Private Sharp Blades in The Silent City

[Lyssa Io]

Wearing: Nothing

Armed with: Herself, Outback Carbine

Nightsister Energy Bow Pistol

Location: Unknown City Planet (Abandoned)

Objective: Scout

House Io, since providing a tireless level of support to the Eternal Empire, had been allowed to discreetly operate in Eternal Empire space. The members constantly kept a low profile, operating in the open only as necessary. Any high tech Equipment they provided never had Maker's marks or serial numbers, to afford any they gave it to as much plausible deniability as possible, never mind avoiding it being traced. They had also jumped in on the Food Supply, in the midst of finalizing a form of synthetic meat that they would eventually go to the Empress with.

House Io was also scouting for habitable planets yet undiscovered in Eternal Empire space that might be of value to the Empress, and to prevent it's use by the Eclipse Rebellion...or purge them or hidden enclave personnel if they were already present.

They had come across something amazing.

It was an abandoned city planet full of Gothic Architecture. Stone Gargoyles perched on every ruined skyscraper, Great growths of orange crystals set up as monuments in town squares. Ancient, cathedral like libraries still stood, made of some dense metal their scans couldn't identify. With still functional databanks. It was an incredible find.

The House had decided to conduct a very limited military operation here. A few scouting teams from a small forward operating base were going to determine why the planet was abandoned.

House Io Mercenary Droids had been dispatched in three teams of ten each, armed with DC-17m Rifles and DLT-19A Heavy Rifles, or Portable Rocket Launchers . Lyssa hadn't really needed to go, but the chance to see the remains of yet another fallen civilization had been too tempting to resist. She had brought her carbine, which had a photo of her pet bunny, Clifford, attached to the stock. They had set up a basic landing pad for a Lambda Class Shuttle and loads of sensors trying to find a signal, any signal, on the planet. It had been quiet going so far. The scouting teams had reported nothing, not even corpses. Lyssa for her part wasn't looking for herself or anyone else here to be a hero--she had given strict orders to pull back and mark anything unusual rather than doing the dumbass thing and investigating anything that looked like a tomb, of anything that had weird ass runes on them.

No one knew that Aximand Sicarus would be in these regions for reasons of his own today. No one except those that would be making an attempt on his life.

Lyssa busied herself by doing her own scouting of some of the larger buildings. She had grown genuinely attached to her pet as Lyssa realized her own need for affection had increased. When she wasn't killing House Enemies, or pursuing kinky dates with various Assassin Droids (She enjoyed teaching B1 Battle Droids to bark at her snapping her fingers if you catch my meaning), she was spending spare time with family and her pet.

As she was busy walking through the silent ruins, feeling no fear for she herself was considered a walking weapon, her form morphed to look like she wore a skintight silver catsuit with black spikes in certain areas, she picked up a transmission from one of their specially modified B1 Units.

"General! We have located a deceased tango!"

Lyssa, having paused before a gloomy, gothic library immediately got out her comlink.

"Roger, Pete, I'm listening. What else?" she asked in her typically creepily serene tone.

"Let's see..." Pete the Mercenary Droid said as he crouched down to examine the dead hostile alongside his comrades.

"Hostile has a Varco-56 Rifle on his person..."

"Identifying marks?" Lyssa asked.

"Soldier get up. Could have come from anywhere. But the chance is high he was Eclipse Rebellion. We've had run ins with them in these parts the past few weeks. But it's clear he wasn't the only one. Bunch of other tracks, blaster holes too. They were shooting in all directions. (Why didn't they take his radio, or his weapon?: 90 XP.)"

Just then, Lyssa looked up, and spotted a ship matching EE profiles descending to the atmosphere...while on fire. And being fired on by Eclipse Rebellion Starfighters...

Lyssa took one look at this and mimicked a human sigh.

"Awww, chit, here we go again..."

Lyssa immediately began sprinting to where she estimated it would crash...

 

[Aximand Sicarus]

LOCATION: Engaging in emergency reentry upon an unknown city planet, aboard the ENS Dvorak
TAGS: Lyssa Io

Alarm claxons blared throughout the Dvorak - a Demeton-class heavy cruiser of the Eternal Fleet. Her shields were failing, and her armor paneling bore pockmarks from the raking fire being visited upon her by squadrons of T-95 Thunderhawks swarming around her. She listed violently as the gravitational pull of the unknown planet before the ship enveloped her. A wailing siren added to the cacophony of sounds filling the area, with the comms officer quickly tapping a few commands on their console to reduce the severity to bearable levels.

The ship’s captain was a dignified red & black skinned Zabrak, who wore the uniform with a level of command and presence that demanded respect and efficiency from his officers. His voice was low, but it did not need to be loud for his crew to hear and understand him. ”Damage report.”

The Dvorak lurched again violently, with the crew stabilizing themselves alongside a series of rails and supports near their stations. A female voice spoke up in answer to the Captain’s orders: ”Decks 12 & 21 have experienced containment breach. Affected compartments are sealing off, and casualties are pending. Hull integrity is at 77% and failing. Primary power is--” Her words were interrupted again by the sounds of blaster fire hitting a bit too close to home. The lights flickered, with nearby terminals overloading from the strain the ship was experiencing. Yet, to her credit, the tactical officer continued stoically - demonstrating a level of poise that did her credit: ”Primary power is fluctuating as our anti-air defenses are coming back online.”

As the captain was about to speak up in answer to her report, the turbolift doors parted allowing two figures to emerge from within. One was a young, attractive blonde human female, roughly in her early thirties and bearing the rank insignias of a Commander. The other was far more distinctive and intimidating - salt & pepper hair cut short into a smart crew cut, with an eyepatch covering his right eye and an overall wolfish demeanor characterizing his scarred facial features. He wore the rank of a Rear Admiral, yet his status was easily apparent by the reaction of several bridge officers upon his arrival. Yet, now was not the time for distant adoration or recognition, as their discipline took over and they returned frantically to their duties. Rear Admiral Aximand Sicarus quickly closed the distance from the turbolift to the Captain of the ship, maintaining a calm disposition that a man of his rank needed to have; especially in situations such as these. He did not need to say a word for the Captain to regard him, but that was all that occurred between the two men as the Zabraki quickly set about issuing further orders in an attempt to salvage the situation.

Both men knew such an end was distant at best. The Dvorak and her light escort had been ambushed upon exiting lightspeed in this remote section of Imperial space, at first emerging here with the intention of answering a seeming distress signal within the system. Soon after their arrival however, they were met with overpowering force by a force one could only assumed belonged to a splinter faction of the Eclipse Rebellion. Had this been any other day, Aximand’s former flagship along with her typical escort would have made short work of the ambushing force, yet... it seemed as though their attackers knew he was devoid of his ship during this particular excursion. In fact, one could say this attack was perfectly timed, as Aximand was currently en route to take command of his new flagship - a specially designed Regency-type Battlecruiser.

The Rear Admiral was indeed a prime target whilst being ferried within a Heavy Cruiser - the Demeton being a formidable class of ship during normal military engagements, but easily overwhelmed if caught unawares as the skirmish clearly showed. The majority of his meager escorts had either been destroyed outright or separated from the Dvorak herself, with squadrons of enemy fighters picking apart what remained of her shields and forcing her into the gravitational pull of a nearby terrestrial world. Although the Zabraki Captain - named Re’nar Fel - appeared tranquil in the face of such a situation, it was clear he could feel the pressure. He was chosen for this assignment due to his reputation within the Eternal Fleet, yet it was becoming increasingly clear that he would be the Captain of the ship that failed to safely convey Admiral Sicarus.

Aximand did not envy him such a reputation, nor did he envy the officer the thankless and increasingly futile task of salvaging the situation from certain defeat. The certainty of their situation was punctuated by yet another major explosion which rocked through the ship, causing a different sounding alarm to pierce through the bridge. For the first time within the few minutes Aximand had spent upon the bridge, it appeared as though Captain Fel was forced to resign himself to the reality of the situation. The Zabraki captain keyed in a command to his console, with his voice echoing over the ship’s PA system: ”All hands... abandon ship. Proceed immediately to your nearest escape pods.”

After making the announcement, the Zabraki captain turned to Aximand and said: ”That means you too sir.”

As Aximand was about to speak a word in protest, the captain rose a hand and interrupted him: ”Sir, no one disputes your valor, but this is my ship. My orders are to protect you, and right now - the safest course of action is for you to get on the damned escape pod.”

A gentle hand rested upon Aximand’s arm, with his adjutant Janine giving him a knowing look. He knew it was the right decision, and despite his nature coaxing him to remain aboard and do what all commanding officers were expected to do, he allowed himself to be led to the bridge’s escape pod blister. Within the next few minutes, dozens of escape pods were shot out from the ship’s flaming hull, with several starfighters buzzing about viciously as they attempted to pursue the escaping crewmen. As the bridge complement was reduced to those who chose to remain with their captain, they quickly set about redirecting what power remained to intensifying the anti-aircraft umbrella the Dvorak was capable of casting with her flak guns and AA blasters. The dying ship’s firepower was increased just enough to discourage the fighters nearby from pursuing the majority of the pods, which sped down to the ancient ecumenopolis below.

Not but a few minutes after doing so, the Dvorak crashed into a ruined section of the planet-wide city below, its abused hull bearing enough strength to completely disintegrate a stone tower beneath her as her hulk drove through the remaining buildings immediately below her. The pursuing fightercraft disengaged momentarily as the ship strained from the final amounts of abuse she underwent, until something managed to hit at just the right angle to cause a reactor overload. The explosion was magnificent, decimating miles around the site of impact in an ignoble end to a once great ship within Her Majesty’s naval forces. Meanwhile, Aximand and a handful of others packed within the same escape pod waited in bated breath as the emergency craft barrelled through the air, eventually causing them all to lurch violently as it impacted the ground several miles deeper into the city. Nearly all within passed out, darkness dominating their consciousness...

 

[Lyssa Io]

Lyssa ran as fast as he design allowed for, but she knew it was bad already, given the number of escape pods she saw launching.

She felt the impact even from here. Though she was at the very edges of the impact, some of the shockwave still slammed into her, flinging her backward into a building.

When she impacted, she turned into a puddle , splashing into fat drops of mercury everywhere, weapons clattering to the ground.

The puddles of Nanites slowly coalesced back together, rebuilding slowly over the course of ten minutes back into her human form. She heard the blaring of her comlink and immediately went over to it.

It was partly damaged.

"General? Are you reading me?" Pete the Mercenary Droid asked.

"Roger, Pete. Go ahead."

"That was a Demeton that crashed! What the hell is EE doing out here?"

"The Empress is under no obligation to tell us any of her movements. Besides, we're in EE space. That said it is surprising they'd be in this area."

"Orders?"

"Mission Parameters have altered. Whatever shot the Demeton down will be sending people to finish the Job. Get your scanners and lock on to distress signals from the escape pods. We have to intercept them before their enemies do."

"What will you do?"

"The same."

"Bs advised, we detected some kind of Ion Storm slowly picking up strength. Pretty strong too...even our Electronics might be affected.

"Send one of your brothers back to the camp as quickly as you can, try to get a signal out to friendlies before the storm overtakes us completely. Out."

Lyssa begin sprinting again after gathering her weapons, but it wasn't long before she saw Starfighters streaking overhead...and a combat shuttle, followed by a CR-90 Corvette.

Lyssa watched through her carbine as the Assault Shuttle dropped off heavily armed commandos...and Jedi.

Lyssa raised an eyebrow. There was an HVT here.

The Jedi would make a direct beeline to who they were after, guided by their precious energy field, Lyssa realized. She wanted to find the HVT, she would have to follow the Jedi.

Lyssa moved quietly in the field, careful to stay far from the group as she followed them. They moved with Purpose. Knew what they were after.

And they were clearly already on the surface...they must have a hidden base here to take the HVT to...

The Ion Storm would sever communication eventually, so they were likely counting on keeping him here or moving him somewhere undisclosed off world...and the fact they were so heavily armed, and in such large numbers...

Whoever they were after must be truly precious.

Lyssa followed through blasted apart and burning streets, through shattered gargoylesuntil she watched them come across an escape pod

Lyssa eventually watched as the Jedi used Telekinesis to rip open the pod hatch. Lyssa watched through the carbine scope, Nanite forged eyes widened as she heard the name called out by the Jedi.

"Admiral Aximand Sicarus , by the will of the Living Force, you are under arrest. Surrender immediately."

The Corvette was still overhead. She rushed now, they might decide to try firing at her with it...she would have to be patient...

 

[Aximand Sicarus]

LOCATION: Escape Capsule, planetside.
TAGS: Lyssa Io

Some people dream when they are unconscious, and others are simply knocked out cold. Aximand was out cold in every sense of the phrase. In such a state, time passes by as readily as a water bucket with a head-sized hole cut into the bottom of it. His senses slowly began to return to him, starting with the sounds of shifting around him. His vision returned shortly after his hearing, at first with blurred images in the darkness, and soon adapting to the dim light provided by a single red LED. Several others within the tightly packed pod were still unconscious, yet one other person was moving about moderately easier than Aximand felt he could. By the look of them, it was a Human male wearing the uniform of an Ensign, likely among the bridge crew on assignment during the orbital battle. Aximand glanced over to examine the remainder of the pod, which appeared in relatively good condition considering their rapid insertion.

He directed his attention to the Ensign, and when he spoke; an incoherent rasp exited his lips instead of words. This was sufficient to attract the attention of the Ensign, who quickly rushed over to his side. ”Admiral! How are you feeling sir?” The junior officer checked the Admiral’s vitals, with Aximand shortly responding in a more clear voice:

”I feel... like we should find a better pilot next time.” A small hint of humor was laced within Aximand’s voice, which coaxed a slight chuckle from the Ensign in turn. The beleaguered Admiral attempted to rise to his elbows so as to lean up slightly, to which the Ensign reacted quickly to help him. In short order, Aximand was able to rise to his feet and get a better look at the condition of the remainder of the crew. Janine was collapsed alongside his previous position, yet her vitals were strong. She would likely awaken anytime now. Another, an unfortunate ultranaut marine; had landed the wrong way on his head, causing his neck to snap and contort his helmet in an unnatural vector from the rest of his body. Two others were in the pod, both of whom were stable and should awaken soon enough.

The time for taking stock and regrouping was at an end, as the access hatch of the pod was viciously yanked off of its latches and hinges; flying through the air into piles of wreckage from the cruiser that had only recently impacted into the city. Aximand’s reflexes forced him to lean back further into the pod, while the Ensign turned to face the opening. Then came the demanding voice.

”Admiral Sicarus, by the will of the living force, you are under arrest. Surrender immediately.”

Aximand hardly had time to think about the situation before the Ensign, motivated by either some measure of vainglory or stupidity, drew his pistol and attempted to level it at the team of ambushers outside of the pod. No sooner had he managed to level it, did a trio of well aimed shots impact squarely into his chest. A spray of blood washed across the pod, peppering over Aximand's face as he stared at the unmoving form of the Ensign. The name ‘Darvis’ was embroidered across the front of his uniform upon his left breast, a look of grim determination etched on his face. The Admiral committed the name to memory, so he could personally inform his mother about his sacrifice.

If he made it out of here alive, of course. As if to provide clarity to that unspoken dilemma, the same voice spoke again: ”No one else needs to die, Admiral. You are out of options. It’s over.” It was not like Aximand to accept defeat. The years of tactical experience took over as his eye raced around the pod, searching for something... anything to rebalance the situation in his favor. Finally, his eye rested upon the still unconscious face of his adjutant. She appeared so... peaceful in her current state. She would live, but not if he decided to make a foolhardy last stand here. He glanced ever so slightly around the edge of the pod, spying the appearance of Eclipse rebels and what appeared to be... a Jedi?

The implications of who that Jedi represented were unclear, but promising. Although the Hidden Enclave was an enemy to the Empire, they had always conducted themselves with honor when it came to prisoners. The same could not be said for the Eclipse Rebels. But perhaps the Jedi’s presence would secure the survival of, if not himself - the crew who remained oblivious to the situation they all were in. He allowed a resigned sigh to escape his lips as he raised his hands, letting them be the first thing to be seen from the access hatch as he slowly maneuvered over the corpse of the Ensign. His head and torso came into view next, followed by his feet stepping carefully from within the pod, and onto the solid ground beneath.

”On your knees!” came another voice, sounding as if it came from behind him at an angle. Without so much as a fidget, the Admiral stopped in his tracks, and slowly lowered himself onto his knees. His eye focused on the original speaker, a Jedi adorned in brown robes, with a lightsaber strapped to his thigh. Nearly two dozen rebels flanked him, all of whom trained their weapons upon the pod.

No, on him.

The second speaker approached from the Admiral’s blindspot, but judging from the pattern of his breaths, was quite excited at the capture of the infamous naval commander. Judging from the expressions upon the soldiers he could see, exuberant was probably more accurate. After gaining the measure of them, Aximand finally spoke. ”Aximand Sicarus, serial number 0459A46, Rear Admiral of Her Majesty’s Eternal Fleet.” He fell silent, along with the rest of his captors, after stating his name, rank, and serial number. Finally, he added with a deadpan expression: ”That is all of the information you will get from me.”

His tone was deadpan, carrying a certain resolve that it would seem those around him had not yet encountered. Most reports had indicated the Eclipse Rebels had captured very few targets of consequence - patrol officers, Imperial Bureaucrats - no one the Empire could not replace within a few hours at worst. But a Rear Admiral was a singularly unique target, and it was clear none of them had been exposed to an Imperial with the air of command Aximand possessed.

None of them, except the man who slammed the butt of his rifle across Aximand’s face. It felt as though a train smashed across Aximand’s face, but that was likely an over exaggeration born from being knocked around in the capsule. The assault was punctuated by a very audible sound of the man spitting on Aximand’s face. The moisture impacted against the spot of impact, which did nothing to ease the pain radiating throughout Aximand’s whole upper body. Yet, the Admiral slowly, and stubbornly righted himself back up into his kneeling position.

Within moments, other soldiers rushed up to restrain the offending soldier, with the Jedi staring at the partisan with a disapproving glare. As this happened, Aximand noticed his pistol had fallen from his holster and into the mud behind him. He shifted slightly, hiding the weapon with his leg, pinning it underneath in a fairly non-chalant manner. Now was not the time to try and secure his release, but hopefully an opening would present itself soon.

 

[Lyssa Io]

Lyssa watched as one of the soldiers lost discipline and hit Aximand Sicarus in the face.

Lyssa kept working out the tactical situation in her head. An assault shuttle hovering overhead was bad enough, but that corvette was the real trouble. The Rear Admiral would likely be taken aboard the shuttle first. If she went out into the open now either of those vehicles could blast her to smithereens from above. She would have her work cut out for her just with that Jedi and the Spec Ops unit.

Lyssa narrowed down her options rapidly until there was only one left, and even that one only had a forty percent chance of success. She got out her comlink, sending out a coded series of taps, telling any nearby squad to get her as soon as possible. They would know what to do

Lyssa left a few drops of herself behind in case she failed. Then she started sprinting, planning her path on where she saw it circling around before it landed. Her body reformed a piece of itself into a throwing knife as she moved with superhuman speed alongside it's flight path. She was inevitably spotted of course, and the side gunner opened fire, forcing her to duck and weave through ruined buildings as the shots pounded around her. It was now or never.

She leapt, twisting in mid air as she threw it, but not at the gunner, but at the inside of the shuttle interior, with a strength exceeding that of a Wookiee. It impacted, splashing apart into fat drops of mercury which rushed into the piloting section, seeping into the controls before anyone realized what was happening.

The Nanites rapidly integrated themselves, seizing control of all system functions, and stealing control from the pilot.

The pilot frantically tried to get control of the vessel but to no avail, the shuttle jerking violently as the gunner, who had managed to blast one of Lyssa's arms off was violently thrown out of the shuttle screaming to his death as Lyssa ran alongside the shuttle, remotely controlling it, steering it to a particular section of the Corvette, while firing every on board weapon it had...

The blast from the impact rocked the Corvettes, for it's targeting system had been destroyed in the suicide run, and heavily weakened it's shields.

The Spec Ops team below reacted to the horror, their comms going crazy with damage reports as many turned to the site of the explosion above them.

Now Lyssa acted.

Forming a crude tentacle of Nanites, Lyssa gripped her Carbine and began firing rapidly in a semi auto at the ones who were still focused on the Admiral, blasting through their heads, sowing confusion as the rest turned to watch their comrades fall dead from the shots, some of which got aimed at the Jedi, through he caught them with Telekinesis...only to be shot at from long range by sniper fire, forced to move as one of the black and blue Mercenary Droids, having taken a position long range and using DC-17M Rifles in their Sniper Configuration blasted at him, others firing their rocket launchers at the Corvette to try and do further damage, while Lyssa sprinted forward, having dropped her carbine after it ran out and deciding to use her energy bow Pistol, firing quiet bolts that slammed into faces even as she got peppered with more return fire, , blasting more sliver chunks off her.

Hopefully this would give Aximand a chance to do whatever he could...

 

[Aximand Sicarus]

LOCATION: Escape Capsule, planetside.
TAGS: Lyssa Io

Aximand seethed at the treatment he had received at the hands of his captors, yet to his credit remained stoic in the face of it all. The Jedi stepped forward and returned his gaze upon the Rear Admiral. ”I apologize for the actions of my companions. Despite our differences, there is no need for this to not be civil.” The Jedi’s tone was calm; genuine even. Aximand had only met a handful of Jedi personally in his life, such as Jax Thio, and a Silver Jedi delegation that had chosen to meet with the Eternal Empire on Commenor. They had been genteel enough, yet he knew how capable they were in a fight. Despite the situation he was currently in, his mind raced through several scenarios about how this could play out; his eyes searching for any angle he could play to his advantage. Despite himself though, he knew the chances of getting out of this situation alive and free of capture were almost zero. At least, that’s what he thought...

Gunfire was the first sign of promise in his situation, from the shuttle above as they traced the running form of... what appeared to be a naked woman. She ran with a speed Aximand deemed almost unnatural for any sentient woman, and when several shots found purchase against her form, he almost thought her heroics for nought... until she kept running. She attracted the attention of several on the ground, yet it was too late for them to prevent what was about to happen.

Aximand did not see exactly what she threw into the shuttle, but whatever it was; it was able to cause the shuttle to careen on an impact trajectory into the corvette hovering above them. It crashed into the side of the small warship, causing it to also shift and list violently. She appeared again, this time firing upon the group of soldiers with well aimed three round bursts. Several fell from her fire, yet the Jedi soon acted - raising his hand and stopping the hail of fire abruptly, as if frozen in time. His defensive act was soon interrupted by sniper fire coming from another direction, and additional blaster fire from attackers within the surrounding terrain. Chaos began to unfold around him, and his instincts kicked in.

He quickly grasped his sidearm from the dirt beneath his leg, leveling it at the Jedi Master who scrambled to avoid the sniper fire. The barrel of his blaster faced the exposed side of the Jedi, and Aximand wasted no time in pulling the trigger. Both barrels - one containing a high-intensity energy bolt, the other a slug round; burst forth and impacted through the Jedi’s robes and into his soft tissue. Aximand wasted no time, as he shot a second time, then a third. Four more holes were made, two within the Jedi’s gut, and two in his exposed chest. The Jedi fell onto his back, clutching the mortal wounds, but Aximand did not wait to confirm the inevitable. The Rear Admiral quickly rose to his feet and scrambled over for cover behind a pile of debris approximately five feet away. Blaster bolts impacted in the dirt behind his feet, with several partisans catching sight of his escape attempt. Aximand reached the debris pile, and fired two more shots at his attackers. One missed, but the other caused the partisan who had previously struck him to buckle from a ravaged collarbone.

A few shots were fired from within the escape pod, clearly a few of its passengers rousing from their unconscious state. Thus far, the previously unthinkable was becoming a reality as the numbers of his attackers began to thin.

 

[Lyssa Io]

The House Io Mercenary Droids, realizing that the Corvette posed the more serious threat at the moment, began directing more and more missile fire at the most damaged section, multiple impacts slamming into it, causing it to lurch violently in the air. One of The Mercenary Droids still continued to snipe people that tried to fire on Aximand Sicarus , while Lyssa got closer, now full of large and small holes across her frame and still she was closing inhumanly fast, shooting and slashing away. Arms and heads tumbled away from Torso's, and the cries of horror and pain as she killed them bothered even her. It never had before.

None the less, the Admiral had found cover and was being shot at but as she got closer, the focus went from him and back to the silver blooded tech abomination slicing up their friends.

Half her head was blown off as she drew closer, but her bladed limbs kept moving, her Nanites forming fast moving bladed tendrils that rapidly sliced into them, spraying blood and gore everywhere, other pod survivors emerging to shoot at whoever was shooting at her OR them.

What had started as a well organized capture had devolved into a frenzied slaughter, disciplined, hardened veterans being butchered like cattle. Lyssa kept moving and slicing, moving and slicing, the Corvette taking more missile fire until it was finally forced to outright withdraw from the space and retreat, likely to land. Of course, everyone aboard that Corvette was quite likely Mega-Pissed at this point so they would likely send out whoever else they had in full force.

Lyssa slashed apart another Eclipse Rebellion goon and the other survivors panicked and tried to run, only to be gunned downed by her when she grabbed one of their Varco-56 Rifles.

Then she turned to face the pod survivors and Aximand, still behind cover. None of the Survivors took their weapons off her, full of slashes and holes slowly sealing up.

"Admiral Sicarus, we cannot stay here. We must move if we are to evade the follow up search team within the next few minutes." she stated in her typically creepy serene tone. Her utterly still nature, not even breathing, was the only reason she had not been fired on yet.

"My name is Lyssa. I was built by a...friendly..." she said carefully, not sure what rank the other Pod survivors had. But Aximand was higher ranking: He had almost surely heard how the Bryn'adul's ruling Council had been butchered not just by the Empress but by two highly advanced Prototype Nanite Assassin Droids sent by Darth Xiphos. Even with the Adrenaline, it might hopefully be registering to him she wasn't hostile.

But still, given the fact she was a shot up abomination, slowly repairing itself, she wasn't exactly capable of rendering trust at a first glance.

 

[Aximand Sicarus]

LOCATION: Escape Capsule, planetside.
TAGS: Lyssa Io

While Aximand considered himself a decent shot, and had commended himself well in the brief span of time which had elapsed since he had taken cover and began taking shots at those who had meant to capture him; the display presented by the being who lept and gyrated about with bladed arms was another thing entirely. Although he was initially taken aback by the sheer amount of punishment she seemed capable of enduring, it did not take long to deduce she was not an organic being. No, judging from the way in which she moved, and the way in which she doggedly kept going despite her grievous wounds, it was not hard to arrive at the conclusion that “she” was an android of some sort.

This was confirmed when she mopped up the last of the partisans, and her body began the process of mending itself together. Suddenly, the android technology of House Io came to mind. He had heard rumors of android-like operatives under their banner who had helped at the battle of Danuta, along with combat droids who aided in the fighting on the ground. When she mentioned that she was from a ‘friend’, he couldn’t think of any other entity that fit the bill other than House Io. Even still, despite the very fact she had endured cataclysmic levels of damage that would kill a normal sentient several times over, and yet still stood and began healing from her wounds; he found it hard to believe the only logical conclusion before him.

If she was indeed an android, she must have been a very advanced version. He wanted to ask her more questions, yet as she aptly put it, they needed to get moving - and fast. He rose from his crouched position at the same time as the survivors within the pod emerged. Janine was the first to exit, her sidearm clasped firmly in her hands as she approached slowly. A Togorian Lieutenant Stood at her side, along with an ensign wearing security officer markings - who alone wielded a carbine. All three figures did not immediately point their weapons at the figure before them, but stood with a sense of readiness all the same. Aximand nodded at the trio, then directed his attention back at the ‘android’. ”Agreed...”

Some may well question his apparent ‘easy’ decision to trust this droid, but considering the situation they were in - he didn’t exactly have a choice. If the droid wanted him dead, he’d already be dead by now. In his mind, little could be risk to simply relocate and hash this out later. He reloaded his pistol, and awaited the droid to lead the way out of here.

 

[Lyssa Io]

Lyssa nodded and silently gestured for everyone to follow her. She made quick, efficient movements through the ruins of the ancient city, always making certain Aximand Sicarus and the other survivors were able to follow her, the damage she had sustained slowly reversing itself as she moved along, heading into some of the less damaged streets. It wasn't long before the House Io Mercenary Droids linked up with her, their blue and black painted chassis scratched and dusty from the recent fighting.

"Relax, they're with me..." Lyssa explained to the others before going to the one in charge. One thing that might be immediately unsettling about the Mercenary Droids to a casual observer was that though they were essentially upgraded B1's, they had an individualism to their walk, and strange little markings on their chassis, all with an obvious pattern, such as tally or even question marks or exclamation points.

"Report." Lyssa ordered as everyone ducked into the remains of a cathedral.

"Two of the other scout teams managed to reach the pods before Eclipse Rebellion could get to them. But there are at least a dozen other pods on the planet surface that we simply have no way of reaching and would expose us to simply too much enemy fire in the process." The Droid answered in a gruff, Synthetic voice of a Fett Clone, very pointedly glancing at Aximand before staring back at the still quite damaged Lyssa.

"They've pulled out all the stops for Admiral Sicarus. We got reports of multiple Jedi tangos and other heavily armed Special Forces Units. One of us spotted a few members of what looked to be some sort of elite Jedi Unit, armed with wrist blasters and scopes built into their masks."

Lyssa frowned.

"Is Alpha Site compromised?" Lyssa asked.

"Completely. Had to booby-trap it. Beta Site is up and running though. Its the path to it that bothers me. Lots of wide open avenues and the bastards will have air patrols looking for any movement below. Frankly, I wouldn't waste it on a broke-leg Gizka." (Anytime: 90 XP)

"Meaning we'll have to go into the sewer system underground or move from cover to cover and take the long way around." Lyssa realized.

"The Longer way may be the safest one. We get cornered in the sewers, we won't have a lot of room to retreat. And we don't have good maps." The Merc Droid replied.

"We'll use it as a last resort then..." Lyssa said, fully repaired, now resembling the immaculate young woman with a metallic silver catsuit she had started as. "Did you get a message out?"

"No. The storm in the Atmosphere was too strong to be overcome. Our estimates say it will be at least two days before we could hope to send even a garbled message out."

Everyone stopped as they heard the sound of a combat shuttle fly faintly by.

"We have to move again to evade what will almost certainly turn into a systemic sweep." Lyssa reasoned. "Do we have any weapons to spare?"

"Nabbed a few of those Varco Rifles. Chit practically screams mid-tier but it will get you through a scrape. Could only secure about three though. Five clips in between them all. No Grenade rounds for the Launcher on them."

"What about the other survivors?"

"The other two teams are escorting their survivors to Beta Site as we speak. They had the advantage of being much closer than we are." The Merc Droid answered

Lyssa at last turned to face Aximand.

"We'll have to start moving again, and within the next few minutes. With what they have deployed to capture you, there is no way we won't be sniffed out by Jedi. Beta Site alone will barely buy us the time we will need from Force Adepts. How bad are your injuries?" Lyssa asked all of them. "We were a limited scouting team, only meant to be here two or three days. We had no idea you would even be in this system. We were looking for potential Eclipse Rebellion hiding spots. We unfortunately hit the jackpot. I can only give you another three minutes before we head out again. Better catch your breath while you still can."

 

[Aximand Sicarus]

LOCATION: The Silent City
TAGS: Lyssa Io

As the party proceeded through the ruins of the city, Aximand grew more certain in his suspicions of who this android was aligned with, with said suspicions becoming all but confirmed upon sight of the black and blue droids of House Io. There were many questions running through his mind, centering around; why was House Io here in the first place? Those questions would have to wait however, as Lyssa received a report from the battle droids they had rendezvoused with. While ‘she’ proceeded to converse with the droid, Aximand wordlessly observed the interaction with the same appraising, impassive demeanor he always seemed to adopt when serving in an official capacity.

He would occasionally spare a glance over to Janine, who returned his attention with a reassuring smile, however faint and fleeting. In short order, the android would finish the debriefing and return to Aximand. Within the first few statements, she appeared to resolve the question he had regarding House Io’s presence here, although it gave birth to several follow up questions. The first of them was rather simple; what (or who) gave House Io a mandate to conduct clandestine operations on the Empire’s behalf in this sector of space? His second question was rather sardonic by comparison, and revolved around the reason she gave for their presence in the first place.

While Aximand did not claim to be an expert in House Io’s operations or inner workings by any means, he had interacted with them on one occasion of note when inspecting a specialized medical ship they had built for the Eternal Fleet. He came away from that meeting with a distinct impression that they did not do anything without a motive, or without some greater purpose. While it wasn’t overtly stated in the meeting, Aximand had his keen suspicions that they were actively involving themselves in the growth of the Eternal Empire’s armed forces, as well as in support of the Empire’s military operations, for the purpose of ingratiating themselves into Imperial Society. Although he did not know the details, he knew they had fallen from grace some time ago within the former CIS, and had been forced into a collective life of exile.

Despite their clear ability to survive and defend themselves, a life without a country was harder than people realized; particularly in a galaxy as tumultuous as this one. But was House Io really so altruistic as to dedicate any amount of resources simply to sniff out rogue elements within the Empire? Aside from further ingratiating themselves into the Imperial hierarchy, what could they hope to gain? He didn’t have the answers, and doubted they would just be offered out of the goodness of this droid’s ‘heart’. But Aximand was also not one to look a gift-fathier in the mouth. ”We are in your debt. Thus far, it appears we are all well enough except minor scratches and abrasions. I’m afraid you have me at a bit of a disadvantage, for it appears you all are aware of who I am. How... shall I address you?” Aximand was also not an expert in terms of how a droid preferred to be addressed.

Today would be a very informative one for sure.

 

[Lyssa Io]

"Lyssa will do, Admiral." Lyssa answered. "I'm afraid treating your minor injuries must wait. We simply didn't anticipate conducting an extraction of an HVT such as yourself. Please follow us."

Ten minutes later...

Lyssa and the Droids kept a brisk, alert pace as they escorted Aximand Sicarus and the survivors through the streets. The Nanite Android hid it, but the gothic nature of the Abandoned City planet, with it's strange Gargoyle statues, looming over them, the whine of combat shuttles flying overhead about a kilometer off unnerved her. It was an aggressive search pattern and night was starting to fall. Lyssa shifted the surface of her body from the neck down into a very dark blue, non reflective color.

The crackle of the ion Storm overhead gave an ominous feel, for Lyssa suspected it wasn't natural. But they had to keep moving, closer and closer to their route.

One of the B1 Droids signalled to everyone to stop as they moved through the streets, spotting a pile of bodies, and cautiously went to examine it with Lyssa.

"Eclipse Rebellion Spec Ops..." Pete the Mercenary Droid remarked in his synthetic Fett Clone voice. "Slashed apart at close range. Not by us. Too...messy."

Lyssa glanced around. Saw the gargoyles. Noticed the blaster shots near their perches.

"I suspect multiple hostiles are above us..." Lyssa whispered to Pete. "This ambush, whatever it was, occured directly on the route we need to take."

"We don't have a choice. Those search shuttles are going to come through this area in the next five minutes. We have to keep moving through this route, it's the one farthest away from the main route." Pete responded. "We stop, try and find cover again now, we go into their dragnet. Once we enter it, it'll be difficult to escape it. We're barely ahead of the search teams as is."

Lyssa stood back up, retrieving only a single grenade, the rest of the slain group's ammunition having been spent trying to stop whatever had killed them.

She went over quietly to the Admiral.

"I think we might have another problem..." she said to the Admiral very quietly. "Don't make any sudden gestures. Just glance above you with your eyes only. That's where most of the fire was poured before they were wiped out. Something is watching us. Be ready to run. Stick close to me."

Lyssa proceeded at a regular pace, using cover, the other droids surrounding the injured survivors to better protect them from ambushes. Lyssa didn't know what had killed them, but she kept her Energy Bow Pistol ready for when she found out.

As she walked, sticking close to Aximand, she made note of the impacts on the building from the bolts of the slain Soldiers. They must have been too far away for the other search teams to have heard. Meaning they had scouted ahead for the recon and search teams or had been hear already.

There had to be a rebel base here, somewhere.

Movement from above caught her attention and she fired on instinct. The bolt that came out of the crossbow like pistol had less of a glare, and had an unusually quiet firing noise.

The bolt slammed into a "Gargoyle" that had moved revealing an autocaster popping out of a well concealed section of it stony arm.

"Contact, 11 O Clock, Elevated." Pete The Mercenary Droid grunted, blasting it.

Two others came to life, each sprouting Vibroweapons on their arms. Lyssa presumed this was what had slain the first group of Rebel Soldiers and opened fire in addition to two other Mercenary Droids as well. They moved fast but playing dummy had worked out in their favor, catching the gargoyle droids off guard before they could initiate an ambush proper. But not all of the gargoyles were coming alive, just these three. Lyssa formed her arm into a sword to deflect the crossbow bolts hurled from the initial attacker.

One Droid, Adam, whipped out, of all things, a forty five caliber Revolver, fanning the hammer into the face of one of the blade using Gargoyles, exploding it, but the other was still coming, seemingly more heavily armored. The autocaster gargoyle had used repulsor wings to fly off to another perch, and Lyssa kept firing at it, forcing it to take cover.

"Keep moving!" she said, staying close to Aximand as she hit it in the face.

One more gargoyle, above Aximand moved, letting out a Electronic roar...