Skirmish The Vengeance of Marr

[Hasuras Na-Gerra]

Awake, pirates of the void. Look and see the table set for thy feast.

Behold the mighty fortress world of Darth Nefaron , see how the toxic storms ravage the wasteland planet. Home to the Corpse Lord and his dead armies.

Its defenses are numerous and its might is a thing of reckoning.

And yet even so the remnants of House Marr come to reckon, aided by their blood sworn ally, Hasuras na-Gerra, and his Vahlan nomads. So too did the cry go out for the Graspborn to join with the fleet of the Wrath of Vahl, adding the might of Mercy to this armada. And many other pirates besides.

Lo, their armada emerges now upon the edge of the system and creeps forward with an implacability. They thought house Marr beaten and friendless, yet from the ashes a phoenix doth emerge and she is born aloft on wings of fire and destruction.

The armada collides with the defense fleet and the orbital platforms. Space has become a charnel hall of war. Ships float aimless, mere floating husks, sucked dry by the force of vacuum from grievous wounds.

The might of Sith against Sith is a thing unto itself, destruction unparalleled. No rules. No laws to govern this conflict. Nothing but the rule of might.

Woe betide the hapless weak.

Gerra and his warriors launch form his starship and are joined by a chorus of drop pods and shuttles, using the toxic storm in a daring gambit for cover from the defenses of Nefaron’s fortress.

All the while, a broadband message plays on a loop for all to hear.

“NEFARON OF ANOAT, YOUR DOOM IS NIGH.

THE STORMS WILL SWEEP OVER YOUR EMPTIED HALLS WHEN WE HAVE PLUNDERED THEM DRY AND YOU WILL BEG FOR MERCY FROM THE BOWELS OF THE NETHERWORLD.

HOUSE MARR REPAYS A DEBT OWED IN BLOOD AND TREASURE.

PERISH.”

Revna Marr Ansisa Diodoros Vesper Thrace Aurellia Hasuras Na-Eleos Hasuras va-Agrel Hasuras Va-Kull Eurydice Alcariel ​

 

[Vesper Thrace]

This fucking guy, came the flickering, twisting, rapid-fire handtalk of Captain Vesper Thrace to her First Officer, Tavi Corvask as Hasuras Na-Gerra 's voice replayed over the broadband signal. You think he listens to this shit when he's with a woman? Or a man? Or -- probably -- by himself? Oddly enough, the sign for this last bit was remarkably close to the symbol she had previously used for wanker. Mother of the Void, deliver me from egotistical men. Present company excluded, naturally. This last gesture looked something like an apology, a hand pressed briefly to the chest of her lightly armored outfit.

Vepser had already given her rousing speech in the CIC of the Sirenjack to the crew. There was no need for more. And she couldn't imagine having screamed it out to the rest of the system. The ego on this thumb-lookin' mother--

An alert sounded in her ear and she glanced at her wrist-mounted data screen. A red alert showed where a nearby pod's destruction -- from what, Thrace could not say -- had sent shrapnel into the landing pod she was riding into whatever mishegas this business with Gerra was, and their pod was leaking atmosphere. "Listen up," Thrace shouted over the din. The men fell silent and that made it easier to hear the sound of rushing atmosphere. "You hear that? We got three minutes to patch it before this thing crumples like an empty can of juri juice against a gamorrean's forehead. So engineers -- get on it!"

Vesper thumped down the cramped corridor -- there really wasn't much to these pods, including apparently external shielding -- toward where a pair of engineers had already fallen in working to seal the shrapnel hole. "Good," she said, then turned back to the crew. "Almost there. Check your blaster packs. Tighten your straps. I am decidedly not interested in replacing you at the next backwater cantina we come to, so come back from this alive, yes?"

The crew gave a nervous titter at what they assumed were jokes and then raised a cheer at her rhetorical question. Vesper nodded her head once, then returned to her preparation, following her own advice to check her kit.

Remind me to give The Thumb a kick in the shins for that pod, she signed to Tavi with a violent jerk of her head to the side where the previous pod had exploded. These things are basically papier-mâché.

___________________________________________________________________

Hasuras Na-Gerra | Tavi Corvask | Mercy
Revna Marr | Ansisa | Diodoros | Aurellia
Hasuras Na-Eleos | Hasuras va-Agrel | Hasuras Va-Kull
Eurydice | Alcariel | Darth Nefaron​

 

[Ansisa]

Turbulence shook the drop pod, jostling Ansisa as debris peppered the outside like rain on a perspex roof, no doubt from another pod that had not survived the storm. The sound of Gerra's voice looping the same messaged made her close her eyes. She was not here for vengeance, the quart of blood she demanded was not for debt. It wasn't Nefaron who had reduced her to this. It wasn't Nefaron that had seen her separated from her children.

This was however, an opportunity to test her new limbs. No amount of training or exercise aboard a ship could offer the same result as a field test and the anger that settled in her chest longed for release. Ansisa was a killer through and through and she enjoyed the thrill of it, the empowerment of watching the life fade from another's eyes. And she was hungry for it.

As the readout on the pod told her she was clear of the storm she watched the distance to the ground drop rapidly, waiting for a more reasonable number before her she ripped away the restraint and pulled the release hatch for the door, watching as it was torn away with the force of the fall. A beat later she pushed out of the pod, shunting it away from her with the force as wind rushed passed her ears, tearing at her robes as she plummeted to the fortress below, collecting the force to slow her descent.

The impact rippled her as she hit the ground, duracrete buckled and cracked before she straightened, her lightsaber igniting in her hand, the angry blade spitting as her gaze scanned the incoming defences.

Hasuras Na-Gerra Tavi Corvask Revna Marr Darth Nefaron Mercy Diodoros Aurellia Hasuras Na-Eleos Hasuras va-Agrel Eurydice Alcariel

 

[Darth Nefaron]

Anoat had never been assaulted before. The foul and cursed world was nestled within the heart of Sith space, a place that the Dark Lord would have assumed secure from assault.

A mistake he would have to live with.​

Nefaron's fleet was in its infancy, picket and slaver vessels thrown up as a cloak for the larger vessels still under construction in secret shipyards. Still, what little defense they provided gave the Corpse Lord valuable time to muster the terrible host of Anoat to battle. From atop his dark tower, Nefaron watched as the cloud-choked sky leaped to life with laser fire and falling debris from the battle in orbit. It was true that Anoat lacked naval power, but the true conflict would be to take but an inch of ground upon the cursed surface of Nefaron's world.

Anoat had not been a paradise before Nefaron's arrival, but any progress in curing the poison that had taken hold had been erased by the Terror Lord. Its ancient ruins were consumed by foul creatures and the twisted abominations that served the Dark Lord. The surface itself had been cracked open, great pits spewed black smoke as great forges and machines stripped the world of the materials needed for Nefaron's great war. The air itself seemed to serve the Dark Lord, for to breathe on Anaot was to taste the bile that lingered within the very heart of the Sith who ruled the world.

"Master, our foe has deployed dropships and pods. Our defenses cannot bring them down before they reach the surface."

The droid majordomo of Nefaron's fortress, DD-421, approached the Sith Lord as he looked out from his post atop the central spire of his fortress. The storms that ravaged Anaot's surface seemed particularly violent this day, apparently tied to the mood of the creature who ruled them.

"No matter. Are our communications still scrambled by that fool's message?"

"Yes, Lord, it has been on a loop since their fleet arrived in the system."

"Very well. It appears we shall fight as our ancestors did so long ago. Sound the call to battle."

"Yes, Lord. Shall I summon your Apprentices?"

"Let Veradun have his fun. But I entrust you to find Eurydice and bring her to me; I shall not lose her to this rabble."

The droid offered what amounted to a bow before shuffling off. As he exited the chamber, the laser batteries lining the walls and towers of Nefaron's fortress began to spit to life, sending red bolts up into the thick cloud layer and lighting up the blackened sky. The invaders would ot be the only ones to play mind games, for they had come into Nefaron's home.

They had also come to their own graves. ​

The great horn sounded, drums began to beat, and the clamor of armored feet and the roars of great beasts filled the air. Gathering his power, Nefaron's voice became like the wind itself, amplified so all who served him could hear.

"Invaders have come to avenge House Marr. Instead, they will find only death! So come to me, my creatures! Come forth to the slaughter!"

A great and terrible cheer went up as columns of Corpse Legionaries and the beasts they had enslaved marched, taking positions amongst the walls of the fortress as well as on the great planes that surrounded it. Yet they would not be alone, for from the mountains that the fortress was built into came swarms of creatures, winged animals, and genetic abominations taking to the sky to attack incoming drop pods and shuttles while also harassing the forces that had already landed. From his tower, Nefaron watched as the forces of darkness under his command spewed forth, and his wrath only grew.

He would suffer no intruders. All would serve him in the end.

The Tsis'Karr were dead. This was not Malum reaching out from deep space to prepare his return.

This was the work of another. One who bore the name Marr and sought revenge.

As with all who opposed Nefaron, he would enjoy casting their minds into an eternity of terror. ​

The Dark Side swirled within the Corpse Lord, for his tower of sorcery was a weapon in itself. Strong and shielded, it was likely the safest part of the fortress. It was from here that the Sith Lord would command both his forces and the wrath of Anoat itself to strike down his foes.

This storm would break. None could challenge his will and live.

ALLIED TAGS: Eurydice Helix Lirka Ka
ENEMY TAGS: Hasuras Na-Gerra Alcariel Ansisa Revna Marr ​

 

[Helix]

Objective: Secure Anoat, Eliminate Interlopers
Tags: Darth Nefaron / Lirka Ka / Hasuras Na-Gerra / Revna Marr / @Anyone else involved I've forgotten​

"Sir, we're detecting multiple energy signatures. Affiliation unknown."

Helix's gargantuan consciousness stirred from other contemplations, turning its attention to this singular message like a deep-sea monster stalking a lone diver.

At any given time, millions of such communiques hammered endlessly through his macro-sapience, but this one came across louder than most. A pinprick of white-hot, high-priority distress amidst a sea of combat data, credit transactions, and kill reports.

Helix's interests in the Anoat system were long-entrenched, and he had permanently garrisoned no small quantity of forces in the area. Great, militarized mining stations processed countless hundreds of thousands of tons of ores per day, with the stately leviathans of the Helix fleet drifting alongside them.

When not elsewhere, Helix could usually be found overseeing these operations directly. After all, they had funneled vast funds into his coffers, to say nothing of the enrichment enjoyed by Anoat directly. Little else was more important right now than slowly, inexorably strengthening the Dzara. So it was today. He was on Anoat when the reports came.

"Dispatch Third and Sixteenth to reinforce. They are closest." He responded. Nefaron's own fleets may still be barely out of their diapers, but his own were an entirely different matter. Cutting-edge war vessels, crewed by machine-intelligences that boasted accumulated millennia of combat experience. For the time being, his fleets were Nefaron's fleets.

"All hands to battle stations." He sighed, his weary tone undercutting the emergency protocols that now surged in the minds of every droid in orbit. "That includes you, Formless Spawn." He added, addressing the armed mining station in orbit. "Cease processing operations and initiate combat protocols."

The Spawn was somewhat dated already, loaded down with obsolete late-model phosphor drivers and antimatter torpedoes, but she packed more than enough of them to turn most vessels to fine-grain dust in short order. That wasn't even mentioning the much newer, nastier vessels that escorted her.

Helix calculated that this would result in a staggering 12.2% decrease in processing capabilities on the planet, at least while the battle lasted. No matter. If Anoat fell, they wouldn't be processing anything for a while. He'd just have to explain the slowdown in production to Nefaron afterwards, likely by pointing out that this was their first real test as a power bloc.

The galaxy would be watching. Whether the Dzara beat back their assailants or were strangled in the cradle. There was no room, he deemed, for half-measures. This was a show of strength as much as anything else.

Anything not already in-system would take too long to make any difference, so he'd just have to make do with the garrison on hand.

Fortunately, the Anoat system's defenses were robust, if not leaning into the realm of the excessive.

The ships already in orbit over Anoat responded quickly. Great hologram-displays activated, casting kilometers-wide "flags" into space. A three-eyed face over crossed human thighbones. Helix had since evolved past that visage, of course, but it was the traditional emblem of the Helix Privateers, feared the galaxy over as a harbinger of inhuman cruelty.

Should the enemy lay eyes on their vessels at all, there would be his smug face on every surface.

"All hands, hear this. The defense of Anoat is now considered Priority Amber." His thought-commands rippled outwards across every communications channel available. "I will be commanding Nineteenth personally." This in reference to Anoat's own garrison. "When reinforcements arrive, well. We'll just have to make a ghastly enough spectacle to ensure nobody dares try this again, won't we?"

Helix's plan was a simple one: entrap the interlopers above Anoat, then finish them off when reinforcements arrived. He and Nefaron could bicker over who got to take the lion's share of any survivors later...

For now, the Formless Spawn and her accompanying fleet lumbered into battle, leveraging their profuse armament to terrifying effect. Droid starfighters scattered from hangars in great clouds, each loaded down with bizarre and esoteric weaponry.

On the surface, things were not quite so locked-down. Helix's participation in matters planetside had been less comprehensive, an oversight that he would begin remedying right away.

"Ready ground forces for deployment." Came the last order. "Objective: Locate and secure Nefaron and any other priority personnel."

 

[Hasuras Na-Gerra]

The Dark Side swirled within the Corpse Lord, for his tower of sorcery was a weapon in itself. Strong and shielded, it was likely the safest part of the fortress.

The shuttle ramp hit the polluted soil of Anoat with a thud and all within charged out at a dead run - Gerra at the lead. He wore a mask upon his face for the foul red storm which churned about them like a sandstorm was a thing of toxins and poison.

More shuttles landed under cover of the storm and more Vahlans, Hapans, and House Marr warriors poured forth. They all rushed for the walls of the fortress which stood by, looming out of the storm.

Most would think that to assail such a place they would need great siege engines or an orbital strike. Perhaps they might. But Gerra had a plan at hand.

More drop pods had landed inside the fortress itself to sow chaos - those outside the fortress would soon link up with them… once the wall was dealt with.

“Forward!” He roared, charging straight for the wall with his Sith sword in one hand and his hammer at his waist.

The fortress rallied its forces to oppose them.

In the orbit above, starfighter tangled with each other like eagles locking talons and spinning round and round before one or both burst into flames. A vast ballet of death. The capital ships exchanged broadsides, pouring in great volleys of turbolaser fire into one another as they passed.

The great consciousness of the Helix stirred and turned against the Armada.

But for this too, Gerra had a secret weapon.

“Arris, the Droid Brain stirs from slumber. See to it as you saw to the Death Star.”

Allies: Arris Windrun , Ansisa , Revna Marr , Mercy Alcariel
Enemies: Darth Nefaron Lirka Ka Helix Eurydice