Charon's Call - Voidstone Acquisition Thread.

[LT-137]

https://youtu.be/SfVP8jk8GeM​

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While being appropriated and redeployed were one of the many constants in a Soldier’s life, I never expected to be assigned to a Strike-team, chasing after some scientist’s fever dream. From the quick glance at the mission briefing, I knew we were headed out of Imperial-held space and into the unknown. There were scattered reports of resurgent activity in this sector, which the Security Bureau believed was brought about by the sudden appearance of this - what did they mention it was again? Some sorta special comet that was bleched out of another dimension. Funny how they had time to study it, learn about its mysterious properties - enough to guarantee its authenticity, but it never occurred to them to alter the trajectory and force it to land closer to home.

Now here we are, orbiting some world in neutral space, taking readings of the planet below. Our Captain doesn't want to waste the lives of his Eighth Company like Coin, so we spend our time on the hangar deck - waiting for them to give us the green light. It takes a few rotations for them to do so, as they wanted to ensure that the scans were thorough. In that time, I learned the name of this misbegotten world and of the sapient creatures that called it home. Kayri III. Some time before the Four Hundred Years Darkness had engulfed a vast majority of the Galaxy, the otherworldly and insectoid species known as the Charon had ‘colonized’ the world and made it their own. As I stand on the hangar deck, waiting for my Squad to funnel into our Assault Lander, my mind finds itself unable to believe that some form of colonization had taken place. Instead, the word infestation sprang to mind.

Towering dung-formed spires studded the once verdant surface, sharpened spikes jutted outwards, and icons venerating false gods acted as each monolithic hive’s capstone. The sight was abhorrent, and I instantly regretted the very notion of stepping onto its surface. Why go through all the trouble, when you could burn the world and dig through the ashes? It would save them time, let alone lives as it was unlikely that any of these creatures would survive an orbital saturation bombardment to lay a hand on the assigned detachment. However, those brilliant individuals in High Command had seen fit to stay the course, and put some boots on the ground. Perhaps they feared in torching the world, that they’d be labeled as mass murderers - ruining any political credibility that the First Order had as they sought to hold the moral high ground in their escalating battle against with the Galactic Alliance. Or hell, maybe they feared the possibility that they could destroy the precious specimen in the attempt to cleanse the surface.

Whatever the case, it no longer mattered. I had a job to do, and the longer it was delayed, the longer it would take for me to be cycled out of this dung-heap and onto better assignments. As a static-laden voice broke over the Hangar Deck’s loudspeakers, I ordered my Squad to seal themselves in their armour and check their weapons. They didn’t obey at first. The bonds of brotherhood were still fresh, and they saw me as a pretender rather than their commander. The temptation was there to remind them of their former Sergeant, and how he was turned to ash upon the plains of Kaeshana by a disruptor bolt - but the more, shall we say, diplomatic portion of my mind had taken over. Instead, I repeated my orders and gunned the trigger of my massive Vibroaxe to emphasize my authority. The sound tore through the hold of the Assault Lander and spooked several of the Greenhorns. They listened and obeyed then, and that was enough. Soon, my Dropship and a few others would break for the surface, and under cover of night, we would enter one of the towering spires in search of this precious aerolite.

If only those vile cretins had kept the bloody meteorite where it impacted, then we wouldn’t have to descend to this world. We would’ve swooped by with a tractor beam and vanished into the night like erstwhile bandits seeking to reclaim long-lost glories. Buggers denied us that pleasure by dragging to massive rock into the heart of their infested settlement - which meant that it could be anywhere by now. An entire Hive complex rife with a swarm of otherworldly Xenos filth? No information regarding these creatures other than they’re big, strong, and would easily best a Soldier in combat?

Just another day in the Corps.​

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Lydia sat opposite and a little to the left of [member="Torian Pierce"], and she started when he ran his vibroaxe. She had begun to seal her envirosuit -- armored, but not the same as Stormtrooper armor, when the instructions came across the loudspeaker, but she redoubled her efforts when he gave his orders, and jammed her helmet down over her head, fiddling with the seals until her suit was airtight. She flipped on the rebreather and then looked over at the Sergeant, unsure of how to respond. A salute would not be appropriate, but she felt she should say something, so instead she just said: "Ready, Sergeant."

But was she? Was she really ready? The Charon were a gruesome species and she hated bugs even when they were small. The danger of these particular critters was not to be underestimated. She had a pistol strapped to one hip and a stun baton to the other, for defense, and her suit was reasonably well armored -- and labeled with 'PRESS' across her helmet, her chest and back -- but would these creatures understand basic? If they could, would they care about her being in the press? She suppressed a shudder as she thought back to Kaeshana, and the scar she bore from the plasma round that had nearly killed her there. Civilization wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

She busied herself checking her equipment. Her trusty datapad with its versatile camera was in her hand, but her backpack contained a medkit, cells for the blaster and stun baton, and most importantly, her camdroid. The camdroid was the brainchild of her brother Hector's negotiations with the First Order security and military apparatchiks. It was a win for Hector and his Camden Media Group because he didn't have to keep shelling out cash for new cameramen and their families when they died, and the First Order wonks liked the idea because they controlled the footage when the camdroid was deployed, and could remotely classify it, preventing its broadcast until the censors had reviewed and, if need be, edited it. She checked its battery pack and was relieved to see it was all green.

She was ready. Or as ready as she was going to be.

 

[Progflaw99]

Zero Hour, Shuttle 6 | Auxiliary, First Legion​

The dimly lit deathtrap that was the landing shuttle rattled as it descended from its berth, inside the hulk of a man who had yet to fulfill his purpose. Tyr's hands grasped the Particle Array Gun in his hands, it felt good. His eyes fell upon the others in the dimly lit troop bay, a collection of criminals and other undesirables, they'd been a ragtag group when he'd first started with them but even now they had begun to form as a group through training. It had taken weeks for them to get up to full strength, the majority of their number had suffered malnutrition, Tyr among them and the adjustment had been difficult - but they had stood strong, rising from the muck that life had thrown them into. Even now, as the lights flickered with a jolt of the ship as it entered the atmosphere, he could hear the screams of the dying, taste the smell of death on the air - Krieghold had been its own hell.

Looking to his second in command, he grinned. Today there would be blood spilt - it was a matter of fact, the question was how soon. Tyr knew little about the mission they were on, the Auxiliary wasn't exactly high on the priority list when it came to distributing intel, and so he'd managed to learn only that the species on the ground were highly hostile and insectoid. Who didn't like a good bug hunt? Geared up and prepared to deploy, the soldiers of the Auxiliary, First Legion, were itchy for a fight. As the shuttle bucked and rolled they grasped their handholds tightly - they were lucky to get a transport with handholds - all the Auxiliary ever got were hand me downs, ships that should have been retired decades ago but for some reason or another were yet space-worthy.

Soon they would touch down - he could tell by the angle of descent, and when they did it would be as if the stars themselves had begun to fall. Everyone loved a good bug hunt.

[member="Torian Pierce"] | [member="Lydia Finn-Camden"]​

 

[Stardust Solus Skirae]

[member="Lydia Finn-Camden"] [member="Torian Pierce"] [member="Tyr Helgryndr"]

This would be Her second deployment with the first order since pledging her help to them, she sat in the back of the shuttle respectfully as she checked her weapons one last time, westars on both hips next to the sabers, her sith sword on her right side, and she checked her cell in her right gun arm before she nodded and changed it back picking her helmet up

She lifted it up as she looked into the visor, it had seen many years of battle, pain, destruction...she ran a hand over it before she put it on allowing the helmet to seal up her lekku safely before it sealed up fully and her head linked up as she let a breath out

She looked around seeing the sea of white before her, she rolled her shoulders gently as she held her sabers ready when the doors opened and she exited....another day in her life as a warrior

 

[Davin Jusik]

[member="Torian Pierce"] [member="Lydia Finn-Camden"] [member="Tyr Helgryndr"]


Bright overhead lights dimmed as the dropship Davin and his squad occupied found itself propelled into the icy void surrounding the monument to First Order Military might. A dull red flooded the interior as the 3rd S.A.R.U Troopers sealed their suits, synchronized with the ship's launch procedure. Surrounding the Scouts were various members of the Eighth Company and a Reporter or something. Davin briefly wondered what sort of mind it took to willfully go into combat without a weapon, as an observer to terrible hive creatures and gore. Ahead the Eighth's Leadership reined in his soldiers, who seemed to have a slight resignation to following his command, but heeled regardless. Behind Davin stood four other men who were gleefully devoted to the First Order's Cause. Most were criminals who had been reeducated and given a second chance, the rest were selected from the more ideologically devoted of the Military Services. The Medic had been cycled over after a conflict with an officer and reviewal of his past associations. This was his first deployment with the unconventional unit. With his history and NCO status they'd given him a squad to command before sending them off to attach with a regular unit.

The 3rd was rarely entirely at the same place at the same time, with various teams being constantly shipped out to Infantry units to act as recon and intelligence acquisition assets. Charged with relaying any information they found on the Battlefield to the Juggernaut that was the First Order's Armed Services. Amongst other less civil actions that they weren't to speak of under pain of death.

The ship continued to bounce along as Davin's gloved finger played with his weapon's safety and observed the life signs of his team, taking note of who's pulse said what.

 

[LT-137]

As the illumination of Imperial Truth spread out into the darkness of a chaotic galaxy, I found myself standing before more and more extraordinary individuals. The civilian woman; who had begun sealing her environmental suit before being rudely interrupted by my callous display of dominance, was one of these people as mentioned above. On the surface, she seemed calm and collected - a rare trait for someone that didn’t undergo the hypnotic implantation's or years of simulated training. The first thought that had come to mind was that she was doing her best to keep the swarming tide of emotions bottled within, and kept her mind focused on checking her gear.

I couldn’t tell if my assumption was correct, but as the door behind me began to rise, sealing us off from the overhanging light of the Hangar bay, it no longer mattered.

Pushing the errant train of thought from the forefront of my mind, I set about securing myself in the crash couch. Yanking down hard on the restraints and locking it into place, my armoured bulk was saved from a gruesome death should the impossible happen and the Lander crashes on the surface. I chuckled then, as my mind drew upon the data files given to me by High Command regarding our newest passenger. She too had seen the unthinkable become a reality, as it was more than likely she witnessed the agonizingly slow death of the FIV Wrath, as it was torn from the skies by the Alliance and their Darkside Heretics. That was something that would harrow, and marr the soul for an eternity, but yet here she was, telling me that she was ready to plunge feet first into an infested world.

Clearly, she was stronger than I had initially surmised. Hell, she probably enjoyed watching the whirlwind of fury and chance. That was fine by me, as we shared something in common. Violence was all that I ever knew and had already come to terms with my impending doom. Sufficed to say, I was used to it - even craved it when the frigid caress of “peace” began to take hold. They say that I chased death when the rage took hold, running into the fray like a frothing berserker, hoping that one of my foes would be worthy enough to claim my skull. Sadly, as I still lived and breathed, I’ve been found wanting.

The deck beneath my feet began to rumble, as the muted howl of the ion engines ignited somewhere in the distance. Our vessel would dust off the Hangar deck and touch down on the surface, where we’d be released from our metallic coffin and disgorged into the heart of the swarm. Knowing the madness that would come for them, through previous experience and various government approved HoloFilms, I turned my shrouded gaze once more towards our unit’s reporter.

“When we make it down to the surface,” I began, “Stay behind me. You’ll get the best footage there.”

| [member="Lydia Finn-Camden"] | [member="Tyr Helgryndr"] | [member="Stardust Raxis"] | [member="Davin Jusik"] |​