Reckoning

[Darth Prazutis]

Bastion, Ravelin
Military Parade Ground...

It was beautiful.




Nothing could compare to the majesty of Ravelin, Capital City of the Sith Empire and Crown Jewel of the Outer Rim. It was a dazzling city of lights a bastion of order. it was the perfect blend of the Sith-Imperial philosophy, the shining example of why the Rule of Order makes them superior to all empires that came before. Now Ravelin achieved unparalleled heights its size spanning a continent, it was one of the wonders of the outer rim. The citizens of the Sith Empire often made it a point to see the beauty of Ravelin at least once in their lives. It was the center of their government and the home of House Zambrano the Imperial Family. There was so much to see in Ravelin it was impossible to see all of the greatest sights in one day. It became a place renowned as a host of the most prestigious academies in the Outer Rim, everything from force sensitives to those for military officers and future leaders of the next generation.

Parades were a normal sight in the empire's capital especially after the academies graduated its latest officers, the next generation would put itself on full display of the Empires people. They were joyous events when people packed tightly together just to catch a glimpse of the parade as soldiers marched in perfect formation, a perfect symbiosis of armor and uniform. It was a sight to see them march in perfect unison to the sound of a bands music the roar of the crowds all around them, as friends and families came to catch glimpses of their loved ones in the tight formations. They moved along a predetermined path through the city, a series of blockades manned by enforcement officers kept it clear for the proceedings. Hundreds of thousands gathered around as the marching parade finally reach the end of its march stopping where a great stage stood flanked by great banners of their empire. The entire stage was filled with top cabinet officials including one presiding General Voran who stood at the podium, the staff behind him. Once the soldiers stopped the tempo of the parade music shifted as he started to speak, a massive jumbotron and a holoprojector ensured that everyone in the area could see, and hear him as he spoke to the graduating class.

Unbeknownst to everyone something stirred.

For parades security was extremely tight and it was almost perfect, almost. But there were chinks in the armor of this giant, a force stirred in the shadows that had spent years preparing for this very moment. They went unseen, unheard but their presence loomed over the parade like a shadow. They used the crowds to their advantage and they hid anonymous in the people of Bastion using them like a shield. No one would see these mysterious ghosts as they moved through the joyous occasion, as they moved through the crowds of citizens who celebrated another generation of men and women, on the empires most prestigious career paths. But unfortunately for them their fates were marked years in the past, they were marked for death by the compounded sins of the empire they loved. Everything around them was a distraction coupled with controlled propaganda, they were meant to see only what the Sith wanted them to see. No one saw the death and destruction that their empire caused, the staggering numbers of casualties created as the military butchered their way across the galaxy. They left nothing but death and destruction, pain, suffering and fear in their wake. They knew not what they had wrought, they had tossed broken men and women away, but in their ignorance these threats grew. Everything would change on one fateful day, one fateful moment.

Boom.

The speech was cut short through the eruption of two massive explosions at opposite ends of the parade ground so big they shook the ground and shattered windows, the sheer concussive force was big enough to throw people clear off their feet. But that wasn't the worst of what had just happened, these devices unleashed massive clouds of hazy gas that combined to cover the entire central parade ground. Everything went crazy then as the herded crowds rushed to leave but they weren't safe. As they pushed, shoved and trampled those who fell there were more explosions. A series of droids that were down many of the major streets suddenly exploded deploying more gouts of this hazy gas. Close to a dozen of these detonations rocked the means of escape as the crowds pushed and shoved. But they had no idea what just happened. They were a series of bioweapons, viral bombs unleashed.

It was a fast acting genetically engineered necrotic virus unlike anything ever seen before. Once it was inhaled the gas liquefied the lungs, followed by its other organs literally melting them from the inside out. It was excruciating, nauseating pain unlike anything that they every experienced before. Naturally the Sith reacted by putting on rebreathers while troopers were confident that their helmets would cycle out the toxins through its respirators and their air cyclers. They were wrong. The malevolent creator of this virus designed it to make the bucket helmets and the basic rebreathers completely obsolete. It turned the soldiers suits of armor into their tombs. As they moved to call for aid and to relay information they would find communication jammed. A voice disguised it was ghastly, a deep baritone that rang out over the speakers to the sound of hundreds of thousand that died in pure agony. "Do you feel that? The pain deep inside is your body melting, liquefying from the inside out. There is no hope, no cure, no escape. I will turn your shining monument to this rule of order into a graveyard. We have come."

A figure emerged from somewhere in the crowd clad in a long black coat and a wide brimmed black hat, every inch of his body was covered even his face that held a horrifying black mask with burning green eyes. The figure walked onto the raised platform where the general and his cabinet struggled. The general reacted too late to call the force to his aid, it helped him but it only delayed the inevitable. The figure was extremely tall as it moved to grab the lightsaber that fell out of the generals hand, taking it as a trophy. "Its a creation I made specifically for you and your armor clad monsters, general. This is just a small demonstration, the start of what we will unleash upon your Empire. We will make everyone who supports you, everyone who associates with you targets. This is your new reality." The mystery figure said just to the General.

"W-Who are you?" General Voran asked.

"In the wild vultures are a sign of death, they are there when death comes and they loom over the dying waiting for their inevitable passing to consume what remains. I loom over the bloated carass of your empire. So you may call me that. Welcome to the end, General."

[member="Garrod Krash"] | [member="The Viper"] | [member="Sylvia Virtos"] | @T h e_ H o u n d | [member="Ardyn Zaman"]​

​

 

[Sylvia Virtos]

Boom.

From the safety of a makeshift control room of sorts, the two monitors the woman was looking at being the only light source and casting a faint blue hue into the room, Sylvia watched the attack on the military parade unfold with glee. The hint of a smirk formed on her face as the clouds of death spread across the mass of people and began claiming its first victims. The Vulture had carried out his part of the plan and succeeded, but now it was up to her to ensure that the empire would not be able to spin the narrative of the event in their favor. The entire galaxy to hear their message and it had to be loud and clear.

Things were about to change. Drastically.

Over the course of many months, The Rat had slowly but surely managed to slice her way into all the surrounding camera systems in the area, allowing her to monitor everything that was going on. The rythmic sound of a key repeatedly being pressed on a keyboard was accompanied with rapid switches between camera angles, seemingly looking for something while she impatiently tapped the heel of her left foot on the ground. Whatever it was, though, it had not shown up yet. "Come on, any minute now..." she said under her breath.

Then suddenly, Sylvia's eyes lit up, the tapping of her foot ceased, and she stopped cycling through camera feeds. Her screen showed the arrival of several SINN journalists at the scene, though they remained at a good distance away from the attack.

"Showtime."

She leaned forward in her chair and shifted her attention to the second monitor, which began showing the live SINN broadcast. Sylvia had figured out the way to hijack the broadcast in advance, but now the moment of truth had arrived. As the command executed, the woman kept her fingers crossed, hoping it worked the way it was supposed to. The broadcast went dark and a new command prompt opened on her primary monitor, accompanied by a preview of what her own camera would be capturing. It showed a shot of her from the side, the darkness of the room not allowing the viewer to see any distinguishing features. After the large, beaming smile on her face had been toned down, The Rat executed another command with the last flurry of keystrokes and the broadcast was back up, although now it displayed her own feed.

"Citizens of the Sith Empire. It is imperative that you watch what I am about to show you." Sylvia's voice was heavily distorted, making identification impossible.

"Your home has been built on lies. They want you to believe their ways are just, but they hide their true nature from you. Their souls are stained by the blood of the innocent. But change is coming."

The camera feed returned to the scene, though now it was much closer to where the attack was actually taking place. A small drone, controlled by Sylvia, flew by to capture the military personnel desperately gasping for air as the toxin liquified them from the inside out. "We are going to lift the curtain and expose the empire's lies. This is only the beginning."

"Rejoice, for freedom is at hand."

[member="Garrod Krash"] | [member="The Viper"] | [member="The Vulture"] | @T h e _ H o u n d | [member="Ardyn Zaman"]​

 

[Garrod Krash]

​

Ravelin, Bastion
Sewers

The time for a revolution had finally come. The Sith Empire's iron grip upon it's people and they have grown tired and sick of it. Some are far too weak to take a stand on their own, but there are those who have the power and strength to make a stand. Those who have been so wronged by the Empire to the point where they can fight back against the Empire. The Jedi tried and failed just as many other factions had. No, this time it would be different.

This attack against the Empire would come from within it's own borders.

A group of 8 men, all Imperial citizens who have been enlightened to the horror that is the Sith Empire and have chosen to fight back, now march through the sewers below the streets of Ravelin. They were heavily armed with both weapons and rage. Each of their faces were hidden by helmets and masks made to look like various bears found throughout the galaxy. At the lead was a large man, body completely covered in some cybernetic, armored bodyglove. He appeared humanoid, but much larger than the other men behind him.

"We don't got much time. Get the explosives set. Quickly!" the man commanded. "Once we get the signal, we'll blow this city to bits."

Bombs were being placed at key intersections across the city, near high profile Imperial installations such as the Great-Sith Imperial Library, the Royal Academy, and the Imperial Colosseum. Anything and everything that taints Ravelin with the stench of the Empire is a target. The preparations where nearing completion as the squad came upon their final and most important target: the Palace of the Emperor.

"Bear, this is the place." one of the soldiers reported. "How much time do we have left?"

Boom.

"Not enough..Damn the palace, we've run out of time. Get topside and I'll detonate the bombs. Move!" Bear command. The others climbed up the ladders to get back to the streets and dispersed into the crowds fleeing the scene of the chemical explosion. Meanwihle, Bear remained below. He pulled the bag he carried off his back and dropped it to the ground. He reached inside and pulled out a small metallic square with an array of buttons on it's face. The detonator, of course. He returned the bag to his back and ran over to the ladder. "Death to the Empire.."

Click.

The Bear climbed up the ladder and blended in with the crowds running. And, after just a few moments, more explosions went off. Fiery clouds of burning shrapnel exploded across Ravelin, ripping buildings apart and incinerating any who were unlucky enough to be caught within the vicinity of the Empire's installations in the city. The Bear cared not for innocent casualties because there weren't any innocents. Any who was not already on his side was a puppet of the Empire and the Empire, and it's puppets, had to fall.

"Vengeance will be mine.."

[member="The Vulture"] | [member="The Viper"] | [member="Sylvia Virtos"] | [member="Ardyn Zaman"] | [member="T h e_ H o u n d']​

 

[Darth Carnifex]

Frantic breath briefly fogged the inside of the Viper's helmet, obscuring his work for a moment before the glass recalibrated and dissipated the condensation automatically. Regardless of whether his view was obstructed or not, the Viper had memorized the technicals of this particular device front, back, and upside down. He could work on it with his eyes closed and one hand restrained behind his back. Fortunately, he didn't need to prove his bravado in this instance, he sat alone in a stark empty room overlooking the parade thoroughfare which the military celebration was passing by at this very moment. A chronometer at his side ticked down silently, minutes turning into seconds as the anointed moment of truth approached.

A high-pitched whine cut through the air, followed by the tumultuous roar of multiple explosions ripping through not only the parade congregation, but surrounding structures for several kilometers across the continent-wide edifice that the Empire called a city.

It was almost his time, he just needed to make one last calibration.

There, it was finished.

At the press of a button the device at his feet whirred to life, blue light cascading off spinning servo-motors shortly before an invisible pulse of electromagnetic energy blasted outward. Everything electronic within a several kilometer radius winked out in an instant, including the weapons of the soldiers still standing after the ravages of the Vulture's biochemical attack. Intricate devices like the Rat's drone was protected against the blast, layers of pyronium absorbing the electromagnetic energy given off by his device; allowing them to broadcast their statement to the Empire. Twenty-five seconds after his EMP wave was sent out, another one exuded forth from the machine, followed by a third another twenty-five seconds later, and so on and so forth. It would continue to pulsate in this manner until disabled or destroyed, but the Viper had another device built just under it that would detonate with several high-grade explosives should the device go silent for any reason, courtesy of the Bear.

The Viper would prefer not to be near the device when that happened, so as he gathered his things he ran over to one of the open windows on the skyscraper. Firing a zip-line to a nearby building, the Viper crossed the gap and landed in the other structure. Disconnecting his cable, he retrieved a combustible slugthrower from one of his cases and assembled it as another electromagnetic burst swept across the area. Once assembled, the Viper took up overwatch position above the plaza; watching for any straggling Imperials to pick off one by one.

[member="The Vulture"] | [member="Garrod Krash"] | [member="Sylvia Virtos"] | [member="Ardyn Zaman"] | [member="T h e_ H o u n d"]​

 

[Kana Mikasa]

It had only been mere hours after the attack the Second Sister was dispatched, as an Imperial Inquisitor for the United Imperial Inquisiton AKA ODACAI her mission was to stop the terrorists that had triggered explosions, bio chemical and electronic attacks, even hijacking the holonet to silence any effort of the Sith recordinating their efforts, for such cases the Inquisitorus was brought into the fold, a dark shuttle landed on the outskirts of the city. They couldn't have moved any closer due to EMT and so the only way the Inquisitor would make it would be on foot.

She did not take any Purge Troopers with her for this mission, it seemed unlikely that the Jedi were not the cause for such an attack, but the work of simple minded thugs who thought the Sith were evil. She smirked under her mask at such a thought. She went from hunting down Jedi, to being what... Riot Police. It was funny considering such mystics were not required for such missions during the Age of the Empire. But she knew that if no one else would provide support. She was more than a match for the Rebels.

Her first objective would be to reach the SINN Headquarters, there she could reverse the rebel hijacked broadcast, and reach out for more Imperial support, to her shock more explosions continued to rock the city, her fingers trailing over her lightsaber attached to her back, covered in her armorweave cape as a sort of reflex. Prepared for a fight she decided to sneak through the sewer system, if it wasn't destroyed she could use it to cross through the city without being detected and put a stop to the rebels at hand.

Lifting up one of the entrances, she acted as if she was a shadow silently moving, always remaining vigilant. She disappeared into the disgusting underground, moving ahead slowly, the HUD of her mask igniting her way through the dark underbelly of the city. She moved quickly, time was short and the rebels were inbetween her and her objective. For the Emperor they had to be stopped at all costs or her life be forfeit.

[member="The Viper"] [member="Garrod Krash"] [member="Sylvia Virtos"] [member="The Vulture"]