Dominion Shifting Tides | Dominion of Devaron

[Damian du Couteau]

Damian du Couteau, Senator of Empress Teta
Objective: One Reforged Alliances
Location: Fondor, Senate Building
Outfit

Damian’s lone eye scanned his data-slate, there was almost an irresistible urge to sigh in relief but the most he allowed himself were the faint tugs near the corners of his lips that form a ghost of a smile. His new rush of reports had all but been completed upon arrival, either this was a rather large faulty error in his accounting department or it was a mercy bestowed upon him from the galaxy. The young du Couteau heir prayed for the latter but steeled himself for the former.

He stifled a yawn as he leaned into his seat, his attention broken to the sound of the Chancellor’s voice that had just called the Senate into session. The admittance of a former Alliance member world was a rather common occurrence, even before the galactic shift, unfortunately. Damian and his people had plenty of experience of such a matter, which for his own part the process was rudimentary for his staff to help the Devaron’s delegates and their staff to handle any preliminary data-slate work. Dotted I’s and crossed T’s as the saying went. His father had assisted in the initial acceptance of Devaron into the Alliance fold, the contacts he made allowed Damian quite a bit of flexibility to how he approached particular delegates. Of course he knew the original involvement had a different tune than what had been played currently.

Markets had shifted and adjusted, but such fluctuations would ripple well into the sixth or seventh month time frame. Not that Damian worried to see a dramatic downturn in his year to date predictions, he just knew without proper steady guidance the profits and earnings of inter-galactic companies would spiral out of control. How many pensions had been wiped and just what disastrous societal consequences would occur across hundreds of member worlds? Damian closed his lone crimson eye shut and attempted to remove those thoughts from his head. He could already imagine what a single point increase in unemployment would cause millions to suffer, what more would such a galactic uncertainty of such proportions leave behind?

“How many sleepless nights will I suffer?” Damian muttered to himself quietly.
​

|| Alicio Organa | Spirit of Temperance ||​

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Outfit: Combat Jumpsuit | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsabers

Valery's eyes flicked to the mirror as Connel froze — not with surprise, but with that quiet alertness that came from years of doing this dance. She leaned just slightly to one side, enough to glimpse the faint red thread of the tripwire stretching across the next hallway, barely perceptible unless you were looking for it. Her gaze moved back to him and the subtle gesture of his hand — the throwing lightknife ready.

She gave a slight nod — quiet was best.

While he prepared to handle the oncoming patrol, Valery shifted into motion — a whisper more than a presence. Her boots barely kissed the floor. She moved like a dancer slipping onto center stage just as the lights dimmed. She moved past him in a fluid blur, slipping close to the wall as the sound of approaching footsteps echoed faintly ahead. Connel had this. She trusted him.

As the corridor opened up before her, she crouched low at the edge of the tripwire, her eyes tracking its emitter point. Her gloved fingers moved delicately, bypassing the trigger mechanism with a small diagnostic tool she pulled from her belt.

A breath.

The wire fizzled, then blinked out. Still crouched, she looked back over her shoulder toward Connel, lips quirking into the barest smirk. She didn't say a word. She didn't need to.

The path was clear.

Connel Vanagor ​

 

[Vera Noble]

Devaron

​

Tag: Kaelos Vryn Dezorath Barcu

​

Vera was still beaming — glowing, really — as Kaelos fumbled over his words in the most endearing way imaginable. Her fingers gave his a little squeeze, her grin only growing as he tripped through his own admission. "You're lucky I think you're cute when you're awkward," she teased, tilting her head with mock seriousness. "But yeah. Officially. You're stuck with me now."

And then—

"Am I interrupting something?"

Vera jumped.

She blinked and turned sharply toward the new voice — the towering figure parting the jungle like he belonged to it. Her hand instinctively dropped from Kaelos', but her posture changed. The kind that said nothing to see here, we are absolutely not being gross and romantic in the middle of a mission.

"Nope," she said, a little too fast, a little too brightly. "Not at all!" She cleared her throat and took a sudden, intense interest in adjusting her gloves. Totally normal jungle stuff. Then she turned, hands on her hips, facing both Kaelos and Dezorath with a kind of forced casualness that could only come from a Padawan trying very hard not to be caught being soft.

"We should, uh… probably keep moving. Still a lot of jungle to clear, and I don't think the Quarra are going to politely wait for us." She gave Kaelos one last look — softer, lingering — then turned toward the path ahead, expression slipping back into something a little more mission-ready.

​

 

[Gress D'ran]

Homecoming
Tag: Koyi Freetaa
Loadout:

Spoiler

Tiger 1 ~ Horned Hellstomper
Tiger 2 ~ Fireball
Tiger 3 ~ Perception Check
Tiger 4 ~ Divine Intervention
Tiger 5 ~ (Command Tiger) ~ Golem
Puma 1 ~ Brass Ring
Puma 2 ~ Ice Cream Truck
Puma 3 ~ Short Bus
Puma 4 ~ First Student
Puma 5 ~ Frizzle's Cadets

The general brought out a small astromech, letting it display a massive battle map across the base floor.

"Men, you will start at the southern base, as marked on the map. The Devaron Forces will be stationed to the north, across the river. You will be expected to assault them, and dislodge them. Or fail."

Gress didn't say a word, but he knew better. Asking the fresh faces to cross a river was just asking for failure. He remember his defense on Empress Teta, which only failed due to the fall of the planetary shield generator.

"Any questions?!"

 

[Jobbi Chantin]

Objective 3 - A Buyer's Market (To Objective 4) ​

Pet (hair): Fuzzy (Sha'rellian toop)
Lightsaber: None

Jawa plushies.
Soft, pillowy Jawa stuffies.
Little hooded figures with arms outstretched. Fine additions to her collection, stitches and filled with fluff. Jobbi had bought the merchant's entire display, carrying about two dozen of them in a bear hug as she slithered away to join the other Jedi and bring back to the shuttle.

Following behind her was a a hovering carrier droid with two unopened boxes of 50. Enough to share with the other Jedi if they get jealous on the ride back.

Jobbi was caught up in the moment and excitedly humming along - so much so that she didn't notice that the path was clear of other pedestrians. She wasn't lost, the Jedi were very clear about where they were going and where to meet up at, and besides, she was too excited to care about where the other people were at when she had 124-ish Jawas to fit into her sandcrawler-themed chest when she next visited back home.

She didn't care about Fuzzy's protesting squeal of alarm. She didn't even care about the growling and snarling she heard - or the pack of Quarra that rushed from the jungle foliage heading straight for her.

@OPEN​

 

[Reina Daival]

Location: Devaron Jungles
Objective: 4 - Hunt some Quarra
Tags: Drystan Creed

How did them being pack hunters make it easier for them? It made no sense to her. If they were together as a group, it would be harder to take them on...but Reina at least was sure they'd be able to handle it. It just surprised her if she was being honest

"I...don't know how to use the Spirit to hide my presence. It's not something I've learned before."

Most of what Reina knew had been instinctual. She hadn't had many lessons on actual Force powers, minus Force Speed. How was this meant to work? As she stumbled through the Jungle after Drystan, doing her best not to get her foot stuck in any roots, Reina tried to figure out how to mask her presence. She had to hide the Light coming from her...Just use the Force to disguise it, almost as if she was placing a blanket over the Light.

Even if that wasn't going to work, Reina felt like she was smeared in enough mud to cover her natural scent. Just trying to blend in with the...beautiful aromas of the Jungle. Or at least beautiful was one word to use for it all. Revolting was another one but hey. Reina was trying to look on the brighter side of things now.
​

 

[Sienna]

Sienna opened her mouth to dig deeper into whatever the complication Tel talked about was, but he cut her off, turning the question back on her. A question which in turn was also interrupted.

Sienna stopped sharply, one step away colliding with Tel. She glanced past his shoulder, finding nothing blocking their path. Perhaps he'd sensed something...?

And then the branch crashed with a loud crunch. Exactly where they would have been a few steps later.

It was a good save and she was about to thank Tel, but he flashed her a grin. She wanted to retort with a scolding remark that he should take their mission--his mission technically--more seriously, when he mentioned something that caught her interest.

"Not moving?" She hummed in thought. "While it could be that they're simply resting, I don't want to rule out that they're preparing an ambush. They must have heard about Jedi moving into the jungles. We can have all the intimidation on our side, it won't save us from a bolt to the back."

The jungle on either side of the trail had completely overgrown with trees, branches, vines, and underbrush. Moving through it they would remain undetected, though their progress would be slower. Against an ambush, time would be on their side, however.

"They'll expect us on the trail. It's safest if we cut through the jungle instead. You can track them right? It shouldn't be too difficult to find them, even in all of that," Sienna gestured vaguely at the messy foliage.

Tel Ahren

 

[Connel Vanagor]

Get out of our House!
Devaron
Objective 4

She went one way…

… he went the other…

Throwing the knife at the heavy rifle of one of the patrol group, he moved with a blur. He did not have the quiet presence and grace of a Shadow Master, but he had skills of his own, like “Shock and awe”. Connel was on the patrol before they even knew he was there, the advantage of Force assisted speed. Their reactions were violently muffled, be it well placed thrusts, chokes, or punches, but in a blur they were down.

He was setting another trap with the rifles that he had done before when she looked back his way. Connel was not a “Shadow” by training, like those who had trained from the onset in the skills, he was in determination, and choice, Connel was a Guardian with Special Forces training. He had an outside set of skills that relied more on tech, and gadgets, a different league, relying on his raw combat skills and resourcefulness. His methods were unorthodox but effective, combining speed, precision, and improvisation to outsmart his opponents.. He was capable, the younger Vanagor would not be here if he wasn’t, but he was going to take as many mental notes from Master Noble as he could. Field training is always good.

How is she so QUIET? So jelly! In a good way.

Are you done?

For now.

They were clear, but he was still moving along the wall as he approached the Grandmaster and quipped I didn’t get a full layout of the place, but we’re not far from what used to be the Gathering Hall. They have one of the side rooms set up as a makeshift “Armory”.

Valery Noble • TAGS​

 

[Kaelos Vryn]

Location: Devaron
Tags: Dezorath Barcu | Vera Noble
Equipment: Lightsaber | Jedi Jumpsuit | Utility Belt
​

​

They'd been caught.

Almost instinctively, the hand that had been holding Vera Noble 's reached for his weapon just in case the person who stumbled across them happened to be more foe than friend. The trees and foliage around them made a little noise as a figure of pure muscle and armour stumbled out into the clearing.

Whilst his weapon remained at his hip, his fingers remained coiled around it just in case. The new presence that had joined them was lacking a dark aura, which suggested friend. He didn't attack either, which further built up the friend rationale and further diminished the foe one.

Kaelos relaxed somewhat as Vera took up a very obvious "nothing was happening here, everything is fine" approach to their new companions presence. Kaelos had to admit that he and Vera had gotten distracted. It was the good type of distracted, sure, but it was distracted from the mission at hand nonetheless.

"Well, they should wait. I think it's rather rude that they don't" he joked in response to Vera's comment about the Quarra not waiting. It appeared that they definitely agreed that Dezorath Barcu was a friend, and judging by his looks and expressions he was a friend who was very confused on what he'd walked into.

The young Jedi Padawan cast Vera a smirk. "Lead the way" he commented, pausing for just a moment before adding "partner" to the end. It was a change from their usual running joke of calling each other pilot or co-pilot but it just felt more right considering the conversation they'd just been having about thirty seconds or so prior.

Falling in besides Dezorath Barcu , Kaelos cast him a smile. "Forgive me, I'm awful with names and I'm not much better with faces but even I'm certain we've never crossed paths before" he acknowledged. "Kaelos Vryn, Padawan to Braze " he introduced himself with a smile, gesturing over to Vera. "She's Vera" he added, not expanding much further to A. not out her as the grandmasters kid and B. because he genuinely didn't know who her master was.

Something he needed to learn about her, that was for sure.

One of many things he would need to learn about her, especially now they were dating.

 

[Tel Ahren]

Sienna

"Right," he replied with a nod. His vibroblade came out in a flash, cutting through some dense, hanging vines just off to their left. "Don't think we're too far, so let's swing around this way." Sienna was rapidly proved right that it would be slow going, especially because he didn't want to use his vibroblade for any but the worst of it; hacking through the brush would make a lot of noise, even with the vibroblade making quick work of it, and the vibroblade itself could give them away. Sure, the ultrasonic vibrations were above the hearing of most species...but there were always some that could hear further, and he didn't know what the demographics of those criminals were.

It still only took a few minutes longer than they might have taken otherwise, but he could, eventually, spy a small clearing through the foliage. Four people laying within it. Openly, though, not like they were planning an ambush.

His cheeks itched.

"Think that's them," he whispered, pointing through the small gap in the trees where he'd just barely spotted the four. "Something...smells off, though. Feels off. I'm not sure what." He squinted. He could still sense the four presences, but trying to reconcile those senses with his eyes wasn't always the most sure-fire thing. Had they been running for the day, he could believe that the criminals would be taking a moment to rest. Without the Force on their side, they might not even know they were being tailed. Perhaps there was a chance for him and Sienna to be the ambushers, rather than just trying to turn one back around.

He started forwards, exceedingly careful with his foot placement, the way he moved his body, to make as little sound as possible. "Keep close," he bid, whispering again back over his shoulder. "I'm going to check this out."

 

[Koyi Freetaa]

Objective 2 - A Test of Strength
​

Tags: Gress D'ran

Spoiler: Forces

• GATE-13 MAD STOMP
• GATE-13 NOISE COMPLAINT
• GATE-13 ELBOW GREASE
• GATE-13 JANK TANK
• GATE-13 JUNKYARD KING
• PUMA-2 BOOMBUS
• PUMA-2 RATTLEBUG
• PUMA-2 DENTBOX
• PUMA-2 SCRAPRIDER
• PUMA-2 PEWLORD

Koyi looked at the map that General D'ran had projected with disgust. Assaulting a fixed position, with a river crossing, to make things extra difficult for the inexperienced commander. One of the things Koyi knew for sure about commanding an assault, assuming all other things equal, was that when assaulting a fixed position, you wanted a three-to-one numerical advantage, and nothing about this was equal about this match up.

"Just one question, General." Koyi spoke up. "What are the rules of engagement?

Her mind was already racing, Koyi figuring out unorthodox strategies and most importantly how to cross that danm river without leaving her ass hanging in the breeze. Or maybe she could avoid the river by going far north since it appeared to be fed by a massive spring on the map, or she could cross in the far south and squeeze between the base of the mountains and the river.

 

[Gress D'ran]

Homecoming
Tag: Koyi Freetaa
Loadout:

Spoiler

Tiger 1 ~ Horned Hellstomper
Tiger 2 ~ Fireball
Tiger 3 ~ Perception Check
Tiger 4 ~ Divine Intervention
Tiger 5 ~ (Command Tiger) ~ Golem
Puma 1 ~ Brass Ring
Puma 2 ~ Ice Cream Truck
Puma 3 ~ Short Bus
Puma 4 ~ First Student
Puma 5 ~ Frizzle's Cadets

The general looked to the Sergeant with a soft smirk. Asking for ROE was a good start. "You'll be treating this as an assault on a sith position. Any hairbrained scheme you can come up with, with the men you have available, is on the table. Only rule is that we stick to simunitions, and that you can't leave a man behind. That, and you're not allowed to leave the Area of Operations. Your vehicles systems have been set up to register Augmented Reality shots as real ones, and will react accordingly. A kill is defined as disabling an enemy vehicle, or eliminating it's crew. A success would be to capture the enemy position. That enough for you, Sergeant?"

Gress on the other hand, had left the briefing. He would get the rest via radio, and was busy making his way towards his own starting position. He felt bad for these recruits, but he did think this would be better training for the sith than anything. He remember what the sith were doing on Woostri, on Mirial, on Yavin. They were suicidal, bloodthirsty, and throwing bodies at the line like a swarm of insects.

This was probably the kindest training they could get.

 

[Aiden Rennek]

​

The underbrush whispered behind her.

It wasn't a threat — not the kind that raised hackles or called for a rifle — but the unmistakable tread of someone who walked like he belonged, even when he didn't. Aiden stepped up beside Livia with the ease of a man who had made a career out of surviving war zones and charming his way through the aftermath. His helmet was slung casually under one arm, his other hand brushing a low-hanging vine out of his path as he came to a stop a step behind her vantage.

He let out a low whistle, eyes scanning the unfolding spectacle below.

"Whole lotta posturing for a training exercise," he murmured, his voice just loud enough to be heard over the wind. Then, turning slightly, he cast a sidelong grin toward her — not smug, just easy. Comfortable. "Makes you wonder if they're planning to shake hands or start a civil war."

"You've been staring holes through that ridge for fifteen minutes," he said, shifting to lean slightly against the frame beside her. "Don't suppose you'd want to take a break and let someone put you through your paces?"

He lifted a brow, grin deepening. "Nothing serious. Little drills in the jungke, maybe." Then, a pause — just long enough for sincerity to settle into his voice.

"Or, y'know… I can shut up and let you keep brooding in peace. Just figured I'd offer." He gestured loosely toward the open clearing behind them. "I'm not going anywhere. Neither's the war."

Livia Rehn ​

 

[Zaiya Ceti]

Eedit Temple, Outer Precincts
Outfit: x x x x x | Equipment: x x x x x x | Weapons: x x x | Companion: Domxite
Interacting with: Jin Kimura Makko Vyres Connel Vanagor Razh Sho

"Those are... Smaller than mine..."

Zaiya didn't need to see Makko's expression to understand the admiration if abliet slightly envious tone in the Knight's voice regarding her mapping droids.

"I can make you a bangle if you like!" Zaiya offered, her eyes sparkling with excitement as she flashed him a warm smile. Her pride at seeing someone else admire her unique creations was palpable, resonating in a soft shimmering wave of friendly blue.

"They come in handly alot," The Padawan explained, perhaps getting a litte too into giving more specs on the mapping droids as the hologram feed displayed in a small video array on her cuff.

"I can have them also map and search for specific --" Zaiya began only to be cut off as she noticed that there were more than a few life signs.

"Hmm...clever tech to crack their comms?" the Lovalla mused to herself.

"Not yet, but that is a neat idea," Zaiya's eyes lit up with excitement at the prospect. Her expression showed her getting a little overexcited about the idea, her curiosity piqued. "Maybe something that looks like a bug..."

Mid muse the Lovalal Padawan shook her head, telling herself, "No, no. Focus, Zaiya."

Turning to Makko, she added, "I don't have anything as of yet that can crack their comms... but... I learned how to enhance my hearing. Maybe we can get closer and I can get a read on what they are saying? It's a skill I developed for situations like this. "

 

[Livia Rehn]

"Woe to the vanquished."

Tags - Aiden Rennek



The projection flickered slightly as the astromech adjusted its feed, a faint hum rising from the deck as the topography of Devaron shifted into full relief. The ridges were jagged, broken in places by thickets of jungle and steep ravines, and the river—wound like a silver noose around the northern position—glimmered as if it, too, understood its role in this performance.

Livia didn't blink. Her eyes moved in slow, deliberate arcs across the map, tracing the river's origin, the terrain's natural choke points, the rhythm of movement likely expected by both sides. She watched it like one might read a poem in a language they hadn't spoken in years but still remembered in fragments. A hint of nostalgia touched her face—not warm, not fond, but the cold, involuntary recognition of something once lived.

She'd seen this game before.

A river placed like a test. A young commander stacked with disadvantages. A father grasping at legacy.

General D'ran had framed it like a challenge, but to Livia, it reeked of performance. Not just for the GADF. Not just for Devaron. But for something larger—an audience made up not of soldiers, but of systems. Of watchers in high towers and senatorial seats, waiting to see which way Devaron would lean.

"Shame," she murmured, almost inaudible, more to herself than anyone else, "that no one here is fighting the real war."

She didn't flinch when the underbrush shifted behind her. The rhythm of the steps was familiar. Not just to her current self, but the part of her that still remembered walking confidently through war zones and outliving people more talented but less clever.

The listening post incident changed that.

She didn't turn her head when Aiden approached. Instead, her gaze remained on the ridgeline, where the virtual walkers of Devaron's defense force were taking their mark with all the measured elegance of a parade gone feral. Even when he leaned against the frame beside her, she barely moved. She didn't need to. His presence was accounted for the moment the vine rustled.

Livia's lips quirked—not quite a smile, more a twitch of agreement wrapped in quiet cynicism.

"It's not training," she replied, voice low, the tone crisp and clipped. "It's messaging. To the Senate. To the Royal Naboo Republic. To anyone with a fleet and an interest in borders, the Sith."

"Especially the Sith."

She slowly prepared to move her body.

"I wonder if they would remember that Woostri was our last significant military engagement with the Sith. If that is the case, maybe it would be better to wargame on Manaan?"

A breath, a pause just a tad too heavy.

"But that would not prove their point, would it?"

She finally turned, just slightly, enough that the silver-gray of her eyes caught the dappled jungle light.
"These people want to show that Devaron can hold the line. Not because they expect a war, but because they expect to be noticed. This—" she gestured at the projected map, where the river gleamed like a blade "—isn't about tactics. It's about posture."

Then, almost offhandedly, "You don't put a green commander across a river unless you're either teaching them humility or hoping they drown quietly."

"And trust me, asphyxiation is erudite, it teaches resourcefulness, how treasured the oxygen in your lungs can become."

The words should have sounded cruel, but they didn't. They were observational. Cold. A weather report, not a lament.

"Just a reading suggestion."

A statement which came with much needed relief.

"You could cross at the far south," she murmured, "thread the gap between the mountain's base and the river bend. It's narrow, but the foliage cover might be enough to mask movement. Push fast and hard. Force a wedge. Pin them to the north."

Her voice was far too assured for someone who had never held a command.

She tilted her head slightly, as if studying the terrain from a new angle. "Or bypass the river entirely. Take the long path through the spring-fed marsh and come around from behind. It's longer. Riskier. But they're expecting brute force, not patience."

Then, silence.

She let the moment stretch just long enough before turning back to Aiden. Her expression didn't soften, but her tone shifted, gaining the faintest trace of amusement. The kind that slipped between cracks in stone when no one was watching.

She had analysed his words, studied them, but now only gave the climactic release of finally answering them.

"Drills in the jungle, huh?" she echoed, her tone cool, the barest trace of something sardonic curling at the edges. Her gaze didn't waver from the projected map, but her posture shifted—one boot sliding back ever so slightly, weight redistributing like a predator deciding whether to pounce or play.

"Didn't take you for the sentimental type," she added, voice quieter now, as though the words were a private concession.

Then came the glance—just a flick of her eyes toward him, as sharp as a scalpel and twice as precise.

"You want to see how I move when no one's watching. Is that it?"

The words weren't flirtation. They were dissection. A question broken open to reveal its softer underbelly. But then she let the silence stretch, just long enough to feel intentional. Calculated. Her gaze didn't drift, and her expression didn't shift, but something in the set of her shoulders relented—like a blade easing itself back into its sheath.

Finally, she gave a small nod—not coy, not playful. Measured. A chess piece moved with full awareness of its consequence.

"All right," she said, her voice now carrying the edge of a decision made. "I'll bite."

Her hand moved to secure her helmet at her hip, as though punctuating the shift from thought to action. "You bring the drills. I'll bring the questions."

A beat.

"Let's find out what you think you know."

She stepped away from the projection, brushing a low-hanging vine aside with her fingertips as she passed, her touch precise and indifferent. Her stride, unhurried, had the strange fluidity of someone who never quite touched the world around her the way others did. Everything she did had an economy to it. A choreography learned somewhere far away, from someone long forgotten but not entirely gone.

Over her shoulder, without looking back, she added—

"I'll meet you at the edge of the clearing. Twenty minutes out."

A pause. Then, uncharacteristically smoothly, almost teasingly:

"Try not to get lost."

And with that, she was gone—vanishing into the shadowed treeline with all the quiet certainty of someone who had never been lost in her life, even when in unfamiliar grounds.

 

[Sienna]

Sienna grimaced at the slow progress they made through the jungle proper. She'd foretold it, yes, but the trees grew much too close to each other here. Leaves and branches covered almost every inch of free space, and she couldn't walk two steps without having to duck or push some foliage out of the way. The entire thing made her deeply uncomfortable, so she was quite happy when Tel whispered about finding the criminals.

"Right behind you," she replied.

They crept out from the jungle thicket into the clearing proper. Careful and slow. Sienna released a long breath as they did, immediately feeling some relief, though that moment didn't last long. Their criminals had indeed taken the trail deeper into the jungle to end up at this clearing. The problem was, they weren't moving.

Sienna kept her blaster rifle trained over Tel's shoulder, holding the metal barrel tight in her palm. Her finger hovered over the trigger.

"Are they dead? Can you tell?" She whispered.

Tel Ahren

 

[Tel Ahren]

Sienna

Creeping closer, he was able to get a clear look at the nearest of the criminals. The Aqualish's four eyes were open, glassy black orbs staring unblinking into the sky. As if that wasn't evidence enough—the semi-aquatic alien's pelvis and legs barely remained attached to his torso, only the spine and a few strips of flesh keeping the body in roughly 'one piece.' Worse yet, it was all still warm.

The dirt around the body was barely wet, not soaked with blood like it should have been. He could tell the same was true of the others with barely a glance in their direction. They'd all been savaged so quickly and thoroughly that they couldn't even cry out before the trauma and blood loss put them into shock and unconsciousness. Just left, lying in a clearing, their weapons broken, bodies mangled, and even the blood-soaked dirt had been licked up, nothing wasted—

He could still sense the presences they'd been following. Extremely close, just behind them. He heard the barest creak of a branch, a sibilant hiss...

"Sienna!"

He reached out, thoughtlessly, grabbing the girl with the Force and yanking her into the center of the clearing with him as a heavy shape dropped down where she had been standing. The small trees were knocked out of the way as their pursuers came forward, the one that had nearly landed on the other Padawan leading the way, shouldering the saplings aside. The sight that greeted them was a quartet of large, muscular bodies, covered in armored scales with a mass of spines sticking out from the head and neck. Gurgling hisses came forth from their open maws, saliva and blood both dripping as they carefully stalked towards the pair.

Quarra. The real apex predator of Devaron, who despite the meal that they had just abandoned still seemed unsatiated. Tel pushed Sienna behind him, backing the pair up towards one of the larger trees at the edge of the clearing as his eyes darted back and forth between the four reptilian beasts. The one that had nearly landed atop the other Jedi was the largest, noticeably so, and the rest seemed to follow deferentially behind it. Pack leader, first to eat, first to kill...

Insane. This is insane. There's no way this works, but if I can buy her some time to get away it should be worth it. It looks like I might be coming to join you soon, Jo'Han Felcado .

He stepped forward, once, and the lead Quarra paused. The blue blade of his training saber shown forth, and his free hand came up, palm outward as he locked eyes with the monstrous animal. One thing he was good at—his entire species was good at—was mental manipulation. It came to them easily. It was enough that an older one could even sway an experienced Jedi who wasn't being careful, and before he'd even known it was something he could do, he'd turned it on his fellow younglings and had to be taught not to do so. Coupled with the Force, with mind tricks...it wasn't something he'd had opportunity to practice at, much, but he knew that the power was there. If he could just focus, put the weight behind his words, and reach out and touch the other mind.

Other Jedi had been able to extend the same to animals throughout the galaxy. If he could just...

His nostrils flared as he could sense the simple mind of the animal in front of him. There wasn't even true hunger driving it, at this point. Simple territoriality. Curiosity of the unknown, wariness of the unknown, a refusal to abide any potential threats.

They would kill these other things that walked into their forest, gorge themselves, and be able to rest for a few days. It would be a good hunt, there were only two steps more and he could rend open the scrawny thing's soft be—

"Stop."

The command rang out in the clearing, and the Quarra all ceased their advance, hackles raising. Tel stepped forward again, and they backed up a step. He never broke eye contact, allowing the interplay of instincts to feed through the bond he'd forced between himself and the beast. He couldn't afford to show it any fear, to feel any fear, to maintain control of the situation; he had to win the battle of wills, show that his was the stronger. He could feel his cheeks itching as he pushed deeper, tasting the humid air like the reptiles themselves. The Quarra shook under the weight of his gaze as he took another step forward, trying to fight off the vice grip that held its impulse-driven mind.

"You're already fed." The Quarra backed up again. "There's nothing more for you here. The hunt is over. Leave." He pointed down where the trail continued, leading away from the temple. The leader of the pack shuddered again, turned, and took off running. His gaze fell on the other three in turn, each rapidly following their leader.

The seams on each of his cheeks closed tight as each proboscis withdrew into its hiding place, and his outstretched arm started to shake. Followed by his legs, shortly before he fell to his knees on the forest floor, trembling all over as his mind furiously pulled away from the mix of primal, predatory instincts that he'd had to plant himself squarely within.

 

[Jo'Han Felcado]

Insane. This is insane. There's no way this works, but if I can buy her some time to get away it should be worth it. It looks like I might be coming to join you soon, Jo'Han

" Don't give up hope just yet, kid!"

The voice was no longer just in his head. From the boy's position, a transparent blue form of a human with slowly floating hair emerged and placed itself heroically between the two and the pack of Quarra-

They ignored the spirit and ran through the ethereal form.

"Welp, that's something at least. Good luck kid, don't die!"

The spirit vanished.

"Stop."

A disembodied sigh of relief accompanied the halting of the Quarra.

 

[Koyi Freetaa]

Objective 2 - A Test of Strength
​

Tags: Gress D'ran

Spoiler: Forces

• GATE-13 MAD STOMP
• GATE-13 NOISE COMPLAINT
• GATE-13 ELBOW GREASE
• GATE-13 JANK TANK
• GATE-13 JUNKYARD KING
• PUMA-2 BOOMBUS
• PUMA-2 RATTLEBUG
• PUMA-2 DENTBOX
• PUMA-2 SCRAPRIDER
• PUMA-2 PEWLORD

Spoiler: Movements

"Stay in the AO, don't actually kill anyone, and assault a prepared position who knows we're coming. Nothing we can't handle, General. I hope your baby boy can handle a woman who likes to play rough." Koyi said with a cheeky salute to General D'ran, throwing his own words from earlier back at him, before turning to her forces and shouting. "MOUNT UP!"

Running to her own walker and climbing up the leg of MAD STOMP, just like she did on the night she almost destroyed her career, and entering the top hatch with the rest of her crew and locking down the walker for combat.

Koyi continued to run over plans in her head as she waited for the mission clock to run down to zero, signalling she could start, but nothing solid came to mind.

When the signal came that she could start moving her forces, Koyi gave her orders. "Pumas, head northeast and spread out on the riverbank, stay under the cover of the forest and report back any enemy movement, transmit targeting data if available. Tigers advance to the edge of the mountains and stay in cover. If targetting data comes back from the Pumas, take three shots and scatter before you can be targeted by counter battery fire."

Koyi sent more specific orders; location data, and vectors in an encrypted data packet to her troops.

 

[Anchat Anura]

Anchat took a deep breath.

"Can't you just swim in that air? Oooh, I feel alive! What a wonderful planet! Wouldn't you say, Sergeant?"

"Hoo Hah, Captain Anura," the Sergeant repeated obediently.

"That's right, nothing like a lovely walk through the woods! I feel like a pollywog again! Step it up, pull those reloads out of the mud! Oz is getting dirty enough as it is, let's see some spunk in that step!" he called out to the line of miserable GADF soldiers. He got a few grumbles of "Hoo Hah" in reply as they pulled their boots out of the mud, bugs off their faces, and sweat off their brows.

So much sweat on every one of them.

"Don't forget to hydrate!" he reminded them.

The march had started early that morning, and would last into the afternoon, around the time the overall wargame was set to end. On the opposite side of the valley, on a different set of mountains, there was a different march going on. Their job was to put teams all over their tropical forest-covered mountains with spotter gear, to try and find Oz before he reached his position. Captain Anura knew that, but it wasn't part of their exercise to try and hide Oz. It was, in fact, the job of a third exercise to sweep both sets of mountains and report in either the spotters' location, or provide reports for Captain Anura's progress. It was all part of an intelligence network to determine the efficacy of each effort, and to run this knowledge through the whole system and determine what adjustments needed to be made.

How fast could they deploy heavy weapons systems to mission-critical locations? Could they correctly identify threats moving under heavy jungle cover? Could they identify enemy intelligence assets functioning on the ground? Too many bungles recently were putting the Galactic Alliance on the back foot, and Anchat wanted to make sure these disparate forces knew how to work together, and how to be effective.

He was particularly impressed with his Devaronian guides. They had gone to great lengths, above and beyond, to make sure their non-native allies were accommodated to deal with the humidity. They'd made sure there was plenty of water, that their uniforms were suited to their climate, that the trails were clearly marked, and that they were wearing the right pesticides. Anchat's D Squad was the biggest surprise for the Devaronians, but they had done well to make sure the Droids never sank into the mud or fell into loose tree roots. Anchat was going to have nothing but glowing praise for them when this was done.