Operation: Empire Ascendant (TSA Dominion of the Muunilinst Hex)

[Poe]

​Location: Dantooine (Farming Settlement)
​Objective: Recruit Farmers Union
Allies: ​[member="Krest"] l [member="Serenity Loveheart"] l [member="Darth Raxis"] l [member=Bjorg The Traitor"]
​Enemies: Is One Coming?
​Posts: 6.20



​I looked over the heads of the gathering with ease, a gift affronted by my height, to the late arrival. ​"So are uninvited guests," ​came my mocking response. The troops made to move toward the man, prompting me to say, ​"Let him be." ​I walked toward the man, forcing the old men to spread apart like a wound whose stitches had been compromised. The Lords strictly forbade me from killing the farmers, but there was no edict about slaughtering interfering pests.

"Tell me, prey, do you wish to champion the voice of these farmers," ​I asked halting putting enough distance between us. ​"Thirty percent is more than ample enough. Unless of course, prey, you feel the Sith are not being generous enough?"

[member="Jaig Vizsla"]

(Sorry JV about short post, work was rough today)

 

[Lief]

[Post 9/20]
[Muunilinst]
[Council Chambers]
[ [member='Ignus'] ]

It all happened so quickly.

Leos was close, so very close that she felt his robes brush past her moments before a shot was fired and an explosion ripped through the soundwaves. Her ears rang, and as the Mandalorian woman disappeared back through the window - in a sense defeated, given the loss of most of her men - Maelasi turned her head and for a split second could only stare.

He stared back, then down at his chest where shrapnel had lodged itself in deep. A sticky substance coated the immediate area, making movement difficult, but she had already been so close to him that she could force her way closer. The Vermilion Guard, too, sought a way through, though their attention was on the opening through which the fiend had fled.

"Medic. Get me a Medic. Now."

Her voice was calm, precise, yet loud. It carried across the entirety of the chamber which had in truth become eerily quiet. Even the fighting in the other room seemed to have ceased, no doubt the remaining grunts having been told to clear out.

Kneeling down, watching as Leos' eyes rolled back and his form became unconscious, she pulled off her robes and used them to try and stifle some of the bleeding. She left the shrapnel where it had been embedded, that was the most basic rule when it came to wounds... Never remove anything that was lodged in deep, or you'd end up with a fountain of blood. It was the thing causing damage, but also worked as a plug.

She did not move him either, going so far as to only lift his head just enough that it was carefully resting in her lap, propped up to stop him choking on... Well, anything.

"Medic" she said again, as several Muun fought to move through the room which had been left in such a mess, and even when one reached them she remained in place, keeping him still while they began to tend to him. What they could do to help with him here, she did not know, they had to move him...

"Set a perimeter around the building, Captain. Ch-Check for any stray Mandalorians."

Only when she had no other orders to give, only when there was nothing more she could do to help, did the shock finally set in. Her eyes lowered down to the empty face of Leos, and her body shook. She felt numb, empty... She had failed him. Her one duty... Failed.

 

[Kamon Vondiranach]

Muunilinst, The Darkness

Weightless. He felt weightless.

Around him there was nothing, though he could hear a voice in the distance that sounded familiar to him. It was like the sound was traveling through water, though. A voice, female, but he couldn't quite place it. Was it Maelasi or was it Paa'lee? Or was it neither? Maybe it was both of them. He couldn't tell. He tried to move towards it, but all he could do was float through inky nothingness. Even trying to swim wasn't doing anything for him.

When he looked down at his chest, there was a mass of red and nothing else. Just red. It ran down from him, but he felt no pain.

What's this then? I'm trapped in some strange place and bleeding but can't feel it.

It wasn't the darkness that he was used to. It was a place altogether different. Sound was meaningless. Pain was non-existant. Even when he went into his shadow realm he could feel pain and hear as though it were normal. And there wasn't the inky murk surrounding him, keeping him from really going anywhere either. In his realm he could be anywhere he wanted to be, or nowhere at all. But that wasn't the case here. Even when he tried to reach out and change what he felt and saw, he couldn't. That was perplexing to him, but he could do nothing about it, so he resigned himself to being there and waiting.

In reality, with his head in her lap, the medics tended to him to stabilize him. Others cut away the glop from the grenade to free the two Sith, before he was placed on a stretcher. Of course they weren't able to dislodge Mae from him completely, so they resigned themselves to taking the both of them to the nearest medical facility. There they'd take him swiftly to surgery, and here she would be forced to release him while he was tended to. When they finished he'd have a bacta patch applied to the entirety of his chest, but no bacta dip, just in case he proved allergic to the bacta. They didn't know until they tried.

He, meanwhile, was still trapped in the black hell until someone woke him.

[member="Maelasi Eramar"]

[Post 10/20]

 

[Zef Halo]

FARMING SETTLEMENT
DANTOOINE

Jaig remained unflinching at the troopers that attempted to approach him, let alone of the confident Sith. He had long been incapacitated from such emotional obstacles.

He halted a few feet from the Sith woman. Dirty grey Mandalorian armor with the proud symbol of Kyr'tsad slashed across his chestplate. A symbol that spoke a lot to Mandalorians but nothing to aruetii.

The Vizsla's rifle remained magnetically sealed upon his back. He did not need his rifle. Not with this lot.

Towering above most around him, the farmers seemed to take a step back from the Sith and her confrontation with the Mandalorian.

Cold T-visor stare fixated itself upon the Sith.

"Drop the percentage."

[member="Satia"]​

 

[Lief]

[Post 10/20]
[Muunilinst]
[Muunilinst Medical Facility]
[ [member='Ignus'] ]

After what felt like an eternity Leos had been prepped and lifted onto a stretcher; Maelasi did not leave his side. Her hand remained in his, light but present, and her gaze never once lifted from him. She could hear people talking around her, but nothing they said was going in. Nothing was processing. She knew that the Vermillion was capable of finishing up in the Council Tower, she knew that the Captain was more than competent enough to sort things out without her. After all, he had been in that position before Leos picked her up.

Sound swirled, the edge of her vision was pierced black, yet somehow she managed to put one foot infront of the other to move quickly alongside the medical team as they moved toward a shuttle. Jetted off toward the nearest medical facility. She did not leave his side until they pried her fingers from his hand and left her standing in the hallway, staring after the stretcher.

Something hazy entered her hearing, coming from her side, but she didn't acknowledge it at first. Not until a hand touched her shoulder and made her jump, snapping her out of the dreamstate she had been in.

"Ma'am... Sorry to startle you. You really should sit down, I'll get you a hot cup of caf' and we'll see to your wounds, okay? Sit... Before you fall down."

She was directed to a set of chairs to the side of the walkway, and a gentle push of her non-injured shoulder had her sitting in no time. From there a cup of extremely sugary caf was given to her and she surprisingly gulped it down without much thought. She never usually drank the stuff, and she didn't exactly have a sweet tooth, but the sugar helped with the shock and soon the numbness fled her body.

Leaving just an ache in its place.

Somebody was fussing over her, cleaning up wounds, applying sutures where necessary. The occasional sting, a slight wince here or there. Nothing compared to whatever Leos was going through just inside that operating room. Alone. Her mind rose from the seat, but her body would not move an inch. She sat there even after her injuries had been tended to. After two more cups of sugary caf. After the general hubbub of hospital activity died down and the night nurses were the only real souls in the halls.

Even when her eyes began to loll, even when she felt the warm embrace of exhaustion, she remained put. She did not give in to the tides of sleep. She simply waited.

 

[Kamon Vondiranach]

Muunilinst, The Darkness

Ages.

That's what it was. He'd been in this place for ages. Maybe the world he had known had never even been real and he'd just been ever locked in the darkness, compressed within the inky goop that currently held him in place. None of it was real. Someone had plucked him up and put him into an alternate reality and forced his mind to revel in things that were not true. Ironic, really, since that's what he did to people.

No, the more he thought down that line of thinking, the more he knew it wasn't true. This wasn't reality. This place was some figment of his imagination, created by his subconscious brain as a way of explaining what had really happened to him. As he noticed, the mass of blood that was his chest was slowly r3ceding back to being the simple green skin that he was used to. Things were changing, but he was still unable to move or escape from the horrors of the boring he'll.

But he could still reach the Force. His mind was conscious enough for that. While he couldn't wake his body, not at the moment, someone else could do it for him if they wanted to. Partly he wondered why someone hadn't done so already. Was he in a Bata tank or was he somewhere else entirely? He frowned and shook his head before deciding that he would just have to try something himself.

Out there, somewhere, was Mae. He couldn't exactly feel her true presence because his awareness of his surroundings was minimal, but he could feel her in the Force. In the Force spatial location mattered not, only the connections crafted by one mind to another.

Maelasi...

Would she hear him? Perhaps if she was conscious enough to do so. Perhaps if he was capable of reaching her despot who's unconscious state. Maybe she would hear him.

Mae, find me and wake me. I beg of you. Hurry.

[member="Maelasi Eramar"]

[Post 11/20]

 

[Lark]

Location: Jedi Temple
Allies Nearby: @Bjorg The Traitor, [member="Krest"], [member="Serenity Loveheart"], probably more
Enemies: Kinrath, Jedi
Post: 3/20

The agonized groans of dying men echoed throughout the blood-filled hallways of the once quiet temple. Limbs were strewn around in an unorganized, gruesome manner, bits of chewed up bone littered the battleground. Soldiers had been trampled and brutally crushed by the retreating horde of the kinrath, medical officers scrambled around in a meaningless effort to save the few who could be saved. The oily blood of the insectoid beasts covered Lark like a cloak, and his normally silent footsteps stuck to the ground as he walked. Soldiers looked around at their fallen compatriots with haunted gazes, the all-familiar presence of death remained an unwelcome companion for them, and Lark remained eerily aloof as always.

Bjorg called for a medical evac for his wounded soldiers, and a minute later a few more medics arrived, as well as a small squad of Sith soldiers to provide backup. Lark approached a small number of the the soldiers, clad in armor as black as the night. "With me," he commanded evenly. As an acolyte he wasn't sure how he ranked compared to the soldiers, but they followed him regardless. He went ahead through a corridor where the kinrath had fled. They entered a large, damp room, murky droplets of water fell from the ceiling, and eggs lay crushed from a previous engagement. "Search for any intact eggs, and break them. The beasts are dangerous as soon as they emerge."

Lark wandered around the room, the audible crunch of boot against shell was occasionally heard. He could also discern the quiet clicking of a kinrath hiding in the shadows in one of the corners of the room, slowly slinking towards one of the nearby soldiers. Lark still had the gland of a previously slain kinrath, it would not perceive him as a threat, not from this distance at least. He walked towards the beast that stalked towards the unaware soldier, primed to attack. It was large, larger than any of the other kinrath he had seen. But he doubted it was the Queen, she would not be left alone. This one was just a straggler, and as Lark drew closer it turned towards him, finally realizing that there were no other of his kind left to assist him. His large jaw snapped out at Lark, and he glimpsed sharp teeth that would shred him into large chunks of bloody flesh quicker than he could even perceive. Lark drew his sword, a training tool given to him by Krest that had several of the same properties as the traditional lightsaber. He darted underneath the attack, using the Force to enhance his reflexes and strength, and swung his sword through one of the appendages of the kinrath. It's fotting faltered, and it slipped to the ground at an awkward angle. As it struggled to stand Lark decapitated it in one smooth strike, and a geyser of blood erupted from the remains.

Dripping in blood, Lark wiped his sword on the corpse of the kinrath, and promptly sheathed it. "All of the eggs have been dealt with Sir," one of the soldiers said.

"Good," he replied with an empty smile. "Keep an eye out for any more of them. We'll wait a moment and regroup with the others, and then we shall deal with the Queen."

 

[Eldaah Aderyn]

Location: Dantooine
Objective: BYOO (Collect Laigrek specimens for experimentation)
Allies: None
Enemies: Creep crawlies with red eyes

Post: 2

Eldaah waited patiently for the Festerers to be done delving the tunnel for her and the Wights. Their presence had likely startled the laigreks below, if they had sensed the breach into their home caverns. Not that she minded, it would be interesting to see how the creatures handled themselves. The squad leader for the Wights signaled they were ready, and without a word, Eldaah and her forces descended down into the depths. Feet touched rock, most of the tunnel barely illuminated by the hole they had cut into Dantooine's surface. Not that any of those present needed to see, the Wights and Eldaah had their helmets after all.

She commanded the Festerers to spread out, encircle the largest group of lifeforms down here that she was designated as allies. They would stop any laigreks from escaping their net.

"Forward," she ordered and they began to advance into the darkness.

 

[Darth Ferus]

Location: Jedi Temple on Dantooine
Objective: Clear out Jedi influence.
Allies: TSA [member="Satia"] , [member="Darth Abyss"] [member="Bjorg The Traitor"] [member="Darth Raxis"] [member="Lark"] [member="Serenity Loveheart"]
Enemies: Any remaining Jedi/Tomb raiders.
Post: 6/20

"Violence is a certainty in this galaxy you see," The Zabrak continued to address the children even as another flurry of lightsabers ended in another dead Jedi. He never once turned to face them, instead focusing on the younglings as his blue gaze drifted from one to the next. They were afraid now, more than before, but they listened to him, for the most part. "I understand you're all afraid. The Jedi have made it so easy to be scared in this galaxy, and always preach about moving past your fears. Ignoring them. But that's not how you should live your life. Accept your fear as a part of you, but know that you are in control, not it. When you accept that, your fear will no longer limit you."

They each nodded, and just like the Jedi before Loveheart they bent the knee. A pleasant smile formed on Krest's face as he stood, motioning for a pair of the Black Troopers over. "Take them from here and on the first shuttle back to Bastion. Understood?" They nodded and saluted before ushering the younglings and padawan out of the library and eventually out of the temple.

Once they were out of sight the Sith pulled back on his ruined hood and turned his attention to the woman before him. "You did well Loveheart, but we're not done yet. Find the acolyte named Lark, and assist him with clearing out whats left of the bug infestation. For now, you're in charge. Do not destroy this temple. I sense hostility on the rise with my apprentice." He turned on a heel to follow after where his troopers left. Out there, he found a speeder and took it.

Satia, what's going on?

 

[Natalie LaForte]

[5/20]
Dantooine

Spoiler

In an effort to secure our agricultural stability, Dantooine will be taken by a small Sith/NFU strikeforce, with particular attention taken to the former Jedi Temple on the planet: this to be destroyed, the foundations levelled for a new Sith Temple to be constructed on the surface.

Objective: Clear out the remains of the temple
Allies: [member="Darth Abyss"], [member="Krest"], [member="Satia"], [member="Bjorg the Traitor], [member="Darth Raxis"], [member="LARK"]
Enemies: Resistance
Equipment:

Spoiler

Dreamcrusher 2.0
Dreamcatcher
Lightsaber

"Aye aye." Turning around and breaking the stunning affect from the boy on the floor. "And uh, you can deal with the new ones." Giggling before dashing out the door and into the main hallway. Torch lights lit the stone blocks which constructed this area, and it was almost maze-like in design, she traversed them until she finally found a stairway leading ever more down into to the endless depths.

"Serenity, somethings on your scanners." Looking down towards her primary weapon which was now unclipped, with careful attention to the holopad. It was her AI, Melody speaking to her. "Didn't I tell you to not follow me?" "Doesn't really matter. I can be anywhere I wanna be, as long as it's got something electric on it." A thermal view easily made out several creatures lumbering towards her.

A hail of blaster bolts unloaded and started hitting the first thing, briefly illuminating the insect bodies in front of her. But it was not the only one. Infact, in the damp caves, it was not one, not two, but perhaps hundreds now making a direct path towards her.

"All units, I'm undergroun... pin-.. d" Radio silence as a jabbing motion thudded into her wrist and creating a deep cut, shattering the communicator. A childish screech echoed throughout the caverns, and could probably be heard in the main hallways up above.

I'm not dying to some bu-.gs...

The weapon was now thrown out of her hands, back up towards the stairway. In a desperate move, she reached for her sidearm and pointed it directly at the advancing creature's face, sending flesh and green blood scattered across the caverns, sending a clear message to every single other being that could see her right now.

HOSTILE.

Hundreds upon hundreds began making their way to her. This was not apart of the temple, possibly a cave that they had dug into. Perhaps, it was abandoned because of this uncontrolled infestation, this had obviously been inhabited by these creatures for millennia, and with the Jedi and now Sith disturbing their natural balance, they were infuriated

Two Sith guards made there way down the same steps she had just made her way down and were greeted with a petite girl grabbing the weapon in a hurry and shoving them out of the way.

"Typical girls.. always needing saving" One smirked behind his mask and jokingly to his friend. This humour was short lived as a piercing leg shoved him directly into the steps, his friend, in horror, began retreating and shot one directly at it, but reflecting off the carapace and natural armour. He was still alive with the leg piercing his neck, but paralyzed, and if he made it out of here, would need to live in permanent life support forever.

In the hallway, standing with one hand on the bleeding, the other, carrying this weapon, stood in the hallway, no, she slumped against the wall, her heart racing. Poisoned. Dying to these-..

She blacked out.

 

[Darth Abyss]

Location: Somewhere unexpectedly far away from the jedi temple
Objective: Find out what year it is
Post 3

There was an aspect in trusting in the force that he had planned for. His faith that had never failed him always brought him where he had to be, seemingly by coincidence. Yet where he had to be often turned out to be remotely different to the place he expected to be at that time. Even after his transformation which allowed him to perceive the future almost casually he couldn't always predict anything. So every then and now came a day where the path in front of him was a complete unknown, a direction chosen simply because he followed a hunch. And these days normally held a fairly interesting story ready for him.

Before reaching the surface the Mindeater reached out to the force and channeled it, leaving the light around him broken to the point where metal, wood and crystals became shadows. His feet touched the ground after a fall that had gradually decreased in speed until he simply descend down like a feather. Yet he didn't had to stay hidden for long. Here, somewhere in the outback of Dantooine the first thing hr noticed wasn't some wild animal, nor farmer. No it was a group of three, each of them wearing clothes remotely reminiscent of jedi attire. On their belts he could see the small hilts of their weapons, most certainly training sabers like a padawan would use. The strange think about them was their age. The jedi didn't weren't very strict about the whole age anymore, but a group of padawans beyond 50 was still a uncommon sight.

Their presence was weak, even as a group so he would do this the easy way and reveal himself. The world would soon be in Ascendency hands anyway so why keep a low profile when it came tonther jedi. From one blink to another the metal husk appeared out of the emptiness, standing right in front of the padawans, realising his aura to be felt by them.

"It's ... so ... cold."

One the right side of the group stood and elderly twi'lek woman, hold her hand on her chest, her body twitching as her surrender to the stress of a long life when fear and shock began to push hormones through her body. She collapsed just a few seconds later, no breath and no heartbeat. The other two stood in shock and confusion. His presence alone had been enough to kill a woman, at least under certain circumstances. After a few seconds of silence one of them pulled in air his body, yet while his mouth began to open and close no words could be heard from him. Then the otherworldly whisper in which the Mindeater spoke could be heard.

"Submit to my power or you will be erased. Join us, run on some backwater world and start a family, become a junkie in the slums if Nar Shaddaa, or whatever else keeps you out of my.way. Give up the location of your master voluntarily, and your minds will be spared."

The two leftover men looked at each other, pulling faces, looking up and down, breathing heavily and then finally breaking down.

"He's up in the woods. 20 minutes north from here. Can't miss it. We're of to our ship now."

No resistance. Sure he was a rather convincing figure, but this was still a little to easy. Was it a ruse, a plan by a wise master to deceive him. Was it simply a master that had failed to teach his apprentices the jedi Interpretation of the word loyalty. It could be even something entirely different as well. Yes it was really one of these days.

[member="Miss Blonde"] [member="Krest"] [member="Satia"] [member="Serenity Loveheart"] [member="Bjorg The Traitor "][member="Lark"] [member="Darth Raxis"]

 

[Poe]

​​Location: Dantooine (Farming Settlement)
​Objective: Recruit the Farmers Union
Allies: ​​[member="Krest"] l [member="Serenity Loveheart"] l [member="Darth Raxis"] l [member="Bjorg The Traitor"]
​Enemies: Brewing
​Posts: 7.20


​Growing annoyed with this Mando, my hand slid down to my hilt. Mandos were known warriors across the galaxy, famed for killing both Jedi and Sith alike; but I was not that typical Sith. I didn't need a weapon to kill this boy, but lack of sleep bred into me killing him quick, so my weapon would have to suffice. The moment my hand touched the hilt, the communication device on my wrist chirped; staying this Mando's execution.

​Despite my half-breed species, it was difficult for anyone to implant thoughts or speak to me via the Master-Apprentice relationship mentally, so to contact me was through technology. Activating the device, whilst staring at the Mando, the voice of my Master seeped out. I reared back laughing, knowing this was about to get quite interesting.

"I was just about to seal a pact," ​I said drawing my hand back. ​"But a Mango has decided to intervene on behalf of the farmers. Can I eat him?"


[member="Jaig Vizsla"]

 

[Zef Halo]

FARMING SETTLEMENT
DANTOOINE

The T-Visor stare remained.

Coordinated blinking lit his HUD up with statuses of the armor's systems. Another few blinks and the HUD displayed a loading bar slowly filling as it attempted to trace the location of the comm caller.

Recon was paramount in everything, he had found out.

Jaig remained in his position, no gestures, no body language expressions. He had come here to protect his clan's interests. Whether that meant the Sith would die or remain alive did not matter to him.

"Drop the percentage."

He cared not whether the person on the other side of the line would hear that but his intervention had given the Sith more time. Jaig had come to the conclusion that the white-haired female was nothing but a lapdog to someone. Perhaps their master was by far more reasonable.

Perhaps they would not gamble their minion's life away.

[member="Satia"]​

 

[Poe]

​Location: Dantooine (Farming Settlement)
Objective: Recruit Farmer Union
Allies: ​[member="Krest"] l [member="Serenity Loveheart"] l [member="Darth Raxis"] l [member="Bjorg The Traitor"]
Post. 8.20


​"Prey, you're negotiating with the wrong Sith," ​my coarse voice erupted. "Drop the percentage, your words not mine. Captain." ​The soldiers raised their blasters, cutting down a tenth of the farmer elders. ​"Now we are at your glorious thirty percentage." ​I smiled hazardously, calling my hilt to my hand via the Force.

​"Oh, Mango. Did you fail to witness the absence of the children as you strolled in like a hero," ​I mocked. The first shot was the signal of the other soldiers to act, putting the woman and children on T-trees, pinning them to trees with rusted nails. "Now we are at the road of fate," ​I screamed igniting the whip end of my hilt, shooting the three prong attack at his legs, chest, and head, Each whip danced with unpredicted routes only known to me.


[member="Jaig Vizsla"]

 

[Zef Halo]

FARMING SETTLEMENT
DANTOOINE

The moment the soldiers executed a couple of the farmers, the crowd dispersed in shock. Not Jaig. Reflexes befitting a man born and bred for war, the Vizsla's arms went up. One at the direction of a few soldiers, the other straight ahead.

Immediately after, all hell was unleashed upon the enemies. A barrage of slugs from his wrist slugthrower were let loose at near point-blank range at the Sith, while flames engulfed the soldiers his other arm pointed at. Courtesy of his wrist flamethrower.

The grav boots kicked in and Jaig took flight upwards. His arms still following the positions of the targets he aimed to kill.

[member="Satia"]​

 

[Darth Ferus]

Location: Jedi Temple on Dantooine
Objective: Clear out Jedi influence.
Allies: TSA [member="Satia"] , [member="Darth Abyss"] [member="Bjorg The Traitor"] [member="Darth Raxis"] [member="Lark"] [member="Serenity Loveheart"]
Enemies: Any remaining Jedi/Tomb raiders.
Post: 7/20

Before there was any gunfire, a speeder road in. There was no single shot fired from the soldiers, nor any movement. They had orders. Do not harm any local. The only thing that had happened was Satia attacking [member="Jaig Vizsla"] , and the Mandalorian striking back. The cloaked figure of the Sith stood between the soldiers and the flame yet they never got past him. With a single hand the Lord stopped the flames.

"Satia, what are you doing?" The Zabrak turned his head to the girl. He didn't help her against the slugthrowers. No, he was disappointed.

 

[Darth Carnifex]

OPERATION: EMPIRE ASCENDANT​

In orbit above Mygeeto

Death reigned.

The void was littered with the ruined wreck of several dozen Sith and Mandalorian starfighters, their twisted hulks charred by their fiery deaths as the mangled remains of their pilots drifted through the emptiness. But it was clear that the Sith had the upperhand in this confrontation, their fighters were top-of-the-line and commanded by pilots who had weathered a decades long war in the Core. These Mandalorians were tough, sure, but their main drive was a fanatic hate for the Force while the brave men and women of the Ascendancy fought for such much more and held a strength and resolve that could never be reciprocated by their enemies.

How could these Dar'manda hope to stand against the might of the Sith?

At last the trio of Ascendant-classes came within range of the enemy flotilla, and lines of brilliant green and blue lit up the void like celebratory fireworks. A barrage of concentrated firepower completely annihilated one of the nearest Krells, reducing it to nothing more than a smoldering wreck of bent metal. Soon enough the guns of the Ascendants trained on the second nearest Krell, its shields straining under the burden of such intensified hate.

But there were other matters to attend to as well.

Shortly after receiving [member="Darth Prazutis"]' transmission from the surface, the Ascendant would initiate a remote hack of the Kandosii's computer systems to try and glean information about their insurgents down below. Luckily for the Warmaster, he possessed an intimate knowledge of old Crusader software systems and had created several protocols that would ally him to access encrypted files should he had ever needed to when the regime was still functioning. He didn't anticipate that these bucketheads would have the foresight or ingenuity to modify or change the format of their own computer systems. Once the relevant data was acquired he would transmit it down to Prazutis through his own encrypted channels.

Then he could commence with the destruction of this paltry fleet as Prazutis destroyed the Hunter's assets on the ground.

As above, so below.

 

[Lark]

Location: Jedi Temple
Allies nearby: @Bjorg The Traitor, [member="Serenity Loveheart"]
Post: 4/20
Objective: Eliminate the Kinrath Horde

Lark heard a plea for backup come through his communicator, and not a few moments later he heard a youthful scream resonate within the temple chambers. The signal from the other line cut off into a static fuzz, the communicator was probably destroyed in the ambush. Lark held his frosty sword in his hand, his dagger, although enhanced like his sword, would be of little use against the towering beasts that hunted the ones who intruded upon their home.

Without uttering a word, Lark headed towards where the scream came from, and the Sith troopers followed without complaint or fear. After a few more winding hallways, empty save for the occasional pile of rubble, Lark reached a corridor that was oddly longer than the rest in the temple. He could feel... something coming towards him at a rapid pace, and the soldiers felt it too, and warily raised their weapons, cautious for a surprise attack. After a few steps Lark made out the figure of a kinrath looming above a few bodies, one of which he vaguely recognized as a Sith Knight. He rushed forward, he still had the gland and the beast didn't notice his approach until his sword was plunged into it's neck. It keeled over and struggled futilely, before succumbing to it's wound.

Lark knelt besides the Knight, who he recalled to be Serenity Loveheart. Another guard that had been with her lay crippled in a pool of red and green blood, suffering from a wound that could not be recovered from. Lark checked to make sure Loveheart still had a pulse, and detected a feint resonance, she wasn't yet gone. Poisoned, she might not last much longer.

"Sir," one of the guards muttered.

"Yes, what is it?" Lark asked politely. The man pointed, and Lark looked into the never-ending dark hallway, and heard the sound of a large number of kinrath quickly approaching. The soldiers opened fire, and the glow of their red lasers revealed a haunting number of savage animals approaching them, with no end in sight. Dozens, if not hundreds of kinrath trampled through the cavern that led into the temple. The blaster fire downed the smaller pathetic beasts, but an overwhelming amount charged towards them. Lark and the small squad of soldiers stood no chance. He picked up Loveheart, and another Sith trooper mercy killed his companion, refusing to let him suffer the slaughter of the approaching horde. "Fall back towards the center of the temple," Lark commanded easily. "Warn the others, there are far more than we anticipated."

They quickly retreated, if they stayed it would have been a massacre. The kinrath had lain dormant, undisturbed for decades, perhaps centuries. Their awakening had been sudden and undesired, and they were letting the invaders know that they were not welcome here.

After escaping, Lark found a hastily set up medical facility, and laid Loveheart down next to a medic to be looked at. Lark sat down on a crate nearby, and pondered on how to overcome the monstrous challenge presented to him. There were upwards of one hundred kinrath in the cave leading to the hive alone, who knew how many actually still resided in the heart of the hive. There might not be enough soldiers available to simply beat them back with numbers. And with [member="Krest"] having left the temple, Lark was unsure on who was left to aid in the fight.

No, charging the kinrath would not yield favorable results, and he couldn't risk collapsing the tunnel, lest it compromise the structural integrity of the temple. Lark felt a lump in his pocket, the gland he harvested from a slain kinrath. There were plenty more carcasses lying around, if a small group of people got ahold of some glands, they could infiltrate the hive without being detected. If they could kill the Queen, the rest would fall into disarray, and the soldiers could then fight without being directly targeted.

But it was still a dangerous, imaginably foolish gambit. But something has to be done to exterminate these pests for good, and soon.

 

[Natalie LaForte]

[5/20]
Dantooine

Spoiler

In an effort to secure our agricultural stability, Dantooine will be taken by a small Sith/NFU strikeforce, with particular attention taken to the former Jedi Temple on the planet: this to be destroyed, the foundations levelled for a new Sith Temple to be constructed on the surface.

Objective: Stop Lark stealing her heart
Allies: [member="Darth Abyss"], [member="Krest"], [member="Satia"], [member="Bjorg the Traitor], [member="Darth Raxis"], [member="LARK"]
Enemies: Da bugs
Equipment:

Spoiler

Dreamcrusher 2.0
Dreamcatcher
Lightsaber

Drifting in and out of conscientious as she was carried down the hallway by a figure she had not seen before.

Looking up, she saw his face. And choked.

"I-.mm I'm fine!" Putting a hand cautiously behind the back of her head and raising her body slightly. "I-.. don't know what came over me, thos-." falling back into his arms once more. Young love. Something she had never experienced before. Even if it was based on looks alone -- and boy did he look good -- this wasn't something she had ever felt before. Days weren't filled with Prince Charmings in the areas she lived in, but this was one of the rare exceptions.

"I-.. you-." Forcing her head to the side and vomiting. Oops. Splattering the walls with a mucus colored sick. She wiped her hands across her face, trying to remove the liquid residue left. "Please don't look at me like this..."

In her head, she tried to suppress her emotions with the force, at one point, even trying to put herself in a physical state of stasis, non-harmful, catatonic. But it failed. In her mind, it worked. She believed that. On the outside, nothing changed, and ended up being portrayed as a flurry of cluttered emotions in her mind.

For the first time in a while, powerless.

"Could yo-..u fix.. th-.. is" Holding her right rist, bloodied and with a physical dent to the bone up to Lark before blacking out once more.

 

[Bjorg The Traitor]

Location: Jedi Temple
Allies: [member="Lark"] [member="Krest"]
Objectives: Don't die.
The fighting had just began, sadly. The fighting would not stop, no. The Jedi were apparently carted off, out of sight and mind. Yet to everyone's surprise, the Jedi were the most harmless of the defenders here, the real threat had been the bugs, I had known that far to well. My armour was no longer a sleek black. having the moonlight and the night sky reflect of it, it was now covered in the stench of blood, both red and green. It smeared all over me, the stench was sinking though my armour, and those screams blurred my ears. The fighting was brutal, terrifying and gruesome, we had lost maybe dozens, it was hard to tell, many wounded, some dead, I would not call it a failure but we had unexpected looses. It was about to get far, far worse. The sound of those marching legs of the bugs, the firing of blasters and the screams of pain was getting louder, I have made sure the wounded would not suffer, and for the most part that was the case, yet I feared many more of us would end up dead or wounded.

We however had a job to do, this temple will be secured no matter the cost, if I die or all of us die then so be it, but I'll be cursed if we do not have this temple under our control, if I had to kill everyone single one of this bugs with my bare hands then so be it, if I have to be impaled a dozen times then so be it, it matters not. A part of my Valkyri pride was coming in, many of the Sith troops were retreating, but this would do nothing, the bugs could counter attack and drive us off, we have no time to lick our wounds s they will have to remain dry. We found our way to the chambers, as we walked by the corridors and gardens filled with corpses, the sun will roast this corpses no doubt, when the sun rises. The horror of this fight, the death, the chaos, but one can not fear it but rather embrace it, because if you do not, it will embrace you and kill you. As we walked forward stoically under our helmets now red with blood we charged the beasts with valor and fury, blaster bolts rain down on the bug like creatures, I had no desire to blast them, I'd rather fight them head on, it was risky for a man like me to being do such a thing, but fear had died with those men that I watched suffer, now only hate resided in me for these creatures.

I chopped and diced, cut and cleaved brutally, yet it didn't matter they kept on coming. By now blood was all over me, I was more green then black, it was a vile grotesque display of bloodshed, but they just kept on coming, it got desperate, very, very quickly. We was to few and they were far to many, they were long disgusting things, and then finally I got what I was expecting. A bony claw went straight though my arm, my armour did little. I screamed out in pain but that will not stop me, with a ferocious wack of my hand, I punched that bug down, hearing the crack of it's skull, being a Valkyri had it's traits. Yet I was wounded, badly so, I could not wield my blade well, and the remaining squad mates had died. This was my head, but I had thought well. Knocked on my back, I felt one stabbing it's claw into my leg, dragging me like a sack of meat, another roar of pain echoed out of the corridor, a fate worse then I had expected. I yelled into my com "I'm in their hive send help!" My pain and anger was deep, I looked for any grenades, but I could not reach them, I just hopelessly lay their as they drag me deeper, deeper into their hive, as the everything becomes invested with eggs, darker and damper, the smell of feces and flesh stinks far worse then anything I have ever smelt, my head becoming fuzzy from the blood loss, my world was ending.