Public Calm Before the Storm [OPEN]

[Opersh Krul]

Damascus Station
​

The port was busy. Too busy for Krul's liking. It smelled of utter filth as it was filled with infidels and yet he pressed on through them. Hidden underneath a hooded cloak, most tended to avoid him. He wasn't a Force user, instead being devoid of it entirely which seemed to give off the same uneasiness and distrust that often followed the wake of a Sith Lord. Yet Krul was different. He was a walking void empty of the Force.

It wasn't long ago that he was on Graveyard, tasked by his superiors to use his army to conquer the planet, and they were well on their way to completing that mission. However Krul was unexpectedly pulled away from that mission and thrust into another. Following a skirmish with members of the Nomadic People's Coalition, it had become clear that the infidels had sunk to an all time low; infusing living beings with machines. And not just to replace missing limbs, but to encase themselves in armour or even to become a spacefaring machine themselves.

Krul and some of his army were taken off of Graveyard on one of their ships and followed the infidels to Damascus Station. On board were infidels in chains that were held in higher standings than others. These were spies and infiltrators that had been gathering bits of intel on this new machine threat and the abomination that housed it.

Being unable to fly directly to the due to the gravity wells, Krul and two infidels flew the rest of the way in a smaller craft. Now was not the time for an attack, but to gleen more information for his superiors and to bring one of the abominations to them before the first of many invasions was to come. One of their spies had gone missing and was presumed dead. This was one way to find out if it was true.

Krul's bladed weapons were sheathed underneath his cloak, with tips layered in poison. He kept quiet as he walked through the crowds, not needing to push anyone aside as he seemed to be given a wide birth to pass.

Although if anyone was foolish to step in his way, he was sure to give them a rude awakening.

 

[Tahril the Breaker]

Tahril was currently sitting in the hold of one of the heathens ships along with a his host of warriors, all with in the blasphemous ship were baying for blood how ever his brother Opersh Krul had persuaded him to stay his hand at least until they found what had become of the spy. It mattered not to Tahril he only wanted to feel the infidels blood run, but he had faith in his clever brother, he would call if he was in need of violence and blood.

"QUITE YOU FOOLS" Tahril roared "Do you want the heathens to find us with their infernal machines, they find us we shall not get to taste their blood".

With that outburst out of the way the warrior host quietened down if only a little, it was good they where restless it would mean more blood would be spilled when brother called for them.

 

[Bishop Turner]

Bishop flew patrol in Ironheart with a half dozen others in his small squadron around Damascus Station. The station itself was massive and with a number of vessels flying in and out of it with both resources and passengers. The last job that he had ever wanted was to be the one to look after air traffic control. Whoever had that job deserved a high salary and plenty of vacation time. No doubt the turnaround in the towers was high due to burnout. But Dorthea Dobson knew how to run a tight ship. It was one thing that he admired about the Chief Director.

~There's more traffic coming from the southeast region.~

"Roger that, Ironheart. Is it worth checking out?"

~Sensors indicate an anomaly with one of the vessels in particular.~

"An anomoly?"

~Yes Bishop. The ship has no identifying markers.~

"Could be a decoy or been damaged in a previous battle. The shipyards here are top of the line. But let's have a look anyways."

~Understood, Bishop. Changing course now.~

"Roger that, Ironheart." Ever since Willow & Ivy had outfitted his ship to become an Angel, the two had been almost inseperable. No one but the twins and himself knew of his Angel's previous identity before she had sacrificed her body and soul to become Ironheart. And he preferred to keep it that way. No one else needed to know. It had been the one selfish request that he had made and was lucky enough to have it granted. Bishop had full faith that the Prophets wouldn't reveal his secret.

Changing course, Ironheart and the small squadron headed in the direction of Opersh Krul and Tahril the Breaker 's ships to find out if they were friend or foe.

 

[Xeno]

Damascus Station
Tags: Opersh Krul , Tahril the Breaker , Bishop Turner

​

Xeno didn't like space ports. Too much traffic, and far to many little nooks for illegal items to slip by unnoticed. The station was no exception, host to all kinds of people with dark secrets of one kind or another. The former Sith wasn't simply passing through. He had hunted a smuggler to the station, taking force artifacts off him that were intended to be shipped off to some wealthy Hutt buyer on Nar Shaddaa. There wasn't much. Most of the artifacts were fake, replicas intended to mimic the real deal and fool non-force sensitives. One was legit, however, an old lightsaber which had the kyber within blead. Xeno had no intentions of using it. He'd purify the stone, then lay it to rest on some secluded world. A place where no darksider could harm it.

A cloaked figure walked past, causing the ex-Assassin to take note. It wasn't that the stranger was force sensitive. Quite the opposite, actually. They were force dead, and alarmingly so. It was an unnatural emptiness that filled the air with the slightest hint of dread. As the individual vanished into the crowd, chills ran down the hybrid's spine.

"What the hell..." Xeno muttered under his breath.

There were very few beings known to have been force dead like that if the swordsman's memory served him right, and none of them were good. Perhaps he had aught to follow from a distance, lest the lives of innocents be at stake.

So, he silently tailed the hooded figure.

 

[Kalic Daws]

Kalic walked along the halls carefully, having not been on duty today. At least not flight duty. He was, however, supposed to be training his Force skills, but the Miraluka didn't exactly know how. He wasn't a Jedi, Grey or otherwise, and he wasn't a Sith. He was just... him. And he guessed to an extent technically Starcrest too. He was thinking on a few visions he had seen lately, now having his Angel to help anchor him to the present. As he continued though, he soon bumped into.... He couldn't see what? He vaguely noticed, what he guessed was cloth, but nothing else. Kalic began to look around confused, speaking up a bit.

"Is someone there?"

Opersh Krul Bishop Turner Tahril the Breaker Xeno

 

[Opersh Krul]

Krul's brother Tahril the Breaker was part of the back-up plan. But also as a surprise for the infidels should they be foolish enough to attack him. Such an act of stupidity was almost guaranteed given that it was in their very nature.

Kalic Daws was foolish in a different way. He walked right into Krul and instead of begging for forgiveness, he merely pretended that he didn't see his superior. He quickly grabbed hold of Kalic by his neck, his grip firm but not too tight to restrict his breathing. "Watch where you're going infidel, or next you'll taste my blade." Krul gave Kalic a shove to the side, releasing his hold before continuing on his way.

Two infidels now relinquished of their chains for the mission flanked Krul. One of them leaned in and spoke softly, ~Forgive me, Master for speaking out of turn, but you are being tailed.~

Krul gave a small nod of acceptance of the information before unsheathing a poison tipped bone dagger while he walked, remaining silent as he prepared himself for battle. His infidels were trained. They knew to give his brother the signal should Xeno or any other infidel attack.

 

[Gabriel Creed]

Gabriel was having a good day it had started with a nice breakfast and now he was taking a stroll in the port, the port itself was the usual mix of chaos and order that was common in ports everywhere in the galaxy. There was another reason for his visit to the port today as not long ago someone had tried to sabotage the station and kill the billions that lived on the station and Gabriel wanted to see if he could find anything out of the ordinary.

Seeing Kalic Daws walk right past him seeming in a world all his own Gabriel watched the man go on his way until he bumped into a hooded stranger. Seeing the stranger grab Kalic Daws around the neck Gabriel started to make his way to the both of them and stood in the way of Opersh Krul as he had stated moving himself.

"Sir I know the port can be busy and stressful but that's no need to lay hands on a fellow commuter" Gabriel said, armoured gauntlet resting on the hilt of his vibro sword the meaning of which was as clear as day.

 

[Valery Noble]

Damascus Station

​

Outfit: Factory Link
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Opersh Krul Tahril the Breaker Xeno Kalic Daws

It wasn't often that Valery found herself in this corner of the Galaxy, but even the Sword of the Jedi needed time away from the frontlines of the war. She just wasn't the type to sit around and do nothing, especially when her boyfriend was still working, and even her daughter was away from home for her training all the time. So to still get some rest and feel like she was spending her time on something useful, she traveled to Damascus station, which had been built by and for refugees.

Perhaps she could help with something there, or just learn more about what was happening out here.

Normally, she would have likely gone undercover, dressed as a civilian and with her unique Force presence buried, but not this time. In her usual outfit and with two lightsabers attached to her belt, she walked down the station and looked around. Her empathic skills allowed her to sense what was going through these people, and most of it was what she had expected. A combination of turmoil and relief, now that they had made it here despite the hardships they left behind.

There was, however, something that stood out to her a lot more — a figure that she knew to be alive, but could not sense at all. Opersh Krul was being followed by another she could sense, but nothing about this situation added up to her. So with a curious eye, she studied them as they walked, and readied herself to act. Somehow and for some reason, she felt a tension that made her believe something was going to happen.

Of course, all on her day off.

 

[Kalic Daws]

Kalic gasped as his neck was grabbed. Someone was definitely there, and angry. He struggled a bit, but heard what the being said. And Starcrest had taken notice too.

"Are you ok?"

"Not real...." He then noticed Gabriel, looking at where he was looking, and still not seeing anyone. He nudged the larger man, whispering "I don't see them."

Gabriel Creed Opersh Krul Tahril the Breaker Xeno Valery Noble

 

[Opersh Krul]

It had only just occured to Krul that Kalic Daws was blind. How he was able to walk around without assistance remained to be seen. However the lack of assistance is probably what led to the infidel walking into him in the first place.

Krul's attention then turned to Gabriel Creed as the larger infidel spoke to him. Krul merely sneered before remarking; "Keep your blind dog on a leash or the next commuter won't be so kind."

As Krul walked away from them to continue on his route, he thought of the notion of people not seeing him. Besides the abominations of machines, there were some infidels that relied on other means besides their senses to function. It was an observation that he would have to share with the Supreme Lord later.

A distraction was needed in order to get those tailing him to be drawn away. Krul removed his organic commlink from a pouch. It was squishy, yet a creature that was a part of a collective hive mind. With it he dispatched a message to his brother Tahril the Breaker whom he knew was in orbit nearby; "Brother, it's time for you to go have some fun." And by that he meant for him to take out as many abominations as he could. Tahril was a vicious soldier that thrived on spilling blood. And today he will get that chance.

Xeno Valery Noble

 

[Tahril the Breaker]

Finally his brother Opersh Krul had given the call and blood would be spilled, directing the slaves to bring in the old transport in to one of the docking ports. Once docked the dozen Yuuzhan Vong warriors erupted into the port area ready to spill blood just for the sake of spilling blood.

"GO MY WARRIORS KILL ALL IN YOUR PATH LET NONE DENY YOU" roared Tahrill slaying a couple of fleeing civilians with his Amphistaff.

To their credit the few Holy Knights in the port reacted quickly and began to open fire on Tahrill and his warriors but their weapons seemed to lack the power to penetrate the Yuuzhan Vong armour. This is too easy Tahrill thought these infidels were ripe for the slaughter, letting out manic laughter as he killed Tahrill hoped he would find a strong infidel to break.

 

[Audren Sykes]

Equipment: Clothing, armor, Lightsaber, Rifle (on the ship), pistol, Dagger (1), utility belt
Tags: Opersh Krul | Tahril the Breaker

The situation on the world known as Graveyard had been concerning to say the least. The large-scale problem was not yet solved but the short-term one was, with the attackers - the 'others' - having been pushed back for at least a time. The pilot who'd collected Audren didn't speak a language the Sephi did and didn't care to speak much anyways so he had yet to learn the trick to navigating the maelstrom. He would though. He would though, and he'd be back to help finish the situation for good.

Whether by need or choice, the pilot had docked at one Damascus Station and wasn't scheduled to leave for another few hours. The Sephi had seen the star charts...the station wasn't too far out of the way and it was clear that the pilot - a captain roughly associated the the League - had set up some business dealings to make the trip more worth his while. No complaints there. The Jedi was content to not wander far...just down to the tapcaf at the closest intersection. It was an open-air establishment and the food wasn't bad at all. Simple enough to kill some time at.

Or it would have been, had a dozen or so screaming aliens not spilled into the area all threatening-like.

The Jedi was almost tempted to sit this one out. He was eating, for crying out loud. They didn't care though, they just began killing people for the heck of it. Station guards responded quickly, but their blaster bolts didn't have much effect on the armor the aliens wore. Also notable was that these aliens couldn't be sensed through the Force. No overwhelming presence of murderous intent, not even a tinge of annoyance as three blaster bolts converted on one and knocked him from his feet. The sense of the dying though, that could be felt clearly.

With somewhat of a sigh, Audren slid his chair back half a meter. The sword-analog the creature was using slammed down through the table that the elfin Jedi was sitting at, throwing the striker off-balance. He'd anticipated cleaving his target in two but had missed. Cleanly. A second later that same creature blinked down at his wrists and the black blood spraying from the stumps that used to end in hands. The next - and last - thing he saw was a preternaturally sharp blade arcing into one eye. A bit of a wiggle ensured the result and the dead body thumped to the ground. Audren stood and moved closer to the body to get a better look, then stumbled back and awkwardly parried the sword - now a snake - that lunged at him. His own blade did nothing but redirect the snake but it slithered into a vent it landed near. Station security would probably want to catch that sooner or later.

The Jedi crouched near the body for a moment. So this was a Yuuzhan Vong. A warrior, maybe a green one. He certainly hadn't expected resistance despite his target being armed, and had broadcast his intentions like a politician saying he was running for office. The armor was impressive enough but clearly there were gaps in the coverage like any other. Joints mostly, the neck, or the head if without a helmet. Just then there came a bellow and the pounding of feet on the deck announced one come to avenge Audren's victim. Instead of falling backwards in shock, scrambling to get away, or even setting up into a defensive stance, the Master tucked and rolled towards the charging Vong. The distance closed, paths crossed, and suddenly the warrior had no target. There was a pain in the back of his knee and suddenly his leg would no longer support his weight. The warrior's viewpoint radically changed as he saw himself go bouncing back towards where he'd come, far faster than should have been possible. Then his helmet caught on something and shifted his perspective, just to see his body fall from kneeling to prone, headless...and back by the blond.

Audren stood fully upright now and gave his dagger a sharp shake to clear must of the blood off. His efforts had been successful but hadn't come without cost: one of the spikes on the second Vong's armor had caught him across the bicep and blood stained his sleeve. The bouncing head, bared blade, and two bodies caught the attention of one more warrior though. She pulled out a knife in addition to her snake/sword and began approaching the blond Jedi in a menacing but controlled manner. He wasn't having it though: his free hand came up with a pistol and the single bolt took the un-helmeted warrior between the eyes.

Three down, and the alarms finally began wailing.

 

[Gabriel Creed]

Equipment: Armour, Rifle, Pistol, Sword.

Feeling the nudge from Kalic Daws Gabriel looked down at the man surprise.

"What do you mean you can't see them? he was right in front of you" Gabriel said with some confusion.

Watching the cloaked alien walk of into the crowd, suddenly screaming started towards the other end of the port completely forgetting that Opersh Krul was there Gabriel activated his jet pack to fly over the crowd. Once in the air it wasn't difficult to see what all the screaming was about, unknown aliens where attacking the station and Gabriel would ensure that would be their last mistake. Landing near to Audren Sykes Gabriel shouldered his rifle and let loose 4 thundering shots that tore through 4 of the invading aliens. Turning his attention to the surviving Holy Knights.

"Knights, active your shields and focus on keeping civilians safe" ordered Gabriel.

 

[Xeno]

Damascus Station
Tags: Valery Noble , Gabriel Creed , Opersh Krul , Tahril the Breaker , Audren Sykes , etc...

​

There was a sudden panic in the station. Warriors of unknown origin seemed to crawl out of the wood works, attacking civilians. Xeno was quick to dodge one warrior, grabbing them by the throat in a manner to keep the air from their lungs. As the warrior writhed and passed out in his grip, the half-Nagai came to the conclusion that made sense given everything he had seen up until now.

"Vong."

Xeno turned, locking eyes with a familiar face. He could never forget the piercing amber eyes he had seen on Denon.

"Sword of the Jedi," the ex-assassin addressed her. "You can't seem to catch a break, can you?"

News of the attempt on her life was pretty well known now. Though perhaps it was just the curse of her position. The title of Sword carried a lot of baggage with it.

"They're covering the escape of a leader of some kind," Xeno informed her. "I suggest we make pursuit while these... 'Holy Knights' defend civilians, lest we let the Vong relive their glory."

As a Jedi, she would surely understand the kind of threat they posed.

 

[Kalic Daws]

Kalic look at Gabriel, nodding a bit.

"I see with the Force, so they're either hiding, or don't have the For...." Kalic was then flashed somewhere else in the station. He looked around, confused. "Starcrest?"

"It's a vision. What do you see?"

"It's... the sta.... What the...?" He saw people dying, but there was nothing.... An alarm quickly pulled him out as the Miraluka looked around. He was back, and looked around.

"Something's wrong here."

Gabriel Creed Xeno Valery Noble Opersh Krul Tahril the Breaker Audren Sykes

 

[Tahril the Breaker]

As his warriors began to fall Tahril saw a infidel kill his warriors with such ease and grace, that one would be the one Tahril would break. Approaching the lightly bloody Audren Sykes Tahril threw his Amphistaff like a spear at the man and with the same motion drew a second Amphistaff from around his waist and had it set to whip.

"You've killed my warriors infidel you shall be fun to break" Tahril said with a mad grin.

The remaining warriors merely ignored the fight between the two and focused on wanton slaughter instead paying little heed to their losses and wounds.

 

[Opersh Krul]

The warriors and slaves that Tahril the Breaker brought with him not only fought the infidels, but began to attack the machines within the hanger as well. With razor sharp bone blades and amphistaffs, they cut through the panels, entered into the ships through loading ramps and began cutting whatever wires and hoses that they could in a bid to render the abominations useless for a while.

Meanwhile Krul moved unhindered. Others rushed passed him in a rush to try to stop the wave of crimson that his brother had unleashed.

There would be many honourable deaths today and Yun-Yammka was surely smiling upon them. However Krul was not serving the God of War today. His mission was under Yun-Ne'Shel.

Seemingly unhindered, Krul continued through the maze of corridors that he had memorized previously to lead to his destination. A solitary room in a residential sector. One of the chained ones unlocked the door and opened it, allowing his master to step inside. Krul lowered his hood and looked around. The room had obviously been searched previously. There was no heat to indicate that anyone had been living there.

"He's not here. Go and find out what you can. Return here in one hour."

"Yes, Master."

Within moments Krul was on his own. He uncoiled his own aphistaff from around his waist and stroked the venomous snake's head and allowing it to taste the air in the room. No alert or warning was given. Krul directed the snake to go back around his waist before he pulled his hood once more over his head and left the room. Walking down the corridor he reached a junction which branched out to various sectors on the station. A bright map of sorts labelled the different sectors of the station. Krul had under an hour to satisfy his curiosity and complete a portion of his mission.

He memorized the path that he needed to take and began his journey that would take him to Engineering.

Xeno Valery Noble Audren Sykes Gabriel Creed Dorthea Dobson
Kalic Daws