Dominion Closing Pantora's Box (OPA Dominion of Pantora)

[Atlas Drake]

​

One year later and Pantora was still burning. Not every agent of the Empire withdrew along with their Emperor. Fanatical Children of the New Order continued to harass a beleaguered Pantoran Guard under orders from Sith handlers. Reconstruction efforts were hampered every time a new war zone sparked up. Despite the Pantoran's superior training and homeworld advantage they were helpless to curtail such wanton acts of terror. Scattered rebel holdouts kept the city from falling into enemy hands but this place was on the brink. Hope was dying.

Until the Colichemarde changed everything.

To his amazement Captain Drake found when his crew arrived in system they were not alone. Reinforcements were pouring in from throughout the territories, OPA radicals ready to fight for the cause over a symbol of Sith aggression. Atlas wasn't here to fight the Pantoran's war however. He was here to end it. A state of the art planetary shield generator was being deployed over the moon, cutting off the terrorists' supply lines and starving them out once and for all. That's why he was on board a not yet fully functional shield gate overseeing the installation personally instead of on the bridge of his star cruiser. The Sith would have no choice but to launch an attack and there were even rumors that Darth Carnifex himself was monitoring the situation with renewed interest.

"Is this the latest intel from Orto Plutonia?"

He frowned at the datapad. Before losing contact with their scout party Atlas had received some disturbing reports about the Talz tribes. They were displaying unusually aggressive behavior both towards other locals and outsiders. Traps were set around their villages and spiritual sites. The last thing he needed was a native civil war which meant calling in specialists. Perhaps the secret lie somewhere in their Force attunement...

"We need some kind of Jedi down there."


// ACCESSING ALLIANCE UNDERVINE //
// UPLINK ESTABLISHED //
FULLY OPERATIONAL - Pantora's allies have returned bearing gifts. Protect the shield gate from Sith sabotage efforts until construction is complete. Meet with local officials in the relatively secure orbital 'green zone' or escort fuel tankers to resupply a thirsty Alliance convoy.
APOCALYPSE NOW - Take the fight to the Sith and their lackeys on the streets of Pantora. While the central city stands relatively intact its outskirts are still bombed ruins in varying states of all out warfare. Eliminate Children of the New Order or rescue trapped survivors.
DANCES WITH SNOW WOOKIEES - Driven mad by all this conflict in the Force, the peaceful Talz tribes are on the brink of civil war. Navigate past primitive traps and enraged mystics to purify local holy sites and calm their restless spirits.
BYOO - Bring Your Own Objective!

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

Objective: APOCALYPSE NOW.
Location: Central City - Streets of Pantora.
Apparel: Spacer Attire.
Atlas Drake

Caedyn Arenais hadn't been present for the first fight for Pantora against the First Order and allies of the Sith Empire, his place had still been back home on Commenor where House Arenais had still been the reigning monarchy. So much had changed since that time, and yet for Pantora, so little had improved. Today the Outer Planets Alliance were making the push to secure the moon once and for all, and as the Steward of the Jedi Enclave of Svivren, Caedyn had given his word that he would do all that was in his ability to help bring stability to the Outer Rim.

Not everyone appreciated the Outer Planets Alliance however, the Sith Empire had been reportedly fueling the remnants of the First Order and Imperialist Regime still present in the Rim. Caedyn had recently run into these trouble-makers on Faldos, as well as the recent attack against the Enclave itself. They were out to make life hell for those who fought for peace and justice in the Galaxy and so it was his responsibility as a Jedi to counter their actions and track their movements wherever he could.

Landing within the central city spaceport, Caedyn left the Repertoire in the hands of Lexas, his droid co-pilot. With the presence of Agents of the Empire in the sector, Caedyn had suggested they take off and get clear of the fighting in order to keep her from being damaged. It wasn't a state of the art ship compared to some, but he still cared for it all the same as it had been commissioned for he and his Sister.

"This is Caedyn Arenais to Alliance Command, I'm on site in Pantora" He reported in over the Comm's. There would be atleast one Jedi on the ground today working to contain the chaos that these Imperial Agents were so intent on making.

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

Objective: Apocalypse Now
Location: Central City
Tags: Atlas Drake Caedyn Arenais

​

"Shouldn't you be back on Svivren?" came a different voice over the shared comms. And, surprisingly enough, Caedyn would notice it was fairly close to where he was standing; while the Jedi Knight was exiting the hangar bay he'd dropped down in, Cotan came over from a different part of the spaceport, clapping the younger man on the shoulder. "This is Grand Marshal Sar'andor, made it ground-side. If Amroth's still up in orbit, tell him to get his backside down here on the double." Rather unceremoniously he cut his transmission off, shoving the device in one pocket.

While retrieving his newest lightsaber from his belt, he turned back to Caedyn, a small smile hidden under his facial hair. "Really, though, kid, for a temple steward or whatever it is you're supposed to be, you're a ways off from that enclave." He patted Caedyn again, somewhat shoving him forwards while doing so as a signal to start walking. "Keep your lightsaber or a blaster in hand while you're down here, don't want to be caught with it stuck on your belt or in a holster if we get jumped." With that cheerful thought, he picked up his pace, starting to pass Caedyn.

"Oh, also, Asha says hi."

 

[Griet van Vliet]

Objective: Apocalypse Now
Location: Central City
Allies: Cotan Sar'andor Caedyn Arenais
Enemies: Children of the New Order

"I will never forgive you for what happened on Pantora for the past year or so!" a senior assurance staff member vented when Griet arrived on-site. "I'm convinced you are the engagement lead that ruined everything for us on Pantora: even though professional standards were properly applied, and there was no real reason to question the unqualified opinion given to the Aing-Tii entity"

Although VPN's presence on Pantora is much more diminished after the attack, it appeared that Pantora had bigger issues. Not only the Pantorans would, for the most part, still be led to believe the Sith attacked the planet because of some wanton desire on Bastion, or some other reason that have nothing to do with the firm, she was a little apprehensive to set foot in the office that had much less staff in it. However, given the reports from the system, she feels that disturbed spirits on nearby Orto Plutonia didn't warrant a forensic audit, since the firm determined there would be no reason for Talz to disturb spirits for the purposes of committing financial crimes. And there was reasonable doubt that spirits were disturbed due to unintentional interference. What forensic auditors still working on Pantora, on the other hand, did have to deliver was a much more disturbing forensic audit report, with blame affixed to these "Children of the New Order". Yet, in forensic auditing, the auditor's job is not so much to bring the perpetrators of wrongdoing to justice, but to determine who perpetrated wrongdoing, and how, so that the authorities can actually do something.

"Calm down: we never officially knew why the Sith attacked Pantora. It's entirely possible these Sith have other objectives in mind this far out from Bastion, especially with what's happening on Faldos. The Faldos trail led us back here, Master Vliet, and blame is affixed to these Children of the New Order" the forensic audit engagement lead reported to Griet.

"These Children of the New Order are growing more violent, so they will resist arresting them. They are ready, as I have seen on Svivren, to resort to lethal force, but I am the partner here that can best deal with them" Griet explained, before going on patrol around the office's neighborhood.

 

[Cathul Thuku]

Objective: Fully Operational
Location: Orto Plutonia's orbit
Allies: Atlas Drake
Enemies: Children of the New Order

After the events of Zonju, Therapy Command was busy tracing those Agents of Chaos that attacked Zonju V without provocation. It was for this very reason why Therapy Command could only send a token detachment to Svivren to fend off these ex-First Order naval personnel turned pirates. To escort a convoy laden with fuel and construction supplies, however, it was best not to risk the largest units. As such, the detachment used to escort the convoy may have a cruiser as its flagship, but then again, loading the fighters with cluster missiles was key here, especially since the enemy would usually have some point-defense on hand. Yet, point-defense was what cluster missiles were for, so that other fighters with bombing capability can swoop in with less of a chance of being targeted by PD.

 

[Hamish McNair]

Apocalypse Now
The City Outskirts
Post 1​

There was always a sickening silence that followed a bomb. A lull in the air, a stillness birthed from the sudden chaos. In a flash, countless lives were extinguished; a growing plume of smoke in their wake. Those lucky, or unlucky, enough to still draw breath always took a moment to register the disaster they'd survived. The paralysis of shock.

For Hamish, he recovered quick enough. Call it experience.

Still, a dull ringing rang through his skull like a bad hangover. He readjusted his helmet, which had come loose in the blast, and pulled himself from the rubble of a dilapidated speeder shop. The dust and dirt was thick in the air, reducing visibility tenfold.

Was it a suicide bomb? Likely.

The burning husk of a transport speeder sputtered and growled in the middle of the road. Bodies littered the vicinity.

Feth.

Ham let his blaster rifle rest on its sling and he reached down to pull one of his squadmates up. The rest were somewhere in the rubble. With a pat on the shoulder, as if to ask 'you good?', he gazed around and considered his next move.

Meanwhile, the paralytic shock wore off for those still alive. The screaming began.

 

[Braelyn Zale]

Objective: Dances with Snow Wookiees

There were issues in the galaxy, and least of them, were the Sith. That was all before her. Zale was a Judge, her father was a Jedi, and she knew the stories of the wars, of how the Sith and Jedi combat each other, and sometimes a world was caught in the crossfire. During this time? It was the world of Pantora. The OPA was returning, revitalized and reinvigorated to protect the worlds that. Her fighter was currently docked on Pamarthe and the new Judge was bringing her Stinger the Heron to the world. She knew that there a few things on the world that could use a Judge’s hand. Her own hands found the kyber crystal around her neck.

Her father’s. He had been here at Pantora.

Reports found the Judges that the Children of the Emperor, but that seemed… successfully out of her range. Other reports came from the Talz, a bit of a civil war, on who to trust. She had a bit of winter gear, some of it seemed surplus from the Kathol, others from the Levantines. She had learned from her father a bit about the ways of the Jedi, but it wasn’t for her. Zale’s only hope was that she strong enough to help calm things.

As the Heron landed, she suited up and stepped out.

 

[Amaris Tanenat]

Objective: Apocalypse Now
Location: Somewhere in-between the outskirts and central city
Apparel

Amaris sighed as she peered over the edge of the semi-collapsed building. One tall, and very puffed fur, could be seen from afar. The other held back aggressively as blue eyes scanned in front of her. A breath of relief escaped her lips as perhaps a brief respite from crazy guys in weird uniforms who kept trying to pew pew her and the few blue ones that were cowering behind her.

A bomb pierced her ears as she continued to scout the street before her. Probably a few streets over. Too close for comfort but far enough away they would probably be okay.

"Do you see anything? Hey, lady?"

"Shhhh," she whispered quietly to one of the younger Pantorans. He was probably only a few years younger than her, in truth. "I don't see anyone but stay down," her tail flicked back and forth in quick motions, her fur almost fully puffed out. In one hand she held a generic blaster - one that she had picked up from a dead man before she got here.

A blaster bolt flew by her ear, barely missing the extended fur. A natural, instinctive jump backwards happened as her free hand practically knocked the kid down to the ground. In her other hand, her fingers pressed the trigger on her own blaster. The others seemed to cower more than they already were; but they seemed almost used to the sounds. It tugged a little on her heartstrings and not in the good way, either.

Ugh, one day she'd have her own ship. Stupid transportation services and hyperspace. Things like this could be easily avoided if she just had her own ship.

She crouched back to the counter, building, or whatever it could be called. Another bolt from her blaster fired towards the general direction of whomever had shot at her and the little group. At least she wasn't about to get eaten by subterranean monsters with a Jedi...

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

APOCALYPSE NOW
Location: Central City - Streets of Pantora
Apparel: Spacer Attire
Interacting with: Cotan Sar'andor
Nearby: Amaris Tanenat, Hamish McNair , Griet van Vliet

"Oh, also, Asha says hi".
​

It was enough that someone had gotten the jump on him in these tense times, but that this stranger had uttered the name of Caedyn's former Master caused him to spin on his heels in surprise, not alarm but sheer astonishment. The Je'daii had vanished, and with them all trace of Lief . To hear her name spoken from someone other than himself these days, well it had gotten to the point where he was starting to feel like he was remembering Ghosts.

"Who are you?" Caedyn replied without giving much thought to the way that he might have sounded in his surprised state, "and how do you know Asha?" he added with a little reluctance in his voice. After such a long time now, the years that had passed, he was almost afraid to hear of how she was doing and whether or not she was even still alive and kicking out there somewhere...-Wherever she had disappeared to.

Trying to recover from the sudden and unexpected interruption, Caedyn poised himself to consider the fact the man had mentioned Svivren. The Enclave had formerly been under the Je'daii Order thanks to his Father, and only when the Order vanished, did Caedyn later re-purpose it for the Jedi once more. "...Have we met somewhere?" He asked then, somewhat uncertain but something about this stranger seemed vaguely familiar to him. They had never actually met in truth, though the two of them shared the closest relationships with Asha than most other Je'daii had, and in some form or another, they had been made aware of one another through her tellings and tales over the earlier years.

 

[Griet van Vliet]

Objective: Apocalypse Now
Equipment: In signature
Allies: Cotan Sar'andor Caedyn Arenais Hamish McNair
Nearby: Amaris Tanenat
Enemies: Children of the New Order
Location: Central City

It didn't take long for Griet to locate a trapped refugee near the accounting office. At this point, all she could sense about the refugees was there was a person other than a Pantoran with them. But between her and the refugees was a squad of these Children of the New Order to which blame was affixed for the financial crimes committed on Faldos. They appeared to be on a search-and-destroy mission, but with Griet being on their backs, there was no time to waste: she set her rifle to burst fire. With that said, knowing that bursts fire in cones at that rate of fire, she needed to make sure there was no civilian in the cone prior to firing a volley of armor-piercing, white Umbaran electromagnetic plasma at these hostiles. And then the volley was actually fired at them.

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

Objective: Apocalypse Now
Location: Central City
Tag: Caedyn Arenais

​

Cotan was mildly surprised at the lack of recognition, though he didn't let it show on his face. "What, you don't recognize the name?" he asked, after Caedyn finished rattling off questions. "Weird, I'd think you'd remember another Je'daii. Or have you separated yourself so far from that training that you don't remember any of the others?" Of course, the true answer was just that it had been long enough since Caedyn had seen Cotan or even heard much about him that he couldn't remember easily.

Wouldn't stop Cotan from trying to mess with him.

"Cotan Sar'andor. Y'know, fought Darth Carnifex multiple times, head of the Judges, good with a lightsaber..." He stopped for a moment, watching Caedyn's face for any recognition. "...Your old master's partner, then-ORC liaison to the Je'daii when they were building their academy on Ceto..." He spread his hands in a gesture of defeat. "I'm running out of stuff here, Arenais. If you don't remember me now, you never will."

 

[Eldin Daine]

Dancin' With The Snow Wookiees
Tag: Braelyn Zale
Location: Snow Plains

On ground waiting for others to arrive, Eldin pulled on his gloves and curse himself for not waiting on his ship. He shook his head, wondering how and why he had got here among this group. One minute is was roped into a robbery, gaining credits for the Rebel, by some young buck associated with this Outer Rim faction and other moment later, he is on their pay roll.

It was cold, to say the least, but his fleece lined later coat kept that out mostly, and the glare from the ice blinded him, from the far horizon. Some of the natives were getting restless, Talz he them referred to and the threat of civil war was on the horizon if some of these Jedi folk could not do something about it.

The sound of a ship approaching, and Eldin walked under the struts of his ship to watch it land. The spray of ice kicked up from the engines, spitting into his face and he cursed again, raising his arm to shield his face as best he could. He waited to see who had decided to join in this mission, to walk with him into the traps of death that this mission promised, and as the ramp lowered, he got his answer.

A girl by the cut of the figure.

He adjusted his rifle slung over his shoulder and as is habit, his hand laid on his blaster to make sure all was in place. “Good day to you Ma’am”, he said in a lower lyrical voice on approach, although he did not look at her, to busy watching his feet. Man, this ice was slippery, his feet sliding all over the place, so much for snow boots.

“You know if any others are joining us?”. If what the reports were say were true, two ain’t going to be enough. Eldin was no Jedi, nor diplomat, his job was protection, scouting and tracking. Or whatever was needed.

 

[Braelyn Zale]

Sure, maybe she should be out helping the Judges on the main world, but that was Sith, that felt a good fair step above her paygrade. So helping the Talz, that she could do. The world though, this world was frozen. All the water but in the form of snow. She shook her head as she pulled her fuzzy hood up over her head. A hand down to her holster, she grabbed at the butt of her revolver. Yeah, it was still there, she just hoped if she needed it, there wouldn’t be a freeze.

The weapon should fire true, that was all she hoped for. A gunslinger and a Judge, she knew how Jedi handled their weapons, she hoped one day to upgrade this revolver to something that can stand with those weapons. Didn’t Zak of Amroth have a special one? Maybe she should visit him.

Before having a chance to survey the area around her ship, she did see the YV-666. Seeing the man who spoke, she nodded. “I’m not sure. Judges got reports of the Children of the New Order over on Pantora. They may be focusing over there. We can wait and see, then get moving? But not too long, it is cold.” She laughed a little, shaking her head.

“I’m Braelyn Zale, out of Pamarthe.”

Eldin Daine

 

[Eldin Daine]

Dancin' With The Snow Wookiees
Tag: Braelyn Zale
Location: Snow Plains

​

Turns out the girl was one of them Judges he had heard about, not to keen on judges but maybe she wasn’t all that bad. Bit of a looker too which might make this trip more worth the effort. No harm in getting to know the Judge before making his own judgement. Might turn out to be just the two of them. Although Eldin was not entirely convinced his pay bracket covered this kind of mission.

He turned and looked at his ship, he supposed he could just pack up and leave but where would he go? His head lowered and he shook his head with the though of continuing an on the run existence.

Instead his gaze shifted to the skies, he squinted trying to see if there were more ships on the horizon heading their way. But nothing .. “Well, we can wait a bit”, he agreed, but like she said, not too long.

“So, Braelyn Zale out of Pamarthe .. what brings you out here among these Outer .. what are they called now.. Planets Alliance?”, time to pass the time while waiting.

“You look like you can handle yourself”, he pointed to her weapons. “The name’s Eldin Daine, don’t have me a title, not one I could repeat in front of a lady anyways”.

 

[Jend-Ro Quill]

Dances with Snow Wookiees
Braelyn Zale Eldin Daine

Quill fundamentally disagreed with OPA leadership on this situation. Ironically, that was the only reason they'd got him off Hoth.

In Quill's experience, indigenous species had little use for offworlders dropping in to offer their idea of a quick fix, especially with sacred sites and internecine grudges involved. And if they were angry with each other there was a tangible reason. The first step was to ask.

He brought his old Y-Wing down at the snowy rendezvous point, near a man and a woman and a pair of ships. He zipped and clipped and layered as necessary - this place was almost as cold as home - then climbed out of the cockpit to join them.

"Hello."

 

[Amaris Tanenat]

Apocalypse Now
Location: Somewhere in-between the outskirts and central city
Nearby: Caedyn Arenais | Hamish McNair | Griet van Vliet | Cotan Sar'andor​

"Didn't have to drag me like that, dude," the kid muttered as he crawled on all fours back next to the Felacatian. "Aren't you one of those cat things? Like change into the roar and fight?" He asked, big eyed with hope that she could somehow save them all.

Amaris sighed, "Not that simple," she muttered as she peered around - the sound of her blaster permeating the air for a brief moment as it landed in the chest of the hostile. One down - yes, as she twirled to fall on her butt with her back against the walling. "I dunno kiddo, stay calm and we'll get through this, alright?" She pat his head gently with a warm smile.

The kid didn't appreciate that much, though. "Hey, you're the cat!" He growled as he scrambled back to his dad. Amaris simply scowled at him. "If they get us, he's on his own," she muttered under her breath as she peered from the street. "Stay here," she whispered as she decided to venture into the street, staying behind crashed hovercars and the like.

Maybe she could find someone with some authority to help them, even if she couldn't go very far.

 

[Griet van Vliet]

Objective: Apocalypse Now
Equipment: In signature
Allies: OPA Amaris Tanenat Cotan Sar'andor Caedyn Arenais Hamish McNair
Enemies: Children of the New Order

By firing the volley, Griet was under no illusion that she would be able to kill the whole squad in one go. Yes, firing from behind took the enemy by surprise, and that killed a few of the hostiles. But the hostiles that survived, instead took cover behind a crashed hovercar. In the devastated landscape around the office building where VPN was based on Pantora, she could sense someone calling for aid, possibly evac, in the vicinity. And yet, between that someone (Amaris) and her, there was a few crashed vehicles, with the Imps taking cover behind these in fear of being hit by armor-piercing rounds that could kill them on the spot. Just that meant approaching cautiously and being ready to get down if the enemy returned fire at her. For now anyway, the enemy was just assuming she was some OPA special operator without suspecting anything more than that.

 

[Jerec Asyr]

APOCALYPSE NOW

"...he said he'd blow up my ship, so I shot him. Turns out he had an energy shield. And that's how the Colichemarde got wasted." Jerec wiped his eyes with the thumb of the hand that wasn't holding two Children of the New Order at gunpoint. "So obviously there's some survivor's guilt, and some other guilt, and just a general shame - I'm a Corellian and I couldn't tell a bluff wasn't a bluff?"

The two tattooed terrorist Sith cultists exchanged glances. He'd made them drop their big jagged vibroblades in the street. They looked about ready to take the risk, which made sense. If memory served, he'd been storytelling for a while. Not drunk or high, just off balance, emotionally. It had been a long few months. First he'd lost his job with Gallofree, then-

Well, lots of things he'd told these two cultists at gunpoint.

They lunged at the same time, scooped up their blades, and caught blasterfire to the chest and face as they charged.

An idea came to mind, a silver lining: maybe they had a ship worth taking. A new boat. Jerec hadn't replaced the Colichemarde yet. This could be the day.

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

APOCALYPSE NOW
Location: Central City - Streets of Pantora
Apparel: Spacer Attire
Interacting with: Cotan Sar'andor
Nearby: Amaris Tanenat, Hamish McNair , Griet van Vliet

​

It wasn't that Caedyn didn't recognize the name, but in his surprise he'd neglected to hear the man rightly. "Cotan Sar'andor?" he repeated rhetorically, "What're you doing here?" He asked a little dumb-founded. Of course Lief had spoken about him, the man was her significant other, though he still couldn't recall their last meeting or if there had been one at all. So much time had passed that it was difficult to grasp much outside of the personal training he had taken under Asha herself.

"The Je'daii all left" He replied a little defensively. Caedyn had remained behind after the Order had taken to the Silent Fleet and seemingly disappeared from the known Galaxy, where as he had remained on Svivren and tried to continue his path as a Journeyer alone without guidance for so long. In the end he had been led to the Order of the Silver Jedi and his path had changed to take on the life of a Jedi Knight. "I did all I could...-But alone, I wasn't ready" he admitted, the acknowledgement of falling away from the path to becoming a Ranger was a bitter sore spot that he struggled to decipher the fault, his or his former Masters disappearance along with all the rest. He couldn't control what had happened to Asha, but he was responsible and could change his actions. Much of the resentment over the failure to keep the Je'daii Order in some semblance of an active presence, he had placed firmly upon himself. Cotan didn't realize the burden that Caedyn had placed on himself over the past. It was a harmless jest, but a deep wound that still festered upon the mention of their shared origins.

"I had no idea you were connected to the Judges...-Asha never went into detail. She was very private about your relationship" he explained after a moment of sore silence. "I was only with the Je'daii for six years or so....-A lot of it was spent moving from one world to the next, and back then the Coalition wasn't exactly known to me either".

 

[Braelyn Zale]

Seems like it was going to be more than just the two Judge. Well, she was assuming the gunslinger was a Judge, didn’t strike her as a Jedi. She should probably ask. As Eldin was speaking to her, she smiled. Coming off a tropical water world, the snow plains here were nothing she preferred to deal with. “I’m a Judge, so, I go where it feels I’m needed.” She held onto the green kyber crystal when she said ‘feels,’ although it was pretty natural and subconscious.

“And yeah, I think its Outer Planets Alliance. Seems the Rim is getting a bit more secure nowadays.” She smirked at Eldin. “A pleasure to meet you. So, not a Judge? Just… here to help?” That was a good thing. The OPA depended on everyone who came here, everyone who fought to protect the way the Rim was. She was more than happy to meet everyone out here. “I do alright, prefer to be up there.” She said as she looked to the sky.

And that was when she heard it, the hum of another ship. Y-Wing. She was reaching out to it in the Force, but then saw the man stepping out. Jedi, she figured. “You joining us to help the Talz?” She asked and smiled. IF they were all ready, she’d be taking point.

Eldin Daine
Jend-Ro Quill