Mission &nbsp; [Tarkin Initiative] Staging Ground

Diocletian Mecetti · Feb 20, 2026

STAGING GROUND

++HALSKA IV ++

Diocletian remembered how much his father used to hate the cold, he would complain about it loudly whenever he had to travel into temperates that he deemed less then savoury. Diocletian however, didn’t care about the cold. To him the cold was honest; it stripped away comfort and it punished weakness. It's bitter and harsh winds clarified breath into a visible and undisputed proof of life. Here on Helska IV the planet offered no illusions of warmth or mercy, and in that, the Imperial Knight found it almost…agreeable.

Still something here played on his mind; what troubled him was the pressure.

It was faint at first, he had blamed it on a change in atmospheric density clearly signalling the coming of a storm. It wasn’t a tremor in the Force, in fact the force was painfully absent. He could not either feel the familiar current of fear, rage, or desperation that accompanied the dawn of a battle. Whatever it was that played in this pressure was something alien to the current Diocletian was so used to leaning on. A foreign rhythm pressing against his thoughts with patient insistence.

He paused at the mouth of an ice corridor, nearby stormtroopers had been moving into positions, there clean white making the blue tint of the ice look dirty.

Beyond them the redoubt trembled with distant detonations. Blaster fire flashed intermittently against frozen walls, turning the cavern into a stuttering cathedral of crimson light. Snow drifted down from the ceiling in lazy spirals, almost as if it had its own snow storm within, shaken loose by the concussive force.

And beneath all of it there was a hum, a feeling of being watched.

His comm crackled.

“Knight Diocletian. Contact. Multiple hostiles within interior ice tunnels. Behavior indicates...” It broke off into patchy static that caused Dio to raise a finger to his ear and close his eyes for half a second.

Then the screaming began. It wasn’t the scream of a man struck down, no it was the scream of a man unraveling from existence.

Diocletian stepped into the bunker chamber without haste. His armored boots rang against durasteel plating buried beneath ice. A corpse lay half draped across the floor, its leg separated cleanly at the thigh, which considering their was stormtrooper plate cleanly cut made his eyes pause briefly. Beside it knelt an army trooper, helmet discarded, hands slick with blood that was already beginning to freeze.

“I could hear it,” the trooper choked. “In my mind.”

Diocletian stopped nearby, the soft crack of snow beneath his boots the only sound of his arrival and studied him. It wasn’t his words that he listened to. It was the fractured panic between them. Diocletian listened further as the man spat out his words. “In your mind?” His words were firm but quiet and he noticed the man’s breath hitched.

Behind them, the war cries rose again, they were layered upon themselves, rhythmic like hundreds of throats moving as one organism. It was not chaotic and unlike first impression it did not feel wild.

Diocletian felt the pressure spike. Like the world was tightening around him, he almost wanted to say it was the Force retreating but it was different to that, instead it was just like it ceased to exist. There was silence, such silence that everyone followed it, even Diocletian seemed uneasy.

He turned his head slightly toward the deeper tunnels, uncertain of what was happening.

The first wave hit the corridor moments later.

Yuuzhan Vong burst from mist and fractured ice, their armour grown rather than forged, their amphistaffs writhing as they changed from living creatures into wicked blades. The Vong did not slow at the sight of blaster fire, as the red wall of Imperial defence broke into them their formation did not break, not even when the first of them fell.

“Stand!” Diocletian ignited his lightsaber. White light filled the bunker, carving absolute lines through the gloom. The blade hummed with clean precision and the first Vong leapt straight towards him like a moth drawn to the flame.

He stepped forward instead of back.

Their amphistaff struck; he caught it at an angle, slid along its living edge, and removed the warrior’s arm at the shoulder before bisecting its torso. The body struck the ice and skidded aside.

There was no rest as a second came from his flank. He pivoted, blade low, severed the creature at the waist, and continued the arc into a third attacker without breaking stride. The pressure intensified around him. He couldn’t feel them, the Vong, they were like empty husks in the Force and he found it hard to correct himself to their movements.

He did notice though that when one died, the others compensated instantly. Their spacing shifted almost perfectly. Almost like a perfect instinct.

Almost like perfect, instant instruction.

Diocletian advanced three measured steps into the tide.

Blaster fire roared behind him as stormtroopers established crossfire lanes. Red bolts stitched through alien ranks. Bodies fell, and yet the formation did not collapse.

He deflected an amphistaff thrust, reversed grip, and drove his saber through the chest of another warrior. Steam hissed where superheated plasma met alien flesh.

“Knights?” He broke through his comm channel, trying to connect with the rest of his units. “We need to connect into formation.”

A Vong charged directly at him, shrieking. Diocletian met it without emotion and removed its head in a single horizontal stroke.

Kaspar Halak · Feb 21, 2026

STAGING GROUND - OBJECTIVE 1
And it Explodes - Chapter 1

THE BLACKEST BALLOON

HELSKA IV

The glacier under Helska IV’s Imperial Redoubt groans, which to Kaspar’s ears sounded like a countdown; a long, slow fuse waiting for the right spark. The Stormtrooper liked the sound. It was honest.

He crouched by a jagged shelf of permafrost, his gloved fingers dancing over the casing of a thermal detonator, his eyes sparkling at the way the blue light of the cavern reflected off the detonator's chrome.

"Beautiful, isn't it, my love?" Kaspar muttered, his voice echoing slightly inside his helmet. He didn't turn to look at his squad mates. "The way the ice crystals form around the heat sink? It's like the planet is trying to eat the warmth before I can even let it out. Greedy. Very greedy."

He clicked the detonator into his belt and patted it like a restless pet. His movements were unlike the disciplined stance of a typical stormtrooper; he twitched, his head tilting at odd angles as if listening to a frequency no one else could hear.

<Shen, tell me you've got a clear line on those... things,> he said, finally looking up toward the sniper's nest. His visor swept across the dark, organic shapes beginning to surge through the distant frost-haze. The Yuuzhan Vong. <They don't have metal, Shen. No circuits to fry. No fuel lines to ignite. Just meat and bone. I wonder... do they pop or do they sizzle?>

A low, guttural roar echoed through the tunnels; the sound of the Vong war cry. Kaspar didn't flinch. Instead, he reached for a satchel of det-packs, a soft, unsettling chuckle vibrating in his chest.

"Objective one: fend them off," he whispered to himself, ignoring the tactical HUD for a moment to stare into the dark.

He pulled a detonator remote from his pouch, his thumb hovering over the safety. He was waiting for the rhythm to feel right.

Nara Vell |

Sid Berik

Keldan Andro · Feb 21, 2026

Staging Ground

KELDAN ANDRO
IMPERIAL REDOUBT GLACIER
[REDACTED]

"Dr. Varrick! Please, you mustn't run off like that, it's far too dangerous!"

Keldan had run after

Althea Varrick as quickly as he could, followed closely behind by a rather annoyed SL-1CE, who was blustering and protesting the whole time.

<"Keldan, of all the ideas you've had thus far, this is by far the WORST!">, the droid beeped angrily as Keldan ventured ever deeper into the unending caverns in front of him.

"You say that like I want to be here!", Keldan shot back at his errant droid as he nearly tripped headfirst into a stalagmite jutting out in front of him. Seriously, what the hell had he got himself into this time? The Yuuzhan Vong had long been considered the stuff of myths and legends, and Keldan wasn't even convinced that they had actually existed, their reputation being so fearsome and terrible than he scarcely believed such horrifying entities could be little more than stories designed to frighten naughty children into behaving for their parents and guardians.

How utterly and completely wrong he had been!

They had come by the hundreds, if not thousands, surging out of every conceivable nook and cranny on this galaxy forsaken planet. Keldan had barely been able to escape with his life, several dead Vong littered about the caverns in his wake, as he desperately tried to relocate the person he was supposed to protect: Dr.

Althea Varrick . That was why he was down here in the first place, as his mission dictated that he was to be with the doctor at all times, completely responsible for making sure she survived this trip and completed her research, whatever that might entail. Personally, if it were up to Keldan, he would have ran and evacuated this hellhole the moment the Vong started coming after him, but alas, he had his mission, and he was going to see if through no matter what opposition he might face.

Rounding the corner, he finally came upon his charge, Dr. Varrick herself, navigating the twisting halls and turns of the glacier they were currently traveling under. Out of breath and shaking with fear and excitement, Keldan took this chance to admonish the doctor.

"Dr. Varrick, you must understand how dangerous things are. We MUST stay together at all times! What if someone or something grabbed you while I wasn't here, what then?", Keldan wheezed out in frustration and annoyance.

<"Wouldn't really make much of a difference if you were there or not, would it?">, SL-1CE responded dryly.

"Oh, SHUT UP, will you?!?!"

TAGS:

Althea Varrick
OPEN

Ysanne Hojkstra · Feb 22, 2026

The doors would slide open and the jittery technician leading the two Fel women came face to face with a pair of mismatched eyes, flanked by the soulless visors of four stormtroopers.

"This is where the guns are." Ysanne Hojkstra said, her tone of voice level, "Or what's left of them, that is."

She had forgone her usual red director uniform, which she wore with pride, even now when her stature and power had been stripped from her upon the fall of the Empire, for a utilitarian, all-black outfit. The kind of outfit ISB field agents or CompForce operatives usually wore. The kind suitable for mourning.

Indeed, she was in mourning; mourning for the sense she had abandoned coming down here. Hojkstra could've sent any of her underlings here, but she'd been adamant on going herself. Keep the blood flowing, keep the body warm. A strong mind necessitated a strong body, Jaeger had often told her. Much good did it do him.

"Comms are down, the armory's empty, and its sentries are dead." she stated, "We're headed for the hangar."

Ysanne didn't wait for them to accept the invitation. She turned around and started down the cold corridor, warming herself with the heat of her rising temper.

Adrienne Halver Fel · Feb 22, 2026

STAGING GROUND

The doors opened and the two women came up short when a figure stood there already. Adrienne's instincts dragged her blaster up before she could stop, but she didn't fire. Glacial eyes resolved around the figure of the woman in the doorway and recognition took hold instantly.

Ysanne Hojkstra was more pleasant -- if marginally, though that did remain to be seen -- than the worst things that Adrienne could imagine (which, incidentally, would be a walk in the park compared to what was really out there). She lowered her blaster fractionally to show that she was not about to shoot the woman.

Her situational assessment left much to be desired. It was frustratingly short on detail, but there wasn't time to discuss it in the doorway. Adrienne glanced at Marion and jerked her head sharply after Ysanne, and the women -- plus the technician -- joined the parade with Hojkstra and her stormtroopers.

"What do you mean, this is where the guns are?" Adrienne asked in a tone that suggested she found the notion preposterous. "Don't tell me the stormtroopers have upped sticks. What the hell is even going on down there? We haven't had a signal in hours." She broke off her questioning to bark over her shoulder: "Marion, keep up."

Althea Varrick · Feb 22, 2026

STAGING GROUND

Objective ONE
Beneath the glacier

Locaton: Underground in the ice caves hiding out from the Vong
Tags:

Keldan Andro OPEN
Objectives:

Dr. Varrick came down her because her department detected something large and organic. She didnt know it was Vong. But now the bulk of Horde have mostly left the caves to assault her people, she is still tracking... something... down there in the crevasses. Come help her eliminate or learn from a powerful foe.

Althea was just completing a scan when

Keldan Andro and his droid rounded the corner, swords in hands and showing the clear signs of bloody combat.

Keldan Andro said:
"Dr. Varrick, you must understand how dangerous things are. We MUST stay together at all times! What if someone or something grabbed you while I wasn't here, what then?"

"I would likely be torn into very small fragments." she said in a dry time. "But I will note you recommendation that we stay together, you are the Knight I am the scientist... this way." she gestured down a long and narrow corridor in the rock. Less than a corridor, more a crack, likely caused by techtonic activity rather than by any design.

"My scans indicate that the rock on the surface of these walls has been exposed less than one hundred years. It is very likely that our foes are unaware of this path that may lead us right to the central chamber."

If the knight cared to check, he would feel the movement of air and the force through the tunnel, there was no evidence that her assumption was wrong. "You cannot sense the Vong, can you?" she asked as she walked almost a little too casually. "What is it like fighting something that you know to be alive, but is utterly alien to our normal rules of life?" An entire species being disconnected from the force shouldn't be possible, the force gave life, it was life, so by all normal models, the Vong should not exist. And yet here they were.

The pair would continue over two hundred metres down the crack until they came to what cavers might term term a squeeze. She peered through and was confronted with a dark room, too uniform to by a natural occurrence but strangely smooth as if it had been grown, all the hallmarks of a Vong construction. There was no evidence that the Vong were present in this particular room, but noises of shouting could be heard in the distance. "Take a look." she said to her the knight, she had already decided they were going in, but she would like his tactical assessment.

Her head twitched slightly as she sent a comm to her base.

::: Team alpha proceeding into hostile facility, prepare to receive data upload. :::

She smiled at her knight escort and pancakes her fingers on the head of his droid.

"Brrt-wooOO-peew! beep-BEEP-boop-whirr-whiiiiiistle—chirp-chirp brrrt… dweet-dweet-breeee-bop" she asked the astromech while Keldran made his assessment.

Ysanne Hojkstra · Feb 22, 2026

Ysanne clenched her jaw. She did not report to anyone. Those days were over and she herself had ended them. Now it was others who came to her, who stood and waited and gave their account. That was the order of things.

Yet she could tell Adrienne was no different. They had moved in similar circles. She had that look about her, the way she held herself. She was accustomed to command, to control, and so was Ysanne.

And for all that, neither of them knew a damned thing about what was going on.

“I don’t know.” Ysanne said. The words tasted bad. Admitting it was not in her hands made her throat tighten. “All I know is the facility’s been compromised.” And I’m not getting buried frozen on this chithole of a planet.

They turned the corner and went into a dark corridor. There was a single, defiant light flickering above them and making a thin, tired sound. A buzzing came from the far end and it came fast. Something whizzed past her head and she felt her hair stir and part where it cut through. Then she heard one of the stormtroopers choke. She heard him fall before she could look at him, and his armor struck the floor hard beside her boots. Blood trickled down from his throat onto the cold floor.

The three others opened fire at once. The red bolts from their rifles filled the corridor, ricocheting into the walls and breaking the darkness into red flashes. Ysanne saw them then.

They were large and gray, and blaster bolts bounced off their crabshell armor. They were long gone from this galaxy.

They were right here in front of them.

They were the Vong.

Tiberius Korvan · Feb 23, 2026

The Scion
STAGING GROUND

OBJECTIVE: II - SKIES OVER HELSKA
LOCATION: HELSKA - HIGH ORBIT | ABOARD THE DOMINION
TAGS: [OPEN]

Klaxon blared as the bowels of The Dominion shone in red light, signalling the shipwide alert for all hands to assume battlestations. Stormtroopers ran in squad-sized columns to their rally points as crewmen hastened to their duty-stations. Outside the flagship, point defense batteries came to life as they began pumping out turbolaser fire in a cross-grid pattern while flak cannons began peppering approach vectors to the capital ship. The Star Destroyer was flanked on either side by escort frigates, who in turn set about adding the measure of their picket defenses - yet even still, hundreds of voidborn creatures began flooding through the atmosphere toward the Imperial Fleet.

Tiberius stood aboard the bridge of his ship, his eyes skimming over the holographic display of the quickly developing situation. Tiberius turned over to the comms section. “Have we received word from the surface?”

The comms chief - a lieutenant with a neatly trimmed mustache, turned to face the Commodore. “We’ve received only static mixed with garbled transmissions sir. Although, there are a few words of note we’ve been able to filter out of the noise.”

The junior officer hesitated, causing Tiberius to prompt him further. “...and?”

“Sir...” the officer continued, albeit haltingly. “We appear to have awoken... a Yuuzhan Vong hive.”

Instantly Tiberius came to understand the lieutenant’s hesitation. He stepped back to his station and tapped the tactical information updating in live time. The hulls of the ‘craft’ heading their way were unlike anything Tiberius had seen before. Most starships contained metal alloys, in very deliberate patterns and arrangement. Yet, their scanners were picking up elements of rock, unrefined metal, all moulded into a sort of... coral substance.

There was only so much their scanners would provide, and Tiberius had mere moments to act. Without delay, he turned to his executive officer: “Scramble all available fighters, and coordinate their flight paths with our picket screens.” Wordlessly the Commander spun on his heels and moved to the tactical session to organize their response.

Within moments, swarms of TIE fighters surged from the Imperial flotilla and sped downward to intercept the bioships advancing at speed. The first few squadrons emerging from the planet surface were downed by the Imperial flak and turbolaser screen, but quickly compensated for the disruption and scattered into a loose formation. The TIE fighters loosed a cascading volley of green energy at the Vong advance, which was met in turn by a wave of bile-like, burning streams.

Warning sirens blared in the cockpits of the initial vessels as air began to hiss through cracks and seams burned through the hulls of the void-craft, until the rapid pressure-differential caused several to pop as if exploding from the inside. As the space battle was underway, Tiberius turned over to a figure standing in the shadows - a Death Trooper silently watching over the goings on within the bridge. Young Korvan met the unflinching black-lensed gaze of his protector. “Deploy a squad to the surface and link up with the contingent there. Extract whatever scientists and non-combatants they can, link up with the ground team to find the source of this hive.” Tiberius spoke evenly and with confidence, even though he had little intimate knowledge of the Yuuzhan Vong. Yet he had a vague memory of such creatures being organized in hives. Logic meant that where there were hives, there was a central nervous center to it.

Whatever the case, Tiberius was confident that the Death Mask’s presence on the planet's surface would not go unappreciated...

Keldan Andro · Feb 26, 2026

Staging Ground

KELDAN ANDRO
IMPERIAL REDOUBT GLACIER
[REDACTED]

"I would likely be torn into very small fragments. But I will note you recommendation that we stay together, you are the Knight I am the scientist... this way."

Waiting waiting for Keldan to respond, and ignoring SL-1CE's chide remark, Dr. Varrick continued to delve ever further into the cavern, leaving poor Keldan once again running after her.

"My scans indicate that the rock on the surface of these walls has been exposed less than one hundred years. It is very likely that our foes are unaware of this path that may lead us right to the central chamber."

Even wearing his armor, Keldan could feel the breeze flowing gently throughout the cavern, along with the Force itself, almost as if it were guiding him to a certain point farther down. Yet, try as he might, he simply could not sense any Vong around him, no matter how much he checked for them or how far he cast his sense. It wasn't as if the Vong had simply left, though Keldan hoped that was the case, but rather a peculiar feature of the Vong species as a whole: something colloquially referred to as being "Force-Dead", or not having ANY presence in the Force whatsoever. It was both a peculiar and uncomfortable feeling for Keldan, and apparently Dr. Varrick happened to notice his discomfort.

You cannot sense the Vong, can you? What is it like fighting something that you know to be alive, but is utterly alien to our normal rules of life?"

"Far worse then you'll ever know", Keldan though to himself bitterly as party continued their descent. About 200 meters down, they encountered a seemingly empty room, almost certainly Vong created, but apparently devoid of any life.

"Take a look", Dr. Varrick instructed Keldan. He couldn't blame her, since he was the solider of the bunch and she a non-combatant. Keldan stepped forward with uncertainty, igniting his crossguard lightsaber as SL-1CE produced and ignited a lightsaber of his own. Dr. Varrick took a moment to pat SL-1CE on the top of his domed head, and then said to him in perfect Binary:

"<Have you ever interfaced with Vong hardware?>"

SL-1CE looked back at Dr. Varrick in surprise, responding to her query with:

“<Well what do you know, you speak Binary, huh? You’re already doing better than this guy here. Would you believe that it took him over 2 months just to get the basics? Yours is already leagues ahead! And no, I can’t say I have>”, he replied, as he slowly and condescendingly tuned his head to glance back at Keldan.

Keldan just sighed to himself as he slowly made his way toward the center of the room. It was almost guaranteed to be a trap, and both he and SL-1CE knew it. "Stay back", Keldan warned to Dr. Varrick as he and SL-1CE walked directly into the center of the room. They braced for combat, ready to take down the hordes of Vong warriors that were sure to pour into the room they were in...only to be met with stillness and silence. A quick scan from SL-1CE's sensors confirmed that, at least for the moment, no Vong were present around them. Against all odds, the room was exactly the way it appeared...completely empty and devoid of any Vong warriors.

Keldan signaled the "all clear" to Dr. Varrick, beckoning her to come into the room...

TAGS:

Althea Varrick
OPEN

Marion Edrane Fel · Feb 26, 2026

STAGING GROUND

The intimidating woman with the white-streaked hair seemed to be as in the dark as

Adrienne Halver Fel , which somehow felt a comfort to Marion. Usually if her grandmother didn't know something, it was not worth knowing. That was likely not the case here because something felt very wrong indeed. The silence that had been unsettling for so long as the two women had poked and prodded at the gears and gizmos and keyboards hoping to make something happen had become something darker and grimmer and more suffocating.

And then they were off, stalking the corridors.

The black corridor around the corner swallowed the light, and Marion narrowed her gaze, her eyes groping for anything to see. But then the darkness shattered and she wished it hadn't. The dead stormtrooper's helmet rolled past her feet, sprayed with blood, and his carbine landed a meter ahead of her. As the corridor erupted into violence, Marion dropped into a crouch and collected the blaster carbine, which she fiddled with, trying to locate the on switch. Err -- what was it?

The safety.

She looked up. The flashes of red light illuminated showed something truly horrifying, noseless, skull-headed monsters. Adrienne had lifted her blaster, her mouth set in a grim line as she fired and fired and fired. Her glassy eyes glanced back to her granddaughter, saw what she was doing, and barked a an order that Marion couldn't quite hear over the din. Then she held out her hand, shaking it impatiently. Marion handed over the carbine and had the pistol shoved into her hand.

Adrienne wasted no time in finding the safety and flicking it off. She raised the blaster and fired repeating shots. Marion held the blaster pistol out, pointed, and squeezed the trigger. She saw the blaster bolts -- hers, or

Ysanne Hojkstra 's or Adrienne's, she couldn't tell -- connect with the aliens, but they weren't going down. What were these nightmare creatures.

"Is there another way up?" Marion heard Adrienne shout at the other woman. A bony hand grabbed Marion's sleeve and gave a hard and she stumbled out of the way just in time to avoid one of whose whizzing projectiles, which thudded into the corridor intersection behind her. "We're not getting through!"

DT-1111 · Feb 26, 2026

WATCH ME BLEED
STAGING GROUND

LOCATION: HELSKA IV | EN ROUTE TO IMPERIAL REDOUBT GLACIER
TAGS:

Althea Varrick |

Adrienne Halver Fel |

In an unusual show of force, three strike teams of Death Mask Troopers descended to the planet surface aboard three separate gunships - 12 troopers each. Acklay sat within the lead ship, strapped within his seat as it rumbled and careened about to avoid the battle erupting outside in the void. He had personally experienced the shitshow on Bastion, and now he was about to top that with a force-be-damned Vong hive on this backwater frozen wasteland.

All in the service of the Empire, it would seem.

The craft would soon enough break through the atmosphere, making a bee-line to the Imperial Redoubt. Acklay would take the lead by removing his straps and standing in the ready position by the loading ramp. His troopers would all follow suit, wordlessly snapping checking their loadouts as they awaited for the craft to touch down. He keyed a few commands on his wrist, which opened a short-burst broadcast channel to anyone who could hear the transmission within the base: <“To any and all Imperial personnel within Redoubt Glacier, this is Commander DT-1111, Special Task Force 110 codename ‘Death Mask’, commanding - We are touching down imminently for emergency extraction of all non-combatant personnel. Please report on this frequency with your location and disposition. We will make our way to you if necessary.”>

At first, the comm channel was quiet with its usual static - an unsettling silence given the circumstances. Soon enough, the gunships would all touch down at the landing pads outside the base, which itself was in a state of confusion. Personnel all swarmed about trying to secure the area, even though the interior of the base was far from secure. Acklay led the way out of his craft, and took point into the redoubt - not wasting any time in waiting for a response to his message. The Vong were in the base, and they were about to come face to face with the Death Mask.

Ysanne Hojkstra · Feb 27, 2026

Through the loud zing of blaster fire, Ysanne heard Adrianne shout, “Is there another way up? We’re not getting through.”

She recalled the plans of the facility and they came to her in a haze. The corridor ahead split into three branches, each one climbing toward the hangar. Yet here, in the sole chokepoint of this section of the facility, they were ambushed. It was poor luck, though she did not believe much in luck.

A whizzing cut passed close to her head and clipped strands of her hair again and she saw another stormtrooper crumble on the floor and a small bug skittering away from his body.

It cleared the fog in her mind.

“There’s a maintenance shaft,” she said. “Back the way we came.”

It had been meant once for a turbolift and never finished.

“Let’s go!”

Ysanne was firing and stepping back and firing again and the blaster pistol was hot in her hands and the corridor was narrowing behind them and the smoke of overheated, useless blaster barrels was stinging in her eyes and another stormtrooper was shouting and then choking as a razor bug leapt and struck and tore his neck open and fell writhing to the deck.

The Vong were pressing on and she was thinking of the shaft and the narrow climb and how steep it would be. She was still firing and moving and the technician was stumbling and another bug came spinning through the air and struck one of the stormtroopers and he was clutching at his throat and falling and kicking.

They were reaching the maintenance door and Ysanne was turning and firing into the corridor and the bolts were lighting the faces of the Vong and they were close now and moving faster and she saw one of them laugh.

“Open it now!” she said.

“It’s jammed!” said the technician and the Vong were nearer and the corridor was filling with them and the last stormtrooper was on his knees and blood was trickling down his white armor.

“Unjam it then!” Ysanne growled.

The technician was forcing the mechanism and sparks were spitting and the door was shuddering and the Vong were almost upon them and Ysanne kept firing and stepping back, bumping into the technician, and she could see the Vong’s eyes shine in the dark and she was thinking that this was where they would end.

Then the door slid open with a groan.

They pushed through and the technician shut the metal door behind them.

Then there was only the dark shaft and their breathing and the steep climb above.

Ysanne scoured her uniform’s pockets and utility belt for her commlink, but she didn’t find it and swore under her breath.

“Adrienne,” she said, then steadied her panting, “Tell me you’ve not lost your comms.”

Signal was dead for hours, true, but that did not mean it couldn’t come alive…

DT-1111

Kadann · Feb 28, 2026

IMPERIAL REDOUBT GLACIER

Diocletian Mecetti said:
“Knight Diocletian. Contact. Multiple hostiles within interior ice tunnels. Behavior indicates...”

Diocletian Mecetti said:
“Knights?” He broke through his comm channel, trying to connect with the rest of his units. “We need to connect into formation.”

"Knight Kadann, I'll be on your position shortly."

The older knight remembered the campaign of the Hrosha-Gul across the galaxy. He had never fought the yuuzhan vong, but he tried to recall the training.

He had been faster back then, stronger too. But he had also been arrogant. The Yuuzhan Vong warriors were known to seek out Jedi in battle to test their honour. Kadann probably would have met them head on.

He had learned a lot of painful lessons in his life. Each scar was history written into his skin. He was an old man in a business that killed the young. That was what made Kadann dangerous now.

He saw movement ahead and drew his blade. Their lines were already breaking if the creatures were this deep.

Two Yuuzhan Vong warriors charged at him.

Kadann kept his weight low. Feet planted but ready to move. They charged right at him. Each carried a curved blade. A creature frozen into a rictus form of weapon.

The imperial knight backed away from the first strike, pivoting on his left heel. He swung his lightsaber low. The blade thrummed and hissed as it cut below the knee. Kadann danced away from another slash and struck again.

It was done quickly. The two warriors dead on the floor. Perhaps their legends were exaggerated.

Another form emerged ahead. Taller, clad in dark, chitinous armour.

They growled a challenge in their language and pulled a whip from their side.

Kadann glanced back at the creatures he had killed. He was unaware that they were mere Chazrach, mindless shock troops directed by the yammosk.

There was something in the warriors hand. He flung it.

Kadann felt a sense of danger, but the Force couldn't touch whatever had been thrown. It came at him in a wide arc. Kadann brought up his blue blade.

He felt a flash of pain across his cheek.

His blade had met the missile. The two halves of what had been a flying insect were on the ground, but momentum was a queen. One half of its razor-sharp body had cut his cheek.

The yuuzhan vong warrior advanced slowly. The whip stiffened into a staff. At its head, the live head of a Serpent.

"Maybe today is a good day to die then," Kadann grunted, setting his stance.

Adrienne Halver Fel · Mar 1, 2026

STAGING GROUND

They retreated under fire.

Their blasters may not have been able to kill the Vong warriors, but they did not seem eager to throw themselves against them. If Adrienne's memory served -- and it had been many years, so she was not confident -- the Yuuzhan Vong armor could well be overwhelmed by multiple sources of fire. She reacted accordingly, firing several short sharp blasts in succession, over and over.

What she wouldn't give for a repeater right now.

The stormtroopers fell in succession; either their plot armor was defective, or the Yuuzhan Vong were going after the more fortified of the group first, to leave the other squishy flesh ones undefended. Adrienne would not give them the satisfaction.

She kept Marion behind her, one arm thrown protectively back to shepherd her disoriented granddaughter back the way they'd come, then pressing her to the wall as the technician's shaking fingers worked the door controls. Adrienne kept her blaster trained on the corner of the corridor, firing when the Vong warriors poked their heads around, then retreated, then tried again. Finally the door opened and just as soon was slammed shut. When they entered the shaft and had a moment to breathe, Adrienne turned to the technician that had been with her and Marion. "You -- go up first. Marion, after him. Only leave the shaft if it's safe. Go -- now."

The older woman watched as the technician, still running on adrenaline, began to hoof it up the ladder. Marion hesitated a moment until Adrienne jerked her chin toward the ladder in a way that brooked no argument, then followed after tucking her borrowed pistol into her belt. Adrienne watched a moment until she could no longer make out Marion's form, then turned back to

Ysanne Hojkstra . "Fat lot of good it's done us so far," she said, producing her comlink from a belt pouch. It was on, but was receiving no signal, cycling through the known used frequencies automatically in hopes of picking something up. "Maybe as we get closer to the surface...?" She let her eyes roll skyward, the way the technician and Marion had climbed, hopeful, and gestured with the comlink, silently urging Ysanne to take it. If that wasn't enough she would press it to the woman's hand. "You're next. I'll be right behind you."

With all the stormtroopers dead, someone had to bring up the rear guard. Ysanne knew the facility better than Adrienne did. The older woman caught Hojkstra by the upper arm briefly. "She is a Fel. A blood Fel," Adrienne emphasized, flinching a little as something heavy impacted the metal hatch. It held. "Get her out of here alive, whatever happens." Adrienne used the butt of the blaster carbine she held to mangle the controls. If anyone else was left on this level -- well, may the Force be with them.

TAGS:

Marion Edrane Fel |

DT-1111

Althea Varrick · Mar 1, 2026

STAGING GROUND

Objective ONE
Beneath the glacier

Locaton: Underground in the ice caves hiding out from the Vong
Tags:

Keldan Andro OPEN
Objectives:

Dr. Varrick came down her because her department detected something large and organic. She didnt know it was Vong. But now the bulk of Horde have mostly left the caves to assault her people, she is still tracking... something... down there in the crevasses. Come help her eliminate or learn from a powerful foe.

SL-1CE said:
<Well what do you know, you speak Binary, huh? You’re already doing better than this guy here. Would you believe that it took him over 2 months just to get the basics? Yours is already leagues ahead! And no, I can’t say I have>

She smiled and cocked her head slightly "Bee-doo-beep! Bleep-bloop bleep, ratt-tat, brrr-rrr! Eep veep zap beep-boop beeeep for weeee! Hmm, beep-boop zzzzt plook bleep, beep-bloop zrrt beep-bweep!"Its a complex language, dont be too hard on him. The vong save a special kind of hatred for our kind, I would advise against putting your probe into anything you arent entirely confident about.

As

Keldan Andro confirmed the coast was clear, Althea stepped though the gap into the room and immediately began scanning. "Fascinating" she said to herself as her bodyguard scouted the area. The room was entirely empty, there was passages moving off but no evidence that this room had ever been inhabited. She sumised that this room was not meant to be connected to the outside.

DT-1111 said:
<“To any and all ...hiss... personnel within Redoubt Glacier, this is Commander DT-1111, Special ...hiss......hiss... ‘Death Mask’, commanding - We are ...hiss... imminently for emergency extraction of all non-combatant personnel. Please ...hiss... this frequency with your location and ...hiss... . We will make our way ...hiss... necessary.”>

Althea adjusted her comm to try and amplify the signal but inside the Vong structure there was layers of interference. She replied, in earshot of Keldan so he was also aware. <Dr. Varrick reporting, secondary team eliminated. Entering subterranean alien structure, suspect Vong. Limited contact so far. Suspect presence of Vong overmind creature. Moving to retrieve sample. Ready your team for biocontainment.">

She grinned at Keldan then nodded to one of the tunnels, she decided to pull her own gun out at this point and carried it aloft. She was not detecting any nearby lifesigns, but it paid to be cautious. She wasnt the best combatant, but her movements were smooth and precise as a gun platform. She proceeded further down the tunnel, noticing that the air was becoming thicker, more humid and there was a musk detectable on the air. They were nearing the central chamber and the likelihood of encountering hostile patrols increased.

Ysanne Hojkstra · Mar 2, 2026

"Maybe as we get closer to the surface...?" Adrienne said

"Maybe." Hojkstra said, but she could tell both knew their salvation - or demise – lay in their own hands. No one was coming for them.

Adrienne said, "You're next. I'll be right behind you.", handing her the comlink and Ysanne gave her a silent scoff. She wanted to tell her they were both too old for this valiant charade, but Adrienne had spoken with such conviction, Ysanne couldn't help but take the commlink and head for the ladder, eyes narrowed in thought.

She felt her arm caught before it touched the ladder. Ysanne turned to see Adrienne looking at her with flames in her eyes,

The older woman said, "She is a Fel. A blood Fel. and Ysanne's eyes widened and her grasp of the commlink nearly slipped, "Get her out of here alive, whatever happens."

So this was the source of her conviction.

A Fel.

Many pretenders rose towards the dying days, the Age of Strife, of the old Empire to lay claim to the throne, and many more emerged when it had shattered into a hundred fiefdoms. None had really been from Fel's line, at best very distant and dubious cousins, at worst - washed-out holoflick actors on the paycheck of ambitious conmen and syndicates. The true nobles had gone to ground for one reason or another.

She thought of Rurik Fel, the last Emperor of the old Empire. Clad in iron and a mask of steel, wielding the Force strongly enough to defeat Solipsis (before he somehow returned). Harrsk had disliked him, as he disliked any Force users not under his thumb, but Hojkstra had feared him.

She washed away the mild look of surprise from her face and looked up toward the ladder at the climbing Fel. Marion had looked as though she'd get lost in her own home. She even looked lost climbing a straight ladder.

Ysanne grabbed the first rung of the ladder and climbed a step before turning to Adrienne, unable to sate her curiosity, "Are you really placing your bets on her?"

DT-1111

Adrienne Halver Fel · Mar 2, 2026

STAGING GROUND

Adrienne heard the prick of Ysanne's doubt in her voice at the question.

She understood it. There were pretenders and pariahs around every throne, and even those of true blood could be scoundrels and ne'er-do-wells, idiots and imbeciles, and those with difficult vices. Alcoholism. Sexual addiction. Self-delusion.

Drug addiction.

Her glassy eyes locked with Ysanne's, head tilted up to meet her gaze. She allowed a sardonic half-smile. Women like the pair of them understood better than most what a question like that meant. What her answer would mean. "Not all of them, of course," Adrienne murmured dryly. "You know how it has to be. Always hedge. But -- ask me about it if we both make it out of here. It's not as sentimental -- or nakedly ambitious -- as you may think."

An angry thud hit the metal door behind them, and Adrienne glanced back. A distinctive dent had formed. "Get moving, Hojkstra," she said, turning back to the ladder. "I'm -- really -- going to be right behind you."

She was halfway up the ladder behind Ysanne when she heard the comlink squawk above her, in Ysanne's possession, sounding

DT-1111 's transmission, and Adrienne's heart leapt. Thank goodness, the cavalry had arrived. They might be saved -- if they got out of this shaft before the Yuuzhan Vong caught up to them.

Below, the banging continued.

TAGS:

DT-1111 |