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She instinctively scowled at the accusation but then caught herself wondering what right she had to feel offended by such a statement. It was clearly one that came from a place of hurt and it wasn't entirely false. Still, there was nothing that could be said in defence of her allies actions, though she did have her own criticism of the Jedi.
"Why would you bring children somewhere so dangerous? You can't possibly blame us for neglecting your own duty of care towards them." She retorted. Whatever the Alliance thought of the Empire, at least they didn't send children to war, and yet the Alliance seemed to blame the Empire for just that.
Zoraya kept her gaze firmly fixed on the Jedi as she moved but she made no attempt to stop her yet. Her thoughts were still on the camera which would document their whole encounter. Her several hesitations alone could be cause for suspicion but the following question caused her to almost completely let her guard down.
It was unlikely she would be caught, so long as she completed her task and had no reason to be questioned. If it meant saving the lives of some Padawans then she would take the risk.
"That's all you want?" She questioned hesitantly before cautiously approaching the console, retracting the blade as she did as a gesture of goodwill. With a few taps on the screen, she brought up live feeds of surveillance around the facility. The agent removed her hand to allow the Jedi free access... at least a certain amount of free access. She still remained close, almost uncomfortably so, to ensure the Jedi didn't act out of turn.
Objective 1
Allies: The Alliance
Enemies: NIO; Sars Sarad
Equipment: Armor, lightsaber, sad feelings
--
A shower of sparks heralded the clash of sabers, pale blue plasma crackling against shimmering white. Being this close, Nida could feel the heat from her opponent's strange saber emanating outwards—it was like sticking her face near an oven, and she squinted at Sars through the clash. A few wayward embers from the initial violent contact of their blades landed on the pink of her cheek, and Nida found herself drinking in the burning sensation.
It was a startling reaction—and it was a lesson that had become instinctual during her time as a Sith. Embrace the pain, channel it into your own power. She didn't have time to think that one through.
Nida had lost her late teens to the Sith, prison, and the beginning of her rehabilitation. It now dawned on her that Sarad may be viewing her as someone capable. Perhaps not capable of besting him, but an opponent capable of putting up a fight. If he was interested in senseless slaughter, he'd have painted the innards of this cavern with the blood of the medical evacuation team.
Wide violet eyes stared at him through the junction of their lightsabers; Nida knew that she wasn't in a good position with a larger, stronger opponent pressuring her back towards a wall. But he was using only one hand, and she realized the other had disappeared into his cloak.
"Do you aim to kill me, Sars Sarad?"
It took Nida the use of both hands to keep him at bay, but now she slid one from the hilt of her saber and flicked her wrist forward sharply. One of the jagged stones from the pile behind her went rocketing towards her opponent's head in a telekinetic assault. Whether the rock found its mark or Sars dodged, Nida would drop into a roll and spring upwards several feet away, feet working into a Soresu stance in anticipation.
"We need not be enemies, I advise you to leave the follies of the Jedi and the Alliance. We both strive for the same goals. Do you not think it's time to better a yearning Galaxy, Zhea?"
Pain was in her eyes as she looked at him - it had been so long. "Simon I...your order's goals may have been that once. But it has changed. Please see that. Walk away while you still can. Don't be part in bringing about the destruction you and I have fought so hard against in the past." It weighed heavy on her, having to talk to him from an opposite side.
"It's no longer like that, Simon." She was pleading. Of all people...oh Ashla. "Please."
Dread spilled over her all of a sudden. Varen Ardos
had ran into trouble. There was no time. She had to finish it now or risk failing her Padawan. She closed her eyes for a heartbeat. Calm, my Padawan...remain calm.
She looked at Simon again. "Pleae, walk away from the road your order follows right now and I will walk away from it too. Let me just get my Padawan out of here and I'll leave."
Grendel not like the idea of death by a thousand cuts and as a result was becoming angrier the longer the battle lasted. He could feel the burning rage staring to build to a mighty inferno but he wouldn't unleash the berserker within just yet. While stomping around to try and dislodge the Jedi.
Pointing his fist to the ground and closing his eyes and dropped his guard for a few precious seconds he hoped it would be worth the pain. Firing a flash-bang in to the ground and letting loose a torrent of fire from the flamethrower in his gauntlet in attempt to chase the Jedi out from underneath him. The moment the flash-bang when off Grendel opened his eyes and made a grab at the tiny jedi.
“Is he conscious? Damnit man get... we need a medical team here, stat!”
Slowly, Korvan’s eyes blinked awake. His vision was blurry, with the first sights greeting him being the obscure red-hued image of Rear Admiral Feros hovering mere inches from his face. A grimace lined his face as the fuzziness began to recede, only to be replaced with a sharp pain across his forehead. Eventually, the muffled voice of Feros became clearer, and Korvan’s surroundings became more discernible. The flashing red lights still flooded the bridge, but the blaring klaxons had been disabled. Relief appeared to line the Admiral’s features as he noted Ignacious coming back to consciousness, timed almost perfectly with the arrival of a medical officer who began dabbing at the Grand Moff’s face with some form of gauze. Out of the corner of his eye, Korvan spotted red staining the gauze as the officer began cleaning his face.
He swallowed hard. The more conscious he became, the harsher the pounding in his head began to swell. He swallowed hard, tilted his eyes to the Admiral. “Status report...” His voice cracked slightly, which caused Ignacious to clear his throat gently.
“The superweapon fired successfully sir... a bit too successfully in fact.” The admiral began, the relief sliding out of his tone only to be replaced with an increasingly grave one instead. “We’ve lost the NIV Orion, along with two carriers, one artillery frigate, and two escort corvettes. But as best we can tell, the Alliance has suffered far worse...”
The news weighed heavily on Korvan’s heart. Despite his prevailing cold and, some would argue; clinical demeanor regarding tactics and overall strategy, the Grand Moff was not immune to the effect the results of his orders bore. While a life of making such decisions did much to dull the effect of such repercussions, they never truly left. But collateral damage and unforeseen circumstances were the realities of war, and despite Ilum’s classification as a ‘joint military operation’, this was war.
Pure, unadulterated war.
And he would not apologize for doing whatever was necessary to demonstrate the full power of the Imperial war machine. Before he could say anything else, the Admiral continued: “The force of the shot caused severe turbulence, and you were thrown from your feet by a particularly violent lurch. You smacked your head against a nearby railing and fell unconscious.” Feros glanced expectantly to the medical officer, who despite his overall professionalism cracked a reassuring smile down to the Grand Moff.
“You’ll be fine sir.” The officer began, taking a brief pause as he clipped the end of his stitch from Korvan’s brow. Whether it was due to shock, the officer’s skill, the weight of the battlegroup’s status, or a combination of it all - the Grand Moff hardly felt it as the officer stitched his brow with an expertly done field dress. “There’s always the risk of a concussion, but my scans seem to indicate you’re fine right now. I’ll be on standby to monitor your vitals, but currently there is no cause for alarm sir.”
“Good.” Ignacious said as he extended his hand to the Admiral, indicating for him to help the Moff up. With a gentle heave, both the Admiral and medic helped him to his feet. The medic’s grip lingered slightly, allowing for the Grand Moff to steady himself after his tumble. The Grand Moff glanced around the bridge, noting the stares and occasional glances cast his way by those in the area. He met the gaze of a few of them, and nodded before he directed his attention back to the Admiral: “What is the status of the Reckoning?”
“Her energy discharge capacitors have drained from the initial shot and they are currently offline. Her engineers are working to restore power. Everything else is reporting nominal. Despite the overload, she should be ready to fire again once the capacitors are back online. The Alliance and Mandalorian fleets are, as expected, directing the majority of their efforts to assaulting her, and a few boarding ships have already broken through our flak and AA umbrella. Thanks to its shot, it appears as though we have a decided numerical advantage against the Alliance fleet.”
Korvan nodded, and after a moment’s pause began relaying orders: “Redirect the Reckoning’s main armament to the planet surface and coordinate a firing solution with the commanders on the ground. Reach out to DECEASED Erskine Barran
and field commander Bex Tarring
for targets requiring bombardment. We’ve tilted the initiative to our favor in space, now we shall do so on the ground.”
“Deploy the fighters on an intercept course. If our AA coverage is inadequate to finish the job, our pilots will finish them. I expect success on the part of our pilots.” Korvan’s tone returned to its normal icy demeanor, and the Admiral’s posture tightened. Without much delay, Korvan continued: “Rearrange the front line to screen the Reckoning. Deflect as much damage as possible, and order weapons free on all vessels. We--”
“Sir!” The voice of one of the tactical officers interrupted abruptly. Despite a sharp look on the part of Admiral Feros, Korvan strolled over to the console and quickly nodded his assent. “Apologies for the interruption sir, but it appears a contingent of Alliance fighters are... attacking the escape pods and wreckage of our lost ships. We’re receiving distress calls and requests for assistance.”
For the first time, Korvan’s cool and reserved demeanor appeared to break; anger flashing across his features. So it would come to this. For all the years that the Alliance had decried the Empire’s stance on no quarter against the Sith and their ilk, they decided the rules of war had no longer applied to them. So much for honor among enemies. “The fighters appear to belong to... the ANV Wildfire. Her commanding officer had attempted to hail us previously.”
So that was it. This upstart commander had decided to gain the Grand Moff’s attention a different way then.
So be it.
“Focus all of our firepower against the Wildfire, and order the Sturm to match our target.” He walked over to his command console and scrolled along the map. Just as the other tactical officer spoke up, he noted the positional data of the Enclave fleet.
It would appear the Elysium Empire’s forces had been outmaneuvered. The old adage of ‘doing something yourself if you wanted it done right’ would prove true here. “Grant the commander of the left flank full operational command to engage the Mandalorian Fleet. No quarter.”
The deployed fighter craft of the first fighter wave diverged from their swarming orbit around the Imperial fleet and broke away to engage the Alliance onslaught if fighters and bombers. Swarms of Drones opened the engagement, speeding through the formation with volleys of laser fire intended to disrupt and separate the Alliance groupings. TIE Outlanders followed suit, coming in high to catch the Alliance fighter squadrons from above.
Six squadrons of TIE Interceptors and Outlanders broke away to engage the scavenging squadrons from the Wildfire - flying with a distinct fury as they aggressively sought to protect their desperate brothers fighting to survive the wreckage of the Reckoning's superweapon.
Meanwhile, Commodore Paul Chrias' expression grew stoic aboard the NIV Niruaun - one of two Pellaeon-class Star Destroyers within the 43rd Battlegroup, and the main capital ship deployed along the Imperial-left flank. He processed the orders given to him, namely to take command of the left flank to staunch the approach of the Mandalorian fleet. After being so assigned, a peculiarity began developing - the Enclave fleet... began retreating back to the flagship.
As he began mulling over the ramifications of this, the report came in abruptly: "Sir, the Mandalorian fleet appears to be reforming for an approach underneath us."
"Redirect power to the ventral shields and ventral cannons. We shall rake fire on top of them as they attempt to pass underneath. Relay orders to the Bombers being deployed to--"
Suddenly, sensor alerts began blaring over the sudden arrival twelve... freighters?
"Yes sir... freighters." The tactical officer aboard the Ave Imperator responded, a hint of confusion in her voice.
Rear Admiral Feros' expression was slightly surprised as well. "Are they responding to hails? Arrange an escort--"
“Engage our starboard emergency maneuvering thrusters , and order the entire fleet to do the same. Ready tractor beams and prepare a solution for a revised trajectory. Engage on my mark." Korvan interrupted. The tactical offer knew better than to question the orders, quickly relaying them to the drone control technicians further down the command center.
The admiral knew better too. Rather than overtly questioning the Grand Moff in public, he strolled over to the Moff's side and quietly questioned: "Sir, don't you think that's a bit--"
“Heavy-handed?" Korvan smirked as he finished the Admiral's question. The two men had become slightly more comfortable operating around one another, and as that relationship progressed, Korvan found himself more willing to entertain questions; If for no other reason than to further reinforce the trust of the men and women under his command. “The Maw often use suicide tactics to catch their enemies unawares. The Enclave, despite their hardliner approach to the Sith as a whole, have readily adopted very similar tactics. Panatha was a perfect example."
The Grand Moff cast a glance over to his monitor to check the latest telemetry data. “Engage.” With a sudden lurch, the Ave Imperator shifted abruptly to the port side in unison with the rest of the fleet under immediate threat from the freighters. The majority of the ships in the formation were able to narrowly avoid the downward trajectory of the freighters, particularly with the help of the fleet’s tractor beams. All save for a handful of frigates and corvettes, which erupted as the massive bulk freighters impacted squarely along their dorsal sections. To a smaller degree, the Ave Imperator herself did not emerge unscathed either. Despite shifting so abruptly, the freighter in question that barrelled toward her clipped the port wing of the battlecruiser, causing the massive battlecruiser to list violently. Korvan quickly grasped a handrail and braced as several of the bridge crew tumbled against the far wall.
But just as it did so, its stabilizing thrusters were quick to compensate, and the ship was able to right itself almost as soon as it keeled - but not without cost. “Decks 9 and 11 are reporting major breaches and compartment fires. Containment procedures are underway, and we are evacuating personnel now.”
“Good, stay on target. Redirect the ventral cannons of the fleet to put an end to what freighters have moved past us down below.” The ventral mass driver and hypervelocity cannons unleashed a salvo of firepower in concert with the remaining ships of the fleet, raking down upon the freighters that remained in the hopes of overwhelming their defenses and allowing them to explode ignominiously down below.
With the freighter threat contained, that left the fleet to contain the evolving situation. The massive armaments of the Ave Imperator and Sturm hammered away, sending fusillades of heavy fire careening toward the ANV Wildfire. The second fighter wave swarmed from within the Fleet and made a direct approach toward the Enclave fleet even as it attempted to maneuver underneath the left flank. The considerable ventral weaponry of the three Star Destroyers deployed there hammered away at their Dorsal sections even as they maneuvered hard to port to wheel about and engage with their Broadside. The Gurkha class Corvettes hammered away with their Missile batteries and Ion Cannons, aiming for the aft sections of the Mandalorian fleet; forming an Asymmetrical pincer from above and the sides.
Once the Elysium forces re-deployed, they would have the Mandalorian forces right where they wanted them...
Korvan awakens from being knocked unconscious
The Reckoning is ordered to coordinate with Imperial Ground Forces and prepare to bombard the planet surface with its next shot
The Imperial battle line uses maneuvering thrusters and tractor beams in an attempt to avoid the freighters, with a handful of unfortunate ships meeting their demise.
The Ave Imperator suffers a glancing impact from a freighter, with several deck sections suffering extreme damage.
The Imperial Left rakes the top of the Mandalorian fleet with heavy fire as they turn hard to port to focus their Broadsides once they move up.
The Ave Imperator and Sturm focus fire on the ANV Wildfire
The second fighter/Bomber wing moves to engage the Mandalorian Fleet as they advance through the left flank.
Edited freighter section due to misunderstanding of Jos Krayt's post. Thank you
The second he heard the signal, Kyell dropped down and kept his ears covered against the blaring alarms and the deafening sound of the pistols firing in a relatively small room. When he looked up again, he noticed Miri hadn't just hit her shots, but the bullets had lit their opponent on fire, causing a great shock when it finally registered with the cyborg. The fear of dying a horrible death that followed echoed in the Force, creating a much darker feeling the Jedi could undoubtedly sense.
In a desperate attempt to get away from it all, Hacks moved towards the door but collapsed moments later as her cybernetic legs crumbled. Kyell watched it happen with a frown and understood their opponent had been defeated. Without fear for his own life, he jumped up to his feet and rushed over.
<You're not going to die,> he told Hacks telepathically, as he raised his hands and channeled all his strength into telekinetically lifting her up.
<Miri, I'm going to lay her down in the snow outside to kill the flames and heat, but we'll need medical help for her,> he then continued as he looked over at her with a soft smile. There was no point in his mind to let Hacks die — she not only had useful information but letting an already defeated opponent die was not the Jedi way.
So without any time wasted, he rushed outside with her and gently placed her down in the snow, which melted rapidly because of the intense heat, but the water and sheer thickness of the snow and ice did manage to kill the flames and cool down the superheated metals. <Hang in there, and this will all be over soon,> he tried to reassure the woman.
<I don't suppose you have some healing skills?> He asked as he looked up at Miri again.
Miri had expected the incendiary ammo to catch flame, but she was shocked at the extent of the damage done to Hacks—and the horrified screams of the cyborg as she began to burn alive.
Kyell jumped into action first. While he dragged Hacks outside and let the snow and cold air do its work, Miri followed a little ways behind, her guns holstered and her ears ringing.
<Not exactly,> she replied to Kyell, her tone subdued. <But it looks like she’s more machine than human, so I don’t know how much it would help anyway.>
All the same, she pulled out a medkit and began tending to any wounds she could find.
I am not a butcher, she thought to herself. I don’t kill unless I have to, and not like this…
To see the Onager create havoc upon the Alliance Starships. There was something beautiful about seeing well executed plan in motion. Space was the canvas and geniuses like Velran was the grand artist ready to paint his masterpiece. Seeing an Alliance Fleet getting annihilated was invigorating almost like pulling that annoying weed from a garden. The Galactic Alliance were arrogant in their ways, thinking that they could interfere with other factions and spread freedom and democracy, They thought they were the big dogs, but the victory on New Alderaan had put an end to those thoughts. The Empire had been waiting for this moment, to launch their assault on the Alliance and what better way to make a statement than take the planet Illum?
"Sir!" Private Eldin announced. "Our ships are ready to wipe out the rest of the Fleet.
"Wait!" Velran raised his hand a wicked smile gracing his face. "Tell them to hold! Hail the Alliance ship!"
"What're you doing here? Not a Sith and your armour don't match the Imperial uniform. An opportunist? That's dirty."
No doubt a Sith would've launched into a ridiculous diatribe about the supremacy of the dark side. Or perhaps started whining about being maltreated and persecuted by evil Jedi. An Imperial Knight - in Enyo's view, at any rate - might have self-righteously pontificated about how the only way to bring lasting peace was to stomp on a sentient face with a boot. That was a bit closer to reality, in Enyo's view. But also mistaken. They were still organics and thus prey to organic folly.
Organic creatures abhorred order. Organic existence was defined by chaos. Alliance, Imperials, Jedi, Sith - they were but spokes on a wheel. The delusional thought they could control it, be it by imposing a variation of Imperial tyranny or the grand masquerade the Alliance called democracy and was in reality just another form of plutocracy.
The cybernetic organism was beyond that. She was a wardog, counting credits generated through the blood of sentient beings. She had no illusions that she was any better. And she would still be around when the empires of today had crumbled into dust, and been replaced by a new generation of fools who would fall prey to the same folly. She had been forged in fire and steel. One day they would consume her. She was fine with that. Until that day, she would watch the folly of organics burn the galaxy.
For the cycle must continue.
And she found talking in battle wasteful. Thus she remained silent as she confronted the rapid sequence of attacks the Togruta unleashed. The burst of Force energy halted her slash when it slammed into her. Her footing remained firm on the ground like the boulder she was. She didn't fall, but it pushed her back slightly and her grip on her weapon was momentarily weakened. Enough to give the Jedi an advantage as she manoeuvred around the blade lock.
And then the Jedi's cobalt sabre jabbed forward in a powerful thrust as the lock was overcome. Straight into a joint in Enyo's armoured shoulder. The tip of the burning blade stabbed through layers of armourweave and burnt the flesh beneath it before, before impacting upon metal. The lightsabre bounced off, and as the smell of burnt flesh wafted into the air and sparks flew, Enyo felt the off-arm had grown rather stiff.
No sound escaped her. Behind her helmet's faceplate, electronic eyes flashed crimson. And she responded rapidly. Quickly she raised her foot and delivered a thunderous kick aimed at the Jedi's knee - the one of the leg with the numb foot. At the same time, she called upon the Force and attempted to wrap a strong, telekinetic vice-grip around one of the Togruta's lekku and squeeze hard.
“Like dreams, farces show the disguised fulfillment of repressed wishes.”-Eric Bentley
He couldn’t stay here forever, that damn E-Web was doing too good a job as he did not need the Force to know that those Mercenaries were working with the Stormtroopers to pick them off. Caltin could protect himself to a point, but his skills will only take him so far.
“Caltin!” The big man glanced in the direction where Caedyn was calling him. “We can’t stay here, we need to finish the objective”
Really?
Be Nice!
I’ll keep that in mind! A hard horizontal blocking slash bought him a moment to throw a powerful blast of electrical energy at the Imperial Weapon. Not necessarily the best approach, but it worked, Well enough at least. There were still gourds of blaster fire incoming, but the surviving “Rapiers” finally made it down their corridor, Stormtroopers were giving chase but there was nothing he could do about that right now. He had his own objective, they had their own objective it was a matter of finding Judah.
There was a problem at this point though. As many of the Stormtroopers seemed to be redirected through the other entry points, one of the mercenaries, the one that looks like the one he remembered. Maybe the infamous Hunter that had a bounty on him for trying to do serious damage to the Senate not too long ago? Anyway, he was making an aerial break right at Judah, attached to Caedyn. This was a serious situation
“Tendrils… OOOOHHH D I M A!”
Vanagor almost felt bad for forgetting that the Mandalorian was with them, but that was just the way that this fight was going. Between attacking Stormtroopers, and having lost that other Duro Mercenary for the moment, Caltin had his own work to do to get into the ship. That was hindered even more with…
Acid?
Caltin had gone to block what he thought was a blaster bolt. The problem is that the “pod” for lack of a better term shattered and acid kept going through and around the beam of “Conservator” shorting it(though it kept working). The acid ended up hitting his right vambrace which Vanagor had instinctively brought up to protect his face. Ripping it off furiously, he blocked more shots, but more acid ripped across his battle armor.
"Let's see how your lightsaber handles this."
This was getting aggravating.
That’s it…
He didn’t have time to do this properly, but the big man had no options otherwise. Closing a free hand to his chest quickly, the massive Jedi Master yelled out “Repulse!” hoping that Judah and Caedyn would know what he was talking about. The two Mercenaries COULD know, he had no information on them, but he had to do this. Taking a deep breath, the big man expended an inordinate amount of energy outwards in all directions, and completely burned off his acid soaked armor.. It was a desperation move, to be sure, but it would(if everything worked the way that it was supposed to) by the three Jedi times to get further into the ship.
In no less than a second, Veno had come to understand. From behind the viewport of the wounded vessel, the Imperial stared out at the wanton destruction that had littered the battlefield with debris; his featureless and helmeted head portrayed no emotion, but rest assured there was some form of foul grin streaked across his small face.
The prototype. It worked, all with an in-field test too. Madmen, but brilliant, no matter the double-edged sword it had become. With time, it could be refined. And then, the Empire could bring their enemies to heel with one swift blow of whatever it is they hold dear. The Force was an incomprehensible tool to be used by monks, paragons and sadists alike, but a weapon born from legendary feats of engineering? It was real, grounded, tangible. It was worthy of being feared.
But for all the marvelling Veno had entered, their plan of attack had fallen on deaf ears. Ignored, maybe the Alliance was not made of the heroes it liked to paint itself as. Or maybe they saw through whatever façade the pirate crew played at. Nonetheless, the assassin marched towards the pilot's seat and shoved them aside, stronger than someone of his diminutive stature may seem. "Get out, move." He muttered, clambering into the seat himself.
"It's time for us to blow up some of your kind," the yellow-tinted visors turned so briefly towards Rohak, "I trust that is not an issue?"
With his hands over the controls, he beelined the Balac towards the hangar of the craft commanded by Jos Krayt
Blinded by the all too sudden flash that filled his vision with no more than white, and his ears with a screech. Corin stumbled backwards, one foot after the other, until onto a knee across the melted snow and ice while the coldness of it rushed him back to the moment. The unmistakable roar of a flamethrower made itself known and the plume of flames soared towards him, only able to narrowly avoid becoming no more than a charred corpse by a fraction with a deft dodge. The fabrics of his clothing cindered, allowed for the birth of embers as he lay flat on his back, buried from sight beneath the arc of fire.
Even on a planet as cold as Ilum, Corin started to sweat.
It was with a tense jaw clenched that the Padawan had found himself able to open his mind, <Is everyone else out?> His voice hurriedly entered their own minds.
Objective 1
Allies: The Empire
Enemies: GA; Nida Perl
Equipment: Armor; Duster; Lightsaber; Old Sin The clash of sabers revealed more to Sarad than he may have known otherwise. Gazing at Nida Perl
between the lock of their blades, the crackle of energy he caught the waft of heat the same as she did only he was more acclimatized to it. Using such a volatile lightsaber didn't give him much choice other than to master it, to do otherwise would have likely invited catastrophe.
At that moment Sarad was happy to continue pressuring her, attempting to press her backwards towards the rubble until he saw the opening he sought and she gave it to him as one hand left her the hilt of her lightsaber.
The Telekinetic attack came quickly, he felt a minute shift in the force and then the jagged rock came at his head. Only reflexes, honed by combat and the aid of the force allowed him to avoid it. As the Force Speed galvanized him he disengaged his lightsaber from hers, arcing it up and then back behind his shoulder so that his right arm extended while a twist of the waist turned him away from the projectile.
It still caught him across the cheek, just bellow the eye and left a cut there where crimson bled freely.
Dodging was not all that occured though.
As his right side came back his left arm came back out of the Duster where he'd curled it behid his back, swinging around in the process. Gripping Old Sin, the Phase-Knife in an inverted grip with it Sarad would slash at Nida's midsection concordant with the draw of his torso to avoid the projectile. The Phase-Knife was similar to a lightsaber but different, its molecular blade was said by some to be a hundred times sharper than a vibroblades and the knife could effectively tear through light or moderate armor though heavy armor was mostly beyond its capabilities. In this case Sarad aimed for Nida's midsection well beneath the cover of her blade, in particular her waistline knowing that whatever protection she might have there was usually weak in that area to account for movement. The Lightsaber too was in action, after it had arced up and away to assist with the dodge Sarad would let momentum take its course and rolling his wrist inwards as she attempted to roll under his angle of attack he would let the white hot blade of his weapon arc downwards out of its previous motion, sparking it against the cavern floor and rip upwards in an attempt to cut across her right side before she could make distance out of her defensive maneuver.
All in all the combination of attack was meant to incapcitate Nida on the right side, taking advantage of any potential openings if the blows landed.
Once he'd completed the maneuvers, which came at a blurring speed, Sarad was already repositioning himself to face her in the direction she'd come up out of her roll, if she could still stand....
"Kill you?"
....he repeated, the heat of the blood from where the jagged rock had cut across the side of his face evident as it leaked downwards...
"No."
...he wasn't going to kill her, at least not unless he had no other choice. If he had reasons they were his own but he'd illuminate her on this much... "Once we've finished you'll be handed over to Saul Vandron
, he and other Imperials may have an interest in those who've sided with the Alliance here today."
From his approach toward the Imperial trooper's flank, Jand saw the flashbang drop to the ground across the fighting space, in front of Corin. With a grimace, the Nagai brought his robe sleeved arm up, which blocked the sudden flash of bright light in the dim tunnel, but didn't do so much for the resounding crack of explosion and noise. And as with the missile from earlier, Jand's ears were affected, though this time things went very quiet with a ringing.
But, vision was more important in the current situation.
It was just that Jand didn't realize there was an 'alternative vision' coming his way...
Space.
Destruction.
A superweapon fired from Imperial forces above the planet.
An Alliance vessel damaged, plummeting downward, through atmosphere toward the crystal caves...
The same caves the group fought in.
With the Nagai's mind completely open, in preparation for Iris' tactic, there had been a powerful telepathic presence - complete with warning - that had zeroed in and struck Jand with full force. It caused him to grunt, as he stumbled against the rock wall beside him, and felt like the world spun with the intensity.
Ahead, the trooper unleashed with a flamethrower.
"Che'qosê!" Jand cursed in his own tongue, before he realized the trooper was angling the flame his way. "Very well."
The Nagai pulled back his arm and tossed the lightsaber directly at the opponent, which sent the blue blade spinning through the space between them, as the energy weapon let out a high-pitched thrum on its trajectory--
* Vroomvroomvrrom! *
--if the Imperial wanted to throw fire, then Jand would throw plasma!
"We are in danger," Jand said loudly, as he ran parallel to the approaching flame burst. He hoped the others could hear him. "A capital vessel is going to crash onto the surface above the crystal caves... even now, there might not be enough time."
From his flanking position of the trooper, Jand slid out of the rocky tunnel and onto the metal walkways of the Imperial mining operation. He wouldn't abandon his fellow Padawans; but if they chose to stay, he would not follow them into a pointless death, either. There was no honor in dying willingly alongside an opponent who was equally likely to die regardless.
The Nagai had little concern for the Imperial trooper's continued existence.
Jand's hand reached to his belt, from which he pulled a shaped handle the color of bone. A press of a circular design on the handle with his thumb, and a shining metallic blade began to unfold, revealing a Nagai longsword; and while Jand supported a withdrawal, he also wouldn't remain unarmed, should the fight continue - likely due to Corin's seeming stubbornness.
Rules are the rules...Orders are orders... and good soldiers follow orders.
Dominik didn't reply to Tiric, but accepted the holoprojector and examined the man it showed. He memorized the face and hair before passing it off to another member of the squad. He would have been second or third through the tight narrow space, and stopped and crouched like everyone else at Tiric's command. He sensed more than felt or saw Cordé Sabo
, the Task Force's field medic, looking out from behind him. He glanced back to see her upraised four fingers, and turned on his own thermal vision. Four signatures, for sure.
And like the field medic, he felt the ground rumble softly. Then a message appeared on his HUD inside his helmet.
// ATTN ALL INTELLIGENCE UNITS \\
!!WARNING!! SUPERWEAPON FIRED IN THE ATMOSPHERE. BE AWARE OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES.
Oh crap. Fired in the atmosphere? Environmental changes? Things about to fall out of the sky. Big things. Either way, they were stuck in this cave. He heard Corde's murmur, and a bigger rumble through the cavern. Then lights flicked to them all, and blaster bolts began flying their way.
You Will Be Perfect
If only he had brought the grenade launcher. His armor was built like a tank, and in the small opening they had before it opened wide Dominik stood tall, letting Corde and others use him as cover. The blaster bolts knocked him around a little, ruining his aim but he took the aim that he could and began firing off magrounds in short bursts. Whether they hit the soldiers or the walls around them, deadly flying shards of material flew at the troopers from both his and Tiric Sar'andor
's rifles. These weren't just classic slugs, but magrounds meant to penetrate using the railgun components used in the guns. It wouldn't be long, maybe a few seconds at most with all the gunfire, gun fights hardly last more than a few seconds between soldiers, before the troopers were dead.
"Come on," Dominik said outloud before the dust started to settle, taking a few steps forward as he rolled his shoulders. "We're going to have starships crashing down on us, we don't want to be in caves when they do. Golden," Tiric was still the leader. "Get us moving, we need to be fast." He was aiming down his sights again, keeping his head there as he changed magazines without moving his eyes.
[Enemy fire seems to be coming from the opposite end of the bridge! Numbers unknown!]
With the approximate location of their assailants relayed, FN-999 and his company began to better focus their assault. The Alliance units had rifles which outranged the close range setting of their flamethrowers, giving them a considerable advantage. Fortunately for the Empire; however, its flametroopers were equipped with flamethrowers with two different range settings.
[Set flamethrowers to pressurized and fire from cover until distance can be safely closed.] ordered FN-999 from behind an empty crate. [Never forget that the EWR-52 has two different settings. Don't kill yourself focusing on one.]
The other troopers quickly complied, and they took positions behind forms of cover ranging from barricades to abandoned mining equipment.
[Enemy sniper, eight clicks ahead, 11:00.] warned a trooper over their comms as another nearby trooper's head exploded into a shower of blood.
[Understood. I'll help burn them out.] replied another, angling their flamethrower towards the coordinates and sending an arc of pressurized flame soaring towards a hover truck behind which the sniper took cover.
[Demolitions, behind a supply crate four clicks ahead at 00:30.] relayed one flametrooper.
[You reckon we're fighting a commando squad?]responded another.
[Who else do you think could have made it down here?] replied the trooper. [Even the Marines couldn't make a landing this tight.]
Slowly but surely, the company advanced, with dozens of troopers laying down suppressive fire while dozens more rushed forwards, growing ever closer to their adversaries.
Suddenly, FN-999 sensed that something was off.
Instinctively, he began to look around him in all directions. As he peered up, he realized what had put him on edge. A chunk of debris the size of a krayt was descending from the sky above, perfectly aligned to drop down into bridge spanning the chasm.
[RETREAT!!! RET-]
In an instant, the bridge shattered beneath his feet.
It was a freefall for him and one hundred other stormtroopers, down into the abyss. He was still conscious and alert, but only metal filled his vision through his helmet. He suddenly became aware of a second, identical bridge a meter in front of him and a dozen below, and decided on one final gambit to keep living.
With all his remaining strength, FN-999 grabbed the lower bridge's railing, securing it with both hands. Immediately afterwards, incredible pain soared through his body as he was struck by nearly 8 Gs, barely remaining conscious. After a few seconds, the sensation was replaced by the immense strain of the muscles of his arms holding his entire body, the combined forces nearly breaking the bones in both arms.
Still, FN-999 was no wimp and most certainly not a greenie.
Harnessing his unyielding willpower, he lifted himself up against the railing, his feet finding purchase in the gaps in the railing fence. With one last push, he climbed over the railing, landing on the second bridge. While dented by debris from above and littered with sharp metal edges, the second, lower bridge had been slightly to the left of the first, upper bridge, thus sparing it from the worst of the collapse.
[38th, this is Nines, do you copy? Do you copy?!]
No response.
FN-999 stood alone on the second bridge, bracing for the worst as his body pieced itself back together.
[Colonel Silvertongue, hostiles have taken most of the center portion of Trench A.]
[Understood.]
[[4th, this is Colonel Silvertongue. Our current position at Trench A is untenable. Retreat to Trench B and defend it at all costs. It is our strongest chokepoint.]]
[Colonel, these Alliance Marines are a tenacious bunch. Is it worth giving them this much of a foothold? We haven't had time to rig Trench A yet, so if they take it, they keep it.]
[If we hold, we risk a double encirclement on our entrenched flanks. As long as the command center in C remains unmolested, we will be able to maintain a dogged defensive.]
[Even if that means giving up A?]
[There's a reason we built more than one trench. As we saw in Csilla, it isn't hard for a highly determined foe to overrun a single trench. Simply put, static defense will not stop a highly mobile foe. However, with multiple trenches, we can fall back to a position just as secure as our previous one. Sort of a defense-in-depth doctrine.]
[Understood. I'm getting live intel now - the Alliance forces are led by the same commander who you and Moff Braxis nearly encircled on New Aldera.]
[Roche? We're dealing with a slimy one then. No matter, in this terrain she will have little chance of returning the favor. As long as we do this by the books, she will not have her vengeance.]
[On that note, we have basic intel on their unit comp now. They're subdi-]
[Major? Hello?]
[Major Grief?]
[Grief, come in!]
A massive shockwave rattled the command center, its electronics flickering in its wake. Seconds later, a colossal "thump" rung through the center. Curiosity and fear warred within Silvertongue, but deep down he knew that he would be getting an answer soon enough.
"What was that?" yelled Silvertongue, directed at the various logistics officers in the room.
"Dear god..."muttered a nearby technician, his eyes glued to the screen in front of him.
"What did you say?" asked the colonel, his attention solely on the technician.
"Dear god..." repeated the technician, seemingly in a daze.
Silvertongue pushed the technician aside, his heart pounding as he looked at the screen.
Amani wanted to be insulted by the agent's accusation, but was struck with a pang of guilt. She played no part in their operation here, but it all the same felt like her responsibility to keep them safe. And even if it hadn't originally been the case here, padawans did play a part in war efforts elsewhere. Still, she snipped back, "Your people weren't supposed to BE here. They- they were just on a small mission, coordination building…" She stared angrily at Zoraya, "Who do you think decided to turn this place into a killzone?"
The woman stepped past her, and Amani kept her blade up until she was at the console. A few inputs later, and surveillance feeds began to pop up across the screen, displaying various locations throughout the mined-out complex. She butted in to get a closer look, eager for some sign of the students. Amani began flipping through each camera, slowing briefly as she cast a wary side glance at Zoraya, "...Why are you helping me?"
Suddenly, the planet began to shake violently. This was followed up by a message directed to all intelligence units, his squad included.
"A superweapon!?" Driver exclaimed, "In atmosphere!?"
Before long, they were under fire. Driver drew his pistols as he leapt to cover, firing on the Imperial troopers. He managed to drop seven in rapid succession before Dominik took out a large number of them with his magrounds.
"We're going to have starships crashing down on us, we don't want to be in caves when they do. Golden," Tiric was still the leader. "Get us moving, we need to be fast."
"I second that one, sir," the clone added. "I know M wanted those Imperial Knights captured, but we can't exactly do that when we're all dead."
Firing a superweapon in the planet's atmosphere was a completely braindead call on the part of whoever had given the all clear, GA or Empire alike. Winning a battle was one thing, but there was such a thing as too many casualties. Driver was a loyal soldier through and through, but the lives of brave men and women hung in the balance in any battle. If lives were to be sacrificed, it should be by the will of those in the line of fire.
Panic. Fear. Iris flinched as the vision hit Jand's mind. Echoed through the bond Jand had opened himself up to. And Corin, now that he wasn't being stubborn about that much. Iris spun again, ripping her blade through yet another Stormtrooper. Then flicked the switch. The hum of her saber ceased as she instead turned on it's nonlethal edge. The Entropite crystal couldn't cut anything.
But as she finally joined the other two and swung her blade over Corin and through the flame harassing him, it showed it's use by consuming the very heat it touched.
"Jem's getting them out. It's time to go." She flicked the blade up, trying to keep it consuming the gout of flame trying to consume them in turn. Sadly a blade wasn't as wide as a person. She winced as she felt the heat burning, but she wasn't just going to run away. She wasn't going to leave behind another person to fight for her. This wasn't Teta. This wasn't Liberty Gate.
She'd fight, with everything she had, to get everyone out.
The Mando barely flinched from either attack, accepting the pain to fire a flash bang into the ground. Sola closed her eyes by reflex and thrust out her hand to push the flash bang into the chasm, jet boots flaring to propel her backward away from the sudden burst of Grendel’s flamethrower. Fire licked at the edges of her pants.
Several things happened all at once.
Her back hit an ice column. The flashbang exploded. Grendel Krayt
reached for her. The Force screamed.
Destruction. Images of the superweapon flashed, the red hot prow of his vessel as it screamed through Ilum's upper cloud layer and burst into view above the crystal caves. Fear. The sounds of the Claxons, screams of the dying still not found on the ship, the desperation of the surviving crew as they tried to fit as many as they could into transports and other vehicles for safety. Caution. A warning telling of the destruction the Courageous would cause as it crashed into the ice below.
Their future was death, and she was okay with this. The Force would welcome her as it had welcomed all Jedi before her. This she believed with every single one of her hearts. It was the core of the faith that guided her.
But this was not her time. Nor, the Force whispered, was it Grendel's.
If the Force was an ocean, then she had wandered to deeply into its depths. She felt, as if in a daze, Grendel's hand close around her. His rough grip snapped her from her fugue; she flourished her saber to smack his wrist and flared her jet boots, hoping the pain would be enough to startle him into letting her go.
"We're both going to die if we don't get out of here right now!" Quickly, she scooped up some snow to put out the fire smoldering its way up her pants. "Like right now."
Amani Serys
