Rumble in the Jungle [CIS Dominion of Haarun Kal]

[Vytal Noctura]

Location: In the Jungle | Outfit: Camo | Gear: Midnight's Kiss, Spear, & Hook Shot​

​

Upon her perch, Vytal had already planned her next move by the time two figures drew close. Fortunate for them to observe, but not so fortunate if the attempt went awry and an enraged beast trampled them. Buried in the soft rustle of the living world the Nightsister flung herself away from the branch that held her aloft. Both arms spread wide as a green mist began to form along her limbs.

Much like a spider, the Dathomiri Witch had watched a fly struggle in her web, and chosen her moment to strike. Gravity would do the rest with Vytal hurtling toward the ground.

Perhaps as a result of a soft flap of her cloak, or just a sense of danger approaching the beast's head lifted just slightly. Horns jutted out from either side ready to skewer whatever might be out there.

Both hands slammed into that massive head half a second before her feet struck the ground. Debris scattered across the jungle floor flared upward in a short-lived cyclone with the force of the Nightsister's arrival. The two creatures locked eyes and the green mist penetrated the animal's flesh as a hind leg kicked at the ground. Undisturbed they would remain locked together for several seconds on the edge of slaughter. Until at last the cloaked figure rose from her half-kneeling position and withdrew her hands, and the gathering fog had faded from sight.

A heavy snort from the beast followed the exchange, and then it resumed its search for something to eat within reach. Vytal stepped out of its way and gave it a pat along the flank.

Tag: [member="Scherezade deWinter"] | [member="Elias Logain"]​

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Location: Jungle Clearing
Wearing: Armor | Pathfinder Boots | The Forgemaster's Ring | Ring of Stasis | Sofitor
Wielding: 10 Czerka knives | 2 Nastirci Combat Knives | Copero's Wail | Fire and Smoke (lightsabers) | Combat Gauntlets | Knight Obsidian Sword | 2 TOTT-001 Arc Light Blaster | 2 Dissuader K-30 Pistols with Glitter Bullets
Tags: [member="Elias Logain"] [member="Vytal Noctura"] +Feel free to join!

Scherezade stared at the vial that Elias produced from his pocket. The scent of it did not reach her special abilities, nor was there any other smell that she could detect with her regular senses. The color was beautiful, of course, but what was it? Alchemy, but to what purpose? She could not find a single memory of that specific thing, not in her own memories, and not in those that had been branded in her mind but had belonged to another. There microscopic changes that she could detect after he had consumed the contents of the vial – but she was lost as to what they could mean.

"What was that?" she finally allowed herself to ask, her eyes big with curiosity.

Warrior's camp. That suggestion brought a smile to her face. There were few things Scherezade enjoyed more than a good fight. Her blood sang when she fought, and now… Now that she was thinking about it she could feel the beginning of that song tickle her just beneath her skin. The planet wanted her to fight as well. Yesssss. She wanted this fight. She needed this fight.

Seeing no point in arguing, Scherezade sprang forward like a gazelle, moving around quickly yet remaining deadly silent. She was supposed to take point, and she had the scent of the beast in her senses. They were going to catch it, and she was going to have its blood. And maybe, maybe, on this planet, the one that hugged and caressed her from her insides, she might not even throw the blood up after riding it.

It didn't take long before she stumbled upon the beast – and the scent that she had recognized. The usual Dathomiri neon green mist thing was present all right, and Scherezade cocked her head to the side, trying to understand what it was her eyes were seeing. She wasn't entirely sure. Was the Dathomiri going to kill the beast of the hunt with mist and magic? Was she instead going to make it think it was a turkey?

A moment later, she released him.

"Is that a form of Animal Friendship?" she asked, still watching, for a moment forgetting entirely that she had a hunt partner that was supposed to arrive there every moment now. "I don't suppose you managed to get some of its blood before you let him go, did you?"

 

[Zef Halo]

Phone post till the 19th

Elias prowled through the thick flora of the jungle to go around the targets and flank them. The potion enchanted senses picked up more and more details of the targets the closer he got despite the fact he had no visibility of them. A dark and familiar twitch crossed the back of his mind that almost made him stop.

Dathomiri Magick.

Its use carried a distinguishable hue of green through the flow of the Force. Very different from the usual use of the light or dark side of the Force.

The thought of hunting a Dathomiri Witch almost had him seek a Sith Magic scroll within the inside pocket of his dust coat.

Instead, he opted for a more signature move. Elias tapped into the Force and produce animate Force projections of himself. Two of them.

Just as he was about to send them forward straight to the target while he moved in from another position, Elias froze when he heard Scherezade surprisingly start a curious conversation with their target. Without a second thought he decided to use it as an opportunity to appear from the thicket somewhere to the side of their target [[member="Vytal Noctura"]] along with his two ‘clones’ to the left of him. All three versions of Elias had their force imbued blades unsheathed.

The way they appeared out in the open implied he was not going for an attack but the distance between them was close enough for a possible engagement should that be the case.

“Odd way to hunt, Scherezade.” a smirk flashed for a moment across his face before his eyes shifted to investigate the situation with an animal and the source of the Magick he had earlier sensed.

In any case, Elias saw this unexpected opportunity to investigate more about what he had actually came here for - the source of the madness.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"] [member="Vytal Noctura"]

 

[Kiff Brayde]

ALLIES: [member="Karsan Calnov"] [member="Kathryn Foster"]​

​

Kiff hated jungles, but this one in particular. It was said that all of the planet's native inhabitants could use the mysterious power of the force, and warred perpetually with the Balawai, the "downfolk" and immigrants to the planet. They fought using their magic and their beasts, the deadly and heavily-armored Akk Dog, the gargantuan Ankkoxes that could snap a tree in half with the mace on its tail, the deadly Vine-Cats that would eat a droid or a person without hesitation. That did not even include the jungle itself, with swamps waiting to drown vehicles and metal-eating, silicate-devouring fungi that would consume entire battalions of armored vehicles. It seemed that everything in the jungle was poised to kill Kiff's small squadron of Confederates, and a chill went down his back as he realized that he was probably right. After all, to the Korunnai the Confederacy was the Balawai, and therefore their enemy.

Kiff paused to breathe slowly, calming his heartbeat as he checked his BAW-55 Heavy Blaster Pistol, making sure it was primed and ready for combat. That was his one solace -- he wasn't armed with the inneffective snub pistols that most Naval Officers were bequeathed. Force powers or not, the blaster bolts from the double barrels of his heavy blaster pistol would shoot through the Korunnai all the same, if they attacked. In an ideal galaxy they wouldn't, but this was no ideal galaxy.

As he cast an eye over the heat-sig scanners, he heard the jest made by [member="Kathryn Foster"] faintly over the comms and winced sympathetically. Confederacy droids were built for battle, not humor, and the young CDF pilot had found that out the hard way. The joke reminded Kiff that he wasn't the only organic in this task force; apart from the pilot there was [member="Karsan Calnov"], a man who the Confederacy military records had very little on, other than he would be an extra gun to shoot anyone trying to harm the convoy. For that, Kiff was grateful; despite the efficiencies of a droid army, he always felt like an organic gunman was always a welcome bonus to the Confederacy Defense Force.

Checking the scanners again, he was surprised to see that everything was quiet, but then again, with the mysteriousness of the jungles of Haruun Kaal, you never knew what was in store.

 

[Nathan Vance]

Location: Dauntless Rendezvous Point

Time: 3 minutes behind schedule

Equipment: Project Peregrine Scout Armor, Modified BCR-X10 Sniper Rifle (converted to DMR), 2x Dauntless Modular Tri-Blasters (pistol config.)

Tag: [member="Maeve Archeron"]

​

Soon enough, most of the dauntless gathered at rendezvous. 20 out of 24 commandos made it there in time for Luna Terrik's short briefing. It looked like she had as hard of a time of getting here as most others had. Despite that, she managed to get her bearings quite fast, and informed the group of their objective. The Dauntless split into their battle buddy pairings quickly, and Nathan soon realized that his partner hadn't made it to rendezvous. Standing lost for a few seconds, Nathan then made a move towards the objective, planning to act solo, when he heard Maeve's voice.

"If you don't have a battle buddy yet... you're welcome to tag along with us. Yeah, Valery?"

Nathan was more than glad to not have to act alone, and hastily accepted the offer.

"Thanks for the invite. Let's get this over with, I don't think any of us want to endure this any longer."

 

[Vytal Noctura]

Location: In the Jungle | Outfit: Camo | Gear: Midnight's Kiss, Spear, & Hook Shot​

​

"Friendship?" The Dathomiri woman responded without turning to face the source of the question. She spent her time attuning to the world around her rather than become occupied by a single person's presence. "No," the Nightsister smiled to herself, "not friendship."

She then deigned to turn and observe the female source of intrusion. It wouldn't be long before a male also made himself known at last. These two were skilled, the Sister credited them with that. More importantly, Vytal recognized the woman. There were many sentients in the galaxy, but few were more than a passing shadow. This one was no shadow -- or if she were, then one given substance to quickly drain the life from her prey.

"You desire blood?" A quick glance over at Elias followed as the corners of her lips lifted.

A gloved hand lifted into the air, and the sound of the gentle giant turning on the jungle floor followed. Vytal waited as the rumble of its footsteps grew steadily louder. "You will not kill it," she declared with a glance over at the male as well. Some were too quick to violence. "Unless you know something is near. Otherwise you should find transportation in the wilds." Some clans had Rancor as mounts back home. An incredibly large beast that could crush almost anything or anyone in its path. Fierce. Loyal, if you could bond with it. Sadly, Vytal heard certain offworlders had claimed a young one or two. What use could they be elsewhere? Their home was in the dark of Dathomir, not on some mechanical terror. One might have been quite useful here.

"Do you intend to stalk me across the night sky?" A soft snort of mirth followed the question aimed straight at Scherezade. Hopefully she did not bring another pungent bag with her.

Tag: [member="Scherezade deWinter"] | [member="Elias Logain"]​

 

[Mellifluous Magenta]

Private Valery
Post 2
Location: Outside Clan Lyriad, Dauntless Rendezvous Point
Equipment: Project SIREN | Prototype Dauntless Phase I Power Armor, CZ-838 Sniper Rifle w/ 7.62mm BASIC Slug and Suppressor, TOTT-018 Vornskr Revolver, Czerka Fighting Knife
[member="Maeve Archeron"] [member="Nathan Vance"] [member="Luna Terrik"]

​

Valery turned to Luna and listened in silence to the redheaded officer as she delivered a short briefing to reaffirm the objectives that they had received earlier, before the disastrous skydive which had left four commandos presumed missing. As Luna spoke, Valery followed her battle buddy’s lead and picked at the various pieces of foliage which had stuck to along the nooks and crannies of her armor. Her hair was a mess, but for the time being, all she really needed to do was keep it out of her eyes so that it didn’t get in the way after she put her helmet back over her head and reconnected with her suit’s neural interface.

It didn’t take long for Valery to arrive at the realization that these weren’t just primitive tribal warriors. If they had been, a few commando droids or even a large formation of standard battle droids would have been more than enough to complete the objective. Instead, they had deployed two squads of one of the Confederate Defense Force’s most elite divisions to handle the threat.

When Luna finished speaking, Valery directed her gaze towards Maeve when the blonde called her name. There was a brief pause as she quickly put her helmet back on and re-established her neural connection with her suit. However, when that was done, Valery nodded to the woman and followed her lead.

“Right, I agree.” Valery replied in a compliant tone. “Are we all ready?” The magenta-eyed woman spoke, before pulling her bolt action slugthrower from the magnetic strip on her back and attaching a single eight round magazine to her weapon. "I have a feeling that these aren't just simple tribal warriors." She added.

 

[Destroyer 2873]

Section: Domestication​

Location: In Admiral Brayde's Confederate Convoy, the Back of a Transport Vehicle​

Painted: Jungle Camouflage​

Tags: [member="Kiff Brayde"], [member="Kathryn Foster"], [member="Karsan [SIZE=14px]Calnov[/SIZE]"]​

----------------------------------------------------------------​

[System Startup: Commence]
...
[Servos: Online]
...
[Sensors: Online]
...
[Weapon Systems: Online]
...
[Droid Brain Activation: Complete]
...
[System Startup: Complete]
-----------------------------------------------------------------
With a series of jolts Destroyer 2873 activated. The imposing destroyer droid unfolded and stood up, pausing for a moment. He was relishing in the upcoming slaughter that is to come. It has been a while since the droid mercenary has been in combat and he was looking forward to performing his primary functions again. Only one thing mattered more at the current time ...

"Where are we?" a deep, gritty voice defiantly asked, "Our sensors must be malfunctioning."
"Negative." a sharper voice in a more neutral tone responded, "System diagnostics reveal that our sensor systems are functioning at 99.7% efficiency, not enough to constitute an error. We seem to have been blocked off in a constrained location."
"We better not have missed the battle! If your timer..."
"Negative. My plan to preserve energy and perform a timed restart has worked. Our power reserves are still at 94.73% and internal time matches around the time of designated planetfall."
"Well, then why are we walled off and not in a transport?"
"Unkown. Audio sensors detect the sound of repulsorlifts however."
"We have been taken prisoner then!"
"Most likely not..."
"I will not stand for this. I will not go down without a fight."
"There is only a 1.23% probability that ..."
"Have at thee Republic dogs!"

With that shout, the Droideka fired one of his blaster cannons against the wall. Upon contact with the high-velocity bolt, the wall fell out and tumbled across the floor of the transport vehicle as the boxes that were walled up around Destroyer 2873 fell over. As he looked out towards the transport full of Confederate soldiers, the warpainted droideka realized his mistake.

"Good going!" the neutral voice scolded, "You made us look like fools!"

Stepping over the scattered crates, the droid approached the nearest non-droid soldier and asked in its gravelly voice,

"When does the fighting start?"

 

[Luna Terrik]

Location: Outside clan Lyriad, Dauntless Rendezvous point.
Time: 1300 hours.
Equipment: Personal Dauntless Armor, SC4 Blaster, Tactical Recon Handguns
Post: 2
Tags: [member="Valery"] [member="Nathan Vance"] [member="Maeve Archeron"]

​

Luna allowed the rest of the commandos to take their time getting ready. Everyone had had somewhat of a rough time getting here, so it would be good to get their bearings before assaulting the village and attempting this op. During the time, the commander turned to see the tallest of all the commandos walking over to her, to which she gave a small nod and smile underneath her helmet. No wonder he would be one of the last to show up, and be the last that wanted to speak to her before they engaged.

Tien gave her a nod as well as he walked up, turning to look at the village with his commander. “So..we’re really doing this?” The question lingered for a few minutes, before she nodded slowly, quieting her voice momentarily. “A bit overkill to tell me to assign two squads to this…but it works. I just hope bringing more people doesn’t mean we’ll lose more too. Maybe omega’s medic will show up once we get started. Blaster fire does typically seem to attract people to a central location..” She let out a small chuckle before reaching up to pat her friend on the shoulder and move to the front of the group once more and raise her voice.

“Alright, lets get moving into the village. Two to four man groups, sweep and clear. Watch your corners and keep the comms clean, unless it’s for callouts. Lets keep this quiet, people.” Slinging her blaster off her shoulder, giving it a quick pat before motioning to the village. “Move out. For the vicelord.” With that, she nodded in Tien’s general direction before crouching in the underbrush and slowly making her way into the village, having the intent of hitting their southern houses first to see if she could find the village leader in one of those first. Having Tien by her side, able to feel his massive presence making his way through the brush with her, gave her a sense of ease heading into this engagement. Luna just hoped that everyone made it out safe enough.

 

[Nine Lives]

Objective: BYOO (Toy with captured First Order Operatives)

Ever since the First Order had crumbled, Nine had been ecstatic. All was right with the galaxy once more! But that did not mean that there was not fun to be had.

When Atrisia had been conquered, Nine had made it a point to kidnap First Order personnel and sympathizers. Military in particular had been targeted. Nine liked to think she had made at least something of a dent with all the spec ops warriors she had captured, but she knew she had inflicted, at best, a shallow cut in the population, and a tiny pinprick at worst. Still, she had uncovered valuable intel, so it wasn't all for nothing.

Like for example, these fanatically loyal First Order deep cover spies.

She wasn't on the planet of course. Haruun Kal had so many natural toxins and molds that it'd be suicide setting foot there without protection, given the fact she was a Psy-Pire. Even if she did have the protection she still would not risk it.

But there is more than one way to make a member of the First Order suffer. For instance, having a squad of them captured while conducting ops against The Eternal Empire. They were of course, heavily drugged for most of the trip here. Electronic restraints made sure they would not leave until she was quite ready.

Nine watched from the comfort of her throne room a portable viewing screen, where she could watch what was about to happen next in High Definition. She loved messing with enemy military. Especially when they conquered her planet.

Nine had been busy since coming out of her funk running experiments aboard the castle. Her long term experiment with Vera was running itself.

She watched, clad in her green robes with white flower print on her hand carved throne, hood drawn over her face, sword at her side, a captured enemy Sith, this one an Iridonian, heavily sedated, as she drank his memories. Two birthdays had been very tasty, but it was his knowledge of artifacts she was interested in. It was actually hard to eat his memories...he was remarkably mentally resilient...but she got through eventually. Slurp.

The screen showed a small gathering of people, herded into an open air Force Cage set deep in the jungle. They had been left with their body armor but only their blaster pistols and a few grenades each. Nine did not want it said she was unsporting.

Jerri, her new right hand after the tragic death of Bobbi, was right next to her.

"Everything is ready, Mother. Soon the rebellion will be crushed and young Skywalker will be one of us." Jerri said, clad in his brown yovshin inspired light power armor, his gas mask like helmet obscuring his features.

Nine actually stopped feeding on the tranquilized Sith due to being caught off guard by that last bit.

"Have you been watching all those historical documentaries again?" Nine asked in her deep contralto.

"Yes."

"You impress Mother with your retention of documentaries. Come, sit with Mother. I feel lonely today."

Jerri grabbed a large pillow off her throne and sat down wordlessly.

"The last group disappointed me. You'd think special operatives would last a little longer. I even picked out ones adept at scouting and jungle survival, in addition to their war criminal status. But so far my daughters continue to triumph. Twenty-three dead so far. I'm on a roll."

"How long do they last?" Jerri asked, watching as the captured soldiers stirred awake on the jungle grass.

"Forty five minutes usually. Longest one lasted was three hours. Shh...lets watch..."

Three minutes later...

Voris Sandpulsar stirred awake, the tranquilizers dying off. He was not bound. Neither were his comrades. They were surrounded by force field emitters. The heavy, dense jungle, against which sunlight could barely crawl through, hit a tanned, weathered face in its mid thirties. His eyes were pale green, had short military styled rusty brown hair, his forehead set with dozens of crinkles from stress.

Ever since the First Order had started losing territory, people like him had been needed for killing more than ever. And there had been so much killing. Of soldiers, of Jedi, of Sith. Even some of their own. But it was all necessary to save the only true hope for stability in the galaxy that The First Order represented.

At least he had comrades. Three of them, any way. He recognized Aldren Kreno, who had been with him during the ground occupation when Atrisia was being annexed. A muscular human of bronze skin and chisled features, still wearing his black combat armor. There was Brios Tydrin, a silent, lanky man of pale features with thinning black hair. Paul Zomm, who had been at the glorious victory at Coruscant and had killed many of the local civilians.

They had all killed civilians. Voris had no doubts, didn't know if that could be said for anyone else, but he didn't have any.

"Voris? What the hell is going on? How did we get here?" Aldren asked, his baritone betraying the rage and uncertainty in his voice.

"I dunno...last twelve hours are a blank, I can't even remember the prior assignment..." Voris answered in a rough, but calm voice.

Brios, a scout by training, silently gestured to a small probe droid with a microphone attached.

"Greetings, test subjects..." came the deep voice of a woman. "Who I am is not important. My task is..."

The four men watched as the force fields cut.

"Your task is simple. Eight kilometers north of you is a Saotome Envoy. All you have to do is reach it. I've even left you armed."

Voris looked down and saw a blaster pistol in his holster.

"What's the catch?" Voris asked.

A blaster bolt from a concealed position blew off Brios's head. His body crumpled lifelessly to the ground.

Voris and the others broke into a run north. Blaster fire from behind became a near constant as what appeared to be a muscular, pale skinned woman with red hair in black combat suit emerged from the brush, the "flesh" on her arm exposing the the mechanical arm underneath, which housed a repurposed B2 battle droid blaster rifle.

Normally, Magnus would have been averse to this but they WERE First Order, and they had unjustly occupied the world of her mother's birth. For that, they were dead men running.

Magnus retracted the rifle into her arm, the masquer covering it over as she broke into a sprint. She had killed the last seven. It had taken her an hour. She wanted to cut this by fifteen minutes...

 

[Kaden Farr]

wearing:xxx | w. [member="Darth Elyria"]​

The night was dark and full of terrors. It was phrase Kaden had come to equate with the presence of his mother, [member="Darth Elyria"]. He did not know where it came from, nor was it something she had ever spoken to him, but Kaden found solace in the saying knowing that SHE was the one hiding in the darkest places of the night. One would not think her to be cruel or wicked with the aroma of jasmine and rain which followed her about, announcing her presence wherever she moved. It was a scent Kaden had not been graced with in some time. In part it was his doing. His attention ad been focused elsewhere. While he had never deviated from the mission she had given him, Kaden had allowed himself to become distracted with the thoughts and presence of another.

Kaden had not asked for the feelings which burned in his heart for the blonde Mandalorian [member="Daisy Americus"], nor had he pursued their beginnings. In part, the matter was something he knew he needed to discuss with Selene, and for the rest, he needed to figure out what it all meant. His mother had promised him everything, and perhaps this was part of it. Then again, there were other forces at work. His days of haunting her had created a bond with Daisy which Kaden nor Daisy understood. He had never been trained to use the power which now coursed through his veins. While his power was raw and unrestricted, Kaden lacked the focus to make any sense of how far he could push himself.

He needed guidance.

It was that thought which found him abandoning the group which had been designated for diplomacy. Kaden never had been good with using words to bring about peace, a point of tension between him and Daisy when facing the Givin. Why use words when a slugthrower was extremely clear? Of course there had been an answer to that comment, but in the end war was all the Givin had wanted, and Kaden, Daisy, and [member="Scherezade deWinter"] had proven better. Today, Kaden was alone. Daisy had not accompanied him this time, nor had he asked her to. A message had been left as to his whereabouts, but it had been vague and cryptic as to why. As Kaden pressed through the jungle his thoughts were on the growing darkness he could feel radiating from deep within the forest.

Death Hollow was said to be a death trap for most animals. Natural volcanic gasses produced toxic pockets which were deadly, however the volcanic gasses produced growth beyond that of the other parts of the jungle. The soil was much more fertile, almost as the greenery drew the Hallows prey for the gasses to kill them. This was where Kaden searched for his mother. Rumors had reached his ears of people disappearing, and perhaps it was the hollows, or perhaps it was the dark side. Either way, where there was such death and mystery, Selene was sure to be found somewhere conducting the symphony of it all. When he found her, his questions would be answered. It was time for him to learn how to use the skills she had blessed him with, and there was no one else he wished to learn from other than the hand which brought him back to life and gave him purpose.

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Location: Jungle Clearing
Wearing: Armor | Pathfinder Boots | The Forgemaster's Ring | Ring of Stasis | Sofitor
Wielding: 10 Czerka knives | 2 Nastirci Combat Knives | Copero's Wail | Fire and Smoke (lightsabers) | Combat Gauntlets | Knight Obsidian Sword | 2 TOTT-001 Arc Light Blaster | 2 Dissuader K-30 Pistols with Glitter Bullets
Tags: [member="Elias Logain"] [member="Vytal Noctura"] +Feel free to join!

Not friendship. Scherezade looked at the Dathomiri, the curiosity still open on her face. Elias came from the bushes then, saying her way was odd. She grinned at that. "I'm not hunting anymore, I know this woman!" she said gleefully, "Elias, this is Vytal, Vytal, Elias." Introductions were swiftly made, and her attention went back to the beast, who was now docile. If not animal friendship, what was it?

At the question of blood, the Blood Hound nodded enthusiastically. That wasn't just what she wanted – it was what she needed to get to the bottom of this. Being told she wasn't allowed to kill it was disappointed, but, ultimately, you could take blood from someone or something without doing the entire killing thing.

"It's daylight," she retorted as she walked to the beast, knife in hand, "cover me, I'm going to do my best to keep this thing calm while I nick it, but sometimes chit happens."

A hand coming up to touch the beast behind its head, Scherezade gave it smoothing pets, keeping the blade out of its sight. Without knowing anything about the beast's history, she wasn't certain whether or not the mere sight of the blade would set it off, and the last thing she needed now was a creature in panic.

"They say there is a curse in these jungles, on this planet," she explained as she continued to sooth the beast, "I can feel that there is something here, down to the very earth. I need the blood to make sure. A beautiful beast such as this… If there is a curse, it will be present in its blood, and I will know for certain."

Of course, there was no mention of any cure. No, that was way too soon. Not every curse had a cure, and while the blood would let her know if it was more than rumors, it would not immediately tell her how to fix it. Not unless she intended to individually remove it from every creature who had blood coursing through their bodies, but for a planet that size, it would take centuries and infinite amounts of power that she much preferred to invest elsewhere.

Biting her lip, Scherezade hoped it was enough as she brought her blade down, making a small cut on the creature's back. A few drops… That was all she needed.

 

[Kathryn Foster]

Objective: Domestication​

Location: Inside one of the PBTs in admiral Braydes convoy​

Wearing: Olive green BDUs, black gear vest with plastoid inserts, black military boots, open plastoid helmet with black cover.​

Loadout: E-22 blaster rifle, LBP-3 blaster pistol​

Posts: 2​

Tags: [member="Kiff Brayde"], [member="Karsan Calnov"], [member="Destroyer 2873"]​

Sunken into her own thoughts for a moment, she jumped, startled of the sudden and noisy fall of the crates that hit the floor in the back of the PBT. She stood up from her seat, and unused to riding in the cramped space of the PBT, bumped the helmet into a low sitting ventilation port. Damn it! She helt onto a railing in the roof as the destroyer droid, who seemed to be the reason of the mess, stepped over the crates and approached her.

''I- uh...'' she cursed inside her head and searched for an answer to the robotic being. ''If the fighting starts! We don't know that, yet. But we're en route to the location so you can stand down, droid.'' she continued and grabbed the comlink from her belt, radioing admiral Brayde.

''Uh... sir?! I wasn't aware we were carrying tucked away destroyers on-board? Either way, one of them is active now and is asking when the fighting starts... It made quite a mess back here...'' she said, unsure if it was a planned activation or not, while keeping an eye on the droid. ''And scared the chit out of me...'' she thought to herself while awaiting the admirals response. Next time, she'll have to ask to ride with more sentients, that's for sure!

 

[Zef Halo]

[member="Vytal Noctura"] [member="Scherezade deWinter"]

They still could’ve tried tackling the witch but that was not to be the case. Vytal, as Scherezade introduced her, was an acquaintance. Elias had no hard feelings about it, it mattered little whether they were going to hunt the witch or not. All it mattered to him was getting the job done. Finding the source of this madness, if it even existed, and eliminating it.

The monster hunter remained silent to what Vytal said, he only analyzed her from head to toe. He caught the various traditional tattoos marking her face when she threw her glance at him. She would’ve passed for the run-of-the-mill, typical witch but there was something in the air with which she stood that distinguished her. The fact a Nightsister prowled on Haruun Kal also piqued his curiosity. Very far from home, he thought but did not say.

Meanwhile, Scherezade went straight to work. Her sudden spike of work rate and dedication erased the previous childish-like behavior she carried herself with. Scherezade was a wild card, he concluded. She could toss surprise after surprise your way and you’d only figure out whether it was a pleasant or a nasty one just when it struck you.

A dangerous character.

Elias took on Scherezade’s straight approach to their quest and stepped besides the Nightsister with the Force Projections of himself dissipating in thin air. His hand fell in an inside pocket of his long coat and took out a specific parchment neatly formed in a scroll. He unfurled the thread holding it together and shoved it back in his pocket. The primitive parchment scrolled down before him and he laid it out on the ground in front of Vytal and him.

“I do not know the strength of this curse.” Elias admitted and jerked his head at the scroll before him. “This is a ritual, not too different in nature than those the Witches of Dathomir use.” He said to Vytal but refrained from giving her the details of its origin. “It pacifies everything sentient around us, including the beast she will take the sample from.”

“Depending on the curse’s strength it might hold or it might not. All we need is to keep the spell active until whatever the reaction of the jungle is fades away...if it does.” His explanation hinted at an experience with such issues and the tone in which he spoke beckoned no questions back.

Elias closed his eyes and tapped into the Force channeling it into the spell scroll before them expecting Vytal to do the same.

There was a feeling of risk in the air as if what they were doing might cost them their lives.

((Ooc: i leave the consequences of it all to your whim, Vytal. This is as good as i can do on a phone post in rush hour. :/ Kark us up good with a curveball please. ))

 

[Vytal Noctura]

Location: In the Jungle | Outfit: Camo | Gear: Midnight's Kiss, Spear, & Hook Shot​

​

A laugh barked between dark lips with Scherezade's introduction. Knew her? Vytal forgot the time they sat around a fire sharing stories of their latest kills. They knew each other's kind, at least.

And then there was Elias. The Nightsister spared him the time it took to examine him head to toe. He was a male. Human-like. As disinterested in becoming the Witch's friend as she was in him breathing the same air as Vytal herself. Suited her fine the way he didn't move to offer his hand or make some pithy remark.

deWinter didn't waste time getting down to what she truly cared about -- retrieving a sample of beast blood. Vytal smirked as the woman sauntered about with a blade. First, it was a good look for Scherezade. Second, it was unnecessary the way she'd go about trying to soothe the creature. Vytal hadn't bothered to try taming the beast in a meaningful way; but her new company weren't aware of the nature of the hold. Nor was Vytal inclined to share her secrets with those she didn't know. Especially Elias; a man she knew even less about.

"The blood." Vytal found deWinter's words of interest. She believed it was something physical? The Nightsister had not found anything to suggest otherwise, though she had expected it to be more mystical in nature. "You know the ways to study this?" Did not most offworlders need 'scientific instruments' for this kind of analysis? Curious technology that would not be of immediate aide to the Nightsisters. It would take time to convince the Mothers and the Sisters in their circle to consider anything except the art of spell weaving.

And in that time the male stood near Vytal for a moment before he retrieved a scroll from his coat. The Nightsister's eyes watched his movements with care. What did this Elias intend to do?

When Elias compared this scroll he'd laid out before them to that of rituals perform by the Nightsisters, Vytal gave another, soft laugh. Not too different in nature, was it? And what did this man know of such things? Vytal was not a hardliner in tradition, but that did not mean the woman was an alien to her own people. Women performed the spells, and were taught the dark secrets of creation. That this 'Force' was shared with men was a quaint idea, but not one anyone had convinced Vytal was a good idea. Few had bothered to try, however.

With a sigh, Vytal spared the time to examine this scroll as Elias went on about how it might or might not protect them for as long as they would like. Was this truly necessary? There was no need to hide from the beasts of this jungle; let them come, crazed or not. Why else had she secured a beast for transportation, but to save her strength for the hunt? "We will see," she replied. Unlike Scherezade, Vytal did not suppress the tone of her voice or feign to be innocent or 'bubbly.'

Vytal opened her pouch so that she could use the ichor focus to 'properly' perform a ritual that was 'not too different' than rituals of home. At first the spell was proceeding as was to be expected. Vytal hardly considered it a ritual except that it did share something ever so slightly similar to circle magic -- except there were only two of them physically present. Just as Scherezade was occupied extracting just a few drops of blood, however, the green mists of Dathomir suddenly began to billow forth and surround the Nightsister.

The mist swiftly sunk into the Witch whose body doubled over before her back spasmed. Bright, green eyes shone up at the sky and then the Force violently flew outward in all directions.

After the mass Force push, Vytal straightened up and slowly turned to fix Elias with her glowing eyes. One finger lifted and pointed straight at the man's heart. "No one pacifies the darkness." The voices of at least four or five women seemed to speak the words in synchronization. "Certainly no man." With the snap of the wrist, the Force shot out to grab the man and cast him into a nearby tree.

Behind her, the beast reared on its hind legs. The same sickly glow billowed out from its sockets. Once its bulk pounded the ground, it thrashed side to side knowing Scherezade had been near not a moment prior. She would be its prey; it would gore the tiny creature, rend her flesh, and snap her bones.

Tag: [member="Scherezade deWinter"] | [member="Elias Logain"]​

 

[Maeve Archeron]

Wearing: Caped Armour
Wielding: Verpine Shatter Rifle. DL-44 Pistol. Armed with Glitter Bullets. Black Bag containing Explosives and Czerka Knives, and others.
Location: Outside of Clan Lyriad, designated Dauntless meeting place.
Tags: [member="Nathan Vance"] || @Luna Terrikhttp://starwarsrp.net/user/14096-luna-terrik/ || @Valery

Luna was stressing. And Valery was not wrong.

Maeve nodded her assent to Valery's query as to their preparation, and glanced over at Nathan to ensure he was with them too. "Unfortunately... I think that you're right, Valery. I've heard that everyone on this goddamn planet is force sensitive... and I've heard they all lean towards the dark." Of course, much of what Maeve thought to be true could have been purely rumours, stories of dark force users exaggerated beyond recognition, but with forcies one could never be certain. Addressing Nathan, she gave him a quick welcome to their buddy-team -- "Watch our backs and we'll watch yours. We've got a seperate comm channel so you can talk to us without cluttering the open, but use it sparingly, especially in this stealth op." She might have been a little overbearing, but she wanted to make sure Nathan knew what he was doing and didn't get them into trouble they couldn't get out of.

"Alright, let's roll."

Maeve led the way into the clan -- it was not very well protected, with only a small wooden row of stakes and chain to mark the barriers of the village. An image flashed into Maeve's mind of heads bleeding and impaled on the fence, and she quickly shook her head to dispel the image. Jitters might have been getting to her, but she would not let it show. Instead, she broke into a sprint towards the fence and slipped underneath the lowest chain. There was certainly enough room for her, but she was glad her bag wasn't much bigger or else it would have snagged. Not bothering to wait and see where the other teams had gone off to, she ducked into a patch of shade behind what looked to be an abandoned house. "Short of kidnapping a kid and pulling a "take me to your leader", any thoughts on where to start?"

 

[Luna Terrik]

Location: Outside clan Lyriad, Dauntless Rendezvous point.
Time: 1310 hours.
Equipment: Personal Dauntless Armor, SC4 Blaster, Tactical Recon Handguns
Post: 2
Tags: [member="Nathan Vance"] [member="Maeve Archeron"]

​

While Maeve took her group to one side of the village, Luna, Tien, and the other commandos in her group made their way toward the south side of the emplacement, finding the same type of fencing that the other woman had encountered. However, instead of trying to slide underneath it in any way that could result in someone getting stuck or hurt, the commander nodded silently to the two others in the group, who began to cut the wiring apart to make an entrance in the village. While they worked, the redhead tapped a few buttons on the miniature holocomputer embedded into the wrist plate of her armor, switching the visuals to a dulled version of thermals to be able to see a bit better.

By the time she was done doing that, the wiring had been cut, and the group was free to push into the clustered buildings in a group of four. As they started to move in, the first building picked was a smaller, single story hut built out of wood and indigenous materials. When Luna took a moment to scan the building, multiple warm bodies could be seen, with weapons of some kind in their hands. They looked like blasters, though in all honesty, the commander couldn’t be one hundred percent sure. Still, they were warriors, and they needed to be subdued before they pushed farther into the camp.

Luna’s smaller group stacked up against the door, all readying their weapons to breach and enter. The commander held up three fingers, speaking clearly into the groups comms before starting to count down. “Blasters to stun.” Two fingers held up, then a single one, before she nodded to Tien, who threw his entire weight into the wooden door, sending it flying, cracked and open. The moment it opened, the three other dauntless filed into the building, firing the stun rounds into the three warriors that were in the room.

They were surprised by the quick breach, and that was evident as all three fell to the ground, stunned and dazed without so much as firing a single shot at the dauntless. It was a pleasing result, to which Luna motioned the other two dauntless toward the men face first on the floor. “Tie them up, throw them in some extra room where they can’t make any disturbances.” The armored men nodded quickly, beginning to complete what Luna had assigned them, while she stood in the middle of the room, opening a comm channel to all squads. “This is commander Terrik, we have cleared a house on the south side. Status update on other breaching teams please.”

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Location: Jungle Clearing
Wearing: Armor | Pathfinder Boots | The Forgemaster's Ring | Ring of Stasis | Sofitor
Wielding: 10 Czerka knives | 2 Nastirci Combat Knives| Copero's Wail | Fire and Smoke (lightsabers) | Combat Gauntlets | Knight Obsidian Sword | 2 TOTT-001 Arc Light Blaster | 2 Dissuader K-30 Pistols with Glitter Bullets
Tags: [member="Elias Logain"] [member="Vytal Noctura"] +Feel free to join!

"I don't know what the nature of this curse is," Scherezade admitted plainly, "I know that I can confirm if it is a curse, or something deeper, by the blood. But that does not mean that the blood can heal it or change it. It's just… A way in which I can learn about troubles. For now, I mostly know that with every breath I take, I want this planet to engulf me more and more, and that isn't normal. Unless we take care of this quickly, or leave this planet behind, it will take me. And you."

Glancing over to Elias, she wondered – how aware was he of Dathomiri culture? Did he know that when the Witch with them looked at him, she was very likely to see someone who was an inferior, just barely above the very beast whose blood Scherezade was about to drink blood from? Thousands of years and endless little pocket clans that claimed to be different, but in the end some things never changed.

She had her back to Vytal as the ichor began to transform, entirely unaware of it as she bent forward to lick at the blood that was now trickling out. Her face immediately convulsed; not just for the taste of the blood, which she loathed and hated with every fiber of her body and would never touch again if it didn't benefit her so.

When Scherezade opened her eyes, she was not in that little patch of the jungle anymore. She was still in a jungle, but it was a different clearing, and a large bonfire lit in the middle of it. Women danced all around it, in various forms of undress. It was a memory, a vision, one that was not hers. Everything had a red taint to it, as though someone had washed Scherezade's eyeballs with blood. Only once had this happened before – whatever it was she was seeing, he or she or them or it wanted her to see it.

Five women stood out from the rest, standing close enough to the fire so that under normal circumstances, they would have gotten burned. But they didn't seem hot; if anything, at least two of them were cold, and were shivering.

Scherezade wanted to see more, yet when the beast trashed into her and her body flung backwards, her mind snapped back to the here and now of the scene and she screamed in surprise. She hadn't finished with the vision – and now, she wasn't sure she even could. She only had time to lift her head before the beast launched at her again.

Scrambling backwards, every bit of the Warrior inside of Scherezade kicked in. She grinned, the hilts of her lightsabers flying into her hands as then a dozen of her blades slid from her body and into the air, spreading around her like a gigantic fan, pointy ends all turning to the beast. The song in her blood flared as the fight was officially on, and she rolled out of the way of the beast just in time before she got completely trampled.

The roll had given her the leverage she needed to get up to her feet, her blades following her. There was no time she intended on wasting then, every nerve end in her body screaming that something was wrong, even though she still felt the horrible need to get down on her knees and hug the planet.

Her blades danced in the air for a moment before both she and them launched at the beast; her lightsabers forming into an X just above its head before she brought them down, while the rest of her blades tried to turn the beast's body into a porcupine, stabbing it again and again before going directly into its body, sharp edges sticking out from the opposite side.

Glowing green eyes – normally glowing green eyes – looked at the Dathomiri and the man, eyes narrowing to see what was going on there. They hadn't been that physically close when her blood vision began. She had not heard the voices that were coming out of Vytal's throat, but she could feel the Force at work in not-so-nice ways.

Krak.

 

[Zef Halo]

Vytal’s coldness towards him could’ve probably frozen a desert. He ignored it. Against his better sense, Elias somewhat trusted Scherezade’s acquaintance was not a threat, mostly because he wanted to finish this job quicker than possible.

The taint of the curse seemed to linger strongly within the ethereal of the Force but he shoved the warning away and focused on the scroll before him.

But Vytal’s presence was not there. It had succumbed to something else. He snapped open his eyes just in time to weave hisself with the Force blocking the powerful Force Push. Had the potion worn off, he would’ve been torn like a rag doll into the jungle as his own Force Senses were very much limited.

Once more natural alchemy had saved him.

But not for long.

A slender finger pointed like a dagger at his heart. Elias would’ve believed it was Vytal’s but when the words of a number of wicked souls came out of her mouth, he knew it was someone else’s finger.

His hand fell naturally on the hilt of his blade. Not a master swordsman, for sure, but trained enough to slash at her with one fluid motion of a draw. Unfortunately, the draw never came. She flung him off with the power of the Force into a nearby tree, disposing of him like trash. The telekinetic barrier formed out of instinct around him saved him from a complete black out.

That didn’t mean he’d gone off unscathed. Far from it. Pain reverberated through his body and his bones ached like they were ancient. A cracked rib would be the lesser evil.

He’d not noticed the trail of blood leading to Scherezade, he couldn’t have when the gaping maw of death stared at him from the Dathomiri Witch. Or whoever pulled her strings. The air around the three of them reeked of dread and death and madness. Its source came from nowhere else but the Nightsister. She stood out like the beacon of all the galaxy’s evil. He winced at the pain but overcame its distraction and tapped into the Force.

Life of most humanoids in the galaxy needed air. Elias would snatch it from Vytal’s. The illusionist attempted to twist her perception - the air around her disappeared, gone. The hopeless feeling of suffocation and primal instinct to claw for air which was not there downed on her.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"] [member="Vytal Noctura"]

 

[Alkor Centaris]

The others had it easy.

Shoot this insurgent, kill that swamp beast. All of it was cut, dry, and would be done far sooner than the task given to the ranking Knights Obsidian and their contingent. Haruun Kal was to be a breeding world for the Confederate Force Order. That meant friendly and allied tribes- the ones who listened and who reached out when the Southern Systems came to their doorstep- needed to be given a reason to stay.

Something tangible, beyond the simple benefits of being rid of dissidents and domestic dangers. They wanted to be wined and dined, purportedly the way women did during courtship. Why they had Alkor on such a detail went beyond questionable into the realm of asinine, but there were others present to help smooth out the details.

Thank the gods, because it would have been a nightmare without them.

"Yes, you will have to pay taxes the same as other Confederate worlds," he explained as the question rose, "but it is to help field security forces and a standing army with which to keep Haruun Kal safe. Additionally, due to the importance of your role within the Confederacy, you will have a training facility and barracks for Knights Obsidian constructed and readily available to assure further-"

Words. More words. They flowed like vomit and he felt his head getting lighter by the moment. His face was pale and though his expression remained neutral, anyone who knew Alkor knew what he was thinking.

Someone help.