Skirmish A Monument to All Your Achievements | THR vs TSC | Jakku Enclave

[Katsumi Royal]

Tags: Open

The momentum of the armored unit slowed as they got closer to the siege sight, taking a spot hidden in the dunes as Katsumi peered at the targets through her HUD.

"Lines upon lines of heavy artillery, plenty of anti-air... And it seems they are rather focused on shooting any and all shuttles trying to escape."

Was it the worst thing she had seen in her time? No, but there was always another day... Another day to see what sort of sickness this lot and their kin would get up to.

"Weapons check, I want any and all systems ready. Along with our jammer, we will strike while they are focused on the skys and civilians. Jamming their communications if even for a moment while we attack will send them into a panic to figure out what is going on."

This is it, she and her men were about to dive first into hell.

"All systems ready!"

Kat gives a firm nod, the tank now starting to get closer. Spoofing radars in the commotion so that they only appeared as just another weapon in their war machine.

Once more, she would send a secure message out to the Jedi... Hopefully those who were counter attacking this siege line would hear this message.

"This is Capitan Royal, we are closing in. Be advised that any and all friendlies pushing the Sith line are within danger close, you are within danger close. We will do our best to assure that the eyes on the sky are taken care of."

The message pauses are Kat gives an order to her men in the background before she returns.

"Light guard and guide the republic."

As her message ends, the Sith systems would be hit with a potent jam. The skies filled with missiles breaking into a cluster, sending waves of fire and shrapnel across the line.

Followed was a relentless assault from the twin heavy laser cannons, the shots sweeping across horizontally to try and catch as many bodies as they could with their high rate of fire.

thump! thump! thump!

The warring drumbeat of launchers, each sending grenade after grenade at those anti-air units. A mixture between high explosive and EMP, if any weren't damaged or destroyed, they surely would have to be out of the fight for a while.. Right?

Leaving her crew to operate inside, she climbs to the top turret. Clutching her hands firmly around the controls as the gun rotates to find a target.

Such an attack could have easily been from an aircraft, perhaps? But any eyes that would turn would see it to be naught but Republic troops, with one very angrily peering out from her helmet's visor as she looked for a target.

"Enemy line ambushed and intercepted."

She calls over the comms to the Jedi.




​

 

[Riya Pashen]

Tag: Katsumi Royal Open​

From the dusty skies above Jakku, a wave of Republic transports streaked downward under heavy fighter escort. Several carried the compact, agile HR-13 Light Assault Tanks. Anti-air fire lit up the descent — one transport erupted in a fireball mid-air, while another spiraled and slammed into the dunes moments later. The surviving craft hovered just above the scorching sand, bay doors slamming open as infantry and armor poured out behind the mobile troops who had already begun hammering the Sith siege line.

Inside the lead HR-13, Lieutenant Riya Parshan peered through the viewport, her lips curving into a wry smile. If planets were people, she thought, Tatooine and Jakku would be siblings separated at birth. The endless sea of dunes stretched in every direction, twin to that dusty rock she calls home.

Her driver, Renn Vorr, suddenly let out a whoop as the tank surged over a dune crest, racing to link up with the friendly forces just ahead. "Now this is podracing!"

"We'll be in range soon, LT," her gunner, Taraal Keth, reported coolly.

Riya keyed her comm. "Captain Royal, this is Iron Fang. Nice work with that opening act. Just tell us where you need us and we'll kick these Sith bastards right in the ass."

She smirked, eyes gleaming at the distant columns of smoke rising from wrecked Sith armor and artillery. It didn't matter how far this battlefield was from Republic space. Every cultist they killed was one less shadow on the galaxy.

 

[Bastila Sal-Soren]

Bastila had never liked silence.

Not true silence. Not the kind that settled after laughter had died or the calm stillness that came with meditation. This was something different. The silence on Jakku had always carried expectation, as though the desert itself held its breath waiting for the next disaster to claw its way over the horizon.

She had promised herself she would never return and yet here she was.

"I can go to Jakku."

The words had escaped before she had truly considered them. Spoken across a room occupied by Jedi whose opinions carried far greater weight than her own. Lorn had paused. Rik had looked thoroughly confused. Briana had reacted exactly as an older sister should, immediately shutting the suggestion down before Bastila had even finished speaking.

In hindsight it had taken surprisingly little to convince them.

Now, courtesy of the stealth fighter Osira Perris had quietly placed at her disposal, Bastila found herself back beneath the rusted bones of the world she had spent years trying to leave behind.

The irony wasn't lost on her as she moved beneath dust that had sifted lazily from the cracked ceiling as another distant tremor rolled through the complex.

"Briana..." Her fingers tapped the controls built into her vambrace and only static answered.

She tried again and received nothing. Months of effort establishing the Underground's communications network and, the moment it was actually needed, every frequency had dissolved into white noise.

"Frakking hells." She exhaled through her nose and pressed on.

Her assignment had been simple. Find Lossa. Deliver the message and leave.

That objective had become considerably more complicated roughly two minutes after touchdown, when the emergency transmission had burst across every functioning Republic channel.

Sith on Jakku.

Since then, every distant impact had sounded a little closer. Every shadow seemed just a little longer.

She rounded another corner, feeling the vibration through the durasteel beneath her boots before hearing it. Somewhere deep within the old structure something groaned, ancient supports protesting under stresses they had never been designed to bear.

A door ahead hissed open and Bastila stepped through before immediately making herself stop.

The room was saturated with tension and not the ordinary anxiety of frightened people.

"Lossa..." The greeting faltered as every instinct she possessed came alive at once. Her gaze swept the room automatically, taking in faces before details. Lossa first. Alive. Then Romi. Her posture alone was enough to make the hairs rise across the back of her neck. She was alert. Ready. Something here was off. "...Rik and Briana sent me."

The explanation sounded almost too small against the atmosphere hanging over the room.

"Master Jade?" Concern softened the edge in her voice without dulling its caution. "Are you okay?"

OUTFIT: XoXo | TAG: Romi Jade Lossa Aureus EQUIPMENT:

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[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Jakku - Jakku Enclave

Equipment:
Vanguard Robes | Lightsaber | Shoto | Cybernetic Arm

Sand sprayed beneath Ace's boots as he abruptly skidded to a halt. The sound the accompanied his name single word traveled through his bones like a shockwave.​

​

He turned toward the voice and saw Arris standing beyond the dunes, unmistakable despite the distance between them. His eyes immediately found the face looking back at him. Her own face, not Rox's, the face he'd seen in that holo back in her den on Nar Shaddaa so long ago. The realization lingered only a heartbeat before his gaze drifted over the rest of her. Even from this distance, she looked... wrong.​

​

His expression remained composed, though there was none of the coldness she was used to. He simply looked at her but offered no reply. Then, without warning, Arris stopped moving entirely as if she were frozen in place.​

​

Ace frowned ever so slightly. It wasn't hesitation, he knew her too well for that. Once Arris committed herself to something, there was very little in the galaxy capable of stopping her.​

​

Only then did another familiar voice carry faintly across the wind. His gaze shifted beyond Arris as another figure emerged over the crest of the dune.​

​

Isobel.​

​

The sight of her drew the faintest crack through the calm expression he had worn since arriving on Jakku. His features softened almost imperceptibly as dark eyes settled on her. Whether it was disappointment, sadness, or some quiet mixture of the two, even he couldn't have said.​

​

Before either of them spoke another word, golden light burst to life in her hand, followed a heartbeat later by the crimson glow of her shoto. He felt her presence brush gently against his mind. Ace lowered his barrier with caution and as she spoke to him in his mind, his eyes never left hers.​

​

<<You can too.>> The silent exchange lasted only an instant before memory quietly surfaced.​

"Do you think you'll be able to stand across from these friends and fight them?"

​

Lorn's question had lingered with him ever since the night he'd broken him out of that Republic prison. He had already stood opposite Varin on Eshan, and even that had tested his resolve. This was different. Somehow, it felt worse. Even the thought of facing Arris didn't weigh upon him quite like standing here before Isobel.​

​

Still, he had chosen this path knowing exactly where it might lead. Atonement was never going to be easy, and if there remained even the smallest chance of bringing Isobel back, then he owed it to both of them to try.​

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Ace watched the twin blades in silence. His own blue lightsaber remained low at his side, but his right hand never moved toward the second hilt at his belt. Drawing the shoto would only escalate the fight.​

​

He wasn't foolish enough to lower his guard against Isobel, but neither was he willing to be the first to tell her this had to become a battle to the death.​

​

His gaze drifted briefly toward Arris before returning to Isobel, quietly waiting to see what either of them would do next.​

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Arris Windrun | Isobel Serraris​

 

[Varin Mortifer]

VARIN MORTIFER

Equipment: Durum Mantle | Black Blade of Chandrila | Eye of The Dragon | Heavy Sith Mace | Cross Guard Broadsaber

Varin’s gaze flicked over the battlefield as artillery munitions were loaded up into position ready to fire upon the Jedi just ahead of them on the battlefield.

Varin’s orders were clear, keep the men motivated and alive, prevent any interruptions with the plan of conquest. Short, simple and to the point. The way he preferred.

Varin’s arms crossed over his armored chest, the heavy metal of his protective coat seemed to absorb the light that came in contact with it. His glaring red visor running over the battle ahead of them, just ahead he could hear the heavy thudding of a walker beginning to make its way over.

A sense came over him to just glance over his shoulder where he spotted a few straggling jedi aligned scum trying to sneak over to cause interference. Varin’s arms dropped as he slowly approached. His heavy bootfalls echoing towards their direction as one by one they each looked over at him, their gazes moving up and up to finally meet his towering figure.

Varin stood above them on a small platform just above them, the Sith mace holstered on his back, the Black Blade sheathed at his side and on the other side was the hilt of his saber. All weapons of destruction he had mastered over his time engaging in battles and conquest.

Varin’s hand reached back gripping the handle of the mace. Wordless and silent. What was there to say? They were trespassing and had the audacity to plot a resistance against their futility.

One of them fired a blaster, multiple rounds impacted his armor only to bounce off from its dense protection, leaving nothing but slight smoke trails off the surface.

Varin drew the mace and dropped down to them, holding the mace above his head, the force surged through his body enhancing strength speed and endurance. His flesh beneath his armor only hardened into scales granting further protection then…

The mace impacted with the ground, their foundation shook as a telekinetic blast erupted from the impact point, sending the resistors to their back.

He moved quick dashing to one that struggled to grab her weapon, his mace quickly falling over her back, crushing bone. Not even so much as a scream leaving her. Quick and efficient.

Varin then drew his horrid Black Blade, slashing across the air releasing a wind of sharpness that bisected another. The last one he slowly approached weapons drawn, ready to finish them as they sent out an SOS message to whomever dared answer it.

Then, it fell silent. His Blade moved quickly, silencing his calls for help. But the signal still traveled.

Jonyna Si​

 

[Arris Windrun]

Isobel Serraris | Acier Moonbound
Down & Out
​

Arris stood high, looking down at her former apprentice. She was ready to charge in--

--until her whole body seized in an instant. At first, she believed her cybernetics had locked into place. A failure of the heat. But she quickly knew better, knew what she was capable of even during these extreme circumstances.

Then, angry words came from Isobel. They both surprised her and revealed immediately who was responsible for her predicament. The moment the acolyte released her, Arris fell to one knee before picking herself back up with movement fit for the end of a long night at the cantina more than the battlefield.

Her attention snapped in the young woman's direction, with a spark of anger echoing in the Force. The cyborg's voice, however, was calm.

"Please don't undermine my autonomy ever again."

She was unaware that either Isobel or Acier were speaking telepathically. Sense was not among her strengths, beyond what the Force chose to tell her.

Windrun's weapons stayed in their holsters, but Ace knew she was just as inclined to fight hand-to-hand. However, her demeanor was closer to the way he last saw her on Corellia. This was not the stance or attitude of a fighter, who slid down the sand and walked towards him across the scorching desert. Her cybernetic body was still dripping coolant.

An artillery walker lumbered behind her, wavering against the sun-soaked haze as it moved into position.

"Ace," she said his name again. "Why are you here?"

She had not elected to describe her relationship with Acier to Isobel. Whether the acolyte was nosy enough to unravel details on her own, the Triumvir did not know, but it wasn't a secret that he happened to be her former apprentice. Though the circumstances of his departure were never made clear, no matter how many instructors - or even Mercy - pressed her for an answer.

 

[Naniti]

Any field full of Force Users made foreseeing the Future extremely difficult. The Force itself was a variable that could not account for itself. Some would claim that was deliberate; that the Force desired to keep the truth hidden when its own Will held sway. Naniti couldn't say if the Force were Alive as some claimed, only that it was useful.

But it wasn't enough to hide everything. The future was always in motion, but when you only saw the future as you yourself would live it it brought things into focus. And what it had brought into focus had concerned Naniti of late. The visions didn't make any sense. Worse, she didn't feel like she could discuss them aloud. A few vague references and probing questions, sure, but directly addressing it? There was more than enough uncertainty which path would be taken if she pressed too hard... to the degree she wanted to, it might cause the very thing she had foreseen.

In fact, there were several fates in the balance that held the Togruta's eyes.

It was no surprise, then, to find Mercy springing into existence near Lysander. Naniti stalked the barren wastes of the world at a distance to bolster the line so the Jedi had no easy means of slipping by. Her blue eyes didn't so much as glance at the corrupted sands left in the towering woman's wake.

Preparing for the inevitable clash, Naniti drew her saber and held it securely in her right hand. The future would have to wait. For now. Battle demanded attention in the present, especially when your vision held multiple quantum states of what a person in front of her might do in any given second. Naniti had learned how to see through the cloud of What If, but it required concentration.

Sophelia Ardemark | Corazona von Ascania | Zaiya Ceti
Lysander von Ascania | Mercy

 

[Zaiya Ceti]

Outfit: x x x x x | Equipment: x x x x x x x | Weapons: x x x |
Interacting with: Corazona von Ascania Sophelia Ardemark
Blondie Lothcat: Lysander von Ascania | Ms. BrickHouse : Mercy | Foodie : Naniti
#E84393

The small beep and flicker of a notification over Zaiya's holographic cuff screen told her that Knight von Ascania's ship had arrived on Jakku, and by the time it had landed, Zaiya had sent coordinates to the blonde Jedi to where she was at the enclave.

The Lovalla Knight knew they were working against precious time, and every bit of assistance they could muster was important. The Jakku Enclave had been the place she had come to learn years ago at the invitation of Lossa. And when the alert came regarding the possibility that the hidden enclave had been discovered, Zaiya knew she had to act and assist. They had already lost the temple on Tython and had been attacked at Niv Hani. If she could make a difference here and save lives and what Lossa had done her best to protect, then Zaiya considered it her duty to assist.

From beneath the cloak, the dim flurry of orange-flecked, cobalt hues rippled over the mottled spots of the Lovalla's face with determination.

The advantage she had is that she knew the enclave's layout, and in the time that Zaiya had waited for others assistance, she herself had set down 'welcoming gifts' for any who would come with mal intent -- and the empath could feel even with her mental shields, the distant ripple of the Darkside of the Force pressing closer, like shadows shifting and slithering close like snakes.

She set the timer on a sticky grenade right next to a glitter one, hiding it along the arch of a doorway. There were a dozen scattered about, bits of tech that the Lovalla was ready to use.

With a determined nod, the colorful young woman gave a firm nod. Then, sweeping her attention back towards those distant shapes, the Lovalla's opal-blue eyes narrowed slightly. The wail of the wind sent the sand scattering over the distant dunes, but Zaiya could feel them.

Cora wasn't far, and soon she would be here. But so would the others. Which meant Zaiya had to think fast.

In that moment, the girl went to another pouch at her waist, and without further ado, plucked a handful of seeds.

Then she did what she did best.

Become the bestest distraction ever!

With a grin, Zaiya began to flick a seed here and a seed there, giving a joyful but determined hop-skip as she scattered the seeds with seemingly no rhyme or reason.

And right on top of her head, that kyber crystal shone oh so ever so brightly, the Lightside of the Force resonating brightly like a firefly in the night.

 

[Lorn Reingard]

Tags: Meliant​

The vibration of the descending shuttle rattled through Lorn's boots as Jakku's heat bled into the cabin. When the distress signal from the hidden Enclave first crackled across the comms, uncertainty had weighed heavy; the Jedi Order's response was never a guarantee. But anything to undermine the Sith deserved action. Securing the evacuation of the hidden Jedi and safeguarding the knowledge beneath the dunes came before everything else. If a few survivors joined his cause afterward, the effort would be doubled in worth. Slicers, heavy gunners, and Jedi Vanguard personnel were already hitting the dirt, turning the valley into a frantic evacuation zone.

A firm nod acknowledged Acier Moonbound 's plan. Looking at the younger man, Lorn knew the battlefield below held ghosts for him. Facing former comrades from the Covenant would test the kid's resolve, and leaving him to his own devices brought a flicker of worry. Yet, trust was the only way the young wolf would ever learn to believe in himself again.

"See you on the other side," Lorn repeated, his deep voice cutting through the roar of the engines just before Ace stepped out into the open air.

The shuttle banked sharply away from the ridge, kicking up a wall of dust as it hovered over the exposed structure of the temple. A quick glance at the chrono on his wrist confirmed the harsh reality: the countdown to the safeguard protocol was already ticking away. Time was a luxury they didn't have. With a quick breath, Lorn leaped from the transport, letting the Force catch his weight and steady his landing inside a fractured opening that led directly into the cavernous Enclave.

Chaos ruled the upper levels. Frantic Jedi scrambled through the corridors, dragging crates of archives and directing new refugees. Organization wasn't on Lorn's agenda today. Leaving the crowd control to the commanders on the surface, he focused entirely on a singula purpose. An artifact of immense power lay hidden in the deep dark below, and the Covenant could not have it.

Stepping past the panicked rush of retreating bodies, Lorn shoved his way through the halls. His gaze remained locked on the descending staircases ahead, his boots hitting the stone with purpose as he bypassed the fleeing crowds and plunged straight into the lower vaults.

 

[Vess Sadragen]

The heat hit Vess the moment the dropship's ramp lowered. It wasn't merely uncomfortable it pressed against her from every direction, dry enough that each breath seemed to steal what little moisture remained in the air. Even standing still, she could feel it settling into her clothes.

Her attention drifted to Arris. The coolant leaking from seams in her chassis was difficult to ignore, as was the wet, uneven rhythm of her breathing. Vess frowned almost imperceptibly. She'd spent enough time around machinery to know when something was operating beyond its tolerances. "You too," she said quietly. "Try not to melt." It was as close to concern as she was willing to voice before a mission.

Lily's hand found hers, drawing her attention away from Arris. Her fingers settled naturally between Lily's, giving her hand a gentle squeeze before they started across the dunes. The sound behind them stopped her almost immediately. A servo misfired, metal struck sand, and Vess turned in time to see Arris lose her footing and tumble awkwardly down the slope. For half a second, she considered going back. Then she saw Isobel moving. She knew Arris well enough to know she wouldn't have sent them forward if she couldn't spare them, so she kept moving.

At the crest of the dune, her eyes swept across the waiting Jedi almost instinctively, measuring distance, spacing, avenues of approach. Before she could settle on a route, Lily stepped closer. The apologetic smile told her everything. Vess sighed. "I really don't—"

The world folded. She never grew accustomed to it. One heartbeat they stood atop the dune beneath Jakku's relentless sun, and the next, the landscape snapped back into existence behind the Jedi line with the familiar sensation that the galaxy had briefly forgotten where it had left her. Vess closed her eyes for the briefest moment, exhaling slowly before opening them again. "...like that." She sighed and grabbed onto Lily's shoulder for a moment as she steadied herself.

She slowly regained her self and began taking in their new surroundings and the backs of the Jedi who had yet to realize they were no longer alone. "So." The corner of her mouth lifted ever so slightly. "I suppose we're committed now."

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TAG: Lily Rhodes Arris Windrun Isobel Serraris