Campaign &nbsp; The Springtime War | Liberation of Voss

Valery Noble

Dagon Kaze Bernard of Arca

<<"Master Jade is expecting your arrival. There will be a resistance guide familiar with the local terrain waiting on site. May the Force be with you.">>

Master

Zark San Tekka
NJO Ilum Redoubt

"We're broadcasting."

Captain Drake stepped away from the active navigation beacon. He could only see a pair of Voss commandos but knew the rest of their squad was out there somewhere covering their landing site. Gormak tech savants were getting bolder every day. From his experience with Outbound Flight Atlas knew the Alliance had some ace pilots yet if the native tribes managed to trace the signal this was liable to be a real short trip.

"Tracking something..." he checked the readings, "Looks like an inbound dropship. Maybe a few."

As the New Jedi Order strike team descended towards a clearing deep in the valley Atlas certainly stood out among the Voss. His vest was bantha hide and he sported a Glie-44 blaster on one hip. He was obviously some kind of space captain yet hosting a delegation of Jedi warriors in the middle of a warzone hardly seemed to faze him. Fortunate that a trained frontier navigator happened to be planetside when their transmission came through.

"Welcome to the resistance!" Atlas called out when they emerged, "Master Jade will be glad to see you lot. Name's Drake, this charming fellow here is Nakar-Sei. His commandos are keeping an eye out for Gormak sign."

Dagon Kaze · Feb 14, 2022

THE SPRINGTIME WAR
THE FRONTIER vol. I
Issue #1 w/ Zaka Romi Jade Valery Noble Bernard of Arca Atlas Drake

War. From one side of the galaxy to the other, from the crisis on Cato Neimoidia to dismantling the Sith Superweapon on Asog, the New Jedi Order found no reprieve. Always on their feet until their soles bled. Until they had drawn their last breath in service to the Force and the galaxy.

Dagon Kaze held tight as the dropship shuddered against turbulence and the occasional spotty fire from below. The New Jedi were answering Master Romi Jade's call for help as she led resistance forces against the Gormak on Voss seeking to liberate the world from the hold of Sith-imperial remnant influence. The ping had been picked up by the nearby Ossus Praxeum and spread throughout Jedi channels which had led them here today.

The Knight welcomed the soft footing of soil and grass beneath his boots, a long-desired change from the hard, durasteel floor of starship decks and garrison halls he'd been calling home the last few months. The unfiltered air mixed with a hint of distant plasma filled his nostril reminded him of the trenches during the Stygian Campaign. They were not far off from the cursed Sith worlds where so many of his friends and peers had never returned from, sacrificing their lives in the war against the Sith enemy.

"Captain Drake, Commander Nakar-Sei." Dagon offered both a nod to the two men. He knew remotely the former man through the Outbound Flight project and through both Romi and Zark; a frontier man fighting the good fight. "Hoping we'd be of good use for your efforts here." he glanced at the rest of the Jedi beside him, then, "Mind, uh, giving us a bit of a recent sitrep? Punching through the blockade kept us in the dark."

Xeykard · Feb 14, 2022

Jax Thio

Dagon Kaze | Open

He'd been there, when the Empire had taken this world. At the time he was a new Inquisitor, a reserve, watching from one of the window-ports of the Behemoth as the might of the Empire crashed down on the resistance. They'd been told the Gormak were being oppressed, slaughtered by the Voss and their Jedi allies. Those same Jedi were the ones striking at civilian vessels in Sith space. Horrible things.

Seeing the organized Gormak now, in their vast numbers and strength, reminded him that the narratives of the Empire so often concealed the truth. After all, the warlike Gormak were so much stronger; the one rule they operated by was might makes right, and the Empire had been right indeed, until its fall by so many hands.

"Commander Grik-Ti has informed us we've broken through the left flank," the communications officer said.

Xeykard briefly looked at the display. The outpost that had been taken from them was within reach -- and the artifact hidden within. Despite their superiority in orbit, bombardment was not in his plans for Voss. It might encourage them to keep fighting, if anything, but if they won a decisive victory on the Maroon Ait, the Jedi would likely withdraw, and the Voss could be forced back to Voss-Ka. The resistance in their back-line dealt with, Xeykard would be able to make use of the Gormak legions elsewhere.

The Inquisitor adjusted his electrobinoculars, enhancing the distant blasts of the Gormak rifles and heavier weaponry. Despite the spring-like climate of the island, the land had largely been flattened by the armored units they'd brought through. From the hill where the mobile command post sat, he could very nearly see the base they were on the way to retake.

"Bring in our reserves. This one will go with our forces on the right flank to break through. Once we've encircled their center, our reserves will come in to deal the killing blow. This one, however, will go and relieve the few we still have at the outpost."

"Yes sir," the Gormak commander replied.

He started to leave, only for a small sense of danger to turn his mind. In the distance an X-wing struck their main force. Further than even that, he could feel the Force gathering, a knot to ruin their offensive.

"EMPs. Now. Then redeploy our fighters. This one does not want to see a single ship in the sky that isn't ours. The rest is yours." With a wave of his hand to the Gormak commander, Xeykard left.

Not too far away, he called out. "Aryrene! We go."

"Okay." The young Zabrak followed, dressed in their ill-fitting battle armor. They were not much of a Sith, but they were by far the most malleable -- which was why the rest had been left to die.

He took hold of his lightclub, grimacing at the ever-present pain in his left arm.

"I think you should get a new one," they said.

"Pain makes you stronger," he said, gritting his teeth as he checked his equipment one more time. "If we are to face one such as Romi Jade, this one will need great strength indeed."

"I don't know. Just seems, like, uncomfortable."

"Perhaps," he said. When was the last time he'd been comfortable?

The Barabel, now prepared, went to the waiting speeder nearby, and was soon off to the front.

Zaka · Feb 14, 2022

THE SPRINGTIME WAR
BLACKFANG - THE (NEW) JEDI vol. II
Issue #7 - Voss Civil War!
Romi Jade Dagon Kaze Atlas Drake Valery Noble Bernard of Arca

b-Xgik5TO9J145WBGPRFw4hpYfkOYgCUvXfeG7P6CwW0nRFVaaGA8b3eLNqUGRGOfnygZs1B0ZUjixTIl8N9GBdi6I6IIWuZyyjpXyTfxxRlbcBdV-PbnOWPaB-YVrqrR8VOFK76

Plenty big galaxy, and more often than not, it felt they couldn't be where they needed to. So often was the Brotherhood's influence involved in recent events, each time he went to a new corner of the galaxy to face another crisis, he expected an ambush. Asog changed that, but Zaka suspected the retaliation was going to be devastating. As grim as the thought was, he was content in his assumption that the New Jedi's response here was too small scale for this to be anything but a contained planetary conflict.

On the way down, he couldn't help but think he should've came by X-Wing.

But, as efficient as he'd become at marking in new bodies on his fuselage, it typically resulted in a heavily damaged fighter.

Disembarking with the rest of the Jedi, Zaka was antsy to get going. With undoubtedly numerous skirmishes occurring all around them, how could he not?

"We even know why the Gormak attacked?"

Madison Starr · Feb 14, 2022

It was gratuitous.

Jumping from a perfectly good X-Wing fighter. Falling. Weightless. Like a black dot soaring through the sky. Empty and full. Falling faster, and faster, and faster. Until like a asteroid against hard smoldering debris,

You strike the ground like thunder.

A joy as ineffable as the sun.

Two more Gormaks were torn asunder as Madison Starr made landfall alongside her friend. Jax Thio. The ground buckling, torn into the sky, she rose. The sound echoing like a terrible storm. Shaking earth, and rock, and bone's very sinew. Twin electro-wands burning and brandishing the very air around her. Like static. She rose. Pure electricity at her feet. Blazing.

It was gratuitous. Yes. Indescribable. Oh, most certainly. But, like Master, like student. Or so some might say. Even so. She'd just had to try it. Even just this once.

Ever onward. Deliciously backward. There was still a battle yet to swallow. She stabbed and she cleaved, and she tore another warrior-pawn in two. Plasma ribbons wafting in her wake. Red tails, dazzling, dancing, drifting, falling. Like tiny little screams against the battle's howling din. A terrible sound, all encompassing. She moved like lighting and struck like thunder. From cover to cover. From ditch, to stone, to broken little reprieve. Slicing and dicing, and sharpening her weapon's new, eager, hungry edge. Dancing like lighting. White fire and black smoke. Feathering her gentle deathless touch. All along the way.

Looking for a woman on auto-pilot.

Looking for a warrior of utmost beauty and tireless resolve.

But still! Letting Jax Thio do most of the work.

Jax Thio |

Xeykard |

Atlas Drake · Feb 14, 2022

MAROON AIT
VOSS

Dagon Kaze

Zaka

"Sit rep is dank ferrik! This valley is all that's left of the resistance on Maroon Ait. Gormak broke through our lines a few hours ago and Master Jade's pulling back from the coast with whoever's left."

This wasn't his first encounter with Jedi from the Core Worlds, yet it still seemed a strange and distant place. They wore lightsabers but Atlas was more used to reclusive monks and ill-tempered hermits. Maybe their religion wasn't as hokey as he once thought. Captain Drake still preferred a blaster at his side.

Zaka said:
"We even know why the Gormak attacked?"

"That's a great question, kid!" he shook his head, "Hey Nakar-Sei! Why are the Gormak attacking?"

"It is the nature of the Gormak."

Atlas shrugged. His greeting to the Jedi had been brief and the Voss commando did not even look at their guide to answer.

"Thousands of years since first contact and Gormak culture is still a mystery. We know they're territorial, but this island was never part of the ancestral Gormak Lands. Master Jade has sent envoys...they keep getting sent back in pieces."

With a little fiddling Drake powered down the navigation beacon. Aside from a few survey contracts he wasn't exactly a Voss expert but the captain knew Maroon Ait well enough. For a while it had been a smuggler's haven catering to the world's anemic black market for unsanctioned offworld goods. Now the island was almost unrecognizable.

"Resistance base is just a few klicks from here. Got a bad feeling Romi needs us more."

Rhavik Mimbev · Feb 14, 2022

TAGS:

Atlas Drake |

Jax Thio |

Xeykard

Elsewhere, former Jedi Kanbei Takezo was meditating in the Force. He sought balance in his heart. His mind was clouded with visions. He replayed the moment in his head of when he first fell. Master Nobu, dead and riddled with blaster scorching. Bandits screaming in battle. Rage, and then darkness....

<This is Jedi Master Romi Jad->

His eyes snapped open at the sound of a distress signal coming over the communications. The Mykapan stood from his meditative position, listening closer. Trouble on Voss, where the native peoples once more spilled their cousin's blood. Yet, Kanbei knew of Master Romi Jade. He had respect for her, in spite of his own situation

Ever since imposing self-exile, he still kept his Jedi morals to help maintain order and guard the defenseless. He weighed his options carefully. He was technically a rogue Jedi, and could be met with hostility. Yet, he had read of the Gormak and their brutality. Innocent people could get hurt.

"Ar-En, set a course for Voss." He relayed to his droid, "There are people in need of our help"

The disheveled astromech gave a couple of blunt whistles before manning the controls of the ship.

{-------------}

A couple of jumps later, the Ahodori was in the planetary range of Voss. The rusty, Rigger-class freighter descended into the planet's atmosphere. As it approached the coordinates of Maroon Ait, Kanbei sat in the cockpit. He was now adorned in durasteel lamellar armor, in a style reminiscent of his warrior ancestors. Kanbei transmitted back to the channel that sent the distress signal.

"Come in, Master Jade. This is Kanbei Takezo..." He paused, "Former Knight of the Jedi Order. I come offering my aid. Where can I be of assistance?"

Peyton Steele · Feb 14, 2022

Now, to say she knew much about Voss was a lie. Peyton understood that it was a world with a strong Force sensitive population, but that was about it. However, the Jedi, and the Underground seemed to be on the move there, and that meant it was a location for her to be. As an asset of the former, she was already on the system. And that meant she and her compatriots were currently pinned down in the valley, hearing calls from the Jedi to pull back.

She was a Force sensitive, but she didn't fight like one, she was here.

"This is Peyton Steele. Got Gormak pushing for the base from this side. Sending location. Have anywhere to link up?" She was speaking plainly but the sound of blaster bolts through the air, explosions off to the side, she wouldn't be surprised if anyone heard more than half of what she was saying.

"Lieutenant, we have to move! Fighting retreat?" One of the larger troopers, a Wookiee with a translator droid asked. He was popping his had above the rubble to fire over at the Gormak. Everyone was waiting for orders, if they didn't come, they'd fighting retreat, but at least for now? They'd be a thorn.

A thorn with thermal detonators.

Inosuke Ashina · Feb 14, 2022

MAROON AIT // VOSS

Atlas Drake |

Valery Noble | Bernard of Arca

Rhavik Mimbev | Peyton Steele |

Xeykard

Disembarking alongside his New Jedi colleagues, Ashina treaded evenly over Maroon Ait's perpetual springtide detritus. The lack of a blood-retreating chill on the wind reinforced Voss' contrast to the high Atrisian altitudes he'd been residing in for nearly a year. Voss spring might have been mild to an objective measure, yet it smothered discomfort into every inch of Inosuke's skin. Unwilling to express any sense of acrimony, he fell in with the group as they gathered before their guide, looking comparably indifferent to the island as the treetrunks. Greetings and initial inquiries began their expected exchange, trickling information by the shred.

Atlas Drake said:
"It is the nature of the Gormak."

A sharp brow tilted upward inquisitively. Poor as the rationalization sounded, it wasn't as if Inosuke had a better one. Though there must have been easily more to it than violent tendency, there were bigger things to worry about than asserting a contrary.

Atlas Drake said:
"Master Jade has sent envoys...they keep getting sent back in pieces."

"More than one?" Inosuke queried as if he had heard something incorrectly. It was no surprise that diplomacy proved unavailing, but throwing envoys to their sounded callous at a level beyond gratuitous. Just like the Gormak, Inosuke hoped there was more to the story than that. "What possessed her to continue after the first?"

Jax Thio · Feb 15, 2022

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 ,

Xeykard

<Hey Jax,> BB-12 beeped through Jax's radio.

"What is it BB?!" Jax yelled through sounds of blaster bolts raining down Jax and the dispersed troops. Though Jax stood his ground rapidly deflecting blaster bolts, he was busy channeling Battle Meditation to keep the soldiers from panicking. It was nowhere near as powerful as

Jairdain but it should be enough to have the troopers stay calm. "I'm in the middle of something!"

<Madison received our signal and she's heading to your position.> BB-12 beeped.

"Madison?" Jax raised an eyebrow while he continued to bat away blaster bolts. "She's here already? Where?!"

<Look up!>

Confused, the Jedi Master backflipped away from the fighting and immediately gazed at the sky, there was Madison Sky freefalling like a Loth-Bat swooping to catch its prey. "Holy chit," Jax chuckled. "She's actually jumping out of the sky, brings a tear to my eye."

Jax whirled out of cover leaping into the air in a somersault before striking the ground with his prosthetic arm. The force fueled punch created violent shockwaves causing the surrounding Gormaks to trip. Jax took advantage by slicing and dicing his way through the stumbling Gormaks before meeting Madison. "My apprentice!" Jax smirked. "Welcome to the party! I'm gonna need your in clearing the area! We need to cover the soldiers retreat!"

Master and apprentice facing down an entire army. Jax almost felt sorry for the Gormaks, this is a lopsided fight.

Madison Starr · Feb 15, 2022

Vanity is a sin.

And there was certainly a dubious, loquacious vanity in leaping headfirst into combat. Jumping from a perfectly good X-wing to land smack dab in the middle of your foes. She knew this. Everybody probably knew this. It was down right suicidal to believe that only one Jedi and his Apprentice could possibly jump high enough to make a dent in such a massive battlefield, and return alive to talk about it later. And yet. There he was. Making certain death look easy. Just. Revealing in it.

Jax Thio was fighting them all.

~ "Heh. Roger! Clearing away!" ~ She replied in his mind. In his meld. Faster and louder than speaking. Instantly understood.

However. Even smiling. She wasn't quite sure how he did it. All of it. Managing everything. All at once. Under stress, under fire. With war and hell all around you. Making it all look so damn easy too. Heh. Well... Probably because she wasn't quite sure how she was doing it either. You just sort of trust in this golden pressure inside your heart and let the Force take the lead. You focus and you concentrate. You follow the steps and perceive a billion options. You relax into your training and let the real world sort of blend away into another dimension of time, and softer comprehensions. It was almost beautiful really. It made her wonder if Sith perceived battle this way too. Like a euphoria. Like a drug.

She carved another warrior in half. Red plasma from her twin wands sparkling. Illuminating her every move. He died in ecstasy. Rising and falling to the earth. Like a simple prayer. His blood spattering across her boots.

It was a trance of beauty, of vanity, she believed. Or perhaps, simply a wonderful dance of death. She lingered on the edge of infinite motion. Infinite speed. Infinite potential. Though yes. Eventually. Just like before. Just like Cato. Eventually she would tire and grow winded. Her energy would spend. Her concentration would exhaust. Yes, eventually she would slow, and stumble, and forget how she even got here. Slaying or being slayed in kind. Collapsing back into the fragile lump of mortal humanity that defined her species. Ever human. Ever fragile. Yet. Even so. While her strength to embrace the currents of the Force remained. She lingered. Dancing like lightning. Pummeling like rain. Flickering between rock, and tree, and dune, and bullet hell too. A light of hope to her allies. A flash of doom to her enemies. Pure, pure ecstasy.

Though. In her mind. Maybe all this vanity that she was delivering was all just an interpretation at this point. His good. My evil. Your bad. My superhero. Maybe all the killing was just the same to mother nature? Or perhaps. It was simply just a question to great for the human mind. Grasping at straws in the infinite beyond. Far, far beyond her tiny little comprehensions. Maybe she would just never know.

But. As she cleaved another Gormak warrior in two. Splitting him apart from nose down to naval, and watching his body fold to both sides - she couldn't help but wonder again?

Was vanity really a sin on the battlefield? Or was she just thinking too much again.

. . .

Mm. Somewhere out there was a woman fighting on auto-pilot.

And somewhere out there. A Jedi's Apprentice, agreed.

Tayrankii · Feb 15, 2022

Romi Jade said:
A blockade of deadly battleships has cut off any support for the dwindling liberation front, and an eradicator program has scrambled coms making it difficult to get transmissions in and out.

Though they have fought valiantly with the help of Voss resistance fighters, hope is fading for Jedi Master Jade and her men as the Gormak horde closes in.

Atlas Drake said:
For a while it had been a smuggler's haven catering to the world's anemic black market for unsanctioned offworld goods. Now the island was almost unrecognizable.

After days of frantic violence alongside

Romi Jade ,

Atlas Drake , and the Voss Commandos, Tayrankii's breath mask smelled foul. She'd swapped, rinsed, blasted out the filters more than once while trying to sneak some rest at night. The mask had saved her life any number of times, including here on the Maroon Ait.

Watch poison gas sicken a dozen Voss and rebels but leave you untouched, and you'll never take the damn thing off again.

Tayrankii kept her lightsaber off as much as she could to save power. In the first couple of days, she'd killed more people with that saber than in all the years since she built it — including her time with the Raskava Order. Decapitating and dismembering Gormak sickened her like a chemical weapon. Shooting someone with a blaster did its share of damage, but at least this way she didn't have to look them in the face every single time. And a blaster shot screamed go away. Cutting someone up did not.

It got bad enough that, even though the new Jedi were here to save her life and a lot of others, she couldn't watch them carve up the enemy. She just sat in a trench with her rifle across her knees and remembered the casual, exciting place the Maroon Ait used to be.

Romi Jade · Feb 15, 2022

THE SPRINGTIME WAR
Crisis on Voss....

Given the nature of this irregular warfare, their entire force had been broken into smaller groups from the start -- she had been coordinating all of them; she was doing her best to. Whenever the fighting on her side died down, she'd regroup with her team leads to coordinate the next set of instructions for distribution.

She paced the incline to the determined shuffling of sandaled and booted troops. A murmur of apprehension swept through the crowd. Seeing Romi, the stone atrium warriors immediately tensed and looked to the Jedi for orders. The fact that even Romi looked somewhat exhausted herself was not a good sign. She hadn’t took a rotation since they'd been drowned in the thick of it.

Her captain met her halfway on foot. "Heard anything back yet?" she posed the question but hadn't slowed her pace, "I thought I picked up on some voices over the comms earlier but whatever they're using to scramble our system this far out has been a real piece of work. Imperials did them nice looks like-anyway..." She stopped at a clearing with decent overlook. Kelnu approached and joined their circle.

"Were we able to get all forward teams off the coast and back over the line?"

"Ma'am, those who could've made it back would have been back by now."

Her head fell, followed by the outward expression of disappointment and a sigh that told her grief. He motioned for her to turn, and she responded with quick pivot, "Is that our last gunship?"

"Aye, that it is. Just as you requested."

"Well-" she turned and called forth a holograhic display of the current position and the layout of the valley. "-with our right flank down, we can't take a full assault on two different fronts. But, If we reconfigure the fuel system, we can turn the ship into a bomb that should be big enough to collapse the right pass here," she pointed on the holographic map, "They'll have to reroute, and then only be able to engage us from one direction, this ravine just ahead." She motioned. "It's tight, and it's full of jagged rock formations good for cover, and the valley grows narrower here overhead which would make it hard for anything aerially. It should buy us more time, until..."

She glanced up at silent faces.

"Well, if there's no objection. Let's blow it."

-----------

Atlas Drake | Tayrankii |

Jax Thio | Madison Starr

Inosuke Ashina |

Rhavik Mimbev

Xeykard

Dagon Kaze · Feb 15, 2022

THE SPRINGTIME WAR
THE FRONTIER vol. I
Issue #1 w/ Zaka Romi Jade Valery Noble Bernard of Arca Atlas Drake Inosuke Ashina

Zaka and Dagon threw glances at each other over Nakar-Sei's oversimplified response before the raven-haired Knight shook his head -- the fine details mattered little now when their fellow Jedi was on the precipice of death. They had to establish peace-- or rather enforce it given the fierce warzone they had been thrown in. It started with holding the line and pushing back the Gormak offensive.

"Hope? Can figure it out later but now--" he said, glancing at Inosuke, then to Drake, "--where's the resistance most dire? Point us to where we're needed the most." he jerked his head at a holomap projection to the side.

Jax Thio · Feb 16, 2022

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 ,

Xeykard

"Madison!" Jax yelled deflecting multiple blaster bolts while keeping an eye on his apprentice. "Rally to me! We gotta make sure these men get to safety!" More Voss soldiers ran from the incoming fire by the Gormak army. One poor soul was shot on the shoulder landing face first on the grassy field, he painfully struggled to get towards the torn apart building for cover as blaster bolts showered over him. One of his comrades tried to help him up but based on their pace they weren't going to make it. Jax reached out into the Force pulling the two men close to him.

"Thank you, Master Jedi!" One of the men yelled as the got to cover.

Jax redirected a blaster bolt towards a Gormak's skull, half of his head exploded like it was a watermelon being crushed under a Wookie's heel. Smoke came out from his exposed skull as the rest of his body sank onto the floor. Jax relaxed and allowed the Force to guide his Lightsaber his face becoming stoic. The thrill of battle had quickly dissipated, he needed to stay focused on his duty. Jax dodged, ducked, and weaved his way through the array of blaster fire deflecting only those that came directly towards him. Many Gormaks fell to his blade as Jax sliced and diced his way trying to carve out some more space.

"Comms to Master Jade are busted!" Jax said to Madison. "We're gonna have to hold out until we can find a way to reestablish connection."

<Hey Jax!> BB-12 beeped. <I'm kicking ass in the skies as usual but I see an AT-TEs under attack by a Gormak demolish unit! If that AT-TE goes down then it's going to leave a hole in this chit defense Voss has! Sending you the coordinates to its location!>

"Copy BB!" Jax turned to Madison. "The AT-TE is northeast from our location! Clear a path and head there ASAP!"

Madison Starr · Feb 16, 2022

Patience.

Madison seemed to have it in droves. She stood only a few meters from Jax. Just a bit down the hill from him. Surrounded by trees and jagged mountain rocks. Silent as a gargoyle and just as still. She was taking a breather behind a tall thicket of rocks and fallen logs. A break made possible by the strange lack of troops on this side of the hill. Apparently, she'd killed them all.

~ "Roger Jax. Moving to the tank now." ~ She sent mentally. Without sound nor effort.

She took another deep breath and centered herself again. Checked her weapons and ignored the loud hail of gunfire, all around. She looked good. It was fine.

So Madison dashed out from cover and quickly summited the hill. Moving north. Moving east. She didn't need to worry about Jax. I think he liked all the attention the enemy had been given him anyway. She moved incredibly fast. Floating almost. Covering leaps and bounds of earth at a time. Trying to enjoy herself. Trying not to remember that everything seemed uphill at this point.

She looked towards the mountains as she jumped. She sensed their objective up there. A blonde woman in dire straights. Alas, it was too bad she and Jax wouldn't be able to make it there in good time. They'd gotten bogged down in playing 'distraction'.

~ "Friendly troops are wearing mighty thin out here Jax. Keep a low profile as you move." ~ She warned.

She disliked being focus fired. She wasn't much for Jedi deflection anyway.

Madison Starr moved uphill with incredible speed and a dozen Force empowered jumps. She couldn't see the allied tank yet. But she could hear it.

. . .

Jax Thio

Xeykard · Feb 16, 2022

Inosuke Ashina

Dagon Kaze

Jax Thio Madison Starr | Tayrankii Peyton Steele | Open

By the time Xeykard reached the front, most of the Voss had withdrawn to the small valley sitting under the watch of the outpost, and what little resistance was left on their side of the ridge would be crushed soon by their reserves. With that out of the way, he led the Gormak and Sith forces towards the mouth of the ravine.

While they waited for the signal from their forces to the west, the Inquisitor took stock of what they had. Mostly light infantry support vehicles, but a pair of heavy walkers and a horde of skilled Gormak soldiers complemented the Sith marines Xeykard had brought. The tight ravine, though... there would have to be an easier way. Xeykard sought to explore his options.

"Lieutenant Commander." He got the commanding officer's attention. The Gormak wore a somehow-regal battle armor, despite the stains and wear. He bore a dozen faded scars on his face. Even without pupils, though, Xeykard could feel the sharpness of his gaze.

"I am Fir-Vib," he said, straightening. His tone suggested that was how he wished to be addressed. "What is it, Xeykard?" The Gormak man added some word in his native tongue, which Xeykard guessed by his tone was some minor honorific. A few other lower-ranked officers floated nearby, listening in.

"Tell me about the Voss. What are they like? What do they fear?"

One of the officers made a comment in Gormak, then pounded his chest, but the lieutenant commander shot him a look, silencing him instantly. Xeykard noticed how much sharper and redder the other officer's frills were, where Fir-Vib's were rounded and fully green. This was an elder. A veteran of many wars, perhaps moreso than the Gormak commander he had left earlier. Yet, the martial spirit was undiminished.

"Tig-Ya here," he gestured to the younger one, who now stood to attention, "says they are afraid of us. I have fought them before. That is not the case. They fear little."

"High praise. Your people are fearsome, far stronger than your enemies. You control more of your world than they do." It was a wonder to him that the Voss were not yet extinct.

"Indeed. But when a Voss fights with Voss-Ka to their back, every inch we take is paid by a thousand warriors, and their blood waters the crops of the Voss." The bitterness in his tone was well-hidden, but Xeykard would be a poor Inquisitor if he missed it.

"You hate them," he said.

Fir-Vib hesitated, and though he did not turn, Xeykard understood he was conscious of the younger Gormak around him. The warlord raised a hand, signaling for the other officers to leave them. He walked a little bit away from where they were holding and found a rock to sit on. Fir-Vib followed, and a moment of silence passed between them.

"You don't hate them. Why not?"

"I cannot," he admitted, but did not elaborate.

"Do you want peace, then, Fir-Vib?"

Fir-Vib's jaw tightened. "Those under my command have barely seen thirty moons, warlord. Most of my people in this time see sixty before being killed, by the Voss, or out in the galaxy -- and my people are eager for this. I will see my two-hundredth soon, if I do not perish here. But I can still remember when the Gormak and Voss could recall their shared origin, not like today, when each screams vermin, plague, blight at the other, as though we have forgotten everything history has taught us."

"Yet you fight here." Xeykard leaned forward.

"My loyalty compels me more than my desire. I will not shrink from fighting from my people." Pride and duty. "And I would not expect the Voss to act in any other way, either. So I cannot hate them. Hate is blinding, and my people charge blindly, knowing no other way. The Voss are the same." His left hand clenched, and Xeykard noticed he was missing two fingers.

Xeykard nodded slowly. "This one understands," he said, placing his hands on his knees. "This one can make no promises for the future, but-" he rose, and though he stood two heads taller than the old soldier, he felt as though they were on level footing, "your strength and loyalty are unmatched. This one will fight for your people as well. Then, when the Voss, the Jedi are defeated, your people will live a thousand moons, safe and untouched."

He offered a hand to Fir-Vib. Slowly, the Gormak took it. "Very well, warlord."

Xeykard's comm beeped. Grik-Ti had reached the western passage. "Let's move. This one will lead the way -- follow closely," he told the lieutenant commander, who nodded. They went back to the main force, and Xeykard spoke to the gathered warriors.

"The enemies of your people lie ahead. Show them your strength, your ferocity! Slaughter them!" He roared, igniting his saber and raising it high. The Gormak echoed with a war cry of their own. The Sith marines were silent.

The road ahead was winding, narrow, dangerous; with his saber at his side, Xeykard led the way.

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.

Some quick positioning stuff for clarity (checked in with Romi for this stuff)

The Sith/Gormak forces are advancing north, heading into the valley from two passages -- one of which is about to be collapsed. Most of the Voss forces to the south have been wiped out.
The outpost is on the northern ridge of the valley. The retreating Voss and Jedi have gathered in the valley itself.
The reinforcements to the Voss have probably landed on the northern ridge as well, but up to you.

Some larger military actions you can make comments on:

The Gormak are firing off wide-ranging EMP blasts to deny the sporadic Jedi air support and continue disrupting Voss equipment.
A squadron of Sith fighters have entered the atmosphere, and are doing strafing runs of Voss positions. They seem to avoid the outpost.

Cale Gunderson · Feb 16, 2022

THE SPRINGTIME WAR
THE FRONTIER vol. I

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