so long, as the androids remained focused on the main group. There were people trapped in these fields. When AMI was destroyed they would all be set free. Srina noted that the woman was a good shot and touched her Holo-Comm as she ran to tell the spell weaver where they were going. “We’ll blow through the checkpoint dead ahead. From there, it’s a straight shot to AMI. Let us know if you get stuck.”
Despite the fact that her legs were much shorter than her Master’s she managed, somehow, to keep pace. She could feel the rest of their group moving at a quick clip. Silver eyes watched as [member="Darth Metus"] blew away the opposition at the checkpoint and they passed through the city wall. From there, they would make their way to the large, formerly corporate, building that was the beating heart of all this madness. Ayrtech. Within Ayrtech they would find AMI and the rampant A.I. would be blown to hell.
The trek to the building was not simple. It was full of nearly post-apocalyptic buildings that seemed dilapidated and ready to collapse. It was no surprise. No one lived in them anymore. All of the humans were either forced to work in the mines, the old Ayrtech building labs, kept in the Mass Storage Facility, or even worse, they were used as fuel in the processing fields. It would be hard to find their footing. It would be equally hard to keep from knowing where to walk, and where not to, even with a variety of sensors telling them where to go. The potential for collapse was strong.
When they reached Ayrtech they would find all of the exits and entrances completely shored up with refined metal. Anything that used to be a window or a door didn’t seem to exist anymore. There were glowing strips that ran just beneath the surface of the ground by the hundreds. It seemed to be providing power to the location. Nevertheless, their goal was to get inside, and place the bomb. To do so they would need to scale the building.
Ascension cables would have been provided for those that needed to be aided, while others, would use the Force to propel them to the top floor. It was the only way in without AMI allowing entrance. Given the current level of hostility, there was no way the A.I. would be opening the doors for them willingly. The group would likely encounter resistance in the form of mechanical horrors but the Confederates would let nothing stop them from reaching their goal.
They would enter the main chamber through an open balcony. Apparently, AMI didn't expect anyone to come in from above. They would have to rappel down to her core where they would find her trapped to it. It's the reason she sends out androids as her physical manifestations. She has become so ingrained with building that she no longer moves.
The team set to rally the people would have their work cut out for them. Once they entered the Mass Storage Facility they would have to subdue the droids patrolling the area. They would find that resistances here would be less and less, considering, the androids that stalked them would be more concerned with the team trying to attack AMI. They would have to disable security systems and prepare groggy, disoriented, and confused humans for transport. They may be hard to convince. Hard to move.
These people have spent so long being cattle and a work-force that they don’t really know anything else. There do seem to be some enlightened among them, clothed in rags, and mostly skin and bones. If the Confederacy can appeal to the leaders, to those that can call the rest of the group to focus, to convince them to let go of their fear, it will make evacuation much simpler.
It is time to leave. Time to be free—to start a new life in a new world.
The planetary grid has proven troublesome. The security at the space station is tight. It’s also very unique since it has been mostly untouched by human hands since AMI wrestled control of security from the original population. The team sent to disable it has encountered delay after delay. It will soon be up to the [member="Darth Tacitus"], the Lord Admiral, whether or not to bombard the planetary defenses and be done with them. It will be a difficult decision but it will be the only way to get the Confederates from the surface. The destruction of AMI will not shut it down due to back up generators.
Much to the Overlord's displeasure, the slicers were not making any progress. Every attempt to disable the station, was met with failure after failure, when time was of the essence. He could not allow the slicers the time to explore and familiarize themselves with the alien security system. The success of the operation depended on every team's ability to stick to the schedule and he began to fear that should the A.M.I. be destroyed before the defense grid was disabled, there may be a hidden scorched earth protocol that would activate, possibly bombarding the planet.
He had to make a decision and he made the only one that was reasonable. The defense station had to be destroyed. "I have new orders for you," he told the slicers. "I need you to get me a map of the facility and find the quickest route to the reactor core. Locked doors will not be a problem."
Without the main control station, the defense grid could not activate in case of an alert, since there would be nothing that could send the activation signal to the various military installations. So Tacitus led the way through the corridors, towards the heart of the station, intent on planting a bomb and removing it from the equation, permanently.
That was when they ran into the security droids.
Mechanical humanoids armed with blasters and vibroblades descended upon the group like a pack of ravenous animals. They came through the doors, through the roof, through the floor and through the walls, panels sliding to reveal hidden storage compartments where the droids had waited, dormant, until an intruder came by. Within moments, most of the slicers were dead.
The Overlord sent forth his three crimson lightsabers, guided by invisible telekinetic hands that forced them to dance in the air and slice several of the droids to pieces. He gathered the Darkside to him and unleashed it like a storm, lightning bolts the color of midnight slamming into the mechanical soldiers, frying circuitry and melting critical parts. His terrible longsword flashed through the air, alchemized steel biting into the cold metal of the droids like an axe through the flesh of a mortal enemy.
"We need to make our way to the reactor!" he called out. "We plant the bomb, make sure the droids can't get to it, then bail out as quickly as possible! If we turn back now, everyone we have on the planet, will die!" he warned. Regardless of the relentless attack of the droids, they could not abandon the mission. The station had to be destroyed, no matter what.
