Public The Danger of Silence

[QEMD-15 Echo]

Willow & Ivy Ashin Cardé Varanin Kardek Alpha Mauve Vayern Kuxirra Tano-Bonteri Argos Xalen BB-610 Vyn Daldoure

The sirens rang out. Their eerie sound echoed out, like a wolf howling after finding its prey. And found their prey they did. They were hunting, scanning their prey, cataloguing each of them. Their footsteps echoed as their massive forms slowly walked forward. They could have easily walked faster, or quieter, but that was not their goal. They wanted their opponents to know they were there, to know the horror and desperation from the lethal hunters that were following them.

Only Willow and Ivy knew what the droids could do.

Only they knew that there was no escape.

There would be no running.

There would be no escape.

For THEY were already on the hunt.

And THEY never let their prey escape.

NEVER

 

[Argos Xalen]

Argos looked at the twins, closing his eyes.

"I have a ship that my.... My brother and sister use to help me with...." A sorrow hit him for a second before he got up. "It's a YV. Pretty big and with redundancies. Should still fly." He then looked at Vyn, looking at the blaster he had.

"I'll just be ready with my... body." His blaster was exposed, so it was probably dead. He then looked at Six Ten before getting ready.

"Ready to move when you guys are."

Vyn Daldoure Willow & Ivy BB-610 Kuxirra Tano-Bonteri

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

Ashin took up a position on a steep crag just outside the settlement's sphere perimeter. Crouched up there in the rough reddish-gray stone, under a steep overhang, she used her DMR's scope to get a better sense of what, exactly, was on its way.

Judging by the bulk and quasi-mechanical nature of what she was seeing, the DMR wouldn't do the trick without expending an awful lot of shots per enemy. With her body still in a shocked rush from surviving the crash and generating the Force Storm, she couldn't trust the precision of her aim. No, Jentaral would be the much better weapon. She had a few minutes to focus and get her mental balance before the violence came down at close range. She sat against a jagged boulder at the top of the crag with the Sith sword across her lap, closed her eyes, and waited.

QEMD-15 Echo

 

[Kardek Alpha]

OUTER EDGE OF SETTLEMENT
With Mauve Vayern, Ashin Cardé Varanin
On comms with Kuxirra Tano-Bonteri


Kardek zoomed in with his binoculars, observing the eerie form of the monsters on approach. They were unlike anything he had ever seen, and there was something about them that reminded him of something from a bad dream. Suddenly they're sirens began to sound, filling the space with sense of impending doom. A shiver traveled down Kardek's spine. Whatever these things were, they were built to intimidate. Suddenly he heard footsteps. "...Ashin?" He said, lowering the binoculars to see her walking way from him, without so much as a single word or response of any kind to his proposition of working together to save the survivors. Kardek wondered if perhaps it had been something he had said. "Fine..." Kardek muttered with an edge of anger under his breath, "Guess we're on our own."

A sense of urgency rested upon him as the monsters continued their approach. There wasn't much time. He quickly turned to meet the new survivor as she exited her freighter, hoping she at least could see that they had greater odds of getting out of this alive if they worked together.

@Mauve Vayern Said:
She had planned to introduce herself, but instead what came out was, "what in the world are those?" Mauve thought of the life forms the ship had picked up inside the settlement. "Oh no," she said. "We have to save them."

"Can you drive a speeder?" He asked abruptly as he walked to her briskly, not even bothering to introduce himself in the midst of the urgency. "You need to get to the remaining survivors inside the settlement!" He said with a level of intensity, "We will try to hold them off until you get back, ok?" He placed a hand upon her shoulder, looking into her eyes, hoping she would respond favorably. Kardek knew that they're odds against these creatures would multiply in their favor if they could get more people to help. This was in part saving the survivors from the spheres, and in part saving all of them from this new enemy on approach.

In the midst of all of this, Kardek had communicated to Alpha via their cybernetic link to get back to The Harbinger quickly and prepare for war. Alpha ran across the baren landscape. He bolted inside The Harbinger and headed straight for the gear lockers. He started grabbing ammo, weapons, medical supplies, tactical gear, and throwing it all sloppily into the last speeder they had in the cargo hold. Alpha then ran up to the armory and opened his locker. There was his ammo pack... a large metal container that strapped onto his back, filled with ammo for his heavy repeater cannon. He slung it across his back and secured it in place, then reached behind and pulled the ammo feed over, attaching it to his weapon. He was ready. He bolted back down to the speeder, moved it onto the lift, and hit the control. The speeder lowered to the dessert floor as Alpha jumped into the drivers seat and approached Kardek and Mauve Vayern, the speeder almost overflowing with equipment and weapons.

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

Kardek Alpha

Kardek's comm crackled. Ashin's voice came through, tired and amused. "Oh don't be precious, Kardek. I've..." A grunt as she adjusted her crouch in the rocky outcropping. "I've got a makeshift position outside the perimeter. Sword and rifle. Should be able to buy you some time to prepare, one time only."

She cracked her neck, audible over the comm.

"I could've sworn I'd seen every monster this 'verse had to offer. Any idea what these are?"

 

[BB-610]

If he were being honest, he'd argue that their survival rates were low. There's a brief crackle of interference picked up by his antennae, and a quick scan tells him that there's a droid- no, a plethora of droids nearby. While that normally wouldn't matter, it's when his optic settles in on the terror within Willow & Ivy 's eyes that he begins realising that these droids are a threat. Before he can utter a beep, there's the deafening sound of sirens, loud and eerie as they ring throughout the settlement, muffled behind walls. The sound is horrible, almost damaging to his audio receptors.

BB-610's holographic projector blinks to life, exposing a detailed map of the settlement's layout as Vyn Daldoure pries the door open with brute strength. ' All of our exit routes lead directly to droids. ' The astromech begins a scan, but the results send him in a slump. ' My sensors don't seem to be detecting their model. '

Not really what he wanted to hear. BB-610 had gone his entire life being able to reliably count on his reconnaissance - he felt useless without it. If the army of droids had been simple battle droids, he'd be a lot less worried. These, however... whatever they were, they were big. The last thing BB-610 wanted to do was be the ball in the galaxy's bloodiest game of ping-pong.

Regardless, they were out of options. Those droids were either going to crumble these walls to get to them, or they're going to murder them on the way out. If they were going to die, they may as well die trying to escape. BB-610 passes one final look towards Argos Xalen and Kuxirra Tano-Bonteri .

' Then we're out of here. '

And so, he'd begin rolling, dashing after Vyn as they approach the exit. Another data port, another chance. He'd barely managed to avoid getting fried the first time, he wasn't going to let it happen again. The astromech inches closer to the door, opting for his electro shock prod, as a brief jolt of electricity meets the inner circuits of the port, an audible crackle as sparks fly. The trap was sprung, and no damage. Adapting. He'd finally socket the data probe inside, twisting, turning.

One twist. Two twist. To the right. To the left. With hesitation... the door slowly slides open with a loud creak.

And QEMD-15 Echo is revealed, among the other towering droids.

 

[Kuxirra Tano-Bonteri]

Kuxirra ran, following BB-610 . She stopped when she saw QEMD-15 Echo and stood tall, fearless as she took her quarterstaff from her back and got into a fighting stance.

 

[Willow & Ivy]

Willow and Ivy jointly got to their feet once Vyn Daldoure beckoned them to. Being their bodygaurd, they weren't going to question him at all. If they were going to survive, they needed to do what they were told.

The sirens made by QEMD-15 Echo terrified them. They knew what created them and how relentless they were. And they knew what they were capable of. Still they followed Vyn, BB-610 , Argos Xalen and Kuxirra Tano-Bonteri despite the urgent need to hide. Running wasn't easy for the twins, especially while in a panic induced state.

And as the door was opened and the enormous droids approaching were revealed, the two screamed an ear piercing scream which only revealed how deathly afraid they were. Was Dr. Veinstein a part of this?

They had to get away as quickly as possible.

"WE NEED A SHIP!!"

"RIGHT NOW!!"

Yet the spheres surrounding the settlement began to activate again, only this time instead of a deadly high frequency sound that was undetectible by humanoid ears, they instead amplified the sounds of the approaching droids sirens, resulting in sirens so loud that one couldn't even hear themselves think.

Even Willow and Ivy couldn't hear eachother's thoughts. They could only cover their ears.

Kardek Alpha Ashin Cardé Varanin Mauve Vayern

 

[Kuxirra Tano-Bonteri]

Due to her autism and genetically enhanced senses, the sound overwhelmed Kuxirra. It was all she could do to keep moving, her hands clapped over her montrals.

 

[Vyn Daldoure]

Vyn slowed as BB-610 rolled past, Argos Xalen caught up, and the little droid plugged into the door. From here it would only get harder, those sirens were concerning and Vyn wasn't sure he could keep everyone alive, even Six-Ten couldn't tell what they were, but that wouldn't be a problem, his blaster was charged and he was ready to end whatever got in the way, or he thought.

"Thanks Six-Ten. Now lets-"

The door slid open and revealed the towering sticks, at first Vyn couldn't tell what they were sticks stuck in the ground... no those were massive humanoid machines. it took him a second to realize how big they truly were, those couldn't be dropped with a blaster rifle. His composure stuck together and in one motion he reached to the tool belt, back up to the rifle, and screwed on the ion launcher. The twins yelling about a ship, they could honestly use one. A turret would be much more effective than what he had.

As he aimed up towards the Droid, as it let out the ear-piercing sound, Willow & Ivy followed suit and Vyn flinched when pulling the trigger as the ion round shot out missing any possible target that was in his sights. Each round took up one energy cell and he wasn't exactly bursting at the seams with ammo, composing himself and as he was reloading the blaster yelled back at Kuxirra Tano-Bonteri to get her attention

"REMEMBER YOUR BUDDY WITH THE SHIP, MAYBE TRY A CALL??"

Vyn stood in front of Willow and Ivy, his ears ringing and deafened from the balls, but if one of those things somehow managed to get in the door he would have to blow it to pieces. There was no luxury to miss again.

 

[Kuxirra Tano-Bonteri]

Kuxirra heard Vyn Daldoure , but just barely, and nodded, moving a hand to the comlink in her headdress. "Kardek? Do you read? We need a pickup ASAP!" She yelled, sending him the coordinates.

 

[Kardek Alpha]

OUTER EDGE OF SETTLEMENT
With Mauve Vayern
On comms with Kuxirra Tano-Bonteri , Ashin Cardé Varanin

@Ashin Cardé Varanin said:
Kardek's comm crackled. Ashin's voice came through, tired and amused. "Oh don't be precious, Kardek. I've..." A grunt as she adjusted her crouch in the rocky outcropping. "I've got a makeshift position outside the perimeter. Sword and rifle. Should be able to buy you some time to prepare, one time only."

She cracked her neck, audible over the comm.

"I could've sworn I'd seen every monster this 'verse had to offer. Any idea what these are?"

Kardek immediately felt better about their situation upon hearing that Ashin's comm had survived the crash and that he could still communicate with her. 'That might be the difference right there between success and failure' Kardek mused to himself as he activated his comm quickly to respond, "Glad to hear your voice. Beyond the source of my future nightmares? No idea." He said as the monster droids drew closer.

Suddenly Kuxirra Tano-Bonteri 's voice cracked over the comm link, bringing even more relief to Kardek as he hadn't heard anything from here for a while,

@Kuxirra Tano-Bonteri said:
"Kardek? Do you read? We need a pickup ASAP!" She yelled, sending him the coordinates.

Kardek immediately turned away from the spacer in front of him (Mauve Vayern) and responded to her on comms. "Kid?! Where the kriff have you been?! been worried sick about you!" He turned again to monitor how close the monster droids where. They were too close. "Listen... do you still have that speeder? Are you with the survivors? If you can get everyone on the speeder and come to my coordinates ASAP, Then we can get everyone on my ship and get out of here! I'm about to have contact with the droids... We will try to push them back until you guys get here! Remember you should have that holoprojector I gave you... just get to the red dot... that's me!"

With that, Kardek shifted gears. He turned to Mauve Vayern, "They're on their way! If we can hold them back until they get here, then we have a chance." With that he turned and began to prepare. His ES-7 "Osseus" Class ExoSkeleton would double his strength, speed, and stamina... which would come in handy in this fight. He reached into the speeder and pulled out a proximity mine launcher. He checked that it was loaded, turned towards the direction of the droids, and...

Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump...

a spread of proximity mines shot out of the launcher and created a mine field in between him and the approaching droids. "I'm sure you caught all that..." Kardek said into the comms to Ashin Cardé Varanin regarding his conversation with Kuxirra Tano-Bonteri , "Looks like we will be on the front line with you." He tossed the launcher back into the speeder and pulled out two HG 88 Big Iron Hand Cannons. He took a split second to admire them, one massive weapon in each hand, then grabbed some clips of smart ammunition: Cluster Bomb Shotgun Rounds and APFSDS Rounds (armor piercing). He quickly loaded one with Cluster Bomb ammo and the other with APFSDS Rounds, locking the rest of the ammo onto his utility belt. The sense of fear began to mix with adrenaline and excitement as Kardek turned to face the enemy, his feet spread in a dueling stance, both arms lifted with the massive hand cannons ready for battle. The sound of their sirens was deafening, a fear tactic for sure. But suddenly Kardek was ready... the fear was gone, and all he was sensing was that familiar feeling that had been his constant companion throughout all of these years... a mix of anger, excitement, adrenaline, and pure euphoria. This was his moment... there is no past... no future... only this moment.

The wind swept across the landscape, the air filled with the eery war cry of his enemy. Kardek raised his head, his eyes narrowed on the closest droid, a look of pure intensity spread across his face. Alpha stepped slowly to his side, about 4 meters from Kardek, with his heavy repeater cannon readied in front of him, awaiting what was about to come next.

"Route turret control to me." Kardek said in a low tone. Suddenly all of the turrets on The Harbinger began to rotate in the direction of the droids, locking on to the same droid that Kardek was looking at. The neural implants allowed for him to control the turrets of the ship with his eyes... as long as he didn't get too far away from the ship. Kardek knew that they would probably get pushed back to The Harbinger ultimately. It would be their last stand. The armor on the vessel should hold them off for a little while, but ultimately they would begin to breach the hull, and if the survivors didn't get back soon enough... then this would be it.

 

[Kuxirra Tano-Bonteri]

Kuxirra mentally facepalmed. "I left the speeder at the perimeter. Stupid mistake, I know. We're trapped in a building. I'm looking at one of the droids as we speak." she told Kardek Alpha over comms, staying in place and holding her stance.

 

[Kardek Alpha]

OUTER EDGE OF SETTLEMENT
With Mauve Vayern
On comms with Kuxirra Tano-Bonteri , Ashin Cardé Varanin

@Kuxirra Tano-Bonteri said:
Kuxirra mentally facepalmed. "I left the speeder at the perimeter. Stupid mistake, I know. We're trapped in a building. I'm looking at one of the droids as we speak." she told Kardek Alpha over comms, staying in place and holding her stance.

"...What?" Kardek said, still processing what Mini was saying. If thats true, then that means there are droids inside the settlement as well. Not good.

"Hey Spacer!" He yelled over his shoulder to Mauve Vayern, not taking his eyes off the droids in front of him for a moment, "I guess they need some help after all. Could you take the speeder in and go pick them up? Oh... and you might run across some more of these droids... just a heads up." This was getting more complicated by the second.

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

She'd been preparing to make a stand, and every stand could be a last stand. So when Kardek opened up with his arsenal both personal and shipborne, relief washed over Ashin strongly enough to interrupt her connection with the Dark Side.

Still tucked away in the rocky niche, maybe ten meters off the ground, she zeroed in on one of the klaxon-headed constructs. The Dire Wolves DMR barked and the klaxon head in question lost both its resonance cones.

She studied the result. Aggression, continued function, confusion, silence. Good enough.

 

[BB-610]

The deafening wails of the sirens were enough to briefly short circuit. BB-610's body slumps to a standstill, cyan optic losing all life, the piercing screeching knocking his systems offline. In a matter of minutes, the droid reboots, shaking himself awake, as he stares up at the impossibly towering beasts. QEMD-15 Echo was terrifying to look at, and it made the astromech recoil back towards the group behind him. His head twirls around, eyeing them all. Willow & Ivy . Vyn Daldoure . Argos Xalen . Kuxirra Tano-Bonteri .

' I have a ship. A Delta-7B. But it... it only carries one person and an astromech. ' A scan, and his photoreceptors hone in on the distant figure of his starfighter. The vessel is armed... if he can get to it, he can help them. Help his friends. The only problem that stands in his way, quite literally, are the plethora of giant droids. But he needed to make this. He needed to try.

He rolls up to Willow and Ivy, and he gazes up at them. Now isn't the time for sentimentalities, they simply don't have the time for such luxuries. Which is a shame, really, BB-610 thinks. If this was to be his final moment, he would have much preferred to give the twins the goodbye they deserved. Wordless, he inches his body against their legs, head tilted forward to rest along them. It lasts for a few seconds, but for BB-610, it lasts a lifetime. The droid glances up at Vyn, giving the man a nod.

And without any goodbyes, without any bweeps or comments, BB-610 turns the other direction, and he rolls. His internal motors are whirring loudly, spherical body a blur as he picks up speed, outside dust scattering behind him. The enforcer droids look down upon him as he closes the distance between them. BB-610 is small enough to easily evade their feet, the issue is being detected. His starfighter comes into view, closer and closer, before there's a THUD and a leg slams in front of him.

Unable to drift in time, the astromech clashes into the long limb. His internal systems detect it as a threat, and with a flash of red, his First Order programming is awoken, at possibly the worst time to pick an enemy. BB-610 gets his electro-shock prod out, followed by a long stream of electricity that burns brightly into the towering droid's foot. For BB-610, it's the most damage he's done in a while. For the enforcer droid, it's nothing more than an annoying tickle.

In no time at all, the astromech is kicked, sent flying across the floor, sparks dancing from his body, before he CRASHES to a halt against the wall.

[ _CRITICAL ERROR. ]

BB-610's optic flickers, its cyan color returning, but his systems barely operational. His body is dented, warning signs blinding him. Luckily, however, he'd been tossed right next to where he'd landed his ship. His starfighter. His tool disks too badly damaged, only one cable is sent flinging out to attach to the ship's side, not enough to sling himself on top. As such, the droid can only pathetically reel himself upwards, fighting the urge to power down, as he finally slumps himself into the astromech socket.

The Delta-7B's systems connect to his. In no time at all, the starighter's BAR-1 autocannon thuds to life, and it aims towards one of the tall behemoths of a droid. With the last of his power, BB-610 fires, and blast after blast of hot, rapid firepower slam into the droid, again and again and again and again.

 

[Argos Xalen]

Argos looked around, quickly going through the door and trying to spy his YV, only to see....

"By the ancestors...." Then the screaming happened. The Lervon's whole body almost seemed to pulse with the noise as he let his own pained yell. Unlike the others he couldn't just cover his ears either. He didn't have ears. He heard through his body. It also made it difficult for the bounty hunter to focus, and his body showed it as the more humanoid definition left for a more messy look. Almost melted.

He then looked at the others, not sure how to handle everything. Then Six Ten rolled away. What was that droid doing!? "SIX TEN!" That dang droid. He looked at the others, hoping the fact he couldn't keep fully coherent wouldn't freak them out. "I DON'T KNOW WHO THIS PERSON IS, BUT IT'S THAT OR RUN TO THE HILLS TO GET MY YV!" Then the cannons started sounding. A fighter? What was.... Six Ten?

Vyn Daldoure Willow & Ivy BB-610 Kuxirra Tano-Bonteri

 

[QEMD-15 Echo]

Kardek Alpha Vyn Daldoure Willow & Ivy BB-610 Kuxirra Tano-Bonteri (If I missed you I'm sorry, I'm running on 1 hour of sleep right now)

Suddenly, each of the droids broke off, encircling the survivors, trapping them in their little hiding spot. The ground shook as his heavy footsteps lumbered across the ground, lurching towards the building where the survivors were was. Then, the Enforcers picked up enemy chatter on the enemy comms. Did they not realize that their comms had already been tapped? They were trying to escape. Foolish people, did they not realize that there would be no escape?

A voice crackled on over all of their comms. A loud, screaming sound, that only grew louder and louder, unable to be shut off. Their comms had been hacked into. Now, no messages could be sent or received, only the loud screaming could be heard.

The survivors were cut off from one another.

They were all forced into radio silence.

Then, suddenly, an ion shot zipped past him. Echo turned to where the shot had come from, and saw Vyn Daldoure standing there. Echo heard another survivor Argos Xalen speak. Then, after a moment, Echo analyzed the vocal pattern, then said:

"NO ESCAPE!" Argos' voice echoed out, blaring from Echo. The other droids blared out the same message, still in Argos' voice.

"NO ESCAPE!"
"NO ESCAPE!"
"NO ESCAPE!"
"NO ESCAPE!"
"NO ESCAPE!"
"NO ESCAPE!"
"NO ESCAPE!"
"NO ESCAPE!"

It would be at this moment that the survivors would learn of another ability of the monstrous droids.

It could copy and emulate their vocal patterns, simulating their voices.

Now, they couldn't trust anything they heard.

Echo walked forward, the other Enforcers moving to flank the survivors along the sides. He noticed Kuxirra Tano-Bonteri standing in a fighting stance. Foolish girl. Compared to Echo, she was miniscule, as Echo and each of the other droids stood at 40 feet tall. Even trying to stand up to them was useless, as they could easily crush her like a bug.

Then, the sirens stopped, and silence once again took over. The droids stopped, now having the position of the survivors surrounded. Now, there truly was no escape. Echo looked down at Kuxirra, silently analyzing her.

Then, a cannon started firing at one of the droids. The massive behemoth stumbled back, taking fire. Then, one of the other Enforcers lunged with unnatural speed for something of its massive size. In nearly the blink of an eye, it pounced on the grounded starfighter. Then, it started smashing and ripping apart the starfighter, crushing pieces of it, especially the auto cannon. Once the cannon was out, the droid picked up the starfighter with ease and looked at it, examining it. It saw the droid in the astromech socket.

Then, the Enforcer gave a loud, massive ROAR. The ground shook from the force of the roar, as if it an earthquake was happening. Then, as the roar died down, the Enforcer threw the starfighter at the building that the survivors were hunkered down in.

Then, the Enforcers began attacking the most dangerous. Echo lunged for Vyn Daldoure at an incredible speed, his large, black body pouncing forward, arms outstretched for the man in an attempt to grab the man. It wasn't aiming to kill, merely to incapacitate.

Then, two Enforcers pounced at Kuxirra Tano-Bonteri , as they recognized that she was an experiment, and by that fact extremely dangerous. The Droids and the Experiments were, after all, made by the same creator. Echo had even had a "disagreement" with Subject 73 Red , and that had nearly ended in disaster. They knew how dangerous the experiments could be, so they needed to take her down quickly.

The rest stayed back, watching, assessing the battle. Waiting for the right moment to strike.

 

[Kuxirra Tano-Bonteri]

Kuxirra could barely stand the noise, but she did her best not to show it. She sensed the Enforcers about to pounce a split second before they did, and she dove out of the way. She rolled and stood, sending a Force push as powerful as she could at the knee joint of one of the Enforcers before darting away.
You're wrong. There's always an escape, She thought grimly. Her next thought was different: Kriff, my parents are gonna kill me when they find out about this...
QEMD-15 Echo

 

[Willow & Ivy]

Willow and Ivy stood in horror, arms wrapped tightly around eachother as they warched Vyn Daldoure , BB-610 , Argos Xalen and Kuxirra Tano-Bonteri do what they could to help eachother escape. The twins had no weapons, they had only eachother. And their Force abilities weren't of the type to do battle with, only to see and look for things.

No escape.

Those words repeated themselves over and over again as though it was some mantra. If there was no escape than what were they here for? What purpose did this all serve if everyone died?

As Vyn was lunged at by QEMD-15 Echo while he stood in front of them, the twins took hold of their bodyguard and pulled him back out of the way. No doubt the structure of the building would buy them some time as it was surely too small for the massive droid to get into. Maybe then he could get out a few more shots to shut that droid down.

Ashin Cardé Varanin Kardek Alpha Mauve Vayern