Total Annihilation by the Evil Machine

[Aster Jen'allé]

Semana​

Mid day on the planet Rodia​

The calm before the storm​

​

CHARACTERS:
[member="Raien Keth"]
@Jareth Johnathon Holst

PREMISE:
Jareth and Keth had previously discovered ancient droids on the planet Byss. In order to test these droids they traveled to Rodia in order to eliminate a troublesome clan of criminalized Rodians.

​

 

[Raien Keth]

Rodia the second calling.

The droids were not yet combat ready, that much was obvious to someone who had fought more battles than counting. They needed genetic material, and they needed the experience of those who died at their hands. The complicated cloning procedure of the biodroids required a vast amount of material truth be told.

When Raien had looked to Dust to provide the next target, the Betrayer had sort to tie his apprentice further into the biodroids by demonstrating their potential use at eliminating Dust’s threats. Manipulating events to better work in his favour was the desired result, whether yet it would pan out that way was uncertain, but the lives of the gang they looked to eradicate were of no consequence, no value, and merely a test to him.

Black, part man, part insect, part droid the biodroids edged forward slowly, faceless creations carrying melee weapons of all denominations, and a few lightsabers among them. The mountain fort they sort to scale was guarded on all sides, and some would have doubtless preferred an indirect route or a surprise attack, those people were not Raien Keth.

Sith transports landed planetside, and the droids began coming out, a half dozen Massassi Sithspawn leading them, though the Massassai would let the droids do the fighting as instructed, on pain of death, was their Master’s exact words. He could spare no Massassi, but he could spare a million droids. Raien needed to see what the droids could do without interruption.

“My apprentice, this is your final test. If you survive here leading the droids, and successfully take this fortress, you will have proven yourself. If you fail…” Raien Keth didn’t finish the sentence because Dust would likely be dead, “you will have failed yourself in avenging their deeds.” That should give him purpose enough. "They will have had the last laugh, on you."

[member="Jareth Johnathon Holst"]​

 

[Aster Jen'allé]

*Dust prepared himself for the coming battle. These were low class criminals and bounty hunters; however, their numbers were a threat to Dust if he allowed himself to be overwhelmed. He would need to let the droids do a good bit of the fighting to ensure his survival. He was ready, he had a plan, and the assault would commence.*

Dust: "I am ready master, give the word and my assault shall begin. This will be the spark with which I ignite the galaxy and burn those unworthy of living."

[member="Raien Keth"]

 

[Raien Keth]

“It all starts with a spark.” He agreed in joint statement with his apprentice. Raien for one of the first times in his history, would allow an apprentice to lead the assault, it was a change of tact from the betrayer, but not without reason, as he was beginning to see the potential in Jareth to lead groups, not just fighting on an individual level. Today was a test for him, however it went, it would be interesting.

“The droids are expendable, the Massassi are not,” Raien reminded, though in truth everyone was a resource to him, the Massassi were worth significantly more at the moment, because he could produce new droids at his leisure.

“Begin your assault.” Raien’s rebuilt voice carried forward, and several of the droids looked up toward Jareth for orders, the Betrayer would follow behind, observing and of course killing anyone who delayed his approach.

The grey mountain fortress ahead had three paths upward, the main larger one for vehicles which saw two turrets at the top of it, or two side pathways for individuals two abreast a most, these were thinner and harder to navigate upwards. Nobody knew they were here yet, or if they did they didn’t seem to care from behind their walls, but that would probably soon change. The fortress walls were thick and high, but there were weakpoints in the fortifications at the base, or the doors used to gain entrance.

[member="Jareth Johnathon Holst"]​

 

[Aster Jen'allé]

*Many Sith were reckless, relying on overwhelming power to defeat an opponent. Dust did not share in this reckless arrogance, preferring strategy mixed with refined power to destroy enemies with efficiency. He had control of the droids now, and he began the advance as a thick fog rolled in, covering the enclave in a zero-visibility blanket of ice crystals. The air cooled to around 30 degrees fahrenheit, chilling the enclave and eliminating the turrets as a factor by preventing any standard or even thermal sighting.*

Dust: *to the Massassi* " Lead your troops through the fog after I destroy the turrets entirely. Begin the advance after my signal on the comms, moving slowly at first to maintain stealth until I am able to destroy the turrets. Then focus on destroying the doors, as once the turrets are gone there will be no real threat to the sheer numbers of our force. We can overwhelm them quickly and end the assault before they even know it began."

*The plan was set into motion. Now he need only to move forward into battle.*

[member="Raien Keth"]

 

[Raien Keth]

Raien nodded as the black march began, the future coming towards them, with Darth Surtr and Dust commanding it, a black wave of science and nature combined to create eternity.

Clever dust’s approach was, using the force as well as those around him, Raien could tell he was going to be a natural with the abilities he would possess, nothing would be beyond his reach if he used everything at his disposal and didn’t limit himself, he could command armies bolstered with his powers clear as day. The Rodians saw the fog, saw the problems with the turrets, but hadn’t started firing yet, they had however began to open windows to look out and see what was going on!

Someone started to descend the mountainside into the fog, but all that happened was the slump of a body, because as soon as he met a droid, he was cut down, and didn’t get back up. The fog reached the fortress itself, encompassing it, and the men hanging out the windows began to panic at the snap freezing cold.

A few shots were fired randomly, not hitting anything, but the men inside weren’t taking any chances, they were just firing blind. Nevertheless finally with a thud the first droid was struck and fell, but a hundred more marched over it not missing a step.

[member="Jareth Johnathon Holst"]​

 

[Aster Jen'allé]

*Dust's plan had worked. The turrets were now disabled and he had been able to scale the fortress unscathed. He was now inside the fortress. Fog settled like a blanket inside, cold as death and perhaps as deadly, making Dust difficult to detect. He was able to make it to the door and plant the explosives which would open the front door for his army as well as clearing the area of any Rodian's in the large blast area. He began to climb out, scaling to the primary guard tower where there was a nest of heavily armed Radians taking potshots into the fog. A voice as cold as the air around them,*

Dust: *Quietly to the Rodians* "Listen closely, hear the Voice of the Fallen"

*With that, Dust ignited his lightsaber [http://starwarsrp.net/topic/57792-voice-of-the-fallen/#entry863281]and with a few quick sweeps of his blade the Rodians were eliminated and a blast like thunder knocked at their door. The signal was heard and the battle would begin.*

[member="Raien Keth"]

 

[Raien Keth]

Dust had made it inside the fortress cleverly, but the criminal syndicate had a surprise for him, they had reinforcements arriving behind him, scaling the fortress to his rear, dismounting they were taking up positions against the rockface and picking off the rear most of his droids, who were just turning to see what was happening. One thing a Sith or Jedi had to be ready for, was often to face greater numbers, the force’s way of bringing balance to an otherwise easy fight.

Inside the fortress

“Now!”

From the upper floors they started firing down into the lower ones, holes carved into the floor, the walls, this old fort had been entrenched for a long time, expecting a raid one day. Blaster fire ricocheted inside, though the stone absorbed most of it as it wasn’t reflective, the crossfire was impressive at the entrance way, and about a dozen droids fell to blaster fire.

His Master’s focus increased, a roar born of the darkside made real into the surrounding air pressure, then a release, slamming a force push with such force, it breached an old stone wall and crushed a few rodians beneath it. He was keen to see how his apprentice dealt with these new challenges.

[member="Jareth Johnathon Holst"]​

 

[Aster Jen'allé]

*Unforeseen difficulties began to show themselves as they always do: right when you feel things are under control. Dust saw this as opportunity however, time to test the edges of his power with alter environment. He sat in the room, door sealed now with bodies lying around him, and focused. Using empathy he felt the Radians emotions and found the ones on the cliff face. The sky above darkened further as the clouds above the fog became the base for a storm. Electricity could be felt in the air and suddenly a bolt was manipulated to strike the Rodians one the cliff face. The close proximity of the clouds due to the elevation made this a simple task and as lightning arced from the sky to strike a multitude of times at the cliff face the Droids had already entered the building, some scaling the walls like demon-insects pulling the blind firing rodians on the edges of the fortress walls over to the ground below. The rear should now be almost entirely clear of hostiles and the Rodian criminals inside the fortress would start to really see the creatures they were facing. The numbers were starting to even up once again; however, Dust's army would have one great advantage in fear. These otherworldly creatures would look like demons sprouting from the depths of the underworld, and the erratic state of the environment around them would seem like the workings of some unholy executioner.*

[member="Raien Keth"]

 

[Raien Keth]

Sword and saber met blaster fire, as the battle raged on around them, encased in a storm and a soon to be stone tomb.

Their rear reinforcements swept aside, facing what appeared as demons and terror tactics the criminals did as you’d expect, started to pull back, room by room, door by door, but they didn’t have a great many places to go, and like frightened animals would lock doors, seal themselves in, or fight desperately to the end. This is why sieges were often so costly, and why you should always leave a route for your enemy to flee by, something almost all Sith overlooked in their pursuit to crush all resistance, all except Keth who had his youth spent learning the ways of Echani strategists who communicated through combat.

Here however the goal was to wipe out the criminal syndicate and so expending droids was acceptable, still Raien gave them their out, cracking the side of the fortress with a resonating combustion, it blew apart and down came a small chunk of the wall. Half a dozen tried to flee, but on the other side waiting ahead were a cluster of droids, a small tip to Dust for later perhaps: Let them flee, right into your swords.

From the upper most floor, Hihdo Roolek the crime boss wasn’t so easily scared, he pulled out the biggest Ion rifle you’d ever seen, attached it to the railing, and started spray the floors below, it was partially effective on the biodroids, and an ion grenade or two was dropped, they even lobbed a cryoban grenade with it, snap freezing some of the floor below by stealing the heat from the main room. The droids had taken the lower floors now, all that were left were corpses, while the criminals fired from balconies or through the floor in carved slits, ascending the stairs was harder, they were bottlenecking the droids and it was proving costly to use them. Thankfully Dust had even planned for that, sending them up the walls!

That still left the main staircase however, a Massassi named Roshnax roared ready to charge, if the Sith acolyte wanted to commit this valuable resource by allowing him. The red forms of these hulking LT’s stood out only adding to the unholy feel to the entire event, pulling apart rodians with their bare hands at times.

[member="Jareth Johnathon Holst"]​

 

[Aster Jen'allé]

*Dust continued his assault, making the last push to eliminate the remainder of the opposing force. He instructed his Massassi to continue keeping to the back lines, allowing the Bio-droids to take the punishment. The message was clear, the Massassi were not to endanger themselves. This small skirmish was not worth the life of even one Massassi, and whereas the droids were reproducible in mass amounts, the Massassi were irreplaceable. The final push began with the droids flooding in from above and below as Dust himself stood up and made his way quickly and quietly toward the crime boss. Eliminating Rodians around him stealthily, Dust made his way behind their leader and in a moment Hihdo was decapitated, breaking the spirit of the criminals completely. No offer of mercy was made, no escape remained: Dust would see them all eliminated as his force empathy continued to influence the Rodians turning their fear into pure dread.*

[member="Raien Keth"]

 

[Raien Keth]

Dust spared the obvious suicide run of the Massassi, which got a nod from Raien as he was using his resources wisely, like a strategist would, and a growling resignation from Roshnax. It did make taking the main stairs significantly harder, even coming from the walls, the Rodians left there had erected what appeared to be force field generators between the stairs and the flanks, barricading off the main staircase in what was proving to be a last stand for many of them. The last stand which made them desperate, cornered and fighting twice as hard even through the terror, though one or two did simply shoot themselves as the droids closed in because of Dust’s empathy overwhelming them.

Every step of the main stairway up cost the droids more of their number, even as they smashed against the force field generators on the sides to try to breach, and unfortunately for the droids, still learning combat as they were, the floor opened up as part of the stairway gave way to deep pits below in the basement, sending several falling to their destruction. Though many were able to cling like spiders to the outer edges, or recover from the wounding falls which happened now every few steps.

Outside of this clever fortification attempt, seeing their leader go down was a killer blow for the moral, it left the Rodian's terrified, and some pleading with Dust to let them live, one or two retreated into what appeared to be scattered hardened panic rooms at the peak of the structure.

Raien took a backseat here, smashing aside anything coming his way as he advanced, waiting to see if his apprentice continued to demonstrate his ability, or if the forcefield generators built into the floors would prove too much for him to handle, but there was something else going on in the chaos.

What Dust may or may not release just as Raien did now.... in one of the panic rooms, someone was rigging up a bomb, but how to find him in time? Cut through each of them? "You have an additional threat upstairs." Was all the betrayer gave dust to work with, his farseeing allowing him to glimpse but a faint trace of it, all his training with Dust had been to get the man to think on his feet, to adapt, to endure and conquer.

Always a test, and perhaps one last time...

[member="Jareth Johnathon Holst"]​

 

[Aster Jen'allé]

*Dust noted the issue with the generators. He would need to find the power source in order to solve this problem but there was another problem according to his master. Upstairs, something was happening and Dust would have to find out the threat in any way he could. Dust sat behind cover, using his empathy to reach out and find anything unusual. His senses felt the fear, the desperation, but nowhere was the desperation more heavily focused than in one of the upstairs rooms. Something was wrong, he could sense it, anyone that desperate would be willing to commit acts going against normal survival instinct. The droids would have to last out for now as Dust went to deal with this new threat. Moving with some degree of stealth he placed himself below where the threat appeared to be. Focusing on the ceiling above him, he accelerated the molecules of the relatively weak roof structure. With an explosion the first layer was shattered away revealing the floor of a hardened durasteel chamber. Dust thrust his lightsaber through the metal and into the chamber, slowly cutting away at the thick material. He felt the person above him turn from desperation to pure and abject terror as a hole was carved in the floor beneath him. As the hole was completed, Dust dodged out of the way of the heavy metal disk he had created and used his alter environment to cause the lights in the room to short out and knocking the Rodian to the ground. He jumped into the room silently, lightsaber drawn but not ignited, he advanced. The Rodian fired a couple of blind shots through the air, catching a glimpse of Dust as Dust seemed to catch the blaster bolts out of the air. Dust stood before the Rodian and ignited his blade.*

Dust: "Judgement has come for you; however, there still yet be a chance for you. Tell me what you have done. Confess your sins and tell me where the force field generators can be shut off. Then will Judgement spare you, for now."

Rodian: "A... A bomb, over there... Incomplete..."

Dust: "Very good, and the force field cut-off?"

Rodian: "T... Two halls over. Another panic room like this one. The switch should be there."

Dust: "You have done well, I sense no feeling of deceit in you so I shall spare you. Let your fate be your own, if you can escape."

*Dust used his telekinesis to drop the unfinished makeshift bomb gently to the lower level, contacting one of the Massassi to have his bio droids remove the threat. Being very capable in engineering due to his learnings prior to becoming a Sith, he could tell the bomb was in fact incomplete with no detonation method yet created. Dust opened the door and left the Rodian paralyzed with fear as he followed the directions of the bomb builder coming to a room with several Rodians inside. Dust used force combustion directly on the door, draining him heavily from the strain of accelerating such a heavy door, causing it to explode before he used a heavy force push to prevent shrapnel from accelerating toward himself. He stepped into the room, several bloodied Radians in various states of injury were lying on the floor, coughing and choking on their own blood. Dust asked one of the most painfully injured Rodians,*

Dust: "Where is the generator cut-off? Tell me this and I will end your life now, quickly, make me search and I will leave you in this state to die slowly and suffer. Either way I will find it."

*The Rodian could not speak, but pointed to a small statue on a desk in the room. Dust moved toward it and moved it, finding a false plate beneath the statue. He slid the plate off and pressed the button to the satisfying sound of silence as the steady hum of the force field generator went silent. He then destroyed the desk button to prevent its reactivation before giving the Rodian the quick death he was promised before summarily eliminating each survivor to ensure they didn't later prove a hinderance to him. Dust did not like to get dirty in such circumstances as these; however, he was more than capable.*

[member="Raien Keth"]

 

[Raien Keth]

The stairs were overrun from the sides as the forcefields crashed down, screams as the cordon closed around the survivors holding out, a hell of a last stand though back to back. The last criminals were just overwhelmed with numbers, picked off and hurled below into waiting swords to be finished, these insect-like droids pouncing from the roof as well, learning the technique of attacking from all angles from Dust.

Raien braced his boots and began leaping his way upward in heavy lunges, he took himself to an upper floor, luckily for Dust he had not yet seen the mercy offered, but sadly for the Rodians Raien showed no such mercy to any escaping. A group running to a side door would find themselves hurled over a fragile balcony railing, plummeting to a rolling death on the rocks below. While others wildly firing blasters like they meant anything, found the secure shell of Soresu going through the all too familiar motions to sweep aside their fire, straight back into them, tight circles as always. Grenades were thrown and sent back in a force push as the last group on the upper floors fell in a fiery explosion of their own making.

There was something he wanted here himself, because things were never as simple as they seemed with Raien, the plans for the turrets on the outside wall, which he felt would be higher up toward the secure rooms which the Rodians were locking themselves up in.

Face to face with a vault, he began to cut it, but his saber bounced off the surface, clever, some sort of internal forcefield here too, perhaps they were not clever enough to keep one on the roof? Indeed they were not, cutting a hole upwards he reached the roof of the fortification, and began cutting into the vault itself from above to take what he wanted.

Dust had things well in hand, there was just the cleanup and securing the building, because you didn’t want any hidden surprises for later, thankfully droids were methodical if tasked to be and wouldn’t complain at any order, or any amount of pleading for their victims lives.

“Secure the building, and join me on the roof.” Plans in hand, Raien jumped back to the roof, boots finding clawing purchase on the stone and began looking out across Rodia, another battle heaped atop a lifetimes.

[member="Jareth Johnathon Holst"]​

 

[Aster Jen'allé]

*The droids swept through the building, killing anyone left alive. No mercy, no hatred, just cold-efficient murder. There were no survivors. Dust climbed to meet Surtr as soon as he saw there were no remaining enemies. He stood across from Surtr, his hair tossed in the wind.*

Dust: "What do you require of me, Master?"

[member="Raien Keth"]

 

[Raien Keth]

Atop the old stone, standing out over rodia one more fortress theirs for the taking, he turned to his apprentice and nodded slowly, eyes boring through dust looking into the core of him, a long black stare before the artificial eyes became red again. Nothing was said for a moment, as the battle below was coming to an end, just the noise of the wind and vibroswords mixed within it.

“It is time my apprentice.” Raien said cryptically as he sometimes did.

“For you to take your place amongst the Sith, no more the acolyte,” the smell and sounds of battle was dying down below but it served as the foundation for what would come next, Dust’s ascension to his rightful place.

“Take your Darth name, kneel as Dust and arise as a full Sith.” The galaxy was now at his fingertips. Raien’s gritty voice stated the finality of it, his path was set, the training had been long and hard, the darkside well rooted inside Jareth as it had been before in those he’d trained, and he had survived to pass the trials asked of him.

[member="Jareth Johnathon Holst"]​

 

[Aster Jen'allé]

*Dust knelt before his master knowing that he was taking essential steps toward his end-goal. Hearing the words of his master he rose, with one phrase pounding through his head.*

Prolaetus: "Darth Prolaetus"

[member="Raien Keth"]