These Cruel Stars [Iron Empire]

cheshire_kitty · May 18, 2017

STAGE 01: ENTRY

The husk of what appeared to be a once mighty warship drifted towards the Iron Region. Pushed along by an invisible current on its courseless journey, the delipidated ship appeared to be unmanned as no lights emanated from the colossal vessel's bridge tower nor were there any outgoing transmissions originating from the vessel.

Unable to establish communication with the ship to confirm its intentions or who were aboard it, a command was issued to the members of the Iron Imperial forces to dispatch and investigate this mysterious vessel - an unusual but necessary task. Under these orders, refugees were to be taken in to be quarantined, those responsible arrested, and hostiles eliminated.

Following this command, Iron Imperial ships departed from the military spaceports and towards the lone wanderer to commence the boarding of the vessel. The sanctity of the border was paramount.

"This is Admiral Malric of the Iron Imperial navy. Turn back before you trespass into Iron Imperial space. This is your final warning. We will commence boarding if you encroach on our territory and those responsible will be arrested and tried for this transgression."

One last attempt was made to establish communication with the unknown vessel before boarding was to commence but like all the ones that preceded it, it remained unanswered.

"The unidentified vessel has trespassed," Admiral Malric announced. "Commence the boarding."

Talos Rygat · May 18, 2017

Talos sat on a crate in the gathering area of the hangar of one responding Imperial vessel. He was watching as the soldiers tasked to accompany the boarding mission gathered gear and equipment and met with their respective squad leaders.

Sitting cross legged with his staff leaning against his shoulder, the sorcerer was waiting for his assignment. His Echoes were dancing about the immediate area, excited and chatting like young females.

"What will We find in there...Maybe We shall claim treasure...Or maybe even gain Us a glorious kill to bolster Our notoriety..."

Talos did his best not to engage or encourage them, it could only lead to a headache. Talos was in fact excited to find out what exactly was going on in the derelict ship that had entered Imperial territory, with no signs of life or any form of communication, curios indeed.

Kellyn Muir · May 22, 2017

Space was an abyss of unknowns, even in this day and age where intergalactic travel was a norm. The marvels of modern technology had taken the galaxy so far, yet space was still the single greatest threat to those who were not prepared to weather the vacuum. CDR Jorda Isard though, was one prepared for all such circumstances.

Though an officer of the Iron Imperial Navy, she was hardly a combat type. She was a doctor and a scientist, studying the geothermal plants and their sustenance on the planet of Toola. Her rank was just a means, a means of determining her salary in practice. Though not a military woman, her rank still carried the authority of a traditional military officer, and as such, carried all the benefits of it as well. The Iron Empire's travel routes were still relatively unknown to the greater galaxy. It was a blessing for national security, but a curse for those who traveled frequently out of Iron Imperial space.

She had been boarding on the Intrepid for three days now, as the ship had been slated to return to port by the end of the week. As the intercoms began ordering the servicemembers to their action stations, she came to the grim realization she wasn't going to be returning to Csilla on schedule. In civilian attire, she walked in the direction of the bridge with a lengthy stride.

With marines scurrying to avoid making physical contact with the mid-grade officer, she turned to enter the bridge of the cruiser. Halting in the doorway for a brief moment, she scanned the area to locate the CO, Admiral Erak Malric. Beelining to the man, she was stopped before she could get close by the XO, Captain Micah Walsh.

"Don't even think about it.", Walsh warned, holding an arm across her waist at his side, looking down at Jorda's auburn hair. "He's been on the hook with the CNO for the past hour. That's not a conversation you want to interrupt."

Frustrated, her heavy breathing slowly began to subside as she saw a life size hologram of the head of the entire Iron Imperial Navy. She knew he was a quiet man, but highly respected. Unafraid to dissent even with the emperor, Grand Admiral [member="Zeradias Mant"] was widely rumored to be his right hand, though it wasn't known how much truth there was to that. Nonetheless, the power he carried was real. He was arguably the most influential person not of royal blood in the empire.

Pushing his arm down, she took a step back and glared up at the executive officer. Behind her fiery eyes and furrowed brows was an unrelenting rage, a rage that was fueled by the total disregard for her work that took two months to collect. Hidden in the shadows of the spite was another emotion, far less detectable but far more prevalent than not - desparation.

"Sir! With all due respect, if we don't return to Csilla within 48 hours, my work...it's done! All of it! Gone! It took two months in the subarctic To-"

"Stop."

Moving her hair behind her ear, she took a deep breath and again confronted the obstacle between her and her answers.

"Micah, the Intrepid was supposed to return to port two days ago. We're pushing the envelope as it is, my work needs to get to Csilla!"

"Go.", he said. She could tell the friendliness in his voice was dissipating. He wasn't asking.

Unhappy, Jorda returned to her quarters and began packing. She was so ready to leave, she almost left no trace as if anyone had lived where she slept. If the command staff of the ISV Intrepid wasn't going to help her, she'd have to take things into her own hands. The ship carried an abundance of shuttles - surely they wouldn't mind if she borrowed one.

Théodred Heavenshield · May 24, 2017

He was late. By military standards. But a Jedi arrives neither early nor late, but when he means to.

The canopy of the fight snapped and hissed before opening and sliding back along the body of the ship. Theo pulled off his flight helmet, clicked out of his harness and stood before leaping out to the floor of the hangar on ISV Intrepid. One hand holding the helmet while the other busied itself with loosing the zip on the flight suit he looked around to find the hangar crew bustling about expecting others to arrive soon, and no doubt others to leave. It was not long before his ship was swarming with droids and machines running all manner of diagnostics, refueling and the like to the point it appear he was in the way.

Apart from his lightsaber, his flight suit was all he had on him and he would have to go get kitted up for the mission ahead. No doubt others of the Iron Legion were already here and so he set off for the door, boots clipping on the metal surface and behind him the roar of an ship engine echoed through the room. A gust of hot air propelled him forward slightly as the door opened to the main body of the Intrepid.

[member="Iron Empire DM"] | [member="Jorda Isard"] | [member="Talos Rygat"]

cheshire_kitty · May 26, 2017

Unconcerned about the Iron Imperial vessels that surrounded it, the unmanned ship continued on its course, intruding further into the Iron Empire's territory as if it was teasing those who were to board it. 'Come inside and see what you find,' it seemed to taunt in its eerie silence.

Steadfast their mission to investigate this enigmatic vessel, and undeterred by its ethereal aura that seemed almost ghostly, Iron Imperial shuttles launched from the hangar bays and towards the unresponsive vessel. It had been advised to turn back, not heeded the warning and now, they were to face the consequences.

Traversing through the boundless space and quickly closing the distance between them and the vessel, its hangar came into sight. Doorless – probably blown off in the bout of combat that had left the vessel in its current decrepit state, the hangar offered no resistance to the boarding of the Iron Imperial shuttles that would soon arrive.

[member="Théodred Heavenshield"] - [member="Jorda Isard"] - [member="Talos Rygat"]

Kellyn Muir · May 30, 2017

It was done. Jorda was ready to requisition her own shuttle and set course to Csilla, skipping this drill or whatever the Navy had planned. She wasn't a combat type anyways, her talent would be wasted remaining there. Walking with an aggressive step, she moved through the metal corridors of the cruiser in the direction of the hangar. After countless "ma'ams" of rushed greetings, she finally made it to the shuttle. Making a sharp turn through an opening door to the hangar, she pushed forward to the hangar. Before she could set foot in there, she grunted as she ran straight into someone. That someone turned out to be a colossal giant of a man, one who wore no rank, which probably meant she outranked him. Though her rank was just determinant of her pay level, it still came with the very real perks of a military officer. One such perk was arrogance, though sometimes it could prove to be a curse all the same.

"Watch yourself.", she warned frustratedly as she took a half step back and circumnavigated the beast. Shaking her head and rolling her eyes as she continued her aggressive pace, she located the flight officer who'd be able to help her, even though he wouldn't know her motives. All she knew is he'd dare not question her, it wasn't his place. Pointing to the far end of the hangar to a small, empty shuttle, Jorda relaxed slightly and began walking a less brisk pace to the ship she'd about to requisition. Soon, all this would be out of her hair and she'd be able to go about her business, and by extension, the empire's business unmeddled.

[member="Iron Empire DM"] | [member="Théodred Heavenshield"] | [member="Talos Rygat"]

Théodred Heavenshield · May 30, 2017

It was not a wall of darkside energy or a snapped order from a superior that stopped Théo in his tracks, but a barreling woman striding with a purpose had collided with him. In the short moments of this brief encounter, he had noted her rank and service to the Admiralty, her gruff nature and those rolling eyes. "A thousand apologies M'lady", he replied to her with a grin as she scurried away across the hangar. He was about to turn and continue on with his set purpose when a large heavy pack was slammed into his lower torso. "Centurion Heavenshield, you can change on the shuttle", and thus said one of the Iron Legion command. "And your're late", the comment thrown back over his shoulder.

Briefing was over in the blink of an eye.

He fell behind the line of Legion members as they made for their respective shuttles, his was sitting engines warming, which happened to be next to the small one destined for the sour woman. "I take it you are not joining us on this mission?", he stopped her in her tracks as she was about to board. "I don't see any medical personnel preparing for this. We don't know what we are going to find over there". There could be anything. Survivors probably not, but the mission needed to be prepared for casualties. And no doubt this haughty woman would simply love his lack of rank protocol in addressing her.

[member="Jorda Isard"] | [member="Iron Empire DM"] | [member="Talos Rygat"]

Kellyn Muir · Jun 1, 2017

As she approached the shuttle, with a turn and pull of the door latch, it whirred open from the side, revealing a dimly lit cabin with a pole in the middle surrounded by small bench seats around the edge of the interior. Throwing her modestly sized rucksack inside without much care, she then entered and placed her brushed black briefcase on back of the pilot's seat, with automated claws reaching out and securing it tightly.

The trip to Csilla would last a few hours at least, and she didn't want to sit in that pilot's chair any longer than she had to. She still needed clearance to take off, as well as for the hangar bay doors to be opened. Stepping back outside, she leaned against the shuttle scrolling through her datapad intently, though in truth it was mostly to pass the time until she'd be able to launch. That's when the voice spoke. She looked up to see if her ears heard and her brain processed correctly. They did. The tall man stood before him, curiously inquiring as to her role in their upcoming mission. She couldn't help but smile, letting out a small chuckle as she moved a strand of hair out of her eyes.

"No, I'm not joining.", she said curtly. "I'm off to Csilla." She stopped herself before she could spew out more details. She was just so damn eager to get off this floating hunk of metal and into her lab back on Csilla. It was no excuse to compromise her rogue actions though, as the more people that knew the more of a liability it was.

It was then she heard radio static from the cockpit. "Duty calls.", she said under her breath as she crawled back inside to sit in the pilot's chair.

"Ares XV, you are not cleared for launch, I repeat, not cleared for launch. Per Stallion 6, you are to report to Stallion 5 in the hangar bay."

"Kark!", she shouted, taking off her headset and throwing it against the dashboard. So close, yet so far.

[member="Iron Empire DM"] | [member="Théodred Heavenshield"] | [member="Talos Rygat"]

Talos Rygat · Jun 9, 2017

(2)

As the Echoes carried on their own conversation about what treasures or horrors this derelict held, Talos found himself staring blankly at the crowd of Legionaries that bustled about the hangar, reporting to respective commanders and gathering requisitioned gear. He could relate. All these individuals acted independently while their host, the ship, had its own tasks to perform. Much in the way of Talos and his Echoes. He was a vessel for these souls to carry out life onboard.

Having his Sephi Legion accompany him on this mission wasn't allowed by high command, too many unknowns with them. They were born out of evil yet served Talos without hesitation. Many thought he'd kept them around for nefarious purposes and had little else to say on the matter. Talos was sure the Emperor was aware of their existence and had yet to bring anything directly to him, but his commanders were independent thinkers when it came to the finer points of commanding the Iron Legionnaires. Emperor Baelor wasn't going to take the time to pick each and every soldier in his kingdom and hand place them in their units, he hadn't the time nor needed to with the delegated work falling down the ranks.

As this all went on, it would appear that the boarding parties were nearing completion of pre-launch. Talos waved his thoughts away to his subconscious for the time being. Matters for another day, when he had more free time. Now he'd need to get into gear and get a vacuum suit on in case the ship wasn't sealed. He'd naturally keep his robes on over the sealed suit, he felt much more comfortable with them on. A simple sealed unit was enough for him he figured. He wasn't an armor savant and had little care for quality. So long as it kept his eyeballs in their sockets.

These Cruel Stars [Iron Empire]

More options

cheshire_kitty

All that remains

Talos Rygat

Keeper of Souls

Kellyn Muir

Dirge of the Sun

Théodred Heavenshield

Norbæn Véurr

cheshire_kitty

All that remains

Kellyn Muir

Dirge of the Sun

Théodred Heavenshield

Norbæn Véurr

Kellyn Muir

Dirge of the Sun

Talos Rygat

Keeper of Souls

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