Allies:
Jasper Kai'el
Ko Vuto
Sian Sestoi
Medrit Kote
Jonyna Si
Opponents:
Darth Carnifex
Darth Prazutis
Dawnstar Reliquary : Crown of Command |
Sunfire Legionnaire Armor |
Dragon Knight War Mount |
Sunfire Drakeshroud |
G.o.o. Grappler |
Utility Belt |
Protective Cloak |
Armoured Robes |
Mist Projector |
Re-Pulse Ring |
Lock 'n' Shock™ |
Sunsaber x 2 |
๖̶̶̶ۣۣۜۜ͜ζ͜͡The Wing left at the portals wore more blue than the rest that Matthew had taken to the first assault. They were the Sapphire Sentinel tasked with protecting the rear and their way home.
They had been intentionally held back when Matthew took Skyreaver and Tempest into the first strike: Draconis war mounts clad in deep sapphire barding, their armor trimmed in silver-white beneath the storm-dark sky. They stood vigilant around the apertures like living bastions, wings half-spread, claws sunk into churned soil as gunfire cracked across the field and black fog rolled low over the ground.
Lady Solaria of Valendale
the Seneschal held command there, young and steady, mounted atop Wildfire, a massive black Draconis whose dark scales gleamed beneath the portal-light.
As Aerie Commander beneath the Lord Protector, she kept the third Wing close to the apertures, anchoring the road home while the rest of the Aerie tore ahead into Dromund Kaas's hidden defenses. Matteo and Raphael served at her side, carrying her orders down the line, steadying the Flights, and keeping the blue-barded Draconis locked in defensive formation.
When the hidden guns rose, the portal guard answered as one. Force Barriers shimmered around scale and barding as the first storm of fire came in, curving over infantry and wounded alike. Draconis claws carved trenches through the black mire, whilst dragon wings beat low, driving smoke and sensor-chaff away. Where drones skimmed too close, they snapped at them with breath, talon, and sudden bursts of Force-driven prowess, refusing to let the swarm spill through the line of defense.
Solaria's order carried through comms, banner-signals, and the living bond of the Aerie.
"Hold the portals firm! Shield them with righteous fury and unyielding wrath. Protect them with your lives; None shall pass while we still draw breath!"
Matteo and Raphael answered at once, assisting her defensive counterstroke as the blue-barded Wing settled into its purpose: guarding the road home while the spearpoint burned deeper into the fields ahead.
The earth split open beneath the dragons, and Dromund Kaas bared its hidden teeth. Point-defense, anti-air, and anti-infantry guns rose from concealed positions, their barrels tracking skyward in a sudden storm of fire.
Fortunately, the Draconis war mounts were
far from mindless beasts.
They were sentient, war-hardened, and armored for battle; living siege engines of scales, will, and ancient instinct coupled with bonded riders. Their uncanny danger-sense felt the bite of incoming long fire before metal screamed through the air; Force Reflexes turned warnings into motion, and Force Speed carried them through sharp banks, sudden drops, and brutal corkscrew turns that made them frustratingly difficult targets to track.
Tempest Wing was set forth upon them whilst nine Draconis war-mounts of the Skyreavers split into Flights of three and drove into the Wraith Drones.
Some met the barrage with Force Barriers, pressure blooming around scale and barding as bolts burst against them. Others tore at the battlefield itself with Alter Environment, kicking up mud, smoke, frost, and broken soil to foul targeting lines.
They could feel the pressure of the dark side building long before Prazutis ever reached the Siege Commander Matthew, and his Force Bonded Mount Avalanche, like an invisible storm on the horizon, his presence was thick, malignant, and ominously oppressive as the pressure built, pressing down on his location like a closing fist.
Matthew could sense the suffocating weight rising through the smoke and shattered ruins below, crawling up his spine, stealing the breath from his lungs. The great Draconis rumbled, wings flaring as the he banked hard to his right, turning them both to face the oncoming nightmare head on.
The profane blade shot upward like black lightning, carving through Avalanche's left wing with a wet, sickening crack of membrane and bone.
Even as the weapon bit, Avalanche's own Force Barrier surged by instinct around the torn limb, pressure blooming beneath scale and barding as his natural resistance met the dark power trying to drive deeper. Through the bond, Matthew's will braced against his, the Dawnstar Reliquary burning upon the winged commander's brow as its Light fed into the connection. The wound was real, and he felt his companions agony, but the sorcery found more than flesh beneath the blood; it found scale, barrier, bond, and crown standing staunchly against it.
The dragon's massive frame convulsed as pain tore through him; he twisted midair, pitching downward into a spiraling corkscrew that dragged rider and attacker with him. A thunderous shudder ripped through muscle and scale alike, jarring Matthew loose from the saddle and hurling him sideways into the open sky.
The rigging snapped taut with a metallic whiplash, as armored plates ground together, screaming under the sudden and violent torque. Briefly the horizon tilted wildly, the smoke-choked sky flipping beneath them as rider and dragon fought to stay aloft.
Avalanche's massive clawed hand reached back with deliberate precision, armored talons spreading wide as he sought to catch the offending attacker and wrench him free from the wound, like a beast tearing a thorn from its own flesh. His grip aimed to close with crushing force, seeking not merely to pull Prazutis loose, but to fold and crush metal and flesh alike beneath his claws before ripping him clear and casting him off the wounded limb.
Matthew righted himself in the open air, diving after the pair as his large prismatic wings swept several times propelling him downwards faster, then folded back tight against the rush of the fall.
A myriad of power swept through the pair as Avalanche wrapped himself within it's light.
Force Sense burned through the bond in sharp warning, naming danger before thought could catch it. Force Reflexes carried the great Draconis through the fall, turning agony into motion as his body twisted with brutal, downwards spiral. Force Speed intensified the spiral, making the corkscrew drop far harsher.
Beneath it all was Avalanche's own natural resistance, ancient and stubborn as s mountain, pressing back against the dark power trying to root deeper through the wound.
Through Force Meld, Matthew joined his will to Avalanche's, moving with him, as thought and instinct locked into the same rhythm. Force Valor poured through the bond, feeding strength into Avalanche's wounded body, whilst Battlemind sharpened Matthew's focus upon the threat. Force Harmony followed after, golden and steady, pressing back against fear, despair, and the suffocating weight of Prazutis' darkness.
Matthew angled his descent carefully, Sunsaber held outward and clear of Avalanche's torn wing. He kept his blade-line clean, carving his path around the wound as he came to deny Prazutis room, descending from above while Avalanche's armored talons reached from behind.
His gaze fixed on the narrow hollow above the clavicle, where helm, throat-guard, and warplate met in layered black iron. Matthew aimed for that small, treacherous seam, seeking to drive the Sunsaber's point into the vulnerable space beneath the jaw and collar.
The Dawnstar Reliquary burned brighter beneath his helm as Matthew drew upon it, channeling Force Light down through his arm and through the waiting Sunsaber. The blade of golden-white radiance was being driven toward the seam in that profane armor, meant to sear at the darkness gathered there.
Braze
's timid apology sent through the private comms channel. She wasn't looking for remorse but for him to improve moving forward, realizing that in a place like this, survival required keeping the entire team informed about your actions down to the last detail.
Saram Kote
. Peering into the shadowy depths of the alley, she was well aware that the Dark Side could disguise itself as a Jedi presence, enticing the unwary into a trap, and she refused to risk it.
Silas Westgard
to step out of the shadows, her tendrils flared catching a sudden unnatural disturbance in the air above them.
