Invasion Blood Debt | Mandalorian Enclave invasion of Eternal Empire-held Panatha

[Kuben Woods]

Location: En-route to power generator
Equipment: Jackal ACR, Sk-RS Mk. IV, backup DXR-6, four fragmentation grenades, four flash bangs, lightsaber (concealed)
Mission: Stand by for Orders
Allies: Lyssa Io , Alessandra Io , QEMD-15 Echo , @Tovald Kahmen''a , Baron Reinhardt Ström , Eleena Salwa ,
Enemies: Kranak Vizsla , Sergeant Omen , Thonn Rokkal , Gwyneira Vizsla , Domina Prime , Runi Kuryida , T.E.X. , Open

Spoiler: THEME

Damian was advancing up the side alley towards the walls of the compound when he heard the calls over platoon comms. Reinforcements were incoming already, their being an allied armor unit pushing up alongside his platoon now as they directed the tanks to engage particular targets. Damian would approach the outer wall with it mostly being intact as his squad bounded up behind him. Two by two they would stack up on the wall as they surveyed the scene. They needed to find a way inside that wasn't going to be through what was probably the biggest kill box in the city. Both because of what was inside, but also what was shooting into it. Damian signaled to the squad behind him to follow quietly. They were going to breach through the wall in a spot where they should be able to insert and deal with the enemies inside. Mainly because after hearing the mortars go flying through the air, he knew exactly how his platoon leader would respond.

Meanwhile in the main formation the platoon leader would direct his men onwards with voice alone. Leading the charge as he set the pace of their advance as they bounded forwards. When he heard the tell tale whistle however of rounds being lobbed at them, his orders were as short as they were loud.

"COVER!"​

Ultranauts scrambled to holes they could find shelter in, or dove into buildings to get out of the kill zones as they braced for the barrage. With the tanks moving up to support them however, the lieutenant would rally his men. Squad leaders would lead the way as the LT issued orders and directed their returning fire.

"I WANT THAT FORWARD POSITION SUPPRESSED! SECOND SQUAD MOVE UP LEFT SIDE AND BOUND TO THAT BUILDING! THIRD SQUAD PRESS THE ATTACK! I WANT HIS ENTRAILS FOR MY DESK DECORATIONS YOU UNDERSTAND!?"

They braved the barrage of incoming mortar rounds as they knew they could not be bogged down out here. Tanks without infantry were fat targets, but with tanks, Infantry would bulldoze anything in their way. To stay here was to die. He knew that, they all did. Fire and maneuver. Shoot and cover your friends while they maneuvered to get the kill. It was by the infantryman and his rifle that this day would be won. The LT would climb to the top of the front tank in the formation as he knocked on the commander's hatch before screaming down at the commander as it opened.

"I NEED TWO ROUNDS INTO THAT FORWARD POSITION! SEND IT NOW! WE'RE GONNA SHOW THESE WANNABE SOLDIERS WHAT REAL ARTILLERY LOOKS LIKE!"

He would then roll off the back of the tank and yell out for his radioman. An Ultra with a backpack would bound from his position behind cover to him as he continued his orders.

"Get command on the line, we need fires!"

"Aye sir! Command, Spartan 1 Romeo! Requesting fires! Prepare to copy!"

The LT would climb back onto the tank as he pulled out a set of macro-binoculars, aiming them not at Morgan Keldau 's position, but behind it. At the building itself. Pushing a small button, the binos would shoot out a small infrared laser, getting the range, direction, and elevation of the position from the LT's position. Using some simple computing and the binos would give him the ten digit grid location to the target. He leaned back from his position taking the hand mike to the radio as he called it up.

"Command fires, Spartan Actual. Authorization 1 Fox Romeo 7 Niner Papa Tango. Requesting fires. 3 rounds Victor Tango, 2 rounds Whiskey Papa. Grid-"

His voice however was cut off as a round punched a hole through his chest, spraying gore and blood across the radioman and throwing him onto the ground.

"NO!" The Ultra would scramble over to his platoon leader, rolling him over as he could hear him gagging and coughing, literally drowning in his own blood. "MEDIC! MEDIC WE NEED A MED-" He was interrupted by the man grabbing his arm however. He would look back to see the LT gripping him with what little strength he had left. With his free hand he tore his mask off so the young Ultra could hear him, the now useless gear clattering to the ground.

"Finish wheeze the wheeze call wheeze Don't wheeze hesitate cough/sputter/cough No wheeze mercy wheeze For....." The man's eyes would cloud over however before he could finish, and his hand would go limp before falling to the ground with the rest of his now very dead corpse. The radioman would sit over his corpse, the reality sinking into him. The LT was dead. But his words would stoke a fire in his heart. With his dying breath, he'd told him to complete the mission. The time to cry for the fallen would be later. A determined Ultranaut would pick up the hand mike from the ground as he spoke into it with Imperial steel in his voice.

"Command fires, Spartan 1 Romeo, Spartan Actual down. Grid is Uniform Papa Victor," He reached over and grabbed the binos as he checked the grid. He was a smart soldier, all of them had been trained to do this. He had to do this. For the LT. For his Platoon. FOR THE EMPIRE.

"GRID IS TWO SEVEN FIFE ET SEVEN (27587) BY ONE NINER TWO SEVEN FIFE (19275)! FIRE FOR EFFECT!"

The call had been sent out. A fire mission to rain steel thunder on the enemy's positions inside the courtyard closest to the building. The LT's plan had been simple. Send their own fires to suppress and destroy their back field, disorganize the enemy, so their frontline would falter and they would be overrun. Meanwhile around them Ultranauts would keep their own steady stream of return fire on their frontal Mandalorian positions, several repeating blaster weapons would be set up on the Mandalorian's left as they sent out a hail of repeating heavy blaster fire. Men would die in the advance, but with each loss, each soldier only redoubled his efforts.

(OOC Note: Size of text depicts the volume at which each char is speaking)

 

[Kyyrk]

Location: Aboard the CNS Litany of Peace
Objective: Drive the Mandalorians from Panatha || Break the Blockade
Allies: Amelia von Sorenn | Saram Kote | Aenarr Kyrr
Enemies: Trajan Fett
Equipment: In Signature

Fortune favors the prepared.

~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<*>~
​

Kyyrk looked from one Mandalorian to another, silently taking in details of their armor. Their mannerisms. He listened silently to their conversation. Interjecting only after he'd been addressed directly. "I can see that. Makes my skin crawl. The...sheer inaction of it." Kyyrk folded his arms over his chest, and turned his gaze out towards the void beyond the electromagnetic field keeping the atmosphere locked within the hanger. There was an itch at the back of his mind. An itch that bothered him. "I've heard people say that Mandalorians crusade in times of desperation, or times of prosperity. Nothing more, and nothing less." He turned his attention back to the group. "Which is this one, I wonder?"

Kyyrk turned away from the group, looking back out into the void. The Litany of Peace was beginning to launch fighters, well back from the rest of the fighting. But Kyyrk couldn't shake the sense of danger that the Force instilled in him. He glanced down at his gauntlet, noticing that his communications were showing no connection. The enemy had locked on to them and were jamming their comms. What Kyyrk wouldn't give to have the Ventress right about now. But then again, that life was behind him. Right now his sole concern was getting the landing party to the surface of Panatha.

His walk towards his assigned dropship was halted as a vision flashed before his eyes. A crash. A screeching of metal. He turned his attention back to the void. He closed his eyes, and looked beyond the physical. He could see the fighters launching, the swarm gathering about the capital line. He could feel the anticipation, the dread, the fear, the eagerness....the bloodthirst. As one of the ships drew closer to the Litany, Kyyrk's eyelids fluttered. Mandalorians. Heavily armed. His eyes snapped open, and he turned his head to look out into the void, taking a cautious few steps towards the hanger's shield.

He couldn't see them. The ship was close enough that he could. He SHOULD. But he didn't. His eyes widened in a moment of realization. There was a cloaked ship bearing down on them. Kyyrk sprinted towards the nearest control panel. "CLOAKER INCOMING!" Kyyrk skidded to a halt by the selected panel, turning back to the group of Mandalorians he'd just been conversing with. "MANDALORIANS INBOUND, GET READY!" He turned back to the panel and punched in a series of buttons to access the ships intercom. "Kyyrk to helm, cloaked ship accelerating towards the primary hanger! Take it down!"

He cut the feed, turning to face the hanger doors. He had every faith in Von Sorenn. But even his warning may not be enough. He drew his blade, the brilliant white blade springing to life. Kyyrk settled back in a ready stance. The Mandalorians had lost the element of surprise. Should they succeed in breaching the hanger, they'd find a ready and waiting batallion of the Confederacy's finest waiting. The starfighters were away. All that awaited them here was death...

 

[Lilanna Kelamvor]

.​

O B J E C T I V E​

Enemies: Gwyneira Vizsla Kranak Vizsla Runi Kuryida Sergeant Omen Thonn Rokkal​

Allies: Lyssa Io Kuben Woods Alessandra Io Sophia Bergen​

Equipment: Lilanna's Lightsaber, Lilanna's Armor, BG-400 Blaster Pistol.​

​

When she had been informed she would be performing guard duty rather than assisting Corin Autem in combat duties, Lilanna was disappointed to say the least. Regardless, she did took up the role, though a small part of her doubted that there would be any hostilities that would arise. Though, she shouldn't have been surprised, after all, she had killed Mandalorians before. They were a stubborn lot, and this wouldn't be the first time they ran head first into destruction.​

​

Within the confines of the compound, she had linked her mind to the systems of the facility, watching the battle unfold, the movements of the Mandalorians, and the response of the Eternal Forces and Ultranaut forces. She had intended to strike as a intercepting force, her abilities with technology were quite capable of removing many of the devices that Mandalorians utilized, but something caught her eye as she processed the incursion of the facility; and her phasing abilities allowed her to bypass several of the rigged corridors of the facility. One of the Mandalorians held a saber, and one that was of a very particular design. Her mind's eye focused, removing her attention from the several images that cluttered her head, and fixated entirely on Gwyneira Vizsla . Shroudsabers were only held by Wardens, which meant one of two things. Either she killed a Warden, or worse, she had been a Warden. Either prospect did not bode well, and as a Warden herself, this matter required immediate attention.​

​

Sighing, Lilanna removed herself from the terminal, and gathered herself. Saber in hand now, she strode to meet the intruders, though she had one person in particular she had to attend to. Perhaps her apprentice should accompany her, for the experience.​

​

And here she was thinking she'd be missing out on a fight. 'Sophia, follow my signal. We have a visitor.' Her voice would reach for the woman, and hoped that she wasn't too preoccupied with whatever the hell she was doing. If Mandalorians were involved, she'd need someone to distract the rank and file so they didn't interrupt her main focus.​

​

 

[Sophia Bergen]

Location: Behind Lilanna Kelamvor
Objective: Shattered Triad
Equipment: armor, lightsaber, pistol
Enemies: Gwyneira Vizsla | Kranak Vizsla | Runi Kuryida | Sergeant Omen | Thonn Rokkal
Allies: Lyssa Io | Kuben Woods | Alessandra Io | Lilanna Kelamvor

​

This had been the most boring place she had followed Lil to so far, sure Lil could do the cool computer stuff with her mind and everything but Sophia was not able to do that. However she attempted to be helpful in other ways, maintenance was done, things that Lil was too busy to do on the computer, and even kitchen duty. Yeah the last one was the worst, Sophia had come to the realization that cooking was so much harder when you were the one doing it. For some reason everyone volunteered to take that duty from her. She didn't mind, it made life easier that way. However it was action time now, so she prepped herself, which was her telling her self over and over again that she could do this in her head and under her breath.

"Yes Mam!" Sophia was on Lil's tail immediately and had her weapon out and ready to help out where needed. Sophia wasn't sure what help she would be, having only ever been on one other combat mission and during that one she spent most of it dragging Lil away and providing medical assistance. Hardly any time figuring out the whole combat thing. So far she learned it was long amounts of sitting around with short spurts of fighting. Here went nothing it seemed this fight was serious. She kept whispering to herself. "You can do this Sophia, you got this, just do what you did when you escaped and helped lil flee. "

​

 

[Volo Dragr]

Allies- Siv Dragr | Obran ​

The Bad End of the Blaster- Darth Carnifex | Ingrid L'lerim

Equipment- Galaar Beskar'gam, Stolen Lightsaber, M.I. Model 34 Universal Repeater, Disruptor Pistol, Heavy Pistol​

With a simple motion, Volo pushed away the temptation to grip the hilt of the lightsaber, his hand going instead to the grip of his repeater, finger slotting into the trigger guard as he leaned back, balancing the weight of the blaster in his arms.

He brushed his thumb against the side, switching it into three-round burst. Even as he did this, he turned his head, watching the battle of Emperors unfold. The clash of blades, the personal taunts, the hum of combat.

Interesting, however, was their preference for physical blades. The more he learned of the modern galaxy, it seemed, the less he understood. He had grown up of stories painting the Sith as dark warriors wielding blades of fire and lightning, and the Jedi as devout monks wielding blades of sky and grass.

And yet...

It mattered not to him.

Prey died all the same. That was the lesson the jungles of Rishi had taught him. It mattered not whether their scales were of metal, keratin or skin. It mattered not if their claws were sharp or dull. If it breathed, then one day it would stop breathing. If it bled, then one day there would be no blood left to bleed.

Such was life.

Such was death.

Though he knew little of why the Enclave fought so fervently the Sith, though this fight was not his own, he fought. Though they were not of his tribe, though they were not of his family, he fought with them.

This Was The Way.

He trod the ground, standing beside the men he fought with. His boot slammed into the ground in time with them, echoing the beat as one of his Vod chanted. It was an old chant. One he knew well, though one he sung not.

As his brother beat upon his shield, he freed his hand from the barrel of his repeater, banging his fist upon his chest. Echoing the clanking of metal on metal. His fist to the Kar'ta Beskar. Volo returned his hand to the barrel of his weapon, raising it ready.

Though they were not born of the same Buir, they were Vode An. Though they were not all of the same species, they shared a heart. The heart of every Mandalorian was Diamond, unbreakable. Through the heart of every Mandalorian beat the same blood; Iron.

As the flame burst from the phoenix, Volo Skaigh's finger pressed against the trigger. Barrel aimed at the monarchy. Three shots burst forth. Then another free. The bolts of energy were aimed at neither Emperor or Empress in particular. Nor were they intended to break through their defenses. His was to cover the approach of his brothers.

This Was The Way.

 

[Eina L'lerim-Vandiir]

Eina L’lerim-Vandiir, the First
Princess of the Eternal Empire and Terraris; Angelic mascot and representative of the Ashlan Crusade
Matriarch of the Valkyrja; Leader of Sanctuary; Liaison of the Fjölkyngi Smiðr Guild​

Objective II.: Help others, accompany the souls to the Nether
Location: Iron Mountains, Panatha
Equipment: Sverð Fyrstr (weapons) | Skrúð Engill Fyrstr (armour) || Empyrean gland | OPBC-01m || Current appearance / form
Writing With: Tyr Mereel

[ Preliator ]
<"High Nelvaanian"> | ~ telepathic communication ~ | << comm. channel >> ​

When she already thought the metal might be hot enough, she let the man free the spear; Eina did not try to prevent him in this. Rather, she just lowered both of her blades. The wavy blade glowed red and smoked in the cold weather, snowfall. Slowly, it began to cool down that the woman did not want to use the ability anymore. As the man stabbed his own spear in the ground, so did the woman with her swords, showing that she would not abuse the situation. She knew the chances of the man believing her were small, but she had to try.

Eina didn’t mind if she had to fight, she loved to fight, but she didn’t like pointless fighting. The Valkyrja was so familiar with Mandalorian culture that she knew that most people fight for the first time and only ask questions after killing everyone. Let’s just say this was true of the locals as well as most of the Ultranauts. So the Valkyrja knew they were not in an easy position. Three fighting cultures clashed in the same place. She also found it conceivable that no one would survive the end of the war. The angelic woman hoped all this could be avoided.

"I'm Eina L'lerim-Vandiir, princess of the Eternal Empire, and also I'm the Matriarch of my own people, the Valkyrja. We are native to the Netherworld, our job at Realspace is to accompany the souls of the dead to the afterlife. There and here we can protect the weak and those in need. That's what I did when your brother attacked me." she said kindly, then continued sadly. "It was no joy that I had to kill him. It never brings joy. But I had to protect the children who were with me. The locals are warriors and they don’t care if a child has to be sent into battle because for them they are also warriors. However, I can’t bear and watch to accompany them to Netherworld ahead of time, just because they die on the battlefield."

Her words and body language also showed good intentions. She didn't want to lie to the man. Eina thought for a moment what to do. She finally gently held out her hand to the man.

"Please, come with me!" she offered.

She expected the man might not accept her hand, so she held it out for only a few moments. Whichever happens, she turns around and goes to one of the nearby warehouses. As a sign of her confidence, she turned her back on the man, so he could take advantage of this situation to attack the woman if he wanted to. However, if this did not happen, they arrived very soon at the warehouse building, which opened its doors. There were many wounded inside. From all three sides, Ultranauts, locals and some Mandalorians as well. Everyone's injuries was provided as much as possible despite the bad conditions.

"I protected them!" she said. "I couldn’t do more for them during the fights, mainly because they also refused me to heal them with the Force. If you want, you can take them already or call for help. No one will stop you from leaving."

 

[Sasha Kryze]

The tank abruptly stopped, throwing the Saxon girl over and into the box. Ida picked herself back up, clutching her forehead and cursing several obscenities and curses in basic, Mando, Huttese and all manners of languages she picked up in the army and while travelling.

"Are you trying to kill me, Kryze?"

Sasha grimaced a bit as Ida yelled, shooting a quick glance over her right shoulder as she brought the heavy equipment to a rest at the top of the hill leading from the facilities subterranean entrance/exit.

"Not particularly, seatbelts Ida... Seatbelts"

Sasha said, gleefully plucking at her own with an index finger. Unaware the other had just found a small armory still stocked on the tank.

the only clues as to what they were the muffled screams Ida heard outside the tin can they'd called home as she moved back to her seat. She quickly and calmly smashed a number combination before placing her hand on the trigger, unleashing an explosive ordnance round that ripped through the door and caused a massive explosion.

Now that was something she would take her time and watch. Whatever the hell Ida shot, and whatever it it created two distinct responses. Creating an explosion that obviously had rendered this facility useless. Something about that fire had left her transfixed however. A very casual form of PTSD gripping Sasha as she gripped the wheel with fervor. People could have been trapped in there... Burning. In intense pain.

She slowly nodded her head at the thought.

"Calyarnr"

The woman mumbled in Mando'a, after all she had no mercy to give to these people. Everything that happened tonight was personal so far as she was concerned. Personal to her anyway.

Hitting the gas, the truck's wheels spun lightly, torque giving way to acceleration. And for now, she would leave the facility and make a left. Finding open road.

"Good Job."

Sasha said into the headset off-handedly. Clearly gleeful that they were destroying things related to the Sith, and those that backed them. She wished she had something that was ten times as explosive than what Ida had sent at the building, but you had to crawl before you walked. Finding a comfortable and not relatively dangerous speed to cruise the tank along, Sasha slumped down in her seat, somewhat hiding herself from any outside eyes and exhaling aloud.

"Hopefully if they don't make this tank, we'll be pretty much invisible... Mostly."

The Operator

 

[Andras Garon]

Location: Canthar, Panatha; Shrine of Darth Vornskr II
Allies: The Enclave
Enemies: Joycelyn Zambrano , Sith, Eternal Empire
Equipment: Neo Crusader Armor, Mando'ade Phase-Blade x2 , Blaster Rifle, Force Breaker Grenades​

---

Outside the Shrine of Darth Vornskr the Mandalorians were beset upon by defenders shortly after setting down from the skies. Zealots mostly but there seemed to be a small cadre of more well equipped soldiers as well. The Battle was far from over despite the Mandalorians having reached their destination.

Blasterfire continued to ring out, flashes of light came to life as opposing sides engaged one another. The Armor of the Mandalorians offered them a high amount of protection ensuring at range they could engage a great number of foes. When a blaster bolt ricocheted off of Andras armor, striking him in the shoulder he stumbled before regaining his footing. In the same breath Andras had raised his left arm and activated the 'Slugthrower' integrated into his armor again. Rapid fire tore threw several Zealots that were advancing on him before the clip was finally exhausted...

"They just keep coming."

...his voice cracked over the comms shared by the Commandos and himself. Stepping back Andras would reload the slugthrower on his leftarm while one of the Commandos stepped forward to take his place. Zealots advancing on the Mandalorians would be engulfed in a cone of flame then, several of them burnt by the flamethrower the Commando activated while many others were pressed backwards.

A Grenade exploded then, sending bodies flying after it was thrown by the other Commando and giving all three of the Mandalorians some breathing room.

Andras wondered if the remnants of the Strike Team they'd left behind was facing as stiff an opposition as they were and if they would make it to the Shrine or not. Regardless the Dark Horse was here now and they would continue on their mission.

The Comms cracked again...

"Keep them back as long as you can. We're advancing inside."

...one of the Commandos that Andras had indicated would nod in understanding then take up a defensive position closer to the entrance of the Shrine. Armed with a Blaster Rifle, a Flamethrower integrated into his armor and whatever else he should have been able to hold the Zealots and others at bay for a time before retreating. By then perhaps reinforcements would have arrived.

In the heat of battle and passing into the Shrine none of the Mandalorians had noted the scope of the building they were entering nor the beauty and elegance of the intricate designs and architecture. Another time perhaps when enemies weren't dogging them in an attempt to kill them.

Explosive Charges were placed at the entryway of the Shrine, set by the Commando and then blown. The Explosion would rip apart anything that barred their entrance, directed inwards so that when blown anyone on the otherside should be flung backwards as well. A loud entrance.

The Commando would enter ahead, Andras followed the optics of his Buy'ce switching so that he could see through any debris and smoke left by the detonation...

 

[Amelia von Sorenn]

<disregard>

 

[Tyr Mereel]

Objective II: Defeat Foes
Location: Iron Mountains, Panatha
Equipment: Si'kahya Beskar'gam | Rekr Variant, Beskar Spear, ENCL-14 Patronage Precision Rifle, ENCL-12 Repentance Blaster Pistol
Writing With: Eina L'lerim-Vandiir
Allies: Open
Enemies: Open

Looking upon the women all Tyr could do was listen, she explained as best she could but the mistrust of the woman filled his thoughts, her words oozed a mixture of unbelievability and mistruths, but in a galaxy where single beings can destroy planets the fact that a race of beings that bear the dead souls to a better place isn't beyond belief.

"If you are truly of a race that bears forth those of the dead then why are you here? How are you the daughter of the Eternal Empress? Why are you here in the first place? LIES, ALL LIES CHAKAAR! You beg me to believe these falsehoods, as a Sith would. You may be appear to be defenseless but with the magics you weild, you are about as defenseless as a Krayt Dragon. Lies and falsehoods are the way of the darkness."

Although he spewed the words of the Mandalorians, his mind was shifting slowly towards the idea that this woman could be telling the truth. He was in no position to truly judge wrong from right and if she was trying to protect those who could not defend themselves then he could not condemn her.

The Valkyrja turned her back to him, every other Mandalorian in his position would've ended her existence at that moment, but he was no true Mandalorian, he was a foundling, with a past that he couldn't recall, but in his gut, he knew that if he didn't listen to this women then he would forsake all he truly cared about.

Footfalls followed behind Eina as Tyr continued behind her, his spear again in his hand as he watched her as she led the Mandalorian to a warehouse, peeking inside he saw those who lay dead or dying, wounds spewing blood as some few tried to mend those they could or ease those they couldn't. The sorrow was plain on Eina's face as he glance towards her.

He was truly speechless, but he knew that he could not end their escapades here, he still had to attempt further to avenge the brother the was slain by her hand, his helmet masked his emotions as he turned towards the woman. "You may be telling the truth, but it does not condone the fact that you have killed one of my brothers, his death must be repaid with blood, whether it be yours or mine. Defend yourself, I will give you this opportunity to ready yourself for battle."

They would fight.​

 

[Joycelyn Zambrano]

Location: Shrine of Darth Vornskr II
Enemies: Mandalorian Enclave, Andras Garon , Eternal Empire, all who stand in her way.
Equipment:

Spoiler

Armour, Spear, Zaudraka, Firearm.

The rocket left a plume of smoke and dust after ripping through the Panathan fighters. However, some remained, having erected a shimmering energy shield just in time. As quickly as they had come out, they moved down the street and around a corner, only for another group to emerge elsewhere and lay down new fire.

Despite their persistent assaults, the Panathans gave way to the Mandalorian assault.

The slugs made nasty work of the lighter-armoured troops, and forced even some of the heavier troops to retreat to cover. The gouts of flame made horrid spectacles, but while these weapons halted the assault, the Panathans did not lose any of their fighting fervor. They were fighting for their home and their faith, both under threat from outside forces. The pressure from the Eternal Empire, the Ashlans, and the Enclave had radicalised even the more moderate Panathan.

Radicalisation that the Sith gladly emboldened.

The outer door was blown open by the Mandalorians' explosives, opening to a darkened antechamber. Metal and stone tumbled to the ground. Bodies were scattered throughout the antechamber, but the survivors answered the assault with a torrent of flame that lit up the darkened first interior. Behind them there was a second door, shut tight behind them.

It was emblazoned by an image of Joycelyn Zambrano, Darth Vornskr the Second, standing above the interred dead of her ancestors. Her armoured form stared down at the intruders with eyes of onyx and corusca gems. The dead were lifting her up, raising her to the godhood they imagined for her.

Then, it began to open, letting black smoke and red light well out.

________________________​

With a quick sweep she lashed out with Zaudraka and the crowd drew a sudden breath and held it in complete silence. The sithsword cleaved through the two necks; one of a friend and one of a foe. Blood spilled forth from the twinned decapitation but never struck the floor. Rather, the sanguine liquid remained suspended in the air as if released into the void of space. Joycelyn swept her armoured hand through the liquid and drew the liquid into a circle, then a final streak that completed the complex sorcerous symbol

"S̵a̸s̵ ̵r̴i̵ ̴m̶i̸d̴w̵a̷n̴ ̵i̶w̵ ̸t̷s̵o̸s̶û̷t̴i̴.̴"

The blood pulsed once and began to tremble in its shape.

"S̶a̵s̴ ̶r̶i̷ ̷k̸r̴a̵u̸j̶a̷s̶ ̴i̷w̶ ̸r̸i̶ ̶d̴r̴a̸s̶o̵s̴û̴t̸â̵o̶n̸a̷,̴ ̴r̶i̵ ̵k̴r̵a̴u̶j̴a̷s̸ ̵i̴w̴ ̷r̵i̵ ̶a̸k̶i̸m̴a̵,̸ ̶d̶i̸â̶ ̸r̴i̸ ̷k̷r̶a̸u̷j̷a̵s̴ ̵i̴w̷ ̴r̶i̶ ̸r̵a̶t̷s̴o̸r̴t̵a̸s̶ ̶d̷i̸u̷ ̴t̶i̶r̵j̴i̷ ̶r̸i̵ ̷d̵z̶i̵t̸k̸a̶"

The building shook as the Mandalorians blew through the outer door. The blood flashed with crimson flame that produced a thick, black smoke. Rather than rise, the smoke fell to the floor and spread down the stairs like a thick fog.

"̵R̶i̴ ̵n̷u̷r̶q̸a̸m̴a̷r̷m̵i̶ ̴d̶i̵â̶ ̸r̶i̷ ̴t̵i̴n̵a̵ ̷t̶q̴i̵ ̷a̵n̷a̶ ̶w̸a̴u̶!̷"

The bound bodies burst into a similar red flame, flooding the room in more of the dark smoke. The braziers dimmed in light, and the fires grew a deeper shade of red that blotted out all other colour.

"Let them come. Whether in life or in death, Panatha remains."

The congregation turned and receded to the wings while the doors to the antechamber opened up with a hiss, letting the red light and black smoke out into the antechamber and the Mandalorian assailants. Joycelyn reached out her right hand, summoning the silver pike from the purple-clad attendant's hand to her grasp. Her phrik-plated gauntlets curled around the silver shaft, then tucked it under her armpit.

Black plates shifted up her back and locked together around her head. The eye slits lit up with bright red, creating the infamous silhouette of Darth Vornskr the Second. The red fire illuminated the layered plates of black armour.

In the wings, lightsabres lit up where the acolytes of Darth Vornskr, Sith, Vahla, and Royalists alike, awaited the fight to come. A fight, they presumed, that would be most challenging.

 

[Malanves Lagrange]

Spoiler: Fleet Composition

Capital Ships

1 x Instigator-class Star Destroyer
-ENS Audacious

2 x Demeton-class Heavy Cruiser
-ENS Hornet
-ENS Wasp

3 x Tyrant-class Missile Cruiser
-ENS Illustrious
-ENS Unbreakable
-ENS Eternal

2 x Gravis-class Heavy Cruiser
-ENS Venerable
-ENS Challenger

Frigates

3 x Skirmisher I-class Frigate
-ENS Sunset
-ENS Dawn
-ENS Midnight

4 x Loth-Wolf-class Patrol Frigate
-ENS Gale
-ENS Blizzard
-ENS Cyclone
-ENS Tempest

2 x Ashkelon-class Escort Frigate
-ENS Whirlwind
-ENS Hailstorm

2 x CR90 Mk VIII Assault Corvette
-ENS Atallan
-ENS Grivelle

5 x Retribution-class Heavy Missile Corvette
-ENS Forrest
-ENS Beniko
-ENS Delven
-ENS Shaw
-ENS Agride

​

[ENS Audacious - 13th Assault Line Flagship]

---

The Audacious's dorsal Damocles cannon was a magnificent beast to behold; the towering amalgamation of machinery entered the bounds of the hull via a great cylindrical superstructure leading into the wide plate of duraplast that composed its base. From the platform, streams of heavily insulated cables fed into the star destroyer's reactor itself-- another line of machinery rigorously surveyed by Imperial engineers. What all of the technological marvels within the gunnery division amounted to was a lethal distributor of plasma salvos, one that used in the right situations could bring rival fleets to their knees. A weapon that the gun crews were taught to revere.

It was with this pride and awe that the young gunnery officer regarded the mammoth assemblies of metal. But there was nonetheless an unfettered level of professionalism as the lieutenant's eyes locked with the display of a targeting scanner, carefully making minute adjustments to the cannon's bearing. In good time, the barrel's sights fell on the magnified frame of a hostile Confederate cruiser.

All that was left to do, was to await further orders.

---

"Approaching 600 klicks to hostile fleet. Damocles crews are reporting successful locks on two Coalition cruisers," a quite emotionless report emitted from one of the tactical officers. "One of the Enclave vessels has begun targeting the Retribution. No extensive damage reported. Our Skirmisher frigates have begun reporting limited damage from other hostiles, as well," another stoic officer reported, "Admiral Sicarus is requesting that we move in concert with his forces."

"Very well." Malanves' head nodded toward the flagship's helmsman, though his eyes remained staunchly affixed to the forward viewscreen. "Make the requested corrections to our course." Now to Commodore Monidev, "Order all capable ships to begin flak bombardment. Set missiles to surround the targets of our Damocles batteries. Stand by with maneuvering jets. Fire the moment we reach 300 klicks."

The rear admiral formed a slight smile; the battle line had already hit the aforementioned distance. Within moments of this realization, the Audacious's weapons crews set rapidly tapping fingers on their controls. At once, the barrels of the two Damocles cannons were illuminated in brilliant rushes of ionized plasma. Within moments, their deadly payloads rocketed from the hearts of the massive turrets, two great spots of light hurling through the void between the clashing fleets.

The rear admiral first braced against the shockwave that rumbled through the hull, the sheer energy outputted by the two cannons striking the flagship with the effects of their recoil. Then he heard a slight hum-- the gentle retaliation of correctional thrusters pushing the Audacious once more into its previous bearing. Though quite pleased, Malanves leaned forward with hands joined in bitter anticipation; regardless of the skill of his gunnery officers, there lay the unfortunate prospect that an experienced enemy helmsman could steer their ship away from the wrath of the two cannons.

"See to it that our droid fighters are launched. Have them mount a defensive posture around our missile corvettes," he spoke at a loosely audible volume, still tracking the journeys of the plasma rounds through the storm of hell the Coalition and Imperial forces had woven.

---

Spoiler: Fleet Actions

-Escorting frigates are beginning to take fire from Verin Oldo 's forces.
-The Audacious's 2 Damocles Cannons are locked on two ex-Confederacy/Enclave-allied cruisers. (Feel free to decide if you take any hits or not.)
-Malanves' fleet has joined the flak-bombardment party, throwing more rounds into the space between the contesting forces.
-Droid fighters take a defensive position to protect the line's missile corvettes.
(And once more, mentioned distances are not to be treated as specific measurements.)

{Tags: Aximand Sicarus , Aurelian Sigismund , Vemric Keldra, Verin Oldo , Saul Vandron , Dasmi Lindervale, and whatever poor spaceborn soul I missed}

 

[Andras Garon]

Location: Canthar, Panatha; Shrine of Darth Vornskr II
Allies: The Enclave
Enemies: Joycelyn Zambrano , Sith, Eternal Empire
Equipment: Neo Crusader Armor, Mando'ade Phase-Blade x2 , Blaster Rifle, Force Breaker Grenades​

---

The Commando ahead of Andras took the brunt of the torrent of flame. It engulfed him but he was afforded some protection even as he shrunk backwards from the fiery embrace. Blasterfire and the sound of automatic weaponry rang out afterwards. Those survivors that attacked the Mandalorians would have been made short work of their bodies torn through by the warriors they tried to bar entry to.

When they finished the work of cleaning out the remaining defenders in the antechamber both Andras and the Commando accompanying him looked at one another. The Commandos armor was smoking from the fire, it had sustained some damage but he was prepared to carry on. They looked at the secondary doorway just as it began to open.

Rather than rush headlong through the second door the Dark Horse signaled his comrade and they would take up positions on either side of it.

The black smoke accompanied by the crimson light pouring from the next chamber was enough to give even a hardened veteran reason to pause. Either man would be weary but Andras voice rang over the comms...

"Sorcery?"

...was it a statement or a question? He was a Mandalorian not a Magician though Andras knew well that the Jedi and Sith commanded strange powers, things that he could not explain nor would he make the attempt to. Raising his right arm he signaled the Commando across from him on the other side of the entry way.

Both men reached for objects on their person, grenades. Joycelyn Zambrano was a known Sith Lord, it seemed reasonable to presume many of those accompanying her would likewise be adherents of the force.

Andras unclipped two ForceBreaker Grenades from his belt, the Commando took two of his own. Together they'd throw them into the room beyond the antechamber. When the grenades detonated the chamber beyond would be filled with a mixture of smoke that began to blanket the area as well as vaporized Ixetal Cilona. Exposure would weaken the connection to the force for those who had it for a prolonged period of time, anyone in sealed suit of armor likely had nothing to worry about though.

Following that the Mandalorians would swing around through the entry way and into the chamber beyond with the hope that the smoke would cover their advance. Optics in their Buy'ce would switch to a combination of infrared and ultraviolet so that they were unimpeded. The Commando would engage the Acolytes waiting in the wings once he'd noticed them, Andras would advance on the primary target.

The Dark Horse came through the smoke, optics focusing on the large figure now equipped with what appeared to be a pike and wearing heavy armor. He knew this was Darth Vornskr the Second.

As he came out of the smoke, his silhouette coming into view Andras left arm had raised and he would unleash the automatic fire from the slugthrower integrated into his armor at the Purple Clad Attendants with Joycelyn. Almost simultaneous with that he reached for an object with his right hand and raising it, he would activate it.

"You're so big."

...the metallic voice of his comms scratched out behind the glow of the Phase-Blade he'd activated. It was not unlike a lightsaber, the technology was similar in a sense but different and while it was sharper than a vibroblade it was best suited for cutting the soft spots. In particular this Phase-Blade was roughly the legnth of a lightsaber but slightly shorter, its blade hummed due to the molecular shield that created it but it didn't give off the same energy. Andras, much shorter than the one he was addressing stated plainly while standing lower than her...

"I've heard Darth Vornskr is a great warrior. Is that true or is everything that is said purely to boost her ego?"

...he challenged her, playing on the sensibilities he thought she might have. He was no fool, a Sith with the force on her side was a powerful opponent; he'd prefer to face the Warrior than the Wizard as it were.

 

[Kranak Vizsla]

G R A ‘ T U A
C U U N!

Location: Eternal Empire Space, Panatha, Streets of Canthar
Local Time: 23:10
Date: -DATA CORRUPTED-
Primary Objective: Knock Out Powersource Powering Canthar’s Defenses
Secondary Objective: Eliminate Eternal Empire HVT’s
Equipment: Loadout 1 + Goran’s Stand, No Medical Backpack. Crushgaunts Swapped With This. Carrying Several Detpacks and Door-breaking Charges Inside a Black Satchel.
Vode: Sergeant Omen | Thonn Rokkal | Runi Kuryida | Gwyneira Vizsla | Domina Prime
Aruetiise Allies: N/A
Aruetiise (Hostiles): Lyssa Io | Alessandra Io | Kuben Woods | Baron Reinhardt Ström | QEMD-15 Echo
Directly Engaging: Lyssa Io

S H A D O W

W A R R I O R S

​

The sporadic blaster fire that had rang all across the facility had slowly but surely died out as the last of the cut off Ultranaut sentries on the exterior of the facility were mopped up, after the Si’kahya warriors of the Squads A’den, Adenn and Atin had breached into the facility. The brutal takeover of the facility’s exterior was carried out with efficiency. By the time their enemy shook off the initial shock of the merciless assault, it was far too late for them. Dax, the platoon leader of the 3rd Platoon of the Sixteenth Company, had wasted no time to order his men and women under his command to strengthen their positions. Most of his warriors garrisoned the fortifications and strongpoints they had liberated from their enemy during the assault. He had positioned two small squads up on top of buildings on overwatch in concealment. The squads would await his command to only reveal their positions during the inevitable counter attack from the Eternal Empire would commence.

The ground beneath their feet shook gently at first. The distant but closing sound of loud, powerful engines echoed in the distance. <”Haarchak,”> the Platoon Leader cursed and sighed in Mando’a as Morgan Keldau finished up with the organization effort in the wake of the counter attack.

:: Aight, Sixteens! Half of y’all, regroup with me. We’re gonna hold this complex no matter what! ::

:: Here they come! :: One soldier shouted as they got ready to engage.
:: All units, get ready! We’re gonna have Nirauan all over again! :: Morgan barked over the comms.

<”Hostile gunship in the AO! Bearing, two six zero! West!”> Shouted one of the warriors, pointing at a small dot in the dark, rainy sky as the black dot grew larger and larger with each passing second. Soon, the sound of its powerful engines drowned out the sounds of the grumbling engines in the distance.

In response to the approaching threat, one of the Mandalorians near the one that spotted the target lowered their helmet mounted rangefinder and locked onto the approaching Styx-class Assault Dropship. With an ear splitting shriek, the top mounted missile on the warrior woman’s jetpack trailed towards the gunship at a high velocity as the missile left a trail of white smoke in its wake as it shot towards the gunship. The pilot, masterfully timing the moment to deploy the chaff countermeasure, successfully dodged the heat seeking missile. The missile struck one of the chaffs and detonated mid air in a safe distance from the Eternal Empire gunship.

<”Machine gunners, open fire! I want that thing shot out of the sky NOW!”> Dax shouted over the comms as he brought his rifle to bear at the gunship, tracking it as it came closer. He would be welcoming the quick reactionary force inside the gunship with a maelstrom of blaster bolts.

<”Take it down, take it down!”> shouted one of the gunners as he pulled the trigger of the massive repeater after assuming the proper stance to withstand the massive gun’s recoil before shooting. His body quaked from the recoil of the gun as he shot at the incoming gunship. Powerful red blaster bolts trailed in the air towards the gunship from multiple positions, leaving a faint trail of steam in the air as the bolts vaporized the rain droplets in their wake.

At his command, the warriors wielding the dreaded Model 34 Universal Repeater unleashed long winded salvos at the ship. White and yellow sparks splashed on the armor plating of the gunship with each bolt striking the gunship, but it did nothing to damage the gunship. In retaliation, the pilots flying the gunship responded in kind with a high speed and low pass as they unleashed a salvo from their twin laser cannons, and several rockets at the Keeping their stream of blaster bolts aimed at the aircraft regardless, the machine gunners kept firing as the gunship swooped down to the ground after a low sharp bank. In a mere moment, the craft hovered over the ground one meter above it, without its skids touching the ground. In an instant, the side doors of the gunship swooped open to the sides, with the shock troopers inside jumping out and starting to make their way towards the nearest cover in the distance. <”OOYAAAA! KILL THEEEM!”> A Mandalorian shouted in a blood thirsty manner, his voice was amplified two fold by his annunciator. The excitement for more combat, and the adrenaline coursing in his veins with the thirst for more battle was apparent in his voice.

The Mandalorians who had an angle at the enemy reinforcements that had just landed on the street beyond the perimeter wall of the facility opened fire in hopes of killing a few of them before they made for cover. As they opened fire, they were met with heavy resistance from those who were pushing to the fore. The Ultranauts fired and maneuvered, barely stopping for anything as they started making their way towards the compound’s perimeter chain link fence, with their fire teams protecting one another as they leap frogged towards the large power generator complex.

<”OH KARK, THEY GOT ME PINNED!”>

<”OSIK, I’M HIIIT!”> a pained howl came from one of the Mandalorians as the firefight erupted.

<”Mediiic! We need a medic over here!”>

<”Hock, Luzz! Pin one of those fireteams down! Halt their advance!”> Dax shouted over the commlink as he returned fire at one of the Ultranauts, about a hundred meters to his twelve. The Ultranaut’s rifle clattered on the ground as he clutched his sucking chest wound with his hands The shock trooper Dax aimed at barreled towards the ground on his back a mere moment after the Platoon Leader pulled the trigger. The Ultranaut writhed in pain on the ground as he kept clutching his chest.

<”On it!”> Hock shouted as he reloaded his repeater. Once it was ready, the Mandalorian machine gunner went prone on the ground and unleashed a long winded salvo at the advancing squad in hopes of pinning them down to halt their advance. His assistant machine gunner, Luzz, joined Hock with his blaster rifle in a short notice as the Machine gunner laid down suppressing fire, spotting and pointing at the high value targets for his buddy.

<”Take out their leadership! Target the NCO’s first!”> Dax shouted over the commlink as he began searching for those with the demeanor of a Sergeant among the ranks of the Ultranauts in the courtyard. The Alor’ad of the A’den Squad had identified them, on top of officers and other bunch of priority targets to neutralize during their assault on the compound, and taking out their leaders worked to a great effect to sow confusion amongst the Ultranaut’s ranks.

The ionic engines of the gunship grew louder and louder as it began gaining altitude after inserting the platoon of Ultranauts within thirty seconds. Seizing the opportunity, one of the warriors taken up positions on the roof of the facility locked on to the gunship with his rangefinder quickly, in hopes of shooting it down to deny the enemy any hope of aerial support, whether it came in the form of a gun run or a fresh wave of reinforcements. As soon as he locked on, the Mandalorian’s missile on his backpack was let loose at his target. The gunship had taken off from the ground at this point, heading west bound as it flew towards the way it came, but the gunship was still within one hundred meters distance from the warrior.

While the firefight with the quick reaction force waged on, loud thuds rapidly approaching the facility from the west shook the ground in quick succession as the massive droid hurled itself into the courtyard, killing several vode in quick succession with his hands as it let out an ear splitting, fog-horn like shriek from its speakers. Without their helmets they would have certainly gone deaf from the sheer sound of the droid’s speakers, but the audio sensors --separate from their helmet’s built in comlinks-- in their helmets decreased in volume, saving them from a terrible ring in their ears and reducing the sound to an annoying air-horn.

<”AT! We need AT for this karker! Corr! Rukk! On the double!”>

Without a word, Corr and Rukk rushed from the rear with each of them carrying a Model 29 Missile Launcher on their shoulders with their assistant gunners in tow, lugging extra ammunition for the launchers. The Mandalorians crouched, raised the tubes at the massive droid in the courtyard and fired off the missiles in the tubes, in hopes of destroying the monstrous droid before them as a squadron of Basilisk war droids unleashed all fury upon the same target with the same intent, hoping to neutralize the big threat to the platoon.

As their audio sensors were either muted to external noise or their volume reduced significantly, they would not hear the rumbling sound of the armored elements of the Ultranaut Thunder Corps rolling down the streets from the west, but they all felt the ground thunderously grumbling under the treads of the tanks.

<”AAH CHIT! TANKS! THEY GOT TANKS!> one of the Mandalorians shouted over the platoon comlink at the same time their enemies’ armored vehicles were highlighted in their heads-up displays. The grumble of the engines at the distance before the QRF gunship had arrived must have belonged to this tank company, divided into three tank platoons. Morgan’s elements wasted no time to fire at them with mortar rounds from their rifles in hopes of decommissioning the armored tanks. They were accompanied by dozens of infantry!

:: Nah, dawg, this ain’t right, man! ::

<”COME ON MAN, THIS IS SOME BULLCHIT!”> Corr exclaimed in frustration as his assistant anti-tank gunner loaded another missile into the tube.

<”Aaah, karking pieces of chits!”> Hock cursed out loud as he turned the massive repeater towards the infantry out in the open that advanced alongside the tanks in the street. The tanks provided shelter from the fire incoming from the Mandalorians for the ultranaut infantry units accompanying them, but there wasn't enough space to accomodate all of them. Hock, with the help of his assistant machine gunner Luzz, tried to take as many of the exposed Ultranaut infantry as he could as their enemies kept advancing towards the compound in cover of the tanks.

Holding fire for a brief moment, his eyes would widen at the sight of several turrets of the tanks turning towards their position, Hock shouted as he braced for the tanks to unleash hell on them. <”GET DOWN, GET THE KARK DOOOWN!”> Luzz followed suit after his buddy, and braced for the inevitable.

The foundations of the structure shook as several of the tanks opened fire on the move. Large chunks of ferroconcrete were ripped apart from the building as several shells hit Dax’s forces on the right flank.

<”AAAH CHIT, THERE GOES OUR LEFT FLAAANK!”> One of the warriors reported over the comlink as the shells took out a small squad guarding the left flank. The overpressure had torn them apart, sending a column of dust and gory mist into the air, scattering around the rooftop and the courtyard. The infantry alongside the tanks had started to fan out and take up firing positions among debris and in craters as they continued their advance towards the Mandalorians’ positions on the facility.

<”SOMEONE DRAW THEIR FIRE I’M TRAPPED!”> One of the paratroopers yelled as her position came under concentrated fire from the Ultranauts on the right flank, preventing the Mandalorian from maneuvering.

<”CORR! RUKK! TAKE OUT THE LEAD TANK NOW! NOW DAMN IT, NOOOW!”> Dax shouted over the platoon comlink. The young warrior’s voice cracked in panic as he finished his sentence. They were completely outnumbered and outgunned with odds stacked against them. This was Nirauan all over again! Corr aimed the launcher’s sights at the lead tank surging towards the facility’s main entrance in the street. The tank’s left side was crawling with infantry as they hid from the Mandalorians’ retribution. After taking into account of the movement speed of the tank and leading his shot appropriately, the paratrooper fired after making sure his backblast was clear. Corr’s missile streaked in the air towards the tank. Rukk followed up right after Corr in hopes of blowing up the lead tank, in an attempt to stop or temporarily halt the tank column’s advance through the street.

And then their right flank collapsed as one of the tanks surged forward at a high speed, barreling up and over the shattered remnant of the power generator complex’ outer perimeter wall. The tank’s forward hull mounted repeater barked, sending a storm of blaster bolts at Dax’ forces on the right flank. The tank was shortly accompanied with dozens of Ultranauts making their way through the same breach! <CHITCHITCHIT! LOAD IT! LOAD IIIIIT!”> Corr shouted to his assistant anti-tank gunner, begging for the Mandalorian to hurry up and load the tube as he swiftly aimed the tube at the battle tank that went over the rubble berm. As soon as the launcher was loaded and with his assistant anti-tank gunner out of the way of back blast, the paratrooper would fire the missile in hopes of decommissioning the tank.

<”SQUADS THREE AND FOUR! HIT THEM! HIT THEM NOW!”> Shouting as he returned fire at the ultranauts exploiting the breach into the courtyard with the tank, the young platoon leader gave the command to attack for the concealed paratroopers on the rooftop of several buildings behind the tank column for support. The two squads targeted the tanks in the armored column first in hopes of knocking them out of action. As soon as they achieved target lock with the help of their rangefinders, a salvo of eight jetpack missiles arced in the air towards their targets. As soon as the missiles were let loose, the warriors wasted no time to ambush the infantry below in the streets from the higher ground, raining blaster bolts on the ultranaut infantry below.

<”Hold the line!”> Dax ordered as blaster bolts whizzed and cracked overhead all around them. They had to hold the Ultranaut counterattack back while the Si’kahya inside the facility went about their mission objective of destroying the primary and back-up power generators that are powering the Empire’s defenses on Canthar.

Spoiler: Summary of Actions

• Formed a defensive perimeter around the courtyard and on the power generator complex’ rooftop, manned the previous defenses of the Ultranauts that had defended the facility against their assault.
• Engaged a Quick Reactionary Force (Damian’s Platoon) in hopes of halting their advance with suppressing fire from a machine gun team. One of the Mandalorian paratroopers sent a jetpack missile at the platoon's gunship while it took off after the QRF’s insertion, in hopes of shooting it down.
• Upon Echo’s assault, the platoon leader ordered his anti-tank gunners to engage the massive droid in hopes of damaging it.
• Anti-tank gunners engage the tanks, with one anti-tank gunner aiming for the lead tank in hopes to either blow it up or immobilize it to halt or slow down the armored advance on the street. Infantry and machine gun teams unleash long winded volleys upon the Ultranaut infantry using the tanks as cover in hopes to halt or slow down the advance of the infantry.
• Squads Three and Four, concealed on rooftops on the buildings behind the Ultranaut infantry and the tank column reveals their position, sending a wave of eight missiles aimed at several tanks and armored vehicles. Squads then engaged the infantry using the armored vehicles as cover from the rooftops.

Spoiler: Forces

• 2 Machine Gun Teams (2 Paratroopers per team)
• 2 Anti Tank Teams (2 Paratroopers per team)
• 9 Paratroopers
• 1 Platoon Leader
• 1 Platoon Medic

Casualties:

• 5 Paratroopers Killed In Action

Equipment:

• M.I. Model 4 Service Rifle
• M.I. Model 6 Hybrid Pistol
• M.I. Model 29 Missile Launcher
• M.I. Model 34 Universal Repeater

Before continuing any deeper into the corridor before him, the giant Alor’ad halted in response to his adoptive daughter taking a step towards him. With a slightly quizzical expression hidden underneath his white glowing visor, the giant turned around towards her with his blaster rifle lowered. The young lass took his hand left a moment after he had turned towards her and spoke.

<”I’ll call you the moment I find anything. Please, be careful, buir.”>

Kranak knew he meant a lot to her, seeing as he was her Buir. But this was not exactly the time for such gestures. They had a moment of respite before delving deeper into the compound, but they had a mission objective to finish. Nevertheless, the giant would indulge her gesture, only for a short while. He wanted to say something in return, but all he could do was to give her a curt nod of his head before turning around and continuing down the spacious hallway with his blaster rifle raised to the fore. His face soured in sadness as he let out a muffled sigh for failing to respond to her at that moment. He hoped she understood him, though. His sense of duty, and the urgency of the mission objective they were tasked with prevented him from responding with a similar gesture. Time was a luxury they did not have a lot of.

As they all split up to locate their objectives inside the compound, an unknown masculine voice sounded off over the squad net as cautiously peaked around the corner in front of him, looking for any hostiles. He knew the voices of those under his command for the mission by heart. He had no idea who was talking over the comlink.

”You know, if you were to ask nicely, I could find it for you.”
A voice said, over the commlink.
“Oh also don’t turn to your… right. They trapped that hallway with explosives.”

Heeding to the unfamiliar voice’s warning, the giant paused before rounding the corner, scanning the hallway for any explosive traps using his helmet sensors. The scans took no more than a few seconds, and came out negative. He confirmed it with his own eyes as well. He could not spot any proximity mines, or tripwire explosives, or any explosive trap in that regard placed in the hallway, but unknown to the giant at the time, the traps the unknown masculine voice was talking about were concealed with the help of witchcraft, unable to be detected using conventional means, nullifying the technological and sensor advantage the Mandalorians would have.

Seeing as the empty hallway before him was devoid of any traps the man on the other end of the comlink had said there would be, the giant began pondering whether their comlink was compromised by the enemy as he took a step into the hallway. Were they being fed false intel, now? And how in Manda did he manage to tap into their comlink? For how long has he been listening to their comlink chatter?

<”Who is this? Identify your- [Loud Explosion]”> The proximity mine concealed by witchcraft detonated as soon as its sensors picked up the giant’s movement. The explosive that had been set off echoed loudly into the comlink transmission. His words were cut short as the Alor’ad was flung towards the ferroconcrete wall a few meters behind him from the concealed explosive trap detonating in front of him. The hallway was filled with dust as debris and shrapnel flew everywhere in all directions. The giant gasped in mild pain as his backplate struck the wall behind him. The giant slid to the ground and landed on his shebs a mere moment after his back struck the wall. The giant muttered an unspeakable curse in Mando’a as he grunted in annoyance while he stood up. His beskar’gam, and the personal energy shield had protected him from the blast and the shrapnel. The shield was depleted due to the sheer power of the explosion, but had immediately entered its recharge stage, powering up once again after a few moments.

<”I’m okay,”> The giant heaved a breath before continuing. Their squad’s shaman would warn Kranak and the others before he could continue, however.

"A'den Actual, Harpy, foul magic conceals explosives. Your HUD may not see them,"

<”Haar’chak. Yeah, I learned that the hard way, Harpy. Squad, tread softly. The explosive traps cannot be detected by conventional means.”> The giant then swapped to the command net to warn squads Atin and Adenn as he once again raised his blaster rifle, and started to slowly make his way down the hallway. The giant was even more cautious now as he walked at a slower combat pace. <”Vode, be advised, there are explosive traps that cannot be detected by conventional means. Watch your step, vode.”>

Atin Actual would respond a moment after the giant’s transmission was complete. <”Copy that vod. That might hinder our progress slightly, but we’ll find a way. Proceeding with the primary objective.”>

Adenn Actual sounded off in response a moment after the Alor’ad of Squad Atin’s transmission. <”Thanks for the heads-up, Kranak. Remind me to buy you a round of tihaar when we’re back in The Kom’rk.”>

The giant chuckled softly with a smile on his face in response to Adenn Actual. He gave a curt nod of his head as he spoke. <”Will do, Hank. Keep me updated on your progress as you go. Good hunting, vode. ”> Kranak said before tuning back into the squad net. <”Karking Sith.”> He muttered to himself as he continued exploring the large facility in order to find the power generators, or perhaps the control room regulating the power generators themselves. The unknown voice from earlier sounded off in the squad comlink once again before he could take round the corner to his left.

”You’ve got more bucketheads coming in, you better hurry it up!”
T.E.X. reported.
“Your HUD systems should be updating with the information… right now.”

The moment the unfamiliar voice finished his sentence, the giant’s heads-up display lit up with enemy contacts down the corridor before him, complemented with tactical data. It was a five man squad of Ultranauts that had taken up defensive formations behind barricades in the hallway with their weapons raised. They were alerted, as the explosives traps tipped them off to the Alor’ad’s presence in their sector.

Omen retorted over the comlink in response to the unknown voice on their comlink channel.

<”You should have had the location by now! You are an all-knowing AI, you can find where the most electricity is coming from on the city grid and remotely shut it down! Why were we even sent down here if you could do it for us!”>

The giant would not respond to that right now seeing as he had hostiles to deal with at the moment, but he nodded his head in agreement. Kranak wasn’t sure if the voice belonged to a vod or some droid. Omen though, had assumed the voice belonged to an AI. Maybe that was true, but if that was the case, maybe the reason why the AI just couldn’t shut off the power generators or sabotage them was maybe he was not as powerful as he portrayed himself to be. His intel was proven more or less correct so far, but perhaps the only way one could sabotage the reactors the way Omen suggested could only be done on site, meaning the AI would have to slice into the generator console physically to slice in and sabotage the generators.

Just as the Supercommando peeked around the corner to neutralize the small squad that was in his way, his surroundings plunged into complete and utter darkness at the same time the giant pulled the trigger of his rifle. The large blaster rifle howled, sending a short burst at one of the Ultranauts he had pre-aimed before rounding the corner. He could not see if his shots hit the mark, but the Ultranauts returned fire the moment he had peeked from his cover. Several bolts whizzed overhead with loud snaps and cracks, whereas some tore chunks off the ferroconcrete walls in front of the giant’s faceplate and from the wall behind him.

The giant quickly returned to his cover as he tried to figure out what caused him to lose his vision all of a sudden. He could still see his HUD elements in his helmet, but the Ultranauts were no longer highlighted in his heads-up display. Was his helmet’s sensors being jammed? But that still didn’t explain why he couldn’t see through his visor. It felt as if the giant was looking at the empty, cold vacuum of lightless space through the visor. He couldn’t see a meter in front of him. Cursing under his breath, the giant tilted his head to the side as he swapped to night vision mode on his helmet mounted macrobinocular. A green hue was cast over the darkness, but it did nothing to illuminate his surroundings. <”What in Death’s name is this?”> The giant muttered to himself in anger. But there was no time to ponder, as he heard several footsteps approaching him from the corridor he had peeked. It was the Ultranauts.

For reasons unknown to him at the time, he had lost his vision, but he still had his other senses he could capitalize on to continue the fight, primarily his sense of hearing.

He could hear garbled shouting through the voice-scramblers in their helmets. He could only assume it was orders and callouts they were shouting at each other. The Alor’ad’s blaster rifle slipped from his grasp as the Supercommando let go of it. The Paranaor was suspended on top of his broad chest plate, thanks to its sling. One of them was about to round the corner, as the sound of the Ultranaut’s boots grew louder with each step he took towards him. He could hear three others not so far behind. The first one was about to turn around the corner.

The giant pounced at the closest Ultranaut first. Guesstimating where the soldier’s rifle would be, the Supercommando brought down his left hand on where he thought it was to throw off the Ultranaut’s aim. His hand clattered on the soldier’s rifle, just as the Ultranaut pulled the trigger. He felt the blaster bolts shooting from the soldier’s rifle land beneath his feet. With his right hand, the giant grasped him from his chest rig, and pulled him around the corner, slamming him on the wall. He heard garbled yelps coming out of his speech scrambler as the Ultranaut’s back hit the wall. His blaster rifle clattered on the ground. The giant felt the soldier thrash around, trying to slip from his grasp, but it was all in vain. Without hesitation, the giant brought his left fist, square on the soldier’s face plate.

The soldier’s gammaplast cracked loudly underneath his fist as he could hear the shattering of his facial bones. The Alor’ad felt something liquid in nature splash all over his helmet’s faceplate, not a mere moment he delivered the strike. The bright white HUD swiper activated in a moment's notice, and began swiping his heads-up display from right to left, erasing whatever the heads-up display thought that blocked the warrior’s vision. The giant smiled sinisterly underneath his helmet. The Ultranaut stopped thrashing after the devastating punch. His limp body fell on the ground before him as he let go of the corpse.

When he pounced on the closest Ultranaut to neutralize him, the remaining three had halted their advance in the hallway as far as he heard. With a leathery crisp clack, the giant unholstered a blaster pistol from his right holster as he turned towards the corner to his right. The giant was going to engage the remaining ones from memory now. Without giving them any time to react, the giant smoothly rounded the corner with his blaster pistol raised. With their weapons raised beforehand, the remaining soldiers opened fire at the giant. Bolt after bolt struck the giant’s shield. The energy shield would shimmer in a bright azure with each bolt hitting home as it protected the Alor’ad at the expense of its charge.

But in return, the Ultranaut’s positions were revealed. They had managed to silently disperse around the hallway. The sounds of grappling with the Ultranaut from before had drowned out their movements. His aim snapped from one perceived target from the other in rapid succession after each squeeze of the trigger. His particle blaster pistol shrieked three times amidst the hail of incoming blaster bolts. With each shot, his enemies’ weapons went silent. He heard their bodies fall to the ferroconcrete floor in rapid succession after each pull of the trigger.

Unmoving for a moment, the giant kept his combat stance with his blaster raised. He paid complete attention to any sound regarding movement, or shuffling of gear. Several moments passed in silence, with only the facility shaking to the core on several occasions. The giant’s head turned to his left slightly, in response to the ground quaking. That must be from the battle, raging outside. Their enemy must have sent a quick reactionary force to reinforce the beleaguered defenders remaining in the interior of the facility. <”Haar’chak!”>

The giant began moving at a brisk combat pace with his blaster pistol kept at a low ready stance down the corridor. Despite the damnable odds, he had to carry on with the mission.

After a few minutes, without any warning, his vision had been restored just as swiftly as it was taken from him. The giant heaved a sigh as he holstered his blaster pistol and swapped to his primary once again before continuing on. As he moved through the hallways, engaging and neutralizing Ultranauts on a few occasions, the Alor’ad’s comlink crackled to life as his daughter raised him and the other squadmates over the squad net.

<”Everyone, this is Gwyneira Krayt! Someone is using the Force to mess with us, cast darkness and send some foul Force drones upon us! There’s hidden explosives too. I’m sure Runi is doing everything in her power, but against a Force User this dire, I personally would suggest an immediate regroup. A regroup and second attempt as a team to find the generator. I do not think it is wise to be alone in this minefield.”>

<”So, it was our resident Shaman that restored our vision, perhaps?”> The giant thought out loud. If that was the case, he owed her a bottle of tihaar. Although Gwyn had made a few good points, regrouping was not an option. They had managed to adapt to the arduous conditions they had faced thus far, and would continue to do so. Having trained her himself, he expected no less of Gwyn to do just that, adapt. As he was about to open his comlink and reply to her, Omen responded to her first.

”This is Omen Mereel. Declaring war on a nation of force wielding Witches would be considered unwise but the Enclave did it. Invading this deathtrap of a city would be unwise but here we are. Now that we are almost done with our mission you want us to retreat! I’m sorry dalyc verd but we are not leaving here empty-handed. We know that reinforcements are on the way and if we let them take the compound back we will never see inside of it again. Are you willing to let the enemy, who half of whom probably don’t have the guts to even admit to their crush that they like them back into this bunker? My vote-”

<”Are you really arguing in the middle of battle?”> The giant had heard enough, interrupting Omen as he spoke into his comlink, raising his voice slightly over Omen’s for others to hear him. Arguing about something had seen vode end up dead and that was the last thing he needed during this mission. <”We improvise! Focus on the battle! We are not turning back. Fight on and finish the mission. Stay frosty, vode! We got this,”> The giant heaved a muffled sigh before continuing. <”We are continuing with the mission as is. We will kill that witch when we find her. Focus on locating the power generators.”> He said, hoping it was enough to get their heads in the game. He would not allow some argument to get in the way of their objective.

This mission would have fared better if he had all of Kandosii at his side, but they had to split up. He only had Thonn from the Kandosii Squad. Alora, Shai and Sasha were all tasked with different objectives. This mission did not see them work together in one big squad, but instead they were divided between several objectives in smaller, and in other squads.

The doors before the Alor’ad retracted to their housings inside the walls on either side as the sensors detected the giant’s presence, allowing him passage into a large room host to a skylight. Kranak would enter the room with his blaster rifle raised. The room wasn’t empty, as he saw Omen and Thonn and another fellow vod designated as Prudii, a member of Squad Atin on the other side of the room to his left. He was rather surprised to see them. Somehow they met in the same room by chance, despite splitting up to look for their mission objective inside the facility.

He needed not to ask if the two had found their mission objectives. They would have called it out over the comlink if they had. He gestured to them to form up on himself as he began making his way towards the exit on the opposite side of the large room, but he came to an abrupt halt and snapped towards the source of a rumble with his blaster rifle raised as something came crashing down from the skylight above. The thing had tumbled on the ground at first but recovered into a smooth roll and landed in a face down position as his face came slamming down on the floor, a few feet in front of the Alor’ad as it cursed out loud.

”Ow! Kark! Chit!”

The giant immediately took a few steps back as the creature clad in complete and utter junk armor had bore an Ultranaut rifle. It had clattered on the ground and landed near Omen’s feet.

The humanoid looking creature’s four eyes shone with a bright, energetic blue. It was host to four arms, as well as an appendage on her lower back, reminding the giant of a scorpion’s metasomal appendage, but far bigger. The giant kept her blaster aimed at her, but his trigger finger was resting over the trigger guard as he wasn’t exactly sure what to make of her. Despite the junk she wore as armor, she had an IFF transponder. Her designation came up as ‘Designation 18’. It wasn’t even a proper callsign. What, or who in the kark was she?

He watched as the creature’s tendrils wriggled around and slammed to the ground around her. With the help of her seemingly powerful, muscular tendrils, she then pulled herself up to her feet and dangled her mid-air, a few feet off the ground. She spoke as she held her upper arms and her face, rubbing them to ease her pain.

”Ow! Dima is so terrible at landing~”

Her eyes finally set upon the giant, realizing she wasn’t alone in the room.

”AHA! DIMA KNEW SHE WOULD FIND YOU!”

She exclaimed as she set out to scuttle towards him with her tendrils. <”What in the- Stay back!”> Was all the giant could say as he took a few more steps back, keeping her rifle raised at her. He didn’t recognize anyone named ‘Dima’. Who was she? She knew she would find him? He didn’t exactly have any way of discerning her from vode or aruetiise at the time. Her IFF transponder failed to give the giant any more information other than her designation.

In response to her sudden movement, Prudii opened fire in an instant to suppress the creature, thinking she was about to attack the Alor’ad. The creature backpedalled the moment a burst of blaster bolts whizzed and cracked past her head. Her face, interestingly enough, displayed shock and fear as she came to an abrupt halt at first, then her tendrils dragged her back and behind a piece of cover to take shelter from the blaster fire.

”No wait! Dima is not monster! Dima is cousin! Dima is cousin!” She blurted, waving her arms as another bolt shot right past her again and Dima huffed, stomping her tail against the floor and yelling at them. “H-hey! Dima is Vod! stop being mean!”

Omen had Prudii abstain from engaging her any longer. As the suppressing fire stopped, Dima slowly raised all of her four hands to show she was unarmed.

”This one is friendly she swears!”

There would be a short moment of silence before Kranak would speak. <”Stand up with your hands above your head, slowly! No sudden moves!”> The giant shouted as he kept his blaster rifle aimed at the piece of cover she hid behind. When she complied, he would question her to understand whether she was actually a vod as she stated, or a foe.

But that would not happen as the doors on the other side of the room to the giant’s right opened. Preemptively, the giant immediately snapped into action, with his rifle trained on the unknown contact on the other side of the room.

”Hey, Vod!”

She called out as she pointed her rifle at the Alor’ad in return. Her beskar’gam’s IFF transponder was not responding. She did not register in his heads-up display as one of the members of Squads Atin and Adenn either. He certainly did not recognize her armor. He saw her trigger finger slowly pressing down on her blaster’s hair trigger. His brows furled in anger behind his helmet’s faceplate. She was no vod!

Without another moment’s hesitation, the giant slipped his index finger from his rifle’s receiver and onto the hair trigger. The two opened fire at one another at the same time. The giant would shoot in short controlled bursts, aimed at her chest and head as he made for the nearest cover.

Several blaster bolts struck him, but his energy shield protected him as the bolts dissipated over his shield, causing the Alor’ad no harm, other than her shots draining the charge of his personal energy shield. As he took shelter from incoming enemy fire behind a ferroconcrete column, the giant issued orders to Thonn and Omen after turning on his helmet’s speech scrambler.

<”~Thonn, Omen! Continue the mission and find those power generators!~”> The giant hoped to conceal the orders from the hostile by using his speech scrambler. His brethren’s helmets would decipher the garbled and scrambled shouting and understand the order. Removing his satchel, the giant tossed it at Omen. They would need the explosives to destroy the generators. <”~Go! I’ll handle her!~”> Shouted the giant, his speech scrambler still turned on.

The giant would then peek from his cover and return fire at the hostile that disguised herself as a Mandalorian. He would try to go for either center mass or try to get headshots at the foe that seemingly wore beskar’gam.

 

[Obran]

F O R C E H U N T E R
Theme​

Objective: Eliminate High-Value Targets
Allies: Siv Dragr | Volo Dragr
Enemies: Darth Carnifex | Ingrid L'lerim

Spoiler: Equipment

• Sundering Magcharge Pistol
• Deathrattle Hard-Sound Carbine
• Miit'beviin - The Orator's Spear
• Suyar'gam - Poet's Armor
• Resa'car - The Shield of Light
• Hunter of the Manda - Obran's Cloak

Volo Dragr laid down covering fire as Siv advanced, and Obran smiled coldly. The Sith would expect this, it was a tried and true tactic. A fine one, honestly. It would work. But to throw them off their footing, improvisation had to occur. Still stomping in time and chanting, suddenly Obran leaped in a spinning arc toward the Empress, flaring his jetpack at the apex of his jump in a silent and short arc with plenty of distance between he and she.

Fancy force powers wouldn't do her much good. And her attention had better be focused elsewhere with how the Dark Lord was assaulting her. The voidsteel and terentatek leather would shield him from precognition at this distance, so she wouldn't feel what he was planning until physical signs were present, which he hoped she missed or didn't notice until too late, given her current situation. Landing a handful of meters past his target as the jetpack shut down, he spun into action.

With a stomp, both knees launched a Fex-M3 dart toward her with a slight hiss, as his shoulders released a rocket dart apiece, and he stood, shield and spear held out to each opposite side and roared a challenge as he stepped forward and leveled his spear, the right gauntlet on the hand holding the weapon whirring, a flechette rifle embedded in it primed and ready.

There was no credits to be made in this duel. There was no dead relative or loved one to avenge and spur him to such savagery and ferocity. Obran had come to the fold of the Mando'ade in his own right only after such brutal occupations as the Sith inflicted upon Manda'yaim. This was far from something directly personal or professional. These two they hunted were fearsome legends Obran knew the songs of well. But right now, all that mattered was they used the Force to press or rule over others like superior beings.

That? That infuriated him until he saw red, and as the rockets spun and spiraled on jets at his target, he began to laugh and cackle, circling the Empress, looking to get behind her if she did not respond to him as a threat.

 

[Ingrid L'lerim]

Lady Ingrid L’lerim Ragal Terassi Vandiir
Eternal Empress of the Eternal Empire, Lord Commander of the Wardens of the Shroud, Archon of the Primyn Group
Empress of Terraris, Supreme Commander of the Terraris Command, Head of the House L’lerim, CEO of the HPI Consortium​

Objective: Arrest Darth Carnifex and Darth Prazutis, and send them to the Ashlan Crusade.
Location: Palace, Canthar (capital city), Panatha
Equipment: 2x Sigra vibroblade | 2x Striith vibrosword | The Soulsabers | Heilagr MK. I Assassin Armour | The Last Gift || Empyrean gland | OPBC-01m
Writing With: Darth Carnifex | Siv Dragr | Obran | Volo Dragr

[ Empire Forever ]
<"High Nelvaanian"> | ~ telepathic communication ~ | << comm. channel >> ​

Ingrid was never afraid of death; if she had to die, she wanted to do it in battle, as was expected of all the members of her people. Was she worried about the deaths of others? Here the answer was definitely yes. The red-haired woman has never escaped or ran away from a single battle in her long life. She didn’t plan for it today, even if she had to fight all four opponents. Ingrid loved to test her own limits; and last but not least, it was time for Carnifex to finally meet his destiny and fate. It was time for his rule to end.

The three blades met, the man's backlash was that if Ingrid had still been human, Carnifex would probably knock her weapons out of her hand, and the man would have broken both of her wrists or arms with the gesture. The next moment, however, Ingrid was already forced to defend herself due to the man's quick attacks. The Empress found it interesting; she had never seen anyone perform the lightsaber fencing forms with a normal sword. That's exactly what Carnifex did. The red-haired woman devoted enough time to knowing the forms so she recognized the seventh form, Juyo.

She danced aside with fast, elegant movements, acrobatic movements, although she did not use Ataru; it was merely a culture of movement formed by her physique and movement coordination, nothing more. The biggest problem was the man's cloak and the blades in it. Ingrid was able to dodge most of it with her own swords, but one cut the woman's side. Although Ingrid's armour protected a significant portion of the injury, the armour was damaged and the golden blade cut into the woman's "flesh."

The physical body was more accurate in the present situation. Her legs faltered for a moment from the pain, but not blood but black smoke came out of the injury. After all, Ingrid had no more blood, she wasn't a human. She was able to "bleed" her own energies, which in this case was the smoky, black smoke. Despite the pain, she was in an attack position again. To tell the truth, she hoped Carnifex was just lying and there was nothing wrong with Kahlil Noble . The woman trusted that Valery Noble would have told her if something had happened to Kahlil; after all, the Jedi knew that the man and the empress were friends.

"I don’t believe your lies, what you drip into one's mind with your venomous teeth and tongue." she replied with firm conviction.

She didn’t have the time or opportunity to try to find Kahlil or attack the man again because the three Mandalorians also joined the fight. After all, Carnifex taunted them during his attack. From the movement, she saw that the first Mandalorian was not attacking her, but Carnifex, so the woman moved so that the man had the best possible access to the Sith Lord. There were all enemies, but the woman was not foolish to attack the Mandalorian in the back; it was perfect for the woman for the armoured men to distract Carnifex; it made the woman's job easier.

Ingrid was not a Sith, not even a Darksider, never was; very, very long ago she was tempted for a single moment by hunger of power, but only because of Scherezade's emotions. Never again. She heard the shots, so she watched over there as well, while MANIAC had already signalled the trajectory of the shots that she had not been attacked, but only covered by the man who had already attacked the former Sith emperor. It was good for the woman because she didn’t have to deal with this man (Volo) until then. The red-haired woman couldn’t rule him out completely because they were in a joint airspace and a battle, but he didn’t come any closer now, for now.

The woman moved so that she could go behind Carnifex, not caring about the third man who had arrived and attacked her as she moved. She heard the sound of him shooting something at her; the woman didn't activate her shield, she felt something slamming into her armour. As soon as the drug got into her body, MANIAC immediately indicated what it was. As well as being non-lethal. Ingrid was not a human; and this was not the first time this fact had saved her life. It will be uncomfortable and painful, but she didn’t have a physical brain or nervous system that could be damaged by the poison.

However, she jumped away from the missiles, but not completely, and they exploded right next to her. Because of the blast, she fell to the ground, her armour severely damaged on the right side, from her leg all the way to her shoulder, where the blasts and shrapnel hit her Ingrid suffered more severe burns on this side, not to mention that black smoke came out of her and she was in great pain. As for the poison, there are benefits if it only consists of energy. And with this, her regeneration started to work, which is not too much help in the combat, the injuries will not go away this soon, but at least the pain will be slighter

She didn't attack Obran, she wouldn't let the man distract her. Ingrid could see the man trying to get behind her, but she still wanted to get there faster to Carnifex. If she gets to where she wanted it to be on the exact opposite side from where Siv was, she will attack. Based on the movement, the Mandalorian attacked at head and neck height, so the woman aimed the former Emperor's armpit again, this time from behind. With a quick motion, she wanted to cut the man's side, upper arm, and armpit with a cut coming from below.

And this position, why was it good? If Obran arrives behind the woman, if she has time, she can dodge and the man's attack will hit Carnifex instead of herself. At least that's how Ingrid imagined it. Kill two birds with one stone…

 

[The Amalgam]

There was nothing quite like flying her Antique.

She had flown more modern fighters certainly. Many had been far more heavily armed and shielded. But none just responded the way this one could.

It honestly felt like she was gliding, most of the time as she led Jester Squadron through the ringer along with the Nuetralizer TIE's...

She spotted a Mandalorian fighter, and engaged. Fethers were fast, and they had anti-missile tracking technology. They got more maneuverable in full attack mode but faster in the straight away.

"Cheating Bastards, the missiles aren't locking!" Jack complained. "Gonna have to gun 'em down the old fashioned way!"

"Say again? It sounds like you said Holdo Fashioned way on my end." Mark the Model 1 said as he was forced into rapid evasive moves in his TIE Silencer. "I was worried I'd have to ram my ship into something to make some sort of difference..."

"HahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Joaquin The Model 1 cackled.

"Okay, um...why is he laughing?" The Amalgam asked, as she chased her Mandalorian opponent.

"Processor issue...at least, that's what we think..." Jack replied, performing something akin to a Cobra Maneuver to try and catch his Mandalorian pursuer by surprise...only to find the enemy pilot had already anticipated it, pulling a counter move at the same time and still ending up behind him.

"Wow, these guys are way better than Maw Pilots!" Jack exclaimed. "I'm actually getting a challenge for a change!"

He zigged and zagged through space around and through the wreckage of other burning vehicles to stay out of reach of the aggressive laser cannon attacks of his pursuer.

"Need any help? I'm rather busy and shooting down this prick has got to be worth at least 400 XP." The Amalgam mused as she tried to keep the enemy pilot in target lock as she chased him through swarms of laser cannon fire and other starfighters trying to murder each other.

"No, I got this one. Reminds me of that time that Tax Auditor chased me into a Nebula!" Jack replied. "Fether came after me with a some sort of prototype starfighter. I was impressed by his dedication."

"What the hell did you do that pissed the Auditor off enough to chase you?" Jared the Model 1 asked as he blasted apart a Mandalorian fighter he had tricked into attacking him head on.

"Spotty E-trading..." Jack admitted. "I also might have engaged in counterfeiting money for sport."

"Just sport?" The Amalgam asked as she finally got her foe in a target lock and let off a seven shot burst from her cannons, feeling exhilaration as she watched him explode and she got that much closer to a Level Up...

"Of course!" Jack replied. "There's a lot of pleasure to be found in recreational criminal activity. Too bad the Tax Auditor didn't agree. Bastard."

"I confess, I've tried to prank call the Chancellor's Office. They always cut me off after I start claiming to be Adhira Chandra's dead husband..." Kevin The Model 1 admitted as he barely evaded a missile attack from an enemy fighter.

"Ha! He burned so hard..." The Amalgam chuckled, forced to perform a Hurbst Maneuver to evade a sudden flock of four Fighters chasing her. She spun and flipped her craft to evade the hail storm of laser cannon and missile fire, her skills as a Master Starfighter Pilot showing itself as she deftly evaded fiendish attack patterns and bursts that would have felled lesser pilots., Only to Immelman on them and blast two of them from the sky though the other two managed to break off and flank as she did, scoring two hits, and lowering her shield capacity, making the craft rock violently.

But the Antique Royal Guard was in another league. Even if The Amalgam hadn't extensively modified it, it's shields and hull would have survived the hits, being so incredibly ahead of its time. They had been nightmares during the Era of Sidious. This lone survivor from classic times had been made more of a nightmare by The Amalgam, who possessed an in-depth knowledge of Imperial Starfighter technology (She had even helped Darth Xiphos design the Nuetralizer TIE's, and in fact had been Xiphos's chief consultant.)

"I love this job...I love it!" Heath the Model 1 cackled as he splashed a Mandalorian fighter.

In the meantime, the Nuetralizer TIE's fought in swarms, repeatedly engaging in hit and run strikes against Mandalorian fighters, baiting them into chasing one only to get zipping attacks from three fighter swarms (One thing the Mandalorians could be said to have an advantage in was that due to the high defense of their own Starfighter, it often took two to destroy just one of theirs, as the Nuetralizer TIE's, while being far smarter than ordinary Droid Starfighters, (To the level of an organic pilot, and being actually sapient to boot) their weapons were weak.

That said, they were learning what to target rapidly, but they had to get closer to to them, due to their weapons having lower range than most production model fighters.

On the other hand the fact they had a much smaller profile made them much harder to hit, and their high agility even at top speed, able to make tight turns unexpectedly frustrated things on the Mandalorians side, the TIE's beginning to use a tactic where they would single out a lone fighter, have two of theirs fly in a tight circle around a fighter, taking pot shots , while a third attacked from above, firing right at the cockpit. Others would shut off their engines and play dead within drifting wreckage over orbit, only to gun their engines and burst from them in a surprise attack on Mandalorian squadrons, clear use of Guerilla tactics show. Another Squadron broke off to defend the Litany of Peace, ferociously swarming any attackers that tried to get close to it, led into combat by Caesar The Model 1.

"I wish there was just some elaborate, easily escapable death trap I could put these Mandalorians in!" he complained as he shot down a fighter getting too close to the litany. "What is their problem?"

"It must be their diet, it gives them a bad temper!" Jack suggested, as the Nuetralizer TIE's transmitted the positions of enemy squadrons to the ships of Malanves Lagrange and Aximand Sicarus also telling how many fighters they themselves had splashed, how many allied fighters needed support and where, and what parts of the ships they were on were the most in danger from concentrated assault.

"What do Mandalorians consume?" Heath asked, having two extremely pissed off pilots chasing them. "Maybe if we put something in their meals it'll make them want to self-delete..."

"They got this nasty dried fish and bread thing going for some of their rations. I tried some once on a dare from The Battalion. It tasted like dried sock wrapped in Wookiee hair and salted with flannel shirt. Sweaty, nasty-ass flannel shirt that had been puked on repeatedly. I'm not surprised they want to kill people, forcing themselves to eat that crap. I'd be twenty times more homicidal than I already am if you made me eat nothing but that for a month straight..." she explained, blowing apart another fighter with a burst.

"Wait a minute..." Mark trailed as he splashed another fighter after a long and difficult chase that nonetheless gave him valuable combat data. "How do you know what dried sock and Wookiee hair taste like?"

"Feth you, Mark." The Amalgam replied, as four more fighters pursued her...

Kam Ge'lih Dragr

Asaaj En Kelsani

Dasmi Lindervale

Amelia von Sorenn

Alessandra Io

 

[Eina L'lerim-Vandiir]

Eina L’lerim-Vandiir, the First
Princess of the Eternal Empire and Terraris; Angelic mascot and representative of the Ashlan Crusade
Matriarch of the Valkyrja; Leader of Sanctuary; Liaison of the Fjölkyngi Smiðr Guild​

Objective II.: Help others, accompany the souls to the Nether
Location: Iron Mountains, Panatha
Equipment: Sverð Fyrstr (weapons) | Skrúð Engill Fyrstr (armour) || Empyrean gland | OPBC-01m || Current appearance / form
Writing With: Tyr Mereel

[ Preliator ]
<"High Nelvaanian"> | ~ telepathic communication ~ | << comm. channel >> ​

It was true that the woman was far from defenceless; she was very much able to defend herself with the Force. When Eina defended the Sanctuary, she was killing thousands of demons alone, using the Force alone. She was known at home as a very strong warlord. However the Valkyrja never used her real power in Realspace, and she rarely used Force, especially against non-Force users. She was like her mother in this. She showed her true power only when necessary; by the way, she kept it a secret and always put only as much force into a fight as was necessary. To be a fair fight, and yes, so she even lost because she never grew above her opponent. Eina never wanted to humiliate them.

"It’s a long story I’m happy to tell if we’re not right in the middle of a war. I was born in the Netherworld from a part of the souls of the Empress and Lord Vandiir when they were both dead. Out of their desires to protect each other and take care of each other. I was the first of the Valkyrja, some of the others were already created by the Empress, my mother, to take care of dead souls. We have evolved and are now forming a civilization. The others do not intervene, they are everywhere and just waiting for the souls. I... I decided not to remain an idle observer because of the noblest crusader I know. He was one of those who came to Netherworld when Omni woke up."

She explained amiably; she still saw no reason not to tell the truth. The truth was always more expedient, and the woman was not very familiar with the concept of lying.

"And yes, you are not mistaken, I am not defenceless, I could defend myself with the Force if necessary. But I have no intention of offending or humiliating you or your people with it." she said.

Eina left her swords stuck in the ground, she would have time to collect them later. Once they were in the warehouse building, she looked sadly at the injured for she was not being able to do more for them. The Valkyrja knew that back home the clan leaders and members of the Völva would scold her for helping the mortals and healing them while it was her job to accompany their souls into the Netherworld. They did the same thing when the girl rescued and saved Geiseric . But true, the crusader was a different case, later they fell love with each other and now formed a Force dyad, they created the Ession's Nexus with their love and purity. And there has been a strong bond and a link between them since the first meeting. She smiled herself for a moment as she thought to her beloved crusader.

After the Mandalorian words, Eina sighed wearily and looked at him sadly. Her usually happy, glittering and smiling blue eyes showed only endless grief this time. The demons were similar to him who could no longer be saved in any way. The man was like the ones Geiseric told her about after she rescued him from captivity. There was so much else people could have done in Realspace, but only revenge, anger, and those emotions drove them. It was hard for the Valkyrja to understand why.

"Why are you so eager to seek revenge? Your people too have killed countless people from my people, threatening the defenceless, yet I am not seeking revenge!" she said bitterly.

The Valkyrja reached out with both hands and reached into the Force, the two swords farther away flew into her hand, thanks to the telekinetic abilities. Why? She really didn’t understand, especially not that the man wasn’t even a Force User. Bogan may be able to get into the hearts and minds of mortals much deeper than the woman had ever imagined. As soon as the two swords fell into her hands, she too took up the defensive position again.

"Just promise you'll not hurt them if you defeat them, please!" she beseech him, if he promised that she spoke again. "And now, attack me!"

 

[Tyr Mereel]

Objective II: Defeat Foes
Location: Iron Mountains, Panatha
Equipment: Si'kahya Beskar'gam | Rekr Variant, Beskar Spear, ENCL-14 Patronage Precision Rifle, ENCL-12 Repentance Blaster Pistol
Writing With: Eina L'lerim-Vandiir
Allies: Open
Enemies: Eina L'lerim-Vandiir

He listened to the words of this Valkyrja, mayhap in another life, the two could've seen eye to eye, but Tyr knew in his heart that he had to avenge the death of his fallen brother, her intentions true his death was still on her hands. The man took a soft breath, his armor keeping him from the cold winds that now assaulted the pair.

"The words you speak may be true sarad but that does not forgive the slaying of my brother. I understand that you were doing your duty, as much as I am of mine. I am not of Mandalorian blood, for I am a foundling with a past unknown to me all I seek to do is repay those who have given purpose back to my life. You have slain one of mine own, what If I were to slay one of your Valkyrja would you not feel the same?"

The man was true to his words, he waited until the woman could retrieve her swords, feeling them fly by his head as she returned them to her hands, he readied his spear, his eyes peered through his visor as he looked upon the Angelic being once more, he took in her positioning, the way her feet were planted and the way her swords were held. Everything in a battle was important, the ground beneath one's foot, the air that flew behind one's back he took this all in as they stood facing one another.

"The truth of all is that one's aliit is more important than all things in this life and the next. For without those to help guide you forward and to help you to grow then we will inevitably fall from the graceful paths we are meant to take and wind up in the depths of the abyss. The darkness is easier found in the forgotten than in those who are loved."

Pushing forward his the tip of the spear slices through the air as he thrust towards the woman, she was agile even in her armor, but she wasn't invincible, his plan had shifted drastically from the one he had held at the beginning of their bout, he knew now it was best for him to keep her on the back foot, he had to control the flow of the battle if he were to win.

He would avenge his brother.​

 

[Rath Nihro]

Objective: Search and Destroy
Gear: Empire’s Shadow | Nelvaanian Sword | Shroudsaber x2 | Shroudshoto | KC-95 Ace of Spades
Writing With: Jenn Kryze | Eliz Krayt

The grotesque display of the Force was unsettling, even for Rath. Sure, when it came to fighting he lacked the morals most people would possess, but whatever this thing was. This… mote of darkness? A manifestation of the Force that swelled within him? It was true Rath’s body hosts a greater amount of force energy than his body should be able to tolerate, but this felt like something else. Something that wasn’t himself, and yet it was at the same time. It was confusing to him that Rath found it difficult to put it into words. His powers had improved drastically compared to the last time he fought off lightsaber-wielding opponents, but now he could barely restrain the power from accidentally killing something he didn’t mean to kill. Rath intended to leave a couple of the Mandalorians alive to serve as bait until his own power killed them.

In short, when previously he could use the Force with great control, Rath had to choose carefully when to use the Force and make sure to keep himself in check. Last thing he needed was an ally Eternal to be nearby and end up getting caught up whatever terrible outcome that might appear. Instead of searching through the Force, Rath instead reached up to his mask to flip a switch hidden by the hood. Through his mask, Rath performed a scan for Lifeforms, and even switched to thermal vision as most living creatures produce body heat. Even in death, Rath found the Mandalorians to be useful. If not for their gear, then he’d simply use their own communications, their own pride, and their own bodies to his own advantage.

Then, his scanner picked up a trio of lifeforms that was getting closer by the second. This time Rath reaches to the side to pluck a friendly frag grenade. He placed the Force around the casing of the grenade before it floated high above the ground to just over the entrance of the complex. As the three cautiously approached the complex, Rath applied just a tiny pressure to prime the grenade before he allowed it to drop just behind the trio. Where it erupts in a deafening explosion of shrapnel. Granted they wore the beskar’gam, so a mere grenade wouldn’t be enough to suffer major damage, but the shockwave was still capable of knocking them off their feet.

Of course, Rath did not wait to see the result of such an action as he retreated further within the shadows. Where he silently relocated to a different building that was just east from them. Manipulating the Force one more time, as he tried to at least keep the usage as low as possible, over to the west side which led to another small entrance/exit of the complex. A whole crate fell off the deck platform as many chunks of ore spilled out in the alleyway. Making a loud crash in the process, but with the grenade that had gone off it was possible that some of the Mandalorians were disoriented. But he wasn’t going to underestimate them. If anything, both west and east exits were trapped with mines cleverly placed to remain out of sight from the outside. On the inside however? It wasn’t exactly hard to find if they looked beyond the rubble.