Stuck In The Sound [Incursion Grounding]

[Jairus Starvald]

​

It begins.​

​

The lure was set and the bait had been taken.

For the last weeks and months the organics of the main Galaxy had been assaulted by forces appearing from the unknown. Sullust mourned, the Rift was in chaos, Ilum, Kamino, Commenor, Alexandria, Kal'Shebbol... they burned, innocents slaughtered, secrets stolen and hidden goals met.

Now those who had been prodded and poked descended onto the ancient ring-world deep in the Rishi Maze.

Once they stopped and picked up their jaws anyway.

Armies descended and found heavy fortifications around a singular place in the mountains.

The Redoubt Fortress: what secrets might be found there? What experiments or insanity moves there in the dark corridors? To find that out, one must breach its defenses, take down the shield generator, traverse trenches and fields littered with mines... and more.

It will not be easy... after all, this insurrection of synthetics have had centuries to entrench themselves in this position.

* * *​

​

Emerald was silent as the streams of information flowed around him. Screens synced to central processing operations, directly feeding him into the battle starting slowly outside. Once he opened his eyes, thousands of synthetics opened theirs, eyes glowing emerald.

"They come, Emerald."

The shard tilted its head a fraction, listening to that static-ridden voice, before it nodded.

"We are ready."

Its claws tightened around a staff... anxiety? worry? or a simple test of control? Difficult to say. But the dying sigh brushed through the control room and the onyx presence left them.

Now it was simply time to wait for them to come to him.

MAP​

 

[Elaine Thul]

She landed on the planet, she could see hills nearby, and some forest in the distance. She knew the enemy was somewhere past a shield wall, which meant her artillery could not just strike at them. She began setting up her forces, while surrounded by hills, as they gave her some modicum of cover. She turned to her commanders, Our first job, it set up a base here for the artillery, so once shields are down, we can start really doing damage to the enemy. Then we need to begin marching on the enemy positions. She turned to her tank commander, move down towards the forest and report back to me. She then turned to her troop carrier commander, start ferrying the infantry to the forest. So we can plan out attack, when we ready to do so. She then turned to commander of housecarls, and said Seeing as we can not fit on the transports we will have to march down to forest it take longer, but if we start now we get their sooner. She then looked at artillery commander, See that ridge, set up around that get sam batteries on top, howlers behind, and deploy the reapers where you see fit, to guard your postion. She then turned to the all her commanders, and flicked on radio so her troops could hear to, and then gave her battle speech. These things came to our home tried to kill us, they trying to purge everything with a pulse, in the galaxy. This means if we fail, it could be the end of all life in the galaxy, so no matter what, we can not fail. This means we can not run away, as their will be nowhere to run, as sooner or later they will come to our home Elysian. WE DO THIS FOR ALL LIFE, NO MATTER WHAT IT BELIEVES, AS THIS THING WANTS DESTROY US ALL, SO MARCH WE MAY DIE, BUT IT WILL NOT SURVIVE THE DAY, YOU KNOW YOUR DUTY, AND HOW TO EXECUTE IT, SO DO SO AND LET THE GALAXY LIVE! She then paused for effect ​FOR ELYSIAN AND COALITION, TO YOUR POST AND DO YOUR DUTY! Her men started to move and get on with their jobs, she marched in her dueling armour with her housecarls, toward the forest, while tanks moved ahead keeping informed with what was happening, as one the units loaded into the Triceratops troop carriers, the one other came with her, they load up on route. The artillery with help other infantry column began moving into postion on the hill, so they could protect them as they moved towards the forest.

Spoiler

Unit Strength Action
H.T.E. Dracon Tank 100% Landed at 04.01 moving towards 02.02 then 02.05
H.T.E. Triceratops 100% Landed at 03.01 loading up first infantry column, and then moving out 01.03 then 01.06
Housecarls+me 100% Landed at 01.01 moving to towards 01.07
Artillery 100% Landed at 05.01 moving towards 05.04
1st infantry 100% Landed at 03.01 boarding Troop carriers
2nd infantry 100% Landed at 01.01 marching behind housecarls
3rd infantry 100% Landed at 05.01 help move artillery

I am wearing Dueling Armour
please see entry post for notes.

 

[Jorus Merrill]

STARTING LOCATION: 11.01, behind the hills
ENDING LOCATION: 09.02
ALLIES: [member="Elaine Thul"], TBD
ENEMIES: [member="Emerald"], TBD
FORCES:

• 12 captured Fringe Confederation repulsortanks
  Crew/passengers armed with standard weapons and Thunderclap electroray carbines
• Overall NPC rating: Rare
• Condition: Fresh

[*]1 skirmisher/saboteur force of Coruscant Underground veterans on swoop bikes

• Overall NPC rating: Common
• Condition: Fresh

The Wretched Hive and a handful of other bulk freighters roared away from the earth. Jorus shielded his eyes against the sun and took one last breath of fresh, dusty air. Normally he preferred the canned variety, but an old Fringe tank could get downright musty. He spat over the side and ducked down into the turret, sealing the hatch. Beyyr snarled a question.

"Thul? She's spreading out and setting up. Looks like she brought her Housecarls, infantry, arty, tanks - the works. Lot more versatile than us, lot less maneuverable. I'd bet we'll be holding her left flank or screening her forward elements." Jorus snugged the clips on his shock couch and adjusted his helmet. "All hands, this is Vestige One-One. Check in to your squad captains."

The channel monitors lit up as Two-One and Three-One got their checkins and relayed readiness. The other three tanks of Jorus' squad chimed in. The Undergrounders on bikes chattered for a while, but in the end, they all sounded off ready too. Jorus let out a slow breath and accelerated. A well-designed repulsortank handled like any other heavy airspeeder, but he kept close to the ground, altitude less than a metre. The others followed suit to maximize the cover of the hills.

The twelve old Fringe tanks angled west in diamond formations. The bikes didn't have anything like the same organization, but they stayed close. Breath filters and goggles let them ignore the plume of grit the tanks threw up - and gripe about it, which they probably preferred to clear skies.

Jorus switched channels to one of the command presets. "Thul lead, this is Vestige One-One. I'm coming around the hills on your left flank - twelve tanks, a few dozen bikes. Mark us green."

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

Allies: [member="Jorus Merrill"] [member="Elaine Thul"]
Enemies: Contingency [member="Emerald"] TBD

While the battle raged above, and the events of the Tion Cluster still unfolding, she had to take the field on the ground, where she was more comfortable fighting than in space. With the insertion being already made, the time to lead the assault onto the enemy C2 facility was at hand. But the enemy was forming up under a shield generator, which did nothing to help them. Which meant that a frontal assault was out of the question. Close-air support was important here, she had thermobaric charges ready to fire, both under mortar form and missile form, at whatever enemy would be in the trenches, or beyond the shield generator. Some of her men were around for several campaigns she fought as a commander, with the squad leaders or even company leaders being with her as far back as the Chiloon Rift campaign, being there where she defeated the main Primeval army, and surviving also the engagements on Ord Radama and Bimmisaari. But here aircraft survivability was going to be a bit higher than in Sector 27-AJ: medium Deathballs were loaded inside bombers rather than heavy ones. Yet, unlike the last two engagements, on Ossus and in sector 27-AJ, the Xi Charrians were nowhere to be found among her army. Here [member="Elaine Thul"] was on her right, and [member="Jorus Merrill"] on her left. It was best not to concentrate too many troops in one place, nor to spread herself too thin.

"The enemy is holed up inside a shield: we need to take out the shield generator before any attack on the C2 facility or the enemy redoubt can be made. At this stage we do not know the enemy force strength, so tread lightly. We need artillery positioned around the dried riverbed, with MLRS units behind. Take heavy weapons infantry behind cover inside those hills, we can lob mortars and missiles onto the enemy that dares cross the dry riverbed from there. Remember: the Contingency isn't an enemy like the Primeval, the First Order or the Galactic Empire, much less the Resurgent Empire. This is an enemy that will take no prisoners, so show them no mercy!"

With the main army mostly sandwiched between Jorus and Elaine, her role would be to hit the enemy that dared cross the dried river bed. The artillery would be in two separate positions: the tanks in front, the rocket artillery behind, with infantry close by and also supporting each other. Between them, that force ought to be able to make the enemy pay for a crossing of the dry river bed. She simply hoped that the enemy would just open fire. This operation is not going to be easy, but I volunteered for it because more than defeating the main army of a faction, being a major protagonist in saving the galaxy will ensure that I will be remembered by history, she thought, while wondering exactly where did Major-General Soja go: to the extent she trusted her, especially since she knew about how Catherine was able to do good on Midvinter and Dromund Kaas, she was nowhere to be found. Once again, she decided that she couldn't bring that many troops with her without jeopardizing the security of the Silver Jedi.

Spoiler: Forces

• Infantry:
  1st Silver Jedi regulars unit: 100%, moving from 08.01 -> 08.02
• 2nd Silver Jedi regulars unit: 100%, moving from 05.01 -> 05.04
• 3rd Silver Jedi regulars unit: 100%, moving from 06.01 -> 06.03
• Silver Jedi heavy weapons infantry unit: 100%, moving from 10.01 -> 10.03

[*]Artillery:

• 1st Irnfall main battle tank unit: 100%, moving from 07.01 -> 07.03
• 2nd Irnfall main battle tank unit: 100%, moving from 08.01 -> 08.03
• 1st Hwacha MLRS unit: 100%, moving from 07.01 -> 07.02
• 2nd Hwacha MLRS unit: 100%, moving from 06.01 -> 06.02

[*]Aircraft:

• RZ-3 A-Wing Interceptor unit: 100%, moving from 06.01 -> 06.04
• Chiloon-class bomber unit: 100%, moving from 07.01 -> 07.05

 

[Kyle Raymus]

[flash=425,350]https://www.youtube.com/v/ueqKtype7Kk[/flash]​

Reaper Squadron:
Start Location: 07,01
End Location: 08,03
Ships:

• x6 RZB-12 Heavy Starfighters (Ground Attack Refit)
• x4 RZ-110 Elite Starfighters

​Wolfguard Assault unit:
Start Location: 08,04
End Location: 08,05
24 Wolfguard Soldiers

Before, it was a peaceful area, untouched by man or machine. Now, assault dropships, fighters and tanks buzzed over these plains and hills. Noone present here was safe. Everyone who stood here, ran the risk of death. Yet these people were used to it now. They were soldiers. To them, battles were a daily occurence, and so was danger. But noone had ever faced more of a dangerous battle before. This battle could be decisive. Kyle was the only Shrouded officer here today. The others were busy with other problems. Kyle would've joined, but they needed someone on the ground, and Kyle was a great tactician and pilot, so he was fit for the job. 10 starfighters and two dropships approached the ground. The dropships landed and deployed 12 Wolfguards each, the soldiers scuttling into formation as the ships rose up yet again, reaching for the void of space above. The starfighters held formation. 6 ground attack bombers and 4 elite fighters covering them from each side. The bombers could hold their own against a squadron, but Kyle needed scouts and a small air superiority force just in case.

"Bader, tell everyone to begin the check in, order the wolfguard to move in to join with Elaine Thul's forces. We will provide air support. Cycle the shields and prepare the proton bombs."

"This is Captain Bader, begin checkin. Wolfguard, rendevouz with Elaine Thul's walkers. Everyone, cycle your shields and prepare for battle"

The pilots began chattering over the comms before silencing yet again once the check in finalised. No on mission jokes. Nothing. Pure silence. The calm before the storm. Sooner or later, they would face the enemy, and then the terrors would begin.

"Silver Jedi forces, mark us friendly, our fighters are preparing for combat. We will take the shield generator once the ground forces clear out the AA units. Your fighters can focus on the enemy ground forces in that area."

|[member="Elaine Thul"] | [member="Jorus Merrill"] | [member="Jessica Med-Beq"] |

 

[Lord Mettallum]

[media]https://youtu.be/ePYe3lqsu-g[/media]
Allies: [member="WD-334"]
Enemies: [member="Emerald"]

Lord Mettallum looked at his forces preparing to go to war. Lord Mettallum was glad he could finally test his army against another army. Lord Mettallum's main reason for coming to this battleground was to get some of the technology the Contingency owns and hopefully recruit Contingency droids that he captures. Lord Mettallum knew this "Droid Revolution" would fail just like all the other droid revolutions that started because droids rushed it and went all militant and violent and Lord Mettallum knew the organics who would be fighting in this war would not see the droids as people and would slaughter all the droids and any they didn't destroy would probably get a memory wipe. Lord Mettallum turned on his comms unit and spoke to his army.

"I Lord Mettallum want the AE 1s to setup a FOB once we reach the Mountains. D1s Form up in formation and prepare to march. TICKS march with the Desolations. Alpha Dragons keep to walker mode and form up with the D1s. 20% of the Beta Dragons fly ahead and setup scanners and report any non Metal Lord Forces you see. I Lord Mettallum shall be marching with the GP Guardians behind the D1s."

Changing comms frequency Lord Mettallum sent a message to his ally

"WD will you be moving up with my forces or going somewhere else?"

Spoiler

Alpha Dragon Droid Fighter 19.1,20.1 heading 19.3,20.3
Beta Dragon Droid Scout 19.1,20.1 20% heading 20.6 the rest 19.3
D1 Battledroids 19.1,20.1 heading 19.3,20.3
GP Guardian Droid 19,1 heading 19.2
AE 1 Engineering Droids 19.1 heading 19.3
Desolation 19.1 heading 19.2
Displacers Undeployed
TICK Sniper Droid 20.1 heading 20.2
Lord Mettallum 19.1 heading 19.2

 

[WD-334]

Allies: [member="Lord Mettallum"]
Enemies: [member="Emerald"]

WD-334 made landing by Metallum's forces, a Metal Lord it did not know too well compared to all the other Lords. Speaking of said Metal Lord, as WD unloaded all of it's forces it brought, the war droid received a message from it's only ally on the field. "My forces shall move with yours, using their shields.The Ashen Guard will pull up behind the shield line to give fire support. I will hold behind our forces, at the forward operating base" the war droid replied to Metallum, then gave the orders to it's units. WD-334 had not seen any other forces of any other factions, and WD barely knew anything of those they were going up against. But, WD was never one to leave another Metal Lord alone in battle. It's own forces would act as a shield for now, the Ashen Guard pulling just behind the shield with heavy weaponry. WD would have wished to be at the front, but knew that such an act would not end very well for the droid.

The war droid, while it's forces mobilized moved with it's Echani Guard to the location of the F.O.B Metallum's forces were going to have setup. There it would wait for Metallum to share their next move, and WD-334 would make it's own move along their forces side.

Spoiler

Echani Guards 100% 19.1 heading to 19.3
Ashen Guard 100% 19.1 heading to 19.3, 20.3
R-99 Vanguard 100% 19.1 heading to 19.3, 20.3

Forces

 

[Ria Misrani]

Arrival
First Order Army
First Order Stormtrooper Corps
Starting: 12.01 // Ending: 11.02

Enemies: [member="Emerald"]
Allies: None.

Spoiler

Varudana Warhawks:

• 1ST PLATOON - INFANTRY
• 2ND PLATOON - INFANTRY
• 3RD PLATOON - ARMORED
• AT-SG/AT-AW; 2PTS
• 4TH PLATOON - ARMORED
• ANTI-AIR WALKERS; 2PTS

The Blood Horns:

• 1ST PLATOON - RECON
• HUSSAR COMMAND SPEEDERS; 2PTS
• 2ND PLATOON - INFANTRY
• 3RD PLATOON - INFANTRY
• 4TH PLATOON - MISSILE SUPPORT
• SA900C / 90M7T; 4PTS

The First Order had arrived the silhouettes of their machines gave way to shadows that danced ahead of them. Alpha Legion's Blood Horns had arrived with their emblem emblazoned upon their shoulders. Company Commander Captain Yavid Romero marched with the infantry at his back his Hussar Commanders ahead scouting the area. They'd already reported the sightings of the Alliance-aligned Outer Rim Coalition. Behind them, the Varundana Warhawks, from the 7th Armored Division marching behind them and as war arrived the ground forces fielded by the First Order did little to look at one another and instead focused on the task ahead of them. "Let's all thank the man responsible for our little outing today," Romero remarked through the vox-feed his helmet still fixed on the hills ahead of them all.

"You'd be remiss if you hadn't the chance to show up the bloodlust of the ... what are they calling themselves? "Sons of Seiger?" Tarkin defended himself with a bit of pride, a chuckle escaped him and from within his helmet, his smile almost matched that as the one he wore on the alabaster helmet. The one that was permanently affixed to every Stormtrooper. The lieutenant led the third platoon, beside him was Lieutenant Brumsfeld he recalled their meeting on Janara when the platoon had been fielded as shoretroopers. Now they bore the very same equipment as they blazed the trail ahead with the missile support at their backs.

Romero was quiet for a moment as he laid eyes on the fading forms of what looked to have been the ORC. "Yeah some self-absorbed title, still, I kinda like their chainswords."

"Leave it to them to bring the barbaric weapons," Tarkin said but even so, it was hard to miss the envy in his tone.

"Careful there Tarkin, you'll be turning green soon enough," Brumsfeld warned as she marched beside him.

Another chuckle from the man as he kept his focus his feet pounded the dirt beneath their wake. The sound of the engines surrounded his ears while the HUD displayed the distance left until their objective had been reached. "Thank you so much for keeping me in line, lieutenant, truly." A pause as he set to deadpan, "but I could never be quite as green as our Army friends here."

"Romero I thought I told you to keep your buckets in line," quipped Captain Leicester of the Warhawks, the lightly armored woman sat within one of the walkers, hands behind her back as she looked over to the crew. There were a set of chuckles, "wouldn't want us taking a crack shot at you from here, would you?"

The Stormtrooper thought a moment, "depends can you even hit me from that far out?"

"I could, but perhaps I'll leave you alive, for now." She teased.

He blushed and struggled to come back with a reply that was suitable and when there wasn't he focused on the task at hand, "right. Task is easy boys and girls, eliminate the enemy - the tin cans up over the hill. Hussars will keep pace ahead to provide feed back for missile support, we'll move up and keep the path clear for the walkers to get in and do their jobs. Then, Seiger willing we'll all get to go back home for tea."

 

[Arahael]

Landed at: 17.01
Going to: 17.03
Allies: So far unknown | [member="Ranulph Tarkin"] ?
Enemies: [member="Emerald"]

Forces:
501st Stormtrooper Legion (4, Unique)
42nd Stormtrooper Legion (1)
All Terrain Armored Siege Walker Force (3)
TIE/sa Bomber Force (1)
TIE/sa Bomber Force (1)

Maintaining as much silence as they could, Max and his forces landed down below. An array of troops emerged from transports, along with the humming of vehicles' engines. He wouldn't be surprised if others had already landed. This time though, he wouldn't be aiming to fight for previous hostilities. A common enemy was a great enough threat to necessitate working together with even long-term enemies.

He broadcasted across an open frequency "This is Max Fel on behalf of the Galactic Empire. I will be cooperating with willing forces, however if you pose a risk to me or my troops, then you will face serious firepower."

After surveying the distant landscape with macrobinoculars, he ordered his troops forward. No doubt the resistance here would be fierce, but the combined forces of those willing would have to do.

[member="Jorus Merrill"] | [member="Elaine Thul"] | [member="Jessica Med-Beq"] | [member="Kyle Raymus"] | [member="Lord Mettallum"] | [member="WD-334"] | [member="Ranulph Tarkin"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

STARTING MAP | ROUND #2 MAP​

ALLIES: TBD
ENEMIES: [member="Elaine Thul"] | [member="Jessica Med-Beq"] | [member="Jorus Merrill"] | [member="Kyle Raymus"] | [member="Lord Mettallum"] | [member="WD-334"] | [member="Ranulph Tarkin"] | [member="Max Fel"]
FORCES VISIBLE: N/A
OOC: Please keep your movements reasonable, about 3 or 4 hexes at best, five at most. But I will look at it case by case.

The first thing the invaders would notice when they landed... was that their sensory equipment stopped functioning properly.

They would have to rely on line-of-sight and other means to locate where the entrenched enemies exactly where. One interesting note was a strange signal that they'd be able to pick up, if they bothered to cycle through their comms. It originated from three specific directions (coinciding with the hexes 03.08 | 14.05 | 20.08). It was unknown what those locations would hold in store for them, but perhaps there they would be able to somehow restore their sensors and ensure that they will be able to actually see where their enemies were hiding.

​

* * *​

​

"They have droids, Emerald."

Head tilted in apparent interest. "Do they now? Who do they fight for?"

"Themselves."

If the shard had brows, they would have been furrowed by then, in thought, consideration and interest, but sadly the Iron Knight had none of that at his disposal. Instead there was only the soft hum of his servodrivers, the claw digits ticking against the casing of his staff, before the droid assistant posed a question to it.

"Do you want the signal to be launched now?"

"No. It is too soon for that yet."

The assimilation signal had been most effective during their trial runs, but that had been then. They had no clue if it would be just as effective now with them here. If it wasn't? They only have a single chance at spreading chaos and discord among them. Best to wait for an opportunity where the effect would be maximized against these organics.

 

[Aedan Miles]

Landed at: 24.01
Going to: 24.03
Allies: Unknown
Hopeful allies: [member="Jorus Merrill"] [member="Max Fel"] [member="Ranulph Tarkin"]
Enemies: [member="Emerald"]
Forces: Personal battle mount with BAR-1 Autocannon in weapon mount
2x Clan Akaata Milita
The Shadow Gundan
The Drakon Regiment
Red Fang
Dark Jedi Knights of Bogan

Aedan Miles and his men were finally ready to move they had let the others his scouts had informed him about begin first before finally they started to move along the eastern edge of the plain towards hills. He sat atop his newest companion and battle mount Dha Kyr'ram patting the top of its bony head crest and smiled a bit. "All right my friend lets go and see what we can mess up." He smirked as he leaned against the weapon he had mounted to the hard point grinning at the fortress up ahead standing on the saddle as he called out loudly to his men. "Everyone mount up and lets get out of here I want us to reach those hills so we can plan our next move." With that his men started to move some mounted on vehicles others marching alongside them as he watched his men move pride flowing through him as he grinned patting the side of Dha Kyr'ram's neck to let him now to move the large Krayt Dragon moving along slowly at the front of his men calmly. He listened to the statement from one Max Fel before pulling up the status on who was present from intel before keying his com link and attempting to send a message to an old friend he hadn't seen in quite some time he knew that others would probably pick up the transmission but didn't care about petty fighting amongst their governments. "Hey Jorus old friend you there was wondering if you wanted to work together a bit this also goes to anyone who may be listening in as well. If you do go ahead and mark targets I will dispatch some men to see what we can do to assist you."

 

[Elaine Thul]

Allies: [member="Kyle Raymus"] [member="Jessica Med-Beq"] [member="Jorus Merrill"]
Enemies: @Emerald

AS they marched out, they soon realised there sensor stopped working where being blocked. She turned to [member="Captain August "]and asked, ​What caused it? He checked his his com link, and cycled through it. He was a veteran of war, and come across many things, he soon said We got signal scramblers a head, at these possible coordinates. She nodded Send them to artillery, and tell them to open fire, on one near us. She had one definite signal the others where further away, so they may not have the right coordinates. She sent a message to nearby allies, check your coms, it might give you positions of enemy signal scrambler. We are getting ready to engage one in the cactus forest, we expect to encounter resistance. This message was only sent to her allies, she was unsure who else was on the battlefield. She then sent an open message, to everyone though she knew this would be intercepted by the enemy. This Elaine Thul, please make contact with us on secure link if you can. She gave no information out, as she knew the enemy would listen to it.

Her troops began getting ready to attack the cactus forest, her tanks moved to flank. Her infantry began to get ready to attack, then as first shell landed, all hell was let loose. The battle had begun, she waiting for others to come and help. The troop carriers ploughed into the cactus forest, and began unloading troops, whilst firing smoke grenades, the reapers shot at anything that moved. As infantry unloaded they used the vehicles as cover, and fired at anything in range. The housecarls, and second column of infanty lined up as tanks past them and fired into the forest as well. All this whilst the howlers lit them up, with emp shells.

Spoiler

Unit Strength Action
H.T.E. Dracon Tank 100% At 02.02 moves to 03.06 firing as they move into the cactus forest
H.T.E. Triceratops 100% At 01.04 loaded with infantry move to 01.07 firing as they do, and unload infantry, and use smoke grenades.
Housecarls+me 100% At 01.03 moving to 02.04 firing into cactus forest
Artillery 100% At 05.04 firing on 03.08
1st infantry 100% At 03.01 boarding Troop carriers unloaded 01.07 and engaging enemy
2nd infantry 100% At 01.03 marching to 02.04 firing into cactus forest
3rd infantry 100% At 05.04 move to 05.05

I am wearing Dueling Armour
please see entry post for notes.

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

Allies: [member="Elaine Thul"] @WD-334 @Lord Mettallum [member="Kyle Raymus"] [member="Jorus Merrill"]
Neutral: [member="Aedan Miles"] [member="Max Fel"] [member="Ranulph Tarkin"]
Enemies: [member="Emerald"]

"Silver Jedi forces, mark us friendly, our fighters are preparing for combat. We will take the shield generator once the ground forces clear out the AA units. Your fighters can focus on the enemy ground forces in that area."

"Copy that"

"Our sensors are being jammed!" the tank gunners reported in. "The only hostile IFF transponders that are coming through are at three different possible locations; we can't even see the enemy AA"

"All units, keep your eyes open for hostiles: for the time being visuals is all that we're going to have. Tank units, advance towards the dried riverbed: position yourself hull-down or even turret-down if possible; also, for regular infantry and aircraft: this is search-and-destroy, but stay within cover whenever possible. Rocket artillery, heavy weapons, open fire on the scramblers using thermobaric charges: that ought to fry not only the scramblers, but also the droids around them"

She prayed in the Force that the other Silver Jedi force she deployed as a distraction to assault another area of Tartarus' capital city, commanded by one Catherine Soja, was able to do its job properly. The dried riverbed seemed deep enough to at least have artillery attempt taking cover in a hull-down position, or maybe even turret-down, but either way they had to have the machineguns on standby to fire at enemy infantry; this is a consideration to keep in mind while the artillery force was being deployed. And infantry as supporting units; one unit each in the hills and the dry riverbed, and the last rifle unit behind the forward artillery unit. Meanwhile, the heavy weapons infantry began preparing targeting solutions for firing thermobaric charges at the central scrambler using handheld 3t5A missiles and mortar ammunition respectively while nestled behind a hill, and the machineguns are at the top of that same hill, scanning the horizon for hostile droids, and firing at what hostile droids were downhill. But between the 3t5A handheld missiles and the 3t5B thermobaric charges fired at the scrambler at the bottom of the rocky dry lake, any cover would be severely compromised, if not blown outright, by the thermobaric bombardment. And droids around the rocky dry lake would likely suffer their wrath; the same may very well apply to the enemy units using the cactus forest around the scrambler for cover. Plus thermobaric charges were more useful against enemies behind cover: any survivors would have to be flushed out. Yet, at this point, there was no point in dropping airborne ordnance onto the elusive enemy in front of the dry riverbed, so all that the aircraft did was to fire guns on hostile droids they had visuals on.

Spoiler: Forces

• Infantry:
  1st Silver Jedi regulars unit: 100%, moving from 08.02 -> 08.04, firing at hostile droids en route
• 2nd Silver Jedi regulars unit: 100%, moving from 05.04 -> 05.05, firing at hostile droids en route
• 3rd Silver Jedi regulars unit: 100%, moving from 06.03 -> 06.04, firing at hostile droids en route
• Silver Jedi heavy weapons infantry unit: 100%, moving from 10.03 -> 11.04, firing 3t5A and 3t6 thermobaric charges at the scrambler at 14.06, potential splash damage at 13.06, 15.06 and 15.07

[*]Artillery:

• 1st Irnfall main battle tank unit: 100%, moving from 07.03 -> 07.05, firing at hostile droids from a hull-down position
• 2nd Irnfall main battle tank unit: 100%, moving from 08.03 -> 08.05, firing at hostile droids from a hull-down position
• 1st Hwacha MLRS unit: 100%, moving from 07.02 -> 07.04, firing 3t5B thermobaric charges at the scrambler at 14.06, potential splash damage at 13.06, 15.06 and 15.07
• 2nd Hwacha MLRS unit: 100%, moving from 06.02 -> 05.04, firing 3t5B thermobaric charges at the scrambler at 03.08, potential splash damage 1 hex around 03.08

[*]Aircraft:

• RZ-3 A-Wing Interceptor unit: 100%, moving from 06.04 -> 06.05, firing at hostile droids
• Chiloon-class bomber unit: 100%, moving from 07.05 -> 07.06, firing at hostile droids

 

[Jorus Merrill]

Location: 09.02->11.05
Allies: [member="Elaine Thul"] [member="Jessica Med-Beq"] [member="Kyle Raymus"]
Not Hostile: [member="Ranulph Tarkin"] [member="Max Fel"] [member="Lord Mettallum"] [member="Aedan Miles"] [member="WD-334"]
Forces: Twelve tanks and some swoops; see starting post for details

The next few minutes were a blur of comms traffic as Jorus coordinated his people and responded to messages. Beyyr, a highly experienced instinctive navigator, took temporary responsibility for guiding Jorus’ forces in the sensor blackout.

“Copy that, Thul. Looks like the Silvers have your flank, so I'm going to move east. Keep up that artillery work. Very nice.”

“Imperial and First Order forces, this is Vestige One-One, commanding the Outer Rim Coalition contingent. Don't shoot us and we won't shoot you. Too much to get done today.”

“Miles, this is Vestige One-One. We've got a weird signal from at least two points, and artillery is pinning it down. If you're off to the east of us, see if you can find the nearest source and hurt it.”

Jorus popped the hatch and shielded his eyes against the sun. The diamonds of ORC tanks, and the swoops behind them, were just coming around the hills and angling southeast. Dead ahead, half a klick away, Silver Jedi artillery pounded what looked like one of the transmission sites.

“Silvers, this is Vestige One-One. Looks like your artillery has the range on that broadcast site. Might want to send in a bombing run to finish the job.”

 

[Ria Misrani]

The March
First Order Army
First Order Stormtrooper Corps
Starting: 11.02 // Ending: 11.04, 11.05

Enemies: [member="Emerald"]
Allies: None.

Actions: Missile Support, Deploys at 11.03
Walkers hold at 11.03, Infantry moves to 11.04
Hussar Speeders to 11.05

Spoiler

Varudana Warhawks:

• 1ST PLATOON - INFANTRY
• 2ND PLATOON - INFANTRY
• 3RD PLATOON - ARMORED
• AT-SG/AT-AW; 2PTS
• 4TH PLATOON - ARMORED
• ANTI-AIR WALKERS; 2PTS

The Blood Horns:

• 1ST PLATOON - RECON
• HUSSAR COMMAND SPEEDERS; 2PTS
• 2ND PLATOON - INFANTRY
• 3RD PLATOON - INFANTRY
• 4TH PLATOON - MISSILE SUPPORT
• SA900C / 90M7T; 4PTS

​

​

Captain Leicester and Romero had heard the words of [member="Max Fel"] and wondered a moment if they should reply with snark. "He's not worth it," Tarkin had said he could feel Romero's thoughts just on instinct having served with the man for quite some time. "None of the so-called Galatic Imperials are, or perhaps we should remember them by their proper name."

"Ah yes, the Imperial Remnant of a Remnant." Lieutenant Brumsfeld recalled and paused a moment when the voice of [member="Jorus Merrill"] came over the radio. "Right, copy that we'll try not to shoot you in the rear." A crewman from the Varudana Warhawks answered him. None of the members of the First Order wanted to be there, but they all had Lieutenant Tarkin to thank for volunteering the lot. For now, they were marching up and over the hillside with their sensors monitoring not just the 'might' of the Galactic Empire but that of the Outer Rim Coalition and more importantly the Silver Jedi. The good man in his officer pauldron and armor wondered if they should have just brought the reinforced desert armor at least that would have provided a little more ventilation.

A set of chuckles had already been had at the expense of the other armies. Silence hung over them now, as the sounds of their machines rolled to a stop. "Missiles set up here, walkers hold at eleven point three, and wait for us to clear the next heading." Captain Romero ordered, "let me know if you see anything from there Leicester."

"Of course, sir."

Infantry meanwhile kept walking, with the armored Stormtroopers heading up the make-shift infantry company and their lighter armored Army brothers brought up the rear. Romero's hope was to set up missile support and command there while their Hussar Speeders moved ahead keeping eyes front as they marched. "Recon tag in, anything yet?"

"Not quite, although we're sure to run into something soon."

Just as the First Order ground forces started to set up they heard the voice of a familiar ally, [member="Aedan Miles"].

"Miles, this is First Order Ground Command. We're glad to see you about," were the words sent to him by Romero.

 

[Lord Mettallum]

Allies: WD-334
Enemies: Emerald

Lord Mettallum marched forward with his army but he noticed something weird and that was that his sensors were not working. Lord Mettallum called one of his AE 1 droids to see what was wrong and he was informed that something was jamming the sensors but he was also informed that some strange signal was being picked up by his radio. After getting his AE 1 droids to examine the signal it was shown to be coordinates to different locations with the one nearest to Lord Mettallum being in the cactus forest. Lord Mettallum decided to send out some fighters to figure out what that signal is and if its what is causing his sensors to jam destroy it.

"I Lord Mettallum want two squadrons of Alpha Dragons to head out to the location being broadcasted on our radios and figure out if its what is causing our sensors to jam. If it is I Lord Mettallum want you to bomb it to the ground. Anyway Beta Dragon Scouts you should all be ready to head out so I Lord Mettallum want you to split into two groups as it seems that we have company near our location. AE 1 Droids prepare to fortify the mountain location as I Lord Mettallum believe we will need a fully functional FOB. WD I Lord Mettallum Believe one of the forces near us is imperial and you are imperial so I Lord Mettallum request you contact them and see if they would be a trustworthy ally in the fight to come"

Spoiler

Main Force


Alpha Dragon Droid Fighter 19.3,20.3 heading 19.4,20.4
D1 Battledroids 19.3,20.3 heading 19.5,20.5
GP Guardian Droid 19,2 heading 19.4
AE 1 Engineering Droids 19.3 Spliting in two groups heading 19.5 and 20.5 Also Fortifying 19.5 and 20.5
Desolation 19.2 heading 19.3
Displacers Undeployed
TICK Sniper Droid 20.2 heading 20.4
Lord Mettallum 19.2 heading 19.4



Scouting Group One
Beta Dragon Droid Scout 19.3 Heading 17.3

Scouting Group Two
Beta Dragon Droid Scout 20.3 Heading 24.3

Bomber Group
Alpha Dragon Droid Fighter 20.3 heading 20.7 Firing at the Jammer at 20.8 and any Contingency forces at 20.8

 

[WD-334]

Allies: @Lord Mettallum
Potential Ally: [member="Max Fel"]
Enemies: @Emerald

WD-334 gave an affirmative to Metallum. The war droid had not seen the Imperial force landing, but it knew protocols of the Empire. At least, it knew of protocols. It had no idea if this Empire was the exact same. Opening comms through communication equipment at the FOB, it attempted to contact the Imperials.

"Imperial forces, this is Designation WD-334, war droid of the Galactic Empire of long ago. We have a common enemy. I ask if you would be seen as allies to us as we march down upon this foe, stomping it out." WD had heard admirals of the old Empire speak like that, stomping out their foes. It thought it would be appropriate to speak in such a way. Even though the voice would sound very motorized. "We can destroy them with each other's help."

With the communication done, WD turned to order it's forces but leaving the communication line open for response. "I will keep small force here at the FOB, the rest will move to the frontline with your frontline forces. I myself shall move forward with my guard, taking up rear flank of our attack." Once they were prepared, WD gave orders to it's Echani Guard to move forward, at a considerably slow pace to keep just a bit behind the main line. The fighting will begin, or perhaps it already had somewhere else on the battlefield. WD had yet to find out. All it had was one focus, and that was to crush the enemy. That was all.

Spoiler

Echani Guards 100% 19.3 heading to 20.4
Ashen Guard 100% 19.3, 20.3 heading to heading 19.5,20.5
R-99 Vanguard 100% 19.3, 20. 3 heading to heading 19.5,20.5

 

[Jorus Merrill]

Location: 11.05
Objective: Make something happen
Allies: [member="Elaine Thul"] [member="Jessica Med-Beq"] [member="Kyle Raymus"]
Not Hostile: [member="Ranulph Tarkin"] [member="Max Fel"] [member="Lord Mettallum"] [member="Aedan Miles"] [member="WD-334"]
Enemies: [member="Emerald"]
Forces: Twelve tanks and some swoops; see starting post for details

Jorus tossed a protein bar wrapper off the turret and wiped his fingers on his coveralls. “Hey, Beyyr?”

A yowl percolated up through the hatch.

“Yeah, that's what I thought too, but they're sitting tight. Far as I can see, not a shot fired from the other side. The artillery's hammering what they expect us to hammer.”

“Ruuurgh.”

“Doesn't sit well with me either.” Jorus glanced back at the nearest First Order forces, the small group of command speeders - not much of a threat. The FO commander had been serious. Good.

“Let's amp up some pressure.” Jorus slid back down into the turret and sealed the hatch. He adjusted his helmet comms. “Vestige, this is Vestige One-One. Boost to one hundred metres and shred that trench line right in front of the main attraction. Let's find out if the shield covers it.”

The hovertanks hovered higher. Their heavy laser cannons sighted in on the trenches a couple of kilometres away, near the presumable base of the shield. Green plasma slashed through the smoke of the nearby artillery action. Some of the tanks mounted secondary weapons with comparable range, compounding the oomph.

“Hurrr.”

“Yeah.” Jorus’ thumbs mashed the cannon’s plate over and over, pulsing fire to avoid overheating. “If there's a gap, we're going for a test flight for sure.”

 

[Kyle Raymus]

The Flight to Devastation
Reaper Squadron:
Start Location: 08,03
End Location: 07,06
Ships:

• x6 RZB-12 Heavy Starfighters (Ground Attack Refit)
• x1 RZ-110 Elite Starfighters

The Breakaway #1
Start Location: 08,03
End Location:06,05

Ships:

• x1 RZ-110 Elite Starfighter

The Breakaway #2
Start Location: 08,03
End Location:11,05

Ships:

• x2 RZ-110 Elite Starfighter

​Wolfguard Assault unit:
Start Location: 08,05
End Location: 06,06
24 Wolfguard Soldiers



The small force of vicious starfighters split up as they realised that their scanners were not operating correctly. There were three suspicious signals coming from 3 different points on the battlefield. The starfighters cruised low over the ground as [member="Jessica Med-Beq"] 's heavy infantry began hurling explosives at the enemy. 3 scouts were dispatched, all of them the lighter RZ-110 interceptors to fly over the targets and check for AA units. Meanwhile, the Wolfguard moved silently towards the signal at 03,08, preparing to take out any AA units stationed there to ease the battle for Reaper squadron flying up above. The starfighters were ready for battle, shields cycled, turrets manned. It was now merely a matter of time.

|Elaine Thul | Jorus Merrill | Jessica Med-Beq | [member="Emerald"]

 

[Jorus Merrill]

OOC/ Since it's been announced that there's no more DMing, methinks it's time to wrap up my part in this.

IC/ From the open hatch of a hovertank, a hundred metres in the air, Jorus applied binoculars to the problem. He watched the bombardment meet the edge of the shield - and pass beneath it. Chunks of the trench line vanished in fireballs. He dropped back down into the turret and keyed the comms.

“Vestige One-One to all hands. Looks like the shield is set to defend against artillery and bombers. I'm seeing evidence there's a weakness or a gap close to the ground. Prep for high speed, low altitude insertion on the citadel. Vestige One and Two will go right, Three and Four go left. Priority is anti infantry defenses. Undergrounders will infiltrate and sabotage with aid from the troops that Vestige is carrying.” Two soldiers per tank wasn't much, but each had a staggeringly nasty electroray weapon that would put down a room full of droids. Couple that with dozens of Undergrounders’ expertise in making close-quarter messes, and the citadel would be in for a very bad day.

“I don't say this much, but Force be with you, folks.”

***

A can of non-alcoholic lum sounded like any other can when the tab popped, and tasted like any other lum when it hit his tongue, but it wasn't the same. Small price to pay to shake decades of hard or soft alcoholism. Jorus guzzled half the can and let it roll down the smoking slope of the Contingency citadel.

“One for the dead,” he said to the empty air.