The Debacle on Teta (Grayson Imperium)

[Marlon Sularen]

“Sir the Fleets of Svari Sal II and Lord Shran have arrived.” With this , the entire combined Fleet of the Grayson Imperium was present outnumbering the enemy force in which had not begun it’s attack. However the Commander of the enemy fleet had to be very competent as he did not order the Fleet to open fire. But Maracel had a trick up his sleeve. “Have our Dreadnaughts rigged with explosives move forward. We will draw their fighters in and destroy them in the blast.”

Immediately , 3 Automated Dreadnaught Mk II Heavy Cruisers made their advance and in response just as Maracel expected , the Tetan Fleet mobilized their fighters with the Tetan Commander thinking that the Imperium’s Fleet would open fire on his forces if he would attack those Dreadnaughts. Then as the Fighters approached the Dreadnaughts Maracel ordered to detonate the Large amount of Rhydonium stored in the Heavy Cruisers. As the Fighters began their attack the Heavy Cruisers detonated instantly destroying most of the enemy Fighters.

With the enemy Fleet now vulnerable Maracel made his move. “Deploy all Fighters and Bombers and destroy what’s left of the Enemy Fighters then have our bombers neutralize the shields of our enemies. Contact Lord Shran and Svrai Sal II and tell them to do the same.” At that same moment the Admiral of the Tetan Fleet realized he screwed up. Panicking over the loss of nearly all of his fighters , the Tetan Admiral would order his fleet to open fire on the enemy Fleet intending to cut down the wave of Fighters and Bombers that were mopping up his remaining Fighters only to have the Grayson Imperium Fleet respond by returning Fire.

With the majority of the Tetan Fighters destroyed and the Tetan Fleet taking heavy fire from the Grayson Imperium’s Naval Forces broke formation as they panicked with the Tetan Fleet starting to lose a few of their Frigates and Corvettes in the process. As the Tetan Fleet got hampered by the Forces of the Imperium , Maracel then contacted Tobias Dracks. “High Lord Tobias Dracks , you are clear for landing. We have achieved Fighter Superiority and the Enemy Fleet has broken Formation.”

Though he was just an aristocrat , Maracel was a creative man who preferred the use of unorthodox strategies to defeat his enemies and the use of Wonder weapons to score decisive victories against overwhelming odds. Eventually for Maracel this special ability would allow him to rise through the ranks of the Grayson Imperium and gain the status of High Lord along with securing him control over the Corellian Confederation.

Tag : [member="Cedric Grayson"] | [member="Tobias Dracks"] | [member="Dak"] | [member="Loske Matson"] | [member="Alyson Halle"] | [member="Shran "]| [member="Tristan Evore"]

 

[Dak]

[member="Cedric Grayson"] | [member="Loske Matson"] | [member="Alyson Halle"] | [member="Dante of Ession"]
[member="Tobias Dracks"] | [member="Shran "]| [member="Tristan Evore"] | [member="Maracel Yorkell II"]
​

"I have reduced my self preservation protocols by 37%,” Dak responds as he takes two quick steps up the wreckage of a landspeeder and receives another volley of rounds across the torso. The last two shots collide with his face plate, jerking his head back from the kinetic force “46%.”

Again, he pulls his Jackal up and returns fire from the elevated position, raining death upon the squad held up between them and the tank with the fury of Chis engineered high-power bolts. “I will admit to some satisfaction, Master,” he answers playfully as his barrel falls quiet. “Now, stay alive while I commandeer this tank.”

Moving quickly, Dak leaps from the speeder and lands to a roll, popping up and delivering a finish blast to a hostile he had apparently only injured in his spray. He takes several more quick steps, then snap-fires at another rebel as he darts around the rubble and debris of the building the tank had decimated.

Opting for speed rather than safety for the last dash of his journey, the droid accepts a few more impacts, including a heavier scorch from a proper blaster to his more reinforced pauldron frame, before he scales a mound of bricks and pulls himself onto the lopsided, bunker they had unintentionally made. With a quick overclocking of the actuators in his arm Dak tears the jammed hatch off and tosses it to the side, scrambling inside before any other blaster-wielding hostiles manage to get him in their cross-hairs and push his luck.

He falls into the turret seat in a surprisingly fluid motion, dropping the ACR to his side and taking a moment to assess the internals. His receptors catch rising smoke and the faint glow of orange in his peripheral vision; the blaster bolt had certainly done a number to the durasteel plate, but he had no time to acknowledge it now.

"I am in position," the DAC's voice comes over the squad's comms "preparing to interface, but this may take a moment."

 

[Dante of Ession]

As Dante entered the cramped, dust-filled elevator, he glanced back at what he had "accomplished". He let out a small chuckle, followed by an unnatural grin.

He knew that the elevator would be heavily guarded, as the enemy had already been more than aware of him. He knew that if he entered the third level, he would be immediately gunned down. This was not an option. Nevertheless, he entered the elevator and reached for his pocket. He pulled out a lightweight, highly explosive thermal detonator, which he had acquired from the conscripts' weapons cache. He planted it on the inside wall of the elevator, the bomb being entirely concealed. He then sent the elevator toward the third level of the building.

The two seconds in which he was waiting for the bomb to arrive seemed to be two hours for Dante. He felt as if he were a child during life day, even though he still seemed as composed as usual, to the naked eye.

And finally, the elevator arrived at its destination. Dante stood still, listening for movement. Finally, three men began to make their way toward the elevator. When they were within range of the blast, Dante detonated the explosive, creating an enormous heat wave, even he, himself felt. However, soon after the detonation, he heard nothing in the surrounding area.

Confident, Dante began toward the staircase.

 

[Darren Jarok]

Location: Teta
Objective: Wipe out the enemy.

Jarok's Fleet had been wandering the galaxy prior to joining the Imperium. His fleet was small having lost many in skirmishes and other things. Mutiny's had happened many times on his ships causing the crew and troop number to drop from what it used to be. Now they had something to fight for. The Imperium. The fleet exits hyperspace with Darren's Nebula-Class Star Destroyer, the Nemesis, exiting first. It's black paint almost made it blend in with the black of space. Behind it came the rest of his fleet which was nothing but cruisers and frigates. "This is Commodore Darren Jarok reporting. Let us destroy these pathetic excuses of enemies! For the Imperium!" He cried as the ship began to fire its turbolaser batteries and launch its TIE Compliment. His fleet engages the enemy as he watches the beautiful sight of turbolaser shots fly across the battlefield. This brought a smile to the face of the Commodore.





Jarok's Fleet: 1 Nebula-Class Star Destroyer, 2 Arquitens-Class Light Cruisers, 1 Gladiator-Class Carrier

 

[Loske Treicolt]

Ground forces: [member="Dante of Ession"] / [member="Alyson Halle"] / [member="Dak"] / [member="Cedric Grayson"]​

Orbital Allies: [member="Tobias Dracks"] /[member="Darren Jarok"]/ [member="Maracel Yorkell II"]​

Playing with some interference over the speakers​

---

---

---

---

The troops that followed [member="Alyson Halle"], [member="Cedric Grayson"] and [member="Dak"] out of the hatches required cover fire. Even before they disappeared from their doors with fancy lunges, Loske had delved back into the tomb of pilots to bring the weapons back online and to their highest percentage, given the damage they’d sustained. All juice that would have gone to the thrusters or shields was rerouted to the online defence system.

The ship’s armaments were limited, as it was only an escort vehicle. And the targeting systems were severely damaged. If Loske wanted to be helpful, rather than a hinderance, she’d have to aim high to avoid friendly fire. Several signatures were detected above the battlefield, likely snipers or just teams beginning to rally before a descent. Either way, the discharge of plasma from the shuttle was enough to ignite the sky with multicoloured streams and disintegrate any opposition at this level of exchange. This amount of firepower was meant for ships.

“That felt wrong.” She murmured, and attempted to level the heigh of the canons to incoming vehicles. Tanks, speeders, etcetera. There was something more familiar about obliterating mechanical objects versus flesh and blood.

 

[Alyson Halle]

This fight was vertical, that was a problem to most people, but not to Jedi. They were to let nothing stand in the way of their quarry, justice must be delivered against their foes. There were enemies up in all 5 layers above the park, mostly coming from the north. She would go floor by floor, to reduce the amount of fire that would be dripped down upon the Sons of Ession. She ran up towards the walkways between the buildings and used the force to leap up the the second floor.

The enemies there were not ready for her, she let her gun drop to her side as she ignited her lightsaber, charging directly into the fray. They thought their numbers were their advantage but their poor training could not allow them to meet the much faster Jedi. She could tell which one was in charge, the strings of the enemy tangled themselves in such a way that they were bound to one of the slave fighters. Alyson went straight for him, cutting him across his abdomen.

She then made her way to the next foe, taking out soldiers until their resolve was broken. It did not take much, they lacked the mental fortitude to fight to the death, and once they were broken, Alyson moved to the next floor, in a much similar way that she reached the first, to repeat the process once again.

[member="Loske Matson"] [member="Darren Jarok"] [member="Dante of Ession"] [member="Dak"] [member="Maracel Yorkell II"] [member="Cedric Grayson"]

 

[Tobias Dracks]

Location: Empress Teta, Surface
Objective: Secure the Planet

-- Looks at thought the situation was finally coming to an end. Lord Yorkell taking care of the space fleet and securing the planets defenses for the Lord Shran. He cared little however, the Pro-Republic Forces were to be the full force of the Imperium on the ground.

-- "My Lord," Stated one of the deck officer, "We are coming into contact with the ground defenses."

-- Tobia nodded and with his hands locked behind his back he looked out of the view screen before him. "Have the Droids storm the ground in drop pods, that should shock the ground batteries long enough for an opening."

-- The soldiers followed their orders and showed to make an opening for the army to get a food hold. After that the dropships left the transports and created a beachhead as well as a FOB for the invasion army. Logistical lines were open and the army was making quick progress with the invasion. This was not their first tour of duty and this invasion had happened a millions times on a hundred of other planets.

-- It was time to radio the Imperator, [member="Cedric Grayson"] for his next orders. He had been stuck in orbit and landing along with getting all the soldiers ready to support the invasion was slow going. It was legions upon legions of soldiers ready to kill who needed to be killed. Working alongside Imperials made some of his men a little hot blooded at the moment.

-- "Your grace," Tobia radioed in, "We have landed our forces outside the western perimeter of the capital, what are your orders?"

[member="Maracel Yorkell II"] | [member="Darren Jarok"] | @Shran

Ground Army:
1st Army Corp

Spoiler

[Standard Armor] Republic Infantry Armor
[Anti-Tank Weapon] VT-SDC 13
[Light Machine Gun] RR-LRB 'Suppressor' Model 32
[Heavy Machine Gun] RR-HRB E-19
[Anti-Material Rifle] Anti-Material Rail Rifle
[Shotgun] Inferos Class Disruptor Rifle
[Blaster Rifle]M-1016 Blaster Rifle
[Combat Knife] C-11 "Nastirci"
[Scout Vehicle] R-Series Mk.1 Pathfinder ARV
[Infantry Fighting Vehicle] R-91B "Liberator"
[Supremacy Tank] RR P-HBT M71
[Anti-Infantry Walker] RR-AW Prowler Mk. 1
[All-Rounder Walker] RR-AW Prowler Eradicator Mk. 2
[Tank Destroyer Walker] RR-AW Prowler Destroyer Mk. 3
[Gunship/Dropship] RRATD Gunship

16th Droid Legion

Spoiler

[Battle Infantry] NH-Knight Droid, [Air Support] NK-Wasp Droid, [Dumb Battle Inf] NN-I Battle Droid,[Heavy Battle Inf] NN-2 Front Droid, [Turret Doirds] NN-Disco Droid, [Commando] NN-K Infiltration Droid, [Transport] Queen Mason Airspeeder

Fleet Navy:
10th Transport Fleet

Spoiler

3 Breaker-class Cargo Ship, 3 Admata Dropships, 5 Pelta-class Transport Frigates, 7 Katana Lighter Cruiser, 10 Xeta-class Troop Carrier, 4 Spewer class Assault Ship, 4 Kyr'yc Ayahada Attack Frigate, 4 Hammerhead Class Frigates, 7 Preserver-class Corvette

 

[Placeholder 0128]

War had a way of changing people. Even the greatest of intentions could be twisted in such conflict. Cedric understood that viscerally as he bisected a Geonosian warrior in two. Most of these people were former slaves, and they only acted out of hatred because it was why had been known to them. In a different life, he might have helped them to move past their hatreds, but the galaxy was not so kind.

A transmission came in from [member="Tobias Dracks"]. “Take the capital,” Cedric snapped into his comm as he sent another warrior flying with a burst of telekinetic energy. “And send reinforcements to my location. Several of our dropships were shot down. We need evac, and a medical team.”

The downed shuttle’s cannons began to roar. Cedric watched as several combatants were rendered into red mist by the weapons, and he felt nothing. He did feel a hint of disgust from his padawan however - their bond was a strong one, and such emotions were easily read. He had nothing to give [member="Loske Matson"], save for a feeing of comfort, an indication that he understood.

“Let’s start the party [member="Dak"],” he quipped as he jumped atop the ruined tank, batting away any blasted assaults that were attempted. He cut his comm to the squad channel, speaking directly to [member="Dante of Ession"], [member="Alyson Halle"], and Loske.

“We’ve got the tank up and running and evac is one the way. Alyson, see if you and that trooper can find an elevator to the AA guns. Our birds won’t be able to land without clear skies,” he paused, knocking another bolt back where it had come. “Dak and I have the tank. Plug your ears, its about to get loud.”

 

[Dak]

[member="Cedric Grayson"] | [member="Loske Matson"] | [member="Alyson Halle"] | [member="Dante of Ession"]
[member="Tobias Dracks"] | [member="Shran "]| [member="Tristan Evore"] | [member="Maracel Yorkell II"]​

[SIZE=10pt]“System interfacing nearly complete,” Dak responds as he attempts to mentally bypass the last of the vehicles software security. It may have been their own asset, but it was not programmed for this method of access and it required some extra work on his end. As he finally breaks through, his vision goes completely blank and his mind and being become one with the vessel’s weapon systems.

The main gun suddenly jerks to the side, rocking the entire weapon platform side-to-side with the abrupt movement. It had been a while since Dak had needed to interface with a vehicle, but his finesse would return in time. For now, he only had to focus on keeping the enemy at bay long enough.

The mounted autoblaster on the top of the turret springs to life, swiveling to cover Cedric’s flanks with a hailstorm of red blaster bolts. It was the best he could do to help the Jedi suppress a potential full-blown counterattack.

“I'm detecting hostile light armour inbound from the South/South-West,” the tank’s sensor suit was currently paired with his own, affording him an increased awareness of the battlefield at large "Adjusting position to engage. Hold on, Master." The entire tank teeters on the uneven pile of rubble as Dak rotates the turret to line up with the anticipated attack.

Sure enough, only a moment later the first of the light tanks emerged from a side street a short ways behind them.

“Opening fire.”[/SIZE]

 

[Dante of Ession]

As he reached the third level, he was met with no resistance. He walked past the many corpses that were left behind from the blast and toward a second elevator system, nearby the first one.

The room was entirely torn apart and covered in rubble. The ceiling was already beginning to collapse and the surrounding area was burnt to a crisp. Piles of corpses lined the hallways, the room already beginning to smell like fresh barbecue.

As Dante inhaled, he grinned from ear to ear. He usually never underestimated the blast radius of a bomb and he CERTAINLY would never overestimate it, however he was pleasantly surprised at the damage he had caused.

He entered the elevator and pressed the button labeled "ROOF LEVEL". As he inhaled and breathed in the smell of several well-done hostiles, he also was able to smell a number of conscripts, posted on the roof. Dante knew exactly where they were. There were three men, shooting downward, toward the street. There was an additional man, standing near the elevator entrance and watching for Dante. The fifth and final conscript was a woman. She was watching the entrance from a distance, fearless. She was stationed behind a pile of sandbags.

Both of the hostiles who were watching the entrance were aiming at chest level. Dante, who sensed this, positioned himself on his stomach, prone. When the elevator shaft reached its destination, its door slid open. And as it slid open, a hail of bullets were fired inside of it. Dante, however, fired only two bullets out of the elevator. Both hit their targets.

He then, quickly stood up and bolted out of the elevator, heading for the three men shooting toward his allies. Before they could react, he fired three shots in rapid succession, each one of them connecting with the skull of their targets.

Despite all of this, Dante still heard the painful wheezing noise of someone struggling to breathe. Dante immediately tracked this noise to its source, a woman in which Dante had shot in the breast. She was gravely wounded and could barely inhale. However, as Dante made his way toward her, he received a message from his comm. It was Cedric Grayson.

Evac was on route and Cedric had secured the tank. He was ordered to cover his ears, and so, he did just that. He tuned out from all noise.

He began to walk toward the wounded woman, his footsteps silent. As he approached her, her mouth began to open and close in rapid succession. Dante knew she was shouting, pleading for her life, however he could not hear her. No-one could hear her. He lifted his weapon toward her, and in an instant, a blinding red flash appeared from the muzzle of his weapon, followed by a broad, circular hole which appeared in the middle of her head; Almost instantly afterward, a dark red poured from her skull. The pitiful screaming that, to Dante, had never even occurred in the first place, had seized and Dante became less tense and relaxed, as he enjoyed this peaceful, beautiful, quiet moment.


[member="Cedric Grayson"]@Dak@Alyson Halle[member="Loske Matson"]

 

[Darren Jarok]

The attack on the enemy fleet continued as the Nemesis broadsides several frigates as the rest of his fleet had engage smaller ships. The Star Destroyer paves its way through the formation of enemy ships as it fired volleys of turbolasers through the frigates and corvettes dealing massive amounts of damage to the enemy fleet. He orders the fleet carrier to deploy their bomber and snub fighters to engage the enemy ships since they didn't have to worry about the enemy fighters. Darren walked up closer to the view port of the bridge looking out at the carnage. "This is Jarok, my fleet has wiped out some of their corvettes and frigates. Where is the enemy flagship?" He asks as he looks across the battle.

 

[Alyson Halle]

Alyson recieved the message. It seemed she would be working closely with the one trooper she had noted on the shuttle. Finding him wasn't that hard, he was on an atrium on the floor below, it would be rather easy just to climb down a floor, that would be rather dull. It wouldn't be an invasion without reckless property damage.

Alyson kicked her way inside, noting the nigh empty building she had entered, seems like she had been able to scare most of them off. She ignited her light saber and used it to quickly cut a hole in the floor, falling rather neatly beside the trooper. The smoldering cut of metal was still below her feet, and she was only within a few paces of [member="Dante of Ession"].

She holstered her lightsaber before taking in the man's handiwork. She had seen it all happen through the force, it had been rather brutal. The woman simply wished to survive, to live another day. She had no more desire to fight. Killing her was not only inefficient, it was unjust. While it was against her ways, she couldn't fault him on it nearly as severely. He didn't have to worry about the gnawing influence of the dark side, but it was still better to kill without passion.

"Excessive violence may win physical battles, but it does not win spiritual ones. Be careful with letting your hatred seep into your duty, it leads to bad decision making and unnecessary death." She said, moving along the courtyard. "This way, the central elevator shaft should be somewhere up ahead. If there is a way to get to the roof its that."

The courtyard was rather clean, it was the top of the block of buildings they had landed on, this was the confluence of the two. From there they could make it to just about any part of the city, atleast vertically. She wasn't so certain about the stability of the public transit network but she was certain that the elevators at least, should function.

She pushed in her earpiece. "Cedric do we have eyes on the AA guns, need to know their grid coords so I know what floor to head to. The force is far too messy here to see far enough." She messaged to [member="Cedric Grayson"]

 

[Loske Treicolt]

Ground forces: [member="Dante of Ession"] / [member="Alyson Halle"] / [member="Dak"] / [member="Cedric Grayson"]
Orbital Allies: [member="Tobias Dracks"] /[member="Darren Jarok"]/ [member="Maracel Yorkell II"]
Playing with some interference over the speakers

---

The ethereal reassurance received from [member="Cedric Grayson"] was short-lived. It would have to be something she'd contend with on her lonesome after battle, morality would never take a backseat. It hadn't been entirely her decision or fault to render the ground clear with the powerful cannons -- the deftness of the ship's aim was more difficult than juking a yolk about. With the targeting system operating at basically null, Loske was pretty much blind in the weapon's pit of the shuttle. A few Essonian's had stayed behind to defend the downed shuttle as an asset while it's offensive systems were still online. She wasn't sure how long they'd stick around when the weapons were completely devoid of juice.

Not having any sort of navidirectional assistance for the cannons was frustrating, given they had the right kind of fire power baked in to take down those AA cannons which were restricting any fighters from closing in the atmosphere. She'd made the choice to not man a starfighter, which was turning out to be a less helpful move in the long run. With a squadron, they could have closed in long enough to either obliterate the anti aircraft weapons, or at least capture coordinates to feed back to the fleet or ground teams to enact. From the static her comms were detecting, it was proving difficult to even find them.

A reading blipped at her, the screen was a skeletal outline of what the shuttle had looked like when it was in one piece. Red highlighted much of the display, the rest was a live-feed of the operational percentages. Before Loske had started firing, she'd reassigned all power to the weapon systems. Now that she'd been in the hot seat for several minutes, they were reporting at less than half power.

“We’ve got the tank up and running and evac is one the way. Alyson, see if you and that trooper can find an elevator to the AA guns. Our birds won’t be able to land without clear skies,” he paused, knocking another bolt back where it had come. “Dak and I have the tank. Plug your ears, its about to get loud.”

With a swan song of effort for the current situation, Loske leveraged her weight to adjust the angle of the controls so the cannons would angle to their steepest inclination skyward. The tops of the building's spires were obstructed from view, and with a final gusto of effort, the remaining juice belched from the laser cannons. She couldn't see the outcome of the shot from the smoke and flames that curled around the shuttle still, but it was skyward, in the general direction of the buildings that had identified the AAs.

Tripping over some outstanding debris, she emerged from the small containment that had concealed her for the last few minutes back to the group of Essonian's who'd remained to defend. They were busy still contending with some remainder oppression from Teta's forces. Not many, given [member="Alyson Halle"], [member="Cedric Grayson"], [member="Dante of Ession"], and [member="Dak"] had already been through that area with their own legions.

One of them glanced over their burly shoulder, and tilted his helmeted head expectantly.

"I know, I know, let's catch up. You don't want to miss all the fun."

Loske was somewhat dreading exiting the shuttle. Empress Teta was rich with memories for her family. Ones she was hoping wouldn't come in overwhelming waves, but manageable instances she could revisit. Fractured memories courtesy of the splicing effect when combining both Kiskla and Marcello's respective DNA into her being was an unpredictable thing, especially in a stimulated environment where her adrenaline was sparked. Stepping out into the smoke and exposure of what the alpha teams had left behind, the blonde allowed herself a moment. Intentionally, she slammed her eyelids shut as memories washed over her. Despite her best intentions to prepare for what was about to come, fragmented history hit like a tsunami in a tidal pool, and Loske staggered. It was worse because this place had been bad for both her parents.

Empress Teta welcomed the clone with a Force-piercing scream that reverberated through her skull, which turned into a vision of herself splitting into several versions - but this self was clad in a suit of custom armour and contending with a dark force. Then she felt that electric lightning coursing through her veins once again, the tightening of a vong staff around her legs and torso. The memory of dismantling molecules darted about, making her fingertips tingle. Those same fingertips seemed to swell at the recollection of absorbed energy that had been consumed and exuded. Her hands clenched in the real life, mimicking a mental reaction to a memory of a dark intent to choke someone through the Force. Sinister words from a horrendous, ugly, massive figure bounced around in her recollection Rise, Darth Veritas. and then she was consumed with the gut-wrenching pain associated not from the wounds incurred from the earlier vision but from the thought of having lost someone loved. All these memories looked back at her as if a person of their own.

​

When she finally opened her eyes once more, Loske exhaled heavily and stepped forward, wiping away any liquid that had gathered at her tear ducts, and run due course down her cheeks. The vision had been crimson staring back, in the real world though, it was just salt-laden tears from exertion and general capacity being intolerable. Her muscles seemed to pulse with newfound power -- the location activating abilities within her that had been forgotten or hidden until exposed to a circumstantial trigger.

The Sons of Ession already knew their way, and Loske activated to run alongside them, blasts of Force-driven energy exploding from her palms to keep the oppression at bay and help the soldiers preserve their ammunition for inside and up. Th Force was delighted she was here, she could feel that. Especially since so much more of it was now within reach.

 

[Placeholder 0128]

Several things happened then.

One, the remnant fleets floating around Empress Teta were put out of commission. Two, the platforms that guarded the world began to fall one by one to Imperium marines. Three, the main forces of the slave lord were crushed near the capital building, and the majority of his fronts began to lose ground quickly.

Word came one the comms that the slave lord has been killed when his shuttle was struck down fleeing the capital. With that came a call to surrender from the former slave forces, and that should have been the end of things. Unfortunately for the team, those around them either did not hear the message, ignored it, or the local commander had elected to continue on without the support of the rest of the army. Whatever the case, the conscripts that still fought did so with great fury, like beasts that had been cornered on the hunt.

Their lines crumbled as the Imperium survivors stormed up to the AA guns. It would not be long now. City sections were rendered naught but ash as the repulsortank pulled through, easily removing the many machine guns nests that had kept the Essonians pinned.

Cedric fought openly now, subduing any that he could, and defending his soldiers as they took the lost ground. Something stole his attentions mid-swing, causing him to miss and cleave his lightsaber straight through a wall. He felt a myriad of emotions through his bond with [member="Loske Matson"], few of them pleasant, all overwhelming. He did not take the feedback as well as she did, crumpling to the ground with a pained grunt alongside [member="Dak"]'s tank.

Several of the remaining conscripts took the opportunity, their guns turning upon Cedric. The Jedi Master had only just started to rise when they opened fire.

[member="Loske Matson"], [member="Alyson Halle"], [member="Darren Jarok"], [member="Dante of Ession"], [member="Dak"], [member="Tobias Dracks"]

 

[Dak]

[member="Cedric Grayson"] | [member="Loske Matson"]​

Blaster bolts rain from the tank’s auxiliary weapons systems, attempting to cover the Jedi Master as best as possible while Dak fires another round from the main gun to disable the third light weapons platform. The tank’s heat readings were beginning to climb dramatically, likely the result of its heat dispersion system being damaged in the crash. Excessive fire was not sustainable. Conceding, Dak pulls his mind from the weapon systems and ejects himself from the tank’s interface.

“Heat sinks are damaged, we must move on,” he advises over comms, hoping the three light vehicles he had managed to take down would act as enough of a roadblock to at least stall their mechanized advance. He swipes his ACR from next to the seat and begins to pull himself to the exit hatch he had torn off.

As Dak climbs himself from the depths of the vehicle his sensory suite detects an anomaly in Cedric’s vitals as he recoils from Loske’s violent resonance in the Force. His receptor’s shoot to Cedric and he watches with confusion as the Jedi Master buckle under the unexpected mental assault.

“Master?” he calls out from the turret above, tone uncertain, before suddenly realizing the gravity of what was about to happen. He reacts immediately, his sophisticated security and combat protocols taking control; the organic equivalent of acting on instinct.

In a series of quick movements the droid shoulders his ACR and fires twice, temporarily disabling two of the targets with simple body shots while throwing himself into a slide toward the main hull of the tank. There’s a sharp, metallic shriek as his durasteel body scrapes along, follow by thud as he drops off the turret. He stumbles forward and drops to a knee to stop his momentum. In the final moments of his reaction, Dak pulls his VT-Bulwark shield from his belt and activates it while tossing it to Cedric, knowing he wouldn’t make the few extra steps in time.

He manages to pull the trigger only a few more times before the remaining conscripts open fire, barraging the droid and bubble shield. Several of them land hard against his chassis, denting and cracking the armour while setting off dozens of internal alerts.

Taking a final hit, Dak manages to stagger back and fall into the protection of the dome shield, landing beside the Lord-Imperator. “Damage assessment. Hull: Moderate. Internals: Mild. Vital Systems: Stable." Dak's head turns to look to the Jedi "This is r-recoverable, Master Cedric. But we c-cannot hold much longer-r.”

 

[Dante of Ession]

Dante turned to the Jedi that had approached him during his moment of silence, vexed by her appearance.

"My apologies, I simply couldn't hear anything and assumed her to be a threat. I don't preform sparingly when I am deaf." Dante knew his story was entirely false and that this Jedi would not be fooled, however, the story just needed to be plausible. Dante was an extremely skilled cunning liar and he did not wish to face the legal consequences of his actions.

"It won't happen again sir. Believe me, I will never "tune out" again." This was true. Dante would never allow the chance for someone to sneak up on him, so unexpectedly, again. He had learned his lesson.

As the Jedi moved toward the courtyard, Dante reluctantly followed him. He would have to tame himself for the remainder of the mission, a balancing act which even he found difficulty in mastering.





[member="Alyson Halle"]

 

[Darren Jarok]

Now that the enemy fleet was obliterated, Jarok could now focus on the ground invasion. The AA cannons on the surface that prevented the full might of the Imperium to strike the enemy down needed to be destroyed and the ground forces need reinforcements. The commodore walked across his bridge with a smile of excitement. The ground forces struggled with destroying the AA cannons so it was time for him to step in. "Lieutenant Jenk, target the AA cannons on the surface. Get the most precise shot you can get.." He says as he watches his crew get to work. Turbolaser batteries moved into position targeting the AA cannons. He opens up a comm to the ground forces. "This is Commodore Jarok of the Imperium Fleet.. The quadrant where the AA cannons are located at is about to be reduced to nothing but broken parts and disintegrated enemies real soon so I advise you to clear the area." He says before looking again at the holotable.

He smirks as the cannons move into a better position. The destroyer loomed over the planet being the black harbinger of death it is. This ship has been used to destroy many enemies before the fall of the Galactic Alliance and before it fell into Darren's hands. A legacy tarnished as he put the ship to use along the very ships that it was created to combat and destroy. It fell from being the shining hope of the republic's fleet. Now it was what shocked enemies at the sight of it. It was modified to be more powerful than the Republic wanted it to be. Now it was time to put an end to the AA guns. "You may fire when ready.." He uttered as gunner crews prepared to fire. Silence fell over the bridge before the bright flashes of green were seen coming from the barrels of the Nebula's cannons. Bolt after bolt flew down to the ground hitting its target heavily.

The AA cannons were not prepared for Jarok's move. Green rained down onto Empress Teta hitting the cannons. They were quickly destroyed along with the surrounded enemy forces. All the cannons were now smoldering molten piles of durasteel. The smoke of the fire rose into the air. "Lower us down.. Prepare for ground assault." He says the ship lowers into the atmosphere. It flew emerged from a cloud of smoke and ash in a threatening ominous fashion. Shuttles were seen departed from the hangers to land troops and vehicles to reinforce the rest of Grayson's forces. The Nemesis hovers above the city. Darren used this to strike fear into the hearts of the enemy. TIEs and the Jarok Shipyard produced heavy starfighters known as Makos flew above the city engaging the enemy from the air.

 

[Alyson Halle]

The lie was not only blaring obvious, it was also rather disappointing. She could see the rage buried in his heart, uncontrolled, unhampered. It stood out in everything he did. She expected better from a member of the Sons of Ession. Most of them held themselves to a much higher standard. She would not report it, but she would keep an eye on him. Perhaps she could impart some kind of wisdom on the young man.

"Your attempts of deception are severely lacking." Alyson said. "You don't even believe the bantha poodoo you are spouting yourself. You should learn to lie to yourself before you try lying to others."

She waited a moment for Cedric to respond, when he didn't, she sighed. Luckily she had finally manage to comb her way to find the gun crews. They were far higher, near the top of the skies. It would be a long way up. Luckily the express elevators went all the way up. Hopefully they wouldn't have been disabled.

"Follow me, we must make it to the express elevators." She then began to walk towards the center of the building. The express elevator didn't stop on every floor, luckily, since this was the highest floor of this block, it did stop here. It meant less unnecessary walking.

Alyson made her way towards the center of the building, walking over the bodies of the dead slaves to reach the elevator. Once the button was pressed, it took an extraordinarily long time for the elevator to finally make it's way down. Something wasn't right however, the elevator was full of living people, and they were readying for a fight.

Alyson ignited her lightsaber and looked to the man next to her. "Ready up for a slog, this is going to be bloody."

Dante of Ession

 

[Placeholder 0128]

Time slowed.

The thundering of battle ceased to ring in Cedric's ears as Dak dropped in front of him. There were a few loud tings as blaster bolts flew into the droid's chassis, setting off alarm bells in the Jedi Master's head. Whatever he was feeling from Loske was irrelevant - he focused upon the pain, and willed his mind to focus on higher purposes.

Worry for his padawan shifted to worry for his friend as Dak seemed to take considerable damage. All worries were dashed from Cedric's mind as he embraced grim purpose, his blade singing as he stepped in front of the droid, shielding his friend just as Dak had for him. Cedric's movements were fluid, primal, and calculated. Not a single bolt pierced his defense; his mind was an empty thing, reacting only to the volleys that flew toward them. Those bolts flew back to the conscripts, coating several of the warriors in splattering of plasmic agony.

It was only the tactical bombing of the AA guns above that brought a halt to the assault. The tops of the buildings above lit up like lifeday trees as the munitions were set alight, refuse exploding outward in every direction.

Realizing their folly, many of the remaining conscripts threw down their weapon. Those that continued to fight were swiftly gunned down by the Sons of Ession.

Cedric halted mid-stance, his body shaking with each heavy breath from the exertion. He held his wrist-comm up to his lips. "Guns are destroyed. Conscripts surrendering. We need several medi-transports to my location."

Exhausted, Cedric turned to his old friend, concern plain on his face. "Thank you," he breathed, "Are you okay? Anything important hit?"

Alyson Halle Loske Treicolt Darren Jarok Dante of Ession Marlon Sularen Tobias Dracks

 

[Dante of Ession]

Dante hastily ducked for cover, while simultaneously firing six shots from his blaster pistol, each one of them hitting their targets. He glanced toward his ally, who was now beginning to drift toward the left side of the room, and began to fight closer to the right side.
He arose from his cover, firing another two blaster shots, each one of them searing the skull of their targets. As he drew closer to the horde, he unsheathed his blade and gave his ally one last nod of approval.

Alyson Halle