Annihilation The Imperial March

[Saul Whesai]

The Nightclaws were ripping through the backlines as Saul advanced with his and various other teams around him toward the camp. So far, the operation had gone off mostly without a hitch, with most patrols being easy to dispatch with little effort, thanks to the various teams being able to utilize the jungle under the giant mountains to their advantage. Steadying himself, his sergeant motioned to the rest of his squad as they heard the orders come over the line from HQ. It seemed like the Psychiatrists were in trouble. The team switched course, quickly jogging through the jungle with Saul in the lead as Scout, hoping they weren't too late.

What they saw when they reached the Dread Step's location wasn't promising. A combination of two old WLO-5 Speeder Tanks that looked like they had come right out of the Clone Wars, with the Black Sun symbol on them, equipped with search lights, were scanning through the foliage, trying to find where Psychiatrists were hiding themselves. Aiding them were two squads' worth of infantry, the tanks had carried her and dismounted bike troopers that had escorted them from both enemy factions, starting to sweep through the underbrush. It was clear the enemy knew something was out here, it just didn't know what yet.

His squad's demo specialist readied his LO-RPG20 as the Squad Leader turned to Saul and whispered. "He's got one, you got the other?" His Squad had seen his ability to run and parkour. Now it was time for Saul to show it off on the battlefield. Giving his Boss a nod, Saul stretched himself as the squad's radio operator reported back to Platoon HQ what their situation was. The other members spread out, picking their targets, and after a couple of seconds, they were permitted to drop the enemy. At that moment, two things happened. One was the firing of a rocket out of the RPG's tube, spiraling through the air till it crashed into the old tank's hull, hitting right where the ammo storage was and causing the tank and its crew to suddenly combust into a ball of flames.

The other was Saul running out of cover, screaming at the top of his lungs, "THE TREES ARE ANGRY ^%&#!...!" with two thermal detonators in his hands, running right at the tank as it tried to turn to face him so it could use its coax blaster cannons, its crew firing small arms past his sprinting form in a vain attempt to cut him down. It was too late, though, as Saul slid under the repulsors of the enemy vehicle, he tossed up the detonators into the open-topped vehicle, causing it to brew up just like its sibling. The dismounted troopers who turned around in surprise at Saul's yelling and were cut down by both Grimhiss and Dread Step Squad from their positions to the side and behind them. This fight was over, and for just Saul's first action, the crazy cyborg could paint a tank kill mark on his armor.

Laphisto , Dark Forces

 

[Aiden Porte]

Objective: 1
Theater District
Aknoby Zark San Tekka Dark Forces​

It was seen as they advance, forcing them to halt,, a pale-green shroud that clung to stone and metal alike. Even before the sensors on the nearest soldier barked their warning, Aiden knew what it was. The Force carried its echo: a wrongness that made the air itself feel poisonous, heavy with the weight of lives flickering too quickly into silence.

"Take cover and lay down support fire!"

He slowed his pace, eyes narrowing on the theater ahead. Shadows moved in its windows Imperial silhouettes crouched behind arches, rifles steady, daring anyone to advance. Behind those walls, he could sense the civilians still alive, their fear burning sharp and desperate through the fog. Their time was running out.

The gas crept closer, curling in tendrils toward his position. His troopers shifted uneasily, filters whining as they locked helmets tighter. The civilians trapped within had no such defenses. Every breath they took would bring them closer to death.

Aiden's jaw tightened. The Empire had chosen cruelty as its weapon, sealing themselves inside with the helpless as shields. It was the kind of calculation that left only bleak options yet surrendering the ground was not one of them.

He drew the Force into himself, deep and steady, until it thrummed like a second heartbeat beneath his ribs. The luminous current surged in answer, filling him with clarity where despair threatened. He raised a hand toward the fog, eyes closed for the span of a single breath.

The air stirred.

It began as a whisper, then built into a current, pushing the gas up in ragged curls. The haze bucked and twisted as though resisting, but Aiden pressed harder, channeling the will of every soul he could feel behind him soldiers waiting on his lead, civilians clinging to hope they couldn't yet see. He gave their desperation form. He gave it purpose.

"Stay low," he told the squad, voice calm despite the strain running through his limbs. "We'll drive them out. But not at the cost of those inside."

His saber flared to life with a snap-hiss, casting blue light into the smoke. The Empire had entrenched itself, hiding behind fear and bodies, but Aiden would not let that stand. Step by step, with the Force gathered like a shield around him, he advanced forward, intent on breaking the hold of cruelty with the only answer he knew hope carried forward, blade in hand.

 

[Laphisto]

Ash dogs 3rd Company

Gardens Cinder maw platoon Ko Vuto Lorn Reingard Bastila Sal-Soren​

The corporal gave a sharp nod, bringing a hand to the side of his helmet as the encrypted comm-line flared. His voice dropped to a professional murmur. "Copy that, sir. Orders relayed. We'll focus on the grunts and keep them off your tail as best we can."

With that, the line went dead. The corporal and his partner shifted back into motion, rifles raised as they moved through the smoke-choked gardens. The air shimmered faintly from the lingering heat of incendiary blasts; vines and ornamental trees burned in patches across the landscape. Every few steps, the distant thump of slug rounds rolled through the foliage.

Moments later, the first Imperial stormtroopers began to surface from cover. Those who broke into the open found themselves instantly pinned heavy 30-06 slugs tore through the air, smashing into armor plates and shredding adaptive shielding with brutal precision. The sharp bark of Lilaste rifles echoed between the stone paths and water channels, muzzle flashes lighting the smoke like strobes.

Any Lilaste soldier caught too close for ranged fire didn't hesitate. They dropped their rifles to the ground or let the AASH armature hold it for them and drew the LO-10M swords from their backs the weapons flaring to life with a guttural hum as electric or flame charges rippled along the blade edges. The fighting turned close and savage among the burning hedgerows and decorative pools, metal on plastoid ringing between bursts of gunfire.

Theater scorch Fang Platoon [/center​

As the voice of Aknoby crackled through Lieutenant Corric's helmet, the officer froze mid-stride, the words ringing sharp over the din of blasterfire and shrapnel. He turned toward his second-in-command, the orange glow of his visor reflecting the chaos unfolding ahead. "Do we have any CSF's in the area?" he snapped, disbelief lacing his tone. "Who the feth is this kid?"

The sergeant glanced at his datapad, then looked back with a helpless shrug. Corric let out a long, exasperated sigh, rubbing a gloved hand across the edge of his helmet before muttering, "Don't tell me that's the kid the Commander's been training. I swear, I'm getting a demotion for this."

He didn't have time to grovel or even issue a pull-back order before the next figure dropped into the fray Aiden Porte a blur of robes and light cutting through the smoke. The Jedi landed with the calm authority of a seasoned combatant, the air around him shifting as a brilliant azure barrier expanded outward. The pressure wave of his arrival rippled through the wrecked theater courtyard, pushing debris and ash aside like the breath of the Force itself.

Corric blinked behind his visor as the roaring crossfire dimmed to muffled bursts against the Jedi's shimmering shield. With the temporary reprieve, the lieutenant barked to his troops, "You heard him! Regroup! Pull the wounded behind cover and get firing lanes re-established!" The platoon moved fast, instincts taking over. Medics dragged the injured behind the shattered remains of a statue, while riflemen reloaded and repositioned behind the cover the Jedi had carved open for them. The once-hopeless position began to solidify again held together by grit, discipline, and the unexpected arrival of a glowing sword and the man wielding it.

When the Jedi called for covering fire, Corric answered without hesitation. He brought a hand to the side of his helmet and keyed the platoon net, voice hard and immediate."Velka, Mekai get the fiftys on that window! I want them shaking in their boots! Rattle them, boys! The rest of you, on me!"

He locked his rifle into the magnetic port on his shoulder and drew the LO-10M. Two almost-synchronous clicks echoed as the LO-52R teams braced, racked belts, and fed rounds; the heavy guns answered with a steady, punishing wall of slugs through the theater's windows. Glass and masonry spalled inward, tracer lines cut the smoke, and the enemy's firing posture fractured under the hammer of concentrated suppression.

At Corric's signal the platoon moved. Swords were drawn as they ran past the Jedi, shields projecting outward from gauntlets in short, hard arcs instead of the usual skin-tight field. The projection gave men angled cover for entry and a blunt tool for forcing space. One trooper slammed his shield into the front door; it sheared from its frame and the breach opened.

The LO-52R teams tightened their bursts to keep heads down while the assault element closed. As the men reached the threshold, the long-range guns outside cut and the fight went immediate and personal. Where slugs had been the dominant threat, bodies now vaulted through shattered windows as Lilaste infantry closed in with LO-10M blades Close-quarters strikes met stormtrooper resistance; the theater's interior turned into a series of hard, controlled engagements as Corric's platoon pushed to clear the space of imperials so they could save the civilians.​

 

[Junko Ike]

Franceline Dawer

He was watching for the moment, allowing the two to breathed and catch themselves for the moment. She started to speak and his eyebrow came up as he wasn't expecting her to actually talk... threaten maybe but not converse. Then it seemed she was about to speak and tell him something... then he saw a sight as her body moved... and he reacted. Almost sprinting as he slid down and to the side with one hand going to support her head so she didn't slam it against the floor. The other going towards the center of her stomach to hold her steady. "Whoa." He said it but was keeping his attention on making sure she would be safe enough. "Hey hey hey look at me." He said it and knew there was a rare chance it might get through to her... likely some sort of attack but the sappers from the Kyushi weren't here yet so their toxins and poisons were not in the air. He was focused on getting her to her side so she didn't choke while digging through his belt to get one of the survival kits. "Just stick with me and we'll see about getting you treatment."

 

[Vulpesen]

Obj: 1 Defend the City
Allies: Atrisia and GA forces. ( Junko Ike Laphisto
Enemies: All imperial forces.
Loadout: Battlefield
Forces: Veran Wilders (sects of druidic style force users) // Zorren Infantry Units(armed with a variety of weapons from the VSF catalog) // 33rd Veran Highlanders(Zorren troops armed mostly with the Wolfclaw line of VSF weaponry)

The fires of war blazed around him as Vulpesen walked the battlefield. Everywhere he looked, the soldiers of the Empire, the Alliance, Atrisia, and Veradune all fought in a brutal melee. The highlanders hacked and slashed their way through ranks, their shielding Mk. 2s protecting them from the flurry of bolts that rained down on them. Still, screams and howls of pain managed to find the Valde's ears. His men were dying. Not in droves as they were used to the flurry of combat, but this was no walk in the forest. War was grim business.

Lightning streamed from him and the sky, blasting imperials into fits of neural incapacitation, their bodies unable to cope with the charge of electricity that ran through them. Most would survive, though they would remain unconscious for some time, and may even wake up unable to ever hold a blaster again. Some, however, simply collapsed, their bodies twitching as the volts twitched muscles that would never move again. Even as he tried to hold back his power in the furtherance of his code, Vulpesen could never guarantee life to all that opposed him.

[Sir, civilians armed!] The statement was barked into his ear from his men at the Atrisian fabricators and it brought a smile to Vulpesen's face. Civilian was, perhaps, not the most accurate word for the Zorrens who now had traded their hunting rifles for combative arms. All Zorrens served. The greater majority of the civilian populace, with few exceptions outside of children, were simply veterans who had done their time.

[Take them to the theater. Chatter is that some imps are holding out there. Flush 'em out or pick 'em off. Harlow, send me a detachment of the 75th. I'm going to the spire.] A roar ignited from the ravenwing pack on his back and with an expanse of black steel feathers, Vulpesen took to the air, soaring towards the spire. Down below, the Zorrens formed their lines, creating barricades of fire and blade.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At the gardens, the Wilders found themselves placed into an entirely new hell as they did their best to combat the marauders. Flames sputtered and died around them, but the new weapon was something else. Something unnatural. They were not falling rapidly but wielding no lightsabers, they fell to blasters, and now, the toxic gas as well. But they still held some clever ideas. The wind whipped and several of the wilders stepped forward to funnel the gas into the sky with twisting currents. Among them, others would use fire, stone, and lightning to strike back at the troopers that had remained to wreak havoc among the once peaceful gardens.

 

[Franceline Dawer]

He was focused on getting her to her side so she didn't choke while digging through his belt to get one of the survival kits. "Just stick with me and we'll see about getting you treatment."

It took a few moments of struggle, but in preventing her head from smacking against the floor; he was successful. A few more agonizing seconds of wrangling later, she was merely squirming against his protective grip while mumbling incoherently about a "need to talk" of some sort. What the subject was still remained unclear, but because of her insistence to return to the subject amidst breakdown, it felt as if it took priority in her head far above receiving immediate medical attention.

Amidst his digging, she reached out to grab his wrist with her gloved hand so weakly that it was pathetic by every sense of the word, in a last ditch attempt to get his attention.

Junko Ike

 

[Aknoby]

Aknoby hears Corric's voice on the radio, facepalms, takes a deep breath, and assesses the situation. The soldiers and the Jedi enter the amphitheater. The young Chiss looks up and smiles beneath his helmet, and has an idea: it's time to remove the nerve gas from the theater.

He begins to circle the theater and starts breaking down the emergency exit doors and some windows. He jumps onto the roof and concentrates, beginning to sweat and making the air move, pushing the gas out.

Tired, he jumps down and sneaks in to assess the situation and see how he can help. He crouches down, using the Force to hide, and waits, but he is pensive. Was anyone thinking about how to get to a moon-sized space fortress with a weapon of planetary destruction?




Aiden Porte Laphisto Dark Forces

 

[Ariana du Couteau]

Ariana du Couteau
Location: Atrisia
Outfit

Explosions, blaster fire, and brilliant acts of utter destruction ravaged the tranquil cityscape of Atrisia’s capital. As if the looming specter of death that was the Death Star wasn’t already enough to cause a tidal wave of fear and dread, the Empire had opted to spread panic directly through an invading force.

Unfortunately, Ariana was neither taken aback nor shocked as she darted from cover to cover, helping any civilians still caught in the main battle. Her homeworld of Teta had seen plenty of tragedy, death, and panic, but there was an even more malicious presence now, one that made it difficult for her to concentrate with the Force. The young du Couteau heiress had long since learned the importance of accepting death. The Force flowed through all living things, and even through those who had passed into the afterlife. Nothing ever truly ended in this galaxy. But the sight of the Death Star heralded something truly depraved, an absence of hope, a final calling for all living things.

Ariana breathed evenly, her eyes narrowing as she attempted to sharpen her mind and focus on the task at hand. She couldn’t tell by sight whether the battle had grown in intensity, it was impossible to know how far the fighting had spread but she could feel the Force quake, and it made her pause. Before she realized it, Ariana had wandered deep into the City Gardens, dangerously close to the Spire. The fighting wasn’t just heavier here, it was crueler. Ariana almost panicked as she hastily threw up a Force bubble, just as an explosion hurled her to the ground.

A few Alliance soldiers nearby began to gather the fallen and tend to those crying out in pain. Ariana quickly pushed herself up and grasped a large piece of rubble for balance. Lights danced before her eyes as she gasped for breath, desperate for every molecule of oxygen. A few moments later, the lightheadedness faded, and her knees steadied. With grim determination, Ariana joined the soldiers in moving the wounded. Smoke, dust, and an endless storm of blaster fire surrounded her in a deafening symphony, as though she stood beneath a waterfall of chaos.

Endless havoc reigned, chaos against chaos as the dogs of war were unleashed and ran rampant. Terror and dread flowed through the Force as it threatened to consume Ariana completely.
​

|| Open ||​

 

[Kordé]

A few seconds after Veno sheathed his hidden wrist-blade and stepped back, Korde rose, saying nothing. She knew power, and knew it well. She knew when she was vulnerable. She knew exactly when to shut her mouth and bow in compliance. Any true survivor knew that.

Turning around, she saw a droid looming over both of them, holo-crackling with the face of their Sith master. It seemed the masked man had stayed aboard the Death Star, but what nefarious thoughts of skullduggery that her mind may have conceived over an escape quickly evaporated under that intimidating presence. Even through the busted hologram, she felt it roll over her in waves. One wrong move, one stupid idea, Korde thought, and he'd probably drop straight down from the skies, crush her under his boots like an insect, and then stroll away with his little, stupid henchman Veno grinning behind him.

If she didn't care about her own life, at least she could spare herself the shame of giving the weasel a reason to celebrate.

She nodded at her master's command and bent toward her rucksack. Her head still throbbed from Veno's cheap shot. She pulled out a black winter jacket, slipped it on, added gloves, and secretly tucked a butterfly vibroknife under her sleeve, strapped beneath the glove.

A minute later, they were trudging through the snow. In the distance, a battle of immeasurable size raged. It looked like the world was ending, and they were headed right for it. Talk about stupid ideas.

"Other than sucker headbutting women," she asked her rat companion, "can you actually fight?"​

Veno Subject 1503

 

[Dark Forces]

NPC Opposition
​

Spoiler: tl;dr Action Summary

• Lorn finds survivors in the burning gazebo, desperate for his help
• The surviving troopers fall back through the burning gardens, into the Tomb of the Empresses

• At the theater, massed .50 cal fire bursts windows and shreds the building's interior, causing mass damage
• Troopers and trapped civilians, packed tightly together with nowhere to retreat, die in the barrage
• The surviving troopers fight a desperate hand-to-hand combat

--------------------------

LOCATION: City Gardens
Lorn Reingard | Bastila Sal-Soren | Laphisto
Junko Ike | Ko Vuto | Vulpesen
​

"Help... us..." The voice from the burning gazebo was nearly drowned out entirely, nearly swallowed by the screams of pain and the coughing as those trapped inside choked on smoke, but Lorn Reingard could hear it faintly as he tore away at the rubble. The structure had been built of hand-carved wood, a beautiful resting spot that sheltered visitors from sun and rain as they sat on carved stone benches to contemplate the trees and flowerbeds. All of that was indistinguishable now, a tangle of fiery wreckage wreathed in smoke, a cage for the trapped militia.

Someone inside must've caught sight of Lorn, because a new whisper swept through the survivors inside: "Jedi." Nishida, a spaceport customs official, whispered it when he felt a little swell of fresh air reach his lungs as Lorn tore away a fallen support. Jinnouchi, a Honeycomb power technician, whispered it when a sliver of natural light peeked in where Lorn shoved the fallen roof out of the pile. Moriyama, a Spire air traffic controller, whispered it when the rubble pinning his legs was lifted away. Where before there had been only pain and fear and despair...

... a wave of faint but potent hope surged up among the trapped civilians-turned-militia.

A dozen meters away, KY-963 looked up from the soldier he'd just stabbed between chestplate and helmet and saw that the position was entirely lost. There were new forces incoming - not just Atrisian and Diarchy troops now, but Atrisia's allied armies from Veradune. The Jedi had reached the gazebo, likely in time to save at least some of the people trapped there. There was no purpose in trying to hold this position as their only cover burned down. They had surged forward, killed who they could in a banzai charge, but now they were caught in the open.

"Fall back!" 963 ordered... but where? He mentally scanned through the briefing reports he'd read, the intelligence the Empire had gathered about Jar'Kai's layout before the attack, and settled on the only fallback point within reach - the place beyond the gardens, further from the city center. "Fall back to the Tomb of the Empresses!" The gardens served as the entryway to this vast necropolis, studded with statues and murals of Atrisia's empresses of old. There was probably only one entrance and exit, which would mean no escape for his troops...

... but it would also mean a chokepoint they could hold.

The surviving stormtroopers fell back, rushing the entrance to the cold tomb. The smoke and fire gave them some amount of cover as they retreated, buying them time to make it through the vast and elegant entryway. Colossal statues looked down on them disapprovingly as they entered, judging this intrusion of the living into the sacred resting place of the dead. The troopers set up what traps they could as they went - rigged grenades, mostly, as they lacked any better equipment. But in the twisting catacombs, they would be able to set effective ambushes.

The enemy's numbers would not avail them in such tight confines.

Let their foes bleed as they tried to root them out.

--------------------------

LOCATION: Theater House
Aiden Porte | Laphisto
Aknoby
​

The Captain was dead, Emperor speed his soul to His side.

That left RZ-774 in command of what remained. It was her first command, and it would certainly be her last. She murmured a prayer under her breath. "Emperor, strengthen me to stand against Your foes. When I can stand no longer, let me strike at them kneeling. When I can kneel no longer, let me strike at them crawling. Make me Your instrument, even unto death." Her training had been evenly divided between actual military drills and heavy indoctrination, and there was no doubt left in her mind... and little trace of the person she'd been.

Her troopers crouched in the gas, hiding among the seats, garrisoning speaker towers and lighting booths. The nerve agent swirled around them, promising to end their lives slowly and painfully if a single gap appeared in their armor... and yet it was their only shield against being immediately swarmed and overwhelmed. They would hold out as long as they could here, make the enemy bleed as much as possible. She was counting on the fact that the enemy still hoped to save the people slowly wheezing and dying around her, making them careful in their attack.

At least, that was how she assumed things would go. The next several minutes surprised her.

First came Aiden Porte 's intervention. 774's eyes widened behind her helmet as an otherworldly wind, one that should not climatically exist, appeared in the plaza outside the theater. Curls of virulent yellow nerve gas were suddenly being sucked away from the colossal cloud the Captain's death had created, as if the deadly mass was a liquid being drawn through a dozen straws. Jedi magic - it had to be. And there wasn't a fething thing 774 could do about it; the detonation out there had taken out all of their remaining chemical weapons stocks.

Before 774 could worry too much about whether the Jedi would be able to get his vacuum cleaner wind magic inside the theater, too, what was left of the windows exploded. Colossal 50-caliber slugs shredded the heavy curtains that blocked the sun during performances, ate through the elegant woodwork of seats and private boxes, obliterated ornamental stone facades. It seemed the Captain had badly miscalculated; the enemy was perfectly willing to fire heavy weapons into a theater still full of civilians. Stray rounds, broken glass, and debris shrapnel flew.

The Imperials inside the building were certainly suppressed...

... and the choking civilians, their nervous systems immobilized, could do nothing to get out of the way.

"So they are willing to kill their own," 774 whispered, watching as a rain of shattered window glass lacerated a pair of coughing Atrisians to ribbons. The Captain's tactic was a failure. Heavy guns rapidly shredded the positions where both Imperials and civilians were taking cover, their massive rapid-fire slugs fired blindly into a crowded and enclosed environment, an indiscriminate attack. 774 and her surviving troopers got as low down as they could, trying to avoid the rain of enemy fire as it tore through those who couldn't move fast enough.

And then the doors flew open, and enemy troops burst through the windows and entrances alike.

They'd suppressed the troopers long enough to ensure that they couldn't be fired on while moving up.

"Close combat!" 774 bellowed, drawing her riot baton and spinning up the electrified head. She would sell her life dearly, and so would every other survivor of her unit. A petty, spiteful part of her wanted to give the order to start blasting gassed civilians, just to make sure they couldn't be saved by enemy medics, but that was both impractical and tactically pointless. They were under close attack, with no time to waste on a series of coups de grace, and it would be more tactically useful to spend their last moments killing as many enemy combatants as possible.

"For the Emperor!" she shouted, and her unit echoed what would likely be their last words.

 

[Kyric]

More legionnaires fell upon the streets in the moments after Kyric reunited with Master Kylass Starhaven. The Umbral Legion moved with the inevitability of creeping death, empowered by the slaughter taking place throughout the city. Rather than throw himself into the melee, the kiffar drew his blade across his chest and prepared to meet the flurry of blaster fire screeching toward him. Kylass had other plans for him.

A wave of telekinetic power washed over him and carried him up and out of the way of danger. Kyric somersaulted in midair to correct his flight, landing atop the ruined tea shop the first of Bellum's Umbral Legion crashed through. His ruined gaze sought out Kylass in the aftermath.

The Jedi Master's yellow blade wove a wall of impenetrable light. Her shien made short-work of the attackers.

“The rift above! They’re sending forces in to kill the power systems for the shielding! We have to stop them! Inform the rest of us! Go!”

Kyric nodded once, turned for the Spire, and dashed across the rooftop away from the battle taking place in the street. He briefly glanced upward in time to catch a starfighter spiraling out of control toward him, engines alight. The deceased pilot was pinned to his seat by the speed at which the ship dove for the streets of Jar'kai. A heartbeat before impact, the ship changed course and zipped past Kyric to slam into the rooftop two dozen paces behind him. The wing caught the top of a ventilation shaft as it skidded across the rooftop, which sent it careening over its side into a taller building across the way.

An explosion burst from within the confines of an apartment seconds later. Stone rained down upon the street from above, intermingling with jagged sheets of heated metal from the ship. But Kyric was long gone by then. His silhouette disappeared over the edge of another stretch of buildings opposite the direction of the now-burning apartment.

The kiffar activated his commlink as he slipped down the length of a side-alley connecting two streets.

"Master Starhaven believes the Imperials are movin' on the Honeycomb to dismantle the shield's power supply," Kyric echoed the Jedi Master's words, passing them along to any Jedi keyed in to his communicator. "Anyone available to handle that?"

A flicker of warning played out in Kyric's mind a split-second before he passed out into the street. A vision of sudden death manifested in the shape of a swift eviceration at the end of a cursed blade. When the city returned to him the kiffar jumped up, planted his feet on the side of a building, and launched himself out of the alleyway, up and over Fellsong.

Kyric landed a few feet from Darth Bellum, pivoted, and launched himself forward at the Sith Lord. Kyric's blade howled a battle cry forged in buffeting winds. He tore the ninjato from its sheath once more. It rose upward in a precise slash aimed to cleave through Bellum's elbow. Behind the strike, a powerful wind raced forward to scatter the Sith's defenses and pin him in place for a flurry of probing attacks.

---

Direct Tags: Kylass Starhaven | Darth Bellum
Commlink Tags: Jand Talo | Briana Sal-Soren | Lorn Reingard

 

[Wrathian Kell]

Tags
Allies: Lorn Reingard | Bastila Sal-Soren | Ko Vuto | Laphisto | (Open)
Op-For: Dark Forces | (Open)

His push to the wall had been but a swift run and a dozen dead Imperials. Even with all the disdain he had for the Sith he saw on Dromund Kaas, the disappointment in his people's legacy. This was pathetic. This whole campaign of this supposed Galactic Empire was inane. Wrathian could see no strategic value, no financial or resource gain, and with the superweapon in orbit, it was clear that slave labor was not the goal. So his thoughts lead him to only one conclusion. Subjugation, for subjugations sake. A case of "look upon my power and tremble." It was waste of both fighting force and time. His, and those on the side of life and of death.

His force of Sithspawn beasts targeted a point on the outer wall between two towering supports. He whispered through the force in Sith to the beasts. "Open the can, let us bleed the pressure from the pot." His will was understood. The Vurskorr charged, they would batter against the wall. They would batter until either it crumbled, or their skulls cracked. They would batter for those trapped inside. They would batter... so the pureblood may continue his mission.

And they did.

After repeated charges against the surface, a crack formed. A few more went fourth, a few more hit it both right and wrong. These were not simple repetitive ram's from the large creatures... no. Wrathian had influenced them to trample fourth as fast as they could. A wrong hit would shatter their bodies. A good one? Well, the wall in front of him understood that consequence. it Cracked, as one of the Vurskorr struck true, tearing through duracrete, and opening a wound. One the innocent could flee through, one far from roads of death.

Wrathian walked through with around half the beasts he commandeered. The fighting on the inside was palpable at the least; his eyes moved not for where he could do the most good, but for where the most bodies might be piled.

As moving like a shadow through the city, he came upon the garden. The sound of blaster fire... and lightsabers. It called to him. As a familiar sound reached next. A slug thrower, automatic and relentless. He'd heard the noise before, one of the Lilaste order's he assumed. Which meant it was here he'd mete out death in all it's forms.

The space station overhead was a loud statement. However it radiated one of the few things he was weaned on as a boy. Fear. Raw and loud as the ritual ticked on. For the allies of the Diarchy, and those who veered to the light. It might unnerve. For Wrathian, it was a like a hand gentle pushing his back, urging him to use all of his abilities to their fullest.

Wrathian shut his sabers off, and directed the Sithspawn to circle the garden. To drive fourth with unyielding speed upon anything their master would deem a threat.

He entered the garden. Pushing his way through the hedge, as he came upon a familiar sight further into the complex. Laphisto 's forces, which had proved his earlier assumption of the loud automatic slug thrower.

Stepping fourth as the ritual of fear inside of the Death Star chanted on. How apropos it would be. The forces in this garden believe fear to be their ally? No Wrathian understood the reality of it. They did not understand fear. They follow a man. A human. Who claims he is Sith, he could claim all he wanted. The Pureblood would teach the troopers in the garden a new truth. Fear bent it's knee to whoever had the most creativity.

He holstered his sabers, and let his arms lift. The Darkside of the force radiated out of him, enhanced by the ritual meant to break him, his allies, the defenders. Structured by the death of the force sensitive creatures in the waterways below. Wrathian would simply twist it back, as if breaking the arm of an assailant.

Sith battle meditation at it's finest. His power rushed outwards, it surrounded the garden creating a localized pocket of death. Then, everything twisted. His voice reached out to those he sensed through the force. To the Jedi, a quiet and soft spoken voice whispered though the air. "Warriors of Light. Let my new garden sing a lullaby. Look upon their bravery, so bright... so small. These white-clad sheep have the conviction of flies. I trust of you to be leagues above that. Ignore the sight, the sounds, the smells. Lean on your power and it will guide you through my curtain." He hoped the warning would be enough to guide Lorn Reingard , Bastila Sal-Soren , and Ko Vuto through his illusion on the verge of enveloping the garden.

To those of his close allies in the Lilaste Order. His voice came clear as it had always been. "Lilaste soldiers. My power will soon warp the image of both flowers and shrubbery. Steele yourselves. It is simply a theater, one that will break the eyes of our enemies, falter them, and unsettle the nerves. Use their pause and cut away this rot."

And with that, his eyes shot open burning bright gold as if the sun were reflected. The grand theatre began to set in. An illusion, the scale of the garden formed.

The ground warped. Stone pathways rolled as black Ichor crept along. The hedges began to breath, inhaling death, and exhaling shadows that shot across the pathways. Flowers turned black and blood red, becoming sentient. For the Dark Forces the peddles would seem to come alive, reaching for them, trying to embrace them. Any noise outside of the garden... went quiet. A Localized pocket of blaster and slug fire formed as the sound of the larger conflict drowned out. The temperature dropped to a cold breeze.

Colors drained out into a theater gray, and statutes long standing standing would start to bleed from orifices they never had.

He let the illusion bloom. Not as madness, but as design. Every shade, every whisper, each flicker of shadow placed with surgical intent. This was not terror, it was architecture. Meant to unnerve and distract the forces of the empire, and to provide those that would protect life with an unnerving ally.

Wrathian enters the city proper and joins the fight in the garden.
Force telepathy to warn defenders of the impending illusion.
Using the death and suffering of the Hangyo-Jin, and the Darkside ritual in orbit. Forms a localized force illusion that envelops the gardens, meant to twist the perception of, and unnerve OP-FOR.

 

[Kylass Starhaven]

---

CURRENT OBJECTIVE: Engage Sahar
OBJECTIVE TAGS:
ALLIES: Zark San Tekka | Briana Sal-Soren | Vizion Trozky | Lossa Aureus | Casaana | Aiden Porte | Lorn Reingard | Jand Talo | Cora | Ko Vuto | Kyric | Junko Ike
ENEMIES: Kasan Osera | Franceline Dawer | Kroeger | St. Thomas Barran | Daro Kilaeon | Darth Bellum
OOC NOTE: Posting to begin Duel - will RP out Warposting in next post as it is incorporated into the background of the Duel.

---

"That's what they all said, but I'm still here, and your compatriots are one with the force. Tell me, Arkanian, are you in a rush to meet the rest of them?" laughed the Darksider ( Sahar ) as she looked Kylass up and down.

Kylass stood quietly, a stone in the breakwater wake of the Darkside woman’s barbed rebuke. She didn’t need to rely on the Force to sense the venom that mortared the Darksider’s words together. The anger, the hate, and the thirst for empowering violence. It was a reminder to Kylass that she was just another side of herself; two warriors but, conditioned by their creeds into two different kinds of violence.

It was a truth most Jedi would pale from. But it cannot be escaped, to wield the Force was to wield supernatural violence. No ornamental words or pious litanies could erase that artifice from the path of those adept in the Force. However, there was always a choice - a choice in how someone who is given power, uses it, and how they resist or allow that power to use them. The verdict for those who succumbed to the Dark Side’s choice was death. As it is willed by the Lightsworn’s crusading vow.

“What horrors of the Dark Side you’ve survived, up until now…” Kylass began, as she detached the curve-hilted Shoto Saber from the bottom of her split saber. “Has only deceived you into a power you think is your own,” Kylass continued, igniting the Shoto Saber, in a secondary but shorter yellow blade. “I am here to rectify that delusion, permanently.”

The Darksider rushed to her challenge, the debris around her animated by her onslaught of rage and bloodthirst. The Force fired the debris in a bombarding surge, turning them into lethal projectiles. In the shadow of the wave of flying debris, the dark woman herself moved in for the first strike. Kylass agreed in the direct method. She threw up both her hands and drew in the Force to their forward facing and open palms. With an abrupt horizontal separation of her hands in opposing directions, the Arkanian Lightsworn, unleashed a telekinetic blast that cleaved the cloud of flying debris. Debris was redirected in two pelting streams away from Kylass.

Kylass drew back her hands, gave each saber a flurrish spin, and launched into a sprint to meet the dark woman first. Kylass twirled the standard long saber downwards, only then to quickly slice upwards, so that the yellow blade would be a rising blur from below the dark woman’s position. As this happened, she held the Shoto Saber ready to parry what Kylass expected as a quick counterattack.
​

 

[Laphisto]

Crator fangs 1st Company Cora Saul Whesai Darth Bellum


Laphisto ducked low behind a fractured slab of the southern great wall, the deep concussions of slugfire echoing off the stone around him. Comms traffic crackled in his ear reports of heavy contact, shifting lines, and a mounting push on the FOB deeper in the city. His sector, though, was still holding. The enemy hadn't breached the wall yet, but their pressure was constant, their numbers climbing with every wave.

He keyed his mic, voice clipped but calm."Laphisto to tracyn, I need gunships on the southern wall for pickup. Get the Pegs on standby for CAS danger close. Mark the approach vector, we're pulling out after the run."

Sliding up to the parapet, Laphisto rested the heavy slugthrower on the edge and fired three precise bursts into the advancing formation below. The weapon kicked hard, its deep, percussive roar sending brass casings skittering across the rampart. A handful of enemy troopers went down, their advance faltering as others scrambled for what little cover they could find in the open courtyard beneath the wall.

His rifle clicked empty "Reloading," he muttered, dropping the mag and slamming in another before racking the bolt home with a metallic snap. As he leaned back to the scope, a stream of red bolts hammered the stone where his head had been moments before, showering him in dust and grit. He ducked lower, glancing down the line his soldiers were holding their ground, firing in tight, disciplined volleys, the rhythmic cadence of slug rounds hammering the enemy line. "Keep them pinned!" he called out over the squad net. "Don't give them a foothold to create a breach!"

He looked up toward the hazy skyline. The enemy was still massing beyond the smoke, and if they got one good push, the wall could fall with it. That was what the Pegs were for. Once the gunships arrived, they'd carve the field clean a run so close it would strip paint from the ramparts and give the southern wall time to regroup. He chambered another round, grit grinding under his boots as he steadied his breathing and fired again. The battle below was brutal and chaotic, but for now, the line held and Laphisto intended to keep it that way until the skies began to scream.

By the time the gunships screamed in low, Laphisto was already scanning the courtyard. He gave a single short whistle, pointed toward Cora's platoon and two adjacent platoons, and barked the order so it carried over the wind and rotor wash. "Go reinforce the FOB. Northern segment's been breached; they pulled troops away from the main force to push there. FOB is spread thin. One element peels off to reinforce Iron Fang as they move for the spire. Move now, move fast."

The gunships settled with practiced violence, downwash tearing at loose rubble. Laphisto watched the pilots cycle the ramps and feed men forward. Cora's platoon folded into column, weapons already slung to firing racks; two other squads fanned out to provide flank security as they surged toward the landing zone. He keyed the comm for a quick sync drop zones, rally points, extraction vectors then clipped the channel. "Peg pilots, CAS window is open. Run that vector tight and hard on my mark. Gunships, hold for one minute; then hot exfil on channel three."

As the first wave thundered away toward the FOB, Laphisto checked his line. The Nightclaws were already moving in on the enemy rear small, lethal teams stalking through the smoke to cut off retreat and harry any squad that tried to reform. He grinned once, hard and brief. "I'll clean up here," he said into the net. "Nightclaws have them on the tail. Make it a sweep push them into the kill zone."

He slotted a fresh mag, rolled the lip of the wall, and began to pick off the stragglers who tried to exploit the temporary gap. Under the gunships' shadow and with precision CAS on-call, the southern wall would hold. The reinforcements would reach the FOB in force. The breach in the north still worried him, but with Cora's platoon and the two squads racing to plug the hole and Iron Fang reinforced en route to the spire, the city's lines were breathing again for now.

---

storm Vultures 2nd Company Shan Rolin Voss Michael Barran St. Thomas Barran Darth Bellum

"Engineering detachments cut the rope bridge between the FOB and enemy approach. Prep demolition charges or task an AT-AS to sever the cables. We're not letting them ferry men or materiel across that span. Make it unusable; spike the crossing so they either pay to rebuild it under fire or they don't cross at all."

Commander Tarain's tone on the net left no room for debate. Reports of sustained impacts against the northern wall tightened his jaw; he keyed his channel and issued a string of orders, each clipped and direct. "AT-AE battery, lock on the eastern towers of the northern wall. Concentrate HEAT on the support pylons bring those towers down. We want rubble and denial, not a rout. If they want to cross that gap, they'll pay for every step."

The heavy guns answered with long, acidic booms. HEAT rounds hammered masonry and load-bearing braces; dust and cracks spidered across the parapets. The aim was precise: collapse the towers' supports, knock out any forward C2 emplacements, and turn the approach into an obstacle field that would shred any assault. "MG nests, pull back one hundred meters. Re-post to new arcs so you can cover the gap without being overrun if they get desperate and try to climb. Do it now." with precision the MG teams pulled back reset there positions and went back to throwing .50 caliber rounds down range

Then, shifting the tempo, he gave Static Roost the ground task: "Static Roost get off your perch and move. Head to the northern breach. Emplace a defensive locus and hold. You take two AT-AS walkers with you emplace them on the flanks and deny every lane. If you see a helmet that isn't ours or GADF, shoot it back down the slope. No hesitation."
Acknowledgements snapped back across the net. Servos ground as AT-AE barrels re-aligned, MG crews hauled their nests back and re-emplaced, Static Roost moved out with walkers rumbling into position, and combat engineers went to work on the bridge charges set, cutting points marked, or walkers trained to take down suspension lines with concussive fire.

Tarain kept the feed open, watching the map for confirmation: towers down, fields of rubble forming, the rope bridge severed. Deny the enemy logistics and force them into exposed approaches that was the objective. Make the northern sector a cost that no Sane commander would willingly pay.

---

Walker company reinforcing the spire Zark San Tekka Corin Kaze and others in the area
Iron Fang and the three escort walkers marched down the roadway in tight formation. Their LO-52R .50-caliber emplacements came up hot, each muzzle thudding as heavy slugs punched through smoke and masonry and into Imperial lines. The bursts cut lanes through advancing infantry, forcing squads to scatter for cover around the spire.

Over the company loop Corin keyed his comm. "General Zark San Tekka, this is Iron Fang. We're two hundred meters out and engaging Imperial formations. No visual on that anti-walker unit you reported if you can fix their location we'll cut them off and stop any more walkers from going down. How copy?"

The walkers kept advancing; the heavy guns barked in a steady, hungry rhythm. The sound built across the city first a low, mechanical growl, then a series of sharp cracks as slugs impacted like a hunting thing closing the distance. Infantry skirmished in the shadow of the spire, and each measured burst from the LO-52Rs pushed the enemy back, buying the column the meters it needed to force the gap.

---

Molten crests arriving to the FOB Shan
As the Molten Crests arrived at the FOB, the lieutenant turned toward Shan, listening intently before snapping to action. He keyed his radio with a practiced motion, his voice sharp and clear through the comms. "Clear a room for the Jedi and get those civilians inside. I want men on every approach and around the perimeter!"

He paused, glancing back toward Shan just as the air began to hum that subtle shift in pressure that every trained soldier of the Order had learned to recognize. He didn't need to ask what it was. "All units, be advised, We've got Battle Meditation going up. Repeat, active CFS in the area. Brace yourselves and keep this location secured!"

Across the forward base, soldiers tightened formation, their movements sharpening with renewed purpose. The fear and fatigue that had hung over them moments ago began to fade, replaced by a quiet confidence that spread through the ranks like a steady current. It seemed the Lilaste Order's training had paid off they didn't need an explanation. They knew Battle Meditation when they saw it,

---

Night claws 4th Company Darth Bellum Saul Whesai

The Nightclaws soon received confirmation all eight walkers were active in the engagement zone. Through the dark forest, their heavy footfalls thudded like rolling thunder, shaking loose leaves and branches as they advanced. The humid air was alive with the crackle of comm chatter and the deep, rhythmic roar of their 40mm cannons. Each walker unleashed a storm of fire into the treeline, shredding foliage and enemy cover alike. Explosions lit the underbrush in flashes of orange and white, scattering embers through the mist and smoke.

 

[Kroeger]

ATRISIA
THE GALACTIC ALLIANCE
902 ABY

D E M O N
THE GALACTIC EMPIRE
GRAND GENERAL
IMPERIAL ARMY

FOCUS : Ronhar Tane
EMPIRE : St. Thomas Barran | Darth Bellum | Dark Forces | Franceline Dawer | Kasan Osera | Daro Kilaeon
ENEMY : Zark San Tekka | Corin Kaze | Wedge Draav | Laphisto

1st ARMORED ASSAULT DIVISION
'THUNDERING HERD'​

Spoiler: 1ABCT IRON LEGION

1/1AAD ARMORED BRIGADE COMBAT TEAM
IRON LEGION
'THOSE ONCE LOYAL'
​

UNIT​	PLATFORM​	PURPOSE​	STATUS​
HQ | DEMON	BARRAN IFV​	COMMAND AND CONTROL​	██████████​
1-4REC | OUTRIDER	'BARRAN IFV' XT-90 'CATAPHRACT'	ARMORED RECON TARGET ACQUISTION​	██████████​
2-34AR | DREADNOUGHT	'BARRAN IFV' XT-90 'CATAPHRACT'	ARMORED ASSAULT​	██████████​
3-66AR | HELL'S HAMMER	'BARRAN' IFV XT-90 'CATAPHRACT'	ARMORED ASSAULT​	██████████​
1-16STRM | IRON WILL	MAG-24 GUNSHIP	STORMTROOPER AIR ASSAULT INFANTRY​	██████████​
1-6ENG | PAVEWAY	'BARRAN' IFV XT-90 'CATAPHRACT'	SAPPER OBSTACLE CLEARING AND BREACHING​	██████████​
1-5FAR | TAVLAR'S OWN	ATS-777 'IMPERATOR'	FIRE SUPPORT AND COUNTERFIRES​	██████████​

IMMORTAL EMPIRE
OVERLAY - IRON LEGION​

The specter that haunted the Galaxy. The Empire. A credible foothold had been placed over the Core and now its infection seeped into the deeper span of the Galaxy. Many, many things could be said of the strategem of which the Emperor Solipsis had taken in ensuring complete hegemony and power over the Core and a message to the Greater Galaxy. Death Star. Two horrid words that quivered at the lips of those who might fear themselves in its sights. Kroeger had advocated for a different approach, that vital warfighting resources be dedicated to a more amassable fighting force which could seize several systems and overpower the planetary defense forces left in their wake in quick succession.

But alas, deaf ears. Even so, soldier that he was, he would follow his orders and play maestro to the orchestra of industrial and mechanized death dealers at his disposal once more. Iron Legion. One of the most seasoned and veteran elements of Imperial fanatics of whom traced their lineage to the New Imperial Order, the most rightful claimants to ever hold such vaunted title of Galactic Hegemon. Even if it was in the name of a man Kroeger loathed, the Iron Sun's dreaded light would span across the stars regardless. All a means.

The world was already alight with the divine fires of war when the Long Night of Solace broke its vantablue star streaked journey through hyperspace back into orbit over Atrisia. Upon the command, the dozens of landing craft wielding the armored might of the Iron Legion, accompanied by their starfighter escort and MAG-24 Gunships carrying the stormtrooper compliment rushed toward the surface. However, in contrast to the well practiced urgency of his landing force, Kroeger entered the command bridge of his star destroyers with a characteristic coldness.

He wore his Imperial Army cuirass over his officer uniform, painted with the hasty camouflage pattern applied to all the armor of the Iron Legion. Grey, olive green and rust paint streaks. His rather numerous rank panels displayed over his heart. Though his rank did not necessitate he go unto the field of battle directly, he anticipated his domineering nature would demand he would. The Long Night of Solace, naval vessel it very well was served more as a tactical operations center for the Grand General's ground operations planetside with only the bare necessities to properly crew the vessel's self defense and position within the greater battle, though for the moment- it was held in reserve only to be deployed if absolutely required by naval command.

Kroeger sparked a cigara, peering over the battle map as it displayed the unit symbols of various subordinate battalions along their various axis of approach toward the objective within Atrisia's great city.

"General." Captain Thire said with a nod upon Kroegers entrance.

"The Battalion commanders have all reported. 1-4 is enroute to screen our movement unto the city with the others ready to envelop. The Storm regiment will be joining with the other Imperial forces in the city to fix the coalition forces unto engagement area 'Rook'." Thire explained, though naval personnel, he very much played the role of Kroeger's executive officer, helping to manage his direct operations.

"Well enough, are our guns ready to prosecute their missions. The 'great wall' as they call it will be coming down. As soon as our ground forces have trudged through the expansion districts, we'll complete an envelopment of the engagement area and wipe out the enemy all at once if able." A decisive move for a decisive victory, however, Kroeger was never too delusional as to believe well articulated plans would survive first contact. Certainly not at the scale and nature of this conflict.

"Make a netcall to the commanders." He said with an upward nod to the Captain who barked out to relay to the signal officer on deck.

A moment later, holographic projections appeared of all the subordinate battalion commanders, reporting with their callsigns in affirmation that the signal was patching through. Iron, Outrider, Dreadnought, Paveway, Hammer and Basilisk. All of them Imperial Army mechanized officers, donning their characteristic uniform, chestplates and helmets with the exception of Iron Actual, a stormtrooper officer with his pauldron and airborne style'd helmet.
"I'm enroute planetside to objective rally point 'Fel'. I shall be there within ten minutes. Send all unit statuses to the Long Night. Is there any requests for information I should know of? From what I've been told Outrider is approaching the trigger point to fire the assigned planned targets to create our breach points in the 'great wall' from that point, the end of Atrisia is nigh." The commanders all shook their heads. The briefing and planning to this point was clear.

Kroeger nodded, taking one last long draw of his cigara before he ashed it out. "For the Empire." He muttered, clenching a fist over his heart in salute as the other men, all of the human mirrored the act, be they on the field or mounted in vehicles. The holograms cut off and a silence rolled over the bridge for a moment.

"I hope this gamble can pay off...the historic records of weapons of this magnitude have yet to bode well for the Empire." Thire remarked, adjusting one of the black gloves over his hand. He was nervous and had every right to be. Solipsis's Empire had cast the die and crossed a rubicon from which they could not return.

All eyes were on Atrisia.

Kroeger had voiced all restraint against the weapon but his voice was quiet in contrast to the Theocratic sycophants who swelled with power in the highest ranks of the Empire.

"We can only control so many of the variables, Captain. But what section of the spectrum within this war we have a hand in, we will dominate." Kroeger replied. "The bridge is yours." He said, nodding to the man before turning on his heel to leave.

The crawl of Kroeger's Iron Legion through the forest continued toward the city, with the Grand General mounting his XT-90M Cataphract in the rear of the assault. As much as his rank dictated he play a less direct hand, wrenching him from the battle was Heruclean task in and of itself and the dreaded regimen of the Iron Legion, wholly understanding the demands of Kroeger's discipline and control only pressed them to move faster and push farther.

His stormtroopers took a cavalier approach to the Expansion Districts, dismounting from their MAG-24 Gunships into the hellish fray, clearing and embarking into buildings to provide overwatch for other platoons as they advanced forward, caring little for restrictions to fire in such a hellish fray.

All the while, the Barran IFVs loaded to the brim with Imperial Army troopers accompanied by their Cataphract main battle tanks bounded through the forest.

<"Demon this is Outrider, we have eyes on the great wall, two kilometers and closing from our axis of approach. We're creating our path in the screen for engineers."> Kroeger nodded, flashing the comms to the artillery in support as Imperial Army troopers dismounted enroute to the great wall to emplace potent Barradium charges to punch through holes large enough for Imperial army to crawl through. Undoubtedly, the initial casualities were brutal with troopers raked down by the city's defenses as supporting armor was only able to stand up a paltry attempt to cover their charge.

<"Basilisk this is Demon, fire all priority targets of target group 'Aurek Cresh'. The breach begins."> And within a minute, large swathes of laser dampening smoke settled over calculated portions for the wall, where the holes would be made. Iron Legion had arrived. Even if they were behind in time and space the troopers of which Bellum had inserted from the otherspace, Kroeger would not bend to such sorcerous tricks. He would fight and win his way.

 

[Junko Ike]

Franceline Dawer

Rei looked at the hand grasping him and he adjusted only to stop so he could look at her and the other went to the womans shoulder with a look. "ALright but ease your body. We'll be right here while the things outside continue." He said it while watching herr and he could hear it.. THe mojokai were massive and had been arriving in waves. Their riders going to the areas of the city as mobilization of the planet continued and the massive walls were of kazue stone would hold under orbital blasts. With limited area for breach the massive mountain of it. The sounds of the carriers above in the skies with their weapons fire in concentrated areas, projected shields over area and glydr droids using the debris to continue to get larger so they could secure more areas. It was a coordinated method of defensive attack. Hibani scythes able to handle thrown grenades. He knew there were a few tanks and the interface channels for them had Kenzo with herr soldiers marching in heavy formations towards the expansion areas. The princess palace had one of several kanamaras on the planet. The planetary power generator was made to last and be used but the palace of the hidden was named such for a reason. "This is going to be a lot more dangerous before it gets better." He said it with a look as more Atrisian forces were working.

 

[Franceline Dawer]

[...] "Alright but ease your body. We'll be right here while the things outside continue." [...] "This is going to be a lot more dangerous before it gets better." He said it with a look as more Atrisian forces were working.

Her head snapped to the window at an awkward angle. As her ear drums calmed down, she could just barely hear the fighting outside slice through the ever-present ringing which had made itself at home in her skull. Talking however, still didn't come to her easily.

"You have to…" she began, like a whimpering dying dog.

"The shields… the flux."

A return to the man, and a tug of her neck muscles to prop her face up at an incline.

"The station orbiting us, if it fires, if it fires on the planet, the heat will not disperse like smaller, siege fire."

Her grip tightened around his wrist. "If they fire against the reflector shield, the heat energy will disperse as flux above and below us."

That would explain her queer uniform, unlike the others being worn by typical soldiers. The technical way of speaking, even while gravely injured told the detective that she must've been familiar, at least to a superficial level, with engineering.

"We will BOIL alive, but the concrete and rock foundations of the City will remain. This tower will melt and become OUR lead coffin – like, like imagine the laser being a hot needle pricking its way through to your heart."

"If you turn off the shields, the energy will be absorbed by the topsoil of the planet. It'll spread out to the tectonic plates equally, because we're on a globe, and aside from a small crater, we'll be spar-"

She paused talking and lost all progress she had made in getting her mind together, frenzied eyes shifting to towards the open window as a malicious green hue claiming the horizon infiltrated the room for all to see.

Somewhere off in space, just outside the planet's atmosphere, the Death Star III had just fired 1 of its lasers against the Mon Mothma. A few moments later, the surrounding micro-debris of the space battle had flown off in all directions from the blast, some getting launched through Atrisia's atmosphere and in the process breaking the sound barrier. Amidst the chaos, all the people in the surface could hear for a brief moment, accompanying the glow, was thousands of lighting-like cracks somehow being heard over artillery. And as quickly as it came, both the light and the accompanying sounds disappeared – unlike the screams and shouts from the startled defenders below.

Seeing as how she was still alive, Dawer took it as a sign that they hadn't been the first target. Her pleading and now teary eyes returned to the detective.

"TURN OFF THE SHIELD, BEFORE THEY RELOAD."

"BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE."

Target tag:
Junko Ike

 

[Zark San Tekka]

THE SPIRE
JAR'KAI
Kasan Osera Kylass Starhaven Corin Kaze Ko Vuto Laphisto
Franceline Dawer St. Thomas Barran Daro Kilaeon Kyric Matsu Ike

​

"Qiao Fang, can you hold them at the wall?"

His old friend's holoimage flickered in and out. Master Zark could tell from the Atrisian monk's bloody face the situation was dire. Fang promised to fight for as long as possible but Imperial artillery and sapper teams had already created several breaches and it would not be long before their walkers were in position for a durasteel march.

Stormtroopers obtained a foothold in the Spire and even though the Jedi was too high up to feel any tremors from their baradium charges the holodisplay he studied flashed crimson to alert him of the danger.

"Activate the security droids."

Cages hissed open all over the Spire and horizonal yellow photoreceptors came online. Metal feet stomped down level by level until they reached the tip of the Empire's spear. Simple automatons with a directive to slow the stormtrooper advance by any means necessary. Before he could organize a more comprehensive counterattack San Tekka received a priority transmission from the Temple of Healing.

" Zark San Tekka , the enemy have breached the eastern wall of the Healing Temple district," Jand called through the room, even as he looked up at the whipping snow and sleet, carried on blistering winds. It had helped cover the attack preparation. "I am moving to hold the defensive line. If the shielding array comes under direct attack, call, and I will reinforce."

"Understood, Talo. Imperial armor has broken through the Great Wall so watch your back. If you have anyone to spare send them to Karis. We lost contact with Kylass Starhaven somewhere in the Honeycomb. I fear the worst has come to pass."

The Jedi warlord's cloak caught on strong winds when he strode back out to the Spire's edge. Macrobinoculars raised to his native oni mask, Master Zark confirmed Jand's report for himself. Imperial irregulars were scrambling up rubble not far from the bridge gate in a penetration of their inner lines. Soon walkers would join them neutralizing one of the Atrisian defenders' greatest advantages.

"Kaze, those conscripts are about to flank you. The Empire must not gain a supply line into the city. In the name of the Dragon, blow up the bridge."

He lowered the macrobinoculars to gaze down at the plaza far below. Atrisian drop troopers resembled microscopic ants from this height as they took cover behind burning AT-TE wrecks. More scattered Imperials were flooding towards the Spire so a crossfire lit up the square with multicolored tibanna. Coalition forces were also beginning to mobilize as multiple combat groups responded to the Jedi Master's citywide alert.

“Master San Tekka, this is Ko. I’ve finally arrived at the gardens. It’s being set ablaze. I believe Imperial Forces may be trying to flush out any remaining defenders.” It was ruthless but surely effective. Not very many people would wait around to be burned alive. “Engaging the threat now. Over.”

"Do not let them desecrate this city, Ko. My instincts tell me the Emperor's acolytes have prepared some foul ritual. Deny the Empire. Purify the gardens with your connection to the light."

"General Zark San Tekka, this is Iron Fang. We're two hundred meters out and engaging Imperial formations. No visual on that anti-walker unit you reported if you can fix their location we'll cut them off and stop any more walkers from going down. How copy?"

"Stand by, Iron Fang. Someone fetch me a tracking device."

One of the Alliance remnant's shock troopers handed Master Zark a dart rifle. He loaded a sensor tag into the weapon and kneeled to brace himself for the shot. Clearing his mind of distractions Zark used the Force to enhance his short-term memory into a state of perfect recall. It pained him to remember the deaths he'd ordered so vividly but the old crusader also traced the ion missiles that killed them back to their source.

Slowly exhaling Master Zark placed his trust in the light and squeezed the trigger. Far below a tracking dart embedded itself in one of the buildings across from the Spire danger close to any Imperial heavy weapon teams that still lingered.

"Transmitting the coordinates of their last known position to you now, Iron Fang. May the Force be with you."

The ghost of a smile crossed his lips. General San Tekka. Now that was a name he had not heard in a long time. Grief over those lost on Exegol drove him into self-exile with the Temple Guard. Too long since he studied the teachings of legends like Revan and Hoth. Sometimes peace required great sacrifice.

Master Zark gazed up into the heavens and beheld through his Atrisian demon mask the orbiting Death Star fire its semi-operational superlaser. Raising his lightsaber overhead the Jedi activated its azure blade in a symbol of defiance.

Spoiler: Summary

• N5 sentry droids dispatched from the Spire's upper levels to politely smash the interloping Imperial meatbags and pulverize their bones.
• Exchanges intel with Jand Talo about multiple breaches in Jar'Kai city walls. Orders Corin Kaze to fall back and destroy the expansion ward bridge.
• Uses a sensor dart and the Force to obtain precise coordinates for where the Imperials launched ion missiles. Fire mission approved for approaching support walkers.

 

[Kasan Osera]

Location: Atrisia III, Jar'Kai, base of The Spire
Nearby Allies: Daro Kilaeon | Franceline Dawer
Enemy Forces: Zark San Tekka | Junko Ike | Laphisto
​

Spoiler: tl;dr Action Summary

• Kasan refuses to surrender as Zark San Tekka 's security droids enter the fray
• Heavy weapon teams hidden in nearby buildings fire ion missiles at Laphisto 's walkers
• A wayward ion missile misses the walkers and explodes in the Spire's lobby instead
• A cloud of masonry dust and debris, plus ionizing energy, fills the lobby
• Kasan and her fellow survivors open fire through the cloud and make a break for the stairwell

--------------------------
​

When times had been especially lean in the City of Dreams, and Kasan's meager income as a casino dealer hadn't been enough to get by on, she'd resorted to trapping nunas. The accidentally-imported creatures, flightless avians that survived on resort garbage, were flightless and stupid, and their meat roasted up nicely. Somehow, eating the garbage-eaters had felt a little better than eating resort garbage herself. Trapping them wasn't especially difficult, but it was intimidating the first few times; the birds could puff themselves up to scare off predators.

As Atrisian forces flooded the lobby of the Spire, their guns trained on the ragtag Imperial survivors, Kasan felt like one of those nunas writhing in a trap - puffed up, snapping, but stuck all the same. Outside, Laphisto 's walkers were moving down the street, their mounted heavy slugthrowers chewing through the plaza - and all the troopers trying to find cover there. Inside, Kasan could see the stone of the chamber - scorched by the baradium charges - literally mending itself before her eyes. Even the smoke was somehow being broken down.

Behind her helmet, her eyes narrowed at the Atrisians as their apparent leader demanded she drop her weapon. All this technology, all this seeming perfection, that they hoarded for themselves. She had grown up in a poor, desperate, abusive household, one so bad that landing on the streets at sixteen had been a huge improvement. On the streets, she'd survived by long work shifts, petty thievery, and the dubious charity of a boyfriend who'd turned out to be a manipulative piece of chit. All the while, these people were set up to be "post-scarcity."

How fething nice for them that everything was easy, that they never had to strain for anything.

How fething nice that they got to live in a city that fixed itself in seconds while the rest of the galaxy struggled.

Kasan knew she couldn't surrender. She wasn't sure how the Atrisians would treat their prisoners, but even if their prisons were just as sunshine and roses and infinite abundance as the rest of their society claimed to be, that would still mean losing everything for her. Either she'd be stuck here when the Death Star fired, wiping her off the face of the galaxy, or she'd be stuck here while the Imperial attack failed... and she would never see Tala again. That was as bad as dying - worse, because she'd have to live with knowing she'd lost her daughter.

But if she didn't surrender, the odds were against her, and against every last one of her little band of survivors.

They would probably just get mowed down in seconds without the benefit of smoke.

"Can't do that," Kasan finally said, digging in her heels. The nuna twisted in the trap, ready to lunge; those little beaks could take off fingers at the knuckle when they got mad enough. But in the moment before a fresh firefight could break out, two things happened. The first was that the Spire's turbolifts slid open, and Zark San Tekka 's security droids filed out - their orders to pulverize any Imperials they encountered. Their directive was to slow the stormtrooper advance by any means necessary. That didn't account for the nuance of the situation in the lobby.

Before Kasan or Junko could say more, the droids charged the Imperial group with pulverizing intent.

The second thing was that the Imperial missile teams crouching in buildings surrounding the plaza opened fire on Laphisto 's walker group. Ion missiles streaked out of storefronts and private homes, headed directly for the trio of escort walkers that were firing on the Imperial skirmishers. Whether by luck or by fate, one of those missiles missed entirely... and streaked directly through the broken lobby doors of the Spire. It exploded in the space between Kasan and Junko, pulverizing the lobby floor and sending out a huge burst of ionizing energy.

Kasan staggered back, masonry dust clouding her vision. Several droids toppled over. Others were still coming.

This was her chance. It wasn't much of a chance... but sometimes even nunas broke their traps.

"TK-5150, with me!" Kasan shouted at Daro Kilaeon , firing wildly through the dust cloud in an effort to keep her enemies' heads down. During the entire standoff with the Atrisians, she'd been looking for some kind of out. The turbolifts were a bad idea, even if the Imperials could reach them; they could be locked down, trapping her inside. But there had to be some alternative if the building lost power... and sure enough, she'd spotted a maintenance stairwell. It would be a long climb to the skydocks, but that was their one and only shot at getting out of this alive.

She ducked a security droid's swinging arms, firing point-blank into its chestplate... which did very little but force it back a step. But that was enough for now. She didn't need to win; she just needed to survive. She feinted right, then dashed left, avoiding another attempt to give her a fatal bear hug. Then she sprinted for the stairwell, hoping that enough of her little group would follow her - and survive - that they'd still have some chance to hijack some kind of ship up at the skydock. How she'd get the Imperial Fleet to not shoot her down... was a later problem.

"Hope you did your endurance training," she told 5150, staring up at the massive stairway above...

 

[Junko Ike]

GROUND DEFENSE OF ATRISIA
OBJECTIVE: Continue towards Miyoung Iwata's Lab and activate Atlasbreakers
ALLIES: Kylass Starhaven Vulpesen Xian Xiao Jane Everest Vale Omega Squad
ENEMIES: Franceline Dawer Kasan Osera

Miyoung looked at the stand off, allowing herself to check on the information from the AI. Communication channels were reporting attacks on the walls and she was amazed really amazed that stone able to withstand orbital bombardment was falling so fast. The power being generated by whatever was being used would be invaluable as they had the hypertech generators that pulled exotic energies for their use. her lab would be considerably powered for the infinite engine there. She was watching the grander scale of it as several of the massive dragons were around the city being used as engines to clear streets and these areas. The gardens were reporting attacks as well as the assemblies information on what they were getting. Debris feeding the droids as the orchid platforms were moving as constant mobile platforms. She moved and stood there looking at Kirano who would work with her while Sun was on the interfaces encrypted channel. "We have updates, confusing updates. If I didn't have faith in the design of my own work and our engineers I would say it was still confusing. There is a breech and armor pouring in from the wall by the hospital which is largely only being called a temple... The armor must have built a lift to raise itself up the kilometer to the wall. That seems like a lot more effort then most of our projects. The attackers going for the shield generators at the spire and honeycomb is weird as well cause these are defenders in the city if they are there you would think they followed the part where the power was rerouted before the attack. THe misinformation is... questionable." She said it when she was looking at them and there was a lot more. As Kenzo was reporting from the walls there was nothing in the expansion except other soldiers reporting fear and problems. Miyoung was looking at more of it as she checked with her interface on everything with a fliock of her eyes.

"The ones on the com channels are here and not part of Atrisia. I doubt they know or care Miyoung." Kirano said it while she stood there and debated what her sister would be doing as the sounds of the majokai were outside flinging things around the spire. Soldiers and citizens continuing their efforts and the towers were functioning at the highest levels they needed to so self repair and protocols to repair the city would be in place to breakdown debris the glydr didn't convert to mass. "Most will always see what we are and what we do as nothing and ignore it. We are Atrisian which means festivals, tea and sometimes we have swords. Which is why and how you were able to make the advances we were able to and why when this is all over. The real numbers will be in the biometrics and the reports from the commonwealth." She tapped the girls shoulder. "But that is why we have made so many things to rebuild and maintain the world itself. At this point we can rebuild the majority fo the city in a handful of days or less. The people will be mourned and honored for their courage. The fear and darkside energies they are trying to press upon us are already being used for those purposes thanks to the towers you helped design with the Wukong and the jedi. Converting force energies based on the chu-gon dar cube. It and the planetary nanites to repair and mitigate were ingenious." Kirano said it while she was speaking but was able to check on more as the voice came over the interfaces channel. "Sister." Sitharia's voice came through with a sound of annoyance on her voice. "These Invaders are one track, their tactics seem morre just force themselves upon and reliance on the shortcomings of anyone not of Atrisia. It would be amusing if it were not what our people were promised. Battle and glory, riches and conquest upon others.. Kirano nodded as she listened to it with a look over at Miyoung. "Worry not, there are more Atrisian forces at the expansion zones and wall fighting. Whether they make a dent is questionable but Kenzo will make sure they march to occupy the city."

Rei looked at the woman as she was speaking, his eyebrow going up as for a moment he looked but didn't speak until she was done. He looked at her and held his hands out to the sides. "Yeah, I am just a cop from Xam'chi, planetary defense codes let alone several that are scattered across the entire city, from carriers are a little beyond my levels of authorization and pay. Want me to forgive the parking ticket for the drop pod you slammed onto the stone or talk to the owner of the shop you smashed with it. Sure I can help with that. The princess already transferred the power grid from the cities to the planetary back ups outside the city. You would need to convince her and then the emperor." He said it while looking out as debris was coming down the shields and carrier firing on it while he kept his attention on her for the time and the fish woman walked over finding a seat to look. "Why are you talking with her like that? Revealing things." Rei looked at the woman. "At this point it ain't going to do much. They are throwing so many bodies at us it is just like Mythos only he at least tried to convince people to surrender and serve him." He said it before sitting down. "Plus I mean what can she do, killing me and you will net her little right now. She could steal my interface but her biometrics will set off the planets AI of an intruder so it will make sure it doesn't work. Then it would alert the people higher up then either of us." He only leaned there with a little of the food and some water as he sealed it after a sip. He flicked his eyes back to the woman. "You had to know that was a longshot, that you would find the one person able to deactivate a planetary shield." He gave more a look of pity. "Though if you are telling the truth then we can take it to the people in charge of the defense and let them know to decide. THe fight outside at the Spire is interesting but non-essential as it is apartments."

Phaidor was still moving through the city and could see more of the biots that had been released. the Atrisian fighting biots with one hand while the other was a cannon were impressive in their shielding and heavy armor. The cannons shifting as the hydra biots used the debris to replicate themselves after they were attacked. Her tank swinging around with a look of interest when she could see the spires area and the gardens on her sensors. "Hmm." She said it but watched the massive flying serpents in the air as another thing of soldiers were coming. Saturation was certainly a tactic, they used it as well and at this point she was musing how no matter how many layers of shield it was like a suggestion then something actually there though defensively it seemed reports from their ships in orbit and coming in were having to claw for every inch. One sided sure, incredibly questionable of course but she had seen it with their other battles and in the end few actually did anything after razing Atrisia... at least now they knew how to repair the damage quickly and would go back to normal business. "Moon." She said it as she was looking at the one handmaiden who was there with several of the Kyushi and they had been mixing chemicals and spices into poisons or handling gas grenades from their area. The ebony skinned handmaiden was moving and her people were always physically fit when she jumped on the side of the tank kicking a soldier and caving in a section of his knee the wrong way. "Drive." She said it and Phaidor gave a nod of her head while she was checking on more things.. she was heading back and around but used the chance to map out a few routes. "News." The woman said it and Phaidor looked at her. "The usual, soldiers thrown at everywhere but the defensive measures, non atrisians are overwhelmed." SHe pulled the tank around as she fired another missile and it smashed into a drop pod sending it into a group.

Kenzo continued to watch, the Atrisian divisions moving into the expansion areas as they were going from area to area, clearing it and deploying their barricades. The laser grids being used to channel and funnel forces coming at them. Tanks and divisions being made to secure and have line of sight coverage of each others while they moved. Zhang coming near her as she spoke. "The clan at the XI palace contacted us. THey are sending Gnat Runners and more reinforcement biots. Some Iron Maidens Biots with Iron Monger walkers and their Siege Platform. With the orbital snipers still firing on emplaced targets and areas near the bridge we'll be able to position the Kaydryn cannons to coordinate." Zhang said it with a shrug while she was walking with her rifle and Kenzo checked on many parts of it. "We'll see, they barely even resisted from the attacks and much less are just pouring everywhere. We'll continue to move through and secure however get several Ginnregin brought out. I want them reinforcing the security grid. If they are going after generators we'll just add additional ones. As the princess would say redundancy is important to protecting the people." She said it and the kanamara were being used the princess saw to that.. the ginnregin were meant to add additional back ups to the field and projectors. The war beasts were moving to flood and go through the streets of the expansion while they pushed towards the bridge itself. "Princess, we are moving in, leaving several divisions across the expansion moving towards bridge. Chi-Oni forces, Kyushi and additional forces are beginning to arrive and form up." Her voice came where she could see more of the soldiers who were around and the expansion areas citizens and soldiers were moving out. The fabricators coming for them to see before they were healing with the implants that they had installed in their bodies and the stardust nanites for healing.

Junko looked at the woman who spoke as she was getting the information from the others. When she refused there were two options. "Okay." She had the trinity shield and gave a look of profound disinterest and almost boredom as she turned around to walk with the others when the droids came suddenly. THey were going out one of the ways and her handmaidens barely shared a second thought while walking towards the waiting pocket tank and battle droid to continue on their walk towards the lab works. Miyoung coming up to look at her. "Plans?" THe woman said it as she spoke. "Continue forward if they want to fight then we'll let them fight, once we get there we can transfer a few things over to really start throwing things at them. We'll mirror and adapt their tactics of throwing bodies at a wall to gunk it up only use the infinite potential of the project you developed." She said it with a shrug to herself as she continued to move them forward and went to the pocket tank as Phaidor was in it and Junko looked at it. The sounds of the atrisian walkers and droids continuing to move through the streets as the soldiers organized. The adaption of the tackmaster and their own healing giving them the time they needed to learn and move in unison. "Well you didn't break the tank so you might be getting better at this whole driving thing." Phaidor beamed from her seat when she was looking around. "I only crash like nine and half times out of ten princess but when I am good... I am awesome even." She said it as she thumbed the controls for the music and started to rock out with several of the armored citizens coming to her and brandishing their weapons. "Princess we are glad to report contact with the royal military is made they are advancing with more armor divisions and we have been told Sasori is sending assets. The Onna and their military assets are also being reported as close by." Junko gave a nod of her head as she spoke into the interfaces channel. "Sun, encrypt a message from me and use the kaho beacons highest priority. Tell Sasori offices we request the Soh be brought in should that thing fire again."

Royal Military x
Assault Corps x
Heavy Fighters x
Jade Screamers x
Metsuka x
Yofukashi x
Yovshin Swordsmen x
Xianghua Initiative x
Dorīmugādo x
Burakkugādo x
Wukong: x