Private Nothing ever happens on Naboo, Reprise

[Jhira Mereel]

Search and Rescue​

LOCATION: Naboo. Theed. .
Objective: Search and Rescue.
Equipment:Cybernetics | Jet Pack | Beskar’gam | Weapon load out | The Echoy’la Sun
Tag: [ Zlova Rue ]


Naboo burned.

Jhira set her jaw, watching the scene unfurl below her with a hard, seemingly impassive eye. The safest place in the galaxy, they’d said. Hadn’t been raided or faced a serious threat in decades, they’d said. Jhira had trusted those assertions. The newsfeed and historical record had backed them up. So she had believed in Naboo’s safety. Believed it enough to allow her children to visit, to attend school and to make friends.

Had even settled the headquarters of her business in Theed, in fact. Hundreds of friends and allies, Mando’ade she’d rescued from all across the galaxy were employed there. The gentler souls; the elderly, the injured. Those who chose to be Mandalorian without the full-time commitment to Clan Warrior. The coppery tang of blood stained her mouth; Jhira relaxed the tightly clenched jaw to ease the new wound to her cheek.

Nothing eased the litany of fault.

Why had she trusted aruetiise? How many of her people had died, for her misjudgement? For her lack of foresight? Her emotions had receded past her ability to touch or name them; ashes lived in her soul, dust where her heart should be. But her body punished her, even so. Pain seared along her back and with each breath. Bruises on her hands, from her too-fierce grip while piloting.

[ John Locke ] “Osprey and Circinae Squad should be touching down about now.” She’d split her fighter squadron and one support squadron between the two away teams. Mikan and Silver were down there in that madness, visiting school friends on a rare in-person field trip to the Naboo Headquarters of Locke & Key. Jherel had taken Circinae Squad to retrieve them; aggressively, if necessary. Jhira did not doubt that Locke & Key would have been hit hard by any force seeking to destabilize the CIS. Circinae Squad was amongst the best of her warriors. Lin Awaud and both of her children had been at an exhibit. Mia had taken Osprey Squad to fetch them and any other Mando’ade who had been drawn to the Technical Excellence exhibit at the Cultural Center. They were more subtle than Circinae; it was possible they’d leave the buildings and rare displays standing in their wake.

That still left Jhira with over 1,000 Mandalorians with which to help search and rescue operations. While most were technicians and scientists, they were first and foremost Mandalorians. Even should some of those monsters yet linger upon Naboo, her people could handle it - at least long enough for reinforcements from Strill to arrive.

[ Shuklaar Kyrdol ] They weren’t far. The chatter on the Emergency Distress Channels brought her the steady, military-precise communiques of the Breshig Warforge and Strill Securities forces currently deployed here. “Strill is still here, evacuating people. They’ve got a few areas marked off as potentially holding those weird force beasts.” Both forces had refused to retreat from the abominataion that had cut its way through the famed Obsidian Knights and into the leadership of the CIS. Had refused to follow said leadership into whatever self-imposed exile they sought. From the sounds of things, they were evacuating civilians and coordinating off any area believed to hide the monstrosities.

Logic, math, kept her going. Kept her from giving into the primal need to break something until the universe returned her family to her. Numbers kept her focused on the readouts and displays, not on the greater cost in lives that those symbols represented. “We were told it was just Theed. Looks like our sources were premature. The devastation is everywhere. Even on other planets, if the hyperspace chatter is to be trusted.” The cool, calm tones of a Starship Captain might have fooled most people; they almost fooled Jhira. But they would be unlikely to hide her rage and fear from Zlova.

“You can handle one of those beasties if it crops up, right?” a beat. One more reason to have the cleverest and best educated Force User Jhira had ever met with her. Words of thanks and comfort were due to the deadly lady prowling her bridge, but Jhira could not find soft words. Not yet. Not when a world burned.

Distant pain threatened her detachment, an echo of her own lost homeworld, but it could not quite break through.

Good.

A gesture to the holomap followed, lit up with fires, collapsed buildings, sinkholes, earthquakes and storms. “What do you think, Zlova? Right to Mereel Ice Works or is there somewhere else we should be?” Needing a Darth Lord to guide a rescue effort was about as unlikely a situation as Jhira could possibly imagine. Yet it was the best way she could conceive, to sort order out of chaos.

The ship trembled, as if wounded by the state of the world below her. Descending through the smoky, scorched atmosphere was a rocky affair. Too many debris; too many turbulent storms stirred up by the multiple Force Vergences Naboo boasted.

Oh, and the god-thing.

Fuck.

Jhira hated the Force.

A sharp shake of her head dismissed both irrelevancies and once more all emotion vanished beyond reach. The tiny sliver of deep seated rage that had risen left a taint of blood in her mouth and pain in her hands. How much more, must the young Queen feel?

[ Queen Savana ] The Queen had turned her ship around and came back. Not a very common response, for nobles who had escaped such destruction. As much as Jhira admired it, the Queen was not a Mandalorian - Jhira had no notion if she’d been trained for this sort of thing. Mandos … well. It tended to happen to them.

“The Queen chose to return. I’m not sure if she’s still en route or has landed, but we should keep an eye on the Palace. Ret’lini.”

 

[Zlova Rue]

Next to Jhira in the command center of her ship, a ruby-red Twi'lek dressed in a light Mandalorian-styled armor without the helmet watched and listened to the status report on Naboo. Bright, yellow eyes slid over the text and videos that seemed to captivate her partner to such a degree. Jhira was a rational, if caring person subject to pangs of empathy for the suffering of others. That the Mess visited upon Naboo was not contained was particularly upsetting to the other woman as a result. No one was perfect.

"One?" Zlova turned to look over at the other woman with a smile on her lips. Talk of multiple cities and multiple planets being consumed by this Force Disaster did nothing to curb her enthusiasm. "I wouldn't even notice killing one of them." She felt confident in handling far more than a lone beast. Even if these were quite strong in their own right that had delivered considerable damage to a space-faring civilization.

At Jhira's indication, the Sith Lord-Mandalorian warrior turned to regard the holomap. "It will suffice as a landing zone." She reached out to shift the map to one side. "There's a Knight Obsidian Safe House here," her finger pointed to a building on the map, "that would serve as a command post or fallback point in the worst case. It can survive a direct assault." She had once been one of those Knights, not that she'd found it particular engaging. Not entirely their fault at the time; she had sought to keep her true level of power hidden from the rest. She'd sought to keep a low profile at the time.

Zlova's head tipped slightly to the side with the news the Queen was either on her way back, or had already returned. "Admirable, but foolish. Too many will be concerned with her personal safety when they need to focus on scouring the world of the beasts." Zlova had taken cities and planets before; casualties were simple a facet of war and not something to avoid. Once you introduced a VIP, however, people got stupid ideas in their head about prioritizing their safety to the mission. Zlova only hoped this Queen had some considerable battle prowess that would limit the distraction her very presence would cause.

"Are we here to support Strill's evacuation, or to purge the monsters?" Best to make sure the objectives were clearly defined. Especially in case the Queen's presence would cause Jhira to re-evaluate her own priorities.

Tag: Jhira Mereel | Shuklaar Kyrdol

 

[Jhira Mereel]

Spoiler: before

Search and Destroy.​

LOCATION: Naboo. Theed. .
Objective: Search and Rescue. Kill Monsters!
Equipment:Cybernetics | Jet Pack | Beskar’gam | Weapon load out | The Echoy’la Sun
Tag: [

Shuklaar Kyrdol ] [ [

Zlova Rue ]


The soft purr of Zlova’s simple reply, One? tugged a half smile to Jhira’s lips. A glance at the lovely Twilek (resplendent now in proper armor) always made Jhira pause a moment. It wasn’t just Talohn’s necklace or her beauty; Zlova had a verve and fire to her that nothing seemed to dim. Well, nothing but a few too many pitchers of Tihaar. Or Saki. Some aspects of that evening were still mercifully blurred in Jhira’s mind, but not that.

Angling her head away from Zlova in order to better focus upon her sensors, Jhira sent a pulse through her cybernetic connection to her ship. The safehouse Zlova had shown her lit up on NavSystem even as Jhira brought the Echoyl’a Sun in for a sweep over her headquarters building. Mereel Ice Works had taken a beating, the plas-teel windows shattered and discolored, the carefully maintained greenery scorched and wilted. But the bones of the structure – built along Mandalorian design principles of concealment, defense and utility – still stood. Sunk deep in the earth with only the top levels visible, the building was a small sensor target buttressed on all sides against concussive and earthquake damage. The shield was down, smashed to nothing in the same brutal EMP/ION burst that had taken out Theed’s power stations and blown most back-up generators.

Ash and smoke filled the air from the burning city, so Jhira eased down to her broken building using the sensor suite alone. A single guidance buoy remained functional, allowing her to perfectly orient her ship over the landing cradle. No COMM signals reached her and repeated sensor sweeps showed no life forms in the surface levels. As they eased closer, she sent a few commands through secure channels trying to raise the lower areas of the building or any of her own people.

There was no reply.

Were they hiding in the sub-basement levels, sensors and comms blocked by meters of earth and concrete? Or had no one even had the chance to evac? Tension ate at her, as she saw the evidence of battle streaked across a city and building that had not had a single moment’s warning. The much heavier, combat-only shield generators registered as intact to her sensors, simply because they had never been spun up. Armored bodies and heavy weapons emplacements lay in crumpled piles around the secure points and access ways to her building. Clerks, salespeople, scientists and gardeners, yes; yet her people here had nevertheless been Mandalorian. They had not surrendered their home without a bloody and brutal fight; there was some evidence that they’d allowed people from less sturdy buildings to join them. Naboo guardsmen and their police force were well represented in the despairing collages of the dead.

Force-warped main beams and literally tons of shrapnel had been flung to unlikely places, oddly frozen patches still radiating a deadly cold and burnt out areas gave mute testimony to the unnatural powers that had swept across Naboo. From this vantage, Jhira could not tell if such damage were the Force-monsters, or from other Force Users attempting to defend.

No. Who was she kidding?

The Obsidian Knights would not have wasted a single thought on the foreign nationals on their soil. Sensors analyzed the assorted damages, compared them to Jhira’s extensive database upon Force Traditions and Force Monsters. Slowly, her TacComp began to give useful readouts as to the degree of temperature change affected, the estimated amount of g-forces the Force Throw and Force Pull effects would have required and the tactical effectiveness the evidence of each such power left behind. How clever were this set of Force beasties? Until she saw them in battle herself, of course, the picture would be incomplete. But at least she had more information now than ‘demon-god arrives and sends monsters across CIS territory.’

Of course, she very much doubted that the monsters had politely stopped at political boundaries.

“Looks like two to five of the creatures attacked here. The damage isn’t localized enough for just one and not extensive enough for more than a squad. Given how still this quadrant is, you may get to demonstrate your facility at destroying them sooner than anticipated.”

What would have drawn them in so deep? Focused them on …

Oh.

“There are lower levels, meant to withstand an orbital bombardment up to and including the forces used at Rand.” she flickered a glance at her companion. “Children, visitors and non-combatants would have been evacuated down there. A lot of the best terraformers are mildly force sensitive, and I've a small herd of Ithorians who live here when not actively on mission or when they need a break from their herd-ship.” Like the children, Naboo was one of the few planets her Ithorian allies had felt safe resting or vacationing on. But if those creatures had been seeking out Force signatures and had been denied their rightful prey, they may well have turned on any Force Sensitive they could sense

The flare of her atmospheric engines died as Jhira cut in antigravity to avoid more damage to the surface. So large a vessel wasn’t truly meant for slow, painful atmospheric landings but Jhira nursed the Echoy’la Sun down with the touch of a maestro. Using tractor and pressor beams to both clear away rubble and stabilize the damaged structure, Jhira set her ship down in the landing cradle that was the center and hallmark of her building.

Once safely down, she pinged Strill’s sensor net and requested to tie her own systems into their Tactical net. If they assented, she’d launch her Probe droids and tie her Starmapper updates into their own extensive data network. Her droids were truly meant for interstellar mapping, not SAR. Not for the first time, she considered acquiring some of those lovely Strill probes. Well. Not the newest recon Strill Droids; they were more than she needed, from the rumors going around. Even if they were for sale, they would have to be ruinously expensive. But the older Nuhaatyc' recon probes might have a publicly available version; maybe even used ones!

Jhira gave a wry grin at Zlova’s assessment of the Queen’s possible effects upon the shattered world. Improve morale, increased conflict, personal risk, check. But unmitigated chaos couldn’t be ruled out, either. “I don’t see that she had a choice, though, if she wished for governmental continuity. The only possible excuse for a government the way these outsiders do it is to step in at times like this. I worry that those who wish for a whole new world order to go with the new galactic one might make a try for the palace.” Those sorts of civil dissidents didn’t make much sense, in Jhira’s experience, but they did seem to be ubiquitous.

Zlova’s question about priorities drew a long, quiet look and a slow, fierce smile. Her eyes burned. Few people had the sheer, burning drive towards vengeance that burned within Jhira, but she was pretty sure Zlova was one. Her voice all but purred, as she replied, “My people will do SAR. You and I? We’re going hunting.” A shiver thrilled through her; a deadly, dangerous foe, in hostile territory, with unknown innocents to complicate the matter.

Just the sort of challenge she relished.

Keying Strill Securities' main channel, she hailed their lead ship.

“Strill Securities, this is Alor’ad Jhira Mereel of the Echoy’la Sun. My compliments to your Commander.”

“I have deployed two squads already to retrieve my children, but have two more battalions of Mandalorians to assist with SAR. Please let me know how best to coordinate our efforts.” A beat; the cool professionalism of her voice dropped a register, hunger beating in its depth.

“I have with me a friend with the means to destroy these Force creatures. We offer assistance in dealing with any you’ve identified. It’s always a pleasure to work with Strill.”

 

[Zlova Rue]

The Twi'lek shrugged slightly. "Better sooner than late. I'd hate to get bored. I'm not very good at rebuilding entire cities." No, Zlova was far, far better at razing them to the ground. Not that she enjoyed doing it, so to speak, but when the situation called for it she'd be the last one to whine about potential civilian casualties. The last one in the galaxy to be specific.

Then Jhira confessed that a bunch of those civilians had likely been evacuated below ground with the monsters running rampant above ground. Zlova managed to force a smile on her lips in patient sufferance at the news. Great. Survivors. Helpless, clueless, bumbling survivors. She only hoped a few competent fighters were among them that could keep doing so and free the Mandalorians of the trouble. Few things the Lethan hated more on a battlefield than being tasked with babysitting them. Frankly, she was always the wrong person for that job. If a few of them died, Zlova wouldn't shed a tear, or apologize to anyone later when they screamed about why she hadn't done more.

"A herd of Ithorian. You have an interesting assortment of people in your employ." At least the stoic, if usually slow, creatures weren't the loudest and most bothersome of panicked creatures. They could be useful in managing the rest.

She waited for the ship to sweep in over complex while Jhira remarked about the Queen's return. Zlova nodded slightly. "I hate politics." Better to just kill the people that had designs to claim the throne for themselves amidst all the chaos. It was disappointing how many people disagreed with her on such matters. Everything thought the Sith philosophy unrepentantly and wholly deprave -- but, really, sometimes it was for the greater good to just completely annihilate your enemy.

Thankfully, Jhira's silent drew the Twi'lek's golden gaze and the two stared at once another. Soon they were smiling with anticipation. All those she'd brought along would handle the minutia while they ripped and tore. This was the reason the two of them got along so well. Jhira was one of those that actually liked the Sith woman's presence -- long as she played Mandalorian like most others, but that was acceptable. "As it should be."

"We won't need to wait long before the hunt begins, I hope." Zlova managed to keep her tone level despite a growing sense of impatience. They had to wait for Strill to come back with their own status and make sure both parties didn't trample on one another -- by procedure. Zlova wouldn't mind if a little 'friendly' fire occurred. Not that she'd admit that aloud. A fight was a fight. Though it would be senseless to intentionally try to shoot people on your own side -- senseless and incredibly stupid. One of those little things she and some other Sith disagreed on; just like she didn't favor mass-murder and massacres without reason.

Tag: Jhira Mereel | Shuklaar Kyrdol