We Are One
Sink Into The Crusts Details.
Area One.
- Area one consists of trade and commerce between merchants. The Trade Conglomerate has invited many an important guest to gather above Sullust, a planet of impending Trade Conglomerate ownership, in one of their heavy star cruisers. The Conglomerate fleet erects a blockade around Sullust while any opponents are vanquished from inside the planet, see area two.
Area Two.
- Area two is on Sullust, capturing objective points. The Conglomerate's first point of interest is in securing all major planetary exports. Business heavy city sprawls and the more rural factory fields. Eliminate enemy forces, cover ground, secure the outposts. You'll have infantry, explosions, and gunfire all around you.
Enemy Briefing:
Stratus Sphere is our enemy, the growing NPC faction of an outter rim warlord, built for the sake of this thread. Connected to the hutt cartels and other pits of villainy, these heavily armed marauders are dead set on taking the spoils of Sullust for themselves, preying on its resources and exports. They have turbo laser mounted speeders for in-atmosphere aerial combat, as well as a few light freighters. Heavy and light troops, mercenary groups, mounted anti-infantry and anti-aircraft turrets. Be careful, they're packing illegal weapons found only on the black market, and most are larger and far more terrifying than your average human.
Sullust System;
Over Sullust;
The Fleet.
Area One.
Metal stretched in an ocean around her, the silent approach of massive shapes peppering an already inconstant black sky. Guns, layers of armor, thick bands of illuminated thrusters and the ion burn of sublight engines welcomed the fleet from hyperspace, hordes appearing in segmented flashes one after another, after another, after another. From the rear bridge of her MC80 Liberty type Star Cruiser, the Sarlacc, Xenia could see each and every vessel pull into real space, suddenly halting and pilots retaking control of their craft. Before her, all around her, telemetry systems displayed channels re-opening, links to the holo net being re-established, communications resumed. And there beyond, just outside of the viewports, the empty void of the galaxy, the drowning visage of a planet and its two moons, one casting the other into near eclipse with its shadow.
"Area scan."
"Active craft around the perimeter mi'lady."
"Friends?"
"It appears so, their sending Conglomerate transponder codes."
"Then our guests have arrived. Send docking instructions to all who check out."
Xenia turned and nodded to another human woman, one of the only present among the Conglomerate forces actually, and obviously of substantial rank as marked by the somewhat formal uniform. "Commander Simpit, you're to form a blockade around the planet. I don't want anything unidentified making it through our fleet. I'm giving you full authority of the bridge in my absence, contact me if anything appears out of the ordinary." The apparent Simpit straightened and shook off a stern salute, more probably derived from somewhere other than the Conglomerate. With an equally stern "understood mi'lady" on the commander's part the exchange was complete and Xenia fled the militaristic setting. Three levels down, in the Sarlacc's thick core, Xenia had made modifications to the layout, removing bunk and long term space for luxury replacements. Carpeted floors, fountains of water, polished protocol and service droids, some of which carrying treys of tiny delicacies from various worlds.
Here she had called the on some of the finest. Merchants of droids, starships, medicines. Gatherers of smaller systems, untraveled worlds, offering water and food stuff. The heads of successful businesses and corporations wanting to be some of the first to earn whatever spoils the Conglomerate came across. Some of the guests had hours since been aboard, enjoying the delights of full bars seating areas. Various droid run stations offered food from different styles, smaller plates, stools pulled up to bar edges and drinks being poured. Near the middle of the large space there was a central staging area, the walls lined with Conglomerate colors of black, blues, and silver whites. More guests fell in from a surround of entrances and exits, lead in small groups by quiet but appropriately charismatic droid automata.
A portrait of Xenia at the conference of Sullust.
Sullust;
Ground Level;
Objective Hunting.
Area Two.
Even Detox, Xenia's fully automated counterpart, could acknowledge the heat of Sullust's surface. Something about the way in which it made joint modules feel loose and sluggish. Mucus like puddles of bubbling, molten rock. Obnoxious smelling sulfurs and other gasses, questionably dangerous for most organics to inhale though not lethal or mind altering during temporary exposures. For miles on miles the planet spanned uninhabited surface area, most of the major cities forged in tunnels under the heat and steam. Even so, the more robust factories and industrial areas required outside exposure for exhaust run offs and thick smokestacks. Troop carriers flew in swarms across the open sky, breaking off in twos and threes to secure other locations farther off. Those Xenia had assembled were called here, by far the most important objective, as it dealt with their opponents directly.
In the Omega Protectorate's fall from power, many hungry gangs and small scale organizations had moved in like scavengers. Mining firms from outlying systems, and more violent, ambitious swarms. A victim to the masses, the drown out battle of attrition with fringe forces and illegal bands of pirate frenzied militia had left the world vulnerable and in need of a strong hand. The hum of repulsers chimed and Detox's landing craft veered hard right before evening out again. From its high point, the droid was able to see their destination in the distance. A large series of clumsy looking metal structures, stacking atop one another in piles. Detox sharpened the image of its photoreceptors and analyzed its findings. Some kind of building, mobile in design, and built around an entrance leading underground. According to whatever intel the Conglomerate had picked up, this was the heart of those who would impose on Sullust's citizens and economy. Their duty was simply to crush the oppressors and display the might of each force the Conglomerate adjoined. "We're approaching the Stratus outpost," a pilot shouted over to Detox, who hung about in the cockpit's entrance. Detox needn't reply, instead focusing on detailed specifics of the enemy's structure and scanning for com signals, then double checking its results with those of each respective pilot and co-pilot.
<<Land your ships along the rims of that architecture. All organic and mercenary teams are to land first, fill in our flanks with droid numbers and instruct a perimeter be made to cut off enemy surface exit attempts. The blockade above will be more than enough to cut off--!!!>>
"Just picked up loads of activity, captain look at this!"
"Those... look like fighters!!"
Too quickly, the enemy seemed to unleash long range artillery rounds, streaking the sky with red lines, bracketed by abrupt airborn explosions. Ships shook, and some, only a few, were penetrated by the fire completely; a few lucky shots turning into too many before metal and passengers alike were torn apart by erupting flames. At first only a few, then more and more starfighters appeared and rose up from the ground in shafts and tunnels. Guns blazing in a mad effort to remove the Conglomerate's landing craft, small Stratus freighters and smaller still dogfight speeders with mounted turbo-lasers. Detox was on the ground at the closet opportunity, leaping from its vessel as joined by those behind it.
The fighting had begun.
