Old Bonds [SJO ft. New Alliance]

[Audren Sykes]

The captain's voice provided updates as they occurred...which meant there were a couple words here and there. A couple glimmers of light that suggested starfighters. Yet no video signal was piped through. When asked, the captain explained that the sensor officer - as the most knowledgeable in that discipline onboard - was working on it. Just as the image flickered on-screen the captain's voice sounded again. More business-like this time...he was a retired military man after all.

"Contact. Capital ship deploying starfighters."

Audren was about to ask who's they were when he saw the Twin Tail launch. His Force senses were far from comprehensive at this distance, but he could feel the Force being brought into play. It was time to launch and join the party.

"Plot a micr"

"Contact. Additional fighters dropping from hyperspace. Combat initiated."

"Good. Plot a microjump to the outskirts of the skirmish area, transmit to the fighters' nav computers. Launch in thirty seconds."

He was out the door as soon as physically possible and headed to his fighter. Minor brushes of Force-enhanced agility allowed him to avoid the two surprised technicians, their droids, and munitions boxes scattered along the ground. He was up the ladder and seated in the cockpit in short order, engines flaring online in an abbreviated checklist. The bay doors lay closed before him, but the faint glimmer of the magcon field became visible as the doors opened and space was revealed. Despite the urgency of the situation a combat launch would not be performed - he wanted the Vespira's crew to survive. Instead there was a deft touch of the repulsorlift controls to bring the ship off the deck and deposit it into the void, then he kicked in the thrusters.

"Jump plot transmitting now."

In a matter of seconds the solution was laid in, Audren was joined by his wingmate, and the hyperdrive was engaged. Fractions of a second later, the two fighters dropped out of hyperspace...several light-seconds away from their intended destination. The Jedi let out a hiss of annoyance, but the wingmate simply began recalculating. The navicomputer installed in the Limemlin-class fighters was not powerful; it was meant to get them from point A to point B without fancy maneuvering. The microjump calculation took several minutes to complete and both pilots watched in annoyance as the dogfight waxed and waned. Finally it was completed, and the starfighters flickered from realspace and back in.

This time the jump had been accurate. The timing couldn't have been better either, as the two fighters were dropped neatly behind two TIEs chasing an Alliance fighter. Blue cannon bolts flashed through the distance, and what had been two fully-operational starfighters - and two lives - suddenly became fiery gas clouds. The two fighters banked towards another set of enemies - not that there were many left now - and the Sephi opened a comm channel on Silver frequencies.

"Sorry we're late. Hador 1 and 2 reporting."

Without warning a light glared to life on the heads up display. Target lock. There was a split second of hesitation as Audren checked with the Force, and in that length of time laser cannon bolts started spitting all around. Only two contacted his shields, an indication that the target jammer was working, then his head was left behind as the fighter twisted into evasive maneuvering. One enemy: above and behind. Basic tactics would have the two Hadors split, one acting as target while the other splashed the enemy. Instead, the Limemlin's throttle was cut almost entirely as the fighter was stood on its side. Further manipulation of the stick brought the nose around so it was upside down and backwards relative to its flight path...and was now hunting the hunter.

The enemy pilot was obviously not a rookie. Instead of hesitating or trying to duke it out he accelerated and passed over his target. The Jedi was not locked in position however, and continued maneuvering to bring the nose back in line with the path of travel. At that point the thrusters were re-engaged and the starfighter slid into place behind the TIE. Cannon bolts were unable to find purchase however, but then matching triplets intercepted and carved through the port solar collection panel and cockpit.

"Nice shot, two."

"Couldn't let you have all the fun. Main party is back this way."

The second Limemlin looped around and took the lead position, then angled back in towards the main furball. The number of fighters were thinning out, and it looked like more than a few had already begun heading dirtside.

[member="Danielle Stellaris"] | [member="Lynette Lykova"] | [member="Loske Matson"]​

 

[Kahne Porte]

He could hear it, and he could sense it as they neared the drop point. All that was left to do now was to survive the trip down. That was always the hardest part, you could have a group of the greatest Jedi and soldiers on one transport and if the pilot couldn't maneuver correctly it wouldn't matter because you would be dead before you even hit the ground.

Luckily with Coren and Alexandra at helm it would go by pretty smoothly. And as the Jedi's head whipped back and forth slightly, he couldn't help but chuckle and laugh at the thought. The final move came when he actually felt the shuttle hit the ground. Kahne removed the straps that held him secure along the way down and moved towards the ramp as it opened up. The main sound of the battle reached his ears just as he knew it had reached others as he moved down the ramp and he reached for his lightsaber and the blue blade came to life with a snap hiss.

Just as the first several bolts of fire and attacks came his way. The Jedi Master pushed forward a bit as he maneuvered his weapon to deflect the incoming blaster bolts.

This was just the beginning, they had a lot of ground to cover. Thin the lines, and regroup with their allies.

[member="Coren Starchaser"] [member="Alexandra Porte"] [member="Joza Perl"]

 

[Zef Halo]

Blood splattered across his visor blurring his vision with each kill he made. Guts were impaled, throats were slit and chests were torn open by the Mandalorian's beskad. He felt burns all across his body from blaster shots which had made impact through his energy shield. The Antarian Rangers behind him followed suite. Some were getting the shakes, feeling like throwing up. After all, this was most likely their first time killing a person so...intimately.

For Amon it was all natural.

He'd been born and bred in such an environment. He had been forged by his father in the flames of war to do just this.

The Mandalorian had joined the Silver Jedi Order to seek an end to this extreme violence, to change but how hard it was for him to do so. Was his father right after all? This cycle of violence could never cease. It's how the galaxy worked and the Silvers were simply too naive to understand that. And that would doom them to destruction.

But he had to try as much as every situation he seemed to end up with the Silvers proved his father wrong, Amon still stubbornly tried to believe in the fethin' Jedi's mission for peace.

With the cooling systems of the armor switched off, condensation thickened across his visor with every breath he took and with the blood pond on top of it, the Mandalorian was all but blind. He smacked an emergency button on the back of his helmet which ejected it off his head just in time to see a Sith soldier setting up Vizsla's ticket to hell in the form of an E-web blaster.

Chit.

Amon charged towards the man but with each step he took, he knew he would be late. He was one more step late as the soldier was about to pull the trigger when his brains were splattered across Amon's face.

Sniper. Behind enemy lines.

Whoever it was had just saved Vizsla's life. He raised a thumbs up in the air as a symbol of thanks if the sniper's scope still lied somewhere near him before moving back towards the smoke and ash against the Sith troopers.

His beskad danced and pranced until the Mandalorian's face was all masked with the blood of his enemies. He felt its iron taste in every spit. Amon was just about to hack into another supposed enemy when he noticed the armor was different. Alliance outfit with fixed bayonets on their rifles.

Had they charged, as well? Looked like it. And when the Alliance had charged in, it seemed that those of the Rangers who had not followed him in finally found the spirit to do so.

Bold, Amon liked it.

"Soldier, your CO. Where?" Vizsla shook the man before tackling him below cover as fire rained on their static position. "Alliance, right?"

"Yes." The man replied before tapping a few commands perhaps seeking the location of his CO. He peeked over cover and pointed at an alien not far from here running through an enemy's chest. "Captain Stazi, right over there. The duros."

Without a word, Amon jumped out off cover and hurried to Stazi meeting him midway in a trench as another salvo of fire headed their way lethally.

"Captain Stazi. Private Vizsla." The Mandalorian nodded introducing himself. "Led the few brave enough to charge. Our last resort." He wasn't even thinking about being court marshaled. Not that a Mandalorian even understood the meaning of that word. "Sgt. Tryne led the rest when he saw your men rush in, as well."

Amon wasn't going to go any more into detail cause it didn't matter. He cut straight to the chase.

"I have no tactical view of the battle zone." He motioned at his bloodied face where there was no helmet to be found. "But if our forces have met so easily, the Sith might've retreated piling us both together for-"

He pointed up into the sky. Everyone had felt the impact of the previous turbolaser shot.

It made sense, there was an unnatural amount of smoke obscuring everyone's view. The Sith forces seemed less than before and the Antarian platoon and Twilight Company had reached each other far too easily.

--

Up above in space, [member="Coren Starchaser"] would be alerted by an officer of the Spear of the Alliance that the One Sith cruiser Vengeance were shifting their position for a precise surgical turbolaser strike to a designated area.

Just where Twilight Company and the Rangers' platoon were located.

Not even a minute gone and a salvo of turbolaser fire was released from the One Sith cruiser sparking the Alliance naval officers to spam the chit out of Starchaser's commlink with a countdown till turbolaser impact.

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[member="Sol Stazi"] [member="Ador Horn"] [member="Danielle Stellaris"] [member="Lynette Lykova"] [member="Loske Matson"] [member="Setter Ryburn"] [member="Romi Jade"] et al​

 

[Light Rises]

She was having to play catch up. The pilot, and trigger happy Jedi shook her head. Maybe her writer forgot her but that was so not it. She was still a loud voice, it was a matter of making sure she could make the right post with the right voice. When she finally got Lynette caught up, Frenzy dove herself a bit deeper into the furball. She had fighters above and below her and was broadcasting a burst that would drag attention to her. The fighter was fast, but she was more focused on the fighters giving her attention. She smirked as the fighter was taking hits, and she dumped the firepower to speed, having armed the triple blasters for some low power. Peppering the fighters she nodded.

“Roger that Escort, I’ll keep them off your back. May be joining you down there.” Though she wasn’t sure. Being up here in the stars, that was her home, that was how she wanted to be known, but there were tricks she had to back up for forces on the ground.

Rolling and juking, her fighter was hopping along, tagging TIEs, and taking a few down with well blast burst shots to engines. Fighters were moving and she heard the report from the Spear of the Vengeance moving.

“Mack, get me all power to shields, jam their sensors.” She threw the ship into a sharp roll and dive, a Split S, really, to get the fighters off her ass and head to the ship. The Jedi was calling in the Spear and the Tiburons to head to the fighter. She could only hope they weren’t late.

The order from the Spear came down to [member="Romi Jade"] and [member="Sol Stazi"]. “Alliance and Silver soldiers, this is Spear Command. Incoming fire!” The countdown was going off as the Defender and fighter escort was moving as quickly as they could, Frenzy taking lead of the fighters.

[member="Loske Matson"] [member="Setter Ryburn"] [member="Lynette Lykova"] [member="Ador Horn"][member="Amon Vizsla"]

 

[Lynette Lykova]

Something in the Force made her turn to stand. Like far away voices calling out in despair.

​

 

[Joza Perl]

Joza barely contained a snicker as the holoprojection of [member="Romi Jade"] popped in front of Coren and called him a slowpoke. If you wanted to get technical, Joza was also a slowpoke but she chose not to look at it that way. Even though she was gripping the side of her seat because Corellian pilots—while skilled—were insane, she felt an unexpected pang of relief in her chest. The kid’s alright.

The Jedi wasted no time in tearing out of craft and flinging themselves onto the battlefield. No hesitation, which was something Joza immediately admired about the rest of the crew. She knew of [member="Coren Starchaser"]’s prowess in battle, but she hadn’t had the chance to work alongside [member="Kahne Porte"] and [member="Alexandra Porte"] yet. Still, they seemed to work well with eachother, ifyouknowwhatImean, and that was a good thing.

The Zeltron sliced through one soldier, then another with a burning blue blade. It had been a few years since she’d fought in a battle, but the steps fell in line like an old dance. It was exhilarating, like stretching a muscle for the first time in a while. While she never found glory in war, there was something to be had in fighting alongside comrades. “You lovebirds doing alright?” She called over to Kahne and Alex, her voice light rather than teasing. It was refreshing to hear them banter earlier, and telling of how close they were.

Her heart froze the moment she caught sight of a symbol emblemized on the side of an armored vehicle. Out of all the groups that could have been behind this, the One Sith had to rise up from the grave one last time. They’d terrorized the galaxy when Joza was young, and her first and most painful love had been a member of the Sith war machine. Black on red, red on black—it was an emblem she thought she’d never see again on the battlefield. The limited Sith color palette was also concerning. She killed her blade and widened her stance, almost as if she’d read Kahne’s mind. “We need to move forward.”

A heavy force push sent the vehicle on it’s side with chorus of groaning metal, and Sith troopers scattering to one side or the other.

I swear I’m gonna scalp whoever is behind this.

[member="Amon Vizsla"] | [member="Romi Jade"] | [member="Sol Stazi"]

 

[Setter Ryburn]

He didn't have comms with them. He had no idea it was coming.

It was a flash, at first.

It was a boom, distant.

Explosions- you felt them in your chest first. The pressure in your chest being affected. The blastwave came first, before the heat. Setter was out in the open, just outside of the deadly range of the turbolaser's bombardment. But he was not armored. He was barely protected by his plate carrier. He felt himself be lifted off the ground, thrown violently upwards. It happened so fast that he couldn't comprehend where he was. He was bouncing around, as the turbolasers tore the Earth around him, overturning the fauna, scattering the dirt this and that way.

He was thrown downwards, downhill. He felt the first impact. It cracked the plates inside his vest. Saved his ribs. He felt the next impact, again, and again. Slowing down, at least. He was rolling. Too fast to see anything real, just blurring colors. Lasers- explosions. Fire. Burning. He couldn't hear anything. He could feel the liquid coming from his ears. Blood, or worse. His head was banging, the headset he was wearing barely able to protect him- his head was ringing.

He wasn't sure if it was over, or just beginning. He couldn't move. What was wrong with him? Was he dead? Was he broken?

He began to, for the first time in a long while- panic.

He could only make a screaming sound into his headset, unable to find the capability to comprehend anything but the pain he was in. He managed to roll onto his back. If he was going to die here, he'd at least face the stars, and the bastards who were doing it to him.

Sons of bitches.

He was spared an instantaneous death due to his perched sniper position- but he might have traded that for an agonizing, slow, painful lonely one.


[member="Joza Perl"] l [member="Lynette Lykova"] l [member="Danielle Stellaris"] l [member="Amon Vizsla"] l

 

[Romi Jade]

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Location: Research Facility, Rathis​

Objective: Meld & Protect-ish​

Tag: [member="Ador Horn"] [member="Sol Stazi"] [member="Amon Vizsla"] [member="Setter Ryburn"]​

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She'd been carving her way back.

Now she was a target, whipping around she found herself in someones line of sight...

​

He wasted no time in triggering off the first bolts. Her blade deflected one after the next, and she gained a little bit more ground each time -- he emptied the blaster entirely of fuel. Scrabbling backward, his gaze riveted on her as she advanced, calm but coldly fixed on her prey. He pulled a vibroknife, and she quickly stepped into his guard. Her off hand moved in a dexterous blur as she deflected his knife blows and got inside his frantic movements to slap him in the jaw before thrusting her fingers into his windpipe. Ducking his increasingly desperate lunges and crosscuts, she swept his feet out from under him with a circling sidekick.

Etching closer and closer to the main group again,

"Cap'n Stazi! Rangers are making their move!"

"Straight silver!"

Her back facing them, she could hear the blaster rounds going off while she covered their flank. Stragglers, only a few rounds came flying in her direction. In an upturn parry she cut into their trajectory before returning the second round back, then turned and sprinted to join the charge, dodging and somersaulting as blaster bolts streamed into the gloom ahead.

She came up on the tailwind of Sol's charge, "Ador!" She latched onto his arm as she sprinted past, "You've got to move!" She yanked him forward. She'd interposed herself between him and the line of fire until he snapped out of it, she'd momentarily look back to check on him...she knew all to well how these sort of experiences could scar you...part of the reason she wanted him to stay back.

“Alliance and Silver soldiers, this is Spear Command. Incoming fire!”

"Wha--" her head shot up.

Her breathing slowed, she wasn't sure how to combat this...

But...

Maybe...

She'd recalled her lightsaber and dug her fingers into her skull. The world became still but continuously inundated with the interference and alerts over the comms. One by one, she deafened herself to each sense in a calculated sequence that only she could remember. A funnel, she absorbed the subtle waves of energy suffused into the very fabric of the landscape around them. She siphoned but she gave just as much of herself. When she finally fell into the whims of the Force, it allowed for a mental call through the empyrean.

Her power became metaphysical tendrils reaching out and touching all those force sensitives on the ground. They'd meld their mind and spirits together, with her forming the link; they could act as one.

Her voice would echo in the back of their minds, "Direct whatever you've got upward! Form a barrier, everyone!" there was enough of them to cover a large enough area and create some shielding; they'd miss a couple of course but. She'd left the mental notes there after she'd done the motion. She threw her hands up, palms open and would push out with the Force to create a bubble of protection overhead. "I need you to join with me, so I can nudge this bubble higher!" The barrier would lose precious durability the more she tried to expand it out alone, but with everyone else...they could strengthen this shield. They were running out of time...they'd have to throw what they could up.

Meld Babies:

**Meld talk is: Blue

Spoiler

[member="Coren Starchaser"] [member="Joza Perl"] [member="Kahne Porte"] [member="Ador Horn"] [member="Alexandra Porte"] [member="Lynette Lykova"]

Is this god mode enough for you zef huh? >.>

 

[Coren Starchaser]

“Perfect!” He shouted to Alleycat as he nodded. Keeping his hands on the stick and the path through the chaos. The Jedi Master was the one who preferred flying, but he was also finding himself constantly in the cockpit.

There were certain things that a Jedi Master could do. Help the wounded, instruct the world, solve crises with diplomacy, and set themselves up as the go between for the refugees, the downtrotted, and the displaced and those that could solve their problems. Coren Starchsaer was not this Jedi, none of this was in his wheelhouse. This man was a warrior.

And when a fight came for him, he was there, at the front line, bringing the fight to where it was needed, and protecting those who couldn’t save themselves.

Right now? That meant feeling the call from [member="Romi Jade"] and slpping into the meld. The ship had touched down hard and he grabbed his saber, following [member="Joza Perl"], [member="Kahne Porte"], and [member="Alexandra Porte"] through the exit. He saw the symbol of the One Sith, the whole reason the Galactic Alliance rose. To remove them from the galaxy, but before he could react outwardly, the meld hit him.

Those feelings of general pissedoffedness were all around him. The feelings that would have been between him and Romi, and where they stood, the admiration and general rivalry for Joza, respect and companionship he felt for the Portes. All of this mixed together as the Starchaser dropped to a knee, his hands above his head, the white-blue energy he put into everything, that was uniquely Starchaser was thrown into the air above, merging with what Romi was creating, to protect the troops on the ground.

His ship was in the air, they would hopefully change that Destroyer’s mind.

 

[Alexandra Porte]

They just barely had their boots on the ground when all hell broke loose. Their exit out of the U-wing was hastily made due to the fluid battlefield conditions. It was fortuitous that Alexandra had been training very hard with remotes as of late because the opposition's blaster fire rained down upon their position greeting the Jedi with a warm welcome. With a snap-hiss, the Taanabian ignited the orchid-hued blade of her newly made lightsaber to life and began deflecting back the blaster bolts where they came from in a defensive pattern as the group moved forward.

The symbol of the One Sith painted on the side of a vehicle [member="Joza Perl"] flipped over sent a chill run down Alex's spine. Rogue Squadron had fought against those Sith when the Galactic Alliance made their push towards the Core to end the darksiders reign of terror and oppression. Even though the Alliance had succeeded in the task, they were not fond memories to say the least.

Staying on the heels of [member="Coren Starchaser"], the apprentice moved with the two other Jedi Masters as a unit easily falling back on her former military training.

Suddenly there was a prickling at the back of the brunette's mind, then a whoosh of feelings and thoughts to which were not Alex's own... nor her husband's like when they connected through their Force bond. Though, [member="Kahne Porte"] was there amongst the meld of Jedi; a beacon of hope as always. And, there was [member="Romi Jade"] seemingly being the orchestra conductor of this symphony if you will from wherever she was.

Alexandra looked to Kahne for a second, then followed what the others were doing and lifted her hands upward, centering herself in the Force while lending her strength to the shield as well that was being projected over the battle zone. Hopefully it would be enough to save the ground troops (and them) in harms way of the targeted energy blast from orbit.

[member="Lynette Lykova"] | [member="Ador Horn"] | [member="Sol Stazi"] | [member="Amon Vizsla"] | [member="Setter Ryburn"] |[member="Danielle Stellaris"] | [member="Audren Sykes"] | [member="Loske Matson"]​

 

[Hunter Blackburn]

Objective: Join the good fight
Tags: [member="Romi Jade"], [member="Sol Stazi"]
Melders: [member="Coren Starchaser"], [member="Alexandra Porte"], [member="Romi Jade"], [member="Joza Perl"], [member="Lynette Lykova"], [member="Kahne Porte"]

Hands digging into the ground Ador simply dry heaved as his body could no longer produce anything else to eject out of itself at the horror of what he’d experienced. The rank flavor of vomit sat in the boys mouth twisting his stomach in more knots than it already was. Why did I come, she told me to stay in the ship. Why didn’t I just listen?

Hearing the words of [member="Sol Stazi"], Ador looked up to the Duros. The Corellian’s eyes bloodshot, tears streaming down his cheeks as he was yanked from the ground up to his feet by the other warrior, a war cry shouted out. Was that supposed to spur me forward? The Jedi asked himself before falling back to his knees. What else was there for him to do? Ador’s legs couldn’t move, they felt like lead weights.

This is not how a Jedi conducts themselves. You must not let yourself be overtaken by the emotions of others for you will lose yourself. Once more a voice echoed through Ador’s mind but not his own. From his hand the saber Fortitude attuned itself to its wielder removing the strain from the pour Jedi’s mind and in an instant, it felt as though a hundred kilo’s had been lifted off Ador’s shoulder’s. Looking up Ador saw his Master [member="Romi Jade"] standing there doing her best to defend him. To defend the boy she’d ordered to not come to the battlefield for this exact reason. He could see it now, he understood it, and he was ashamed.

The Padawan knew he’d flung himself into the situation and he would do his fair share. Closing his mind off from all the others, blocking out the turmoil surrounding him Ador moved in front of Romi as her hands reached her skull her presence in the force growing. Summoning his blade to life the Jedi spun the hilt. The silver blade just over 6ft long spun creating a protective barrier between himself and Romi, giving her a chance to finish whatever she was doing.

Streams of blood slickened the hilt of the Corellian’s saber hilt from his injured palm, a fresh sting rising up in it beginning to worsen every second yet the boy would not stop. He’d defend Romi if it was the last thing he did. Blasterbolts pinged off the blade flying in many directions. Some off into sky and others deflected into the ground.

Soon enough Ador felt a new presence and weight on the back of his mind, almost an intrusion of sorts yet recognized the force signatures as friendly. While his energy only a fraction of the more experienced Melders Ador gave what he could. Along the leylines of the force created between them his energy surged forth to aid in the creation of the barrier. “Brrrring, Hello. If you’re looking for Ador he’s not in at the moment. He’s currently dealing with a crisis, please leave a message after the tone.”

 

[Sol Stazi]

"Captain Stazi. Private Vizsla."

"Vizsla, eh?" Sol spat the word like it was some kind of curse word, glowering.

[member="Amon Vizsla"] briefed him on the situation, and he did what he could to stow his resentment for Mandalorians. There were still Sith to fight, the duros could hate Private Vizsla later. For now he was forced to admit that for an antarian trooper it had shown Twilight material to make it so far. Major Sunfell was a part of that lot, and he took orders from her without question, maybe this one wasn't all bad either.

"Of course its a trap," Captain Stazi told him, glancing up at the falling skies with a disturbing lack of concern, "That's why we brought her."

He roughly gestured with his thumb over at [member="Romi Jade"].

"Twilight Company, fall in!"

The captain's signal booster operator relayed his order, and squads of Alliance commandos initiated a fighting retreat towards the Jedi Master's position. Supernal light flowed from Master Jade's fingers, and despite the las bolts and artillery still flying all over Sol climbed up out of the foxhole and lit a cigarra. He surveyed the battlefield with the complete confidence of a man who had been fighting alongside Jedi for most of his life.

"Lieutenant Avery!" he called over one of his officers, "I want a headcount, missing and wounded. Quick step, chrono is ticking!"

Sol looked back down at the trench, where Private Vizsla was still taking cover.

"Fething space wizards, right?" the duros said, offering the antarian a hand up, "Just how absolute is the value of this outpost? I recommend we get the kark out of here, but its your turf."

More Jedi were here now, and that meant more time. But not much.

[member="Coren Starchaser"] | [member="Kahne Porte"] | [member="Ador Horn"] | [member="Alexandra Porte"] | et al.​

 

[Zef Halo]

Amon gave the captain a cold glare when he uttered his family's name with vile before turning to see at what Stazi gestured at.

Jedi, of course.

Blades of various color twirled in the distance and through the smoke but the captain had pointed straight at a particular woman. Perhaps one of sufficient strength to keep the duros so confident and safe in the situation. Jetii to the rescue of a Mandalorian. How ironic.

He picked up the hand offered from the man and stood up beside him. Amon's face covered in blood made his semblance to his father, the alor, much much clearer.

"To Mandalorians a value is measured with the count of dead bodies, Captain Stazi." He stated and then added. "According to my superiors the Sith came seeking something in the depths of the facility of value to them."

"But my superiors are all but dead." Amon switched on the comms on his vambrace and called out to Ranger frequency. "Private Vizsla to all Antarian Rangers in the vicinity. Fall in to Alliance positions immediately or die."

The order was as clear and as Mandalorian as it could sound.

"Your confidence in the space wizards will be the end of you, Captain." Amon coldly warned him as he remained in place trying to force his belief in the captain's certainty that the Jedi would save them from the imminent strike coming down on their heads.

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[member="Sol Stazi"] | [member="Romi Jade"] | [member="Ador Horn"] | [member="Coren Starchaser"] | [member="Joza Perl"] | [member="Kahne Porte"] | [member="Alexandra Porte"] | et al​

 

[Kahne Porte]

Oh joy.

The sounds of the fire hitting the ground were distant at first, and then then became ever clear the close they got.

"Never better." Kahne smirked slightly as he took a small glance at Joza, then the force barrier had been raised to protect them from the incoming fire from the enemy ship from above. The Jedi Master looked back to Alexandra and gave a quick nod of his head.

The barrier was the key, and as the enemy soldiers had just been scattered to either side by the force attack that [member="Joza Perl"] had done. His lightsaber blade retreated into his hilt and he clipped it to his belt. The Jedi raised his hand up towards the sky to help add his strength to the barrier.

The Jedi Master looked ahead as the trooper were regrouping and had raised there weapons once more. "They are persistent aren't they?"



[member="Coren Starchaser"] [member="Alexandra Porte"] [member="Romi Jade"] [member="Amon Vizsla"] [member="Sol Stazi"]

 

[Lynette Lykova]

It was the oldest rule in the book. Air power wins battles. Lynette sighed and staggered herself over to a nearby tree. Never before did that piece of advice seem more pertinent than now. The ground had just finished shaking from the bombardment. The wind was warm and the air smelled like ionized forest. No doubt the whole Silver Science Facility was burning too.

"Damn." She slid down to the base of the tree. Leaning her tired shoulders against it's tired weight.

"I'll need to meditate a moment. Regain my sense of self. Then, figure out what is going on."

Suddenly, her com buzzed.

~ Dweet debble dee? ~

"R2?" She looked down at her wrist in surprise, "R2. Where are you?"

~ Dweet dwoo ~

"Okay. Well. Stay put. I'll come get you in a moment. ...Say. Can you tell what's happening? I don't have the Alliance coms."

~ Donk donk ~

"Yeah. Same here. Guess we'll have to shape up and hike our way in. Find out for ourselves just what these bad guys want with that base anyways."

~ Dweet doot ~

"Right. Just give me a second. That crash really took it out of me. I'll be along shortly."

Lynette leaned her back against the tall riverbed tree and closed her eyes. Doing what the Jedi had taught her to do from the time she was a little girl. To focus. To meditate upon the Force.

Soon. She would regain her strength.

 

[Coren Starchaser]

The Jedi Master was moving forward, the conflict ahead of him was something that he wasn’t too pleased with. Anyone could strafe with a fighter, he’d been known to do it. And that was still a pretty chitty moved. Fire was still coming down from above, someone was going to have to stop this, and if his ship didn’t, he was going to have to figure something else out. Hands above his head, he was absorbing the blasts that were coming down, on the shield. No energy absorbing, Starchaser wasn’t that powerful. Taking the energy of one turbolaser blast would overcharge him, and he’d rip everything from the planet.

“Get them out of here. Move.” He said through the meld. What he wanted was to get the people moving. There had to be a way to solve this.

“Twilight, take cover. Spear I need you…” He struggled to breath for a second, calling the Force a bit more reinforced to his supply. “Fire!” He had something, something straight from the book of [member="Aryn Teth"]. He just hoped it would be enough. Looking to the team, and feeling them in the Force, he nodded. They may have a chance on this. It was a matter of survival.

[member="Kahne Porte"] [member="Romi Jade"] [member="Joza Perl"] [member="Sol Stazi"] [member="Amon Vizsla"] [member="Alexandra Porte"]

 

[Light Rises]

The call had come up through the frequencies on the ground. The Vaemath Scillias was the Admiral captaining the Spear of the Alliance. Following the months in drydock following the Alliance’s fall at Coruscant, there were a few tricks that the vessel picked up. The Vaemath was using her vocabulator, one specially designed to work with the Vaemath. She had an idea, and as the unique Star Defender was turning towards the Vengeance. The switch was hit to power up the ship’s newest weapon, the proton beam cannon.

“We read you Starchaser. Time to put on a show.” Came the call from the Vaemath’s assistant, the Duros first mate. The change in orders moved to the fighters. “Fighters, anyone have the capacity, need a targeting boost.” The ship’s systems were already flicker. Both the Vaemath and Duros stood, looking out the windows.

“Fleet, move into protection details. Fighters, keep our skin clean.” The Vaemath said through the vocabulator. The corvettes and frigates that arrived with the Spear were moving into the defensive positions.

Her fighter came to a slow when the order came in. Her shield trio kept with it. “Read you, Spear. Target boost incoming.” Frenzy said as she grinned. This was something she needed to see, but as soon as her fighter slowed, she grabbed targeting on the reactor. Her astromech, Mack, had established a line to the ship and was transmitting the targeting. Holding it for a few seconds, Danielle was smiling as the countdown continued, closing to 0.

And when it was zero, Mack gave her the order to move. Putting her fighter back into full combat speed, she dove and spun, just enough to get out of the path. And when she righted her fighter?

That was when the local system lit up like a Life Day celebration.

The proton beam cannon fired and drained the Spear’s systems. The brilliant beam was trained directly for the Vengeance. As the red beam ended its firing cycle, the Vaemath nodded. “Hope that will end the rain.” As she watched the destruction the destroyer. “Get these system back online. I want shields and propulsion as primary. Keep the fleet close.” She ordered.

[member="Kahne Porte"] [member="Lynette Lykova"] [member="Sol Stazi"] [member="Amon Vizsla"] [member="Joza Perl"] [member="Romi Jade"] [member="Ador Horn"] [member="Alexandra Porte"] [member="Setter Ryburn"] [member="Audren Sykes"]

 

[Setter Ryburn]

Not here. Not today.

He had to crawl. He had to move. They wouldn't find him here- not like this. Setter Ryburn wasn't going to die alone and afraid. That's not what Kaiden Rohn would've wanted. That's not what Havoc troopers were bred to do. He was a killer. He was a leader. He was an example. He was stalwart, he was strong. He was a survivor. He survived Coruscant. He survived the fall of the Republic, the Alliance, and he had to get back to his men, to the Rangers.

He turned over onto his belly, screaming in pain. His defiance crackled through the comms.

He reached out with his right hand, grabbing a handful of burnt Earth, and pulled himself upwards. His left did the same. Setter pulled again, and again, until he was at the top of his would-be grave. He climbed out of the pit, his hands burning, his mind rattled. The Sith tried to turbolaser Setter Ryburn from orbit. All it did really- was piss him off.

"Razor Actual-" He took a moment to catch his ragged breath. Even over the comms, they could hear how badly he was hurt, just in his voice. "Requesting medical aid. Confirm my posrep." He reached to his vest, hoping- praying, even. It was still there. A flare. A single, green flare. He turned to his side, grasping at the air with as much as his lungs could hold- and he fired the green flare into the air, intent on not just surviving, no Setter Ryburn wanted to live.

 

[Sol Stazi]

"Your confidence in the space wizards will be the end of you, Captain."

A supernova erupted over their heads.

This close to Rathis' atmosphere, the scuttled destroyer resembled some ill omen of end times. Debris rained across the sky, a sea of shooting stars. Threat from above eliminated, the mystical barrier shimmering overhead began to fade away.

"It already was," Sol bowed his head in momentary sorrow. He could still remember the sight of Coruscant burning like it was yesterday, and all because they had trusted the wrong Jedi, "Force slingers are a tool, nothing more. The Empire won't hesitate to use them, why should we?"

Captain Stazi continued to survey the battlefield. With their ambush unraveled, the remaining hostiles were beginning to rout. This fight wasn't quite won however.

"Your rangers can't do any more good here," he spoke bluntly to Private Vizsla, "Recommend you fall back for extraction. We'll secure your valuable depths."

Barking out a few quick orders to regroup his men into assault teams, Sol spared a lingering glance back at Amon.

"The Mandalorians may have forgotten. Hell, even the Silvers may have forgotten. But the Alliance remembers. Like it or not, you're in the Great War now, Private Vizsla. A bonafide soldier in the Army of kriffing Light. And the Force...it plays for keeps."

 

[Joza Perl]

Kahne’s mention of persistence earned him a snort of agreement from the Zeltron. “They just don’t know when to quit, I’ll give em that.” Joza disengaged her saber and clipped it back into her belt as the mind meld started getting urgent.

“You’re lucky we’re here to clean up your mess, Starchaser.”

Maybe that was supposed to be a private thought. Joza wasn’t used to mind melds, they were weird and invasive. Either way, that was that. Her eyes close and her hands extended towards the sky, palms upward as she lent her strength to the barrier slowly expanding across the skies of Rathis. It was second nature, a use of the Force she’d worked with time and time again. Neutral abilities always came the easiest to her.

A fiery crash erupted over them, putting strain on the barrier and those who held it aloft. When all was said and done, Joza had been brought to a knee. Exhaling her exertion, she stood and squinted into the distance as a green flare shot over the horizon.

“Someone needs help.” She called back to the Portes. “I’m going to go and check it out.” They were welcome to come if they wished, but either way Joza would set out toward [member="Setter Ryburn"]’s position.

[member="Kahne Porte"] | [member="Alexandra Porte"] | [member="Romi Jade"] | [member="Coren Starchaser"] | [member="Amon Vizsla"] | [member="Sol Stazi"] | [member="Lynette Lykova"]