Dominion Fortress of Fear- Republic Dominion of Kampe

[Tala Bramsin]

Theme
​

The war they feared had finally broken out in earnest. Not against who they anticipated, the Greyson Imperium, but a shadowy enemy that had pulled all their strings. Their malevolent influence had grown and spread, seizing the Deep Core in their tendrils. And the rest of the galaxy had been blind to the entire thing. Now entire cities and hemispheres had been forcibly depopulated while the galactic powers in the Core had been busy. Billions of lives in the hands of the Frozen Hand and its Sith members.

“Rally up!” Tala yelled over the whine of the gunship’s engines, one hand tight around the handle as the ship bounced around from the atmospheric turbulence. “You know the drill! Frozen Hand forces have renovated an ancient Imperial fortress. It’s too deep in the canyons for orbital assault. We’re landing ten kliks out and advancing with the walkers. Weapons free. No civs on this rock! You see any not ours, you blast ‘em. Any questions?”

“No, sergeant” was the only response. Tala nodded in satisfaction as the whine of the engines shifted suddenly and the movement slowed dramatically. He felt the deck start to drop beneath him and he put his helmet back on. “Touchdown in twenty!” One of the pilots called back, and Tala responded with a thumbs up. Outside, laser fire and blaster fire peppered the air and ripped through the silence of space. The gunship rocked and he could hear distant explosions as the comms burst into life around them.

“Buckle up, 41st Rangers!” Tala roared. “Here we go! Get to the walkers!” With that, the ship jolted against the ground and the doors slid open. “Go! Go! Go!!” He ran out of the ship, followed by the rest of the company from their respective gunships towards the line of heavy walkers already beginning to advance forwards towards the fortress. The ground rumbled as the behemoth machines took new steps. Tala took a quick stock of the situation and darted forward to dive behind a clumb of fallen boulders.

Blaster fire hammered into the other side of the rocks, but Tala kept his head down, grumbling to himself. Mounted repeating blaster cannons behind ray-shielded barricades. Fortunately, they didn't go all the way to the side of the canyon, so it would be possible for some troopers to slip through to the other side. By troopers, he had a feeling that meant him. Just perfect. First to slide through a teeny gap around a buzzing energy shield of death. Otherwise, there was no way the walkers would get through to start shelling the fortress.

A deep explosion ripped through the canyon. Chunks of rock and sand hurtled down from above and Tala covered his head. With the blast still ringing in his ears, he looked out. "All squads, report in."

"First two walkers are down, I repeat, first two walkers are down. Heavy antiarmor weapon emplacements in bunkers up top! Requesting medevac! Multiple severe injuries!"

How had they missed that? Must have been beneath the cliffside overhangs. They'd have to send to troopers up the cliff face to clear the bunkers. Not to mention if they were going to get the injured up clear of the rock faces.
"Move up!" Tala yelled, flinging himself out of cover and sprinting forward. "Cover fire! Need to get these troops out of the wrecks!"

Less than five minutes and it was already a karkstorm.

Objectives-
Breach the fortress by whatever means are at your disposal
Protect the walkers from infantry counter-attack
Clear out enemy bunkers topside to allow medevac




BYOO​

 

[Arash Garshasp]

Arash Garshasp, Stellar Legionnaire
Location: Upper Canyon Level, Heading to the Bunker
Objective: Secure Medevac

Spoiler: Equipment

VDS-02 “Bulwark” - Pattern Military Mobility Shield
VCS-01 “Aspis” Pattern Combat Shield
VW-03 Mk II “Apollo” - Pattern Solarized Disruptor Pistol
TTH/TPV-001 “Xiphos” - Pattern Plasmatic Vibrosword
VCP-01 "Hoplon" - Pattern Combat Powersuit

Blaster bolts fired overhead, faster than the rush of the wind that Arash felt as he descended several meters towards the enemy below. Their stunned faces to see the golden shimmering armor all but was the last emotion they could emit before his blade cut across one of their throats while the next felt the burning sensation from the chest and two hostile soldiers collapsed by Arash’s feet. He calmly aimed his pistol and dispatched the next two as their poor shots glanced off his armor harmlessly.

Arash stepped over the bodies and scanned the area for a brief moment, there was a request for aid to help clear the top bunker to allow a Medevac. Unfortunately they still have not yet breached through the first defensive lines. . . but Arash didn’t mind the extra work, since he had plenty of energy and wanted an excuse to stretch his muscles anyways. Reaching for his Xiphos, he spun the hilt before returning the bladed weapon to its sheath and climbing out of the small trench work that had kept a small detachment of Republic forces.

Pushing forward, his scanners provided him with enough information to note that he was close by the spot of where the Medevac request came from and with a small grin he pushed ahead. While he could never shine brighter than the sun that reigned overhead, he simply wielded the wrath of the sun within his palms and he would prove the worth his weight in gold for his employer.

His body moved far more gracefully than what could be first assumed with a simple observation of his Hoplon Armour, this simply showed Arash’s mastery over his equipment and armour. Even as he pushed into different enemy encampments, rooting them out stem and all, his Xiphos blade danced through the air as his other hand fired the Apollo disruptor pistol. Even as one of the heavy weapon’s team turned to fire directly at the Thyrsian, his Aspis folded out quickly to block the first successive shots before Arash quickly moved for cover. The bunker was still a bit away, but even then the Canyon made it difficult even for Arash to traverse without hesitation.

“I’m personally going to gut that Heavy Weapons Operator.” Arash muttered as his cover was slowly turning into slag by the consistent fire from the E-Web blaster.

Tala Bramsin

 

[Bayaz]

Peace had made him soft. He'd never let go of the fire of war that burned in his heart, but it had diminished significantly until all that was left was an ember. Peace had made him soft. As his drop pod rattled and crashed into the battlefield's hard packed earth and his comrades died around him he realized he'd forgotten how terrible this place could be. Peace had made him soft, and now he was paying the price. He was with the Corellian Defense Force, officially working under the Republic's jurisdiction. When Corellia had left the "New Republic" they'd said they didn't want their sons and daughters dying in far off worlds. Those words were causing trouble for the Diktat back home now, but her trouble paled in comparison to his own.

A portion of the Corellian First Fleet and by extension his unit, the 321st Colossus Division, was knee deep in the fight. The Corellian and Humbarine fleets were the bulwark of the Republic as they struggled to consolidate and create the new image of this nascent Republic. He looked to the skies at the battle happening above and wondered how many of those wedge shaped Frozen Hand ships would vent the hulls of Corellian ships. The rumble of a Colossus droid's cannon shook the air as it fired into enemy fortifications. The fortress had a shield, too powerful to simply bombard from space and so they were invading by ground, even though the Republic and even Corellia, really lacked a modern armor unit. The Colossus droids were great battle buddies but they along with the artillery walkers and old GA walkers were struggling to put a hole in the enemy's own armor which was blocking the way forward.

As much as he hated to say it, he wished there were a Jedi or three down on the ground with them...

The Colossus he was paired with moved forward with the Republic Major, moving its mechanized body to plow over obstacles as its two droid brethren dashed off to follow. With a curse he jumped and gripped the hand holds on its leg armor, his gloves magnetizing.

"I guess I'm riding with you."

"I guess you are," responded the deep and intimidating voice of the assault droid he was now riding.

Tala Bramsin

 

[Cambria Zadira]

Location: Groundside
Objective: Intro
Allies: Republic
Gear in bio
___

Cambria Zadira took in one more deep breath, then let it out slowly before opening her eyes; finding herself centered in the Force. The Rutian Twi'lek peered out through the lens of her golden orbs at Kampe's arid landscape that had blistered cracks and fissures as well as barren rocks and rusty sand. It reminded the Jedi Master of her homeworld, well at least portions of that Outer Rim planet. The labyrinthine canyons were where her species took refuge from the harsh environment above ground. Though on Ryloth, the air was comfortably breathable without a rebreather and the gravity was normal. Here on this Deep Core planet, the atmosphere was Type II and gravity lower than standard, which would make things a bit more fun to maneuver around in.

Dressed for battlefield action, the Guardian was wearing her Jedi armor along with a breath mask and a pair of goggles to keep the dust and sand carried on the cold and dry winds out of her vision. The blue-skinned Master Jedi's lightsaber and shoto were attached to the utility belt that was slung low on her shapely hips and a Twi'lek warrior dagger was secured in a boot sheath. Holstered was a heavy blaster pistol as well. She didn't naturally care for all the added protection, though it was essential having learned the hard way previously going into armed engagements of this sort. Better to be safe(r) than sorry.

Riding upon a speeder bike, Cambria weaved in between the Republic's mechanized vehicles like the Jedi Ace juked and jived in her starfighter to get to the front of the column moving forward towards the Frozen Hand's fortress. She knew, for one thing, the shield generator needed to be taken out if the Republic was to have any chance of clearing the pesky enemy out and establishing control of the planet. A Jedi could do things ground forces could not... Just maybe working together they would achieve their goals and complete the mission before them.

The Twi'lek Jedi came up alongside a Colossus droid that had a Republic Shocktrooper attached to its armored leg. She gave Bayaz a sideways head nod.

"Mind if I tag along with you and your boys, Major?" she projected over the battlefield noise in a smooth yet thick Twi'lek accent coming from behind her breath mask.


Tala Bramsin, Arash Garshasp

 

[Bayaz]

By the Force he must have been a prophet. Or maybe the Universe was just actually fulfilling his dreams like his mother always told him it did. Even behind the breath mask and goggles he could tell she was a looker beneath and you know what? If there was gonna be a Jedi helping, he'd rather it be a Twi'lek goddess than a Gamorean monster. He gave the Jedi a thumbs up and pointed at the wall of approaching armor and troops. They were headed in deep. Already blaster bolts were pinging off of the Colossus' armor. He patted the droid's leg and looked down at the speeder bike before checking his blaster rifle.

"Room for one more?" he shouted over the com.

Cambria Zadira

 

[Arash Garshasp]

Arash Garshasp, Stellar Legionnaire
Location: Upper Canyon Level, Heading to the Bunker
Objective: Secure Medevac

Spoiler: Equipment

VDS-02 “Bulwark” - Pattern Military Mobility Shield
VCS-01 “Aspis” Pattern Combat Shield
VW-03 Mk II “Apollo” - Pattern Solarized Disruptor Pistol
TTH/TPV-001 “Xiphos” - Pattern Plasmatic Vibrosword
VCP-01 "Hoplon" - Pattern Combat Powersuit

The heavy thuds of blaster shots continued to fall directly against Arash’s only cover, but his HUD displayed a route to get into a decent range so he could disable that E-Web nest. A rather dangerous route but the young Thyrsian enjoyed the challenge and the sense of excitement that stoked his flame. Much unlike his sister who could manifest her flames and fires, he needed to demonstrate his fury through a more direct means. Tightening his grip on his Aspis shield, he jumped from his cover and sprinted across his HUD’s predetermined direction.

Trails of blaster fire followed the golden armored Thyrsian, his Bulwark and Aspis shielding blocking most of the near shots, each attempting to bear the brunt of the incoming fire together. Arash ducked into a small craves, entering the dead-zone of the E-Web and quickly firing his Apollo into the enemy’s ranks. The disruptor pistol making short work of even the armored elements of the E-Web nest, and with enough confusion Arash broke through to begin dancing across the remaining heavy weapons team.

Without their heavier weapons Arash cut through them easily with his Xiphos blade and calmly pushed past to peak at the next defensive point that lead to the bunker in need of an immediate Medevac. But for a moment Arash paused, as he forgot something, he turned back to the ruined E-Web nest and remembered his promise. A few moments later and a newly blooded Xiphos in hand, Arash grinned and readied himself for his next push to the Bunker.

Republic Armor and Walkers continued to push ahead, lumbering behemoths of War but Arash couldn’t imagine himself inside one. Such slow maneuvering and a very impersonal way of dispatching worthy foes. Not that I found any so far, but if I was inside a Walker I’d never get the chance to find such a foe. Arash pressed himself against cover and allowed his HUD to once again scan and pre-plan a route to give him the shortest and quickest route to the enemy’s anti-armor weapons.

Arash only waited for a few moments before his HUD came with a route that suited him perfectly. Perhaps these AI things aren’t so bad. . . the young Thyrsian figured, memories of annoying golden butterflies obfuscated such a fact once before but here at the present moment Arash rushed out to follow the route set before him. Carefully timed deflections with his Bulwark and Aspis shields allowed him to reach the blown parts of the Bunker with minimal damage to his Hoplon armour.

His next targets were at hand and Arash stalked after them as would any ravished Nexu hunting for its next meal. "Golden Company Legionnaire approaching designated grid for the Medevac. ETA seven minutes. Copy and Over."

Tala Bramsin Bayaz Cambria Zadira

 

[Theo Vereen]

Objective: Protect the walkers from infantry counter-attack
Post 1

He had a fighter this time and was ever watchful on what would happen. The mission today protect the walks from an infantry attack. Below he could see the walkers moving out right now they were the forward guard looking for ground troops but there was also the possibility of an air attack. There were two groups right now and was Gold 3 still earning his creds for being a pilot with the Republic.

He wasn't a great diplomat but he could fly and he could shoot right now that was all that mattered.

His mother had not been particularly supportive of the idea, his father told him to follow his instincts. His grandmother only smiled and wished him clear skies and to remember one thing sometimes you need to do things you don't agree with to protect others. Did she could that he would be able to do the mission? Or that there was more to this than he could see?

It was a mystery to him.

 

[Cambria Zadira]

​

Location: Ground side
Objective: About ready to engage head-on the opposing army as they approach the fortress
Allies: Republic
___

Even though Cambria couldn't see the Shocktrooper's eyes from behind the darkened visor of his helmet, the Jedi Master could sense that Bayaz was pleasantly surprised she was there. Whether it was for her skill and/or beauty really didn't matter here. What did though was they work together for the betterment of the Republic.

Already blaster bolts were pinging off of the Colossus' armor. He patted the droid's leg and looked down at the speeder bike before checking his blaster rifle.

"Room for one more?" Marcus shouted over the com.

"There is, Major... Hop on!" the Twi'lek Guardian answered with an affirmative nod, then she maneuvered deftly the speeder bike closer to the droid's armored leg so the shocktrooper could just plop down behind her on the mount; wrapping her lightly-tattooed lekku around her neck so the blue-hued head-tails didn't smack the man in the breeze.

"So what is the plan here?" Cam inquired after he had transferred safely across, then a tick later she followed with her introduction as the two now were in tight quarters sitting on the bike seat together. "I'm Jedi Master Cambria Zadira by the way."



Tala Bramsin Arash Garshasp Theo Vereen

 

[The Monster]

Location: Ground side (Downed Walker)
Objective: Hold the line and protect the wounded.
Allies: Republic (hired to assist)
Gear: Personal combat armor, blaster rifle, blaster pistol, 2 frags, 2 smokes, 2 ion grenades, ammo, combat/survival knife.

Sergei had been riding in the first walker as it touched down and been advancing to the target. If it was one thing he enjoyed it was even more armor outside of his own to offer more protection while while closing to the targets they were hitting today. So far it'd gone smoothly. They had landed, and the vehicles had begun their advance, some smaller arms striking the walkers and bouncing off as the large cannons of the walkers returned fire. And then something caught Sergei's attention. Which was a loud muffled explosion outside the vehicle that actually shook the vehicle. He glanced to the side and saw that while he hadn't day dreamed that little detail, no one else in the walker seemed to notice, or really care for that matter. He checked the seals on his helmet and was about to buckle himself into his seat when the troop cabin was rocked by an explosion, and the walker was hit successively multiple times before falling face first into the ground. Sergei was flung into the seat across from him, and then caught himself on a support beam as the walker fell, only losing his grip as it impacted the ground. He cursed quietly in his helmet, and shook his head to make sure he hadn't injured anything. Nothing broken anyway. The cabin however was a mess. Sparks were flying everywhere and several troopers who had unfortunately been in the path of projectiles were in various states of shock. A few dead outright. Most of the people there were recovering from shell shock as they'd just gotten their bells rung by the blast of a life time. Sergei said a silent thanks for having a fully encompassed helmet for times like this. He quickly made his way to the emergency hatch at the back of the walker, and engaged the emergency exit bolts, hearing muffled bangs as the bolts self destructed. But then the plate didn't fall away after they fired. He cursed again as he kicked the hatch, and thankfully it shook. They weren't trapped in here after all. He then planted another solid kick to the door, and a third as required when the plate finally fell away revealing the open surroundings and the other downed walker. Sergei cursed silently as he saw this. A stalled offensive was a juicy target for counter attack.

And he sure would counter attack right now.

Sergei immediately called back to the rest of the cabin.

"I need all able bodies outside! Medics see to the wounded!"

The confused look of Republic soldiers as a mercenary was barking orders at them, was all it took to get Sergei to change his tone from authoritative, to angry and authoritative.

"UNLESS YOU COWARDS WANT TO DIE, GET YOUR SORRY LOT OUTSIDE! Medics, save who you can, we got another downed walker outside!"

Sergei then lead by example and simply dropped from the hatch as he surveyed the situation. Two walkers down, the first's troop compartment being compromised, and the second's looking similar. He directed a few of the first soldiers to getting into defensive positions around the downed walkers, and then ran over to the second walker. Pilot and gunner were clearly dead, mainly because the driver was in pieces and the gunner was gone. This was bad. Sergei ran over to the rear access panel, and engaged the outer troop door which thankfully still worked. When he peered inside, he saw almost a repeat of the first walker. Several dead, multiple wounded, but more than half of them were still alive. Well at least that was good. He immediately did the same to the second walker, organizing the able bodies and the medics to begin defense and triage. Once done he immediately looked around and began calling for anyone with a long range comm.

"Yes sir? What'll you have me do sir?" A green recruit ran forward with a large back pack with a couple of antennas sticking out.

"Call up we've been hit, request air support and med-evac, do it now!" Sergei ordered as he took to the defensive perimeter. He saw that while their position was a bit exposed, they had other forces on the move, making his job a bit easier as he fired a few return fire shots at the offending defensive positions.

"First two walkers are down, I repeat, first two walkers are down. Heavy anti-armor weapon emplacements in bunkers up top! Requesting med-evac! Multiple severe injuries!" The recruit radioman started screaming into the radio as he was desperately calling for reinforcements.

Sergei cursed again as he stepped back and walked to the radioman.

"Give me that!" He snatched the hand mike from the radioman "This is the walker assault group, first two walkers are down, under heavy fire, we have sustained wounded and few dead but we can hold, orders?" Tala Bramsin

The radioman couldn't see Sergei through his face plate, which was probably good as Sergei was glaring bullets at the poor guy for losing his cool on the radio.

 

[Tala Bramsin]

Bayaz Cambria Zadira The Monster Theo Vereen Arash Garshasp
======================

Tala darted across the canyon floor, his rifle swinging ahead of him. Blaster bolts singed the edges of his armor. If he had enough breath to speak, he would have been going "kark, kark, kark." But, his breath was busy until he flung himself headlong onto the dirt beneath one of the six busted legs on the walker. One of their mercs had take over to get the people out of the walker and Tala admired that. He'd need to give the man a bonus and an opportunity for a sergeant's commission in the standing Grand Army. NCOs were the key to the success of an army. He didn't care what High Command said. Obsession with admirals and generals was worthless. They could strategize all they wanted, but if they didn't have the NCOs to make it happen, they weren't worth the weight of their medals. Even with quality NCOs, Tala wasn't convinced that those high-ranking officers were worth much.

The ground shuddered behind them as the next two walkers moved up to cover their downed comrades, staying just behind the curvature of the canyon wall, out of the firing angle of the main heavy gun emplacements. Screaming ricocheted through his comms faster than he could track them, but Tala was keeping the gist of it. On of their Thyrsian contractors was up top, clearing the bunker on one side. That just left the other gun emplacement on the bank. Neither could be hit by airpower without collapsing the canyon wall.

He turned to the other mercenary who was putting his experience to good use. "Secure the wounded! Stabilize them. Escort them back behind the walker group. Can't get any air support down here. We've got special forces on the right side. Rest of you!" Tala pointed to the ray shield and where its generators stood, with just enough of a gap between them and rockface to slip through. "Follow me through that gap. We're bringing down that shield. Support weapons!" Tala pointed up to where the other bunker was, about a hundred meters away and at the top of the cliff. "Concentrate fire on that gun emplacement. Need enough cover to get through to the generator. Arc some explosives over the top of the shield and drop it on those infantry positions! Let's go! Go!"

He broke into another run, still cursing himself and the day he decided to join the military, as he kept his head ducked low, running towards the shield.​

 

[The Monster]

Sergei watched as the trooper approached, clearly different from the rank and file republic soldiers he was currently mustering, which wasn't saying much. But when he started sending orders Sergei's way, he got the feeling that he knew what he was talking about. Good, because Sergei didn't want to get too attached to these troopers. But then he heard the second part of his plan, and saw him point to the bunker in the canyon wall. Sergei looked at him for a moment attempting to say something to try and get him change course, but he was already off with a good portion of the people he'd mustered from the downed walkers. He muttered something along the lines of "glory hound," but quickly set about to getting the orders done. He set up the light repeaters on the left flank and focused their fires on the enemy position while organizing the medics to get the casualties moved out.

But that position was bothering him.

They had perfect view of the advance, and without them being properly suppressed or dispatched, those troopers would be cut to pieces in the open. Sergei didn't have time to think as another trooper was being hauled out of the walker, wounds still gushing blood as he'd somehow survived the rounds taking both of his legs off. Sergei quickly and angrily cussed the medic out as he immediately applied two tourniquets on the poor sod, stopping the bleeding best he could, and dragging him back to where the medics were starting to carry the casualties to the more rearward walkers. He rolled his eyes as he chided himself for what he was about to do next. He ran up to the radioman and gave him a quick simple order.

"Tell that lead tank to take up position behind the fallen walkers, and provide heavy fire support," He said as he began running past him.

"Where are you going?!?!?" The green horn asked as Sergei started moving away.

"To fix a bloody problem," Was the merc's simple reply.

The problem was that with the bunker being quite fortified, small arms and automatic fire wasn't going to be enough to suppress it, let alone kill the occupants. And Sergei didn't see any launchers nearby either, which meant he couldn't kill it at a distance. Which left him with one, highly dangerous, extremely stupid, and otherwise just bad idea. And while he was running he couldn't help but smile as he thought that was exactly what he'd been trained for. Where the rest of the troopers were charging up the canyon, using what little cover there was to try and advance, Sergei made a beeline directly for the spot below the bunker. It being about a hundred meter dash it didn't take long. Mid stride, Sergei raised his left gauntlet, aiming just high of the bunker. And with a crack, the cable launched from the gauntlet, shooting through the air at extreme velocity to plant itself just below the fortified position. And instantly the cable pulled taught, on it's normal setting for space operations. Sergei quickly changed that as he tapped the gauntlet with his free hand and grunted as his arm was nearly pulled from its socket by the small but powerful motor in the gauntlet. Flying through the air, Sergei bounced off the rock wall a few times before coming to a stop just below the bunker, where the heavy repeater fire was still quite prevalent. He grunted as he managed to get purchase with his free hand, and disengaged the grapple gun. He strained as he pulled himself up and began to free climb the last couple meters to just below one of the firing ports of the bunker. He then reached onto his bandoleer, pulled the first grenade that he found, a smoke grenade, undid the pin one handed, and chucked it inside the bunker. He heard an exclamation as someone was no doubt freaking out as a bloody hand grenade just came flying through his firing port, and began spewing smoke. And then for good measure, he reached down and pulled another grenade, this time a frag, and did the same. The confused yelling was then silenced with a resounding "WHUMP" of the frag detonating, dust billowing from the firing ports. Unfortunately for Sergei though, the blast shook him loose of his hand holds and he slipped. He started cussing quite loudly as he reflexively fired his grapple gun again at closest thing to him, the rock wall. The sharp yank, coupled by the odd angle, dislocated Sergei's shoulder as the cable forcibly caught him, then lowered him to the ground at a much safer velocity. Not slow by any means, but definitely safe. Sergei grit his he yelled in pain, and then bounced off the ground. Problem solved, no he just had to get back. He picked himself up and ran back to the safety of cover, as the longer range canons still rained down fire, but were now being contested by the walker's own big guns. He could've sworn he heard cheering from the gunners at the support by fire. As he dove back over the wreckage to relative safety, he bit back another stream of curses as pain shot through his arm and across his chest. The radioman came running over grinning ear to ear.

"That was incredible, where did you, I've never seen anything like-" he started babbling.

"Hold still," Sergei muttered.

"What-" The radioman was now confused.

But Sergei didn't really give him time to react, instead just placing his hand on the soldier's shoulder, and with a simple twist and flex, popped his shoulder back into place with a resounding crack. The radioman gave him a look of sheer horror and shivered as Sergei outwardly didn't flinch at all. Underneath his helmet though he was in immense pain, but it was now subsiding a little which meant he'd fixed himself for now. He tested the arm by moving it a little and then clenching his fist. He then looked at the radioman and quickly issued an order.

"What are you gawking at?! We still have wounded to move! Get them loaded on the rear most walkers and get this convoy moving! We have men and women up there depending on us!" Sergei's words lit a fire underneath the slack jawed trooper and his compatriots, mobilizing the troops with renewed vigor as they immediately finished the loading of the dead and wounded, and the lead walker began to maneuver past it's fallen brethren. Sergei mean while was now outside, directly more able bodies behind the tip of the spear that had charged ahead of them, directing the heavy cannons to support them all with covering fire, and the infantry to close the gap.

Tala Bramsin Bayaz Cambria Zadira Arash Garshasp

 

[Delro Veadgon]

Location: On the Ground
Objectives: Lay down a base of fire to protect the downed walkers, assist in carrying out CASEVAC
Allies: Republic

Volk tapped his helmet twice to make sure it sealed correctly as the gunship hit the ground. "Chalks One and Two, secure the perimeter around the rear Walkers" As a pair of platoons lined up near the rear of the formation, the marine stepped off the gunship onto the dirt, motioning for his Senior Enlisted to keep watch on the perimeter troops. Volk ducked and wove to avoid the incoming fire as he lead his remaining troops to the downed walkers. "Cresh Platoon, move the wounded to the rear. Dorn Platoon, We're going to provide covering fire." The men split up and carried out his orders.

As he lead the platoon to the canyon's edge, they were lit up by enemy fire, sending them immediately to whatever cover they could find. One of the company's newcomers gave the Captain an uncertain grunt, which was immediately replied to by pointing at his blaster carbine, before Delro dove to another cover and began laying down a base of cover fire on the incoming infantry. He slipped back behind cover, fingering the comms on his wrist before contacting whoever was in charge of this mess, "This is Captain Volk of Wesk Company, 104th Marines. Who stirred up this mynock's nest and how can we help calm it down?"

 

[Republic Engineering]

It seemed that the Imperials of the Frozen Hand firmly entrenched themselves on the surface of Kampe. An old Imperial Military Base was refurbished to meet the needs of their new, insidious masters. Sadly, it was covered by several metres of thick terrestrial plating, which would take several days that the Republic didn't have to blast through. Even set detonation charges would do little good because of the atomic composition of the edifice. It was annoying, and it forced the forces of the Grand Army to approach through external means. Though it was a small blessing, in operational terms, there wasn't a civilian in sight. The populace apparently suffered the misfortune of being depopulated and deported from the world they called home. That meant there were no possibilities of collateral damage during this operation.

Kampe was a world that was turned into a target-rich environment. That was good news for Sigma Squad. They could complete their slew of objectives how they saw fit, and ensure that the column carried on its merry way. They began their mission in silence when the first cargo lifters touched down outside the canyon. Whilst the blasted Imperials kept their eyes fixed on their oncoming doom - a small fire team of highly-trained and Veteran Commandos moved through the dusk-lit terrain. Every enemy patrol they encountered was swiftly dispatched with extreme prejudice. Several Imperials were taken out by flash-suppressed bolts that were perfectly timed with the noise of the gathering armoured column, whilst others suffered more grisly fates.

Suffice to say, Gideon's stark-white armour was no longer an innocent hue by the time they reached the first of the various emplacements dotting the topside of the canyon.

Many of those surface-based installations were filled with Imperial soldiers, manning the various emplacement weaponry that spelled doom for the advancing Republic column - especially once they came within an effective weapon's range. The Commandos noted several heavy particle cannons, dozens of rotary laser cannons, and several more guns that would slay dozens of friendly combatants before the day was through. They needed to be destroyed. Not only to allow for the birds from orbit to swoop down and extract the wounded but to cover the armoured column's advance as well.

So, Sigma Squad went to work. As the Imperial's eyes were fixed on the armoured forces of their enemy, those craft Commandos went about sabotaging the multitude of bunkers dotting the canyon's surface. A severed power cable here, a timed explosive there. It wasn't long after the first two walkers went down that more and more of the topside emplacements started to grow silent. They were starved for power and forced to make battlefield repairs. That meant trained crew had to pull themselves from their safety nets, only to suffer the fate of their patrolling comrades soon after.

With their collectively timed deaths, the Imperial fortifications on the western approach finally fell silent and still. Their generators began running hot and were close to overloading. But, before that eventuality came to pass - the set charged sequentially detonated. Dozens of Thermal Detonators activated. Through the process of fusion between two volatile substances implanted within the metallic shell, those charges created a collectively expanding blast field that atomized everything within its grasp. Those bunkers, and the dozens of Imperial Troopers that populated their armoured corridors - vanished in a fiery blink of an exploding eye.

Small particulate debris was all that remained of them, and it rained down the canyon.

Gideon smiled darkly. He was thankful that they were given leave to reshape the landscape as they saw fit and that his team had enough thermal detonators to do the job without causing a rockslide. When the deed was done, the Balmorran Lieutenant tapped the exterior of his helmet to establish a secure connection to the Republic's BattleNet.

:: This is Sigma Lead to Operational Command. Western topside emplacements have been destroyed. Moving to engage the fortifications on the Eastern approach. ::

| Tala Bramsin | Arash Garshasp | Bayaz | Cambria Zadira | Theo Vereen | The Monster | Delro Veadgon |​

 

[Tala Bramsin]

Arash Garshasp Bayaz Cambria Zadira Theo Vereen The Monster Delro Veadgon

Blaster fire and particle cannons slammed into the canyon around them, but Tala kept running. They couldn't stay pinned behind the downed walkers. Not with the ray shield emplacement ahead of them and the generators in the network of trenches and durasteel barriers behind it. Portable and quick defenses. It would work, despite its impromptu nature. They were good. Covered all approaches. Knew the one that was really the only way to approach in force. Whoever these commanders were, they knew what they were doing.

Out of the corner of his visor, he made out the image of someone swinging up the cliff face, followed by two quick explosions. Tala threw himself to the ground as another round of repeater fire etched itself across the ground around him. Splinters of rock bounced off his armor until the blaster fire swept past him. He picked himself up off the ground and started running forward again. Small explosions darted across the ground as the others followed behind him. They needed to get behind that ray shield to prevent those cannons from hitting them. No good to stay out in the open. He hated running through blaster fire.

"Captain?" Tala murmured to himself, adjusting the comms. "Captain! Good to hear you! Sergeant-Major Bramsin. 41st Ranger Company. Lost our main officers in the hit walkers. Trying to get through the ray shield. Care to take charge as senior field officer here?"

He shifted. "Roger that, Sigma Squad! Good work. Appreciate it. Making things a bit toasty down here. Think you can take the fortress? Or need any help from down here?"

 

[Bayaz]

From behind his helmet Rail smirked. He fell into the seat behind the twi'lek Jedi and wrapped his arms around her slender waist. The wind howled in his ears, even with the helmet on, but he heard more or less what she said through the voice targeted audio amplifiers. He started pointing towards the enemy artillery walkers that were firing every few seconds, dropping death and destruction on Republic troops further behind them.

"Those things need to come down! They've got my men pinned. I'm not sure how the Grand Army is doing, but I'm sure they won't mind not having to worry about artillery too," he shouted. The droid he had been on only moments before exploded into a ball of flame, its torso splitting open. Its momentum carried it forward though and brought it tumbling forward. One of its arms splayed out, right in the path of the speeder.

Cambria Zadira

 

[Alleycat]

****Oops! Posted with wrong acct, oh well. lol

Character: Cambria Zadira
Location: Ground side
Objective: Fortress approach
Allies: Republic
___

"Those things need to come down! They've got my men pinned. I'm not sure how the Grand Army is doing, but I'm sure they won't mind not having to worry about artillery too," Marcus shouted.

Cambria nodded her head in understanding as her golden orbs peered out through the lens of the google's worn ahead to where Bayaz was pointing. The approaching Imperial type walkers were picking apart the Republic's army pretty readily and pinning them down as they clomped across the rusty sand and rocky ground. No doubt the Major's men would not be able to advance to the fortress if they weren't taken care of.

A plan began to form in the Jedi Guardian's mind as to how she might work the problem, but that thought had to wait as a cannon blast from one of the walkers made a direct hit upon the Colossus droid causing it to break apart.

"Hang on, Major!" she exclaimed.

Quick reflexes sent them into a sharp evasive maneuver that had them just skirt by the droid's splayed arm in their path, then Cambria gunned the speederbike's engine with determination and steered them in an advancing zig-zag pattern towards the closest walker.

"When we get alongside the big walker, get ready to take over the controls of the bike. I am going to pay our friends a little visit and give them a taste of their own," the blue-skinned Twi'lek said with mischief etched in her voice.

"Okay... Now!" And with that uttered, the Jedi Master lept up off the mount onto a slow-moving forward leg and scaled up the armored metal to the top of the walker like a spider woman using the Force power of Inertia.

The hatch door atop had been left unsecured so she opened it and threw in a flashbang from her utility belt, then disappeared down inside the beast's belly igniting her lightsaber as she did. After a few ticks, suddenly the lumbering menace veered sharply to starboard and started firing upon its wing walker to the right. The personnel in the other one didn't know what hit them as the 'head' exploded, sending the rest of it tumbling over. A huge dust cloud came up as the AT-AT carcass hit the ground and was whipped around on the wind, giving some cover for the Republic's ground troops to advance.

Cambria knew it wouldn't take long for the enemy to catch on to what she was doing. Now heading towards the fortress, the Jedi had to use her time wisely and targeted an anti-infantry battery with the AT-AT's heavy laser cannons. If it blew, then the major and his shocktroopers would be able to breach the wall of the fortress hopefully.

 

[Arash Garshasp]

Arash Garshasp, Stellar Legionnaire
Location: Upper Canyon Level, Heading to the Bunker
Objective: Secure Medevac

Spoiler: Equipment

VDS-02 “Bulwark” - Pattern Military Mobility Shield
VCS-01 “Aspis” Pattern Combat Shield
VW-03 Mk II “Apollo” - Pattern Solarized Disruptor Pistol
TTH/TPV-001 “Xiphos” - Pattern Plasmatic Vibrosword
VCP-01 "Hoplon" - Pattern Combat Powersuit

Blood, shock of the unseen, fear of being helpless, this and more was felt throughout the bunker as Arash continued to push through the bunker. With no doubt his presence known, the enemy continued to push more reinforcements to hopefully stall the rampaging Thyrsian from completely ruining their last defenses and perhaps hold back the Republic forces for long enough. Arash though was not so considerate in giving the enemy any moment to rest or to gather their strength, his blade whipped from one soldier to the next, his shield bashing into and cracking ribs of a poor defender.

Something rattled across the hallway as Arash rushed through another entrance, as he moved the AI in his armour alerted him with warnings of an immediate kinetic explosive. With his Bulwark flashing to face the main brunt of the explosive, Arash was launched from his feet deeper into the room he was running into, he probably could have sailed for another meter or so but a wall stopped him and the impact made a small dent on the durosteel plate.

The enemy defenders within were unsure of what to make out of what had just happened, they had all ducked beneath their makeshift barricade and only peeked to see a golden figure fly across their room and slam against the wall. Perhaps fortunately for these defenders they needn’t ponder anything further as their lifeless bodies fell to the floor with a thud by the hands of a still groggy Arash.

The young Thyrsian shook his head, his thoughts scattered but focused slightly to see if his mental faculties were still working. He mentally put two and two together and got five, Arash figured that was good enough and continued to move through the Bunker with all due haste. The medivac would come soon once the bunker was silenced, as this structure was in a decent enough placement for the Republic forces to take advantage and use as another jumping off point to attack the Fortress down below the Canyon.

“Golden Company Legionnaire Garshasp, Bunker in need of further cleansing.” Arash commed in the shortwave communication to any nearby Republic forces. No doubt they could take advantage of the confusion within the bunker to approach and breach to successfully secure a foothold.

Cambria Zadira Tala Bramsin Republic Engineering Bayaz

 

[The Monster]

Sergei was at the head of the armored column when the other troops started landing, and as such he didn't pay much heed to them as they continued to push up the canyon. He fired when he could, but most of the time, he ran from piece of measly cover to cover, and directed the lead walker's heavy weapons as continued to lead the enlisted personnel up the canyon. And when the other soldier who had given him orders stopped to greet the new comers, Sergei pushed past them, ordering the walkers and troops to not stop moving. The last thing they needed was a bloody stall in the middle of this forsaken canyon. He kept directing troops forward, being the first to bound to set the line of advance for those behind him, meanwhile the walkers kept slowly trudging behind him. Thankfully someone had hit a bunch of the anti-armor emplacements which gave Sergei some relief as he knew if more of the walkers went down, he'd risk losing momentum. And if the advance stalled, without any real rank, he feared the troopers would become sedentary and dig in. Which would seal their doom. And so he didn't stop moving, or issuing commands to the troopers directly behind him. It was like he was back home, and he was in full form.

“Golden Company Legionnaire Garshasp, Bunker in need of further cleansing.”

Sergei looked up at the bunker ahead, and saw that while there was still some shooting coming from it, it wasn't nearly as packed as the first one he'd hit. So he didn't even skip a beat as called back over comms.

"Tank 3, two o'clock high, AP, send it!"

The gunner didn't even bother to respond over the comms instead just turning his weapon on the bunker, and sending a single heavy cannon round directly into the wall of the bunker. The round did exactly what it was designed to do, cutting and burning it's way to just before it went all the way through the bunker's wall and detonated with a large flash, and a resounding boom. Rubble from the now destroyed wall exploded outwards as Sergei charged forward, ignoring the pain in his shoulder and arm. He fired his grapple gun and drew his pistol as he sailed up to the newly created opening. When he got to the opening he leveled his blaster at the closest Hand trooper still alive and fired twice, putting him down for good. He then disengaged the cable as he lowered his other arm and began duel wielding his rifle and pistol, spraying down the hall way ahead of him. Initially clear he holstered his pistol and shouldered his rifle, going into a high ready as he cleared the immediate area, calling out audibly for the trooper up here.

"HELLO!? REPUBLIC FRIENDLIES! GARSHASP WHERE THE KARK ARE YOU!?"

A Hand trooper then came around the corner as he was moving down a hallway, and Sergei didn't even hesitate as he simply widened his stance with a single step of his left foot, and then bashed his butt stock into the face of the trooper. And while the Hand soldier took it like a champ, it still knocked him back a couple of steps, giving Sergei enough room to deliver a full force front kick. This knocked the trooper down a couple more feet from Sergei, and so he simply aimed his rifle and squeezed the trigger repeatedly until the man stopped moving. That little interruption dealt with he kept calling out for the friendly reported in the bunker as he continued to clear the immediate area.

Arash Garshasp

 

[Saga of Valour]

​

Colonel Viktor Wilheim
Commanding Officer of the Frozen Hand Base
Considered an HVT by Republic Intelligence.​

​

They had come far too late. The surface of Kampe was all but scoured of sapient life, and only the sentient fauna remained behind. Every single living soul was forcibly removed, either by brute force or at gunpoint. They were needed to fuel a dark ritual elsewhere. He wasn't informed of the specifics - but if an entire planet's population was required? Well, that didn't bode well for anyone that stood in opposition to the Frozen Hand.

Especially the armed forces of the nascent Republic.

It was admirable, however. The 'Grand Army' threw themselves against the inevitable, and believed they could win. Not here, the man thought to himself. Not against the might of his Fortress. He prepared for their coming - long before the first starship burst back into realspace at the fringes of the system. The canyon bastion was refurbished and fortified against orbital bombardment, as they'd spend days pounding away at the thick slabs of ferrous rock before being able to reach the base beneath.

That meant they'd come by the varied surface routes to dig out their opposition. Knowing this, the man collapsed several of these passageways, forcing the Republic to advance down his chosen avenues when they finally made planetfall. The man even saw fit to seed the canyons with bunkers and pillboxes, each armed with Omni-directional ray-shields and blaster cannons. There were ever several, more powerful emplacements higher up the canyon walls - that'd be more than capable of dealing with the corralled Republic walkers.

They'd be ripe for the slaughter, the Officer mused as he lifted the steaming cup of recaf to his lips.

The man was seated within the proverbial heart of the Fortress, surrounded on all sides by live-streamed holo-feeds of the action transpiring outside. He watched as his heavy guns tore through the first two Republic walkers, leaving them as nothing more than smoking ruins, partially hindering the column's advance.

There was a prideful smile that adorned his lips then.

However, that smile rapidly soured into a bestial snarl as he watched those very same emplacements vanish as secretly thermal detonators detonated. The steaming liquid swirled within the ceramic mug as the man slammed it down on the armrest of his command chair, causing several droplets to spew outwards - ruining the pristine metallic finish.

He cursed under his breath.

His mission was to stall them as long as possible and salt the earth with as many Republic soldiers as his forces could. While they were doing well with the latter objective, the sudden lack of anti-vehicular emplacements along the western approach of the canyon's entrance would make things difficult in trying to succeed with the former. He couldn't lose his cool. Not when the men and women under his command looked up to him. If their commanding Officer broke, then the Imperial morale would crumble almost instantly. Thus, the man had to stay strong in body and mind - giving them an example to live by and to aspire to be.

So, with a frustrated exhalation, the Imperial Officer waved his empty hand and refocused his attention on the battle at hand. It seemed that his own walkers were proving to be quite troublesome to the advancing Republic forces. However, like the bunkers before, that too wouldn't last. A twin-head tailed warrior, brandishing a blade of brilliant light, surged forth into the fray and managed to take down one of his prized AT-AT's. He watched with barely contained horror and surprise as one of the walkers opened fire on the other - catching its command crew off-guard.

He spilled his recaf then, as the Officer roused himself from the command chair - missing whatever else transpired on the myriad screens now behind him.

They boarded and stole one of his AT-AT's and were marching it towards his prized Fortress. That wouldn't do. They needed to take it down and do so now. He swivelled about and looked at the bastion's command crew - who had been remote-controlling many of the bases external defences whilst the cancerous sensation of fear began to sow itself throughout their ranks.

"Concentrate what remaining artillery emplacements we have on the fortress walls to take down that blasted walker." The Officer said, nearly gnashing his teeth like an animal.

He was starting to lose his composure.

"Then deploy the garrison to reinforce our forces on the walls. I want troops covering every access point with blasters, and I want missile launchers taking down whatever our turrets can't breach."

There was a pause.

"Do it. NOW!"

And so, the Frozen Hand's forces would play their hand, and the Republic would undoubtedly rise to meet the challenge. ​

| Tala Bramsin | Arash Garshasp | Bayaz | Cambria Zadira | Theo Vereen | The Monster | Delro Veadgon | Republic Engineering |​

 

[Arash Garshasp]

Arash Garshasp, Stellar Legionnaire
Location: Upper Canyon Level, Heading to the Bunker
Objective: Secure Medevac

Spoiler: Equipment

VDS-02 “Bulwark” - Pattern Military Mobility Shield
VCS-01 “Aspis” Pattern Combat Shield
VW-03 Mk II “Apollo” - Pattern Solarized Disruptor Pistol
TTH/TPV-001 “Xiphos” - Pattern Plasmatic Vibrosword
VCP-01 "Hoplon" - Pattern Combat Powersuit

With a much clearer mind, and his breathing returned back to a semblance of normalcy, Arash pushed deeper into the bunker. His HUD produced fewer and fewer signs of life nearby, which with a confused glare the Thyrsian youth pondered his next plan of action, the Medivac could begin their operation but with the continuous assaults from the Republic Arash wanted to take part in the further action. With near certainty that staying with the bunker to help with the clean up would simply bore Arash, he headed back to see if the Republic had secured the foothold within the Bunker.

Moments later Arash felt the entire structure shake, his eyes whipped around but his HUD showed no immediate danger and once the quakes subsided he continued on his way but with slight haste. Peering across the newly blasted hole of the bunker, I was sure the hole I broke into wasn’t this size but his thoughts ended as he turned to hear a voice from a different part of the room.

Republic forces, quite the boisterous bunch. “Legionnaire Garshasp of the Golden Company reporting.” Arash spoke through his comms, both his Xiphos blade sheathed back to his waist. He looked around for more troops from the Republic but saw none and the lack of more reinforcements Arash wondered how far ahead he actually ran and if the Medivac was simply too far.

“The main fortress itself will be my next target, the bunker here has given me enough distraction. . .” Arash added as his HUD scanned the larger mapping area of the Canyon. It's a bit of a drop from the height of where I'm at but. . . Arash wondered the side of the Canyon and how great the incline of the slop was before reaching the Fortress below.

Tala Bramsin The Monster Saga of Valour Cambria Zadira