Dominion Shifting Tides | Dominion of Devaron

[Anchat Anura]

As the day went on, the moods started to lift. The troopers were getting used to the heat and humidity, and cohesion was starting to build between units. Especially the Devaronians, everyone appreciated what each squad and platoon was able to bring to the table and share, making the whole march more comfortable for everyone. Oz wasn't particularly talkative when in the field, but there was a sort of appreciation for the giant Droid as being the centerpiece of the exercise. Certain teams were in charge of moving Oz's weapon reloads, while others were keeping the perimeter secured by scouring the edges, looking for transmitters that had been air-dropped into the area. Their job was to find as many as possible, as a means of measuring attentiveness. The fewer that were left behind after the exercise was done, the better they scored. The focus, of course, was to get Oz to the western foothills, where they would load him with rockets. If, for whatever reason, they didn't get into position before the end of the day, it would be considered a failure.

Keeping Oz 'protected' by finding the transmitters became a big drive for the unit as they got more and more attached to him. The idea that he might be damaged or destroyed in a real situation became a rallying point, and the squads quickly took to self-organizing to sweep for the transmitters ahead of Oz's arrival. A second sweep from the sides came along as Oz moved through an area, and a third group took up the rear, to 'prevent rear ambushes' by finding any more transmitters that may have been missed by the first two sweeps.

One of the repulsor lifts they were using to haul Oz's rockets failed, and, not wanting another one to fail by taking on extra weight, the soldiers began distributing individual rockets amongst themselves. They were bulky and heavy, but each soldier in the main column was able to carry one, maybe two, at a time. Those on perimeter duty would swap out with those in the main column to shake up the march.

Anchat wondered how their 'opposition' was doing, but knew he would have plenty of time to read up on the reports and view the feeds when it was all done. Their work here was separate from the Walker 'battle' that Gress D'ran and Koyi Freetaa were engaged with, and they wouldn't be having an effect on the outcome of that simulation, but Anchat considered it a sort of timer. He wanted to be in position before it came to an end.

 

[Drystan Creed]

DEVARON

Drystan gave it a few moments before jumping in, a noticeable delay from when Reina sprung their plan. He dropped into the ground behind one particular Quarra, distracted by Reina's leap into action, before crouching into a tackle.

He grabbed at the beast's midsection, arms wrapping around it as they flexed, Drystan's efficiency in the Force on full display as he dialed up the enhancement on his already heightened body — honing in on the exact muscle fibers being activated and channeling the expended Force energy into them. Legs, core, back, and arms — and with a mighty heave, he threw the beast backward, slamming it onto its back into the dirt, its outline stamped into the packed earth.

The Quarra wasn't dead, but it was out cold and would awaken with a terrible headache. The feat looked impressive, but Drystan didn't seem all that spent in terms of energy. It was a secret of his — how his near perfect body control allowed him to enhance and fine-tune only what was necessary, down to the last muscle fiber, the last nerve twitch, the last heartbeat.

This was no showcase of prodigious Force affinity. This was a display of perfect control — harmony — of being in tune with every minute detail that allowed the body to operate.

Another Quarra leapt at him, fangs crashing down onto his forearm and sinking into a mouthful of cortosis, its teeth immediately shattering upon impact. The creature recoiled, retreating with a pitiful whimper, no doubt in pain — and humiliation.

So far, so good.

Reina Daival

 

[Vera Noble]

Devaron

​

Tag: Kaelos Vryn Dezorath Barcu

​

Vera froze mid-step, her heart lurching into her throat at Dezorath's blunt observation.

Hearts beating together?

She blinked. Hard.

The words rolled through her like a thermal detonator tossed right into her ribcage. Heat flooded her cheeks, her ears, practically her whole body, and for a moment, she couldn't quite breathe. Was the jungle always this hot? She glanced briefly at Kaelos, eyes wide like a cornered animal, then immediately regretted it because nope — nope, that just made it worse.

"I—uh—" she squeaked, voice cracking in the most undignified way imaginable. "It's not— I mean, it's okay! Really!" She waved a hand quickly, like she could literally shoo the awkwardness out of the air. Her other hand was now firmly planted on her hip, and she turned away, facing the jungle ahead with laser focus.

"Kaelos is just... he's—" she coughed, clearing her throat, trying to regain some kind of composure. "He's my boyfriend." The words tumbled out too fast, like a boulder rolling downhill, and she immediately regretted how loud they sounded in the quiet of the jungle.

"And we're fine. Everything's fine." She nodded sharply, more to herself than them. "No danger, no pain, no, uh, drunkenness. Just... peace." With that, she took a long step forward, her back now fully turned to both of them. Her hands balled into fists for a second, then she forced herself to relax, breathing out slowly.

"Okay, time to focus on the mission," she said quickly, striding ahead like her life depended on it.

And maybe it did. Anything to escape this moment.

​

 

[Valery Noble]

​

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

Valery arched a brow as Connel hauled the Mirialan back, the thug's boots dragging against the scorched floor. Her saber remained ignited, casting violet light across the man's face, and she regarded him with a calm, almost curious tilt of her head. The defiance in his voice didn't rattle her — not even close. She'd heard worse. From far more dangerous people.

Her gaze flicked to Connel, a knowing smirk tugging at her lips.

She stepped forward slowly, her presence quiet but heavy, deliberate in the way she let it settle into the room. The remaining thugs who hadn't bolted were frozen now, caught between fear and disbelief. Jedi weren't supposed to move like this. They weren't supposed to win this quickly. She could feel their panic rising, the way the tide always shifted after the first real loss.

Valery crouched in front of the Mirialan, her saber lowering but still very much alive in the air beside her. Her eyes, however, were what pinned him in place — not the weapon.

"Listen," she said, her voice soft but edged, "My friend here? He's a little excited, as you've noticed. And I'm not in the habit of stopping him when he gets like this." She smiled — sweet, dangerous. "But I don't want to waste time. You don't want a headache. So how about we help each other out?"

The Mirialan squirmed slightly in Connel's hold, breathing hard, but she could see it — the flicker of doubt. The hesitation. She leaned just a little closer, her voice dropping. "Who sent you here? What's in that armory that's worth dying for?" Her gaze flicked up to Connel, a quick nod. Keep the pressure on. Then back to their prisoner.

"You're already on the losing side," she whispered, her tone like velvet and ice all at once. "Make it easier on yourself."

Connel Vanagor ​

 

[Connel Vanagor]

Get out of our House!
Devaron
Objective 4

Seeing this as a perfect time to “play it up”, Connel started to giggle as he shifted control and grip with each squirm of this thug. Even moving and controlling the Mirialan into squirming into a position where he could slip out his non-dominant hand and reach out through the Force.

Connel was not an expert at it yet, but he was getting better at “Altering the Environment” in the eyes of others with each practice session. The fact that none of these panic’ed mercenaries, or thugs, or whatever they were was helping east that.Connel was determined to master this skill, and with each attempt, he grew more confident in his ability to manipulate the environment. The chaos around him only fueled his focus, as he continued to practice and refine his technique.

It was when Val played up on how talking to her was the better option, and giving him the nod, that he tightened his hold. Feel that? You're losing conscious awareness, the adenosine is building up in your brain. That is attacking the pineal gland and the suprachiasmatic nucleus as well.

Soon your body temperature is going to drop… ooo I can feel you getting cooler as we speak! You’re losing brain activity! Your thalamus is shutting down… you’re “disconnecting” and it’s affecting your muscles… your heart rate is dropping, and before you know it… OOOO you’re going dark! A bit melodramatic to be sure, but Connel just basically gave a medical explanation for the man falling asleep.

You had your chance! Now you deal with me.
“I’LL TALK! I’LL TALK!” To much agreement and almost psychotic reactions from those around him, he began to tell exactly what was in there.

~I know we shouldn’t make a practice of this, but that was FUN!~

Valery Noble • TAGS​

 

[Reina Daival]

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

Drystan was being much more merciful than Reina was as she flipped through the air, slashing out at the Quarra, letting them whimper out in pain. It wasn't something she had thought twice about. After all, Reina had only just started to get empathy for other people, getting empathy for beasts and creatures was still going to be a long way off for her. She had made a livelihood on fishing, on killing wildlife. So their pain didn't bother her as she danced through the air, letting the wind guide her steps.

Of course, she wasn't striking out with the intention to kill. Only slashing at to cause pain for her plan. She was sure that the sound of the pack's pain, and the scent of their blood would bring the Alpha here sooner or later. Though Reina was taking note that the thrill she felt when fighting someone, when going toe to toe with a person was...absent. The enjoyment she got out of fighting didn't seem to be there when she was fighting the Quarra. Maybe it's because it was just a job to her. Her objective was to fight them and move them on...

She couldn't afford to let herself get distracted however as one of the Quarra pounced for her leg, and so Reina swung it towards the creature, using the Pneumatic system inside her leg to send the mixture of cortosis and durasteel crashing into the beast's jaw, shattering its teeth. Okay. Maybe she was wrong. The thrill was there, ever so slightly as she broke out into a small smirk. Keeping a tight grip around her Lightsaber, and her attention on their surroundings.


​

 

[Zaiya Ceti]

Outfit: x x x x x | Equipment: x x x x x x | Weapons: x x x | Companion: Domxite
Interacting with: Makko Vyres Jin Kimura Razh Sho

Zaiya flashed a warm smile, the soft shimmer of pink and blue rippling over her cheeks as she gave a quick nod.

"Yeah, just say the word if you need the sensors to do anything else! Mine can map, check life signs, identify lifeforms, scan some basic thermal, mineral, and atmospheric conditions," she said, voice brightening in a small bit of pride.

It was always nice to be complimented on one's work.

But that little bubble of excitment cracked when Makko mentioned what he was picking up on the scanners and that someone else was communicating with the team they were tracking.

Zaiya's brow furrowed, her stripes flickering a pale grey of unease.

"Yeah, let's go," she said, already moving, her hand brushing some wayward colorful strands of hair away from her face, her bangles giving a faint jingle. A quick button press and the scanners were called back to settle on her cuff.

"But we should be careful until we know who's who."

They slipped through the broken stonework of the ruins, shadows swallowing them up as vines curled down from the ceiling like crooked fingers. Every step made her nerves buzz sharper beneath her skin, her glow tightening into a low, cautious yellow.

Then, just as they rounded the edge of a crumbled wall as cover, everything exploded into chaos.

Across the open floor, a young man stood with a cocky tilt to his shoulders and a grin that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Well folks, as much as I look forward to scamming you of more creds it seems our partnership must now come to a close."

The former inmates all turned to one another and exchanged somewhat amused if confused glances between themselves. Though the young Shadow gave them no time to think on his words. Jin immediately drew his sidearm and blasted two of their number before he leaped backwards behind a fallen pillar for cover before their bodies hit the ground. He drew their attention as blaster fire began to impact his cover and fly overheard.

"C'mon, can't we talk about this!? I was aiming to disarm, I swear it!"

Hopefully that more experienced looking Jedi would dive in right about now.

The criminals around him exchanged confused glances before the boy whipped out a sidearm and blasted two of them without hesitation. Zaiya gasped, her stripes flaring an alarmed bright yellow, body locking into a ready crouch even as the boy dove behind a fallen pillar. Blaster bolts sparked off the stone as fire erupted from the prisoners.

Okay, she thought, heart hammering, this is not what I was expecting.

She leaned closer to Makko, keeping her voice low.

"Uhh… what should we do?" she asked, stripes fluttering in a confused pale amber. Because right now, it reallylooked like the two strangers were doing their job for them.

And Zaiya honestly wasn't sure whether to be relieved… or very concerned.

 

[Sienna]

Sienna fixed Tel with a look as she picked her way toward the edge of the clearing.

"Tell me as soon as you sense anything. If those things circle back we'll need time to prepare for them. Every second will count," she said.

The trail remained clearly visible from here, though the jungle flora made it difficult to get a good look deeper in. The beasts had fled down somewhere in the direction of the trail. Some patches of dirt had been flung up by their claws. Their tracks disappeared into the thick underbrush, making it impossible to tell where they were for Sienna. Tel and her's survival would depend entirely on the other Padawan's ability to sense dangers, which were likely impaired by his exhaustion.

Sienna gripped the blaster rifle more tightly to keep it ready as they started down the trail. The supplies she'd picked off the dead—the two detonators—gave her some measure of relief, even if she'd never had to use anything so destructive before. Part of her wasn't sure she could use the detonators without blowing up either herself or Tel.

If the Sun favoured them, they wouldn't have to find out.

"Jedi Ahren," she spoke as they moved through a particularly overgrown part of the trail. "Back in the clearing, what exactly happened with you?"

Tel Ahren

 

[Valery Noble]

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

Valery rose slowly as the Mirialan's resolve cracked like brittle glass, his desperate shout echoing in the scorched chamber.

"I'LL TALK! I'LL TALK!"

She didn't even have to glance at Connel to know that his unnerving performance had pushed the thug over the edge. She let her saber hum idly at her side, its glow casting long shadows as she stepped back to give the prisoner room to panic.

"Good choice," she replied, folding her arms. "Now talk fast. What's in the armory?"

The man's voice trembled as he spoke, eyes wide and locked on the violet blade. "E-Explosives. Detonite charges. Enough to level the whole place. It was… a failsafe. In case this place fell, they were going to blow it. All of it. Burn the evidence. Take anyone with them."

Valery's expression didn't change, but her eyes sharpened.

"How soon were they planning to set them off?"

"I don't know!" he stammered, sweat pouring down his temples. "We hadn't triggered it yet — it's manual. But there's a deadman's switch in the command room. If we don't report in or if someone tries to access the terminal wrong—"

Valery inhaled slowly, a cold calm washing over her. She turned to look at the remaining thugs still frozen in place. "You were going to bury this entire place. Bury your own people." Her voice cut like glass.

Connel Vanagor ​

 

[Connel Vanagor]

Get out of our House!
Devaron
Objective 4

Fun time was over.

Now it was time to get serious.

You’re done! Tightening his hold just enough, Connel put the Mirialan to sleep. As the others watched in horror as their compatriot fell like a sack of bricks, Connel turned around slowly… and very lightly whispered the words in Valery’s direction through the Force.

~Trust me… just playing the part…~

Drawing his Lightblasterand leveling it on all of them, he started moving around. Where’s the command room?!

“Why should we tell you?”

“He’ll kill us!” Connel charged that one getting face to cowering face WHAT DO YOU THINK I’LL DO? DEAL WITH ME!

Another yelled out “You’re not gonna use that on anyone! You’re bluffing!” Before he could blink, the Shadow was leveling the weapon on him, and a bolt cut into the will centimeters away from his head before leveling back on him. Won’t kill one or two to save hundreds?

“...”

Connel charged him. TALK! The almost insane levels of aggression seemed to almost make the Weequay want to wet himself. He was that afraid. “It’s three levels up! DON’T KILL ME!”

Connel just looked back momentarily to Valery to see what she wanted to do. He could attempt to disarm the explosives, but he was not as skilled as “Azrael” of Omega Squad. That also left open the possibility of no one reporting in. There was also leaving these thugs here to their own devices if they raced against time to get to the command room.

Valery Noble • TAGS​

 

[Tel Ahren]

Sienna Jo'Han Felcado

"What, never seen someone collapse before?"

The joke was, perhaps, a bit in poor taste. Especially after they'd nearly been ravaged by a small pack of Quarra, and knowing that he still looked a little drawn, it probably wasn't the sort of thing she was wanting to hear. It made him feel a bit better, though, to joke about what had happeneed, odd though it may seem. After pushing in so deep to the beasts' minds, he needed something to laugh about instead.

Of course, he also knew she'd never be entirely satisfied with that answer. "You know how a mind trick works, right? Lean in on the other person a bit, give them a push there, a pull here, make them a bit more agreeable, more likely to listen to what you say...the same principal applies to animals. That's where you get stories of Jedi doing things like taming giant Shyyo birds to fly around on Kashyyyk with." He scratched at his cheek, eyes half-closed as he followed behind Sienna, listening and feeling for any other signs of danger.

"Forcing a connection like that can work both ways. I think I dug myself in too deep...but, I didn't really expect it to work, anyways. I was figuring you'd just have to run while they were digging in my guts."

 

[Anchat Anura]

"That is a beautiful view," Captain Anura said with a sigh as they came into the clearing. It was perfect - a little mostly-flat grove in the mountain forest that gave a perfect view of the walker battle going on. The battle was just starting to hit its stride, too. The flashes of practice blaster fire going back and forth was a beautiful sight, even if a bit morbid in its purpose and application. Still, there was nothing wrong with taking a moment to appreciate the aesthetics of it all. Not to mention that the afternoon heat was starting to really kick in, and, with all the humidity, his skin was feeling fantastic. He'd long taken off his shirt to absorb all the moisture and enjoy the heat. Many of his troopers had, too, but for different reasons. XIV and Oz seemed to be no worse for wear, other than having particularly muddy feet.

"Hoo hah, sir," said the nearby sergeant, "Should we give everyone a water break?"

"A water break? We just got here! Let's load Oz up and get this done, I want to set a high bar!" he ordered, "Oz, get into position! Everyone with a loose rocket, now's your lucky break, we're loading those in first! Let's get a pile started and set down the ammo crates! The sooner we get this done the sooner we can drink and eat and piss! Let's go, hop to!"

There were groans and a few beleaguered 'Hoo Hah's as Anchat clapped his hands, which were amplified by XIV's microphone. Oz obeyed, picking the best view for him to start opening fire - simulated fire, anyway - at phantom targets. The rockets they brought were real weight with false loads. They were, indeed, explosives, but they would fire harmless pyrotechnical rounds at coordinates unknown but pre-loaded into a monitoring system. They would explode and be real flashy and cause no damage.

This was only one of three positions where Oz would have to load up and fire from, but the hard part, the long march along the mountains, was over. Once Oz fired up portions of his ammunition, they would pack up and move to the next position. The unit split off to set up the other two positions, while Anchat oversaw the 'fire support' simulation. It was mostly monitoring systems built for Oz's unit, and his automated targeting systems were fairly robust. However, his line of Droids were specifically built with manual override in mind if necessary, and the addition of the operator element sharpened its accuracy and reliability.

Once Oz was loaded up with ammo, this portion of the unit would remain in place and finally catch a break. They'd split up into quarters: One section for each firing location, plus another for escort. While Oz was running his firing sim, the troopers finally caught their break for the three R's: Rehydrate, refresh, and relax, if only for a few minutes.

Even rockets fired off fast.

Once Oz chewed through his first stash of rockets, it was off to the next position. This one was trickier - it was at more of a slant, with less tree clearing. But the team had thought ahead and laid down wood on the ground to help keep Oz, and the ammo loaders, more stable. They'd had a bit of time to prepare during the first exercise, and Anchat was grateful for it. They were able to get Oz's reloads in with excellent efficiency. The denser tree covering meant that it took Oz longer to fire off all his rockets - their numbers would sag as a result, but it was still within expectations.

Before the exercise, Anchat had foreseen that the third location that Command had chosen wasn't going to be any good. He had expected this was part of it, to see if he would be able to see an error in Command's plan. He had instructed a scout team to check it out first to confirm its unsuitability, and they had reported in just before it was time to move Oz again. Indeed, the spot that Command had picked out was basically a muddy hill, and was totally unusable. Oz would likely slide down a cliff face and gravity would probably destroy him - in actuality, not just in simulation. Thankfully, Anchat had picked an alternative up the mountain that was sturdier, if more vulnerable to return fire. At this point in the 'battle', though, the risk would be worth it, as Oz would have fired off most of his ammunition - if Oz were to be taken out, this would be the least inconvenient time for that to happen.

It was a harder march than Anchat would have preferred, but he was glad he'd chosen the spot. There was a fold in the mountain that protected Oz from the north, even if he was more out in the open than in the tree cover. That meant if he would have been attacked by the air, he would be able to strike at anything coming at him from favorable angles. Only artillery would be really able to reach him from up here, and in a battlefield scenario, artillery was probably going to be focused on assisting the ground forces, or dealing with counter-artillery. That really only left orbital bombardment, and at this phase of a battle, if there were ships available to provide orbital bombardment, then there wasn't much point in a walker battle or even providing anti-aircraft fire, since the orbital guns would just take care of everything.

Oz gleefully fired off the last of his rockets for the mission - he even had a few left over, which was expected. Normally they wouldn't move a missile unit like Oz with the rockets in, because it meant Oz would be heavier and have a harder time dealing with the mud or other loose ground. However, at this point in the battle, it would be a risk not to have him retreat without being ready to fire back at any air raids. So, they compromised, and kept him at a half load. It meant that they would still need to carry a few rockets manually in case he needed a reload, but it wouldn't be at the same sluggish pace as the trek up.

That, and the trek to their 'evac' was at the bottom of the mountain, where they were going to be airlifted out of the area. The troopers were grateful for that change of pace. Although everyone was exhausted and thoroughly worn out by the end of it, the mood was a sort of tired joviality. They were proud of the work they'd done, and proud to be done with it.

When they got to the beach at the bottom of the mountain, however, they found boats instead of an air evac. Command had thrown them a wrench: No airlift. They were going to have to ferry across the river and then trucks would bring them to HQ, where the trucking unit would be dealing with their own simulation of avoiding patrols, mines, and artillery to get the whole unit, including Oz, across open fields, without losing men or material.

It was going to be an even longer day, but at least they weren't going to have to do it on foot.

~Fin~

 

[Koyi Freetaa]

Objective 2 - A Test of Strength
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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

Koyi fought the instinct to pull her Puma’s back as soon as the bombardment started, and the combat computer running simulated damage in MAD STOMP reported several near misses. Gritting her teeth hard enough to make her jaw ache, the computer continued to report simulated explosions of other rounds impacting up and down the entire river and concluded that it was Colonel Gress keeping her on her toes and stopping her from crossing the river.

Thinking, Koyi figured she could use her smoke launchers to obscure a crossing, but that would tell her opponent where to point a saturation bombardment and cause her to soak up unnecessary damage. But that wasn’t the only way to make a smoke screen.

Koyi called up another one of her Tigers, NOISE COMPLAINT, to speak with its commander. “Hey, Sergeant Tev, you did a summer in wildfire suppression, right?"

“Yeeeeaah?” The Sergeant answered back, his rural Corellian accent stretching the word into a question.

“How stupid of an idea would it be to start up a few small fires to give us a smoke screen?”

“Pretty stupid, you can’t control fire once it’s going, and we don’t have any suppression equipment to put out anything bigger than an engine fire.” With a sigh, Sargent Tev added. “But the forest along the riverbank has some pre-made firebreaks around it, with the roads and the river. And the wind’s coming off the ocean at our back, so it’ll get pushed towards the river. So if you wanna play it like that, it’s the least stupid place to do it.”

“Thanks Tev. I’ll buy you and your crew a round once this is over.” Koyi said before opening up a new channel. “PEWBUG. RATTLELORD. Syphon off about two litres of fuel and spread it around. Once that’s done light it up and pull back with the rest of the Pumas.”

The smoke would obscure visual sensors, and the fire would play hell on thermals; it wasn’t going to guarantee concealment, but it should give her some leeway to maneuver without getting caught instantly

Switching channels again, she spoke to her whole walker group this time. “Alright, we’ve sat around long enough, ballistics computers should have a good idea where to put some counterbattery. Drop one Roar round from the main gun, followed up by Ion rounds, throw in High Ex from your mortars too. After sixty seconds of as much hurt as you can put, scatter on the following vectors.”

Koyi had no idea if Gress’ forces were firing on the move, gotten into siege mode, or had taken other precautions against counterbattery fire, but if she got insanely lucky, it’d be a nasty blow. Even if it didn’t so much as scratch the paint, she’d hoped it would sew a little discord as she plotted her river crossing, as dangerous as it was necessary.