Campaign The Springtime War | Liberation of Voss

[Jax Thio]

Location: Voss
Equipment: Combat Gear, Jax's Prosthetic Arm, Jax's Second Lightsaber, Promise Ring to Jairdain
Tag: Madison Starr, Romi Jade , Zaka , Atlas Drake , Dagon Kaze | Xeykard

While Madison retreated to cover to check her weapons, Jax still remained on the field deflecting blaster bolts. With a combination of the Force guiding his blade and his skill, he remained untouched while multiple Gormaks were struck down by redirected blaster bolts some Jax was sure were from bolts that they didn't even fire. Reaching out into the Force, Jax telepathically sealed the door behind them a blast shield came out as well sealing the door. An emergency lock nice, the men will be safe in there.

In unison, Jax and Madison charged through the hail of blaster fire slicing any Gormak in their way. There was an army of these bastards surrounding the buildings but Jax remained in a state of calm. The Jedi will need to do what they can despite the bad hand they were dealt with. "Pull back Madison!" Jax said when she told him that the friendlies were wearing thin. "We need to get a lay of the land first."

He motioned his Padawan towards a large cliff overlooking the AT-TE. Jax knelt down and watched a handful of soldiers trying to hold off the large, damaged tank. "Damn," Jax muttered. "There's a lot of forces there even we can't take them all out."

The Jedi Master went to his radio trying to link with the soldiers there but there was nothing but static. "Comms are still busted," Jax said. "And the link to BB is offline, we could use his strafing runs right now."

 

[KitKatt]

----

 

[Zaka]

THE SPRINGTIME WAR
BLACKFANG - THE (NEW) JEDI vol. II
Issue #7 - Voss Civil War!
Dagon Kaze Atlas Drake Cale Gunderson Inosuke Ashina
Xeykard Romi Jade

Zaka blinked.

It wasn't the most helpful of explanations, but ancient blood feuds rarely were after countless generations. Head twisting in the direction that Dagon jabbed a finger at the holo, he found himself bobbing his head at Cale's words.

"He's right. Leaders of cultures like this," war-like, territorial, he knew from experience. "They need to be strong. Overtly. In a way that unites even those that'd normally disagree. We remove that and we secure an all out surrender if we're lucky. At worst, different factions fighting amongst each other." He purposely left out the part about still fighting them. The most important part about it all was the loss of organization and the vacuum in the command chain as seconds and thirds fought to seize control.

Whatever was left in the wake could be pieced back together.

"All I need is a location."

 

[Madison Starr]

South of the Valley
Jax Thio


Inside the Gormak's northern push.

Madison and Jax took cover on a rocky outcropping covered in brush. A tall mountain range separated them from the valley to the north. However, it did offer a spectacular view of the Voss defeat to the south. Even now, a large tank vehicle was mopping up the remains of the resistance on this side of the cliffs. Things didn't look good down there.

"Jax. You're right about comms. Something is causing a jam on all frequencies." She spoke softly. Using her real voice this time. "I don't know if there is anything we can do for those soldiers down there. Even if we save them and stop that tank? There is no where for them to go and no support coming to rescue them."

Dire a comment as it was. War was brutal. She didn't see another way to help them.

"Look. The enemy is pushing north anyway. We're wasting time. I say we climb this mountain. adjacent to the Gormak push, and see what's on the other side. We might find Master Jade a bit quicker that way. Or..."

She looked back at the tank. Then beyond it.

"Damn. I have no idea where they might be hiding comm jammers. There's just too many of them. Tsk!"

As much as she wanted to save those soldiers down there, she knew. They might just be wasting their time while the Gormak overran Master Jade's position elsewhere.

"Ket'ch! I'll be damned, if jumping from an X-Wing wasn't stupid." She cursed aloud. Now they were out of position and without support themselves. What a waste.

She bit her tongue and turned, "Anyway. ...Your call. Tank? Or go north? Sadly. There's enough chaos out here right now. It's damn hard to be certain of anything."

Even her unique foresight only went so far. They had options, yes. But no certainties.

They had to make a choice.

 

[Atlas Drake]

MAROON AIT
VOSS
Romi Jade Dagon Kaze Zaka Cale Gunderson Inosuke Ashina
​

"I like the way you Core types think," Drake smirked at their bravado, "Intel on the Gormak is hard to come by. Too much culture clash for the Voss to value any spycraft."

Drawn to examine familiar geography, the captain leaned over a holographic projection of the Ait. He pointed out a few landmarks to orient the Jedi with their current position, gesturing at two places on the island in particular.

"Gormak have been trying to push into the valley all day through this coastal pass. I'm sure Master Jade could use a few more sabers holding them back, but if you want to flank the main advance I suggest we use this ravine. Hostiles there too but we have a better chance of slipping behind the lines and causing some real damage."

Of course, Atlas had no way of knowing that soon the main pass would be blocked. In a short while Gormak would be swarming through that same ravine.

"One other thing," he added before they got moving, "A few Voss scouts have sighted the Gormak with offworlders. I tried to get a better description, but according to Nakar-Sei...'we all look the same' to his commandos."

 

[KitKatt]

-----

 

[Jax Thio]

Location: Voss
Equipment: Combat Gear, Jax's Prosthetic Arm, Jax's Second Lightsaber, Promise Ring to Jairdain
Tag: Madison Starr, Romi Jade , Zaka , Atlas Drake , Dagon Kaze | Xeykard

Jax smiled when Madison lamented their choice, to push forward or to stay and help the tank? It was a tough choice to make that's for sure but dealing with impossible situations was a typical day for Jax. "You're right," Jax said. "There are too many jammers placed around where Master Jade is. However......"

Jax pointed to the two towers placed on the hill. "You see those?" Jax asked. "Those are low level jammers, if we can destroy them, we can bring back communication to this area."

"That means," Jax said. "I can call in my droid to conduct an airstrike on the enemies surrounding the tank."

He took out his Lightsaber. "Let's go destroy us some jammers then," he smirked. "I'll race ya."

 

[Dagon Kaze]

THE SPRINGTIME WAR
THE FRONTIER vol. I
Issue #1 w/ Zaka Romi Jade Atlas Drake Inosuke Ashina Cale Gunderson

Dagon often wondered about Zaka's background at moments like this. It had sparked his curiosity when they first met at the ice caps of Chaldea stopping a nefarious Maw plan to create a natural cataclysm to destroy the world. The slightly younger Jedi padawan often shared knowledge of the military nature only hardened veterans usually possessed. But the raven-haired Knight never found the time or rather the directness to inquire into his past.

Cale, on the other hand, carried all the traits befitting a man who had covered a thousand mileage of trenches and some more. Disgruntled-looking, stimstick on his lips and a voice as a hoarse as a stone grinder. Valery had mentioned in passing of the Jedi's return into the fold -- the details of which escaped him now. Cale would've reminded him of most of Dagon's friends that marched to the Stygian against the Sith Empire... if they had returned from there at all.

The gloomy thoughts rising up like an early morning's fog cleared up when Drake spoke up once more. His Core remark nearly caught Dagon correcting him but the Knight realized the Core had been his home ever since he'd left Ruusan at the young age of twelve. Grey, cloud-cutting skyscrapers and badly maintained vents had long replaced the green, rolling hills and open vales as his natural habitat.

Narrowing his eyes at the holomap, Dagon spoke, "Removing the head of the snake, huh? We can split up, I guess, but look at this here--" he pointed at a point on the projection, "--cut out of supplies, outgunned, outnumbered -- if the Gormak get through this pass, they're gonna have a field day with the resistance out in the open here. Hmm..."

"...going for the head -- whoever that might be -- it's a good idea, yeah." he looked up at his fellow Jedi, "I'm gonna prioritize reinforcing the last line." he said as he rolled up the sleeves on the iconic New Jedi leather jacket. Whatever their response was, he would merely nod and mount whatever vehicle was first available to get him to Romi's camp the quickest.

--

This close to the firefights, his nostrils flared up with the foul smell of plasma and burnt flesh as they crossed the torn, blasted earth. Despair clung onto the air. Its talons, deep into each man and woman soldier they saw, sapped the strength from their limbs and the vitality from their eyes. And yet beneath the weariness lied the heart of a soldier whose duty had already made the choice for him -- to die before he bent. Even after the numerous battles Dagon had fought, the sight never ceased to both grieve and inspire him. The contradicting mixture of sensations, he attested to the nature of Force empathy. It was both his and theirs.

The picket who'd spotted their arrival in the outskirts of the resistance's camp took them to the woman in charge. Romi Jade. In stark contrast to their last meeting -- her wedding. Glowering in a white dress where the only burden on her shoulders were the vows she was to take. Now, the despair permeated around her form like a patient predator - prowling, stalking, and waiting for when the Light's fortitude would finally crumble, and pounce.


"Romi -- it's good to see you." he nodded a greeting as a soft, thin smile crossed his lips before it slowly abated. Now was not the time for words of compassion.

Only for the reassurance of action.

"Let's win this war."

Talk about Core bravado, right Drake?
​

 

[Romi Jade]

THE SPRINGTIME WAR
Crisis on Voss....

​

Her finger curled around the width of her chin -- she had been deep in thought.

"Kelnu..." She called on the Voss resistance leader, "I'd like to discuss something before we proceed into the next phase." She trailed off with him tailing her; they went off to the side. "I understand how much this fight means to you. It's been a long time coming. When you called on us, I made you a promise that I would help you gain the leverage you would need to retake your home...I still stand on that promise. But, if you still find any value in my counsel, you'll understand me when I say you should retreat."

"I don't understand yo-"

"It's the smart thing to do...you can fall back, re-assess and proceed differently when the odds are more in your favor. More importantly you'll live to fight another day. The situation we're in now, it isn't worth wasting anymore bodies. Things fluctuate in war...and we've lost the element of surpris--"

Her head whipped around.

"Commander, we're almost done loading the rest of the explosives onto the gunship" She nodded, and proceeded to get the last word.

"Retreat. You'll have the time when the passage explodes to get a head start. This could be the last window you have, remember the long fight..." She went back to corresponding with her captain, "Let's move that thing into position, and blow it up"

"Will he be alright?"

"He feels betrayed...he wants this bad, they all do. War has a way of turning promises into hopes, and it's hard to come down from that when you've got beef this deep. But, Kelnu is a leader at the end of the day. He won't jeopardize anymore of his own people or risk losing out on gaining any of this back. He'll do what he has to, and so will we."

----------

"As soon as they are in range, blow it."

The Gormak commander was quick to spot it. "A gunship?"

The transport was arranged widthwise to the passage, obstructing their advance.

"I don't see anyone inside, sir."

"Mm. Blast it out of the way -- get one of our walkers," he said, motioning to one of his subordinates.

Grik-Ti was too far away to hear the small ticking noise emanating from the ship.

The ticking had run its course, and after a split second of extremely loud silence...

KABOOM!

The ship went up in a plume of flame, with a concussive force that shot out from the center and blew threw rock. With no resistance, their foundation began to crack and jagged lines that carved its way from its core and shot upward with extreme mobility. Before anyone, on either side, could finish their breath the shattered rock caved in on the passage leaving nothing but blockade of solids and smoke.

There was no passing...

Not this way.

But far on the other side, that which would be the re-routed path -- the fighting was welling up to be something fierce. It was numbers very nature's tactics. Jade found herself pacing down its center as those from the 91st, and others lodged themselves between jagged rocks for cover.

"Steady." She moved into her position.

Snap-Hiss!

When the fire fight started, she planted herself at the front, blade whirling as she batted back bolt after bolt. Almost in quick succession, those on her side arose from their hiding spot and opened return fire.

She had no clue how long she'd been up there, but bodies on both side had fallen -- she kept a messy count from her peripheral.

Had it been seconds.... minutes...hours?

"Romi -- it's good to see you." he nodded a greeting as a soft, thin smile crossed his lips before it slowly abated. Now was not the time for words of compassion.

"Dagon?" so word had gotten through. "Yeah-just when I thought we were gonna stop running into each other like this...I'm so glad you're here."



-----------

Atlas Drake | Tayrankii | Jax Thio | Madison Starr | Peyton Steele | Katarine Ryiah | Cotan Sar'andor

Dagon Kaze | Zaka | Inosuke Ashina | Yagetaka | Cale Gunderson

Xeykard

 

[Madison Starr]

​

South of the Valley
Jax Thio


Inside the Gormak's northern push.

Jax smiled and targeted the jamming towers on the nearby rise. It was on the other side of enemy advance. The opposite way from Jade. An expenditure of time and effort that Madison just wasn't sure would make the difference. Luckily, they weren't as alone out here as she had previously thought.

In the skies above, blinded by the light. Allied transports crossed the north and descended upon the valley to the north. Reinforcements. Jedi reinforcements. Yes!

That was all Madison needed to see to finally agree to Jax's game. A race against time to take down those jammers.

She smiled, "Right. Last one there's a rotten egg."

Now all they had to do was get there.

. . .

They didn't have to cross as much open ground as Madison thought. There had been a trench dug deep into the ground by the defenders. It reeked of death and dirt, and broken battlements smoked with old embers. But it was cover from the storm of infantry that passed over them. They waited until the last of the Gormak war party marched past. Then again took to the field to dash across open ground to reach the jamming towers. Only one squad awaited them. Five creatures.

They were all dead before they could even reach their comms.

"Power cell. Right there. Killing it now!"

Madison ran over to the generator and killed the power. Causing the lights on the jamming towers to fade into obscurity. Releasing the fog of war that blanketed the southern expanse. Now it was just smoke and small embers that choked the springtime fields. Jax comms would be working again.

"There's still Ion cannons firing at anything in the sky. But you can call your droid now. We should be good. At least, for the moment."

She looked up from the small base camp and examined the field. They were south of the enemy push now. Enemies eyes were elsewhere. Focused on a bigger target. Focused on the valley up north.

"This was good. But we're out of position now. Might be that we'll need a ride to the party, eh?"

She pulled out her own comm and smiled to the sky. Jade wouldn't have to wait much longer. Help was already on the way.

 

[Xeykard]

Romi Jade Dagon Kaze | Zaka Atlas Drake Inosuke Ashina Yagetaka | Tayrankii Peyton Steele | Jax Thio Madison Starr ​

The distant explosion drew Xeykard's attention -- the magnitude, the pitch, something told him it was different. He stopped a moment, commanding the Gormak force to continue their advance without him in the lead. Aryrene stayed nearby.

"What happened?" The chatter was mixed, but after a few seconds he received his answer. "This one sees," the Inquisitor muttered. "Tell the survivors to withdraw for the moment."

Ending the communication, he turned to the acolyte. "They've collapsed the canyon. This is currently our only way forward."

Aryrene seemed to consider the news. "Yeah, okay. I can get angry about that," they said. The young Zabrak then started to breathe a little faster, as though gathering some manufactured rage.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting angry. I know, I'm- I'm not very good at that. Ghaesmae was always on me about it." Aryrene shivered.

Xeykard scowled.

"See? You've got it, you can get angry at anything. I'm not at that level yet." They continued hyping themselves up.

Xeykard shook his head, then made a second call -- this time to the commander of the naval forces, far above.

"Move the Red Rain into position above the passage -- point 6-6-1. Sustained barrage, ten seconds. If the passage is still blocked afterwards, fire again until it is. Then, contact the main force to advance once more." His commands issued, he took Aryrene and returned towards the front.

---

Well played, Jade.

By the time Xeykard reached the head of the column he realized the effectiveness of the Voss resistance. They'd clearly stacked towards this side, knowing their flank would be covered by the collapsed passage -- now, in the tight corridor with good cover, the small number of Voss commandos could shine.

Nearly as bright as the saber-waving woman holding the center of the ravine.

"You have your amulet?"

"Yes."

"Good. Summon your demons -- they will pull Jade's attention, before this one strikes." Despite the piling bodies -- Gormak warriors who sought a great challenge to conquer -- the Jedi Master seemed to be tiring. They were not invincible.

Aryrene began the ritual, summoning two demons with a final incantation, "Dwomutsiqsa." Xeykard, meanwhile, focused on himself. Any trace of his presence became quashed, muted; he became a haze, a blur, a simple feeling of nothing. The hunter would not be spotted by his prey before it was too late. His boundless bloodlust became hidden under the song of blaster fire.

When the demons came forth, they surged forward, their smokey forms slowly transfiguring into something more man-like. They screeched past the Gormak warriors, towards the Voss and the Jedi at their center.

Xeykard kept to the shadows, passing near-unnoticed from rock to rock -- before in a sudden burst he too sprinted forward, saber in hand. There was another Jedi nearby, but for the moment Xeykard focused on Jade. His hazy figure rocketed forward, as though a moving blind-spot, until he was within reach.

His saber ignited, swinging silently towards his foe.

 

[Peyton Steele]

"Seems we're being jammed…" Said the Duros on her squad. Part of being in the Scar Worlds was being used to dealing with a grand old number of races. Peyton herself did not mind one bit. The fact that they were being jammed was a bit more obvious now. The blonde blubreen nodded.

"Seems so." She spoke, just barely above the blaster fire that was coming down at them. Tapping at her wrist-top datapad, she pulled up the maps. She had a rough idea where Romi Jade's team was. "Here, lets take this route, I think we should be in the clear if we fight backwards." She transferred over a short beam to the rest. It had them heading towards a ravine nearby. The droids she had out were returning and providing a small insight into where the troops were moving.

"While we move, we keep an eye out for jammers. We need to get communications back up." If ever she needed a Jedi on her team.

Romi Jade Jax Thio Madison Starr Atlas Drake