Invasion Kill Them All and let God Sort them Out: AC Invasion of TSE held Ziost, Mirial, Ruuria

[Isla Draellix-Kobitana]

Location: asteroid field and interplanetary void
Allies: Amadeus Blackwood
Opponents: N Nyxeris

A message came in to the Divine Purpose from a medical junker, the Sanctuary. The communications team passed the details on to a nearby frigate patrol frigate. This frigate, responsible for monitoring that part of the corridor, then acknowledged receipt and them performed a scan on the ship.

“This is Ashlan patrol frigate Pike, your request is acknowledged, we have scanned your vessel and will be monitoring its progress. Pike out”

The frigate tagged the ship and monitored it, it wasn't clear what the scans showed and the Captain had his doubts, but the Admirals orders were to exercise restraint and monitor ships carefully. He turned his attention to another ship that had signalled on the same frequency, what looked like a pair of luxury cruisers, it appears the super rich were jumping ship like fleas of a drowning cat.

On the Divine Purpose, Isla Draellix watched her holo, there were more anomalous asteroids coming in, including two of particular note. One was much more massive than the surrounding asteroids and had unusual energy signatures. Had they found the repository?

“Captain, move the Hope and Legacy closer to the field and have their fleet investigate, this second anomaly, my gut tells me it is a watch station.” She zoomed in on the holo “look at this side, the whole gravity signature is skewed away from it, meaning it is likely almost entirely hollowed.” she zoomed out slightly so both anomalies were on viewer “and here, it looks almost as if the asteroids between the two have been cleared away, if it were me, I would be in that asteroid waiting to cover an attack”

She was formulating a strategy, if this was in fact the main target, then the energy signatures were probably significant ground based energy shielding, reducing the effectiveness of bombardment. She was aware that Imperial assault teams were also looking to engage the target.

“Comms, pass on our intel to Imperial operations on high priority encrypted channel. Inform them that we believe we have found a guardian base which we will engage to provide cover for their assault forces” She commanded, while looking back at the holo. Her orders were being enacted across the system as she saw task force Beta moving toward the asteroid field. Swarms of fighters appeared around them as an advanced vanguard. If this was a base, it would likely have numerous fighter squadrons, but the density of the asteroid field would keep anything larger than a frigate from being able to operate safely.

Within moments, her suspicions were confirmed, red markings began to appear around the anomaly as it launched its own fighter squadrons in response to the oncoming Ashlan fleet. The closer vessels were performing their own scans now and the holo relay filled up with target parameters. The larger asteroid was extremely heavily shielded, she doubted even her Meteor cannons could penetrate it within a reasonable amount of time, but the smaller asteroid seemed more lightly shielded, likely that was intended to give it a lower chance of detection.

“Hope's Wrath, Legacy of Ruusan, please engage the secondary target with artillery when you can get a target solution, the Captain who takes out that rock gets a bottle of my finest.” She knew the asteroid field would make it a difficult order to carry out, but she had faith in the competitiveness of her star destroyer captains.​

 

[Dagon Kaze]

OBJECTIVE ONE | JUDGEMENT DAY | ASHLA WILLS IT
A WATCHFUL PROTECTOR

I, JEDI

Well, that's not going to happen while an army attempts to sack this city. I came here to try to prevent that outcome. Care to join me in protecting some civilians?​

Throwing a sideways glance to the ruins of the city behind him, a long sigh of regret escaped his lips. New Adasta - the scapegoat of the ideological struggle between the Jedi and Sith. Its denizens had paid the ultimate price; from Darth Vulcanus turning its defences against it, to the Alliance's siege and subsequent capture of the city, to the Sith's retaliation in the form of a ruthless orbital bombardment and a Sith-created storm that turned sentients to monsters.

What remained of the city was not even a shell of its former self, it had become a tainted, desolate realm where only death ruled. Those who had survived the purge were damned to roam this tellurian plane of purgatory as husks of their former selves; with souls broken and hearts shattered, Dagon wondered how many had heeded the calls for evacuation through the humanitarian corridor the Crusade had provided.

There was no time for deliberation, no time for hesitance; one life lost was one life too many. As he was about to take her up on her proposal, Dagon froze in place at the sudden quivers through the Force. Subtle, almost unnoticed, like ripples in a lake at night. Had he not served and dedicated much of his years to crimefighting in the shadows of Coruscant's underbelly, the raven-haired Jedi would've missed it.

Barely visible drops of blood fell before her and the ripples through the Force grew stronger as if a wind had picked up, interrupting the stillness of the lake. Dagon's guts tightened in a knot and a scowl manifested on his face, "What are you doing?" the question was followed up by the Jedi's connection to the force faintly flaring up in vigilance to what the lady was conjuring.

Would he live to regret reaching out a hand of redemption?

ALLIES | Ashlan Crusade
ENEMIES | The Sith Empire | N Nyxeris

 

[Mrurh'en'lase | Hel]

Equipment: Hel's Lightclub | Robes
Objective: Engage the Sith | Judgment Time
Targets: Ulrich
Enemies: TSE | TSE Allies
Allies: Ashlan Crusade | Ashlan Crusade Allies

​

The plan to move to the source of the explosion that rocked their molars and the roar that shook their spirits was instantly destroyed by the falling form of a winged fel-beast. It was quick, much too quick, and wielded a mace of dark power that the hybrid only noticed by a fraction of a second after the impact. Naturally, Master Hox had noticed it first and - with a shout to his fellow Jedi to stand at arms - was prepared to engage it. Mrurh'en'lase ignited her saber on his orders, as did the others, but of course, no conflict happened as Hox had expected. The creature - which Mrurh'en'lase would later discover as being Sith - was unique compared to most things the Jedi in this rag-tag group were used to facing, and it wisely used their limited space to its advantage.

A young man named Glick was the first to die, and the only one to perish under the debris of the beast's impact into the building with its weapon and body. Mrurh'en'lase knew him only in passing as he was further down the halls of her dormitories, but he had a kind face and even kinder eyes that were mushed like grapes under the heavy stone that toppled onto him as they tumbled from the fourth floor to the third and then the second. Mrurh'en'lase landed front first, her chest colliding with barely supported flooring, and she felt a warm liquid running from her nose and into her mouth.

On instinct, despite the pain wracking her limbs and the air burning in her lungs, she felt around her lips and nostrils and pulled her hands away to reveal thick wet blood. That was when she noticed she couldn't breathe through her nose as easily as she could before, and doing so only sucked crimson mucus into the back of her mouth. With a gag and a harsh cough that sent this vile substance to the debris-laden flooring, she scrambled to her feet. Her red eyes were glazed over and her vision was hazy - was it hazy or just dust. Moving frantically, the hybrid began searching immediately for her lightsaber which had fallen from her grasp during the fall and calling out for those who had survived.

"Master Hox!" she cried out amidst a series of blaster fire from the distance and the crumbling of more ruined building from above. A large chunk of the damaged building nearly crushed her like it had Glick, cracking through the section of the second floor she had landed on. "Frack...is anyone there!?"

Fortunately, at that moment, the other surviving Jedi that had stood by Glick appeared from behind, placing what remained of her left hand on Mrurh'en'lase's shoulder, panting and visibly dazed. Her name was lost to Mrurh'en'lase, and she could not have been any older than the hybrid herself, likely younger. The hybrid jolted in surprise at the girl's appearance but quickly helped stabilize her compatriot. "Where is Master Hox?" she asked, her voice nasally and congested and red eyes wide with tension.

The fellow Jedi could not answer in time, beginning the answer with a stuttering "M" before being interrupted by the groaning of an old building struggling to maintain its posture with its center nearly destroyed. It was a marvel that this structure had survived what happened during the second invasion of the planet, Mrurh'en'lase mused to herself, but it would seem that such luck was about to run out. Ushering her companion to move as quickly as she could, the two Jedi hobble-rushed to the edge of the second floor, hoping to escape the collapse of the building entirely. With a yell, the hybrid threw herself and companion from the second floor just as more chunks and slabs of stone and metal began to pelt downward.

The Jedi stumbled as they landed on their feet and barely managed to maintain their balance on the streets below. These roads were themselves coated in ruined structures, shuttle parts, and bodies old and new. Quickly surveying the surrounding area, Mrurh'en'lase gripped the arm of her companion and dragged her over to take cover behind the nearby wreckage of an older shuttlecraft. It was perhaps from one of the previous invasions of the planet, but the hybrid cared little for such meaningless details.

The two Jedi waited and braced as the building collapsed on itself, the fate of Master Hox unknown to them, and the presence of the fel-beast that had injured them an ever-looming threat.

 

[Dagon Kaze]

OBJECTIVE ONE | JUDGEMENT DAY | ASHLA WILLS IT
A WATCHFUL PROTECTOR

I, JEDI

Instinctively, Dagon's hand fell upon the hilt of his blade as he sensed the Force amalgamate around the woman's form. Doubt turned to suspicion turned to regret. A loud explosion, louder than the shells pounding the ground, stole his attention for a fraction of a second - enough time for the lady to take the opportunity and spring her trap.

"Sir..!" Arthur's warning was a fraction of a second too late. A torrent of black insect-like manifestations of the dark side crashed into him. Their burning stings piercing into his flesh, hellbent on feeding off his life force. Self-preservation instincts kicked in and the Force rushed to heed his call for aid. Slumping down, teeth gritted at the fiery pain of each sting, Dagon perched up straight throwing his arms to the sides and repulsing the swarm with a telekinetic blast.

Alas, his moment of reprieve was short as a heavy object - the darned staff - punched hard into his lower back forcing a groan out of his lips and sending him tumbling to a halt at an adjacent railing. Feth. With no time to waste and no time to lose, he sprung himself up on his feet and dashed at the woman in a blur of force-enhanced speed. The cerulean blade snap-hissing to life midway and feigned an upward slash before flipping over her other side and expelling a violent force push. If his attack would succeed, he would call out repeating his earlier plea,

"We don't have to do this!" hope to turn her away from the enveloping darkness still flickered like embers in his voice.

ALLIES | Ashlan Crusade
ENEMIES | The Sith Empire | N Nyxeris

 

[Eldaah Aderyn]

Before, immediately following the events on Yavin IV
​

She felt the touch in her mind as her Master called for her attention. Lady Arcanix had been on Yavin IV, overseeing the evacuation of the Saaraishash from that world as she began the long overdue process of reorganizing the group that had failed in their duties in rooting out heresy and dissenters within the Sith Empire. What form they would take in the future was still being worked out by her Master, but they would not be located in one spot anymore.

While her Master had left for the jungle moon, she had left Eldaah in charge of the other project underway on Ziost. The POW prison established a few klicks away from the Adastan Glass Wastes around the twice attacked city of Ziost held many captured from those battles and other recent battles of the Sith Empire. Originally, the prison had been established by the Sith Imperial military, and it certainly looked the part. Plenty of guards, turrets, droids and security measures to keep the prisoners isolated while the Sith interrogators had their way with them. But then her Master had stepped in, quietly, and established a new program and a more unique way to keep the prisoners in line in part to the magically charged atmosphere of the planet.

Allyson was on Yavin IV. She has been given the bread crumbs to pass along, her curiosity and anger have been sufficiently piqued.

She kept the smallest of frowns from her face as her Master spoke. She didn't understand her Master's interest in the Corellian. Loske, she understood. If it wasn't for the events on Felucia and the last battle of Ziost, then the Shursia Virus and their research into it would never have occurred. The Treciolt woman had value, and her Master was curious to see if any lingering mutations lurked within the blonde Jedi, lying dormant until something stimulated them.

Prepare for guests, my apprentice, and proceed to the next stage in our research. I leave the test in your capable hands.

She smiled at that, even as the connection muted back to how it always ways; her Master passively observing her. She would be returning to Arkania no doubt, to continue their plans for that world and for the Alliance.

​

Loske Treicolt Maynard Treicolt

While her Master had told her to expect guests to the planet, neither of them had expected yet another invasion force to attack the planet. The Alliance and their New Imperial allies had been rebuffed twice from the world, and now a more zealous than even them had come to purge the world. Although, her Master had felt a sense of deja vu from several years before when the same man led another organization to war and saw themselves beaten down by the Sith Empire then.

Regardless, even as the prison's guards mobilized, it was of no consequence to the First Daughter and her Master. The Order of Shadows researchers, several of them Arkanians hired many years ago when Taeli was imbedded within the first Galactic Alliance, had thrown themselves into the project with a passion. They were looking forward to seeing their work put to the test... at a safe distance of course. The research with the prisoners was proving invaluable for their work, plenty of bodies to test upon.

Eldaah had wondered if it would be the Treicolts themselves or the irritating Corellian that would come to investigate. She needed to pay them back for what happened to her, and this time, she didn't have orders to play weak and helpless. She wouldn't need to hold back at all, and that thought, made her grin as she looked out the observation window of the science lab beneath the prison, both hands clasped behind her back. The latest experiment was undergoing final preparations, but even then, data was being quietly collected, backed up and sent offworld. A few terminals in the prison would hint at what was going on, hackable but just enough of a challenge to not make them appear to be deliberately laid.

Yet another trial for the Jedi that came, another test and trap to see if they were really worthy...

"Come into the web, Jedi," she muttered to herself

 

[Cedric Grayson]

Task: Coordinate the invasion / Get EE out of this fight
Location: Outside City Gates, FOB guarded by heavy armor
Allies: Sephi Karneh , Kolson Vrask , Dagon Kaze , Mrurh'en'lase | Hel , Zark San Tekka , Noel Strasza , Julian Qar , all non-Sith in New Adasta
Enemies: Sithies, Ingrid L'lerim (?)


The corpse of New Adasta burned once again as the Ashlans and their allies marched over her bones.

Nearly a dozen reports meandered quietly across the corner of Cedric's HUD. He toggled through the most relevant of them with a few blinks first. The NIO's allied elements were beginning to make their way into the heart of the city, and had evidently already begun to engage with the enemy. Four Ashlan divisions, two Essonian, the others Kobok and Bosph moved up the eastern and western portions of the city respectively. The resistance they were beginning to meet was reportedly quite fierce, with progress slowing significantly on the western push, and halting almost all together in the east. Their intention was to push ahead of the bulkier armored forces of the NIO in hopes of encircling the defenders of the city, effectively severing the Sith's supply lines and starving them of ammunition and reinforcements.

If they could take the city, or rather what remained of it, then overtaking the remainder of the Sith's military in the open tundra should prove viable. That, of course, all depended on the success of the Ashlan flanking maneuver.

"What's the hold up Lieutenant General?" He snapped over his comms to the head of the Essonian force in the east. The officer in question snapped right back. "Civilian positions cropped up along major arteries through the city sir. They're sporting Eternal Empire markings. The only route available otherwise is through the back alleys - can't fit our tanks through, and the imps are cutting our boys down anytime they try to clear a path."

"Then make them move the hell out of the way." Cedric demanded.

"Won't comply. EE forces are claiming neutrality, but are heavily armed. Sent a runner, he claimed they wouldn't move unless ordered. That they were hosting sanctuaries for civilians."

"Anyone crazy enough to remain in New Adasta is not a civilian." The words hung there for a moment, Cedric partly unsure if he truly believed what he'd just said, the Lieutenant General uncertain if he'd just been given an order to fire on a supposedly neutral entity.

"Are you ordering me to push through that locale sir?" The officer asked.

A pregnant silence hung in the air as Cedric considered his options. If the encirclement was not completed, it was quite likely this assault would fail. The Ashlans and NIO forces stuck deep in the city's center would be overrun, the outer divisions pushed back out of the city. Time was a luxury that they did not have.

The exile drew in a deep breath, casting his gaze up toward the sky. He watched the beginnings of snowfall descend down toward the city from the overcast of clouds above, and in the pattern of the fall found his center.

There was still a way to resolve this without risking the invasion or their morals. He'd not answered Ingrid L'lerim 's message immediately, instead getting a grip on the current situation enveloping across the battlefield, but he certainly needed to reach out to her now.

The Jedi stepped toward the back of the armored line, lingering just outside the city as he opened his holocomm once more, his masked face coming to life in eerie blue in greeting to the empress.

"I would not be worthy of my station if I were not here personally," was his hello. "You may coordinate with my people to see these evacuations through. There are several strongpoints your people have marked as sanctuaries that stand directly in the path of my armies. I ask, if you truly seek neutrality, that you recall your forces from these locales, and take your civilians with you. Admiral Isla Draellix-Kobitana has chartered a course through space that, should the Sith Empire respect it, will be considered a neutral route offworld. Take your people, take these civilians, and get them offworld. We have transports to spare. If you comply, you may use them, even keep them if you must."

The exile paused.

"If you refuse this offer, Empress, it will be taken as an act of war. To impede one's army in favor of another's is an act of aggression according to the laws of the Essonian Military College, an institution from which the Ashlan Crusade draws its guidance in matters of national security. I have heard that you are a wise and rational woman, so I could only take a refusal from you to be an open proclamation of allegiance to the Sith Empire, as logically this is the correct and moral course of action."

He preferred to be out in the thick of things: to be fighting alongside and protecting his soldiers, but this was a far more important matter in the grand scheme of things. "Time is not on my side Empress. I need your answer within the next five minutes."

 

[Ishida Ashina]

OBSCURING GLARE
ZIOST | NEW ADASTA | THE NEW JEDI ORDER
THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF LIGHT;
THE GLOW THAT ILLUMINES
AND THE GLARE THAT OBSCURES
THE SPACE IN BETWEEN

​

Despite the evil nature of Ziost, Ashla was very much with her. She could feel its generous giving as she leaped up, initiating the ascension of her scaling the wall of the building where the troopers were hiding. The Light was like wings beneath her arms, lifting her to heights no mortal could achieve. Clawing her way up the stone, her hands and legs moved with coordination tha were examples of The Force imbuing itself in her little body. Ishida was irrefutably sharpened into an untouchable, supernatural representative of The Light and all its magnificence.

It was by the will of Ashla that she managed to evade the salvos that tore up the duracrete around her. Dust and stone ripped up and into dust where her feet and hands had been, or where they were about to be.

Duracrete exploded around her, where her hand was about to be, and where her hand was. Somehow, by the protection given by The Force, she managed to keep scaling and not be torn to shreds by the onslaught. If she’d been any slower though, her foot and handholds would have crumbled and given way to her unceremonious fall.

She was slinging her leg over the top of the building, about to become level with the SICA shooters, when catastrophe came.

Thin layers of clothing, skin, bone and muscle were not enough to stop the bullet and felt a rib give way, maybe two, as she snapped back and lost whatever balance and grip she’d established.

Her body buzzed like she’d stepped into the blast from a firehose. Her head bent back, spine arching against herself. Her hands flexed open, her toes curled until it seemed like they had to break. She heard herself scream, but it was like she was hearing a recording of herself. The sounds of her own breath and the blood in her ears was too loud.

Fire flushed through her bloodstream, white-hot pain. Everything around her wound was radiating and excruciating. She felt Ashla’s breath of life, calming, fresh and powerful while immensely painful run through her in an indescribable blossom before it became something impressive, expansive, and infinitesimal all at once.

Thousands of thousands of explosions rippled through her cells, bursting and shattering in sequential eruptions. Cells of herself became molecules –– countless, complex, varied. And then siphoned out like a mass exodus, a single, sharp exhale.

The world went white and she collapsed from the ledge.

Ishida did not reap the benefit of losing her consciousness as she toppled over onto the rooftop, lame and limp. The pain in her torso was excruciating, and she scraped at the ground to push herself up. Her legs kicked, trying to worm her way forward as she concentrated her regenerative techniques to the flesh and bone that had been torn asunder from the spray of bullets.

The pain did not subside, and kaleidoscopic blackness began to fill the peripheries of her vision like a vignette. Her sharp sense of awareness was dull, and everything she’d been aware of, all that white noise and clutter and safety was…gone.

Her body seemed very large, like it had expanded to fill the universe, or the universe had shrunk down until it fit in her skin. Her hands seemed a very long way away. Even something as simple as physical touch was hard to feel, there was nothing but pain. Throbbing, all-consuming pain.

She tried to move, her oblique refuted and sent another rolling shockwave of condemnation to her actions through her body. A biting, coppery taste filled her mouth. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, to localize where the blood was coming from; but she couldn’t. Instead, the attempt only brought recognition of new pains -– in her head, in her neck, and down her back. As if part of her body was on fire, the cells themselves heating and exploding in concert with each movement she tried.

Realization dawned on her after a few seconds of horrified obliviousness.

Dread felt like drowning

“N--no..”


ALLIES | ASHLAN CRUSADE | NJO | NIO| Aaran Tafo
ENEMIES | TSE | Eva Betrik

 

[Pietro Demici]

Pietro Demici: Ashlan Cardinal, Commander of the Holy Guard

Location: New Adasta

Loadout: lightsaber, armorweave priest's vestments

Allies: Cedric Grayson , DECEASED Erskine Barran , Geiseric , Dagon Kaze , Ishida Ashina , Julian Qar , Noel Strasza , Kolson Vrask , Sephi Karneh , Zark San Tekka , Mrurh'en'lase | Hel

Enemies: SF-3335 , Eva Betrik , The Battalion , Ingrid L'lerim , Laertia Io , N Nyxeris , Ulrich

Theme

Pietro found himself sickened by the state of things on Ziost. The putrid stench of death and darkness littered the land, permeating the very soil beneath his feet. The sheer scale of destruction was a testament to the many battles that shattered the planet. He couldn't imagine what would bring a person to remain on such a planet; a mass grave that only served as a reminder of Sith cruelty.

So much death...

The ruins of New Adasta strengthened Pietro's resolve. There truly was no other option than to wipe the Bogan from the galaxy. So long as it had its tendrils dug into the slaves of the darkness, there would truly be no safe haven for the innocent. It was their duty, not as Jedi, not as leaders of men, but as vessels of the Light itself. Pietro gazed at the cloudy skies above, praying to Ashla for guidance. The move for Ziost was bold, but came with a fair share of risk. The Crusade was still young, and though they had support of other forces within the galaxy, Pietro couldn't help but wonder if it would be enough.

No... it would be. It had to be. There was no other path but forward; no other way but through.

Letting out a long, deep breath, Pietro turned to those that had accompanied him to the planet. The Holy Guard of the Host, along with a detachment of the Sons of Ession stood before him at the ready, banners waving in the wind. They truly were impressive to behold. Their devotion warmed Pietro's heart as if Ashla herself had taken them all in her embrace.

"My brethren, I need not remind you all of the significance of this day. Twice have our allies attempted to take this planet, and twice have they failed. The Sith are parasites that feed on the carrion left in their wake. No more!"

The soldiers began to cheer in response to the cardinal's words, raising hands in the air, as if in defiance to the very Bogan itself.

"On this day, we either succeed where others have failed, or die trying. These Sith believe that we will go quietly into the night, and so we shall. We shall go into the heart of the blackened void, and from the deepest depths of the abyss, we shall emit a light that blinds all of those that call the darkness home. Now forward, for the Light! For Ession! For Cedric and the Crusade! ASHLA IS WITH US!!!"

The troops began chanting his final words, echoing across the field of battle in a cacophonous roar.

Pietro turned to Geiseric , an noble knight of the Crusade that had chosen to accompany them to the battle for New Adasta. He placed a hand on the man's shoulder, and with a reassuring smile, he gave his first command.

"You will be a true vessel of Ashla on this day, brother. Follow me, and stay close. We will press forward to support Lord Grayson's forces, and keep the pressure on. If anyone gets in your way, you have the blessing of Ashla to do what is needed to maintain momentum. Time is something we do not have, Geiseric, so we must use what little we have wisely."

He gave the knight a slight pat on the shoulder before turning to their troops, holding his lightsaber in the air. As he ignited the azure blade, he held it out toward the city. It was then, and only then, that they began their march into the desolate hell that was New Adasta.

Win or lose, this would be a defining moment for them all.

 

[Noel Strasza]

W O U N D S
S T R A S Z A

It felt like she had only just struck the flint to spark a flame for her cigarette that the corporal tasked to accompany her caught up. Tired, red eyes flicked to their corners, lenses swirling silently around scrutinizing irises, focused on the man in judgmental silence. "Don't say it," the cyborg droned, pinching her brow together and shaking her head, "don't you even say it." Metal fingers threaded between themselves, fed out from the pressed sleeves of her uniform, and laid to rest over the icy rail of the catwalk.

"Ma'am, the briefing wasn't finished. There's still vital information that we need to hea-" He choked on his words, cutting himself off when she glared at him over her shoulder, her gaze strangling the voice in his throat.

"That you need to hear, there's nothing about that gods-forsaken rock they can tell me that I don't already know firsthand." She spat, words as bitter as the frigid winds, "I don't need to hear command espouse more hyperbolic bullshit to know what we're getting into."

"It's required that you attend." The corporal approached, though he wasn't bold enough to situate himself directly beside her. He gave her space.

"And I did. They saw my face. No one can say I wasn't there." Smoke coiled from her mismatched lips, raking its tendrils along the edges of her augmented face and combing by the felt of her beret. "I don't want to hear anything more about the price we paid on that planet, I'm well fuckin' aware. I know what's at stake." Noel pulled her glower from him and focused it elsewhere, watching the loadmasters work to wheel supplies into the hangar below.

Realizing she wasn't going to budge for the likes of him, the flustered man sighed heavily and dismissed himself, carrying on back into the building.

With his presence removed from her, a hand slid back up her sleeve, pulling the warped photograph from its concealment against her forearm. She found herself chewing the filter of her cigarette as she looked over the photo, struggling with the hellish claws of memory that lashed from the rear to the front of her mind, driving their daggers in so deep it made her mechanical frame ache dully. The armored, black-clad Imperials in the photo stood in casual form, boxy helmets tucked beneath their resting arms, rifles slung across their bodies. Smiles brightened all their varying features- from Penny's soft stoicism to Briggs' grizzled mug. Center to them, she stared back at herself, wondering where the lopsided attempt at a smile she was wearing went. How had things turned to horror so rapidly? One moment they were hooting and hollering, celebrating their successful commandeering of a Sith Imperial AT-HA, and the next...

...the next...

The major squeezed her eyes shut, exhaling harshly from her nose, and turned the photo over where it could bother her no longer. The ache resonated from her chest beyond, overwhelming her body with a phantom pain she wished she could still feel. Being able to feel it might've made processing it all so much easier. It might've made the grief easier to bear. The anger. The confusion. The fact there hadn't even been enough of their bodies left to bring home.

Time had passed since her old squad's last venture to Ziost, but it had served no purpose in mending her wounds. She hoped it would, someday. She hoped to be able to look upon that photograph and remember the joy of the moment, those good times they celebrated between missions where they achieved what no other task force would have been able to. When her lids fluttered open reluctantly, a warmth streamed from her blurry eyes, trickling down the surface wiring trailing from beneath each. Blackened steel fingers released the rail, instead, mounting pressure upon the bridge of her nose with a tight pinch.

She turned her sight upward to the grey, indifferent sky, watching the snow as it fluttered down lazily to blanket the unforgiving planet even deeper.

"Not now," she whispered desperately to herself, feeling a lump forming in her throat, "p-please not now..."

She should have felt eager, anxious even, to thrust the brunt of her vengeful wrath upon The Sith Empire on Ziost once more. The rage is all she knew. It was everything that kept her pushing forward, moving ever onward towards the endgame. She wasn't known for much beyond it. It had shaped her, just as the engineers had, creating a weapon with which to break the Sith. The edge of that blade was dull, now. Gone.

Overwhelmed, Noel buried her face into her hands.

And in the silence, she wept.
​

H U M A N
W A R M A C H I N E
NEW IMPERIAL ORDER
4th DOOM DIVISON; THE WATCHMEN 7/7
NEW ADASTA

​

She didn't think about the ground she dashed across. She didn't think about the remnants of armor she kicked aside. She didn't think about the bones that splintered beneath her boots. She didn't think about the acrid air nor the reason it became so. She didn't think about the shadow that had enveloped the battlefield prior and cast her brothers and sisters in arms to Hell. One thought jostled in her skull as she flattened herself against the perimeter wall of the city, avoiding the straying fire zipping by from the conflicts therein: the mission.

Get in, destroy the communications network, and get out.

Command had shown her mercy when they delegated such a simple task to her in the face of such a volatile situation. Had she any gratitude toward them left in her titanium body, even an ounce, she would have appreciated it. But here, on the ground, all she felt now was empty. The cyborg gave pause for her squad to stack up alongside her, positioning themselves to prepare for their discreet infiltration to enemy lines. The Sith Empire was entrenched on this planet, as expected, and even more so in what was left of the city. She expected them to learn from the last battle here, and at least this time, they had properly evacuated civilians from the city in the face of the impending invasion.

<"On your mark, Major, let's move.">

Strasza offered no reply, merely, she cut around the corner and dashed for the first structure she encountered.
​

< “Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum, cyar'ika. Haa'taylir gar Nusujii.”>

She had wondered when he would get to his new habit before the fighting began; sending her the hopeful message that she would return home in one piece and they would see each other again, along with the additional reminder that he loved her. Had she the time, she would have sent him something similar in response, though he had long since grown accustomed to her lack of response.

She would get to it later.

For now, there was a war to win.​

ALLIES | NIO | AC | NJO | Julian Qar DECEASED Erskine Barran Kolson Vrask Pietro Demici Ishida Ashina Dagon Kaze Cedric Grayson
ENEMIES | TSE | OPEN FOR DIRECT ENGAGEMENT, HMU.

​

 

[Geiseric]

Allies: Cedric Grayson | Pietro Demici

Enemies: Arctus Silmar | Ingrid L'lerim

The outskirts of New Adasta held no siege camp, no safe haven for the faithful to rest before going to give their lives in service of the Light. As the vanguard prepared to assault the city walls, they prayed. For their brothers and sisters beside them and for the ones who had died before them. Circles of dropships shielded impromptu masses and their preachers from the elements, giving them a moment's reprieve, the calm before the storm. Knights knelt on the cold dead ground letting what little light fell from the heavens to this dark world touch them. Preachers gave prayer to the Ashla, and bestowed the Light’s blessing on its children.

Twice before had the forces of the Light reached Ziost, and twice before they had failed to pry it from the grip of the Sith. They could not afford to fail a third time, and the Ashlan crusaders would give their all. This was their purpose. The Bogan was growing stronger, and if they failed to destroy it now the galaxy would suffer immeasurably. Though a place like the Stygian Caldera could never truly be reclaimed from the darkness, every world they took from the Sith was one world closer to home, to Ession.

As the sermon finished and the knights gathered their things, Geiseric tied the stark white hair that fell to his shoulders into a bun, and slid his helmet over his head. Though dozens of his brethren moved around him, he was alone now. Alone with just his mind, and Ashla. Before he rose to his feet, he whispered a personal prayer to the goddess.

“My lady Ashla, it took me far too long to find you, but I am here on the edge of the abyss. Lend your light to my blade, so that I may carry it like a torch into the darkness of this forsaken city. And should the darkness consume me, I will return to your side.”

With eyes shut and head down, Geiseric heard the sound of footsteps halting beside him.

“Speak.” he demanded stoically, keeping his head down in meditation.

“Sir, the vanguard is about to march. New Adasta calls us.” the voice belonged to a younger man, but it was as firm and faithful as Geiseric’s own.

“Then we shall answer.” Geiseric rose to his feet, “let us gather the men, then we proceed to our destiny.”

-----------------------------​

On the cusp of the city, Geiseric and his men stood proud to hear the words of the cardinal. They were joining the Holy Guard for the assault, a privilege and a duty none could take lightly. They cried into the heavens with rejoice when the cardinal closed his speech. Everything was here with them. The armies of the Light, Ashla, and Lord Grayson, all stood beside them.

When Demici finished, he gave Geiseric his order,

"You will be a true vessel of Ashla on this day, brother. Follow me, and stay close. We will press forward to support Lord Grayson's forces, and keep the pressure on. If anyone gets in your way, you have the blessing of Ashla to do what is needed to maintain momentum. Time is something we do not have, Geiseric, so we must use what little we have wisely."​

“I understand, Your Eminence. Ashla wills it.” Geiseric followed Pietro in raising his lightsaber above him, the Cardinal and his Champion shining their light upon the crusade they blessed.

As they began their march into the city with Geiseric at their head, they could not help but feel wrong. So much darkness was held in these ruins. So many warriors of the light who were buried here before them. What challenges awaited them as the Sith grew desperate? Ziost was a weak limb, beaten and broken, but it was also one of the many gateways to Dromund Kaas. The crusade stood to gain so much, but would have to pay the price in blood...

​

 

[Elle Mors]

JUDGEMENT DAY​

Silver was the color of her breath as it escaped through her lips into the frigid air beyond as the cold buffeted itself against her person, coloring her pale skin with blotches of pink to reveal the discomfort that she withstood while she lingered and waited. Words, callous and sharp, came to her like breath blown into her ears along the bands of wind that pushed against her. "Come and see." It had said, and so she followed its direction to the city of the dead, a monument not to the triumphs of an ancient empire but to the failures of its cruel kings and barbaric society. There was nothing here to impress her, yet still she traveled in, meandering about its ruins to the grisly sight of newer bodies that rotted in the cold. She did not turn her head, instead reminding herself of the evils one could do when they deluded themselves to believing that the ends could ever justify the means taken.

She did not envy Grayson, or his subjects, nor anyone in the Alliance, for the guilt that they would need to shoulder when the sun was risen and the darkness quashed - she had her own troubles to suffer, and knew quite well that regret would eventually creep into their hearts if the darkness did not seize them first. Deeper, still, she wandered, passing a mausoleum that likely housed untold thousands of Sith, pureblood and more, in wait of a savior that never did materialize - for the Sith'ari that entered their mythos when Adas fell. Her eyes never lingered long there, however, as she turned her gaze towards the entrance to a crypt recently defiled by the man she searched for - for the one responsible for all of the death that was being wreaked along the planet's frozen surface.

"Come and see."

She didn't need the words repeated for her to have realized that the path ahead was the path to her, and the galaxy's, enemy. Wordlessly, expressionlessly, she followed - ignoring the corpses and the bones that littered the way in, her attention more held to the darkness that permeated the very air like a thick miasma. Shadows, the absence of light, were a fitting symbolic showing to the Jedi, a taunt, she supposed, to instill in her some sort of notion that he, Darth Carnifex , was always just out of sight. At last an amphitheater was the hall she arrived in and she caught sight of a broken throne at its center, abandoned. Further symbolism? She needn't wonder for long, the Sith appearing at the entrance she'd arrived from.

"Save the pleasantries." She said as she turned, her grip tightening around the hilt of her green saber.

Green eyes narrowed at the look she saw on his face, unable to read him as he seemed to lack the emotions that spoke to her in others. "There is no destiny." Elle asserted with a clenched jaw, recalling how she'd violated the vision she'd had of sacrificing herself for Csilla when she did the unthinkable and made a choice to live. "There is no plan, Carnifex, we aren't special. Our roles, our plots, are of our own making. The force has led me to you to put an end to your schemes, nothing more. I may fail, or I might succeed, but none of it has been decided yet." She said, walking towards him with a subdued sense of caution. "You are just a man." The Jedi stressed.

"When you are gone the galaxy will forget you, as it has forgot all its pains, in time."

She lifted her saber in a duelist's salute. "But I didn't come to talk. I achieved nothing at Csilla through words - Our actions will speak for us."

 

[Julian Qar]

Medbay Stats

Doctor	Julian Qar
Resident	Hazel
Medical Staff	500
Supplies	100% Stocked
Universal Plasma	1000ml - 60 units
Bacta Spray	20 Crates
Bacta Patches	3 Crates
Wounded	0

FIELD MEDICAL REPORT
Protected Document: █ █ █ B-10070 █ █ █

Obj I: Judgement Day
- - -
Field Hospital | Triage Ready
Medical Narrative

Ready to serve NIO + Allies: DECEASED Erskine Barran | Cedric Grayson | Sephi Karneh | Dagon Kaze | Kolson Vrask | + Others

Bad Guys: Red Boys betta not show up.

☤
✚ C O D E D ✚
[ + + + ]
​

Preparations meant an air of calm had swept through the field hospital. Everyone was heads down, checking and double-checking each item that was funneled into their medical pods. Julian was doing the same, flicking through his datapad, keeping tabs on the inventory the other medics sent in their reports. He would be thankful then for this administrative distraction until:

This is hospital ship Sanctuary declaring a kriffing emergency! We have lost helm control and are in distress!

“What the fu…” Something about that call didn't settle right, instantly he'd send a message to nearby Brigadier general DECEASED Erskine Barran

<“Blue-Heart Alpha, this is the Doc. I got a distress call from an unidentified hospital ship - Sanctuary. something in my gut says that ain’t right.”> He took a breath, preparing for the unexpected. <“Do what you gotta do to push it off course, over.”>

He patched back into the mainline feeding his team, call it intuition or maybe paranoia, whatever it was he wouldn't leave it up to chance.

<“All medical personnel. This is not a drill. Code black. I repeat a code black. Remain at your stations and do not exit secured medical pods under any circumstances. Over.">


The medic drew up his HUD, taking a quivering breath as he activated the alarm system and sent the sirens blaring throughout the field hospital. The emergency systems activated, turning open doors into closed ones while concealing the medics deep inside their shielded shelters.

Julian pushed hard on augmented heels, striking the soil with intensity as he rushed throughout the hospital to ensure everyone was safe inside."Get in the pods! COME ON! EVERYONE IN!" He called out to the few stragglers on his rounds. The doc wouldn't hunker down, not until every person on his team was packed away out of harm's way.

As always, he'd be the last one standing to ensure their safety.

✚ ✚ ✚​

█ █ █

 

[Maynard Treicolt]

P R O T E C T O R
PROTECTOR OF CONCORD DAWN
ARMOR | LIGHTSABER | PISTOL

TATTERED FLAG​

He could never expect them to march with him back to this cursed place. He wouldn't place any more lives under his command into mortal danger. Not on Ziost. There simply wasn't anything worth it to fight for here anymore, nothing he had to prove to anyone. The ghosts of the wolves would haunt him, he'd known that immediately once Loske delivered that dreaded news. That they'd have to go back.

Maynard wasn't ever sure if that trust would ever rebuild to what it once was. His trust in Allyson. He loved her like a sister in many ways, ever since he'd taken her back into the fold of Saber Squadron. However, crimes and sins of the past are wounds not healed so easily, certainly not to men akin to Maynard Treicolt.

A man who, in spite of always maligning home, his upbringing returned there regardless, to make it his own, to do better by his past and make sure no one else had to repeat it. Under any other circumstance, he would've never thought or cared to tread foot on Ziost ever again.

But there was hardly any choice, for him or Loske.

They had to seal away this darkness, Shursia, once and for all. And just as Maynard sought to prevent his past from touching others, Loske bore the same obligation. If they were ever going to see through that 'dream' they'd ever reassured the other about for months, years before he had to reach through the fires of Serenno to get her back- they could never see it through with the Galaxy as it was. And if Shursia spread, knowing what it took to free Loske- it could only spell doom for everyone else.

Against every fiber of his being, he set The Renegade back on a course to the very place of his greatest defeat. The place where he'd lost her and in the process...lost himself.

That eternal reminder remained in the metallic limb of his right hand, the very same severed in the gruesome explosion that rocked his being, set in just before The Lie, which all but invigorated him with an exact and targeted hatred for her, that feeling of betrayal which pained him to the very core of his being.

But there wasn't much time to wallow in the sentiment of this dead world before he had to prepare for the mission ahead. It felt like an unbecoming return to his roots. His roots of being...alone, a renegade. There was no Wolfpack to rile up and lead into the fray, no Journeyman Protectors to rally together.

Just him...and her. As much as he would be the selfless leader, charging ahead of the Wolfpack with one working limb in the first battle of New Adasta, here he could selfishly protect her over anything else. Something he did the first occassion he saw her don the Jedi strike suit she wore now, to her own liking. The very event which strove them closer together- Honoghr, to the unit of one they seemed to be now and since.

After equipping himself in his battle armor, the coat of blue in the Beskar composite having been worn down from the wear and tear of battle scarring which he preferred much more to see take effect in the armor and not his flesh he faced her again, cherishing that last moment of closeness before they'd be once more into the fray.

"Together." He said before he let his lips drift to hers in a momentary embrace, only before that familiar gaze of Treicolt was concealed by the T-visor, battered and marred by battles past.

<"Let's make it worth it. I don't intend on ever coming back here."> He said as they made their way to the speeder bikes, mounting his own before revving the repulsor lift to life.

<"Buddy, Frank...you know what to do."> Maynard said, sporting that maverick confidence one more time before his demeanor took a solemn approach.

More than anything, his mind pieced together horrid images of what else would be held within this horrid bastille.

What he feared the most, the Pack. Left for dead, failed by him, tortured, maimed, killed all at the hands of the Sith, because he couldn't save them.

Because he ran.

He had to set it to the back of his mind as they set off, reaching out to her with an almost conversational ease.

And you still trust her? Regardless...we got one shot at a clean grab here.

He transmitted her way from The Force. Under the cover of night, with distance and concealment in their favor, they moved out.

ALLIES | AC | CD | Loske Treicolt
ENEMIES | TSE | Taeli Raaf

 

[Aaran Tafo]

Ishida Ashina Eva Betrik​

It did not take long to notice that there were no Sith among the ranks of the troopers. Mostly because they were fighting intelligently as opposed to a massed charge or holding back so their master could duel him one on one. On the bright side, it meant that these troopers were lacking any form of supernatural support and he did not have to worry about a red saber appearing in his field of vision.

On the downside. It meant that whoever was in command was free to act as they pleased. And rarely did a Sith trooper not develop a fair bit of cunning after a few engagements. When failure was often punished with death, one tended to try and grasp victory by any means possible.

Of course, he was hardly going to make things easy for them. Even if he did lack any desire to hurt them. He would still have to remove them from the battlefield in some way or another.

Preferably before Ishida got to them.

He had no idea what the hell Sardun was teaching her. But her behaviour and uncontrolled anger were way out of line and had no place on the battlefield. The older master allowing her to come to Ziost was simply asking for trouble. The presence of the Crusaders who would no doubt encourage such behaviour.

He was well aware of the irony of being concerned about a errant splinter faction of Jedi who were acting more violent than the rest. It was proof that the universe had a rather twisted sense of humour.

His saber flashed out in a wide arc around him. Even if the shots were coming from multiple angles, he was hardly going to make things easy for them. As good of a shot as the troopers were, Aaran had some advantages. Mostly an uncanny ability to change directions without having to factor in such minor details like momentum. Whereas any trained solider would have been drilled in how to shoot where a moving target was going to be as opposed to where they were.

Bouncing from rubble to rubble, changing direction on a dime. Aaran moved, his legs carrying him impossible distances with their leaps. Saber flashing to deflect the occasional well-placed shot that would have ended him.

With one final leap, he carried himself upwards. Moving a distance that one could have sworn he was using wires, a jump pack or some other technological trick to get that distance. But unfortunately for the troopers. There was no such weakness for them to exploit. They were facing an explicitly supernatural threat. One with power far beyond a mortal man. One who was barely a few years older than their leader. But holding enough power in his frame to easily rival the entire squad in open combat.

Power that should in all honesty, never be used for war. But such was the state of the galaxy that an individual like this was roused and readied for battle.

Descending downwards towards the closest of the troopers. His golden blade flashed. Intent on cleaving the front half of their rifle off. Followed with a solid kick to the chest with enough force to send a fully grown man flying. Maybe there would be a broken rib or two. But that never killed anyone. Aaran was simply trying to make it very clear that they should retreat as opposed to fighting a hopeless battle for masters that did not care for them.

It was then he felt it. Like a bucket of ice water dumped over his head. He felt Ishida’s pain as if it were his own. Head jerking in the direction of the Padawan. His serene demeanour shifted into an icy calm.

In harming Ishida. They had decided to escalate the conflict. Using weaponry specifically designed to be trickier for Jedi to deal with simply meant that the Peacekeepers could not afford to hold back as much. Each any every trooper would have to be treated as a threat and not simply victims.

A slight exhale escaped his nose as he made up his mind.

The floor underneath him cracked as he moved. His feet pumping furiously as his speed transcended human limits into something truly supernatural. His form a blur as he made his way towards the second trooper. Saber arcing back and forth, deflecting the additional shots that came his way. Once more slashing out in an attempt to slice clean through the rifle in hopes of ending their ability to be a threat to him.

But he was not done. Using his explosive momentum to his advantage. He would reach out. Attempting to seize the trooper by the collar. And with a growl of exertion fling him bodily at his third comrade who was attempting to get a bead on the older Jedi.

Aaran was hoping that they’d follow their previous display of good teamwork and attempt to catch their comrade in order to arrest their fall.

If not, it did not matter. Aaran would deal with all of them once he was certain that Ishida was stable. Not ceasing in his advance as he continued to blur towards the fallen Padawan’s position. His mind reaching out to her. Looking to connect, to help shoulder some of her pain and hopefully prevent her from going into shock.

 

[Eva Betrik]

​

Location: Ziost, New Adasta
Allies: TSE
Foes: AC | GA | NIO | Ishida Ashina | Aaran Tafo

Got you, you sanctimonious schutta, Eva thought with a grim smile. That's for Kafka and Irinov.

To her own immense surprise - and equally immense satisfaction - the young corporal had actually managed to tag the pale-haired Jedi woman. It'd been a narrow thing; the onrushing fanatic had just reached the edge of the apartment walkway, and had been in the act of climbing the last meter or so to where the SICA squad stood. That momentary requirement to slow down and haul herself bodily over the lip of the walkway had cost her the ability to dodge as effectively as she had before, when she had positively run along the wall and Eva had despaired of ever hitting her. In that moment of delay, a Force Breaker round slammed into the Jedi's torso.

She dropped from the ledge. Was she dead? It wasn't all that far a fall... but there was no time to check.

Eva had been too distracted to see it, but all the effort put into anti-Jedi drills hadn't amounted to much against the male Jedi, who was clearly very experienced on the battlefield. His every step had put him in a new, wildly different position, and his blade was a blur as he deflected shot after shot, sending them harmlessly up into the air or down to the ground. Then he leapt, and with terrifying ease his shimmering laser sword cut through Lebedev's gun. He followed up with a kick, and Lebedev flew across the walkway under the impact of Force-enhanced strength. He slid down a pillar on the far side, the wind knocked out of him and two of his ribs cracked, gasping for air.

It was at that point that Eva turned around and saw what was going on. "Typhojem deliver us," she whispered, watching the Jedi rush straight up the walkway like an unstoppable maglev train, the walkway's tiled floor literally deforming beneath his feet with each powerful step. She raised her rifle, trying to draw a bead on him, but the rest of her squad was in the way. Before her startled eyes, the Jedi grabbed Karalensky by the collar of his breastplate and bodily threw him at Derenkov. Despite everything she'd seen Jedi do, even though she knew she should no longer be surprised by any of their capabilities, Eva audibly gasped as the two men collided and went down.

Karalensky was a big man; he had to weigh a good 110 kilos. The Jedi had tossed him one-handed like it was nothing.

Thankfully, this living god didn't stop to take down Eva as well. Instead he powered ahead, moving toward where the Jedi woman had fallen after Eva's shot had connected. It was an opportunity, surely. The woman wasn't moving, and the too-fast man would surely have to slow down in order to tend to her. If the Force Breaker rounds were working as intended, there was a feedback loop going through her bloodstream right now, leeching her magic. She wouldn't be able to put up much of a fight, and her injuries would keep her comrade off-guard. Eva knew what she should do. She should run to the railing overlooking them both and pull the trigger of her rifle over and over and over...

Sgt. Derenkov groaned, a pained cry that slid out between his teeth. The moment passed. Eva turned away.

She knew she was passing up her opportunity to kill two Jedi, the kind of thing that would earn her half a dozen medals and a guaranteed promotion to sergeant. She knew that not finishing the job here probably meant these two would hunt her down and rip her apart with their magic or cut her to shreds with their laser swords. But she also knew that Derenkov wouldn't have made a sound like that unless he was badly, badly hurt... and although her superiors wouldn't have liked it, the lives of her squad came first. SICA troopers had a horrific mortality rate; average life expectancy once deployed was about two weeks. But they were all people, people with loved ones.

Eva intended to treat her comrades the way she wished her brother Quinn had been treated: putting their lives first.

The young corporal hurried to Derenkov's side, helping the stunned Karalensky to roll off of the sergeant and catch his breath. She sucked in air between her teeth as she saw the damage. The heavy impact had thrown Derenkov backwards, right onto a piece of exposed rebar. His chest plate had saved his life, deflecting the jagged metal downward so that it missed his vital organs. Instead it'd sunk into the joint where leg met hip, less armored to allow for mobility. It'd gone all the way through. Eva gagged as she took in the extent of the injury, then forced down her bile. She would have time to be sick later. Right now, they needed to figure out how to get Derenkov out of here.

There was no way he could walk. He'd be easy prey until they could get him medical attention.

Turning around, Eva offered Karalensky a hand. When he didn't take it, still trying to catch his breath, she grabbed him by the wrist and hauled him up. "On your feet," she ordered, steadying him as he rose. "I need you to check on Lebedev. Get him up and moving, or we're all fethed." Turning back to the sergeant, she pulled a small fusion cutter out of her tool belt. If she tried to pull Derenkov off the rebar, he would bleed out before they made it halfway to a medical tent. Instead, she cut the rebar off at the base, leaving the rest of its length embedded in her commanding officer's upper thigh. "We need to move, sir" she said, getting him ready. He nodded grimly.

Lebedev and Karalensky were back now, the latter leaning on the former and still struggling to catch his breath. There would be no sprinting for him. "Lebedev, can you walk without help?" The soldier nodded, if a little unsteadily, and stepped away from Karalensky. "Karalensky, I need you to pick up the sergeant. Gently." The big man gave her a quick salute, then headed over to where Derenkov lay. "Up we go, sir," he said gently, then scooped up the sergeant in a fireman's carry. Derenkov tried for a grunt or a hiss, but ended up going with a wail of pain. The front of the rebar, coated in his blood, scraped along Karalensky's breastplate as he walked.

"Fall back," Eva ordered. "I'll cover. Lebedev, take Karalensky's gun and help me." Lebedev's own gun was in pieces, after all. Still, their covering fire wouldn't amount to much against that crazy-fast Jedi... so Eva pulled a flash-bang grenade from her belt and lobbed it over the walkway, hoping that the burst of light and sound would disorient the pair and keep them from easily pursuing. If she was honest, she hoped it would disrupt whatever first aid might be attempted down there, too. She wanted the pale-haired Jedi woman dead.

 

[Ingrid L'lerim]

Lady Ingrid L’lerim Ragal Terassi Vandiir
Eternal Empress of the Eternal Empire, Lord Commander of the Wardens of the Shroud, Leader of the Dawn of Hope
The Red Witch, The Night Queen, Lady Stuztala, Head of the House L’lerim, CEO of the HPI Consortium, Archon of the Primyn Group​

Objective: Protect the civilians and hospitals
Location: Farther from the battle, EE’s camp
Equipment: 2x Striith vibrosword | The Soulsabers | Brynja coat | Hersir Imperial Uniform | G1 OmniLink | The Last Gift || Empyrean gland
Writing with: Cedric Grayson || Tags: Arctus Silmar | Geiseric | Pietro Demici

[ O Fortuna ] ​

While the woman waited for an answer, she received more and more data. Based on what she had already seen, what Ashlan Crusade was up to was not difficult to calculate. She signalled to the communications officer to measure where Grayson's base was. It was probably not too far away.

"And how can I believe your word, Lord Grayson? You, my lord, fight on the side of people who slaughter the living shield to kill the enemy behind it. That is exactly what I want to deny on both sides. If it’s up to me no one will use civilians for their own purposes. They trained me according to a military code that said to involve civilians in war is a cowardice and a war crime. Can you guarantee that your allies will not attack civilians and my men while the withdrawal takes place from out the city? I guess I don’t have to tell you who stayed and remained in city, Lord Grayson…"

In such a case, only the very old, unable to travel, or injured, sick who cannot really be transported remained in the city. The most vulnerable layer. Ingrid didn't like to be blackmailed; but there's probably nothing remaining of the town by the time the siege will end, so she didn't have much choice. Meanwhile, the communications officer indicated that he had the requested coordinate; they were really here nearby.

"I’ll accept your offer, Lord Grayson, if you give my men ten to fifteen minutes within the city. There are many civilians and injured in the underground shelters. Less time than this makes it impossible to get them out and start retreating. And, of course, a route is needed that will leave by all the parties alone until the Eternal Empire and the civilians retreat from that part of the city. If these suit you, the Sith Empire will also be notified. I have heard the same about you as you have heard about me, so I am confident that we will reach a common agreement on the protection of the civilian population."

Now she listened for a moment.

"And I have a condition, too, Lord Grayson. Because neither of us trust the other and we have no relationship between our states yet. As a sign of trust… if you accept my terms, of course, let’s look at the withdrawal together, halfway between your position and my camp. That coordinate can be reached from both sides in about two minutes with a biker. Do you agree to meet with me there, Lord Grayson? Only the two of us and two bodyguards if you insist."

 

[Darth Carnifex]

A G O N Y​

​

"How very realist of you."​

​

Carnifex stalked around Elle as she turned to face him, her lightsaber held in a duelist's salute. His lightsaber hung from his hip, just out of sight behind the folds of his cloak and robe. He made no move to draw his own weapon, though his hands idled at his sides for just that occasion, nor did he make any aggressive motion towards the Jedi Knight as they verbally sparred. ​

​

"But woefully naive, we are all bound by destiny; the destiny of the Force. It is as you said, the Force led you to me for this confrontation. You are but another of the Force's agents, another arrow in its quiver." Though Elle may not have picked up on it, the Dark Lord was making a subtle reference to another Light-side warrior, Allyson Locke . She had confronted the former Emperor on multiple occasions, but had never managed to achieve a tangible victory over him or his dark forces. ​

​

Much like all the others who have tried and failed.​

​

"Much like Grayson, though I doubt you are as maddeningly fanatic as he. He's driven by more than altruism, he seeks vengeance. And the more desperately he pursues his vengeance, the far more death he will incur." All death served the Sith, for the Force moved darkly near a creature that's about to kill. Even now, Carnifex could feel the battle above them, he could sense the violence of war as if it were the sweetest nectar of a fruit splashing against his tongue. He drew strength from all acts of violence, but the violence of war was something else entirely.​

​

Now he reached for his weapon, fingers curling around the hilt of his black cerakote lightsaber and thumbing the activator. A scarlet sunbeam erupted into existence from the emitter, staining both combatants and their surroundings with harsh blood-red shadows. His cloak was shunted away from him, pooling down on the stone floor behind him. Now all he wore was his armor, interlaced with black cloth that resembled the garb of a cleric. In a way, perhaps he was.​

​

"And now, my young Jedi, you will fulfill your destiny."​

​

He put on foot forward, visibly indicating that he was about to run at her and strike as he had during their first engagement. Suddenly, there was a rush of air as Carnifex disappeared entirely. The light from the Dark Lord's lightsaber disappeared as well, only to rapidly reappear as Carnifex suddenly materialized behind Elle and swung down in a move that would decapitate the Jedi Knight if it weren't avoided or blocked.​

​

Elle Mors ​

 

[Isla Draellix-Kobitana]

Location: Asteroid field and interplanetary space.

Allies: Amadeus Blackwood
Enemies: N Nyxeris

Isla looked at the data coming in from the planet below, the Sanctuary had crashed in to a friendly medical facility, she didn't need a droid to tell her the chances of that being a coincidence. She should not have expected the Sith to follow the rules of civilised conflict. She clenched her fist, looking at several other ships marked as neutral on her holo. How easy it would be to vaporise them all, but it was a luxury she did not have. “Captain!” She shouted, “dispatch two more frigates, I want every one of these contacts scanned, rescanned and checked manually if necessary.. and get me the Pike

“Admiral..” the much older captain of the frigate Pike stood in the holo in front of Isla “as you can see from our scan data, we followed the process you laid out, it isn't my fault you made this mistake... you are young and inexperienced, maybe a different comm….”

“How dare you!” replied Isla, interrupting him “I am your commanding officer and you will not address me in that manner, I want a full report immediately, your scans appear inconclusive, I would like to know what actions were taken to ensure their validity” She was fuming, she had hoped to address this in a more civil manner, but she would not have her ability be questioned by a man who had repeatedly failed to be promoted above escort vessels. “Bring the Pike back into the fleet, your position will be covered by the Halberd until I decide what to do with you” she cut the transmission without waiting for a response, she would probably forgive a minor amount of disrespectful communcation during battle, but he didn't need to know that yet.

Far across the void at the asteroid field, the fighters from the Hope's Wrath were the first to engage the defenders around the guardian station. The Ashlans had the quality but the Sith had numbers and desperation it was looking like a tough struggle. The captain of the new star destroyer was itching to beat his competitor in the Legacy of Ruusan that he could see was only now engaging its fighter complement. His vessel was starting to try and clear its way through the asteroid field. The heavy armament of the ship was making quick work of the smaller asteroids that seem to have been deliberately placed to make a long range strike impossible. The base they were assaulting was small, but thought had been taken to ensure it was well defended.

A pair of Principality corvettes were moving in to support the fighter assault of the base, their point defence cannons were particularly well suited to this kind of engagement and it was expected that they would quickly be able to down multiple enemy fighters and achieve superiority. Suddenly one of the corvettes took a large hit, damaging its engine module, as heavy turbolaser batteries, until now undetected, fired from their hidden positions around the base. The Corvettes captain returned fire with his own batteries, but the fortified positions were going to be hard to take down. He sent the locations back to the approaching frigates and star destroyers, they would have to clear a path before his corvettes would be able to make their approach to add further firepower to assault on the enemy base.​

 

[The Battalion]

Ession, Gulag Plague.

Elaine paused, watching as her students applied their healing knowledge to the sick and wounded of Ession, fighting to preserve the Kaissereich from the lawless and the Abominable. She taught out of an ancient Essionian Cathedral, vast and simplistic...The Ashla was not honored by ostentatious displays.

She was excited. A pair of Jedi Knight's were visiting from offworld with supplies. They were in bad need of them, as the Essionian People suffered greatly, in spite of all The Ashlan Church could do to ease such wretched suffering.

Elain had grown up knowing only chaos before the Graysons. Her mother and father had both been hung by Local Warlords practicing The Dark Side.

She had been driven to bring them to Justice by any means necessary. She had retrieved a secret treasure of the Tear Family, and studied it. It had been a Jedi Holocron, and after 007 years of arduous training, she was deemed competent enough to take the fight to the Warlords controlling the valley where she had grown up in. They had polluted it in Darkness.

The Ashla had blessed her that day, as she battled through throngs of the Warlord's men, batting the bolts back to their source with a sky blue blade. In keeping with Jedi Mercy, no one had died that day. Not even the Warlords. She sent them to the Grayson family to decide justice.

She had come a long way since. And she had made terrible mistakes. Mistakes that haunted her still. Bloody ones. But she was doing her absolute best to atone for those.

An old Protocol Droid, bought at discount due to age entered the area where she had been tending to plants she used for healing.

"Master Tear. The two Jedi have arrived."

"Excellent." Elaine said, standing up in her long green gown, "I'll be down to meet them shortly."

She headed down rustic, worn steps, Her Lightsaber left upstairs as she headed past rows of beds where she treated the injured.

She felt their presence in The Ashla. Both powerful. But one was particularly so. It actually surprised her how much more powerful The second signature was.

Elaine at last reached her Jedi guests, one a burly Trandoshan, wearing traditional robes. The second--

---wore pitch black Biker Leathers. His skin was slightly bronzed, and his hair was a very dark brown color. He had green, cybernetic eyes, that gave off a faint glint of gold in the center.

He carried a strange Lightsaber variant she had never seen before, a flat bladed Shoto atop a Silvery Spear.

("Terminated." By Junkie XL Plays.)

The Trandoshan Jedi he was nice and friendly, meeting her brown eyes with jovial glee, pointing to the Golden Crates of healing stims that had been brought, saying there was more where that came from.

"I'm Rogg Simon. It's such a pleasure to make your acquaintance. This is my friend, Morris. He's a native of Ession, so I asked him to come along."

The other Jedi was quiet and said nothing.

"Ession always welcomes her Ashla loving children with open arms." Elaine said to the Jedi in Black warmly, Though she found his attire strange for a Jedi...

The other Jedi though. He was quiet, didn't speak at all, didn't meet her eyes at first, didn't even look in her direction. Until she had a realization and turned her attention to him fully.

"Your name is Morris? As in Morris Crownwraithe?" Elaine asked.

When he finally stared at her, Elaine found it very strange. It was as if he was a deer in headlights.

"Yes." He said quietly, facial expression calm. Relaxed, yet...terse.

"All of Ession has heard of your works in Ashla's name, Morris. We know how you risked everything to save Csilla from Sith Infiltration into it's government. Poor as we may be, you will always be welcome here. Thank you for risking so much, both of you. Space Travel is very dangerous these days. I know it could not have been easy to obtain this."

"I'll go start unloading the crates." Morris said turning to leave.

"Nonsense, you both just got here, you must be exhausted!" Elaine exclaimed. "At least rest and have some tea first."

"No thanks. I'm not tired." Morris said, heading out of the Cathedral.

Rogg stopped him. "Morris, she's right. We worked a full eighteen hour day arranging for all this. As your friend, I'm asking you to take a break."

Morris, who seemed strangely quiet, stopped. Elaine found him a most curious sort of Jedi. Why so eager to continue?

"And as your grateful host, I politely request it." Elaine added.

Morris paused, shrugged and relented...

Present...

The Battalion smiled as she twisted an Ashlan Crusaders head around his body, shuddering in ecstasy as she felt his neck snap. Her blade was active again and as she, Darth Xiphos, and The Nuetralizers assaulted the Eastern approach, having halted it almost entirely with the ruthless assault. She felt her power grow in the slaughter.

Her eyes fell on an Essionian Rosary, a string of Kathracite Crystals, picking it up. Elaine used to have Rosaries like this. She often made them for her students.

A crusade soldier fired a bolt at her. She didn't even look up at him as she deflected it back to his face, still staring at that Rosary.

"What caught your eye?" Xiphos remarked after cutting down three Crusaders.

"I was of these people once, before my rebirth." The Battalion admitted.

This actually surprised Xiphos. "And you are given no pause at their slaying?"

"Pause? In war? Me? Never." The Battalion replied, chuckling, rising, slinking up to her with serpentine grace.

"Look on the bright side, my little cracked Kyber...if I still loved Ession...you'd have to kill me..."

"I have a pet name now?" Xiphos asked, semi-amused.

"Any time you wanna give me a pet name..." The Battalion trailed, deflecting a blaster bolt into somebody's belt of grenades, causing a terrible, rattling explosion in the distance.

"You just run it by me. If I like it enough...I might even let you actually pet me, Beautiful."

She then turned to focus on the battle, but not before winking coyly at Xiphos, and charged back into the thick of it with other Ashlan soldiers, The Model 2's started to press what was already a vicious assault, and even though some got utterly blasted apart from concentrated fire, more and more of the Ashlan dead started to pile up, the Model 2's seizing any grenades found on the corpses, activating and hurling them at swarms of fanatical soldiers.

Xiphos tried to clamp down on a deeply uncomfortable lust sensation watching The Battalion fight.

"I wonder which stat she dumped the most points in... Constitution? Or Charisma?" Xiphos wondered out loud, watching as The Battalion sustained heavy Blaster fire with her red Force Armor, butchering the ones firing at her in a savage, beautiful display of linked blade motion, none of it wasted...then turned, winked at Xiphos, and blew her a kiss before turning to slaughter more.

"Charisma. Most of the points went to Charisma." Xiphos said nervously, deeply Ashamed at finding her attractive, in spite of knowing what she was.

Xiphos distracted herself, picking a thick crowd of soldiers to wade into as mortar fire rained down around her...

 

[DECEASED Erskine Barran]

III
GALIDRAANI FREE-STATE
BLUE-HEART BRIGADE

KILL THEM ALL AND LET GOD SORT THEM OUT

OBJECTIVE 1: JUDGEMENT DAY
ZIOST, 865 ABY

Commonwealth Forces: Amadeus Blackwood

Allies (NIO): Noel Strasza Julian Qar Kolson Vrask

Allies (AC/GA/FO/SJC/): Cedric Grayson Sephi Karneh Zark San Tekka Dagon Kaze

Enemies (TSE/CIS): Ingrid L'lerim N Nyxeris Laertia Io

Lord Erskine's Loadout
Primary: Custom Blaster-Pistol (Right-hip Holster - left-or-right hand draw)
Secondary: Basket-Hilted Vibrosword Claymore (Left-hip Sheathe - right hand wielding)
Last Ditch/Second-Blade: Myles' Fairbairn Vibroknife (Right-hip Sheathe - right-or-left hand wielding)
Pocket-Weapons: Berach's Brass Knuckles (Both Trouser-Pockets - akimbo wielding)

Blue-Heart Brigade (Mechanized-Infantry)
220 Cataphract Tanks
32 AFVs
6 ACVs
1 Battalion of Riflemen
1 Company of Combat-Engineers
1 Company of Elite Combat-Medics

The Hell of New Adasta: Part 4 - "HOSPITAL SHIP", INBOUND!

01:40:57 Elapsed​

All was ready, with every Cataphract's engine roaring to life at the medical compound's perimeter, and even Lord Erskine himself was presentable enough to work with enough class as befitted an officer of great repute, but little did they know that there would be one last snag getting in their way; a large, suspicious unmarked medical vessel was vectoring towards Julian's very own surgeons' redoubt, and it was raising enough red-flags in Qar's mind that the eventual request for assistance was patched through. When it came to Krieg natives like the esteemed doctor, Lord Erskine would draw from his second son's experiences in heeding the intuition of one who knew what impending extremes looked and felt like, as the Nachtlandir thaws were still fraught with danger aplenty for the local elements, let alone for an experienced trawling-crew of eccentric Woad and Tuath drunkards. So, with all he'd known of Noel's husband, Barran would treat Qar's comm-chatter as if it were orders from the Imperator himself, snapping up with life on his gurney as the comm-link unit's speakers stirred the APC's occupants from a pre-movement lull that had been boring the Blue-Hearts mercilessly until then.

<“Blue-Heart Alpha, this is the Doc. I got a distress call from an unidentified hospital ship - Sanctuary. something in my gut says that ain’t right.... Do what you gotta do to push it off course, over.”>
Push it off course, but to wh- wait a minute. Why don't we just push it towards those red blips we spotted in the north?

'Two birds with one boulder, aye? Ah guess it really won't be rocket science the-day then.', the Brigadier-General muttered to himself as he shrugged with a half-mirthfully nonplussed demeanour, chuckling it off as Yorunarr passed over the comm-device from the unit itself. Knowing that Julian might not be near his comm-device to receive any reply, and with the impending threat descending from a northbound height below the sunkissed clouds, Erskine realised he was better off just getting to work and sending datapad messages when all was said and done, letting experience take hold as the enemy vessel dipped heavily into a dive to increase the speed of their approach. As he looked over to the substitute crewmen and the Novanian commission-prospect, Barran began to feel comfortable again, feeling like he belonged in the Blue-Hearts' vanguard once more as he exclaimed,'All units, this is Barran! Turn every smoothbore to the southeast, load High-Explosive shells and prepare to fire on the descending ship on it's portside bow! As soon as that so-called medical airship gets in range, I want those shells fired in abundance, so ready the Carbonite for temperature-control!'

<“All medical personnel. This is not a drill. Code black. I repeat a code black. Remain at your stations and do not exit secured medical pods under any circumstances. Over.">

Metallic clunks and groans both near and far could be heard over Qar's local comm-link relay, and with every Cataphract locking their arcs-of-fire on the ship behind their broken-crescent defensive formation, the moments of waiting for the ship to approach (from over 15km away to reach that blessed 3.2km range marker) felt like an age was passing in the process; most would become tense in such situations, but as far as the 2nd Brigade were concerned, all that meant was time to either smoke, drink alcohol or brew tea to fuel their efforts in the impending hostilities, one of the many curious but telling aspects to Galidraan's martial culture that Yorunarr was still trying to wrap his head around by the time they left Archais. Within the space of a minute however, all the Commonwealth servicemen would be manning their posts in anticipation of the nearing threat, letting all the Quartermasters get to work on the first stages of their Carbonite-extraction efforts, which was readied by the time the ship moved beyond the 3.7km-range marker.

<"Proost to Blue-Heart Alpha! Watch this through your periscope-optics!">
Of course the Archaisian wants the trickshot.... After all, that's exactly whit makes smoothbore-snipin' so fething fun to begin with!

<"You may proceed, Leftenant. Let us see what Archaisian trick-shots look like! Blue-Heart Alpha out!">

Off to the south of the APC's position, a singular smoothbore shot thudded with intent, aimed a little higher than Barran would've liked but seemingly aiming for something above the underside of the airship's bow as it passed the 3.5km mark; and as the High-Explosive shell went curving upward to meet the opposing ship, every last smoothbore lit the bright skies with long-distance attempts to get an early advantage, dipping lower than the leader of the explosive pack as it sailed over the ship's nose and right through the pilot's cockpit-screen. With barely enough time to exclaim,'Holy chit, Proost!', the Brigadier-General (along with all who were lucky enough to get a free moment to follow the shell's trajectory) watched on as the entire front nose of the ship exploded with such violence that whatever was left of the ship's bridge was knocked upwards slightly, like the Sanctuary had just received a weighty uppercut from Berach Ulrand's walker battalion; the resulting change in the so-called hospital ship's flight-path would flatten out it's descent and expose the entire portside of the ship, and from bow to stern it was leaving itself open to the most devastating part of the anti-air barrage for those still alive onboard.

'Oh - my - days.... As much as I have to say about Archaisians, even I can admit that shot was a thing of beauty! Might I ask where this one was found, Milord?'

'The New-Imperial conquest of your homeworld, if I'm not mistaken.', Lord Erskine replied, silently noting the Novanian's difficulty in shifting that deep-set loathing of the Archaisian colleagues as his gaze returned to the onslaught on the portside bow. The High-Explosive shells were generating enough collective force to put it northwards and away from the Carlaci Corps' medical-compound, and as the battered airship careened past the approach to Qar's eastern wall, all the smoothbores and anti-air installations in the area turned their barrels in movement with the general direction the Sanctuary was headed. With portside beam exposed, the force of each high-explosive impact would knock the airship off course, slowly starting a stuttering, defiantly-resisted starboard roll that wouldn't end until the ship's broken husk was expected to crash-land. Turning back to Yorunarr, Lord Erskine clicked his fingers and silently ordered the Novanian to sit at the seat opposite him before continuing,'They'll grow on you, lad. Free-State Archaisians are the best Archaisians, just like Free-State Novanians are the best Novanians. So rest assured, you'll find that common ground eventually.'

<"Brand to Cataphract One! God bless you and your brass-neck, my friend... That was incredible! But I'm still calling bets on the fact it was an absolute fluke!">

<"The absolute cheek from the Rooster, where's this coming from? We clocked that shot in at exactly three-point-six kilometers! Trajectory was also mapped already! But anyway, all jokes aside, thanks! And if we're being honest, I wasn't expecting we'd get it on the first try. Not by a long chalk! Cheers! Cataphract One out!">

The onslaught of the High-Explosive shells continued as the portside stern became the focus of the Blue-Hearts' attention next, moving on past the beam with slight readjustments every time for each and every Cataphract crew in attendance, and Carlac's anti-aircraft showing would compound this by aiming for every exposed window and doorway on the upper portside of the Sanctuary's heavily-damaged hull. This would prove to be the pivotal part of the process, pushing the ship's nose down from the sheer weight of the near-ceaseless barrage of explosive smoothbore firepower, driving it's fiery, burning form in a general northerly direction as it's engines and thrusters did all the rest of the ground-forces' hard work for them. The battle had gotten off to a flying start for the 2nd Battalion, and everyone (even the Carlaci Corpsmen) could almost smell the momentum gained as the Sanctuary continued to push closer to the Sith-loyalists' occupied sectors in the north, and to an extent that it gave the otherwise-nervous troop replenishments hope for survival in their first serious deployment alongside the brigade's hardened veterans.

'All units, this is Barran! Feels good when it's done right, doesn't it? That feeling and I are quite well-acquainted, the veterans among you know this already! S'dae yer Lord-Commander a wee favour an' destroy that ship wherever it lands, then fire on everything to the north and northwest - an' as far as your smoothbores can fire shells fae a mechanised defensive-posture! Give them destruction, give them fire! Blue-Heart Alpha out!'