Dominion Fracture of the Iron Crown | TSC Dominion of Humbarine

[Mercy]

Objective 1
Tag: Adean Castor

She watched her with interest.

Suspicion, yes, because the more she talked... the more the memory was crystallizing for her.

Confidently spoken however and Mercy had no mentalism to detect a lie. What she did have however, was a bullshit meter that had been developed over the decades. It took one to know one, as they often said.

"Was there anything else you needed?"

"Oh, yes. Meet me in the hangar bay. Hold the elevator, will you, darling?" That was not a call out or an accusation. Mercy's expression was perfectly neutral as they returned to the datapad. So it would be practically impossible for Castor to figure out if her ruse had worked. Did Mercy believe her or was she only digging a deeper hole for herself?

Both?

By the time that Adean entered the elevator (if she decided to obey, if she didn't that would be another can of worms) Mercy entered right after her. Making the cramped elevator feel even more cramped.

Even as the doors closed, Mercy turned to her, looking down at her.

"So... last chance. I am not accustomed to repeating myself. Who are you, darling?" She knew, the face had crystallized in her mind, so had the memory in the caverns.

But she wanted to hear it from her mouth.

 

[Anet Raine]

Ghruna

The concept that shouldering a door 'hurts, but not much,' staggered her. Especially the way Ghruna reduced it further to just... well, fighting. Anet hadn't been around her fellow acolytes enough to be familiar with them, but it seemed the maldrani was a brute like Varin.

She slowed down and ducked under the sparks; her attention turned to the terrified workers while her companion ran ahead. Before she realized, a scream was followed by a thud. The acolyte turned and saw Ghruna guarding the door. Blaster bolts melted through the metal as if nothing.

"Hells, this isn't going to end!" She thought.

Anet jogged down the corridor and threw herself against the wall, opposite the doorside from Ghruna, the onslaught of blaster fire between them.

"Got any grenades?" Ghruna asked.

"What?!"

There was a mental double-take.

"I'm not a soldier," she answered. "Why would I..." Anet groaned and shook her head. This hardly seemed the time to explain herself.

"All I have is this." She held up her lightsaber.

And even that didn't say a whole lot. Two training sessions and some unavoidable combat were hardly the makings of a blademaster. Really, she was a bottomrunger with the weapon.

While exploring the room they ran through, Anet looked up at the sparking crane and had an idea. She wasn't sure how long the door would hold, as pieces of lit literally melted to the floor, but luckily, the scholar had operated cranes before at her dig sites.

"Buy me a minute, and when you hear the crane start to move, draw them inside!"

Without waiting for confirmation, Anet sprinted towards the crane controls.

 

[Arris Windrun]

Nilira Vornix | Lysander von Ascania

There was a commotion. Guards talking. Boots pattering against the stone floor. Lysander's doing, she both hoped and imagined.

Arris slipped into the refresher and searched the trash bin, lacking any mood to get into the 'art is subjective' debate with Nilira right now.

"...Why did you even bring me along?"

The cyborg paused and looked at her. "Maybe I just like to annoy you - have you considered that?" She answered facetiously, then went back to her
browsing.

Wait, she held something between her fingers with disgust. Is that a... Really? In the bathroom? Arris grimaced and threw it to the side with the rest of the garbage that now littered the floor around them. Finally, she noticed something in the corner of her eye... A pair of shiny ID chits taped along the underside of the sink.

"Fuck me," she grumbled under her breath.

Arris swiped them with an audible rip of adhesive and handed one to Nilira. "C'mon, we don't have much time."

When they stepped outside, things were more chaotic than before. Civilians quickly walked towards the exit, tossing looks over their shoulders as more guards jogged past. It seemed Lysander had escalated things. With them out of the way, the two of them had no trouble slipping through the checkpoint while the guard was frantically on his communicator. The security system flashed green as they walked past the sensors.

Arris activated her comlink and connected with Lysander. <:"We're in. Won't be long until we move to the next phase.:">

She grinned at Nilira and drew a cigarette. "I love it when a plan comes together." Then, they stepped onto the turbolift.

 

[Nilira Vornix]

Tag: Lysander von Ascania Arris Windrun

"I have considered that many times. Though I chose to believe you are smarter than to try and annoy a dead woman."

No explanation came with what she said, as she used the Force to inspect the room, chucking trash and the like across the room without actually having to dirty her hands herself. A small frown on her face in thought, before she heard Arris, glancing over towards the Cyborg with a blank face...before rather simply stating.

"Fuck me,"

"I'd rather not. You're not my type."

One might think she had jokes. Though in reality, Nilira was just being honest. She didn't quite do jokes anymore. Humour had never been something she cared for, and even with her current state that was an understatement. As Arris spoke on the communicator, Nilira just leaned against the wall, sighing to herself before her eyes darted over towards Arris, as she said something that caused Nilira to near enough internally scream. But like always, she calmly stepped onto the turbolift, trying to ignore the fact Arris was getting ready to smoke. Instead the Acolyte's gaze directly stared ahead of the pair.

"And I love it when someone doesn't jinx the plan by saying it's all coming together."

​

 

[Adean Castor]

OBJECTIVE: 1
TAG: Mercy

A second location, presumably with fewer eyes. When they first met, Adean's heart would've dropped in her chest. Even now, she felt the faint tug of nerves that shuddered at the command guised as an invitation.

But this wasn't the time or place to panic, nor was it within her station to refuse the command, even (and perhaps especially) though she wasn't an actual citizen under the Empress' rule. So, she offered a simple, "Of course," and, assuming she was released from the tendrils that had kept her in place, made her leave from the bridge.

It did cross her mind to run right then and there. The escape pods couldn't have been too far, or at least she could've made a good headway if she opted not to hold the elevator. Yet that also risked making a scene, an idea that was shot down quite immediately once Mercy was on her heels. Instead, Adean took a steadying breath, hands smoothing over her robes and taking stock of both her lightsaber and trusted datapad stowed away.

"So... last chance. I am not accustomed to repeating myself. Who are you, darling?"

As the elevator door closed, Brassius opened their eyes. They rolled their shoulders back, adapting to a more refined posture. The first time they'd met, the Epicanthix was new in the name they wore. Now, both it and the privilege it afforded them fit like a favorite coat.

"No? But you've said 'darling' so many times now," a dark brow rose. Their hand curled in a gesture meant to study their meticulously cared-for nails, yet could also easily have found itself under a shorter individual's chin.

"I'd be hurt you didn't remember me, if not for your suggesting I pick a new name, back then." Already, it felt like they had spoken too much. But, cornered in the cramped elevator, their options were considerably limited.

"Does the name Brassius ring a bell?"

 

[Arris Windrun]

Lysander von Ascania Nilira Vornix

"I'd rather not. You're not my type."

Arris rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry - are you apathetic or funny? Pick a lane."

"And I love it when someone doesn't jinx the plan by saying it's all coming together."

Arris looked down at Nilira as the turbolift climbed through the tower, all the way up to the control room, where a massive network hub controlled inbound and outbound traffic - as well as data sniffers. The archive terminals would have everything they needed. A flaw similar to the one they uncovered at ISB headquarters on Coruscant. Imperials really loved centralized facilities.

"Relax, kid. It's not like those techs can--"

The turbolift reached its destination, and the doors opened to the telltale hiss of a lightsaber.

"Sith." The word seethed from a man adorned in all-black armor. "The Force told me you would be here."

Great. A Dark Side Elite. Just how many of them had survived the Empire's collapse? He continued to monologue as Arris wondered.

"My master will be most pleased when I finally get rid of the pests who dared to challenge his Empire," the Dark Jedi scoffed.

He brandished his crimson blade between both hands. "And after I am done with you, I am coming for that Traitor!" Meliant

The dark warrior wasn't alone. Four death troopers shuffled into place behind him, armed with light repeaters. Another squadron entered from below, searching for Lysander in all that commotion. It was a trap - that much was clear. Whether that meant they took measures to prevent the Sith from accessing intelligence data remained to be seen. Such due diligence may have lapsed in their arrogance.

The cyborg smirked at the acolyte. "I'll deal with the buckets. You take him."

Without waiting, she drew her revolver and punched a single hole through one trooper's helm. He died instantly, and the other three turned and opened fire on her.

 

[Tamsin Starfall]

Theme: Riot
OBJ: THREE: BREAK THE IMPERIAL DOCTRINE
Equipment: Twin Omens | Multi-Tool | Stars Enchained | Mind Crown | Z50
Tamsin Tag: Varin Mortifer | OPEN to others Joining

It was too late now to continue arguing about the plan and berating him for not following it. They were in the thick of it now, as alarms blared both in the bank and outside. As she kneeled there on the ground, barely able to see out of the mask she was wearing, she saw Varin's shadow move past her.

She heard him real play into that cannibal role to the point even she was thinking maybe she was right. She heard the crumpling of a body but she couldn't see who the person was. One dead she thought to herself, one more than she had planned for. Tamsin who had seen so much killing and had even killed before herself a few times still preferred to avoid it.

She really didn't like the thought of a life just being snuffed out like it was nothing. Despite the fact she knew the demon in her thought nothing of life and had killed multiple planet's worth of people. She closed her eyes a moment as she heard Varin ask if they would like to be microwaved or something.

Around her she felt objects bumping into her as people slid their valuables on the ground towards her. She could feel the confusion and fear in the air growing all around her. It was intoxicating for the monster that dwelled with in her. She then heard tellers start to fill bags with items and credits they had in their registers.

As Varin spoke to the teller out of the corner of her ear she heard someone one stand up and step forward. A brave soul, a stupid soul, someone who wanted to be a hero. They then spoke up in a gruff voice with a heavy accent that she could not pinpoint but she knew it wasn't human.

"Ya think yar tough and scary, ya two just dumb kids. Dis isn't da holos, ya either gonna die or go to prison."

A wise older man Tamsin thought to herself, thinking he could talk down the situation. She heard his steps moving closer over the crunch of glass and debris. In her head she counted his steps, the sound of them to calculate where he was at.

"Ya yar both to youngin for dat. Bes you both go."

She listened to his words and then took a deep breath. She then turned the Z50 in his direction causing the man to stop in his tracks. She couldn't see it but he lifted his hands in surrender to show he wasn't armed.

"Woe Woe I…."

Trigger squeezed a grenade shell ignited slamming out of the chamber into the air. A loud Explosion erupted as it tore through the old man she could not see, as well as several other people in the blast radius. A side wall of the duracrete bank began to crumble under the pressure of the blast. Tamsin small body slid across the floor and knocked her mask off her face. A loud ring echoed in the ears of those in the bank, as sirens could barely be heard in the distance.

"Sorry old man, NOW ARE THERE ANYMORE HEROES!" She screamed through the ringing in her ears. In that moment she had become one with the monster inside her.

 

[Nilira Vornix]

Tag: Lysander von Ascania Arris Windrun

"Is this the moment I tell you, I told you so?"

Nilira glanced upwards towards Arris, tilting her head for a moment with nary a lack of fear or any expression on her face. If anything, she seemed to think of the Dark Side Elite as nothing more than a bother. Someone that she did not care for, nor acknowledge whatsoever. If anything, the fact that Arris was making her deal with him seemed more bothersome than stressful.

Either way, she ducked her way out of the lightsaber. It was more of an unconscious effort from herself, as the Acolyte didn't quite care if she died or not. It was her body that refused to let her rest as she side-stepped and dodged, frowning in thought as she tried to figure out the best way to deal with the Dark Side Elite. Her usual trick of snapping necks wouldn't work as easily against him. The Force gave him an almost innate defense against it.

One thing that Arris would be able to take note of however was...there was no Lightning coming from Nilira. No attempt to throw out a blast of energy or any other of the more Dark Side orientated Force Powers she'd have seen the Acolyte perform in the past. For now, she moved back and forth, keeping her lightsaber turned off.

​

 

[Ghruna]

Anet Raine

Ghruna watched Anet scramble away towards the crane. A minute. With a corridor full of people trying to kill you, a minute felt like a lifetime.

The smell of ozone and molten slag was thick now. A blaster bolt punched through a thinning patch of the door, whistling past Ghruna's horn. She didn't flinch, but her tail gave a sharp, angry flick. She wasn't a blademaster and she wasn't a wall of Force energy. She was just a girl who was very good at moving heavy things.

"A minute," she grumbled.

She looked at a heavy-duty storage crate nearby, bolted to the deck. She didn't bother looking for the release lever. She hooked her thick fingers under the reinforced rim and hauled upwards. The floor plating groaned and then shrieked as the mounting bolts were torn straight out of the metal.

With a grunt of effort, she shoved the massive box in front of the melting section of the door. It wasn't a perfect seal, but it was several hundred kilos of solid alloy. It would stop the bolts for a while.

Ghruna stepped back, moving into the shadows of the assembly line's primary support pillars. She needed those guards to feel brave. She needed them to think they could advance on the room into whatever Anet had planned.

She looked up, eyes searching for the crane's massive arm. Her heart hammered against her ribs, a steady drum of anticipation.

"Hurry, scholar," she whispered.

The door finally gave way with a wet, metallic hiss. The crate shuddered as the first few Imperials began to kick and shove at it from the other side. Ghruna crouched low, her orange eyes fixed on the gap. She was the bait, and she intended to be a very heavy one to swallow.

 

[Anet Raine]

Ghruna

Anet extinguished her lightsaber and scrambled to the crane controls, only glancing back once at the loud shriek of torn metal. Her eyes widened at the sight of Ghruna carrying a box so heavy.

"Just how strong are you?!" She wondered.

But there was no time for excited curiosity to get the better of her. She turned her attention to the controls. Thankfully, industrial designs like this one were fairly standardized. Perhaps a few extra buttons or subtle changes in the layout, but nothing she could not navigate. The scholar activated the motor and moved the crane in a half circle before slamming the controls.

Emergency brakes hissed as they were released, causing the crane to swing fast and low towards the door. Whatever plans Ghruna had to lead them into her trap, she entrusted them to her.

There wasn't much point in sitting at the controls anymore, so Anet reignited her lightsaber and rushed back towards her companion. If there were any stragglers, they would take them together.

 

[Mercy]

Adean Castor

"Oh, you are a sassy one, darling." She purred with a chuckle and luckily Adean gave her exactly what she wanted afterwards. Otherwise Mercy might have been annoyed, which was an emotion no sane person wanted Mercy to experience when they were in her vicinity. It was too often that it caused structural damage to her surroundings.

"Mm, Brassius..."

She tasted the name on her tongue and finally nodded.

"Yes, there were cultists that needed vanquishing, no? I threw someone through a wall... or did I launch myself through a wall? At any rate, there was a wall with a hole in it."

Nodding there as if that was all it took.

"What is a Brassius doing here now then?" As the elevator doors opened up and revealed the hangar bay beyond. "And why ever would you be lying about who you are, because you are certainly not some ex-Imperial assistant."

Which didn't seem to bother Mercy that much.

 

[Ghruna]

Ghruna saw the massive shadow of the crane's arm sweep across the floor. The scream of the motor was music to her ears.

She didn't wait. The crate in front of the door was already bulging inward as the Imperials hammered at it from the outside.

Ghruna threw her weight against the side of the crate, shoving it just an inch further into the path of the swinging arm. She dived behind a thick support pillar just as the metal door finally buckled.

Three troopers rushed into the room, blasters raised, eyes wide as they searched for the retreating Sith. They didn't look up.

The crane's hook, a massive hunk of reinforced durasteel, slammed into the walkway and went grinding across the wall.

It was the scale of the machinery. The crane arm kept swinging, pinning them against the corridor wall with a sickening crunch of plastoid armour.

Ghruna didn't stay behind the pillar. She vaulted over a conveyor belt, her lightsaber finally snapping to life. The crimson blade hissed in the oily air.

She landed in the middle of the dust and the screams. One trooper was trying to crawl away, his legs pinned under a piece of the door. Ghruna didn't even use her blade; she simply brought a heavy boot down on his helmet to quiet him.

She looked up as Anet reached her side.

"Good," Ghruna said. She wiped a smear of soot from her forehead, her orange eyes bright with the rush of the kill.

"The noise was very satisfying."

She pointed her blade towards the end of the gallery.

"There should not be many left now?"

 

[Adean Castor]

TAG: Mercy

"You threw a cultist. And then one of the slaves we'd been sent to acquire." Adean had been convinced she would've been thrown, too, had it become remotely convenient that day. And now, it would take a lot to convince her there'd be no throwing today.

Adean's mind whirled with calculations and theories, weighing what she remembered of her brief interactions with Mercy previously, where she was in her own journey then, with how she should present now. She wasn't playing the role of an acolyte with a name too big for their stature.

From the mountain of deceit, she had carved out reality. And like that mountain, no longer would she fold at the slightest of pressure.

"Oh? What lie have I told? I just sat down. What your crew chose to assume was their prerogative." Was it cruel to put her security breach on the crew? Absolutely...but it was not wholly inaccurate. She studied the taller woman carefully, noting how unbothered the Empress appeared to be with this infiltration.

"Call me curious, though. What is all the fuss about, anyway? You've got them all quite nervous, it seems."

 

[Anet Raine]

Ghruna

Anet slid to a stop when she reached Ghruna's side, watching the maldrani finish off one of the few who survived the crane.

She saw the bloodlust in her companion's eyes and returned a smirk. She felt it, too. That rush of power that came from drawing on the Dark Side and feeding the passions that fueled it. Her eyes followed the acolyte's blade towards the end of the gallery.

"Indeed."

As she answered, the half-pantoran noticed the glint of plasteel armor, belonging to an exposed foot of a trooper cowering behind a crate.

"Maybe just one."

She nodded in their direction and marched towards them. The tip of her lightsaber kicked up sparks as it was dragged across the floor with a hiss.

The trooper peered from cover and fired a red-hot bolt between the Sith.

"D-Don't come any closer! I... I'll kill you!" They fired another round. This time, the bolt struck Anet, burning through the fabric of her robes and melting through flesh beneath.

Was it possession or the thrill? Because all she felt was a rush of godlike delusion, heart pounding, her whole body electrified. The damage was real, and it would certainly require medical attention... later. But right now? She wanted to play with her prey. The acolyte reached and yanked their weapon away with the Force. The trooper stumbled out of cover in a botched attempt to catch it. The blaster slid across the floor, while they stood in the open like a suspect in a spotlight.

Anet threw a backhand with the Force, knocking them onto their back. She looked over to Ghruna, searching for something akin to goaded approval.

 

[Ghruna]

Anet Raine

Ghruna watched the smoke rise from Anet's shoulder. The smell of burnt meat was familiar, but the way the half-pantoran ignored the hole in her flesh made Ghruna's tail give a sharp, appreciative flick.

Ghruna didn't exactly care for the safety of the sith she had come to train with. It was best, she told herself, to remain detached from the humans. She would return to malthyl one day to claim a throne of her own.

She saw the look in the scholar's eyes. It was a look Ghruna understood. It was he sharp, cold hunger of a predator that had finally tasted blood and wanted a witness to the kill. Ghruna returned the smirk, her own orange eyes glowing with a predatory light.

"We will look at your wound when you are done with them," she grunted, clipping her lightsaber back to her belt.

 

[Mercy]

Adean Castor

"Mm, did I? It does sound like me..." Mercy thought back to that day. It had been... fun, before responsibility began to bog her down. She had been a different creature altogether then.

A monster, yes, but a wild and chaotic one.

A creature with no ties that bound her. Doing as she pleased, whenever she pleased it. To some degree Mercy missed that time, but on the other hand, the longer this went on... the more Mercy was coming to terms with it too.

This was better.

She was better now.

The things she could do now, she only could dream of back in those days.

"Oh? What lie have I told? I just sat down. What your crew chose to assume was their prerogative."

Mercy caught her chin and forced her head to tilt upward. "Oh, honey, no no..." Mercy purred there down at her. "Own it, claim your power, do not be one of those rats that hide behind cloak and dagger..." The Mountain said with warmth, not entirely... opposed to seeing the woman in front of her as someone worth keeping around.

But the Lord had red lines.

"We are about to wage battle against the new Lord Admiral of Humbarine. And I have just decided... you will come with me, as I rip into his flagship and start to dismantle his people until they give him up to me."

 

[Adean Castor]

TAG: Mercy

A breath caught in Adean's throat as fingers caught her chin, eyes widening before she remembered herself and the name she'd committed to. She wasn't going to think about the purr in Mercy's voice nor the warmth that followed. Surely, to do so would be like an insect in a spider's web.

"No, I won't be bothered with a dagger, if it's all the same." Her nose scrunched as she said the word 'dagger,' as if the very idea of getting her hands dirty was offensive. It wasn't entirely false, becoming more and more true by the day when she'd once shuddered at the very idea of wielding a weapon.

Her brow furrowed as Mercy continued, a pit forming in her stomach. "You're kidding." A hand rose to the wrist near her chin, as if the brief contact might allow her to pull truth from the declaration. "Are you not worried I'd slow you down? Or take away from your victory?"