Junction The Spoils | Sith Order/Mandalorian Empire Junction for Apoptosia and Empty Hex

[Aether Verd]

Wearing:
Beskar'gam - Darksaber​

LIANNA - ORBIT

The thud of beskar-clad boots entering the bridge drew the Mand'alor's gaze.

Aether witnessed the arrival of Korda the Unyielding, a literal hero of the Mandalorian Empire. From behind his helm, the Sole Ruler allowed himself the beginnings of a smile. Yet, the time for reveling in the presence of one of his finest warriors would have to wait. Today, the Imperial Remnants would feel the sting of Mandalore. Today, their will would not be denied.

When Korda rendered his salute, Aether returned it in kind. His dominant fist thundered upon his own breastplate in solemn recognition. "It's good to see you, Unyielding." he began. "Beneath us, Lianna burns. I need you to secure the most valuable asset of them all: the future."

"Your prowess in battle is well-known to me. Today, I ask that you serve by using your wisdom and instinct first before your blade. The children of Lianna are your focus. This assault will no doubt create no shortage of orphans and broken souls. Find those of tender age and liberate them from the jaws of death. Return them to Mandalorian space at once."

"And if you are impeded by Imperials along the way? Break them. Remind them that you stood against the worst of the Diarchy alone and prevailed."

The Mand'alor motioned to one of the screens upon the bridge. It displayed the various Mandalorian positions on the surface thus far. "One of our veterans is on the field now, one Adonis Angelis IV . Rendezvous with his position and begin your mission."

Aether did not dismiss his warrior just yet. He ceased his words, leaving space for any questions or seeking to understand. If there were none? Then Lianna would be met with one of the Empire's mightiest in short order.

Korda Veydran , Adonis Angelis IV + Open

 

[Yusha]

Surface, Lianna

Interesting.

The whispers from the destitute had painted a vivid picture of the woman who descended from on high. She was always referred to by the Crimson Dawn in a rather maternal manner. They looked to her for direction like children who placed their faith in their infallible parents. And, like a capable mother, she had guided them to success thus far. In the months that the organization had been active under her rule, they grew from a mere rumor to something regularly discussed by the broken and lost.

Suffice it to say, the King of Beggars was intrigued.

Her words were a flame that would have drawn moths immediately. A hook with succulent bait dangled into the waters. Yusha was curious - but not foolhardy enough to abandon all reason. From his position, he'd follow, pausing only to activate his personal cloaking device as he advanced. His form vanished from the naked eye and sensors. But he was very much so there. A shadow amidst the burning city.

"I'm intrigued enough to take a peek. Lead on, oh honored one."​

Sidonia​

 

[Prisoner #36929]

Tags: Na Ri
Equipment: X​

"You don't know me," the Prisoner snapped, his voice echoing against the vibrating durasteel. He was tired of her profiling him. The idea that he'd killed the man purely out of spite was insulting. He hadn't pulled the trigger because of a grudge, he'd done it because she was hesitant, and he refused to let her pull them both to the bottom. Her hesitation had already cost him his records. He wasn't going to let it cost him his life.

The trooper was a dead man the moment the orbital bombardment began. Whether he died by a blaster bolt or under a mountain of rubble was inconsequential. To the Prisoner, a quick death was mercy compared to the slow suffocation of being buried alive or tortured by Sith.

He kept his mouth shut after that, focusing entirely on the rhythmic agony of the climb. He didn't have the breath to argue the ethics of survival with a woman who was currently coughing her lungs onto the floor.

They finally burst through the upper exit. The world outside was a nightmare of falling debris and shrieking engines. Mandalorian and Sith forces were already falling back, their objective complete and the facility sufficiently ruined. The fresh air was only marginally better, still thick with the scent of a dying world. The Prisoner stopped near the perimeter, his leg throbbing so violently he could barely stand. He looked back at her one last time, watching her frame shake with another violent coughing fit.

She wouldn't thank him, and he didn't need her to. He had fulfilled whatever strange debt he felt he owed her for the bandage. "You should see a doctor," he said, glancing toward the line of departing transports. He didn't offer his hand again. He had his own wounds to stitch and a new path to find now that his past was officially ash.

He turned away, limping toward a waiting shuttle and leaving the ruins of the Confederation behind.

 

[Korda Veydran]

Korda stood unmoving as Mand'alor spoke, his gaze fixed and attentive beneath the dim glow of the burning world reflected through the viewport. Each word settled heavily upon his shoulders, not as burden, but purpose. The future. The foundlings. The children left in the wake of war.

His fingers slowed upon the hilt of the vibro-blade in his hand until the weapon stilled completely.
When Aether spoke of Yaga Minor, of how Korda had stood alone and prevailed, the warrior's expression hardened, though not with pride. Something quieter. Something heavier.

His voice came low and measured when he answered.
"With respect, my Mand'alor..." Korda began, bowing his head slightly before lifting his eyes once more. "I did not stand alone on Yaga Minor."
A pause.
"There were four beside me when I made planetfall." His words were calm, but carried weight like stone. "Tor. Fenn. Rex. Joric." Each name was spoken deliberately, with reverence, as though ensuring their memory occupied the bridge with him. "Good warriors. Strong warriors. it was their first real mission"

His jaw tightened.
"I would not have completed that mission without them." His hand curled faintly at his side. "I should have taken their place when the Destroyer called for blood... but he saw fit to leave me breathing."

Silence followed for a brief moment, Korda staring past Aether toward the burning world below.
"Because of that, I will see this task done."
His posture straightened again, returning fully to the mission at hand.

"I will gather these children. I will protect them. I will see them brought from the fire and into Mandalorian space." His tone deepened, conviction settling into every syllable. "And if Imperials stand in my path..." a faint, dangerous grin tugged at the edge of his lips, "...I will remind them why I earned the name Unyielding."

His gaze shifted toward the tactical display as Aether motioned toward Adonis' location. Korda stepped closer, studying it carefully, burning the coordinates into memory.

Then he turned his eyes back toward his ruler.
"There is one request I would make, Mand'alor."
Korda placed a fist lightly against his chest, respectful but earnest.

"If I prove successful in this... I ask permission to take some of the foundlings under my own wing." His tone softened, just barely. "To teach them. To forge them. To pass on what wisdom and tactics I have learned so that the next generation may be stronger than ours."
His head dipped.
"But that decision is yours to make, and yours alone."

Then his brow furrowed slightly, voice quieter now, more uncertain than before. It was not fear in battle, not hesitation toward bloodshed... but something far rarer for Korda: uncertainty in matters beyond war.

"If I may ask one final thing..." he said. "Should I find wounded parents... those on the brink of the Destroyer's embrace..." his gaze drifted momentarily toward the burning planet again. "How should I comfort their children, should they ask me why their mother or father cannot rise?"

The question lingered in the air, sincere and unguarded.
For all his strength, all his victories, Korda knew war.
But mercy...
Mercy was something he was still learning.

Aether Verd Adonis Angelis IV

 

[Daella]

Location: Commandeered Imperial Shuttle, Secondary Hangar Bay, The Eye of Helvede - Tion High Orbit
Dialogue Legend: <<Telepathy>> │ “Verbal”
Thread Objective: The Holdouts
Mission Objective:

• Disable the planetary shield complex.
• Capture or disable the Tion shipyards.

Allies: CT-312 Eira Dyn Scherezade deWinter
Enemies: Barragh Nenn

Daella elected to remain inside the shuttle, taking advantage of the cover afforded by its passenger bay. The enclosed space allowed her to better focus on harnessing her foresight, without the distraction of dodging incoming blaster bolts. In that, the small-statured seer knew that her value was not at the tip of the blade. It was here, where she could best perceive the space between what was and what would be.

Thus, she turned her attention to the immediate threats, which were the white-hot silhouettes of the stormtroopers firing wildly into the smoke. She honed in on the shimmers, focusing her foresight on the flickering pre-images of actions yet to be taken.

<<Pivot right,>> Daella whispered to CT-312 through the telepathic link, her mental voice soft, yet precise. Should the clone trooper heed her warning, a blaster bolt would pass through the space where her head had been just a moment prior. In turn, if it was ignored, the bolt would likely meet her directly in the head, with only the helmet to protect her from a potentially fatal shot!

Her halo-shaped horn pulsed with sudden radiance a few moments later, the crystalline matrix shimmering with soft, opalescent light. Above CT-312, concealed within the recesses of the ceiling, the pre-image of a turret's lethal shimmer line coalesced in the seer's awareness, its firing pattern tracing a line directly towards the clone trooper.

<<Turret powering up!>> Daella sent, her telepathic tone sharp with urgency. <<Ceiling, center of the bay. It will track you first. Get behind the TIE fighter to your right. Its hull will absorb the shots.>>

Spoiler: Loadout

• Oracular Veil
  
  • Miscellaneous Equipment
    
    • FAE/U-01 "Serenity" Anti-Signal Field System
    • UL-14 “Virtus” Underlay - Nanotech Version: Inactive
• Qazûr-Pattern Soulpistol Mk. I
  
  • Ammunition
    
    • Standard Blaster Power Cell (6)
    • Tibanna Gas Cartridge (6)
  • Attachments
    
    • 1-5x FAE/S-08 Electro-Sight
• FAE/M-02 Energized Forearm Vibroblade Mk. II - Left Forearm
• Siqsa-S1 Semiautonomous Seeker Obscuration Canister (4)
• Supernal Infusion

 

[Adonis Angelis IV]

ADONIS ANGELIS IV
Mandalorian Knight of House Angelis | Risen Son of Vaal | Vanguard of the Manda

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Around Adonis the city burned, the planet burned, and in its place the future would be born. The former capital and its survivors would be desperate for aid, either from the Mandalorians or Sith, and in that desperation they would find themselves in their debt. Nature abhorred a vacuum, and soon Lianna would be ruled again, as it was destined to be. Fire alone would not cleanse the rot the Empire left behind, but it would be a good start. For it to be effective, however, the women and children would have to be saved, so that they had something to return to, something worth rebuilding.

Ivory and gold was a blur as Adonis moved from cover to cover, advancing toward his objective: the boy's school that had been turned into an Imperial recruitment center. They had young men of all ages there, indoctrinated by the Empire and taught to hate like they did. Adonis was tasked with securing their safety and delivering them to the glory of Mand'alor and his Empire, a task he did not take lightly. His approach had been mostly uncontested, his vode and the Sith cutting down resistance ahead of him, leaving Adonis to deal with what remained.

The Mandalorian warrior stood tall amid the battlefield, enemies only getting potshots off before he overtook them or they ran for their lives. He wasn't the type to chase his enemies, but these were different. He made sure they felt a fraction of the fear he had lived in for those months. The darkness of it crept in without resistance, settling behind his eyes as an invisible grip closed around the last guard standing between him and his goal. The man lifted from the ground, his body jerking as the pressure crushed the life from him, and Adonis held him there a moment longer than he needed to.

When he finally released him, the body dropped all at once, lifeless against the burning ground. Adonis didn't move for a long moment. He had never used such power before, and it sat wrong in him, thick and metallic, like something he couldn't swallow. He turned slightly, the taste rising in the back of his throat as he pulled his helmet free. The fires reflected across his face, catching the sweat beading along his brow. He spat, and red struck the ground.

​

________________Blood.

His gloved hand came to his mouth, brushing along his gums. Still bleeding. He paused for just a second, feeling the weight of it settle in, before forcing it down. The helmet snapped back into place, sealing him off again, away from any emotions. He stepped over the body and continued toward the school. The fires hadn't reached it yet, though the structure was already locked down. Hopefully the boys were still inside, untouched by whatever panic had taken hold of the Imperials within.

"I have cleared the path." His voice rang over the comms to Aether Verd and Korda Veydran , "Let's get them out."

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
​

 

[Korda Veydran]

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

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

Korda did not answer immediately.
For a brief moment after Adonis' transmission cut through the channel, there was only the low, constant noise of the Reclaimer's bridge, engines thrumming, distant orders being called, the ship itself moving like a living thing around him. The burning world below filled the viewport in slow, relentless motion.

He exhaled once through his nose.
Then he turned.
"Mand'alor," Korda said, stepping forward just enough for his voice to carry without forcing attention. The vibro-blade in his hand stopped spinning. "With respect. I am required elsewhere."

There was no hesitation in the words. Only certainty.
He dipped his head in a brief, disciplined apology, less ritual, more acknowledgment, then stepped back before the moment could stretch.
His comm clicked open as he moved.
"Adonis Angelis," Korda's voice came through the channel, steady and controlled. "Korda Veydran. I am en route."
A pause as he crossed the bridge, boots striking durasteel in a quicker rhythm now, momentum building.

"Apologies for delay. I will be diverting a dropship to your position to assist extraction."
He didn't wait for a reply before cutting the line.
The hangar doors were already opening when he arrived.

Flight crews moved aside as the armored warrior strode through, the Ashen Maw catching the hangar lights in dull, brutal reflections. Engines roared to life ahead of him, a transport already prepped for deployment. Someone shouted something about routing and clearance, but Korda was already boarding.

No ceremony. No wasted motion.
Inside the dropship, he finally secured his helmet from his belt. It locked into place with a clean, familiar seal, sound narrowing, world tightening into focus. The cockpit vibrated as the engines lifted the craft from the deck.

As the ramp began to close, Korda keyed his comms again.
"Adonis Angelis. I am inbound. Brace for hard drop. I am bringing a transport capable of evac support."
The ship tilted.
Atmosphere swallowed them.

The descent hit like a hammer, hull groaning, heat building along the frame as Lianna's sky rushed up to meet them. Korda stood near the ramp instead of sitting, one hand braced against the interior frame as wind and vibration tore through the open gap beneath the lowering ramp.

Below, the planet burned in fractured patterns of orange and black. Smoke columns twisted upward like wounded giants.
His voice came again over comms, calm despite the violence of descent.
"ETA three minutes."

A beat.
"Report hostile presence in your AO."
He leaned slightly forward, visor fixed on the approaching battlefield, the wind clawing at the edge of the ramp as the dropship cut lower through the fire-lit haze.


And beneath it all, Korda waited. not impatient, not uncertain, just ready to fall straight into the fire the moment they hit the ground.

Aether Verd Adonis Angelis IV

 

[Aymeric Prendergast]

|| THE SPOILS ||

Ghost of the Core’s Past - Chapter 1

TAG: Sidonia | Yusha

NO CHOICE
​

LIANNA
The damp air of poverty occupying the lower levels of Lianna reminds Aymeric of a scene all-too familiar. The ashy stench from the abandoned noodle bars, the oppressive smell of burning rubber, it all effortlessly takes him back to the hours of isolation in Woostri underground.

Memories that have crept back to his mind in his exile.

Aymeric hadn’t expected having to scrape for survival in the street of Lianna. After all, he had arrived as a hedge knight, feared more than respected for his venomous yellow gaze and broad, imposing figure. He didn’t plan on staying too long, he was supposed to only stay for a good month or so, before venturing closer to the Core.

Yet the Remnant government they were taking refuge in chose the worst time to internally collapse, opening the gate for ravenous hordes of Sith, Mandalorians, and criminals. As much as he hated all three, they were in no position to fight. So they took to the streets, waiting for the perfect opportunity to go off-world.

And a risky yet promising venture had spawned in front of him in the form of two strangers straying too close to his camp.

He had sensed them the moment their transport breached the atmosphere; one a presence that commanded the air around her, the other a flickering, predatory shadow.

He remained in the deep shadow, his posture still, his presence almost entirely suppressed; the old habits of a Jedi Shadow serving as a better mask than any physical disguise.

He waited until the lady was at the threshold.

"The pulse is a trap," Aymeric's voice was low and melodic, unlike the rasp of his former persona. "The system is cycling through a thermal purge. If you step another meter in, you'll be caught in the venting."

He didn't move toward them. He remained a part of the ruins, his yellow eyes catching the faint, intermittent glow of the data tower.

"And your companion..." He didn't turn his head toward the cloaked man, but his gaze drifted toward the faint displacement of ash on the ground; a subtle, shimmering void in the flickering light. "He should mind the pressure sensors near the debris. They were designed to detect intrusion."

 

[Adonis Angelis IV]

ADONIS ANGELIS IV
Mandalorian Knight of House Angelis | Risen Son of Vaal | Vanguard of the Manda

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

​

Adonis pushed further toward the structure. He could hear the wailing of sirens inside the building even over the tumult outside. It was clear they had locked down once the assault began, but the question was whether they would come out to meet him on the battlefield or wait for the Mandalorians to breach and make their stand then. Imperials didn't share the same relationship with combat as Mandalorians. That made them harder to predict, but easier to manipulate.

The basilisk of a man waded through the chaos as he approached the school. His comm link opened again, Korda announcing his landing time. That gave Adonis three minutes to clear a landing zone and ensure they wouldn't be overrun when he arrived. It looked like it would be easy, until the alarm grew louder, then louder still. When Adonis turned, he was met with a reinforced squad of Imperials advancing toward him, equipped with repeating blasters and RPGs, firing both in equal measure.

The Mandalorian reached out with the Force, catching one of the rockets mid-flight and turning it back toward the shooter. The explosion scattered the formation, forcing them to dive for cover and giving Adonis the opening he needed. In that split second, he surged forward, the Force carrying him across the distance as his blue lightsaber ignited halfway through the charge. He crashed into the front line before they could recover, beskar colliding with bone and flesh with a sickening crack, the momentum of his strike erasing one of them from the fight.

He turned on his heel, his helmet scanning for the next opening, already taking space before they could recover. The timer in his HUD slipped to two minutes and fifteen seconds- perfect. Another crack split the air, loud enough to echo like thunder across the burning skyline of Lianna, and another Imperial dropped, broken on the ground. Red edged into his vision as the rage began to take hold, the newly tapped darkness feeding his movements, sharpening them, pushing him faster. Every swing of his blade came cleaner, heavier, more final.

The squad collapsed under the pressure. Thirteen became eight in moments, their formation breaking as they tried to regroup under fire. It didn't matter. Adonis pressed forward, repeating the same brutality over and over until only one remained. The last soldier emptied his weapon into Adonis's armor in desperation, the bolts scattering uselessly across beskar as the Mandalorian closed the distance, towering over him. He would die fighting, but he would die nonetheless.

A sweeping calm settled over Adonis as the fight ended. Not relief, not discipline, something else. He caught his breath as he focused on the core of his pain, forcing it down as the timer in his HUD ticked toward zero. The scream of an incoming vessel cut through the chaos, growing louder as it tore through the sky above. The winds whipped around him as Korda Veydran made his descent, feeding the flames and casting everything in a violent orange glow that reflected off the gold and ivory armor housing Adonis.

"You made it." His greeting was simple, unceremonious. Korda had arrived as he said he would, that was enough. In less dangerous times, he would have offered a proper introduction, but they both knew why they were here. Pleasantries could wait.

"West side," Adonis added, already turning back toward the structure. "There's an entrance."

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
​

 

[Olyssandra]

Location: Neyrix, Lianna City - Lianna
Thread Objective: Delenda Est
Mission Objective:

• Spread bedlam.
• Infiltrate the Neyrix.
• Extract data from the archives.

Tag: Lazzasha Jovee Amni Kazda

Olyssandra blinked, her elfin features shifting with a flicker of annoyance and surprise. Despite the fact that she had counterattacked the Imperial warrior immediately after her opening Force push, the woman had managed to kill one of the Lazzasha’s nexu before disappearing into a portal to evade the supersonic aerial slash. It was abundantly clear now that this portal-summoning adversary was both lightning-fast and lethally dangerous.

In that, the blade dancer immediately realized that defeating her would require every bit of her focus.

Her pointed ears twitched as the sound of the portal registered once more, at which point the Imperial warrior suddenly appeared above, her massive blade descending towards Lazzasha. Recalling her blades with a beckoning curl of her fingers, Olyssandra launched herself backward in an explosive, flying backstep pirouette, her body flying gracefully through the air before landing six meters behind her starting position.

All the while, the Midnight Harmony came racing back to the blade dancer, both weapons singing through the air like vengeful spirits. However, a snap of her fingers caused one of the airborne swords to abruptly change its trajectory mid-flight. From there, a sharp, pointed finger guided the weapon towards the Imperial warrior’s throat at transonic velocity, intended to strike her through the neck blade point-first!

Spoiler: Loadout

• Midnight Graveglass
  
  • Arms
    
    • Velocity-7 Dart Shooter - L Forearm
      
      • Mk. I Saberdart - Blood Boiler Payload (6)
      • Explosive Dart (6)
    • FAE/M-02 Energized Forearm Vibroblade Mk. II - R Forearm
• Midnight Harmony (2)
• Siqsa-S1 Semiautonomous Seeker Obscuration Canister (2)
• FAE/MDE-01-S1 Semiautonomous Seeker Thermal Explosive (2)

 

[Minerva Fhirdiad]

Tag: Mig Gred

Minerva followed after Mig and the team around them, going through the ruins of what has been a great city in the midst of fires and ships flying overhead. War doesn’t discriminate with its destruction. She thought, as a Mandaloiran and warrior she knew this truth all too well. The warrior kept checking her corners, aiming down from the sights of her rifle. Soon she heard noises from a now ruined shop and sure enough she detected several people, none of them armed.

They looked battered, resentful, tired and sacred. Lowering her weapon. “Any of you hurt?” She asked but they didn’t answer and she scanmed around concerned about an ambush at first. Then they started out out, truly desperate. “Where you did all come from?”

Minerva pointed back where she and Mig just came from. “Head that way to our landing zone and you’ll be safe but you folks better hurry.”

They didn’t offer any thanks or anything like that as they ran in that direction. She understood why and wasn’t resentful. Running back to catch up with Mig. “Glad I joined up with you Gred. If we make it out of this I’ll buy everyone here a beer.“ All the while she looked out for trouble.