Invasion Darkness Rises; the Battle of Kintan - TSE Invasion of SJO Kintan

[Lanik Dawnstar]

Location: New Kalandra
Allies: Wyatt Morga | Elise | Ryv
Enemies: Darth Voyance
Equipment: Jedi Armor | Aspis Shield | Lightsaber
Ambiance

In one arm Lanik carried one of the children from the group he’d encountered being escorted by the Sith ravagers. Behind the Jedi the small handful of others followed. When they told him just where they were being led the Jedi’s heart nearly stopped. The Sith were not known for their kindness to civilians when they took a world. He tried to peer through the force for answers yet none came for just what fate awaited those that had been led astray. Everything was shrouded, veiled in the cover of darkness. The thick miasma permeated the streets of Kalandra City. Part of the Jedi urged him to go stop the ravagers, yet the other side couldn’t simply abandon children in the streets without protection, in the middle of a warzone.

Settling on protecting the children first Lanik had managed to get them to follow him to a nearby spaceport so they could be evacuated. Rounding the final corner leading to the spaceport the padawan’s heart sank. What should’ve been a haven for the children, what could’ve been there way off the planet and to safety was being taken. Flames rose from the spaceport. Both Jedi and Silver ranger bodies laid strewn about the ground. What few survivors there were fleeing the scene, their terror filled the air.

Tears began to fall free of Lanik’s eyes as the children behind him also began to wept. Motioning to a squad of rangers that were amidst a tactical retreat Lanik summoned them. Turning to the children Lanik set the one he’d been carrying down. Looking to the oldest of them, blinking away the tears and centering himself Lanik spoke. “Alright, I’m going to need you to do me a favor. You’re going to need to be brave for them. These soldiers will get you to someplace safe alright?”

“What about you?”

“I’m going to buy you all some time.”

“Will you come back for us?”

The question hurt more than any saber wound, it sunk to the very center of Lanik’s being. It penetrated the heart of the Jedi and threatened to bring tears back to the surface. “Of course I will.” Giving a false smile to the children Lanik rose turning to the approaching rangers.

“Get the children to another evac zone, I’ll be buying you time here.” Staring off past the soldiers, Lanik simply began to walk forward. The soldiers continued past him to collect the children. Each step felt like a lifetime as Lanik entered the open. At this moment he stood at the edge of the Abyss, peering over and into it. This abyss was none other than the rutan twi’lek. The flames seemed to bow away from her as if she were a queen. Her presence almighty, towering, all consuming. He was but a candle while she was a void seeking to consume all.

“You cannot hide from me. Jedi. Better to suffer defeat than suffer oblivion.”

“No one’s hiding.” The words left Lanik’s mouth without hesitation. He knew true fear in these moments as he took in the Sith Lord’s form. Goosebumps rose up on his skin, hair stood on end. Each step forward was a trial, each moment that passed a tribulation as Lanik fought the urge to flee. The silver hilt within his right hand spat blue flames that formed into a weapon. The sky blue blade of energy came to point at Voyance’s chest. Behind it the determined gaze of a Jedi willing to risk it all stood.

 

[Hailyn]

THE BIBLE IS BULLSHIT

​

Location: New Kalandra Fringes
Objective: Take the city, Teach Jedi futility
Allies: The Sith Empire | Darth Bellum , Karina Lowe
Enemies: The Silver Jedi Order | Ryv , Erika Garter Sin , Jessica Med-Beq
Equipment: Orbalisk Armor, Lightsaber

Her smile disappeared as the Jedi made it clear that his choice was to remain an obstacle. Despite the bravado, there had been no desire in her to have killed the child beyond the glimpse of a future where the notion of mercy would have been lost in a similar manner with her at the receiving end of whatever wrath they could have conjured, and, while she had no such qualms with striking down soldiers that had clearly made the decision to fight for themselves, the option for survival had been floated and the Jedi had chosen a senseless, pointless, death over his own safety. 'And for what?' She mused to herself. He must have forgotten the rest of the Sith Empire's forces were on-world - there would be no stopping the surge of soldiers, Sith, and others that marched into Kalandra or on Kh'aris, provoking her into focusing her attention on him was nothing more than an exercise in futility. Slowing her, alone, would change nothing except his own fate.

"Your father was a fool." She said with a frown, the other end of her double bladed lightsaber igniting. "Slowing me will save none of your friends." She added, stepping towards him as she brought the lightsaber in front of her, holding it horizontally in front of her chest, while she raised her other hand again to take hold of the other end of the lightsaber's hilt. Without a further moment's pause she pulled one side of the lightsaber apart from the other, separating it at the hilt - turning one saberstaff into two individual lightsabers, now held in a reverse grip in the manner of Jar'kai. She stepped towards him, rotating the sabers in her hand to achieve a proper grip, and shook her head slightly in frustration. She leaned back - then flung forwards, the saber in her right hand brought down with the weight of her body while the saber in her left came in from the side.

The duel had finally begun.

 

[Reggie Faayare]

Location: New Kalandra
Objective: Escort the civilians to safety
Allies: SJO | Lanik Dawnstar | WelshGuy | Wyatt Morga | Elise | Jessica Med-Beq | Aaran Tafo | Ryv
Enemies: The Sith Empire | Darth Voyance | Kainan Wolfe | Darth Bellum

Reggie and his group had went and stopped a few ambushes from succeeding, preventing some groups of civilians being taken. However, they couldn't keep running around and fighting off the enemy forces without making sure the civilians had the proper amount of soldiers to escort them to the evac. Now he and the few Rangers he had with him were escorting a group of civilians to the evac. The chaos on the battlefield kept growing it seemed, so they did all they could to transverse areas not as populated with enemy forces, though that was no easy task. Their main goal was to keep the civilians out of as much danger as they could and get them to a spaceport so they can leave the battle zone.

The Padawan, along with a few Rangers, led the group through the streets, while Simon and the other Rangers watched the back of the civilians. With Reggie taking point, he could defend the group from most attacks that would come from the front, while his allies would take fire on the enemies they encounter. The force helped guide him through some areas where they could avoid enemy soldiers, but he wouldn't be able to completely evade encounters with enemies considering they were moving further into the city.

 

[Joycelyn Zambrano]

Objective: Assault Fortress Kh’aris from beneath.
Location: Fenn’s Cavern.
Tags: Cara Dorniarn Darth Carnifex Lorale Farmar Darth Prazutis Taeli Raaf Tekkio Lirka Ka | Kiff Brayde Kyra Perl Jerek Morrows Kat Decoria Acaadi Valkren Calderon

Spoiler

Troops: Varanin Legion.
Burrowers:Rupturer, Festerer,Blighter, Rumbler.
Fighters: Ravagers, Natasizi-tatek, Poisoners.
Equipment: Imperator’s Raiment, Zaudraka, SIF-7 Minos, Grenades.

The battle was truly heating up now, above ground as below. The struggle was palpable, and the chorus of rapid heartbeats was as incessant as the artillery barrage above.

Those Rumblers at the front that had not been compromised by the subterranean battle now set their belts and drills to the direction of the surface and, by the order of Dornian, started to clear the path that would connect the subterranean assault with the surface assault. It was by no means a retreat, as the troops stayed behind and solidified their hold on the part of the caverns while the vanguard pushed forward against the Kintan 6th and their allies.

“Rumblers are moving.” Joycelyn raised her hand against as she felt a ping on her left. “Send reinforcements to my position. We need to hold these droids back!”

Flames flickered between Joycelyn’s fingertips, playing with the contours of her armour. When she opened her hand against the ping on her left, a shimmering force field extended in front of her. A storm of slugs crashed against the field and flattened as they bounced back. Her focus narrowed in this momentary deadlock between her and her opponent as she advanced with the shield. Zaudraka in hand. However, her stride was suddenly cut by a sharp pain to the back of her leg. The vahlacanthix was brought to one knee as a slug cut its way through the armourweave joint of her armour and passed clean through. She bit her teeth hard to keep her focus.

“Sniper!” - Aese shouted, while he and Vexa picked up their blasters and scanned the surroundings. Vey reloaded her grenade launcher when the second shot hit her in the chest, causing her to clutch her armour. Red trickled out between her fingers. The two zabraks peppered the sniper’s nest with suppressive fire, strafing to gain better angles, but they could not find purchase.

Vey rolled up to a sitting position and threw her helmet aside before picking up her grenade launcher. She turned it on the ranger assailing Joyce and, with a smile on her lips, squeezed the trigger. The rocket shot out and hit right behind the ranger, sending him tumbling forward and clashing into Joycelyn’s shield.

A talon raked through the air and earth, smearing the blood of sniper and spotter against the stone and throwing their bisected bodies to the side. The larger sithspawn had arrived. The Ravager shrieked as slugs buried themselves in its hard carapace, but only seemed to anger the monster as it charged in the direction of the gunners.

Aese took the moment to run to Vey, laying down a compression on the legionnaire’s chest,

“Vey.” Joycelyn looked down at the fierce soldier. Her face was growing paler by the moment, lips going white, eyes unfocused. “Your Empire thanks you.” She knelt down by Vey’s side, placing a hand on the back of her head and bending down to kiss her forehead. “I thank you.”

The legionnaire’s lips curled in a wicked smile as she coughed another squirt of dark red, and then she was still and cold.

"Bring me ten of theirs." The anger flowed off Joycelyn, resonating with the dark waves above ground "Alive, if you can."

Joycelyn looked up as several Ravagers thundered through the cavern, ripping and tearing with their scythes. They joined the festerers and the rupturers that already assailed the Kintan Silver forces alongside the Legion. Some of the Kintan Striders had also turned sides after the persuasion of Blighter brain worms, and used their primitive weapons to break and bash their once allies.

 

[Darth Carnifex]

​

Engaging:

• Vaulkhar

Equipment:

• Sith Lightsabers​
• Sith Commander Armor​

---

​

They danced back and forth, the dust and debris of the ruined fortress kicked up at their passage. Red and blue, green and white, their sabers flashed through the air faster than most normal men could comprehend, the Force; both Light and Dark, heeding their beck and call like a faithful servant. Both had studied the same styles, honed their skills in the same dojo, but whereas Vaulkhar had abandoned his father's ways for that of the Jedi, the Emperor had only continued to increase his own knowledge and understanding of the Sith arts.​

​

The Dark Lord and the man once known as his Wrath seemed, at first, evenly matched. ​

​

"Do you remember the glory that you were once promised?"​

​

Slash, strike, parry.​

​

"The future that you tossed aside?"​

​

Swing, clash, riposte.​

​

"All for the inadequacies of the Jedi, how terribly banal!"​

​

Another slash, a jagged edifice of the fortress tumbled down with a tumultuous clang. By now their duel had churned up the ground around them, great rivers of molten stone bubbling with unfathomable heat where their lightsabers missed flesh and instead bit rock. All the while the Emperor pushed the offensive, settling into his hybridized style of aggressive techniques to never relent or give his wayward son any quarter. His cheeks ballooned out for a moment, before his mouth opened nearly impossibly wide to bellow forth a torrent of bright azure flame. The fire was so hot and so intense it instantly vitrified metal and stone, creating a sheet of molten glass wherever the flames licked and burned. Those nearby unfortunate enough to be caught in the path of the Emperor's fury died where they stood, their armor and flesh sloughing off of their bones as they were burnt black and shattered into ash.​

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

Location: New Kalandra
Allies: SJO WelshGuy Beltran Rarr Wyatt Morga Lanik Dawnstar Aaran Tafo Reggie Faayare Taozi Fuyuan Ryv Erika Garter Sin Kiff Brayde Mig Gred Tyluko-Kai Kaimana W Wagyl
Enemies: Sith Darth Voyance Hailyn Marrow Darth Prazutis Irveric Tavlar Karina Lowe
Engaging: Kainan Wolfe Taeli Raaf Darth Bellum

"It appears the surviving StarFortresses are out of ordnance! They are breaking off!"

"Let them go; it will take time for them to rearm. We have our hands full with the enemy starting to push into the city; to protect what civilians are left to save, we are going to need every remaining unit of firepower!"

"It also appears the city shields are down, and that an enemy armor column has begun attacking spaceports to the north! The spaceports' shields won't hold much longer!" another sensor technician announced, with some distress in the voice.

"Open a channel to our northern allies!" she ordered to the communications officer, referring to W Wagyl and Aaran Tafo .

"Channel open"

"We have lulled that enemy into a false sense of security; attack the enemy tank column from the flank! If you can't destroy the tank, go for the big guns; that will draw fire away from civilians because a firepower-killed tank won't be able to fire at them!" she shouted into the channel, before it closed.

With the city shields down, the civilians in the city were more vulnerable from above than ever. Because the enemy advanced spread proton bombs were seemingly so bulky that two bombing runs were sufficient to exhaust an entire bomb bay, the StarFortresses moved away for rearmament. What was tied up in using these, could then be freed up in attacking other targets of interest. And she ordered the northern allies to attack the advancing tank column in the streets or what was left of them. And, if they were unable to destroy the tanks outright, the next best thing, in the current context, was the firepower kill, here meaning causing a vehicle to incur a loss of its weapon(s). But it appeared that some tank units were in position around some of these blockade points: maybe it was worth breaking turret-down levels of cover to seize the opportunity. So all these mortars and rocket barrages directed to blockade points in the perimeter were there to buy time for the armor, or as some of us call it, direct-fire artillery, to attack? she thought, while moving tanks around a city was taking a lot longer than at the onset because of the mountains of rubble left in the wake of the siege. Yet, with another full-scale artillery barrage being launched, additional losses have been incurred all over the city.

"Tank squadron in position, general!"

"Make this count: you have only one volley before the enemy catches wind of your position! Fire for effect!"

Heavy Umbaran electromagnetic plasma cannons were then fired at the shielded blockade points. These weapons had one main difference from a regular turbolaser (or, for that matter, blaster cannon): its plasma was much hotter and hence much more ionized; anything that it hits would also get significant ionic whiplash also. Maybe this would work, but any distraction this volley would provide would be, at best, temporary; a temporary distraction is better than nothing. And, while in past volleys, the majority of the ordnance fired were explosives, here, even with fighter cover for the resulting attack runs, the blockade points were attacked from above with energy torpedoes and energy bombs. However, mortars were being trained at the advancing enemy forces around the fortress. The tanks' concussion missiles were instead fired solely at airborne threats, such as fighters, surface-to-orbit missiles, being deemed the greatest threat to the civilians being evacuated, and, to a lesser extent, landing craft and dive bombers. In effect, the tanks were coordinating their efforts with anti-aircraft, which, despite their diminished strength, still roared quad-lasers and other anti-aircraft fire at airborne hostiles of all kinds, whil still focusing its efforts onto the hostiles that caused the greatest threats to civilian evacuation in a target-rich environment.

What fire was directed in unshielded areas near the spaceports would instead find that, because the enemy has captured civilians in those areas, and the enemy tried to move them away from the spaceport before the artillery volley was fired, all it did achieve was to cause damage to mostly-vacated buildings in that area, and cause some limited casualties. Also, the enemy artillery around the fortress was now focused on taking out artillery, and anti-aircraft, closest to it, albeit in two directions. One enemy commander was seemingly bent in raining down indiscriminate destruction, resulting in a city block disappearing into dust under an unending barrage from a giant walker droid that towered over the city, while another one would have some purpose in keeping civilians alive. Yet, with the source of the orbital bombardment on the spaceports being triangulated in orbit, then it was time for their own surface-to-orbit missiles to be fired at the enemy interdictors, in hopes, once again, to force the enemy to divert fire away from civilians, to buy these civilians time to escape.

"A giant walker droid has been deployed around the fortress! It appears to be unshielded, so we have identified five targets of interest on the walker: leg joints, as well as an exposed turbolaser turret!"

"Mobility and firepower kills! Have some proton rockets fired at these points! But we must creep fire with all remaining artillery; we can catch as much of the enemy advance as we can, and deal with the other threats to civilians!"

Some proton rockets were fired at these five points, as well as some mortars, with the latter resulting in a fiery airburst upon detonation, but the majority of the artillery fire was still directed at the two advancing columns, albeit not at the foremost units. The enemy vanguard was dealt with in handheld rocket launchers, heavy machineguns as well as plain old armor and infantry. Artillery, anti-aircraft may have been weakened from all that enemy counter-battery fire, but with the enemy advancing, with hostile zombies in the mix, it was still the main priority of what artillery was left, and mortars still had thermobaric charges on it. The surviving gunners took into account the blast radius of what they were firing before themselves engaging in a creeping barrage of thermobaric and proton rocket fire, in hopes to cover as much of the enemy forces as was feasible with the remaining guns. Given how thoroughly the enemy proceeded in the big push, facing resistance block-by-block, and maybe even building-to-building, some of the later waves of artillery fire would still catch, this time around, the forward anti-aircraft and artillery positions. But the enemy creeping barrage also proceeded block-by-block, too, causing damage to city blocks in a systematic fashion.

Also, in the face of a massive missile volley made up of over a hundred missiles, aircraft started to release flares to defend themselves against missile attacks. Which then generated a cloud of heated chaff that would cause a premature explosion should a missile absorb a sufficient number of tiny but heated shards. But with the sheer volume of enemy anti-aircraft fire, some losses were inevitable as battle raged in the skies in an attempt to keep an esape route open for what civilians can be saved. Even then, with some aircraft sustaining severe damage from being hit by missiles, some of them, faced with no choice but to crash onto enemy lines, would, depending on what aircraft is involved, overload the bomblet generator as some sort of fiery self-destruct mechanism, or just crash right into an enemy position and program the self-destruction of the hitherto unused ordnance. And with large explosions engulfing their crash sites, most often well into enemy lines, the surviving pilots harbored hopes that their sacrifices weren't in vain. That some civilians could be saved as a result of their valiant actions. But they only did such as a last-ditch maneuver.

Spoiler: Summary of actions

• Had anti-aircraft fire at the enemy landing craft, surface-to-orbit missiles and airpower
• Had fighters engage airborne threats harrowing the civilians and their escape routes
• Fired thermobaric charges from mortars, and proton rockets at nearly all enemy positions including but not limited to, anti-aircraft around the fortress and the advancing enemy formations
• Had field artillery conduct hit-and-run attacks on enemy infantry (all)
• Had some infantry units cover the civilians' retreat and intercept captured civilians
• Dropped plasma bomblets as well as energy torpedoes on the besieging forces (except for Irveric's forces)
• Dropped heavy bombs on enemy forces around the fortress
• Had armored units fire at the blockade points as well as the advancing enemy
• Some heavily damaged attack craft crashed onto enemy lines, exploding
• Fired surface-to-orbit missiles at the Flauros and the Vapula (Kor)

Spoiler: Forces

Infantry:

• Silver Jedi Snipers
• Silver Jedi Regulars
• Silver Jedi heavy weapons infantry
  • 67 Jairdain 120mm field mortars
  • 288 Ventooine heavy EM plasma machineguns
  • 470 MiniMag PTL launchers

Artillery:

• 145 MobileMortar-4s (77 in mortar configuration, 78 in missile configuration)
• 86 Barataria main battle tanks
• 35 Sabre heavy mortar carriers (mortar configuration)
• 70 Hwacha MLRS (anti-aircraft/rocket artillery)
• 31 Hailfire-X-2 artillery droid (rocket artillery)
• Rosalina surface-to-orbit missiles
• 140 Quad-lasers (anti-infantry/anti-aircraft)

Aircraft:

• 90 Chiloon-IV fighter/bombers (both configurations)
• 15 Telepath-III strategic bombers
• 38 Tsubame torpedo bombers

 

[Acaadi]

Objective: Fight monsters... Don't die?

Allies: Kat Decoria Kyra Perl Jerek Morrows Judah Lesan Jr. Niklasz Tassik

Enemies: Darth Prazutis Vandra Zambrano Joycelyn Zambrano

They slithered and crawled and galloped towards him. A rolling mass of indistinct flesh. In the darkness it was impossible to understand where one creature ended and the other began.

He did not rely on his eyesight. Acaadi stretched out with his senses and relied on the Force. It was not a great leap of faith. His back was to the wall and he had nowhere else to turn.

In his mind he saw a thousand ways he could die, torn to shreds by tooth and claw, consumed by monsters born of the darkness. Consumed by darkness. His resolve galvanised around that tenuous link he held with Kyra. The others were still alive. He had to guide himself through the visions of the future, find the one clear path.

Acaadi threw himself forwards, dropping to his knees. His saber arced overhead, severing a beast in two just below the shoulders. He threw his shorter blade out to his left without looking, the blue blade stabbing straight through the heart of another creature before leaping back to his hand.

Finally he found that centre of balance that had eluded him. The knife edge that could be walked. He turned and twisted, blades carving out a fan of blue in the darkness.

They kept coming, even as he backed away over the dead. The pile of rubble behind him was thick. It was the only way out. If it was dislodged it could collapse the tunnel on him, but at least the rest of the spawn would be slain too.

He summoned his strength and the Force coalesced around him. The air rippled as the blast struck the rubble, blowing a hole clean through. Acaadi dived after it, closing his eyes and mouth as he rolled through the dust clouds. A moment later and it fell behind him, sending out another billowing cloud of ash grey dust.

He turned slowly, finding himself in the same chamber as Kat, Kyra and several others. All this time and he had barely been two dozen paces away.

 

[Wyatt Morga]

Location: New Kalandra, In the streets.
Allies: N/A
Enemies: Darth Bellum

​

The ground crumbled under Wyatt’s feet, but it did little to truly upend his movement. For a brief moment, Wyatt could remember that harsh pole dueling his Master had forced him to do - how it hurt his feet to fight strut on poles all day;​

​

But he had done it. Upended concrete was certainly more random, but it was also far sturdier - a momentary problem, but a greater issue was Wyatt’s energy. He was growing tired, despite the Force’s willingness to keep pushing him forward - there was only a matter of time before he fell to that, long before the Sith before him.​

​

It didn’t help that through the Force, Wyatt was holding his breath; a relatively simple ability almost every Jedi could utilize, but at peace it was easier. Now, in the midst of battle, he could feel his lungs begin their slight ache; knowing that time was not on his side in more ways than one.​

​

An internal sigh, and Wyatt realized he had to change his plan of attack; but the Sith’s move had given him an idea. His lightsaber rushed from the Darkness - and while it would have come for the knee any other time before, this time it struck for the underside of the man’s arm - right where the crook was most obvious.​

​

For nearly 150 years Wyatt had perfected his various forms of Lightsaber combat; but it was no suprise the massive Sith would match him in this condition. He was however surprised at the rate at which he kept up - either a sign that Wyatt was slowing down, or the armor didn’t truly slow the General down as much as he’d imagined.​

​

Really, it wouldn’t matter - for the strike was a diversion, whether it hit or not. As his blade came back about - his free hand pointed at the ground beneath them and shattered the ground with a solid thunk of telekinetic energy. The road collapsed into the sewer, a hefty fall below; and Wyatt found himself caught on a different piece of rubble.​

​

He knew his plan, the Force guided him where the rubble would fall - and he waited on top of it as he pulled in his first breath of clear air, looking around for where the Sith had ended up.​

 

[Darth Prazutis]

​

Allies:

• Cara Dorniarn
• Joycelyn Zambrano
• Darth Carnifex
• Taeli Raaf
• Tekkio
• Kainan Wolfe
• Kaalia Pavanos
• Fiolette Raaf
• Lirka Ka
• Vandra Zambrano

Enemies:

• Kyra Perl
• Kat Decoria
• Acaadi
• Jerek Morrows
• Niklasz Tassik
• Kiff Brayde
• Beltran Rarr
• Valkren Calderon

Equipment:

• Sith Lightsabers
• Sith Commander Armor

---

None of them mattered.

Even as he cast his gaze across the assembled group of Jedi and the lone Jedi Shadow who stood in between the padawan learners and certain death. Their names, faces, little mattered truly to the Lord of Lies. Over the course of a lifespan going back centuries he killed so many Jedi, an incalculable amount dead at his feet. Over the past six decades many died through his position at his nephew’s side, facilitating their rise to absolute power and galactic dominion. It was the continuing war to erase their culture from existence and it was one that wouldn’t end anytime soon, but one day it will.

If the Dark Titan felt any particular way about the Jedi Shadow and his heroic display at saving their lives, he didn’t show it. It was utterly impossible to read the intention behind those molten orbs called eyes. It was the hatred that glowed like a shining star, rage burning like a molecular furnace. There was a gathering of power that swelled through the form of the Destroyer, the calm before the storm. The dark side erupted as he cut loose with a horrifying roar and a massive wave of azure flame erupted in all directions, heavily rooted in the purity of the dark side.

 

[Aerarii Tithe]

Location: City streets
Objective: Escorting civilian POWs to the arena
Allies: Karina Lowe and TSE
Enemies: Elise , Nick Dragovalor & SJO
Post: 6


Aerarii let out an audible sigh of relief as the Jedi threw her lightsaber to Sergeant Lowe. It was looking as though he might still make it through this mission in one piece. Lowe warned the Jedi to be on her best behaviour and took the liberty organising and searching the civilians. She suggested that he accompany her as the prisoners were transferred to the nearby arena.

“I think that shouldn’t be a problem,” he explained. The arena had been secured during the early stages of the invasion and represented one of the few safe areas of a city that was in the middle of a devastating invasion. While artillery rounds continued to strike the city as bombers and interceptors wagged war over head, the arena remained untouched. The treasury official would be able to find somewhere safe and hunker down until hostilities ended.

“Lead the way Sergeant, I’ll, errr, ride in the tank, and… keep in touch with command.” Even though the streets had been quiet, there was no way Aerarii was going to walk around in the open when a heavily armoured Repulsortank was available. “Do sing out if you see anything.”

With that he hurried back into the Repulsortank and sealed the hatch behind him. Moving into the command cabin he found his four Legionnaire escorts preparing the vehicle for departure. “Alright, let’s ship out.”

The Legionnaire turned in the seats and looked at him, their hands idle over their consoles.

“Is there a problem?”

One of the gunners cleared his throat. “Sir, it’s just that ‘ship out’ is what the Armada say. Usually we say ’Roll out’ or ‘move out’.”

“Sure… whatever. Roll out.”

---

Their convoy moved slowly through the streets, avoiding both enemy artillery strikes and small arms fire. With Sergeant Lowe and her recon element leading the way, they rounded the last corner before the arena.

“That’s it sir, up ahead.” The Repulsortank pilot pointed down the narrow street to a tower arena, which stood around the small and rundown houses and shopfronts that surrounded it. Aerarii allowed himself to relax and sunk back into his chair. Every step on this mission had felt like it could have been his last. A war zone was no place for a bureaucrat such as himself. While Sergeant Lowe and her Legionnaires may reveal in death and destruction, the Treasurer-General must preferred facing his enemies across a conference table. The sooner he was off Kintan, the better.

The coast was clear - friendly forces and a safe space were within sight. “Sergeant Lowe, we’re almost there. I don’t want to jink us, but I must say I think we’re in the clear.”

Surely there was nothing that could stop them?

 

[WelshGuy]

Objective: Stop Tacitus and his forces
Allies: SJO and allies
Enemies: Kainan Wolfe | TSE and allies
Equipment: Ranger Armour, Bow, Force Resistant Arrows, Explosive Arrows
Forces: 5x Elite Rescue Rangers, 30x Rescue Rangers, 10x Jedi NPCs

Yuroic laughed, the Sith tried to tell him that Yuroic was endangering innocent lives. "This area is clear, I can sense when there are innocent people around. Perhaps being so in touch with the Dark Side has narrowed your connection to others." Yuroic commented in firm retort as he reached forward and gripped the rubble that was swirling around, blasting it back with a powerful Force Push, freeing up the space between them. Telepathic Lightsabers was an interesting choice but Yuroic predicted that getting in close, this Sith Lord might struggle to fight him one on one. Several more blasts were made to the worm as he moved forward.​

Shaking his head, "if we don't protect the weak, then children die, the ill die and the elderly die. Soon everyone would be dead in this universe if we follow your way, if we kill the weak." Yuroic argued in a calm voice, "do realise that peace should not bring calamities, that peace is absent of calamities. That we can live thousands of years in peace, while there will be problems there is still more peace than what is currently going on. The Jedi don't believe that we can solve the galaxy's problems but what we currently have right now is not peace. This is not making anyone stronger, you are making people weaker. Empires make people weaker." ​

"I don't even know who the Hand of Light is! You condemn my people for crimes committed years ago! For crimes that few could recall or were around to have committed! Who gives you the right to condemn a faction is not the reflection of old but new and filled with minds of new people open and approachable." Yuroic shouted back, his frustration that still others attack him and his family for crimes that were not his, nor were they his family's crimes. "I consider the Sith Empire evil, I consider the people murdering innocent lives, bombard undefended cities like they did on Commenor, evil. I consider those who wage war and refuse to talk evil! I am here to protect others, to keep people safe! To keep my family safe!"​

Yuroic took a strong defensive stance, using his many years of Niman training, his many years practise in Soresu came clearly to his mind as he blocks and parries the Sith's strong attack on him. "Take a look at your actions and tell me if they are the actions of a good man, tell if bombarding, murder is actions of a good man!" Yuroic growled deeply as he defended himself.​

 

[Taozi Fuyuan]

Objective: Slay a monster
Tags: Marrow​

Taozi growled as it let her fling it's sword away. This monster had something up it's sleeve, Taozi just didn't- Manda that hurt. The doctor doubled over and coughed in pain, gently pressing on her intestinal area to quickly assess damage. Possible internal bleeding, definite bruising, but nothing bacta wouldn't fix once she slaughtered this monster.

"And yet every moment you spend with me, that's one more innocent saved because you aren't killing them."

A laugh came from her as it told her to kneel.

The mighty do not kneel.

"Never!"

Despite the pain, Taozi stood, raising her trayc'kad once more to meet him head on. She would have to be more aggressive to win this battle, and so she lunged forward to meet the monster before her.

 

[Fiolette Fortan]

​

Location: Fortress / Ruins
Objective: Storming the Castle
Allies: Taeli Raaf | Darth Carnifex | Joycelyn Zambrano | Lorale Farmar | Cara Dorniarn | Kainan Wolfe | Darth Prazutis
Opponents: Valkren Calderon | Kiff Brayde | Jessica Med-Beq
Fleet: via Sith Muse

Inside the Fortress, General Tarkin contacted Joycelyn. ​

​

"173rd will begin to set charges, repeat, we've begun to set charges in what remains of the Fortress."​

​

Kintan soldiers fired blaster shots toward the intruders, and the Black Talons responded in kind as they closed the gap. Close quarters combat commenced in quick succession. Between the ferrocrete walls and crumbled duracrete that now left a gaping wound for the Sith to exploit the fighting only grew more intense. Sithspawn in conjunction with the legionnaires would see to the end of the Fortress Kh'aris. As for the Lord Admiral her body was wracked with pain and if she had been in any other battle she would have been seated in an infirmary. Instead, she fed off the Force and the bond that only grew in strength. ​

​

Fiolette felt her wife's burning rage and continued to wrap the Force around her own person to numb the pain and keep her body fighting. Rifle parried rifle, a boot to one soldier's chest and a vibroblade to her side. She could faintly hear the word her wife spoke she pushed against another soldier as Tarkin came down to rid the one who had struck at her. ​

​

"Shields are rather useless against blades." She remarked.​

​

"Get better," Tarkin returned with a devilish grin as he ran his own vibrosword through a Kintan soldier. Antarian Rangers came to try and cut the Black Talons off, and it was then that Darth Arcanix had completed her spell. An unholy wind grabbed the dead where they lay and brought them to life once more. A blighted glow to their eyes as they now moved against the Kintan soldiers and the forces of the Silver Jedi Order. ​

​

"I think we just did." Fiolette gestured toward the dead. Darth Arcanix's spell, the words, and power used only made it harder for Fiolette to control something she knew little of. A sulfuric haze to her eyes as she and General Tarkin led their troops deeper into what was left of the Fortress. All they had to do now was to finish the job, and with the Emperor and his Shadow Hand dueling along the walls, it would not be much longer. The Sith Empire's forces had swarmed this world and would continue to do so until the very end. ​

 

[Marrow]

Location: New Kalandra.
Objective: Slay or capture the Mandalorian.
Equipment: Cortosis-weave Vibrosword, Sith Lanvarok, modified Legionnaire Armour, & a ritual dagger.
Interacting With: Taozi Fuyuan
---

Sensing weakness, he surged forward ever faster, only to be caught off guard when she suddenly pressed the offensive. Had he remembered to turn on his armour's inbuilt shield, it would likely have bounced off, but instead it tore a deep gash in the duraplast of his torso, even as he spun out of the way to avoid further damage. Not so weak, after all.

Raising his sword in a defensive position, he flicked a button on his wrist, a predatory smile visible through the now-transparant faceplate. "Ah-ha, not bad!" Prowling around her, observing the traces of pain in her movement, the smile only broadened, eyes aglow with a sullen orange glow. "Don't you see, by the very act of resisting ..." A telekinetic blast towards her legs, followed by a vicious series of slashes. "... you are their superior!"

Slash, feint, thrust. "Why should you give your lives to save your lessers?!" Continuing his onslaught, the faint sheen of sweat visible on his brow as he struck with inhuman speed, he suddenly inhaled sharply. "Don't you feel it? Even the dead serve the might of the Sith. You are only delaying one facet of inevitability!"

 

[Mig Gred]

Location: Kintan Orbit
Objective: Protect Kintan
Allies: Kiso Feln Reggie Faayare
Enemies: Viktor Goetz Darth Athora Murao Nitrogen Uaffell Darth Voyance Kainan Wolfe Darth Bellum

Spoiler: Gred Fleet

Kero's Kad: Shield-55%, Hull-55% (Multiple Varactyl and turbolaser turrets destroyed. One engine out.)
Enigma: Shield-50%, Hull-100%
5x Enigma-class FACs: All, Shield-50%, Hull-100%
6x PS-1 "Tagger" Corvettes (Escort Variant): All, Shield-65%, Hull-100%
6x GF-2b Super TwinTail squadrons: 29 (11 In atmosphere, 18 in space)
2x "Kodashi" Viper MKII squadrons: 12
3x HA-1 Beskad squadrons: 6 (Torpedo pods)

Reinforcements:
1x Skira-class Assault Star Destroyer (Concordia) Shield-85%, Hull-65% (Plasma burn, multiple weapons hit.)
6x Tagger Escorts All, Shield-100%, Hull-100%
6x Enigma-class All, Shield-100%, Hull-100%
4x Firebrand-class Artillery Cruisers All, Shield-50%, Hull-100% (Weapons disabled on 3)
8x Storm-class Torpedo Assault Frigates All, Shield-100%, Hull-100%
7x Torrent-types All, Shield-100%, Hull-100%
1x Neebray-class cargo frigate (modified carrier) Shield-100%, Hull-100%
2x GF-2B squadrons: 14
1x Viper MKII squadron: 11
2x GF-3 Talon Squadrons: 20
8x HA-1 Beskad squadrons: 26 (Bomb pods, one shot off)

Aboard the Kero's Kad, the crew looked on as the new Sith fleet turned on the reinforcements. The commander looked at Kaddie, turning back to the first Sith fleet. "Hit those frigates one more time, then turn the railguns on that flagship." The A.I. quickly complied, sending one more shot to the frigates before they turned to the Legator II, joining the HPCs. Kaddie then came back to focusing on the bridge.

"We still have bombers!"

"Tell gunnery to target them!" The remaining weapons then began their fire on the Sith bombers, with the Taggers pulling around to get better firing angles on the enemy strike crafter. Enigma and her sisters continued to wreak havoc on the escort frigates, hoping to at least disable them, while Mandolorian fighters continued to chase down the bombers attacking the Kad. Meanwhile, with the Reinforcement, things weren't good.

The Concordia was pounded by fire. The Skira-class quickly targeted both the lead Sith ship of the new fleet with its long range batteries, and her other weapons at the Dagger-Vs. She was joined in the Dagger attack by her own Storm-class frigates, which fired a barrage of cluster missiles and heavy torpedoes in the slightest hope that they would break through the point defenses of the enemy frigates. The other Enigma's poured into the enemy corvettes, unleashing their firepower, and the Taggers did their best to stop the missile attacks on the Firebrands. The cruisers weren't so lucky. As they swapped to their mid range weapons, but had almost no chance to fire before being rocked by mag-pulse warheads. Only one managed to not be hit, and quickly retaliated.

Hidden in cloak, the Torrent types quickly targeted the three lead ships, and started a hit and fade attack. The vessels quickly decloaked, firing cluster missiles and "Clean Sweeps," hoping again to break the heavier missiles through. Meanwhile, the bomber continued to fly. The addition of a fighter was a nice one as the heavy assault craft charged in. They began taking fire, with multiple being knocked out. One was even hit in the latching system, and lost its bomb pod. And there was more trouble. A corvette had pulled into their path. Four of the Beskad broke off, including the one that lost it's bomb pod, and quickly targeted the corvette. The bomber did their best to get through, and drop their payloads while the other one let loose with its heavy lasers and torpedo launchers.

Meanwhile, on the planet, a transport began to launch, and was quickly flanked by four Mandalorian TwinTail fighters, including Vaux. Te rest continued to fight the Sith on the surface as best they could. They weren't going to let the Sith harm another planet.

Spoiler: Fleet action

• The Kero's Kad fires one more volley at escort frigates, then focuses in it's HPCs and on the Legator II.
• The Kad's other weapons fire on enemy bombers.
• The Enigma and original Enigma's attempt to mop up, firing Varactyls and torpedoes.
• The original Taggers maneuver to get better defensive fire on the bombers.
• The Skira takes fire, then aims its HPCs and Railguns at the Sloane, while firing its other weapons at the Dagger-Vs.
• Reinforcement Taggers activate missile jammers and target the Mag-pulse missiles and seismic charges.
• The Firebrands switch to mid-range weapons, and start to fire before being him by mag-pulse weapons, leaving one with active weapons firing on the Dagger-Vs.
• Reinforcement Engimas engage Bolt-IVs.
• The Storms fire on one Dagger-V each, firing 2 heavy cluster missiles, then 2 heavy proton torpedoes.
• The Torrent begin a "hit and fade," decloaking and firing 2 heavy cluster missile then two Clean Sweeps. 3 target the Sloan, and target each of the carriers.
• Fighter in space continue to chase down the Sith bombers on the Kero's Kad.
• 4 reinforcement Beskad, one without a bomb pod, redirect to attack the Harrowing Defiance.
• The rest attempt to bomb the Legator II.
• One the surface, Mando fighters continue fighting the Sith fighters, while 4 follow the first evac transport.

 

[Victor Akani]

Location: Main Bridge, The Ki-Adi-Mundi
Objective: Evacuate as many people as possible
Tags: Mig Gred , Kiso

The Ki-Adi-Mundi exited hyperspace like a sleek dagger, it's batteries immediately firing on enemy ships in orbit of the planet. It's commander was pacing in it's bridge, his hands clenched tightly behind his back. The Sith had finally stricken a blow. A devasting one at that.

"Admiral! Admiral Kiso force's have been joined by Mandolorian forces. They're holding their own but I don't know how long they'll be able to. Should I send orders to our warships to support them?" Asked an enthusiastic Nikto. It was interesting really, the young green man seemed undisturbed by the fact his home world was burning.

"Yes. Order all GR-75 Transports to the ground. Fighter Squadrons are to protect them. They are to reach the ground without any damage. Have our Nebula Class Destoyers target the Interdictory and focus our Railguns on the dreadnoughts. Distract them. Hail the flagship of Admiral Kiso and the Mandolorian fleet" he ordered.

He watched as 12 GR-75 Transports, flanked by several Sacheen Class Light Escorts were gudied into the atmosphere by several squadrons of X Wings. He could see all across the planet, blazing fires that no doubt had engulfed the civilian centers of the planet. The level of destruction horrified him.

Spoiler: Forces & Action's

• The Ki-Adi-Mundi, Kranka Class Tactical Command Battlecruiser
• 12x GR-75 Transports
• 2x Free Virgilia Class Bunkerbusters
• 5x Nebula Class Star Destoyer
• 10 Squadrons of X Wings
• 6x Sacheen Class Light Escorts

Actions:

• The Ki-Adi-Mundi deploys Fighters and fires at The Baal II and the Eldiboius
• GR-75 Transports attempt to enter the atmosphere and rescue those stranded at the Fortress
• Sacheen Class along with 5 Squadrons of X-Wings Escort the Transports to the Ground.
• The rest of the fleet engages the Sith Interdictors
• The Ki-Adi-Mundi Hails Mig Gred and Kiso

 

[Ryv]

​

Location: The Meatgrinder
Objective: Survive - Probably Run?
Allied Forces: Silver Jedi Order - Wyatt Morga | Erika Garter Sin
Opposing Forces: The Sith Empire - Hailyn​

Ryv opened his mouth momentarily as if to respond to her words, but her sudden attack brought him right out of that mindset. Instead, he deactivated his saber and dove away. His body hit the ground with a soft thud before he rolled back to his feet. His offhand scooped up a loose rock and whipped it at her head in retaliation as his lightsaber burned back to life. Immediately following up the ranged attack, Ryv moved behind the rock and raced up to the Sith. His body jerked forward as if to swing the weapon in an upwards strike. Instead, he pulled back and took to the air. With the aid of the force, the Jedi moved over the Sith Lord and sent two more strikes at her, one aimed to bring her defenses upward while the second followed through to instead slice her saber in twain. His booted feet hit the ground and he quickly retreated out of range.

"I thought my old man was pretty damn dumb for a while too," the kiffar began to slowly circle to his right as he spoke. "He died for his beliefs, which made him better than most Jedi in this galaxy. I hated them all for so long," his head shook at the words, his hands wrapped tight around the lightsaber hilt. "It doesn't matter though. There are hundreds of Jedi out there right now that are just like me. We are the light that will illuminate the darkness, Sith. All empires fall, yours will be next to go," his words might have been a bit more convincing had his attention not been flickering everywhere as if to find an escape.

The 'city' smoldered around them, most of the buildings leveled from the earlier artillery barrage. New Kalandra had certainly seen better days, its citizens included. The pungent reek of the dark side hung over everything, shrouding Ryv's ability to peer beyond his immediate surroundings.

"You Sith are good at this evil shit. Why not put that passion to something else? Like knitting?"

 

[Elise]

"From now, you'll keep your hands by your sides and your eyes front. You will walk at the back of the group where you can be observed. Try anything, and we'll shoot you without a warning. Am I clear?

Elise raised her hands passively in front of her, giving Karina no indication that she planned on doing otherwise. "Peace. I am only here to assure the safety of the civilians. There is no need to work against each other here.

Nudge.

A fearful glace was shot back at her, the teenage boy she had charged on getting the group to the shuttles glancing back for reassurance. Or direction. Smart boy. She gave him an encouraging nod, a soft up quirk hitting the corner of her lips. "We understand what we need to do."

She could see a bout of courage flicker through him, his crumbling features smoothing over as he nodded back.

She lowered her hands as directed, folding them amicably in front of her as they were led on. The sounds of the siege raged on around them. Distant explosions rattled buildings. Screams caught in her mind. Above, she could feel the presence of the planetary shield flicker out of existence. One by one she felt their defenses fall.

They had not been ready for this, not truly. She could only visit so many planets... overlook so many systems... there had been no way of knowing this little city of Kitan would be victim to the first sith attack. And by the time the warning siren's rang... there had only been so much she could do. Pain pressed down upon her senses. Sorrow. Her steps grew heavy as they pressed in deeper.

And then?

A spark of hope.

A first round of evac shuttles pulled off into the sky. They flew low, flanked by escorts of a numerous nature. Instead of flying up towards the barricade in the sky they kept low, zipping off towards a sparkle of lights in the distant horizon.

The sith hadn't taken over the whole planet, after all. Safety awaited them in a distant city. She took a deep breath, centering herself on this bit of light as one of the escorting soliders spoke again.

“Sergeant Lowe, we’re almost there. I don’t want to jink us, but I must say I think we’re in the clear.”

Elise's attention fell to the 'arena' Karina had spoken of. Dozens of civilian stood in huddled groups, fear and confusion radiating off them. Elise's eyes flickered closed, visions of their screams ... explosions... assaulting her mind. Her stomach dropped, her purpose suddenly clear to her as she reached out to Nick Dragovalor 's mind nearby. "Explosives. Somewhere nearby. We need to get them out. Thoughts?"

Nearby, she felt a familiar presence. Her gaze sharpened, her head turning towards the remnants of a rubbled street behind her. "Wyatt?" She breathed, catching sight of the man( Wyatt Morga ) standing across the way. Her eyes were wide with a bout of shock. Or perhaps concern. He would feel her probing inquiry, her gaze piecing as she was lead by sith forces into the locked down area crowded with civilians.

Well that was a twist in things.

 

[Kainan Wolfe]

Equipment: Sk-UL Mk3 Armor (Custom Appearance) || Wither (Sith Sword) || Shroudsaber || Sith Lightsabers || KC-77N Blaster Pistol
Allies: TSE || Darth Carnifex || Viktor Goetz || Darth Voyance || Joycelyn Zambrano || Irveric Tavlar || Taeli Raaf || Fiolette Raaf || Lorale Farmar || Ingrid L'lerim
Enemies: SJO || WelshGuy || Reggie Faayare || Aaran Tafo || Feln || Valkren Calderon || Wyatt Morga
Interacting With: WelshGuy (Coordinated) || Jessica Med-Beq || Kiff Brayde || Irveric Tavlar
Objective: Destroy the Jedi and massacre the civilians​

Spoiler: 103rd Ultranaut Regiment

- Infantry:

• 4303x Ultranauts
• 551x Combat Engineers
• 595x Ghost Troopers
• 50x Pyronauts
• 10x Psi Corps Operatives
• 10x Wolfguards

- Vehicles:

• 78x Sarissa-pattern Main Battle Tanks
• 65x Xiphos-pattern Infantry Fighting Vehicles
• 125x Armadillo Armored Personnel Carriers
• 50x Foxhound Light Attack Vehicles
• 40x KV-109 Jet Bikes
• 40x Centipede Siege Walkers
• 20x Spider Strike Walkers

- Logistics:

• 176x Warthog Protected Mobility Vehicles
• 36x Titan-pattern Armored Heavy Transports
• 50x Lykos-pattern Armored Utility Vehicles

- Artillery:

• 80x Gorgon-pattern Towed Howitzers
• 91x Drakon-pattern Self-Propelled Howitzers
• 18x Crimson Fire MLRS
• 68x Scorpion MLRS
• 94x Sfyra-pattern Towed Anti-Tank Guns
• 50x KC-MT9 Gauss Field Mortars

- Anti-Air Defenses:

• 68x Hydra-pattern Surface-To-Orbit Missile Launchers
• 83x Viper Self-propelled Air Defense Systems

- Additional Heavy/Crew-served Armament (Deployable with specialized troops):

• KC-249 General Purpose Repeating Blasters
• KC-M5 Heavy Machineguns
• KC-M2 Portable Missile Launchers
• KC-M74S Designated Marksman Rifles
• KC-T80 40mm Grenade Launchers

- Air Support:

• 4x I-3A Lance Fighter Squadrons (9 starfighters lost)
• 1x T-77 Stealth Interceptor Squadron (1 starfighter lost)
• 3x I-4V Dive Bomber Squadrons
• 10x Sigma-class Heavy Assault Dropships
• 9x Styx-class Assault Dropship Squadrons

- Heavy Siege Units:

• 1x Eviscerator ATDM
• 1x TX-1 War Droid

Spoiler: Summary of Actions

• Fired artillery barrage upon SJO artillery ( Jessica Med-Beq ) and evacuation points
• Commenced assault with main force upon the city, including TX-1 war droid
• Fire support provided to the assault by a creeping barrage

Spoiler: Casualties

• 1x Styx-class Assault Dropship Squadron
• 613x Ultranauts
• 13x Viper Self-propelled Air Defense Systems
• 2x Crimson Fire MLRS
• 12x Scorpion MLRS
• 4x Sfyra-pattern Towed Anti-Tank Guns
• 9x Drakon-pattern Self-Propelled Howitzers
• 20x Gorgon-pattern Towed Howitzers
• 50x KC-MT9 Gauss Field Mortars
• 79x Combat Engineers
• 24x Warthog Protected Mobility Vehicles
• 3x Titan-pattern Armored Heavy Transports
• 10x Lykos-pattern Armored Utility Vehicles
• 12x Hydra-pattern Surface-To-Orbit Missile Launchers
• 22x Sarissa-pattern Main Battle Tanks
• 30x Xiphos-pattern Infantry Fighting Vehicles
• 135x Ghost Troopers
• 2x I-4V Dive Bombers
• 9x I-3A Lance Fighters
• 25x Armadillo Armored Personnel Carriers
• 1x T-77 Stealth Interceptor

The Imperial commanders blinked, then blinked again. They couldn't believe their eyes, the Silver Jedi commander had mortars and infantry with portable rocket launchers fire at... nothing, really, because the TX-1 war droid was not around the fortress as the enemy seemed to have presumed, but much further back, behind the entire assault force of the Eternal Empire. Perhaps there was something wrong with the Silver Jedi targetting, they thought. Or maybe the Jedi commander had simply lost it in the face of the Empire's highly disciplined assault.

The tactical mistakes continued, as the Sigma-class dropships hovering above, reported that a squadron of Silver Jedi tanks had positioned itself to flank one of the prongs of the assaulting Imperial forces, failing to account for the creeping barrage that was advancing at the same pace of the Eternal Empire's armored units, just ahead of them. The Imperial command staff were simply stunned by this display of incompetence from the Jedi forces. They never doubted the superiority of the Eternal Empire's military over the Jedi pacifists, the 'vazh'khaden', as the Imperials referred to them, a very serious insult in Imperial culture which meant something along the lines of 'civilian trash', but even so, they were not expecting their enemies to make such horrible mistakes. Either there was something very wrong with their sensor systems, or the enemy commander had just made a serious error of judgement that would undoubtedly be a very black mark on his or her career as an officer.

Consequently, the TX-1 war droid was completely unscathed, as the enemy fire literally missed it by several miles and it responded by firing another devastating barrage towards the heaviest enemy artillery and anti-air positions, the devastatingly powerful turbolaser firing yet another salvo before the four Sigma-class heavy dropships closed in around it, hovering at just the right distance to allow it to advance, while encircling it within the protective bubble of their shields, in order to prevent any enemy artillery from firing upon it. And surrounded as it was by infantry and armored vehicles, any enemy infantry would have to fight their way through its escorts in order to attack it, provided they could fight their way past the Imperial assault forces which was advancing in front of it.

The squadron of Jedi tanks which was trying to set an ambush against the left-most prong of the Imperial assault forces, would also suffer the consequences of the enemy's mistakes, as it would now find itself being bombarded by the artillery barrage which was advancing ahead of the Imperial vanguards, only to also come under attack by the leading Imperial tanks, which had been alerted to their presence by the Sigma-class ships hovering in the air, several more of which were now also advancing ahead, providing overwatch and further air support to the ground units, along with half of the Imperial starfighters, which had only now joined the fight, having been held back until that point.

All this paled, however, in comparison to the enemy's failure to either spot, or react to the second prong of the Imperial assault. Since it was unchallenged by the enemy forces, it advanced swiftly penetrating deep into the city, then swerving around, groups of vehicles and infantry breaking away from it. These smaller assault forces seized upon the opportunity and launched a surprised attack against the Silver Jedi forces, engaging the enemy anti-air and artillery emplacements, mortar nests, ground vehicles and infantry in close quarters attacks, intent on capitalizing upon the chance to annihilate them, or at the very least keep them occupied and prevent them from concentrating on the rest of the Imperial and Sith forces.

With enemy starfighters crashing into them in kamikaze runs, the Imperials took some casualties, the forces behind the assault vanguards taking the worst of it, but they maintained their discipline, their morale heightened by the enemy's mistakes and pressed the attack. Like sharks smelling blood in the water, they threw themselves against the defenders in coordinated, combined-arms attacks. Supported by infantry, the tanks engaged the enemy armored units and other vehicles, as well as their stationary emplacements such as mortars and anti-air weapons, Ghost Troopers and Combat Engineers firing grenades and rockets at them while several positions were engaged by flamethrower-wielding Pyronauts that spewed liquid hell at buildings and vehicles alike.

And back behind the siege lines, freed from having to focus on the enemy artillery, the Imperial MLRS systems received new orders. Targeting the areas under assault by the two prongs of the Imperial forces, they unleashed a massive salvo of missiles, tipped with airburst warheads containing more of the devastating chemical weapon that they had utilized earlier.

Once again, that horrible warning went out to allied Sith Forces, letting them know of the impending chemical weapons attack. This time, however, a signifficantly larger portion of the city would find itself covered in a cloud of the abominable blue gas, encompassing the positions held by the Silver Jedi forces under the command of Jessica Med-Beq , while the Imperial soldiers engaging them would be able to operate unimpeded due to their suits of vacuum-rated armor, which kept the gas at bay.

Attn: WelshGuy​

His enemy engaged the Sith Lord in a telekinetic battle, dispelling the whirlwind of debris with several blasts, while also attempting several more upon the ATDM that was advancing further. Rising to the challenge, the Eternal Emperor displayed his finely-tuned mastery over the discipline of telekinesis by reaching deep into the Force, countering the Jedi Master's telekinetic blasts upon the droid with his own, choosing to sacrifice the whirlwind of debris in favor of saving the droid.

Moving with lightning-fast reflexes, he swung the black lightsaber in his hand in perfect synchronicity with the three red ones he wielded telekinetically, bringing down an assault of quick, efficient flurries upon the Jedi master, a combination of jabs, thrusts and slashes intended to wear down his enemy bit by bit and push him back. Tacitus had fought many battles in his lifetime, he knew the importance of momentum, of energy. He knew how to read an enemy's skill from the way he moved, thus he knew that this opponent was much more dangerous than he looked and that he would have to keep him on the back foot. This would not be an easy fight, but the Eternal Emperor was not one to back down in the face of a challenging opponent. He had stared down a crashing Star Destroyer, had once faced the assembled might of the Sith Empire's greatest warriors, long ago on Coruscant, never flinching even in the face of certain death, never losing his calm and composure. He was Darth Tacitus, the Eternal Emperor, a man for whom discipline and self-control was everything.

His cold, calculating mind dissected his enemy's movements and words, seeking to discern exploitable openings and formulate a strategy for eliminating him. The Jedi Master seemed to have been angered by Tacitus' words, so perhaps he could push his enemy over the edge? An enemy who lost his nerve soon became a dead enemy, so the Sith Lord decided to press on with psychological warfare, seeking to demoralize, anger and break down his opponent's control.

"Protecting the weak? Is that what you're calling it?" he asked in a derriding, clearly condescending tone as he brought his lightsaber up in a diagonal swing while the other three blades closed in for a combination of thrusts and a swing aimed to decapitate the Jedi Master. "You mean, teaching them to embrace the lazy, easy choice, instead of teaching them responsibility, instead of teaching them discipline and the value of hard word," he taunted. "You mean, leading them astray, towards a life of hedonism and meaningless, momentary consumerist impulses. Wake up, you damned, deluded fool. There is nothing worthy of protection in weakness, for weakness is a choice!"

Feigning the stereotypical Sith anger, he continued. "And what about my people? What about the people of the Eternal Empire, those whom your Order's actions condemned to genocide, back when we were flying the banner of the Ancient Eye? How can you have the nerve to claim that your Order's past actions do not matter, while condemning us Sith for ours? How can you be so damned hypocritical!" Tacitus accused, feigning a thrust with his black-bladed saber, while two of his red ones slammed down to batter at one of his opponent's blades, while the third slashed at his hip.

"Your words and actions betray your lies!" he shouted, all the while immersing himself in the Darkside, gathering his abominable power and syphoning some of it into his movements, driving them faster and faster while saving most of it for what he had planned next. "The people dying above you, are the punishment for your Order's crimes! An eye for an eye! That is justice, Jedi. Swift, absolute and without mercy! Genocide is the fate you rightfully deserve," he spat out, while subtly reaching out through the Force, subtly trying to implant anger into his opponent's mind, to impart thoughts of innocent men, women and younglings screaming as they were being slaughtered by the Eternal Empire's merciless, masked troops. Still, he held the majority of his power in reserve, still gathering it. The time had not yet come.

Attn: Irveric Tavlar​

As the Major-General's forces reached the outskirts of the spaceport, so did one of the Eternal Empire's strike forces, having broken off from one of the two prongs of the assault and diverted towards the evacuation center in order to cut off the civilians' escape. Consisting of two Sarissa-pattern main battle tanks, along with two Xiphos-pattern infantry fighting vehicles, one APC sporting a heavy repeating blaster and a Foxhound light attack vehicle, along with a small force of Ultranauts, Combat Engineers, Ghost Troopers and one of the Pyronaut squads, the Imperial unit was commanded by one Commander Katzmann.

A message went out through comms to the Sith officer. "Attention REDFOR allies. This is Commander Katzmann of the Eternal Empire. Allied forces are here to assist, further airstrikes and artillery support is now available. Requesting sitrep of enemy defenses, over."

Advancing, the Imperial forces fanned out, ready to coordinate with their Sith allies and form a deadly triple pincer with which to suffocate the civilians' avenue of escape.

 

[Kyra Perl]

Location: Fort
Objective: Protect

"Take the others," he calmly spoke down to the Padawans.
"And go."

"Kyra, we need to go. Like, now."

"KYRA! GET OUT OF THERE!!"

"No," Kyra breathed, slowly pulling up from the crouch she had been reduced to. "No." She had not come here just to be ushered out when danger struck. She had not trained this hard just to be treated like a victim. She had come to help. She would not leave them to this.


Praz roared, the sudden build up of energy alerting her to the attack that quickly followed. She reacted without thinking, her hand raising. She had read about this force ability once. Titcus something. Tutis?

A master of the force could take energy thrown at them, absorb it, even redirect it. She was no master, but then again... neither was Jerek. He had just done it with his saber, and shielding... well that was Kyra's specialty. She could feel the presence of everyone she cared for standing around her. The force saw the reckless path she stepped down on. It whispered fervent warnings. She did not stop to listen. The urge to prove herself and protect them all dominated her.

She could not see them suffer.



A bright shield erupting from her palm. It went wide, seeking to cover the entire area. That would be her first mistake, the girl's efforts overshot and spread thin. The wall of fire and flames hit it head on, searing its way through. It wasn't enough to stop it, she knew in her gut the energy had to be contained instead. JJ would feel the calm acceptance in her as she forsaked all his past instructions; his warnings, his urgings-- she discarded them all. She ran off of instinct, and perhaps that would be her biggest mistake of them all.

The shield broken down the fire back to its raw form, directing the explosive substance into the zeltron's small frame to be contained. Praz's dark energy wreaked havoc on its new vessel, unwilling to bow to her will. Black veins formed over her skin. Her head threw back, a wordless scream of agony tearing through her. Her world was pain. Anguish. Cold. An inky blackness leaked from her eyes, bleeding down her face. It circled out of her nose... her mouth... fell out of her ears in lazy wisps.

All in the course of the singular moment. She couldn't bare it.

The girl faltered, falling to her knees. But it was Judah Lesan Jr. 's presence through the bond that kept her tethered through the insanity that ravaged her very mind. His emotions were lost to her. If he spoke, it did not reach her. But he as there. Unfaltering. A reminder of what she protected.

And while her shield faltered greatly, great lisps of flames shooting through the growing crevices, it did not flicker out.

Kat Decoria Darth Prazutis Acaadi Jerek Morrows Judah Lesan Jr.