Flashpoint: Roche

[Caulder Dune]

NICKEL ONE - RAIL CAR

The shuttle touched down in the hangar and, after a few blasts of smoke, the boarding ramp lowered. No fighting had reached this hanger yet, but Tyrin didn't intend to wait around until it did. To the Verpine milling about the hangar area, it appeared as though not a soul departed the ship. In reality, and to all but the most perceptive of force sensitives, five stealthy Umbarans moved without so much as a sound through the area. They made a deathly silent beeline towards a rail car boarding platform, not pausing for any reason. Wrapped in the trappings of advanced cloaking technology and the force, they would be all but undetectable. Even motion and heat sensors would have trouble picking anything up.

As they boarded the car, punched in their destination, and sliced it to override any stops it would make, Tyrin felt a vague sensation. It appeared someone was utilizing battle meditation. Fun stuff that was, but it appeared someone didn't like it, and swiftly dropped off the radar after that, so to speak. Tyrin, of course, felt the need to chime in.

I for one, am highly appreciative of the benefits of battle meditation, and would like to express my gratitude to the First Apprentice for her peerless service.

The rail car whirred noisily as it rumbled along the rails, but Tyrin could swear he heard one of his underlings snicker. Whatever. A bit of brown nosing never hurt anyone, did it?

 

[Lord Ghoul]

NICKEL ONE - GARDEN DOME
A trail of dismembered bodies led to Mikhail Shorn. Yellow blood spattered the grass around his feet as he finished Force Crushing the last of the verpine guards in the way between him and his prey. He tossed the shattered carapace aside and moved forward with deliberate strides, in no hurry. Death would come in its own time. He sensed another Sith on the asteroid, but the man had a different target. Just as well, for in Mikhail's state of mind he was perilous indeed. A fayness gripped Mikhail, the Soulsaber had consumed him, leaving nothing but a black heart wielding a blade of much darker material.

Shorn strode toward an Arkanian, @[member="Ardak Serifen"], and the verpine who represented the Republic... Shorn's primary target. In Mikhail's right hand, his violet blade hummed eagerly, craving more blood, unsatiated by that already spilt.

"Hi, I'm going to kill you both now. I have a very thirsty lightsaber." Mikhail raised a hand toward the verpine and began to crush down in the Force, aiming to shatter the carapace as he had the one before.

 

[Judah Dashiell]

Roche G99 - Space Surrounding Asteroid - @[member="Jonathan Walsh"] - @[member="Sophia Walsh"] - @[member="Turin Val Kur"]

Judah flicked through the displays on his console, more than a little nervous. It wasn't the fact he was in battle, it was the fact he was in battle for the first time since the entire Omni issue. He was more concerned about keeping it together throughout the entire fight than actually dying or getting shot at. Things such as that used to be a frequent occurrence for the pilot.

His X-Wing kept in tight formation with three other members of Corsair Squadron, keeping close to Admiral Walsh's fleet for the moment. The sky was thick with fighters of both friendly and not so friendly forces, everyone waiting for the command from higher up to dig at each others throats. Trilling and whistling brought Judah back from his thoughts, his heavily-modified R7 droid wanting attention. Mentally, he flinched. Judah was still mildly uncomfortable around droids and suspected it would be some time before he felt at ease again.

R7 put a message on his display - Enemy fighters amassing at a rapid rate.

Judah laughed slightly "I hadn't noticed, thanks F8.....You, uh...feelin' alright?"

R7 input another message - Optimal as possible for my current programming.Your status?

"Oh...90 percent or so F8. Could be worse, right?"

The droid gave a low trill, as if to say it always got worse.

 

[Ankh'su'namun]

@[member="Ardak Serifen"]

Ankh'su'namun stood quietly beside the Senator; she had been assigned for security as well as to ensure the safety of the Verpine Republic Sympathizer. The tall Lethan Twi'lek bore her stoic lavender gaze over the Verpine and the Arkanian Senator.

An alert drew upon her comm. Without a word she took it, pressing the small earbud comm to patch it through.

"They are coming." she said simply, referencing to the Omega Pyre contract.

 

[Jinn Sibot]

Jinn smiled at the First Apprentices words, he could sense her anger at him, the child would learn soon enough that Jinn was the monster under the bed that she coward at every night. Jinn started laughing to himself, "I'm the boogeyman." he laughed. As the munitions facility began coming into sight, Jinn started calling the dark energies of the asteroid to him. There wasn't much...not yet but soon Jinn could start thrashing through the verpine and the Jedi on a roid rage of dark power. Jinn stood still as the rail car came to a screeching halt and the doors slid open.

Grabbing the collar of his nerf leather jacket, Jinn strode out of the car and looked at the Verpine soldiers who came to find out his intentions. They would not even have the chance to speak as Jinn picked them up into the air and threw them to a distance pile of rocks, their bodies splattering into a yellow blob. Just like that a alarm raised and the facility lit up like a festival on Coruscant. The screeching alarm hid the footsteps of the dozens of Verpine warriors coming to attack Jinn. The sith drew his lightsaber and ignited it just as a series of turrets slid from the ceiling and began firing in rapid succession. Jinn began deflecting the laser rounds, smiling under his mask as he sensed the battle was just getting heated.

 

[Ayden Cater]

Open space, near G99 Roche
@[member="Sarge Potteiger"], @[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"], @[member="Thadd Zarr"], @[member="Malica Drezyan"], @[member="Ventasia Terana"]
@Jonathan Walsh
@[member="Seth Shorn"]

The moment the first Sith ship jumped out of hyperspace, alerts were sent out. One such alert went out to the OmegaPyre force that had been hired on by the Republic. Ayden expected the call to come sooner or later. Three days of nothing had the entire crew of his ship on edge. So when the call came, everyone snapped to duty. They were trained for this, ready for this. After Clockwork, the crew was ready to take the fight to someone rather than take the licks. This was that chance. Just before the ship fell back into realspace, Ayden hit the comm. "All hands, brace for imminent drop into realspace. We're expecting the area to be hot, so be ready to fire on a moment's notice." Triggering a quick change of channels, Ayden spoke to Siobhan. "Colonel Kerrigan, happy hunting."

At that moment, the ship fell into realspace behind the Republic fleet. As expected, the fighting had already begun. What had not been expected was the black silhouette that sat between them and the Republic fleet. It looked as though it was attempting to avoid a straight fight and drop troops in the Republic drop zone. A poor choice. "Concentrate all fire on that capital ship. Bring it down." In the hanger, Ranger interceptors began to spill out into space. Dropships with troops and escort gunships lumbered out while three squadrons of Avenger-class bombers dropped out from the area where a prefabricated base would have been. Clearly, OmegaPyre had come expecting a space battle. And a space battle is what they would get.

Ayden keyed the comm array on the Republic frequency they were given. "Admiral Walsh. This is Exarch Ayden Cater of the Omega Protectorate. I was told there was a party to be had here and wanted to offer my forces to you." Despite the looming bloodshed, he was oddly elated. The Dark Side of the Force was rising and pushing against the Light, but this was what he had wanted for a long time; a chance to stretch his legs. "We'll take care of the Sith insertion ship and join your forces near Nickle One as soon as we can."

 

[Adonari Cinn]

The focus and determination A'donari felt coursing through his veins, as he maneuvered through the endless maze of Asteroids, began to grow. The force of the lightside filling his mind and body weeded out any seeds of doubt that had burrowed deep enough to hide within him. The fresh sense of cleansing allowed him to focus on bypassing the obstacles waiting for them rather than just getting to them.

"Patch me through to Master Jax ahead." A'donari said to his droid Johny. Their missions and adventures had taken them far and wide now but he had realized long ago that the droid didn't have the same thrill seeking attitude that had burned in A'donari since a young child. Johny let out a long beeeeeeep. "Sir, if there's a plan I'd love to hear it before we reach the impenetrable asteroid?" It was a name he had began calling the specific asteroid in his mind since he had decided to aid Master Jax. The mission he chose was taking him where he felt he would be best used during the battle.

 

[Erinyes Draclau]

Roche G99 - Space Surrounding Asteroid - @Jonathan Walsh - @Sophia Walsh - @Turin Val Kur @Shi'ido Mont @[member="Judah Dashiell"]


Erinyes flew in her own X-wing; her wingman her padawan, Shi'ido Mont. The Shi'ido's light jade green eyes went skimming over her piloting console, HUD online. So far nothing had showed up to be of concern, but the tiny hairs at the nape of her neck told her otherwise.

"Shi'do," she began, her voice crackling through the comm over towards her Padawan,"Take care of thyself. Be ever watchful." she cautioned. Behind both starfighters, each of their astromech droids began giving them input. So far so good as they kept in tight formation with Corsair Squadron.

 

[Phylis Alince]

@[member="Mikhail Shorn"] @[member="Ardak Serifen"] @[member="Ankh'su'namun"]

"I'm afraid it will have to drink elsewhere," Phylis said, entering the passage as the Republic favouring Verpine was under assault by the Sith. Calling on the Force she unleashed a heavy telekinetic push at Mikhail to drive him back and let the Republic defenders protect their ally.

"Senator, get that one back and out of harm. We will deal with the Sith." She looked across at the Twi'lek padawan. She didn't know her, but today they would be working together to save each other's life.

 

[Sal Katarn]

Open Space, G99
@[member="Ayden Cater"]

The Adjudicator did not in fact cease and desist. It chugged onward before unleashing a salvo of turbolaserfire at the outer G99 asteroid defenses. A defensive turbolaser platform was vaporized instantly in one of the blasts. Arriving before the Imperial fleet and off to one side had allowed the Pellaeon-class to advance around the outskirts of the battle and approach the Fighter Factory directly. Of course, now it was being fired upon by an identified OmegaPyre ship, however, the Pellaeon-class mark II Star Destroyer was the Empire's preeminent ship-to-ship vessel.
A swarm of starfighters moved forward to engage the Republic aligned starfighters. Ninety-six starfighters, to be exact. Including Seth Shorn.

His TIE Nexus sped toward the engagement, targeting computer highlighting Ranger interceptors. The enemy were out numbered and outmatched. They came expecting a capital ship deploying dropships, what they found instead was the Empire's top slugger.

 

[Ankh'su'namun]

@Mikhail Shorn @Ardak Serifen @[member="Phylis Alince"]

The statuesque Lethan gave a curt nod; without another word, her crimson hands curled round the large hilt of her dual saber. Then, with a motion of her hand in front of her, used the Force to wrap shadows around her as the Jedi Shadow disappeared.

She was still there next to the Senator and Phylis, and anyone with greater strength in the Force would be able to notice her location. None the less, the shadow was trained in quick sneak attacks while other's focused on the main target.

 

[Avicus DuSang]

The Plaguebringer

Within the fleet, Avicus' Sith Infiltrator sat cloaked. Out of sight, and out of mind. As he lit up a cigarette, he sipped his glass of wine. The symphony of slaughter was all around him. It was the beauty that only a Sith could appreciate.

However, throughout the madness, he could feel the forces of the Sith being influenced throughout the battle by empaths on both sides. As the silence rolled over him, he slipped into meditation. Through the force, he had a clear view of everything.

Finding @[member="Spencer Jacobs"], he reached out to her. Do you feel her? The Jedi who's attempting to disrupt your empathy? Let us put an end to her... As his thoughts touched the Empress' lover, so did his power. Fueling her broadcast throughout the Sith.

 

[Maximilian Jens]

[Imperial Fleet approaching G99 Fighter Production Asteroid]

Lieutenant Jens expected to encounter stiff resistance as the Imperial fleet approached the asteroid currently held by Republic forces. He was personally invested in this mission, not simply because it was likely to mark the official start of the war between the Republic and the Sith Empire, but also because of his vested interest as a pilot. Advanced starfighter technologies falling into the hands of the Republic would bode ill for him especially. Regardless, he would have to rely on the only trump card he ever planned utilizing.

"Our superior training will win the day. For the Empire," He radioed to the rest of his squadron from his TIE Nexus. Ahead, he could see that an Imperial starship of unknown classification was already busy engaging Republic forces. Yet, his mind wandered elsewhere. Inwardly, he hoped for the safety of @[member="Natasi Fortan"], and touched the comlink at his side that was connected directly to her own, somewhere else in this cluttered array of asteroids.

 

[Soeht]

Space Near Roche Hive Research Station

In the midst of the asteroids near the Roche Hive Research Station, Grand Moff Kirk stood on the bridge of a Dalek-class Star Destroyer named the Kalakar. His standard flagship, Charon-class Star Destroyer Caluula, was far too large to be effective in a mission that required the asteroid's survival.

The choice of his chosen capital ship for the mission, though, was due to it having the ability to provide star fighter support. Kirk, as a pilot in his younger days, viewed star fighters as what should be the core of a fleet. Therefore, he was greatly interested in what the Verpine had concocted for their supposed prototype star fighter. The fact that the republic had control of the facility that was in charge of it saddened him, though.

What also distressed the Grand Moff was the names of several allied ships. One would think that the Sith Empire had quite low morale when their ships were named things such as Adjudicator, Reviler, and even the gaudy Infidus Diabolus II.

Then, Kirk received word of contact with the Republic near the Vault asteroid. Things had not heated up to full on battle, yet Kirk knew that any attempts for peace would fail.

"Prepare for battle! Time to head to the Vault," ordered Kirk in an elated tone. The crew that was with him was one that had been through quite a lot with the man. They were the type of people he would drink with.

And so, the Kalakar began to make its way toward the Vault in order to support the Empress.

 

[Jesta]

Jesta continued to look about the room when suddenly his com rang. 'Jester we got trouble, 3 hostiles moving in on your location.' Brutus warned him. Sounding urgent. Jesta shrunk down and looked at the main doors and the senator. "Status of the hostiles..." Jesa demanded, reaching into his pocket and pulled out a detonator. 'Sith from what i can gather. One of them are killing everyone. He is on his way up. Others are behind.' He informed. Jesta stood up and moved two rows down. Looking st the seven men and poking the Rep on the shoulder. Sir as we speak there are three Sith assassins coming for you to take your life. I am here to make sure that happens. My name is Jester, i am an agent sent to ensure your safety. If you want to live do exactly as i say." Jesta whispered in his ear, staring at the door. 'Jesta target moving. You have 3 minutes.' Brutus undated. Jester saw the Rep nod. "Have your two of your guards by the door, the others right behind me." Jesta said. The rep nodded and ordered his guards to their location.

"Ok now take off your cloths, leave only your pants and shirt." Jesta ordered. The rep shot him a loot and tried to argue but Jesta snarled. "Two minutes sir best hurry." Jesta interrupted. The rep took off his political clothing off in seconds and handed them to Jesta. The few hundred people in the room looked at the. Confused. Jesta took the clothing and stuffed them under the chair. "Alright move to the back and sit closest to the window. Now go!" He ordered, pulling up his arm. The rep ran up the stairs and the others in the assembly grew nervous. 'Send the decoy now!" Jesta demanded. Suddenly a man dressed the same as the rep and who looked like him ran into the room and sat in the senators spot. As he did the sith came barging in and killed the guards by the door. Walking up to the decoy rep and started to force crush him there was suddenly a panic and everyone screamed and started to scramble. Jesta stood up afraid and screamed. "He killing the Vulpine! Run!!!" He said as if he were a coward. Jesta ran up the stairs to the back as if to flee as the sith crushed the rep. About a dozen guards came to stop him as well as tje body guards. Blasting at the sith as two jedi started to defend the decoy. Exellent.


@[member="Mikhail Shorn"] @[member="Ardak Serifen"] @[member="Ankh'su'namun"] @[member="Phylis Alince"]

 

[Allyson Locke]

Spencer had no anger, the Sith Apprentice seemed to be grabbing at air. The girl might have been young, but the tutors she had gained and the trials she had pushed her self through. There was nothing to fear. Remaining calm something pressed against her aura. Another influence tried to bar through her own meditation. The fibers were unknown to her, she had never seen another aura attempting to do what she was doing. Pouring more of her influence into strengthening the ties between her and the Sith, she focused on using her empathy to enhance their emotions. The dark side was fueled by one's desires. The whole spectrum of emotions played a part in the dark side, the goal for most being utter power. Some though had other plans. She didn't attack back against the other Mediator, she focused on keeping her side strong in case who ever was countering her decided to mentally attack her.

Mental attacks, something she had experienced before and knew quickly how to recognize them. The woman was more than just a battle mediator specialist, she focused her mind honing it into a weapon. She had other specialties, but this was her bread and butter. As she focused putting her entire being into pushing the moral of the men higher than the attempts of the Jedi mustered. She focused on boosting and kept herself removed from the Republic, she didnt want to spread herself too thin, but she would if she had too.

Something touched the back of her mind as she felt the familiar.

Avicus...I felt her, I sense her...thank you.

A surge poured into her body, she wondered if this was how Ashin felt when she helped her. Hands fell forward onto the mat of the meditation room, her mind swirled feeling every ounce of fear, drive, lust, power, pride and the desire to live. This was what it was like to feel everything at once and she put her own emotion into the mix hope. Those that wanted to feel it did and she knew it would keep them strong enough to fend off the Jedi's meditation.

@[member="Avicus DuSang"] @ Entire Sith Fighters and Imperial fighters (minus Jinn Sibot) @A'dele

 

[Darron Wraith]

Space, heading towards The Vault..

The buildup for this moment had been coming from the moment he had been un-frozen by the very Force-signature he flew towards. They had met once before and done battle, but things had drastically changed since them. She was no longer a Sith Master, and he no longer just a Jedi Master. Where there once stood Ashin Varanin stood Empress Desmius of the Sith Empire. Darron Wraith was now the GrandMaster of the Jedi Order, and now it seemed fate had finally conspired to bring this to fruition. The alliance they had swore on the watery world of Kamino now meant nothing, a bond made from shared relationships with Je'gan Olraen now stood at the breaking point. Months of conquering worlds, of liberating those shrouded in darkness had led to this. Even the Omni crisis could only delay the inevitable that was coming, and Darron knew it deep in his soul that nothing would be the same after this.

The X-Wing he flew deftly maneuvered through the asteroid field, and the Jedi Master knew he only had another minute or so until he hit the jamming field he had learned of in the briefing.

"Jedi, this is your GrandMaster. You know what is at stake, let the Sith advance and it is all out war. We can't use Hapan as a staging ground for the Republic's war with the Empire. The cost of such a conflict would be an untold loss of life, that is why we are here. Stop the Sith, here...and now. And we can rally and keep them from expanding to take the whole galaxy. Failure isn't an option, follow the code, and do your duty." He maneuvered the craft some more to avoid asteroids and the stray bolts of blaster fire headed to him before finishing his address.

"If any of you, or myself don't survive today. Know that I"m proud to be a brother with you all, and may the Force be with you."

His armored hands flexed and regripped the controls, and he noted how heavy the bulky space suit was he was wearing. Why is that I always end up doing a space jump of sorts? He didn't roll his eyes, or even complain, the Jedi just centered himself and pushed forward on the throttle. Battle was everywhere around him, and the GrandMaster had a job to do. The Vault held precious plans the Republic and Empire both desired, he knew who would be there. If she was the question, he was the answer. Unstoppable Force to immovable object. The maxim wasn't quite true with them, but it would be a true clash of the titans. Both had grown in the Force, and their alliance meant nothing now that war was looming.

I"m sorry Je'gan.

In the last few remaining moments of "calm" he thought of his old friend. Turning his mind to the here and now, he sent Orders to all Jedi in the system before patching in a quick line to @[member="Ben Watts"] and @[member="Jaxton Ravos"].

"Listen guys, I trust you two to rally the troops should I fall. Jaxton I know you are coming to the Vault as well, Ben I'd like you to come as well. The Sith will send their best their, leave the Empress to me. Wraith out."

The chronometer ticked down further until he hit the jamming field, enough time for one transmission to @[member="Rosa Mazhar"], who he didn't even want there.

"I know you had to be here, please stay out of direct combat and stay on the Teferi and coordinate the assault. I can't lose both of you today, I love you."

The transmission sent just as he ejected into the vacuum, his suits thrusters carrying him towards the Vault, destiny, and @[member="Ashin Varanin"] .

 

[Falon Azrakel]

IMPERIAL FLEET-EN ROUTE TO G99

Falon sat within the bridge of his Charon-Class Star Destroyer 'Khan', staring out to the stars as the ship edged ever closer to the G99 asteroid. Turning to his right, he stared down into the crew pit below him, taking note of their navigatory position in relation to the G99 asteroid. Falon still wore his pilot armour, despite the detriment it posed in his current situation.

He had, in all honesty, become used to the reduced visibility that the helmet provided. He'd been told by his superiors that he could stand some form of court marshal if he didn't wear the official garments, in fact. He hadn't listened. They wouldn't court marshal him if this went well. It sure as hell needed to.

"Ensign Bly, load the weapons." Falon slowly made his way over to the defense consoles, ushering another officer over to it to man it in battle. "Raise the forward shields, drain the rear and use all remaining power to keep the weapons in check." The officer nodded and took his place at the console. "Lieutenant Choka, get on the guns." Smiling in complacency, he sat in the captain's chair dead center in the bridge. "Continue the advancement on the G99 Asteroid."

 

[Lord Ghoul]

NICKEL ONE - GARDEN DOME

@[member="Ankh'su'namun"] @[member="Phylis Alince"] @Jesta

Of course, a full fledged damn Jedi Master couldn't just walk in expecting to be unexpected and throw a telekinetic force push with intended effects. Mikhail Shorn had sensed her presence as she approached and deftly maneuvered the Republic Representative he was Force Crushing into the way of the telekinetic blast, sending the verpine tumbling through the air. Shorn neatly cut the cartwheeling bug in half, then faced the two Jedi. Behind him came the sound of footsteps. Two verpine soldiers appeared. Mikhail did not come to battle by himself.

The violet blade hummed as he maneuvered into a Makashi stance, his feet forming an L , his body angled so that his side faced the Jedi, and his lightsaber held in one hand, pointed up and at the Sith's mortal foes. Unfortunately for them, they faced a bladesmaster. Mikhail easily saw through the padawan's paltry attempt to hide herself. No mere padawan could be an adept at that level. He was not newly knighted.

"Sir, we just received report," clicked one of the verpine. "This was a decoy."

Beneath his helm of phrik, Mikhail scowled. A decoy? Where was the real one? He did not have time for this.

Mikhail's left hand came up and he crushed down on Phylis' heart with telekinesis, seeking to cause cardiac arrest.

"Careful Master Jedi, I'm a heartbreaker."

 

[Ayden Cater]

Open Space, G99
@[member="Seth Shorn"]


Though the Sith had more dedicated fighters, there was still an equal number of forces between the two. But while the fate of the fighters was questionable, the two capital ships were another story. Three of the Starfall's octuple batteries swiveled into place before belching forth a torrent of viridian fire. Soon, they were joined by the rest of the batteries on board the ship. Soon the space between the two ships was ablaze with light, as the OmegaPyre battlecruiser maneuvered between the Sith Star Destroyer and the Fighter factory. And while this did mean that the Factory would not be able to fire on the enemy ship, it did not appear as though the Starfall would need the help.

"Target their bridge." Ayden ordered from his position on the bridge, hands grasping a railing for security. He had designed this ship himself. He had paid for it, in credits and in blood. He knew exactly what she was capable of. Other captains could gain a strong understanding of their ship through years of experience. But when you designed a ship yourself, there could be no truer knowing of what she could do. Which is why Ayden began to grin. "Target the nearest asteroid with our tractor beam. Let's see how they like playing catch."