Invasion Hubris of Empires | The Cold War | Invasion of Ilum [Empire vs. Alliance]

[Sars Sarad]

Objective 1
Allies: The Empire
Enemies: GA; Nida Perl
Equipment: Armor; Duster; Lightsaber; Old Sin

---

In return for his name Sarad received a question with an obvious answer. Standing across from her he thought that she must have already known what he would tell her yet she asked anyways, perhaps for posterities sake. It was strange to him.

"No."

...came a singular reply, accompanying the statement Sarad had started to walk clockwise around her towards her right side. The right was the dominant side of the majority of people in his experience though it made no difference to him. As he moved the blazing lightsaber blade continued to aim itself at her, creating ambient waves of heat in the process...

"The Empire has paid me to be here but the Force is my Master."

...an aspect of it at least. To understand such a statement one had to embrace the idea that the Force was more than the Light and the Dark. Many people referred to the Force as the 'Living Force' and living things often had aspects, the Light and the Dark were obvious but there were other niches ingrained in it. Take him for example, Nida Perl might not understand as much but Sarad believed that combat was the ultimate expression of self and that through combat one gained self awareness, knowledge of self.

He was no Sith nor was he a Jedi. He was something else.

Each step he took was done so slowly, purposefully allowing him to shift his footing over the floor of the cavern....

"They can leave."

...he meant the Medical Evac Team, his clockwise motion would actually open the path out of the cave for them. He had no interest in any of them. If they wanted to help the dying then it was better that they did so on the battlefield rather than remain in here, trapped with the two of them.

Once he'd moved aside there was a pause, a lull and then without warning Sarad would have pushed off his back foot and leapt at her causing the duster he wore to flutter around him. In the process his lightsaber flourished, winding back behind his right shoulder before arcing up over it so that it could descend in an overhead chop aimed to clip the front of her chest...

"Defend yourself."

...came the steady call he offered her as he leapt making it clear he would not pull his attack if she did not ignite her lightsaber.

 

[Dagon Kaze]

Valery Noble Korvan Toldreyn
Sahar Rakaan Horne
​

Evil tainted the sacred land defiled by Imperial hand. Its stench permeated the empyrean like a plague and manifested like a scourge in the material world before them. War and mayhem, blood and bones, death and demise; all like fathomless depths that sought to drown you. In the midst of this darkness, like anchors stood the trio of Jedi.

Similar to his fellows, Dagon Kaze sought to shield his allies first rather than harm the enemy. As a watchman of Denon and by extension a vigilante on the crime-ridden world, he had grown to become an expert in non-lethal combat. Barrels of guns were sliced in half and crowds dispersed into walls with powerful repulses of the Force. Kicks, punches, elbows, and knees synchronized together in a flurry to deter the enemy and protect the ally.

But his mind was burdened allowing the claws of sorrow over his fallen friend to gouge his senses and debilitate his movement.

"Kaze!" was the last thing before the world succumbed to darkness.

And finally... he could see.

A window of memories and emotions. Desires and fears. Statements and secrets. Pasts, presents, and futures. Yarns of lives interwoven together in a matrix, an amalgamation of all that made them who they were, and the nexus that bound them all together.

The Force.

And the Jedi as its humble servants, dedicated to protecting what was most sacred -- life.

The window turned opaque until it became a mirror.

The kid that once was morphing into the man now.

A silent guardian.

The very air itself cracked into crevices, a stream of fissures breaking up the tank into parts; parts into pieces; pieces into components. Every fault, every error, every pattern, every little detail of the digger tank; all had become visible to the Jedi investigator.

He stripped it all apart.

All but the driver.

The pieces fell down beside her like a shower of shattered glass.

Dagon closed his outstretched palm and grasped the cerulean blade's hilt with both hands. A familiar embrace -- Ataru, Way of the Hawk-Bat.

"You always did have a knack for the overly dramatic, Sahar." an ironic smirk curved his lips before his eyes shifted to Valery and Korvan. "Bring him back."

I'll deal with her.

The Force engulfed him and he surged forth like a juggernaut in a series of acrobatic swings aimed at her lower parts to hinder her footwork. ​

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Ilum, Objective 2
Tags: H Hyena ​

"Youngling, are you lost? Where is your daddy? Is he already dead?"

This guy was really full of himself. It was always a sure fire sign that one was confident in their abilities. It was good to have confidence, but it could also become a liability. Jasper would have to keep in mind that the man had an ego. It may be important later.

“You have no idea,” Jasper laughed to himself.

The subject of his father was a complicated one. Dead, maybe not, but in some ways it would make things easier on Jasper if he was. He didn’t humor it for long. When the imperial fired on him, it was nothing complicated. Jasper was being tested. If his duel with Kybo Ren had taught him anything, it was that giving your opponent the chance to test you was to walk the path to defeat. He wasn’t going to give him that chance.

Jasper tossed his lightsaber over to his left hand, making use of Shien maneuvers to block the incoming blaster bolts. He didn’t waste any time making his move after that, running up to close the gap. As he ran, he noted several devices the man had on his person: Grenades. Good for range, but not so much in close quarters combat. He’d risk blowing himself up in the process. Jasper didn’t care how good this guy was. It was hard to go fisticuffs with a lightsaber, and he was packing more than just that.

Using the force, Jasper drew his Bryar Pistol, firing off three stun rounds. Was it unorthodox for a Jedi? Yeah, sure. But Jasper had made a promise to the creature that dwelled in the tunnels below to get back the planet’s Kyber. He was willing to put orthodoxy aside.

 

[Pa'Kar Sang]

Enemies: Ignacious Korvan | Hyperion | Gallius Orcana
Allies: Liedran Kathause | Caltin Vanagor | Caedyn Arenais | Constantine Oliva | Jadwiga Drozd | Jos Krayt | Hyperion

ANV Courageous​	Lost-Falling​
ANV Vigil​	Operational​
ANV Intrepid​	Crippled​
ANV Defiance​	Operational​
ANV Aspiration​	Crippled​
ANV Accordance​	Lost-All Hands​
ANV Eclipse​	Operational​
ANV Archex​	Lost-All Hands​
ANV Yrica​	Lost-All Hands​
ANV Rosan​	Lost-All Hands​

The battle had turned the bridge into a never-ending stream of alerts and warnings as point defense teams and turbolaser teams matched the Empire's assault shot for shot. From his command chair, he saw that the Alliance fleet was slowly trickling in, a counterattack to the Imperial's own surprise invasion of Alliance space. The Empire outgunned them, but he knew that with the Jedi and the brave pilots of the Alliance they would win the day. It was as sure as the storms of Dorin-

"Admiral! There's a strange power surge coming from that Onager!"

"What? Get me telemetry data on that vessel. Now!"

"Huh, why's the enemy formation opening up like that-" The realization from the off-hand comment of one of his crew sent a shiver down his spine. The Force was trying to tell him. A storm was coming.

"All hands! Brace for imp-" The warning came too late. In a brilliant flash of green the firing of some immensely powerful weapon send a cracking thunder through the aural sensors of the Courageous. In an instant, Imperial vessels were reduced to slag, what remained of their scrapped hulls being thrown across the speckled black of space. The debris cloud came first. Then the blast struck his battlegroup's vanguard. All but one of the Paelleon Destroyers were instantly turned to scrap and the beam kept going. What would have been a direct hit was, as much as he hated it, curbed by the destroyers and the shields of his nearby fellow Courageous-class vessels. The green flash came on the Courageous herself and suddenly he could see nothing but white and then...Black.

When he came to he still couldn't see. He groaned trying to pick himself up from off the floor. He couldn't see, but the Force told him all he needed to know. The sudden loss of life was so shocking that he nearly missed the lack of life on the bridge. Only a handful of his bridge officers had survived.

"Status report!" Groans came at first but then finally someone managed to get one of the broken screens to tell him something.

"Engines are out, repulsors are out. Seems like a large engine flare saved us from a direct hit, but now we're careening towards the planet. We're already in its gravitational pull."

Already? How hard had they been hit to be sent veering off course so quickly and so far?

"Hangars? Escape pods?"

"Escape pods are all gone. Substantial damage to the hangars, but only the ventral hangar is inoperable."

"Then what are you waiting for?" Pa'Kar shouted. He swallowed hard and took an unsteady breath before reaching for the com on his wrist. It was tapped into the ship so he could make announcements from anywhere "All hands. Abandon ship. Escape pods are destroyed. Escape in fighters, transports, anything that has a still working repulsor. Get. Off. This. Ship." Pa'Kar felt arms all around him lifting him up.

"Sir, your eyes-"

"I know son," Pa'Kar muttered. A groan of pain escaped his mask. There was something lodged in his leg. He considered it a blessing that he couldn't see the state of his crew. From the smell though he knew that bodies burned and bled all around him. "But now is not the time. Help me to the hangar. I need to make sure everyone gets off this ship."

​

 

[Calix of Thyrsus]

I L U M
Equipment: Armor | Lightsaber | Blaster
Allies: Julius Sedaire
Opposing: The Empire | Castor E-196

The young Thyrsian was oblivious to the fact that Jorus was only half-listening to him.

The boy had his back toward his master, eyes scanning along the peripheral. There was something... how did humans refer to it? The Echani phrase would have been olga'sai. Like there was something he was overlooking. But he didn't know what it was, presumably because he couldn't see it.

Instead, it seemed as though Calix were reacting to everything a moment too late.

He felt the swell of the Force through his master, turning sharply to glance back at the Corellian -- only to realize that Jorus had moved.

Similarly, he realized the drill was going to explode, but at almost the same moment that it did -- his attempt at shouting a word of warning instead transformed into a yelp of surprise. Come to find out, Calix was an alto capable of some impressive high notes. If he was rehearsing for the part of a frightened thirteen-year-old, then he'd probably just convincingly pulled that off.

Julius had leapt in front of him, shielding the padawan from the brunt of the blast. Had Calix more time to familiarize himself with the Sasori armor that had been fitted to him, he might have thought to deploy the thermal shield. As it was, the afro-headed youth threw his arms up to block his face, letting the ablative plating on the arms absorb the energy as the heat washed over the pair.

When the blast had subsided, the youth found himself slightly disoriented.

"You alright boy?"

Blinking, the boy just looked at the old man, as though dumbfounded. Then a creeping heat prompted the realization that his afro was smoldering. Giving a second yelp, the boy juggled the lightsaber between his hands, using the free one to reach out and pat out the singed hair fibers that had caught bits of flaming shrapnel.

"Squad check in, defensive positions, all who remain," he heard Jorus announce next, as the master turned his attention from the singed padawan to the soldiers around them.

Taking a moment to look over the old man, he noted his master's robes were blackened and charred.

Drawing in a deep breath, the Thyrsian steadied himself as he adjusted his grip on the lightsaber, holding it at the ready.

 

[Hacks]

Hacks sat back up in her seat, poured the contents of her carry bag out onto the limited space of her table, then tossed the bag aside. Metal hands grasped pistols and blasters, sliding them into her jacket pockets, but the blades would remain on the table. Her eyes glanced up to the feed and now made clear the two forms of the Jedi.

"Great," she muttered, then returned to typing. She kept a small frame in the top right corner of her monitor to keep an eye on the Jedi. She returned to her work in the Alliance battlenet, redirecting communications to Imperial intelligence operatives, monitoring fleet engagement lines and jamming what sensors she could from here.

Her plastic eyes darted once more to the feed as the backs of the Jedi vanished into the building. She was running out of time. She typed faster, data streams poured down the screens, lines of code of her self-replicating malware were near completion. Then she heard them, "The Jedi have arrived! Surrender, and you won't be harmed!"

Hacks made no reply, her four hands beat at superhuman speed against her keypads. One thing she had learned in her lifetime is that one could never trust a cop, she wouldn't surrender, there was no guarantee she wouldn't be harmed. She remembered Cato's frustration when she referred to him as a 'magic-cop' and he insisted the Jedi were different, but from the news, she didn't see the difference.

She typed out an emergency alert to her Imperial handler; [I've been compromised]. Yet she kept her back to the two Jedi, hands typing, eyes darting around her screens. She just needed to finish a few last lines of code . . .

 

[Kragr Krayt]

Objective: Black Ice
Opponent: Saul Vandron | Wolfram Triko
Location: Ilum

This battle played like a beautiful symphony of pure carnage, instrumented only by those who tainted the battlefield with their decay of death. The few Imperial that actually tried to return fire against the massive upscaled power armour, completely ricocheted off of the Titan like it was nothing. Not even a dent had been left by the soldiers and the poor Imperials would soon find themselves blown to kingdom come.

The Alliance troopers had no idea who the sudden arrival was, or if it was actually just a huge armoured droid sent to aid them. Not only did Kragr manage to make a hole in the trenches on the Imperial side, but now the Alliance soldiers rushed from their own trenches to where the Imperials had held for most of the fighting.

A violent confrontation between Alliance and Imperial soldiers, as the soldiers on the Alliance side had successfully it to the next trench and engaged in a deadly close quarter firefight and even melee. Meanwhile, Kragr acted as the Alliance troop's overwatch, raining down mini-explosions from the high explosive slugs the Titan's cannon fired.

Sadly, the enemy didn't very often agree with such a massive push and a violent alarm beeping went off as the HUD's scanner in the Titan picked up the double salvo of heavy laser fire at him. Unfortunately, Kragr wasn't fast enough to dodge, only turn his side and tank the AT-AT's firepower. The Mandalorian knew the Titan could handle it, but an AT-AT would become a problem as it would pull his attention away from aiding the Alliance soldiers who now were in full-on melee combat, rushing through the trenches, meeting any Imperials heads on.

The destructive firepower of an AT-AT was enough to knock the Titan back a couple of feet, having Kragr almost fall over, but in the last minutes righted himself back up.

With both hands on the cannon, Kragr launched himself into a sprint towards the AT-AT, exploding the ground beneath the Titan's feet. Unlike before, this time he was ready for the AT-AT's fire if it decided to really piss Kragr off and while the Mandalorian didn't have the Force, like his friend Valery Noble , his Titan's HUD were reliable and fast at calculating incoming attacks.

Charging without regard for the Imperials in their trenches or above, Wolfram Triko and a bunch of the Imperials soldiers around him would come face to face with a 450 kg heavy upscaled power armour reaching 426 cm in height. If Wolfram and the men around him, didn't run for cover and got out of the Titan's path, he and his men would get completely crushed beneath the heavy suit of armour.

 

[Kyell Laysel]

Location: Ilum
Tag: Miri Nimdok Hacks

<Of course. My voice is at your disposal, Mr. Laysel,> she replied. Clearing her throat, she shouted, "The Jedi have arrived! Surrender, and you won't be harmed!"

Kyell blinked but his expression turned into quite a smirk, <I have such a beautiful voice at my disposal, hm?> he teased before he turned completely silent and listened, hoping for an answer that would prevent the situation from escalating. Alas, there was nothing, and he could still feel the presence up ahead.

His eyes turned to Miri and with just a nod, he signaled that he was going to move in.

Slowly, the lightsaber hilt was drawn in front of his chest, held in both hands. He didn't ignite the blade but his thumb was ready to do so at the first sign of trouble. Perhaps it was foolish of him not to go in with the weapon ready, but somewhere deep down he hoped to still persuade the person ahead not to fight and surrender instead.

Less than a minute later, he finally stepped inside the room and looked at a woman, who was still furiously typing away on her computer. Had she simply not heard them over the loud clanking of her typing? Or was she trying to cause as much damage as she could in the few seconds she had left? Either way, Kyell reached out to her mind and forced his telepathic voice to project his thoughts inside, <Apologies for the mental intrusion, but this operation is over. Raise your hands... all of them... and step away from the displays.>

His thumb lightly pressed against the ignition switch in case she turned aggressive, and he knew this was the big moment. This would either be a fight or a success without any harm caused.

 

[Hacks]

Hacks heard footsteps approaching. They were right behind her. She reached over to her computer and thumbed an ejection, a datashard jumped out, she pinched the microchip and slid it into the back of her cranial implant. She would have to finish the programming later. She began to switch off her monitors, the green glow that illuminated her face vanished.

Then she heard it, like a thought but not her own, <Apologies for the mental intrusion, but this operation is over. Raise your hands... all of them... and step away from the displays.> Her skin would have crawled if she had any, but the synthskin peeled over her metal structure was nothing but a farce. Hacks began to raise her four arms into the air and slowly stood to her feet. At seven foot the cyborg towered over the two Jedi.

"Neat trick," she commented and turned to look at them, "I have my own tricks, too." While the Force was a mystery to Hacks, she too could manipulate the world around them with her mind. The Jedi way was esoteric and spiritual, hers technological. Her brain implant, the AJ^6, gave her remote access to networks and machines, allowing mental thought alone to control them.

Her plastic eyes stared down the Jedi, unblinking and focused. Her mind raced to access the research stations control system, as easy as moving an arm, she willed the lights to turn off. Then the blast shields came crashing down, cutting off the outside. The room grew into an oppressive void in the total darkness that now consumed them.

Her arms dropped as the lights went out, four hands reaching into her jacket and slipped the duel F-1 pistols and Q87 blasters into her hands, she had not even seen her target before her fingers slapped the trigger of her blasters. She fired blind into the darkness, figuratively and literally. She was no gunslinger, she never practiced her marksmenship, but she didn't need skill on her side. Like all things Hacks' dabbled in, her strength was in technology.

The smart blasters burst to life, spraying the room in vibrant bolts of crimson. The red light splashed across Hacks' face and glinted off her glasses. The salvo of heat-tracking superheated plasma roared towards the two Jedi.

Kyell Laysel | Miri Nimdok
(Changed Posting Order)

 

[Miri Nimdok]

<I have such a beautiful voice at my disposal, hm?>

<Anytime, sir,> she replied with a mock salute. She was trying to keep things professional, but as usual Kyell made it hard to stay serious.

Despite Miri’s beautiful voice, there was no response from inside the room. The two Jedi made their way inside, facing their foe head-on.

It turned out to be a seven feet tall cybernetic woman with four mechanical arms.

Just my luck, Miri thought with dismay.

The cyborg was a woman of few words, speaking of tricks just before the lights went out. In the time it would’ve taken Miri to turn on a flashlight, the Imp had already started blasting.

Miri dove behind a desk, using it as cover. As the room lit up with the glow of blaster fire, she waited with bated breath for a break in the gunshots. The cyborg would have to reload eventually, at which time Miri would lean out just far enough to unleash a hail of slugs upon her opponent.

The Force was on her side… for now. She let it guide her aim.

Kyell Laysel Hacks​

 

[Enyo Typhos]

Osarla Ridor . Also there: Sion Lorray

Even as the beam streaked towards the Togruta Jedi, the cyborg was in motion and implacably advancing through wind and snow. The vision mode of her electronic eyes had switched to infrared to aid in tracking her foe through the thick snow flurries.

Ion paddle beamers bypassed armour and conventional shields and could not be blocked by lightsabres. But manifold things could be done with the power of the Force. Some were absurd and delusional, such as trying to reshape reality. Others were practical, such as what the Togruta was seeking to do. The Jedi seemed to have some success in suspending the beam in mid-air, thereby mitigating the paralysing effect it could have otherwise inflicted on her. However, it appeared to have some effect on her foot. Through an act of will, the Jedi managed to will the beam to bounce away.

But the distraction had served the immediate purpose of allowing Enyo to cross the distance. With her feet having attained solid purchase on the ground, she struck. As she launched her strike, the reflected beam was caught by Enyo's off-arm. There were no organic bits to affect for the synthetic flesh was only an organic covering, but it was still an ion beam. The information on Enyo's HUD informed her of light mechanical disturbances as the arm spazzed out a little, causing fingers and wrist to temporarily lock up.

Undaunted, she carried out her assault in the same moment without pause. Crossguard lightsabre held in the grasp of her dominant hand, she launched a slash towards the Jedi's outstretched hand, aiming to cut it at the wrist. The downward cut was fuelled by mechanical strength.

 

[Kyell Laysel]

Location: Ilum
Tag: Miri Nimdok Hacks

"I have my own tricks, too."

The second she spoke those words, Kyell felt a tremor in the Force that warned him of imminent danger. It sent a shiver down his spine and right as the lights turned off, he ignited his blade to cast some purple light on himself and his immediate surroundings. While not much, it was enough to keep him from stumbling around, and it allowed him to cover not only himself but also Miri, who was ducking for cover and returning fire already.

<I'll let your bolts pass but I'll stop hers!> Kyell called out telepathically to Miri.

It was tricky but with the Force coordinating his movements precisely, he could allow any of Miri's shots to pass by his guard whilst keeping those from Hacks out. He wouldn't keep it up forever, but he wanted to make sure Miri had a good position first, before making any kind of moves. She was here to help him in the war, but he cared far more about bringing her home safe than shielding himself against whatever their enemy would throw at them.

And considering the fact they were up against a 7 feet tall cyborg with 4 arms and legs that could crush speeders, he had a feeling that much of what she could throw at them would be unusual and hard to predict or counter.

<I'm going to advance,> He finally said after a moment, when he was sure Miri was positioned safely. With a couple of steps, he tried to close the distance, and rather than deflecting bolts away randomly, he now attempted to reflect them to the joints of her 4 arms. The sooner they got rid of a few, the better.

 

[DECEASED Erskine Barran]

2nd post

HUBRIS OF EMPIRES
AN AGE OF STRIFE STORY

SHIELD_ALPHA
Lord-Regent of the Galactic Empire
Grand-Triumvir of the Tarkinist Administration

Belligerents
(IMPAF Vs. GADF)

Saul Vandron Kriegan Tavlar FN-999 Hall Mannarra Bex Tarring Delilah Jones
Aoki-Barran Mira Margo Liaeris Orik Dakari Sid Berik Sars Sarad Sabe Aner
Wolfram Triko

Ishida Ashina Bernard of Arca Mylo Thorne Kaul "Joker" Emos Sara Roche
Shar Sieu Kragr Krayt Cale Gunderson Aleksandr Stirsea Nida Perl

Sword-Duel
(Empire Vs. Enclave)

Opposing Fighter: Shai Maji

MEMORIES ON ILUM: FLASHBACKS ON A FROZEN LAKE - PART 2

Tellan Lake, The Kyber Range Mountains,
5km West of the Hallowed Scar, Ilum (Early-Spring of 877 ABY)

Just Lord Erskine, his sword, and the Black Ice beneath the soles of his boots.

Mongrel, this world is more beautiful than I remembered.

With nought but the fog, the wind, the distant Highlanders' watchtowers, and the sporadic snowfall as his audience.

An' knowing you're not here to see it for yourself.... It vexes me.

Or so he thought.​

In a melancholy of his own, though trapped in one such that was eerily different to that which Lord Michael was trapped in, Lord Erskine's grief was contrastingly bittersweet in comparison to the abject, soul-deep agony his second son was dealing with at the time. The son, whilst no doubt being the esotericist, was trapped in matters of material, tangible realism; and all whilst the father, no doubt the staunch adherent to goings-on in present-tense and hindsight alike, had willingly waded himself into meditations of a spiritual nature.

It hurt, but to the Steward of Imperium, chief of all the Empire's shrewdest custodians, it was a hurt his soul had been crying out for; seemingly the only pain that ever made any sense to Lord Erskine in this fashion, seemingly that which made sense of all that muddied the mind in times of war, seemingly the only way the Lord-Regent could feel anything but rage any more. Like parts of his lifelike nature were being chipped away, piece by piece, and by nought but the misfortunes, the deaths and estrangements in his life as time passed, leaving the shell and the innards of an otherwise-broken and dusty soul. His son, his wife and all those closest to him by that point could see it for themselves, no matter how well it was hidden from the public eye, and to the point that not even the Mongrel could miss it near the end; but in typical Erskine fashion, none of it could keep the old man down, forever fated to walk through all of it with that same smirking obstinance - readily walking his bloody, bone-covered path until the last, excited gasp.

Like the basket-hilted wonder itself was the only joy the old man had left to enjoy, and for those observing from the east, it wouldn't be a far cry for them to assume such a thing from the offset, especially in seeing what the old Woad had been doing in the hours before he eventually stepped onto Tellan Lake. Pretty though the sight would have been for any warriors of Goidelic descent, there could have been no doubting the thoughts of such painful circumstances, especially not in observing the Lord-Regent looking out across the lake from the FOB's western wall as the skies slowly darkened above, and especially not in seeing the near-serenading process of moving around with the songsteel blade on the ice. It was all too poetic for the Highlanders to ignore, and perhaps even too poetic for all of Lord Erskine's enemies to disregard in turn, but in the understanding of their leader's ways, (and inwardly of those of the Brotherhood's own) their reverence for the Stormchaser he had been was altogether too great to intervene by the time he finally walked westward to walk across the lake.

'Hello, Erskine.'

He was looking to the skies of yesteryear, with eyes still closed to the skies of the here-and-now in the moments preceding the welcome surprise, silently looking for any trace of memory from that fateful night in 865 ABY, silently sighing in an intoxicating contrast of bliss and grief combined before the voice of his anointed champion snapped the old Woad from his melancholic reverie. But when Barran eventually registered the voice of Krayt, he soon realised that such reveries had also been on his champion's mind of late, as such were the wages of sin for all the great warriors in the Galaxy, something of an unspoken language that both Erskine and Shai understood well.

'...You still move like you're twenty years younger. You look the part too.'

As the old Woad was turning to see for if his ears were telling true or not, and in the process of seeing real eyes where once cybernetics had been, Barran's eyes lit up with lifelike wonder as he replied,'Thanks, I appreciate that.... An' by the way, they're dialling back the clock at the surface as well, y'know? Honestly, mate.', pointing towards his own eyes for reference with an appreciative smirk in a kindly compliment of his own. However, like the internal struggle Shai could see behind his old, cold eyes, Erskine could see the same inner-conflict behind those new, fiery red contrasts that were staring right back; and in this inner-conflict, the old Woad saw that there was more to his champion's sudden visit than he first perceived, confirmed when the Mandalorian's eyes drifted towards his right hand - still baring naked songsteel in his brief conversational distraction.

'One moment, Shai.... I want no interruptions.'

<"Cairn Two, this is Shield Alpha! Eyes off the lake. I repeat - eyes off the lake.... You've had your wee ganders, now give me some peace an' feth off for a bit.">

<"As long as you're sure.... Copy that. Cairn Two out!">​

But instead of adopting defensive or offensive stances, the Lord-Regent remained as aimless as ever in his non-combative posture; easily understanding the bind Shai was in, the sort of employers she was likely braving for a better life in the long run, and lastly, the sorts of sacrifices Maji had endured to find herself in such a deathly gamble in the first place. After all, Barran had made many costly decisions of similar sorts in his life, from his exile for daring to dream of a stronger Galidraani military under Sith rule, to his decision to fight for a better future for his wife, family and friends, and his decision to endeavour the unforgivable so they wouldn't have to. The old man understood, and in more ways than even Lord Erskine would dare give a voice to, and in this realisation, it became all the easier to absolve Shai of any blame in the developing tensions.

'Highlanders, war on Holy planets, an' thermal-optics - catalysts for unwanted heroics.... Besides, we've come too far for games o' that sort. You deserve better than that.'

 

[Gabriel Pryce]

Allies: Varen Ardos | Osarla Ridor | Zhea Nox
Enemies: Aschwin Vethres

When the Imperial Knight moved he was like a blur, moving so quickly that he couldn't even decipher the lightsaber form he was using. Somehow Varen managed to block but all he could do was stand there. It wasn't until Varen shouted for him to run that he remembered where he was. Run? He might have been a few months green, but he wasn't going to just run away like some coward.

Master Arenais' words echoed in his mind.

The things we face out in the field of duty, aren't going to be pulling any punches, and despite having the Force with us, Jedi are as killable as the next person if they let their guard down.

They aren't going to be pulling any punches. He couldn't just leave Varen here. He couldn't- Though he didn't know it, Gabe stood there with his eyes wide, mouth agape. His legs started moving before he had time to protest and he was running, pumping his arms back down the cavern the way they came. HIs blade extinguished he was plunged into the odd blue darkness of the ice caves of Ilum, cold tears of shame running down his cheeks. In the darkness of those caves, a song called to him.

Gabriel...

 

[Hacks]

The blasters fired a barrage that melted duracrete walls and metal desks, but none struck their target. Her mind raced for a diagnosis, the targeting systems built-in were not malfunctioning, some force beyond her understanding was redirecting the bolts. Then the bolts were racing back towards her as the Jedi approached, she twicthed and a bolt scraped past her jacket, melting the fabric. Another bolt came back towards her, slamming into the blaster in her grip. The barrel turned to molten slag.

Hacks released her grip on the Q87's, the blasters clattered on the frost-covered floor. She slapped the triggers of her railgun pistols. Duracrete exploded, wood splinters flew through the air. She missed her shots. The Jedi was just about on her when something struck her. It tore through her jacket and ricochet off her cybernetic shoulder. The metal plate dented inwards.

[ WARNING: Left Shoulder - Structural Integrity Compromised. 78% Efficiency. ]

The warning flashed across her glasses. She cursed under her breath and dismissed the notice. She retreated until her back was against her desk, her railguns continued to fire from her two lower hands, her upper arms scrambled to grab the phrik blades on the table. Metal hands curled around the hilts and she whipped them around just as Kyell was close enough to strike.

She had never been trained in swordsmanship, but her strength was immense. Her upper arms opened wide and she brought them down with lightning speed and thunderous strength, augmented by motors and machine. The slash meant to cut across Kyells blade and chest.

Kyell Laysel - Miri Nimdok

 

[Aschwin Vethres]

​

Aschwin Cassirer Vethres
Imperial Knight Templar
Heir of House Vethres
Shield of Bal Talmshaa
Commander of the 293rd

Location: World of Ilum ; North Point Mining Chasm
Direct Tags: Varen Ardos ; Gabriel Pryce
Equipment:
Addlehorn Armor
Aschwin Curved Lightsaber
Post Number:
Five

He recognized that stance almost immediately as the padawan took it. Form III otherwise known as Soresu and additionally known as the Way of the Mynock or the Resilience Form. The third of the seven classic forms of lightsaber combat and the most defensive out of them all. Those who had mastery over such a form would walk through the battlefield without a single stray blaster bolt landing upon their person. It was designed to deflect and defend; to tire your enemy out then land a critical strike to end the engagement. It's main weakness was its lack of powerful offensive strength.

Although the padawan was not skilled enough to become a serious threat in terms of dueling capacity, He focused as Varen Ardos managed to side step his attack and moved to form a quick upwards slash. He moved forward as the curved lightsaber blade moved in a fluid motion to parry aside the lightsaber slash causing them to enter into a clash of sorts. He had gained critical leverage to move his body inside of the padawan's guard while keeping his lightsaber down away from his person. Raising his right armored leg outwards to kick the padawan's right leg in a semi-fast motion. Weather this failed was of little consequence to the overall battle. He moved his hand to a neutral stance to await the padawan's next attack.

While this action occured the other small child ( Gabriel Pryce ) ran away from the scene. Although this would matter little in the end because he would no doubt run into Commander Peck coming this direction. Although only the force could decide how this battle went.

​

 

[Miri Nimdok]

While Kyell was deflecting bolts with his lightsaber and advancing toward the cyborg, Miri darted out of cover, moving closer to their target. She approached Hacks from a different angle, hoping to catch her by surprise—or at least strike her backside, maybe disable whatever mechanism powered those mechanical arms of hers.

At least one shot landed, or so she believed. Continuing to fire, she emptied the cartridges of both pistols and paused to reload.

<Be careful, she’s huge!> And probably very strong, she thought but did not add. It was obvious enough just from watching her slash at Kyell. <If you keep her distracted long enough, I can bring out the big guns. But you’d better get out of there once I give the signal, unless you want to feel the heat.>

Everyone had tricks up their sleeves these days. Hopefully Hacks wasn't prepared for this one.

Kyell Laysel Hacks​

 

[Castor E-196]

Master Sergeant Castor E-196
Imperial Navy Special Forces Command; Attached to SCAR​

Objective: n e u t r a l i z e
Allies: Hal Vaiken Lily Stevens Margo Liaeris Kriegan Tavlar
Enemies: Julius Sedaire Calix of Thyrsus

While the Jedi deflected the blasts and took cover, Castor switched out the grenade attachment for the sniper modules; he left the Explosive Ferromagnetic Quarrels in storage, relying on the DC/03's standard bolts' Plasmatic Detonation; even if the Jedi tried to deflect the shot, the bolts would burst on impact, spraying them with superheated gas.

Castor fired off several sniper rounds at the Alliance soldiers still remaining, downing several before he moved to another vantage point overlooking the cavern.

"You alright boy? Squad check in, defensive positions, all who remain."

Drawing in a deep breath, the Thyrsian steadied himself as he adjusted his grip on the lightsaber, holding it at the ready.

By the time the Jedi's shield came down, Castor's sniper was aimed at the Padawan's head. He squeezed the trigger.

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

Objective III: Sabotage the Superweapon aboard the Imperial Flagship.
Inventory: Jedi Garments of Rebirth | Armistice Staff Lightsaber.
Allies: Caltin Vanagor | Domina Prime | Minerva Fhirdiad | Jos Krayt | Judah Lesan | Pa'Kar Sang.
Opposition: Koda Fett | Varm Nul | Ignacious Korvan .

Caedyn Arenais had barely moved away from the shuttle, focused on deflecting the incoming fire from Imperial Troops when a flash of light caught his gaze from above. He felt the air shift passed overhead, and the sound of propulsion from the rocket fired by Koda Fett registered too late before a sudden kinetic force slammed into his back. Caedyn was thrown from his feet, lifted into the air and hit the ground hard as the heat rolled over him from the exploding shuttle.

His vision was blurred, mind dazed as he forced himself to his knees. Around him he could still hear the sounds of fighting, see movement in front of him though it was too difficult to make out as his mind tried to make sense of what had occurred.

In the darkness of those caves, a song called to him.

Everything quietened and time itself felt as though it slowed to a near halt. The Jedi Knight heard something around him, but it wasn’t the fighting of his allies against the Imperials but a melody that felt both distant and yet also came from within. The Force carried whispers of images, nothing spoken but feelings of familiarity and dread all the same. Something had reached out to him, connected with him and yet left no distinguishable trace of answers, nothing that Caedyn could identify in that moment.

Another eruption shook Caedyn back to the present as Caltin Vanagor had thrown the wreckage of a Tie Fighter against a group of Imperial Stormtroopers. The Jedi Knight’s vision returned with a sudden clarity and a gasp of relief as though the air itself had been drawn back into his lungs after near asphyxiation. His right hand reached for the hilt of his Lightsaber laying dormant nearby, and he pulled the weapon towards him, his left taking hold of one side and disconnecting the center, separating the Armistice Staff into two individual weapons.

A flash of blue light surged around him, covering the floor as he stood to his feet, both blades activating with a snap-hiss and bringing the left rising just in time to deflect two further blaster bolts that might have felled him mere seconds earlier. He stagged in his initial steps, and his tunic had been torn in his impact with the ground, yet he persevered, knowing that others were counting on them to bring the superweapon to a halt.

“Caltin!” Caedyn called to the Jedi Master, stumbling as he sought to pick up the pace, his eyes on the two Bounty Hunters Varm and Koda Fett ; “We can’t stay here, we need to finish the objective” he shouted, speaking of the Superweapon while also mindful of telling the enemy too much. They may have assumed their mission, but Caedyn wasn’t going to make it any easier for them.

He was on the move now, and everything progressed at a pace that drove his actions by instinct more than purposeful thought and planning. Stormtroopers of the Imperial Force turned to open fire against the Jedi Knight as he looked to regroup with Caltin and @Judah Lesen. Both of his blue blades swept through the air in front of him in a blur, each of them sending the blaster fire directly back at the soldiers and feeling the impact through the Force as their lives were quickly extinguished. He didn’t take the time to confirm with his eyes, he moved swiftly, light and agile as the lack of body armor enabled the Knight to move quicker alongside the extension of the Force as his guide.

Time wasn’t on their side, and while Koda Fett still remained high up in the air, Caedyn Arenais moved to run across the wreckage of the fallen Tie Fighter, soon launching himself higher than naturally possible, his right arm bringing his lightsaber sweeping around in a bid to cut the Bounty Hunter down, while his left blade remained at his back, momentum carrying him towards Fett and likely to collide if not for the Mercenaries quick response.

Summary:

• Caedyn was temporarily knocked down by the shuttles explosion, removing the team of a way off the ship.
• The Jedi Knight recovers and uses Force Speed to regroup with his allies while killing two stormtroopers with the use of Soresu.
• Caedyn Arenais attempts to launch himself into the air at Koda Fett , striking at the Bounty Hunter with a horizontal slash from the lightsaber in his right hand.

 

[Sara Roche]

Lieutenant Sara 'Meteor' Roche
GADF Marines, 222nd Nova Corps, 121st (Augmented) Battalion, 3rd Company, 3rd Platoon​

Location: EASTERN KYBER MOUNTAINS - PASS OF THE PALADINS, Ilum
Objective: Break the Imperial line
Equipment: REC/STA-02 Advanced Shocktrooper Armour, REC-RCG/01 "Reaper" Particle Beam Chainblaster w/ grenade launcher, REC-DC/04 "Feverwasp" Particle Blaster Pistol, C-11 "Nastirci" Combat Knife, REC-VC/01 Tactical Visor; Starship Model
ENGAGING: FN-999 Sid Berik

Shotgun blasts indicated the Sergeant that pulled him from his safe position was still alive, and they were conducting a counterattack as brutal on the Marines as the Marines were on them.

No shortness of tenacity on either side- the question being, would the counterattack be enough to stop the resolve of the Marines?

<"Anvil 6 to Blue 6, consolidate southwards towards Red, hold the line until reinforcements.">

Sara peeked over the trench back in the direction of the other Alliance soldiers. Did not seem to be many reinforcements left.

<"Roger, moving now.">

In the few minutes since they stormed this trench, the survivors of the Platoon had managed to reach the trenches. Patching up and recharging weapons, Sara gave the order to begin moving north to the 2nd Platoon's position.

<"Vilun, 3rd Squad covers the rear. Maintain contact with 2nd in the middle.">

<"Aye ma'am!".>

<"Owed, control the pacing; keep in comms with us in the front and 3rd at the back. I don't want us getting chopped up by attacks from the communication trenches. 1st Squad and stragglers, with me at the front!">

The Platoon moved out, sweeping parallel to the trench line; they made short work of the Imps still in this trench; scattergun blasts echoed down the line.

<"Point to Blue 6, we got a concentration of imps ahead.">

<"Hold.">

She moved up to the front, where the point fireteam had taken position behind a bend in the trench, checking her map;

<"Owed, Vilun, take your squads and clear the communication trench eastward along the marked routes. We'll reconsolidate after, then attack on the concentration on two sides.">

<"Pronto.">

<"Moving now.">

Seconds after the two squads left, she could hear gunfire from their direction.

<"First squad, hold this position; the concentration of troops may come towards us!">

Sure enough, several stormtroopers tentatively scouted around the bend, only to be gunned down by Sara and 1st Squad.

<"Stand fast!"> They only had to hold until the other two squads took over the rear trench...