In A World Where the Kings Are Employers (First Order Dominion of Thakwaa Hex)

[Cameron Centurion]

Post 10/20
[member="Natasi Fortan"]

Cameron held Natasi's gaze, allowing whatever silence passed between them to linger as necessary. When the woman accepted his invitation, he allowed a soft smile to touch his lips as he dipped his head respectfully once more. "Not in the least. We are a fledgling conglomerate of Sith, and I daresay that our ideals and objectives do not exactly...mesh with those of a great many of our brothers and sisters." Exhaling softly, the Sith Lord shook his head. "The unfortunate reality of life in this galaxy is that people rarely consent to mere reason. In the end of the day, blood inevitably must run for progress to be made."

Straightening in his seat slightly, the Sith Lord shrugged his large shoulders almost as if he were indifferent. "I'm here to tell you that we will inevitably have to sully our name to push forward and accomplish our objectives...to bring the quality of justice and security that our area of space is desperately in need of. I make this statement openly so that you do not enter into a relationship with us...on any amount of false hope or contrived promises." Cameron's expression neutralized almost to the point of seeming menacing, but it was truthfully merely the expression that normally adorned his features. "I make no overtures of being anybody's hero, and I do believe the same could be said for most with whom I serve."

It was almost as if...he already knew who would compromise the leadership of the Triumvirate moving forward.

 

[Enyo Typhos]

(7)
[member="Darth Veles"]


Thunderous roars, bright flashes of light, then silence. It was said that artillery was the queen of the battlefield. Undoubtedly the members of the other branches would contest this assessment, but it was certainly very efficient here.


The silence was soon broken by cries and yells. The ion bombardment would not have had lethal effect, though Thakwaash in the vicinity of the blasts would have still been hurt. Just as they were beginning to recover from this and rally their warriors, the gas shells had struck. One droid Gunship had been shot down and another had taken severe damage, but now clouds of orange-yellowish gas rose up into the air.


Some would consider gas warfare to be inhumane, which was an interesting perspective considering the destructive potential of Force-users. Archangel was beyond such niceties and in any even it was knockout gas. It was also a good way to smoke out enemies taking cover in an urbon environment. The wind worked to Archangel's advantage as it carried the gas and helped spread it. Anyone breathing in should be unconscious in a matter of minutes. It might take a bit longer with the Thakwaash due to their sturdy physique, but they would not be immune. Thakwaash tried to get away from the gas, seeking cover wherever possible.


It was then that a swarm of wasps struck like a horde of locusts. They were tiny and even their characteristic buzz sound would mostly be lost in the chaos. Fleeing Thakwaash were suddenly stung by the mechanical insects' stingers, injecting them with a strong sedative. The dosis was not perfect and, indeed, a number of the xenos could resist, but it still added to the chaos. There seemed to be no place to hide, even for those who fled into buildings.


"All forces, advance and engage the entryways. Deploy the Harvesters to hit the natives in the rear," Enyo ordered. She slipped off her helmet and unclipped her lightsabre for she did not intend to hang back. Perhaps this was one trait she and her 'sister' had in common. She glanced towards Veles. "The gas attack and the wasps have caused chaos inside. We're hitting them now."


HRDs and battle droids advanced. Gunfire and explosions erupted when they engaged the disorganised Thakwaash at the entryways. The aliens were brave and strong, but they were being faced with droid precision and ruthlessness. Droids felt no fear, nor would they tire or experience moral scruples. The familiar roar of bolters was heard, then flamethrowers spat fire when the Immolators came into play. From above, the spider-like, very creepy looking Harvesters swooped down to grab aliens with their tentacles, sedate them and pull them into the air.

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Post 15/20
[member="Ashmedai"]

Natasi swallowed, her eyes cutting to the side. Yes, this was the other shoe dropping, as it often did. She understood that sometimes one had to compromise one's ideals in the face of the harsh reality presented by the galaxy -- perhaps, after Eriadu and the grief it had caused in her work life, more than the average person. "Certainly. I understand this and certainly I can appreciate the necessity." She paused, then made to speak again before falling silent once more for a few moments, looking uncertain. Wheels were clearly turning in the Moff's head. A certain level of brutality was to be expected -- even here on Thakwaa -- but the First Order was trying to reform its image in the galaxy into a force for -- if not good, then well-intentioned order.

"The First Order doesn't see it as its place to publicly chastise non-combatant or allied states," she said carefully, her eyes darting back over to Cameron. "We would certainly not see it as our business to interfere in your internal affairs, except perhaps to offer our views, as and when we feel they might be useful." This was diplomatic enough, she thought. "Nothing less than we would hope to expect from the Triumvirate."

 

[Cameron Centurion]

Post 11/20
[member="Natasi Fortan"]

Silence surrounded Cameron as his silver-green eyes watched Natasi intently. His penetrating gaze was looking for any sign, verbal or not, that the woman spoke anything other than the truth. It may have indeed been a series of carefully crafted truths designed predominantly to maintain an undercurrent of diplomatic understanding, but the Sith Lord would accept as much at this juncture. After all, these were simply preliminary discussions between relatively like-minded people.

"I'm quite certain the Triumvirate would never presume to involve itself in the internal affairs of the First Order." Managing a thin smile, Cameron exhaled softly. "It is good to see you again, Natasi. I'm sure my presence here has been burden enough, but if you require any support in your ongoing operation, we are poised to provide that assistance."

 

[Dunames Lopez]

Location: Over Thakwaa
Allies: First Order (including [member="Ludolf Vaas"] and [member="Amin Garith"])
Enemies: Thakwaash
Post: 15/20

After dropping the payload on the water supply of a Thakwaash town, Dunames promptly returns to the base, where she had to stay in the craft while bombs are being loaded onboard her TIE Reaver for another run. While the rest of Sable Squadron is dropping other bombs, either run-of-the-mill proton bombs or light/medium damotite bombs in other areas, due to Dunames' relative lack of combat experience, she had to stay away from the main nests of enemy anti-aircraft defenses. She promptly returns to the forward command base on the ground but not after nosediving so as to get out of the sno-cone of effectiveness of the enemy anti-aircraft defenses while she is at the edge of it. Upon landing to reload the bomb bay so that she can embark on her third bombing run...

"Shouldn't I survey the area as I did last time?"

"Sable 12, we'll have probots surveying the area for both anti-aircraft and Thakwaash reactions to the damotite. You need not concern yourself about the effects of damotite beyond you dropping the bombs"

"I'm no medical researcher but perhaps this decision has been made to reduce experimentalist effects"

"Five minutes before you can take off: it takes time to load the bombs"

"Roger, Sable Leader"

 

[Darth Veles]

[8/20]​

[member="Enyo Typhos"]

The rush of adrenaline within Enyo could be practically tasted. Veles spared her a gloomy glance, but did not follow her example, continuing to statue in the back. There had been times he had slipped into battles under the cloak of invisibility, passion and determination driving him forward – times long lost in the past, only continuing to exist in his memories. Then came the promotion and another, turning the obedient and blindly loyal apprentice into a deadly tool with his own ambitions. Although not afraid of getting his hands dirty, Veles preferred to leave the more menial tasks to the young and uninitiated now, only personally dealing with matters that required his gentle touch. Serving as a Sith assassin for the last fifteen years or so and mastering the core disciplines tied to the grim profession has positively taught him the value of discretion and patience, something widely missing from all those would-be disciples.

“If you wish to join, lady Typhos, I shall follow and observe your progress,” the amphibious man politely informed the brunette, a stark contrast to her eagerness of jumping into the fray. He never understood the enjoyment many found in it and never would. Where others basked in pleasure and excitement, he felt nothing, though he still did his job well. Professional pride and all that.

“Ah!” the Sith Lord chirped nervously when he first saw the burning sabres of flamethrowers, “That might be a bit of an overkill.”

So unethical!

It did nothing to stop him from keeping close to his companions though.

The form of a man casually pacing towards the settlement certainly seemed out of place and offered an obscure sight to behold. As Veles’ steps carried him closer to the smoking pile of ruin that used to be inhabited by the natives, burned grass crunching under his leather boots, a sudden scream of anger erupted from within the walls surrounding the buildings, abruptly silenced by a loud bang. This round went to the unpredictable natives by the sound of it. That had to be one devoted personality to sacrifice itself for the sake of temporarily halting the artificial advancement!

A frown crept into the Sith’s face, only to leave it alongside his sigh. Maybe they have underestimated the crazies a little bit. Just a tiny bit, really, their resistance remained an insignificant obstacle waiting to be squashed like an irritating bug. One webbed hand slid under the cloth wrapped around his body, leaving with a silver metallic object, the purpose of which was intimately known to the majority of Force sensitives.

 

[Enyo Typhos]

(8)
[member="Darth Veles"]

In some ways, Enyo was probably more similar to her mirror than she would ever admit. She felt the same rush of adrenaline during combat and seemed to yearn for it, though she did not enjoy killing people. Perhaps this was also because the clone was still very young. Her strength in the Dark Side was still untamed. Time and experience might temper her. For now, she felt a strong pull towards the frontlines.


Especialy since it seemed the unpredictable natives were still proving to be tenacious. One of them was so fanatical or devoted that he blew himself up to bring a building crashing down upon a bunch of droids. Surprisingly, Enyo felt a stab of respect for the alien. However misguided he had been, he had shown courage and dedication to his cause. However, it did not matter in the greater scheme of things.


A sniper round from one of the upper levels shot through the air towards her. The Force was with her and she dove for cover, though the bullet grazed her cheek. There was no time to doubt or second-guess herself, action was needed. "Suppression fire! Bring in the gunships! Deploy the Immolators to flush out entrenched hostiles," Enyo ordered.


Over the rubble the HRDs and battle droids attacked. Blaster fire came their way from the barricades, dropping some of the units, but the rest advanced. Machines were implacable and knew neither fear nor pain. They would continue fighting even after having lost a limb and their droid chassis could take multiple blaster bolts. "Cover me," Enyo called to Vess, who laid down suppression fire with her heavy bolter, causing a thunderous roar every time the gun was fired and blasted hostiles away.


Enyo was still young and untested, but she had potential. The same one as her mirror. So she pulled upon the tangled web of power that was the Force, immersing herself in its energies. She could feel the chaotic minds of the aliens.


Everyone of them was chaos...yet ordered in a bizarre, alien way. If she were to try and find a good analogy for a Thakwaash mind, then she could only think of the chaotic, unadulterated agency of a crowd. But even they were not immune to fear. Anger and hatred coursed through them, for they felt great rage against their attackers, who had after all invaded them without provocation.


There might have been a time when Enyo would have felt guilt, but now she didn't. Instead she soaked these feelings up inside her, like a sponge absorbs water. She felt a strong rush as the power of the Force flowed through her body. The effort was a strain on her and sweat dripped down her face, but she persevered.


Stretching out with her power, she fashioned a wind into being. It blew across the battlefield towards the aliens, gathering up sand and dust along the way. A number of aliens suddenly had sand tossed into their eyes, but above all the thick wind obscured Archangel's advance. There was a loud roar of engines and shadows passed across the ground while Harvesters descended from the sky.


The machines resembled spiders and had been deliberately designed to have a rather alien, grotesque appearance. Whether they would have such a psychological effect on the unpredictable xenos was questionable, but they suddenly swooped down and grabbed aliens with their tentacles, holding them in a vice-grip. One Harvester was blown up and crashed into the ground, exploding, but many xenos had been grabbed and carried away.


Archangel forces advanced over the rubble, blasting away at Thakwaash defenders. Those who had been sedated would be secured, those who resisted terminated. Orders had been passed out that xenos who surrendered should be spared, but stunned for their own good in case one of their personalities changed their minds! Immolators unleashed flames upon pillboxes and buildings, cooking hidden Thakwaash. They worked in tandem with the tiny wasps, who continued to harass aliens.


Enyo's lightsabre ignited with a snap-hiss, revealing a blue beam of light. She was smart enough not to charge at the head of the troops and try to parry every blaster bolt, but a grenade being tossed her way was redirected by her. Soon she found herself facing her first hostile xenos when she ascended the ruined barricades and entered the streets of the city...

 

[Ludolf Vaas]

Objective: Establish Forward Command Base
Allies: [member="Amin Garith"]
Posts: 5/20

As Garith gave him a briefing of the situation, Ludolf pulled a pair of macrobinoculars from his tool belt and aimed them at the treeline. There was no movement to be seen there at the moment. Whatever the aliens were doing, they were nowhere to be seen, most likely having long since slunk away to lick their wounds and plot their next attack.

"Our intel reports were wrong," General Vaas said, almost to himself, as he continued to scan and survey the horizon. Finally, with a grimace, he lowered his macrobinoculars and stored them back on his belt, and once again turned to Amin.

"If the Thakwaa are resorting to ambush tactics, then we will root them out," the General said as more Stormtroopers and First Order officials hurried by on the landing pad, working tirelessly to construct the base. "Lieutenant... I want you to organize a squad of fifteen to twenty of your best men. Any special forces units that are on premises will report to you. I want your best trackers and men best skilled in bushcraft. We're forming an operation. Wherever these Thakwaa are, they are most likely operating from a base somewhere in the deep jungle. Our new mission will be to find this base. Understood?"

 

[Darth Veles]

[9/20]​

[member="Enyo Typhos"]

First red sparks of blaster fire showered Veles’ position. The only appropriate response was a loving, well-practiced stroke of the ignition button on his curved hilt, bringing the menacingly crimson blade of pure energy to life with a characteristic snap-hiss. Precise and sure motions helped the beam of plasma meet one shot after another, engaging only those presenting acute danger and batting them away. The rest continued their flight past the Sith Lord undisturbed, whizzing in rage upon missing their intended target and releasing their destructive anger into the ground, covering it in potholes. Another salvo wanted to test the Mon Cal’s lightsaber arts, but those got interrupted by the relentlessly advancing HRDs, forcing the resisting natives into focusing their priorities elsewhere. This window of opportunity offered Veles more than enough time to utilize his mastery over bending light, vanishing from sight alongside his still ignited lightsaber. Without any further obstacles – in his way, anyway – the amphibian swiftly advanced towards the first enemy entrenchments. The sound of fire had gotten louder, yet also less and less frequent as the amazing creations of the Archangel came in to play. Quite a beautiful sight up close, especially for those not standing on the wrong side of their weapons.

Something big bumped into Veles’ cloaked figure, almost bringing him down among the dead and disabled bodies of both defenders and invaders. A flick of the cyborg’s wrist and the surprised Thakwaash went down in writhing pain, earning himself a searing hole in his tibia. Another seamlessly integrated flick and a glowing orange donut appeared where his rifle’s barrel used to be, followed by a kick that sent the large alien unconscious.

Veles was never one to score a high kill count in battles.

But when one of those large natives towered above the smoking ruins, the dark silhouette leaving no doubt that the bulky weapon resting over his shoulder was a rocket launcher ready to take down one of Archangel's humming birds, Veles' trick of light and shadow fell apart, a rotating scythe of death travelled across the battlefield to take the Thakwaash's head off. When the slick lightsaber hilt returned back to his webbed hand, the Sith Lord stood ready to face and deflect more blaster fire coming his way before becoming one with shadows once more.

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Darth Veles"]
(9)


Bloodshed, cries of the wounded, a storm of red blasterfire, explosions. Somehow Enyo felt right at home. It felt so familiar to her. She took no joy in the slaughter, but she could not help feel a rush of adrenaline. The orderly precision of the droids was pit against the bravery of the aliens, but the latter were losing ground. Archangel forces had penetrated both gateways and were closing in on the city centre. Gunships provided air cover and the Harvesters continued grabbing aliens to carry them away for reeducation.


It was brutal, merciless...and yet beautiful. Soon there was nowhere to hide for the Thakwaash. Caught between two fronts and an aerial offensive, they were being cornered and herded. However, Enyo was unable to contemplate the beautiful artistry, for she now faced a Thakwaash herself, after having been safe away from the frontlines of battle until recently. Vess was occupied further away blasting at xenos, this was a challenge the girl would have to face herself.


The detonation from a concussion grenade had knocked her back into some rubble, dazing her for a moment. The Force gave her a warning and she ducked a massive maul over her head, which kept her brain from being turned to mush. She managed to roll away from a second blow that was delivered with such force a piece of rubble was broken by the impact. Bolts of blue-white lightning blasted the big alien, but though he staggered upon being struck by the shocking onslaught, it was still an apprentice's lightning.


Again he came at her and the blow of his fist sent Enyo flying, showing how strong the creature was. Pain surged through her being, then he charged her. The clone skipped aside and stabbed, but though the blade raked across his belly and sizzled through flesh, he fought on and brought his maul crashing down upon her.


Now she had to defend herself. It took all her strength to parry and her lightsabre fell out of her hand. She fell to the ground, her arm broken by the impact. The alien wasted no words and lifted his great weapon to strike her, but then cried out in pain.


A mental blast slammed into him when Enyo drew upon the darkest recesses of her mind, soaking up all the emotions swirling around her in the minds of the aliens. For just a moment, the alien was thrown into a state of confusion and lost his focus. Pain surged through him, as the divergent personalities seemed to war for control. It was like tossing a boulder into a pond. Enyo fired her concealed shattergun with one hand, hitting him in the knee, then as he stumbled sent her lightsabre flying into his throat. The blue beam cut through the flesh as if it were butter, ending him.

 

[Dunames Lopez]

Location: Over Thakwaa
Allies: First Order (including [member="Ludolf Vaas"] and [member="Amin Garith"])
Enemies: Thakwaash
Post: 16/20

The next target (and hopefully last) on Dunames' list was a Thakwaash small town with about 2,000 residents in it. To non-Thakwaash living on planets like Eriadu or Hosnian Prime, such a settlement is often agricultural in nature, pastoral even, but to people living on worlds like Jakku, it's one of the larger settlements. That was Dunames' fifth cycle on that shift and, once these bombs are dropped, hopefully Dunames can actually get *any* rest: she didn't get much while on the AT-AT barge because she had to be in the cockpit all the way from and to Lanteeb. Before she could depart, she had another cup of caf but, given her bulk she had to have a double expresso for caf if she wanted to last beyond that last flight. She was almost turning into one big blob of molten metal if she didn't have some caf prior to flying one last bombing sortie. She was getting tired and it showed. Her reaction time was getting slower and she didn't feel comfortable flying so many sorties and flying so many segments in a 24-hour span.

"May the Force be with you, Sable 12" Sable 5 told Dunames while still fighting off anti-aircraft cannons.

"Roger, Sable 5"

"Forward Command, this is Sable 7. We have intoxicated too many Thakwaa for our own good by now... they are wise to deploying anti-aircraft"

"Their anti-aircraft use primitive slugthrower technology: just keep your shields up"

"Now, Sable 12, take off!"

And so Dunames embarked on her final bombing run on that shift, loaded with two heavy Tearstunners filled with liquid damotite. She is to keep her shields up as long as she is able to, until the bomb bay opens. That is probably why she had the heavy bombs: more bombs and one needs to keep the bomb doors open for a longer period of time and then she is vulnerable to enemy flak fire.

 

[Sentiri]

Location: Too far away from a computer, a.k.a. "camping"
Objective: Something to do with not using a computer, a.k.a. "hiking"
Allies: Trusty datapad, a.k.a. "my happy place"
Enemies: No wifi, a.k.a. "roughing it"
Post: 03/20

Slice a cross-section of plant sinew. Place the sample on the handheld scanner. Scan the sinew. Note any abnormalities. Dematerialize the sinew into base particles. Note significant strands of dna. Log findings on datapad. Find a new specimen.

Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

Exciting? No. Mundane? Incredibly. But Sentiri found something about the research rather comforting. She was used to being surrounded by monitors, projectors, computation equipment, and wires. But plant life was not so different. The Chiss woman had begun to see the roots as power cables, flowers as monitors and projectors, stalks as a motherboard, and leaves as keyboards to input moisture and sunlight from their surroundings. Every part of the plant had a function, no different than her computer den back on Dosuun.

Thus far, there wasn't much else to do. The fighting was far from where they were. Sentiri knew that whatever research that she and Agent [member="Hyori Tal"] managed to do concurrently with the conflict would have no immediate effect. But that wasn't why the two Intelligence operatives were out in the wilds. If the First Order was going to maintain control of the Thakwaash population, they needed something more than just a quick fix. Preferably one that didn't also have severe side-effects, not only on the Thakwaash but on those First Order constituents who would be adminstering the drug and managing the Thakwaash population in the stead of the conquering force. Only careful research would provide such a solution.

Some elements of the Order had not been in agreement over the treatment of the Thakwaash, especially some of the more xenophobic voices. The bigots had deemed the unpredictable, equine species unworthy of any place within the meritocracy, no matter how low on the chain they were. Easier to wipe out a difficult species than to try and work with them. But of course eradication was just as difficult in this case, as the Thakwaash, though not the most intelligent or advanced, were incredibly physical and nearly impossible to strategize against. The only solution then would have been to bombard the entire planet, thus removing any value from the world at all. Like it or not, the population had to be dealt with in some way.

So indentured service was the next best option, but only if there was some way to dull the Thakwaash. Even just being able to control their personalities and applying good doses of sedatives would go a long way. The Chiss operative did not waste her thoughts on idly hoping for a perfect answer.

New plant: root, stem, leaf, flower, rinse, wash, repeat.

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Post 16/20
[member="Ashmedai"]

Natasi returned Cameron's smile and lowered her gaze into her lap. "It's good to see you, as well. I always wondered what you'd gotten up to. I'm glad to see we're not on opposing sides. That isn't a position I would want to be in," she said with a playful smirk. "Since I haven't had anyone running to tell me that our ships have exchanged fire, I imagine Captain Black and our forces have been playing nice -- though I'm sure Captain Black spent some time calculating offensive actions. He has a motto about being prepared." Natasi tried, and failed, to keep the eye-roll out of her remark, but Captain Black did seem to have something of a tinpot dictator in him.

"That's very much appreciated, but I'm sure my men have everything rather in hand," Natasi said to his offer. "We're still not quite sure what we're dealing with, with these Thakwaash. They can be quite unpredictable and I'd hate to involve any of your people and have them be injured. But I will ensure that the Supreme Leader hears of your willingness to help."

 

[Valae Heavenshield]

Location: The wilds of Thakwaa
Objective: Obtain DNA samples (not die... of boredom)
Allies: [member="Sentiri"], The First Order
Enemies: The natives
Post: 7/20

Hyori watched silently as Sentiri went about collecting various samples of the local flora. Though she had no desire to fraternize with her Chiss counterpart, she had to admit that Sentiri was quite efficient. She noted the way her fellow agent’s movements were methodical and swift, even if they were monotonous – scan this, log that, start over. Agent Tal turned her eyes away from the other woman and down to the scanner in the palm of her gloved hand. The scanner lit up, casting her face in blue light, but it did not reveal anything out of the ordinary. There were still no signs of the Thakwaash, a fact that was good for their efforts in peacefully collecting samples, but terrible for any hope of action.

Agent Tal knelt next to a plant, one knee against the soft forest floor; fingertips reached towards the leaves but paused midway. She noticed something a few meters away; it almost looked like a poorly disguised trap door, it was a spot in the forest that just did not look quite right. Dark eyes blinked a few times, how had she missed this? Hyori pushed up from the ground and angled a glance over her shoulder at Sentiri, the other agent still seemed to be immersed in her work. Slipping away into the darkness, Hyori’s feet fell silently upon the ground, being careful not to snap twigs beneath them. The agent proceeded with caution, her blaster in hand, and eyes darting all around in search of traps.

There was indeed a poorly crafted wooden door set into the ground, and it had been carelessly covered with brush and dried leaves. One more glance at the scanner revealed that there were no signs of life present, and her hand pulled the door open. Hyori illuminated a glow rod as she hopped down into the small bunker. What she found inside was unimpressive, perhaps it was a hunting blind for a local woodsman, but it seemed more likely that it was a fort meant for small children. It was an enclosure that would have been entirely too small for a full grown Thakwaash. There was a small assortment of primitive knifes on a bench, and what looked and smelled like some sort of dried meat. The corner of Agent Tal’s eye twitched, and she climbed back up.

A moment later she was back to watching her scanner, she was losing the will to live. And so, she knelt again next a plant, joining Sentiri in the quest for samples...

 

[Cameron Centurion]

Post 12/20
[member="Natasi Fortan"]

Cameron laughed softly, briefly at Natasi's remark about them playing opposite sides. However, the Sith Lord remained silent behind the mild outburst of amusement until the woman had finished speaking. "Well. Then I wish you and yours every success here on Thakwaa." While there were undoubtedly questions of a more personal nature that he wished to ask Natasi, he had lingered long enough in this system. With his primary objective of making this transit accomplished, it was indeed time for him to return to the Adjudicator.

Coming to his feet, the Sith Lord extended a hand towards Natasi. "It has been a sincere pleasure, Natasi. We shall have to make some time outside our respective commitments to catch-up properly. I do look forward to seeing you on Ruusan."

 

[Davin Jusik]

Post 6/20
Allies: Ludolf/FO on ground
Enemies: Natives

"Aye Aye sir." Amin said to [member="Ludolf Vaas"] before relaying the order to his Platoon Sgt and then ordering his XO to to take charge of the rest of the Platoon in his stead. The troopers moved dutifully in the background. Those with SF and Scout ratings began forming up.

"Will you be accompanying us sir?" Amin asked the General as he flipped the stock on his rifle out and took the bayonet off the end of it.

Amin eyed the forest suspiciously while he loaded a fresh magazine into his weapon. The forest would soon experience a similar transformation of that which the field just experienced. Burned twigs and probably a fire.

Bodies.

 

[Natasi Fortan]

17/20
[member="Ashmedai"]

Natasi felt likewise and said so as she also rose and put her hand in his grip. "Thank you, Cameron," she said pleasantly. "I was delighted to see you again after all this time. I hope we will have many such fruitful encounters as this in the future." She shook his hand and watched as he departed back to his ship. When an appropriate time had passed, she instructed the staff to clean up the table and chairs from the meeting, and found her way to the command center of her ship, where the battle was still displayed on her circular map.

She heaved a sigh of relief and keyed a relay back to Captain Black. "All is well, Captain. Please allow our friends from the Triumvirate leave unmolested."

A meeting with the Sith Triumvirate -- fascinating. Perhaps there would be some benefit from this; but certainly it was a boon to have spoken to an envoy to get the lay of the land before plunging in headlong. And, of course, to see an old colleague doing well was rather nice. She smiled fondly and bent her head over the display. "Get me a status report," she told the Ensign who was now accompanying her.

 

[Sentiri]

Location: High, oh so high.
Objective: Jus' blaze!
Allies: Snackgivers
Enemies: The munchies
Post: There's a joke here... I can feel it. Guess ??/20 and get a cookie. But not my cookie. I'm gonna need that.

The Chiss woman diligently noted when she could see her fellow Agent [member="Hyori Tal"] and when she had disappeared. Hyori went right back to their collection duty and Sentiri shrugged it off. Despite saying nothing of where she went, such silence wasn't particularly unusual. After all they had just spent the entire mission saying as little as possible to each other; from their debriefing on Dosuun to their circuitous travel to Sump and the procuring of a ship to subsequent jump to Thakwaa and then finally hours of field research. Out so far in the middle of the wilderness, there were only so many reasons why the other woman went off into the bushes without a word and Sentiri wasn't interested in wasting brain power on considering what they were.

Their search for individual species was made easier by the scanning equipment. Simply point the device in a direction and find flora and fauna within a small radius that were native or foreign to the species already stored in their database. There weren't so many animals about, and it was much easier to sample plants that didn't move from place to place. In a matter of hours, the two had covered an area with the radius of a half klick. There were a couple of potential plant species that had promising characteristics for an anesthetic, but much more scouring would have to be done. Several other geographically varied spots had been selected for study and the duo was only one of several teams doing the same study.

"Let's move to the next spot," Sentiri said out loud, more to herself than to Hyori. They had a decent walk back to the ship and the Chiss kept her scanning equipment out just in case they spotted something on the way back. She wasn't expecting much, but caution was rewarded more often than apathy.

Still near the edge of the clearing, Sentiri's scan picked up something that hadn't been there before. Something was moving. "Got something," she whispered. The thing was larger than the few rodents that had scurried around them, but still smaller than either woman. Whatever it was, it moved at a jogging pace and Sentiri kept her scanner honed on it while it moved. The path it followed made clear that it already knew exactly where the two Agents were, yet it had done nothing to antagonize the women.

Sentiri's interest was piqued. As soon as the being stopped, the Chiss moved off in the direction of the creature or whatever it was, not waiting for Hyori's say-so. Despite her impulsive action Sentiri made sure to move silently through the night of the forest so as not to alarm the mystery being. Scanning equipment remained on so that she could see what the creature was doing, just in case it tried to ambush her, though it appeared only as if it was rummaging about. Within meters the Chiss could see the wooden door haphazardly left open leading slightly underground into some sort of encampment. The closer Sentiri was, the clearer the image of the being became. The outline of a Thakwaash was obvious, though it was too small to be anything but a child.

What to do? The thought passed through her mind and she was careful not to absently speak the thought out loud. Too small to do us much harm but even a child could alert a whole community to our presence if it hasn't already.

What to do?

 

[Darth Veles]

[10/20]​

[member="Enyo Typhos"]

Two large Thakwaash warriors clawed at their throats, legs helplessly kicking empty air, knowing the end drew near. Lifted up and strangled by the Dark Side’s might, they presented a good target practice for the genocidal droids - both bodies simultaneously went limp when a volley of shots from the HRDs spared them the slow suffering of suffocation. Another small victory further cementing the inevitable; the number of natives able to continue their fight had dropped drastically, all hints of discipline and strategy gone from their desperate struggle against superior enemy. First pleas for mercy could be heard among the cries of pain and last breaths, all belonging to the natives, for the machines knew no such thing. Those who surrendered their weapons and will to fight were ignored by the invisible apparition of a Sith Lord – unlike the rest, foolishly resisting until the very end. Veles had periodically left the realm of shadows to send a few pieces of the stubborn herd to the Void, fanning the rest’s confusion that spread like wildfire, followed by the bitter taste of defeat.

When more and more souls left for the Void from their mortal shells, strengthening the Dark Side dancing above the place, the Darth released his finger from the activation stud and let his lightsaber’s red light die as well. After placing the tool of trade back onto its rightful place on his belt, the Mon Cal looked around, arms crossed over his chest. Thoughts of his past battles rolled over his mind when both amber eyes saw the all too familiar scenery of death. Some part of him wanted to take joy in the fact they were victorious, yet he just couldn’t find any excuse for it. No glory has been gained by this action – there was no honour in slaying such inferior opponents, nothing for him to celebrate. Boring. He found it boring. A task worthy of apprentices, maybe. This disturbing realization made him acutely aware he still needed a worthy disciple. As such, the Banite Sith stepped over the motionless bodies, going to check on his old, yet new ‘friend’.

 

[Enyo Typhos]

(10)
[member="Darth Veles"]


The battle was all but over. Hooray! The chaotic, disorderly xenos had been subdued by the iron fist of the droid and the tremendous power of the Dark Side. Now at last Archangel and the First Order could bring civilisation to this benighted world. The Thakwaash would be herded, studied and reeducated. They would learn to conduct themselves as lawful, tax-paying citizens and devote their prowess towards serving a cause greater than themselves.


Or something similarly melodramatic. Anyhow, small pockets of resistance remained, fighting on in the ruins, but by and large the battle was over. Now what remained was clean-up duty. Archangel began to implement the next stage of its operation. The natives would be gathered and interned for their own good and the area would be placed under lockdown. A suitable camp had already been constructed. No matter how bizarre their minds were, the droids would discover how they ticked and use this knowledge to control them.


Enyo had been taken away to what passed for Archangel's command post. She had been stripped off her armour and a medical droid was seeing to her. The duel with the Thakwaash warrior had broken her arm. However, she ought to be on her feet again soon.


Her face and long brown hair were soaked in sweat. She looked through the window at the broken city. The scent of death was in the air. She felt a surge of exhilaration course through her being at the sight of victory...but also felt drained and empty. Fear, terror and resignation emanated from the surrendering Thakwaash and she breathed it all in. The experience was almost overwhelmning.


Veles would be greeted by an HRD guard outside of the building and let in. Unsurprisingly, Vess was standing sentinel in the room that held Enyo. After all, Archangel's prize was a valuable investment. Enyo looked tired and was perhaps a bit affected by bacta treatments, but rose up slightly when Veles entered. "Greetings, Avreet. The battle's over. Thank you for your assistance."