DO YOU WISH TO SAVE YOUR PROGRESS?
(NARRATOR:
Types "Yes")
The Io Battle Cruiser on Tython had taken significant amounts of damage at this point, and half it's hull was damaged, minor fires starting to erupt, but the damn thing wasn't dead. It's A.I. directing frantic crew to put out fires in Multiple sections. Whole decks having collapsed from the terrible damage sustained. People and Droids were buried in wreckage, struggling to stay alive, calling for help. It was a scene being repeated in Battle Group A in space. For even though they had dealt absolutely
crippling blows to the Fatalis, even though they had successfully redirected most of the terrible firepower back upon the Avatar itself, they had paid with it in countless lives each time a battle Cruiser or Destroyer was lost, and the ones that had survived were truly facing hell inside their Cruisers, as they struggled to clear debris and wreckage.
Each member of the House knew there would be a terrible price in blood to be paid, a price that might end up being for nothing if they failed to destroy the Avatar.
They had known this, and the fanatical hatred and drive for revenge against The Brotherhood had made them decide the risk was worth it.
But they had made friends in the House. And while each and every Nuetralizer was prepared to die--
---the reality of actually having to make that sacrifice, and in such a horrific way, was still absolutely crushing.
A massive number of crewman, about thirty five to forty percent of each destroyed ship had it to the escape pods. They would be forced to watch as the rest of their friends died to destroy the Fatalis and open a window for the other fleets to punch into the Avatar.
Either way it went, Xiphos would feel the effects of this day for a long time forward. She felt the death of those aboard her ships, and though she forced herself ahead, in spite of her madness, the loss of those people and her children were like lance to her heart. She stopped talking after she felt the death of a Fourth Battle Cruiser. Three left, two Destroyers left, and the rest hanging on, the fire meant for them redirected by The magic of the Cult.
Their losses had been truly awful. It always hurt Xiphos to know even one of her children was dying to thwart the plans of the enemy. But to feel so
many of her children dying...
It was a torture worse than
anything
Tu'teggacha
could have inflicted. The sobering reality of all that death, of her citizens, burning in space, seemed to hit all at once, like a sledgehammer as she waited in the large turbolift she
forced to work properly with her technopathy.
It had been a long, grueling, and brutal slaughter. They had lost nearly all of the Model 3 units following them. Her own armor was badly damaged, and any more major hits and she was likely going to have to abandon it if it took any more serious damage.
The Amalgam was doing well. But she was clearly winded from the effort. Maple, in spite of that living armor enhancing her ability, looked ready to drop. All the Nuetralizers were heavily damaged.
Xiphos began to think about whether there were actual limits to trying to destroy the Maw. The brutal tactics she had employed as the war went on. How many of her children she had sent to their death, how many of her Organic Citizens that she had trained for their shot at revenge who had died screaming on the ground or in the void.
Had she really needed to be here, commit her forces here? Would it have been better to just go by herself and the assault teams?
Would have been better to just let the Maw destroy Tython, and do nothing?
Xiphos tried to fight the surge of remorse in her. The wave of crushing
guilt that hit her.
They die for a glorious purpose she heard The Amalgam whisper in her head, having felt her doubt and regret.
They die so that Reality is not rewritten to the standards of Solipsis and the whim of the Maw.
Xiphos shuddered internally as she felt their desperate fight to survive, at least long enough to tear a large enough hole into Maw defense lines for the rest of the Allies fleets to assault The Avatar of War, to try and destroy it from the outside if it was not possible to destroy it from within.
She reassessed her reasoning, everything that had led to this moment, every choice she had made. Her children were built for war, but they suffered and died. She was a wanted war criminal by every faction with Jedi in it. She wanted them to suffer, yet she went out of her way to prevent a planet they owned from being destroyed. Even if she was successful,
none of her enemies would acknowledge it, and hunt her just as relentlessly as if she had suddenly decided to betray them at the last minute. Or if she had stayed out of the battle entirely.
Xiphos knew she was close to being totally insane. And it frightened her.
And even if they did succeed, what then? Where do you go from
here?
As the turbolift opened, The Amalgam scowled. Somehow,
Joseph Torson
had
effortlessly escaped the deadly onslaught, the Dark Side Barrier of wreckage literally blocking his way, the zombies, the portals. And not only that, he had somehow
still gotten ahead while the team running from him had had a full head start. Only the knowledge that the ritual was meant to track and follow him, that he and the Super Commandos could not escape the Darkness so easily kept her from trying to find a way to go there herself.
They were finally in the Reactor Section...
Meanwhile...
The Nutrient Storage Assault team had sustained more casualties, ambushes by pockets of Mawites desperate to slow them down. All the Nuetralizers had suffered significant damage to their chassis, but had ruthlessly cut down ten for every bit of damage dealt. Yet
somehow, Torson would get ahead of them.
At least, he
would have, if one of the Dark Portals The Amalgam had torn open across the Super Weapon had not opened up.
They stopped, hesitated at the presence of the foul black portal. Kevin the Black Knight stepped ahead, armor scorched and dented. He had a broken rib, that was barely healing up thanks to his armor
An emaciated, purple skinned hand beckoned them, reaching out from the liquid like doorway to elsewhere.
Kevin, seeing no other choice, and reasoning that if whatever was on the other side wanted to attack them, it would have, Kevin gestured for everyone to follow him.
He felt
cold. To the bone.
The realm on the other side was a place of moving shadows and a stone path over a void. Blood flowed from the darkness "above" to a reflecting pool in the middle of a great stone floor floating in darkness.
Above that pool, hovered the Goddess of the Cult of The Brain Demon, a being resembling an emaciated, naked female Togrutan with purple skin, a blank where her face should be.
("Fairy Fountain Theme" Plays)
Kevin slowly, hesitantly went forward, the other Nuetralizers hesitant, not understanding what they were seeing around them.
"Come forward, Mortal. You should be honored to be addressed." The Brain Demon hissed without lips, yet they heard it all the same.
"Not a praying sort." Kevin replied, not moving.
"No one is, at first."
"I thought Gods usually let the Mortals do the dirty work." Kevin rumbled.
"Not today. Or at least, not me." The Brain Demon said. "I am a manifestation of The Dark Side. And these Mawite fools would try to overthrow all that the Bogan has built."
"I thought The Dark Side just wanted Destruction."
"A gross oversimplification." The Brain Demon hissed. "No matter what any Sith on their side says, anybody looking to completely kill it's business is NOT acting in its interest. Or anyone else's for that matter."
"The Cult doesn't seem to think Solipsis has a chance in hell of actually rewriting or erasing the universe.
"He doesn't. He could do everything right, and something would still go wrong at the last moment. But the insolence of the Maw in thinking
they can end the Cycle, that they even have a right to
attempt it, must be punished in the harshest possible terms. A message must be sent, to every follower of the Bogan in the future who would dare try what Solipsis has done: that they shall have all that they think they have won eventually stripped from them. And burned with them."
Kevin looked to his right as an image appeared as if being seen through a pool. It showed the fight playing out between
Ryv
and
Darth Solipsis
. The Sith was severely wounded, basically keeping himself from succumbing to his wounds via his pure hatred of Life and The Galaxy.
He heard The Brain Demon sigh. Even though there wasn't a mouth to sigh with.
"He has such potential in
this Galaxy, yet he wastes it on the vanity of trying to end the universe. He could have accomplished
so much more with his power. Yet now he is reduced to fighting for his life against a boy being propped up by everyone Solipsis has ever whacked." The Brain Demon sneered.
"We do have a prior engagement..." Kevin pointed out.
"I'm aware of that. But time moves different here. You haven't even been gone four seconds over there."
"Why are we here?"
"The Hand of Judgement has managed to make it ahead of you. They guard the main stairway to Nutrient Storage. Not a scratch on them."
Kevin sighed. He
knew The Hand of Judgement had gotten lucky. Too lucky.
"What are our options?"
"You cannot afford to fight your way through them, Kevin. Even if you defeated them easily, it would take far too long. You might win the battle, but lose the war. I can open a way behind them. Closer to your destination."
"What's the Catch?" Kevin asked. "There's always a price for a Demon's favors."
A chuckle from the monstrosity.
"Oh, you sweet summer child! Normally,
you're right! And it would normally be a high one" The Brain Demon hissed. "But today, since the stakes are so high, I'm going to make a once in a lifetime exception! I'll low-ball the price of passage, because you are serving The Dark Side in your efforts, however indirectly. But someday...and that day may
never come--"
(Cutaway of Sonny Corleone getting turned into a lead depository.)
"--I may call upon you to do a service for me. You will do this service without hesitation or complaint. It'll be a very simple, very easy task. Bloodless. You won't even have to kill anyone."
"What's the task?" Kevin wondered. "My Soul isn't for sale, just so we're clear."
The Monstrosity hovered, chuckled in his head.
"I couldn't buy it even if I wanted to. You've already given
that to Xiphos. Now, as to my price...down the road, when I ask...you must lock a door. A simple, Electronic door. Not even Military Grade. Off the shelf Civilian crap."
Kevin raised an eyebrow.
"Why do I get the feeling I'm going to be the catalyst to some sort of horrible Domino Effect?"
"Because you
totally fething are." one of the damaged Chaplains pointed out.
"She's right." The Brain Demon admitted. "Of course, if you want to waste time...feel free to take them on."
Kevin looked at the Nuetralizers.
"It's your call, Black Knight." one of the Model 1 units said.
Kevin knew it was a bad idea. Deals with The Devil
never play out well...
But Kevin knew that the only thing that mattered was the Destruction of the Avatar of War. All other fights aboard the vessel were totally pointless if the Avatar still stood at the end of it.
"Alright..." Kevin replied. "You win, fiend. Get us closer..."
"As you wish..." The Brain Demon said.
A black shimmering portal appeared to the right.
"Run along now, kiddos! Auntie Brain Demon has some business with the Hand of Judgement..."
Kevin didn't need a prompt to run right through the portal with the other Nuetralizers...
...and they emerged
within the base level of The Nutrient Storage, far from Torson and his Super Commandos.
Meanwhile, the Dark Side Ritual enacted by the Amalgam was not to be stopped by a mere barrier. The ritual had tagged Torson and his Commandos.
A massive black portal filled the entirety of the staircase passage...
And out of it poured every Zombie he had just fled, blocking the passage way to Nutrient storage. The entire portal blocking the way into the base level. Torson had escaped one barricade, only to find himself in another.
The same portals filled with deadly, whipping tendrils composed of pure Dark Side Energy reformed all around them, trying to ensnare them, even as the zombies bore down on them once more. To make matters worse, the Chaplain Nuetralizer that had split off from the group earlier at last arrived through a service hatch, not far from where Torson had initially escaped, and sprang up using her Repulsor Cells, when she received a wireless transmission from one of her brothers, explained the situation as she made her way to the Raptors from her end, crawling through terrible wreckage to do so.
While the Zombies and Tendrils once more attacked Gordon and the Super Commando team, She soon got sight of them.
"HALT SINNERS!" she yelled, opening fire with her Radiation Blaster Cutting off their retreat from the Zombies, and since they were so close together, guarding a staircase, it would be intensely difficult for them to evade both the zombies, find a way past the huge portal blocking their way to Nutrient Storage, while she was firing on them at the same time...
Meanwhile, Kevin and the Nuetralizers began to encounter stiff resistance as they pressed deep into the great storage section. The workers and typical Mawites there fought
thrice as ferociously as they had elsewhere, knowing the Fox was in the henhouse. They list two chaplains in the relentless barrage, followed by the catastrophic loss of nearly half the remaining Model 3 units due to repeater fire. Only Kevin's quick thinking, conjuring illusory doppelgangers and walls of smoke and fire to obscure the aim of their combatants prevented further losses, each slavishly guarding the Model 1 with the giant sack on his back that would be giving off a large radiation signature.
In the end, the Model 2's would pick up the slack, their devastating repeater cannons shredding through the more heavily armed defenders. But the alarm klaxons were going full tilt. The Model 3 units began tossing Thermal Detonators, tearing massive holes into defensive check points as they began blazing a path to the central storage area, which was still a fair distance from them.
But it was a spitting distance...
Meanwhile...
"Life's too short, My Son!" The Parliament called out to
Percival Io
as she tossed her saber all cool and chit at a Mawite, impaling him before teleporting her saber back to her. "Finding someone,
anyone is better than being alone!"
The Witches had taken significant damage as they headed to the grounded Star Destroyer. The Configuration and The Collage were bleeding white blood everywhere, their flesh shuddering as they channeled the Dark Side to protect their Seismic Charges.
Just then she spotted
Draco Miles
in full Leroy Jenkins mode as they finally got closer and closer. The Brain Demon then hissed in her mind that she had a task.
"Percy! Be a dear and protect the charges. I gotta go speak to... whoa! Draco uses heavy armor? Mine's more of a sneaky type. My Draco is so good at sneaking she literally stole the pants off a Sith Lord once without him noticing...no Force Use or anything..."
She teleported in front of Draco.
"Draco! I'm the super awesome Xiphos who laughs and I really need your nuke. And possibly you also...for Portals and chit."
Yeah, she was crazy alright...
Summary:
Leviathan of Danuta reduced to 63 hull and shield integrity
Lost 4 Battle Cruisers, three remaining (56, 73, and 50 percent integrity.)
Lost 4 star destroyers 4 remain ( 44, 50, 80, and 40 shield, Hull integrity.)
Lost Multiple Nuetralizers and have taken heavy damage on all fronts...
The Mongrel
