Junction Uprising of Epoch | Second Great Hyperspace War | Junction of GA - Ianane III and BOTM - Thearterra

[Auteme]

Titus of Epoch Kirie | Kralmus Orr ​

The first challenge presented itself as they entered Sirius Square. Sirius Fossk had a striking statue, but the scene laid out before them struck in a different way. The horror itself was enough to shock the crowd -- bodies hung from Sirius's outstretched arm, their throats cut, dripping blood onto the square below. The accusation of traitor cut into their bodies, insulting even more with the legacy of the ancient Fossk.

She steeled herself. She stared at the corpses where once she would have looked away. She pointed to them, crying out to the citizens gathered. "Look!" Her voice rang out, amplified by the Force. "Look at how they twist your justice! They hang the innocent, silence them forever, and deem them traitors. Traitors! Do not be fooled -- your oppressors need no reasons to kill others, they only place these names to scare you. But it is they who are afraid. They kill your brothers, sisters, neighbors, friends, because they know that all of you together are too strong to be destroyed."

Her hand rose, and she took hold of the bodies. The ropes that held them loosened and the corpses were lowered to the floor.

"You are here, together. Do not forget what you have seen -- do not forget your heritage." She pointed to the statue, briefly imitating Sirius's frozen pose. "A man stole the name Fossk and made a mockery of your order and justice. Show them what Epoch stands for! Together!"

She forged onwards. They followed.

 

[Marlon Sularen]

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O P E R A T I O N_D A G G E R

FINAL DAWN
EPOCH , DEEP CORE

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So far , things were relatively calm for the 439th Legion , which had remained entrenched within their positions in the North-Eastern Portion of Odessa. The Constant Artillery Barrage from the VH-550s kept the GADF at bay and they had yet to launch any sort of Major Advances against the 439th Legion's Entrenched Positions. However while the Front with the GADF seemed calm , the same could not be said about the Epochian Rebels. Already they had reached Sirius Square and it seemed that there were on their way towards the Epochian Palace where the Epochian Assembly and Elements of the Galactic Alliance Senate were conducting Negotiations to lift the Economic Sanctions imposed on Epoch after the revelation that Kaigann Fossk was Darth Solipsis. Sularen had dispatched Commander Garrick to eliminate the Fossk Royal Family , but the Commander had yet to show up with his contingent of Mixed Purge Troopers and Elite Raptors which made Sularen a bit anxious. The order to eliminate the Fossk Royal Family came directly from Solipsis himself and failing to eliminate them could potentially harm Operation Dagger.

Then suddenly a large flash illuminated the Military Garrison HQ's Central Command Center. Shifting his focus to the Viewports of the Command Center , Sularen soon spotted a massive explosion a few blocks away , directly westwards from the Final Dawn Military Garrison Headquarters. "What the Hell just happened" Sularen said in a surprised tone , taken off-guard by this sudden explosion. "Sir , one of our Armored Companies got attacked by an unseen force." an Officer replied. "Send a Platoon to check things out, I want to know what exactly happened and how much casualties we just suffered. In the meantime deploy every single Surveillance Droid we have. We need to find the perpetrator of this attack and eliminate them before they cans strike again. We can't risk suffering another attack like this." Sularen said returning his focus on the Holo-Map and now shifting his attention to the Rebels in Sirius Square.

"These Rebels are making too much progress" Sularen began , analyzing the movements of the ERM. "If they continue unchecked , they could reach the Palace and since Commander Garrick has yet to show up , we can't afford that." The Grand Overseer then took out one of his Commlinks and immediately Contacted General Tylo Bellock who was currently in a nearby building near the frontlines coordinating the Efforts of the 439th Legion Forces in the vicinity. "General Bellock?" Sularen began , waiting for the General to respond to his transmission. "Grand Overseer , how may i-" Sularen then cut-off the General mid-sentence. "General Bellock. The Epochian Rebels have reached Sirius Square and are possibly headed towards the Palace. I need you to take a Contingent of Stormtroopers supported by ISVs and MBTs to confront them and use any means necessary to forcibly disperse them from the Area. They cannot be allowed to reach the Palace. Understood?" Sularen ordered. "Yes sir , i understand. I shall prepare my forces immediately." General Bellock said in response. "Good. Show no mercy General and spare no one , not even the Woman or the Children. They are all enemies of the Final Dawn and must be punished for their defiance" Sularen said in a cold tone before terminating the transmission.

Sularen then returned to face the Viewports of the Final Dawn Military HQ , issuing one last Order to the officers assembled there speaking in a cold and menacing tone. "Deploy a Trio of Gunships to support General Bellock. We will swiftly crush these Rebels at Sirius Square and show them the true price of Defence. This ends today."

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Spoiler: TL;DR

• One of the Armored Companies are attacked by an unseen Force , the exact amount of Casualties are unknown and a Platoon of 439th Legion Stormtroopers have been sent to investigate
• Sularen takes notice of the Rebel Activity at Sirius Square and orders General Tylo Bellock to confront the Rebels and use any means necessary to disperse them
  • Note : Bellock and his Men have not yet arrived at Sirius Square and have just begun heading towards it.
• Sularen also dispatches a Trio of HAAV Gunships to support Bellock ordering them to head for Sirius Square to link up with General Bellock's Forces once they arrive.
  • Note : The Gunships haven't taken off yet and still remain within the Military Garrison HQ's Landing Platforms

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Tags [BotM/FD] | Dalos Cameron | Kralmus Orr | Alexander Garrick | Stryka Remex
Tags [GA] | Zaka | Auteme | Kirie | Titus of Epoch ​

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[Kahlil Noble]

This was the end. His vision just stopped blurring as he saw the spear point come down. No time to move, no time to react. Chit. All this for nothing, then. Valery Noble was going to be pissed. But, hopefully, she'd be alright once he was gone. He let his eyes close, readying for the coming death.

Only to be moved anyway. His eyes opened wide as a familiar presence pulled him just enough out of the way for the spear to instead scratch the side of his neck. A thin line of blood formed, but no where near lethal. Death briefly averted Kahlil acted. From his boot a simple knife was pulled free by the Force as he swung his arm. Mid swing catching the alchemized blade as he trusted it for the kidney area of Arlo.

Ishani Dinn

 

[Zahara Myneto]

// OUTRIDER // Battlegroup Kenobi
// LOCATION // Epoch Low Orbit; ANV "Morai"
// OBJECTIVE // Send in the Troops

​

"Admiral, we are receiving a request from Strategic Command to deploy additional forces to supplement the rebel forces"

A pretty straightforward order from the boots already on the ground. The idea of intervening in what was, at least before the reveal of DARKCOM , an internal affair unnerved Myneto. It was the right thing to do, but any slip up, any minor messup would be paid for in blood. "Very well, begin the necessary preparations. Inform the force commander to meet me in the main hangar"

"Sir?"

A sigh. "Yes, Commander?"

"Isn't it a bit reckless, perhaps insubordinate, to abandon your post, sir?" The Pantoran's eyes locked with his own, worry clouding the young woman's vision.

"I am the ranking naval officer within this system, therefore if I wish to oversee the deployment of marines directly, that is my prerogative. Don't be fooled, I am more than capable of multitasking" He paused, making his way to the turbolift. "If any issues arise, be sure to contact me"

 

[Ishani Dinn]

Objective: Kill Mawites
Location: The streets of Odessa
POV: Arlo Renard, a Chaldean Mystic
Tags: Kahlil Noble (engaging)

Right at the last moment, Kahlil seemed to catch a second wind and managed to move out of the way. Arlo’s spearpoint drew blood, but failed to gore the Sith.

A dagger manipulated by the Force flew into Kahlil’s hand. Pained by his shoulder wound, Arlo didn’t stop it in time. Once it was in the Sith’s grasp, telekinesis exchanged for physical force, he could not change its course.

The blade hit the dragonskin leather armor covering Arlo’s side. It slipped between the scales, brute force traumatizing the flesh beneath. Before knocking the Sith’s arm aside with a swing of his spear, Arlo thought he felt the tip of the dagger puncture the fabric, but if it did, the wound wasn’t particularly deep. In other words, he’d live with his kidney intact, even if it hurt like hell.

“Aye, you’re a crafty one,” he muttered, striking repeatedly at Kahlil’s head with the blunt end of his spear. With any luck he’d knock the Sith unconscious, then be able to finish him off without any more trickery.

 

[The Mongrel]

Location: Odessa, Epoch Engineering Corporation Facility
Tags: Westenra Mina

Spoiler: TL;DR

• The Mongrel bisects Lynda's corpse-club
• He fires off three heavy blaster shots from close range at her
• He keeps his dread blade in a guard position

The hangar was awash in blood and fire. Crates full of starship components had been reduced to molten metal by repeated blaster impacts, the orange slag oozing out across the carbon-scored floor. Slaves screamed and died in the crossfire. The Drudges, too dim to even recognize that they were under attack, simply continued their tasks, lifting half-destroyed boxes or - in the absence of further orders - standing placidly as the attackers cut them down. They had no sense of self-preservation, or of a difference between the two sides.

If someone among Lynda's forces had simply asked them to stop working, they would have. Instead, they died in droves.

That was of little concern to the Mawites. The broken bodies of the Drudges - and of anyone else who fell - could be collected for recycling, the corpses stripped down to their component molecules and used to create more of the near-mindless servants. The loss of so much of Epoch Engineering Corporation's local starship component inventory was far more harmful, though again, at least it wouldn't fall into the hands of the Alliance. This war was a zero-sum game; the Brotherhood would gladly accept a loss, so long as its foes lost too.

Mandalorian snipers and house soldiers alike opened fire on the Final Dawn troopers at the doors, trying to take out the E-WEBs that were catching them in a crossfire... but they were at a significant disadvantage. They stood in the open, with only damaged waist-high crates for cover (unless they kept to the edges of the hangar, where the wrecks of the destroyed shuttles might afford them some protection), exposed to the relentless fire of the heavy repeaters. But the weapon crews stood in the doorways, small targets surrounded by cover.

Ducking back around the doorframe was easy for them.

There were still losses, to be sure, especially when one of the house soldiers got a lucky grenade through the doorway. But with the attackers being forced to shoot while on the move, exposed, and under fire while the defenders could fire steadily from a stationary position and an open field of targets, the Final Dawn had the advantage in accuracy and rate of fire. Whenever a trooper on one of the E-WEBs went down, his comrades simply dragged him back into cover for medical attention - or a body bag - and then took his place.

This position promised to be a hard nut to crack.

Apparently some of the Final Dawn had disobeyed - or misinterpreted - their orders, however, because they had... charged into the hangar? The Mongrel shook his head at the sight, watching them get butchered by Lynda in seconds. Why they would leave their well-defended positions to charge into melee range with their blasters was truly a mystery for the ages. Perhaps they had bought into the marauder tribes' doctrines of martyrdom a little too fully, missing the part where pointlessly throwing away their lives earned no reward.

In any case, the idiots were dead, and the self-healing, army-butchering, unkillable Demon of Jedha was making a beeline for him. Good. Just as he'd intended back on Jedha, The Mongrel would hold her back from his forces, forcing her to pick on someone her own size... more or less. The woman came at him with a roar, trying to use a stormtrooper's limp body as a club. It showed tremendous arm strength, but little in the way of finesse or strategy. The Mongrel simply raised his dread blade, flashing it before him in a swift upward strike.

The body of the poor, much-abused trooper parted cleanly down the middle, bisected at the hips; his torso and arms, already headless, flew across the hangar, finally skidding to a stop against the far wall. Lynda was left holding a pair of legs, one flopping about almost comically as she gripped the other. "I think it is good for you that we brought this war to the galaxy," The Mongrel told her, his voice calm and level. He had not budged from the position he'd used to bisect the corpse. "The Bryn'adul are gone now, after all."

"What would a savage killer like you, someone who takes such joy in butchering legions, find to do in a time of peace? You are a mad dog, tolerated by our 'civilized' enemies only because your jaws are pointed at us." The Mongrel leveled his blade at her, the shimmering crimson end of it pointed at her chest. If he still had the necessary parts to smile, he would have, a mocking gesture of which he was no longer capable. "You fight for those who, in better times, would gladly put you down for your carnage and cruelty."

He looked much different than he had during their encounter on Jedha, wearing a much smaller and sleeker cybernetic form now, but it would not be difficult for her to guess that the two cyborgs she'd faced were one and the same; his voice and his manner were unchanged. She would find that his style of fighting, however, was much different. With a quick twist of his off-hand, he brought up his heavy blaster, squeezing off a trio of close-range shots at his foe. They were well-aimed, cybernetically stabilized and machine-targeted.

But he knew better than to rely on such a simple attack, especially after she'd torn through so many warriors in the battles he'd witnessed alone. He didn't expect his to hurt her much, if they even hit her at all... but her reaction would show him more about her capabilities. His dread blade stayed in a guard position as he fired, ready to intercept a reprisal, and his mechanical eyes tracked her every movement, watching for patterns. "You're more like us than like them," he told her... and it was both a compliment and an insult.

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Tricks, yeah. That's what that was. Kahlil gritted his teeth as his hand was knocked away from his blade, though he did make sure the dagger stayed inside the man over him. Kahlil himself wasn't sure what had happened. Enough to know Valery had saved him, but how exactly? They hadn't had the time to figure out the nature of their bond before he fell. It was.. Chilling.

How much of this could she see?

He braced himself, the Force bending to his will as he blocked the side of his head from the first strike. A dull thud resounded, making it all too clear bone was either broken or at least bruised. The second strike came, but he didn't let it impact him without doing something in return. Arlo had proven he could resist the Force, cancel it. Truly a threat to Sith who relied on it like Kahlil used to.

That's why he left the dagger. His other hand came around, unleashing a blast of lighting for him. At first it'd fly like it was. But the alchemized dagger would attract it like a lightning rod, all to absorb and unleash the current within the man himself.

Ishani Dinn

 

[Zaka]

BLACKFANG - THE (NEW) JEDI vol. II
Issue #1 - Epochist Rebellion
TAGS - Marlon Sularen - Traden Avarice

Spoiler: tl;dr

• Zaka performs a 2nd and 3rd attack run on 439th Platoon moving to the front line.​

Behind him the world erupted into a fiery explosion, peeling away permacrete streets and propelling superheated stone through the entrenched Final Dawn position. As Zaka steered the X-Wing to pull away and begin a long circle back, LB finally confirmed impact. Where there had been hundreds milling about, now everything remained still, the occupying defenders likely hiding in fear of a second dropping of fiery retribution.

Leveling out, LB finally spoke up in his twittering of beeps, confirming what he already knew to be true.

Extreme force was necessary to deal with an enemy like this. Proving to them that it was futile to continue opposing them meant they'd be chased off of Epoch that much quicker, if not a total surrender.

Best to not give 'em a chance to recover then.

Shoving the throttle forward, he yanked back, pressed back further in the cockpit as the nose shot up. Turning into a sharp loop, as he passed the uppermost part of the arc, he rolled about to upright, angled down to the street as he lined up the targeting reticle. S-foils extended and laser cannons primed, LB warned of an approaching cadre of Mawite Imperials. His initial thinking was to reinforce the position he had just hit with the shadow bomb. Best to knock them out in route.

The aged StealthX dove to the streets below on an angle, one that allowed for a quick retreat if return fire came. He found the 439th's platoon while they were moving, and with a single finger poised to deliver their sentence, he dropped it down.

Laser cannons fired with sibilating sounds as he came in on a shallow angle, his speed moderate, giving him ample time to fire and chop the troopers to pieces as each prong of the S-foils launched a blast of plasma every split second. With nothing sent in to stop him and his oppression of their garrisoned forces, Zaka honed in on the troopers and punched the throttle forwards once he had exhausted the attack run. Looping up and around again, this time with a steeper angle, he laced the pavement with laser fire again, punching through the wall of a building he had seen troopers run into moments ago and collapsing it.

As dust and stone filled the street, again, Zaka raced past the ruins in his StealthX, back in the direction of the Alliance Staging Ground.

"El-Bee! Where's the Defense Force at?!"

 

[Ishani Dinn]

Objective: Kill Mawites
Location: The streets of Odessa
POV: Arlo Renard, a Chaldean Mystic
Tags: Kahlil Noble (engaging)

Arlo’s senses tingled, as though sensing a storm brewing. He snapped up a shield, lightning streaking across its invisible surface and striking the crumbling walls of the buildings around them.

“This again?” he growled over the hum of discharging electricity. “Is your memory so short, you’ve already forgotten what I did to you the last time you tried this?”

He slammed the shield down on Kahlil—and realized then what the Sith had intended. Pain jolted through his side as some of the lightning was drawn to the dagger still embedded in him. The damned thing was acting as a conductor.

This was a clever Sith indeed.

“Bastard!” he roared. But he couldn’t grab and pull the dagger out until Kahlil stopped discharging Force lightning.

 

[Kahlil Noble]

There was a simple joy to a fight. The near death, the blood still dripping from the wound on his neck and the worse one on his calve. The pounding of his heart in his chest. All of it was just a thrill. Why limit himself? Why hold back? For a brief moment he let himself dip deeper into the dark. The hesitation that was always there faded as he listened to Arlo curse him out for the slight trick.

The invisible shield came down, but Kahlil let loose an even greater torrent of lightning in response. Was there a limit to how much it could deflect? Either way, the raw kinetic energy behind the blast kept him from getting knocked out cold as it impacted him. Pain ripped through his body as some of the lightning coursed through his body. But now it was a trial of endurance.

One he could win. There was no pause as he let the lightning loose so freely from his fingertips. Under the gloves his skin charred and darkened. Painful, yes. But pain was it's own tool. The gem in his hand screamed in the Force as he channeled more through it.

Ishani Dinn

 

[Ishani Dinn]

Objective: Kill Mawites
Location: The streets of Odessa
POV: Arlo Renard, a Chaldean Mystic
Tags: Kahlil Noble (engaging)

Almost as quickly as he struck Kahlil with it, Arlo brought his shield back up, struggling to resist an increase in wattage from the Sith. His situation had worsened rather than improved.

The pain in his side was becoming unbearable. He couldn’t move. Through the descending haze of paralyzed unconsciousness, Arlo heard something like a scream, hearing not with his ears, but with his very soul, it seemed.

His cloudy gaze fixed on its source: the crystal clutched in the Sith’s fist. With the last of his strength, he reached toward it, cutting through Kahlil’s corruption to the heart of the stone. As if he could cup it in his hands to protect it from the Sith, he built a wall around it. It responded to him in turn, humming with its own defiance.

It would burn the Sith to grasp it now, burn him with holy fire. Continuing to channel his energies into it might backfire, perhaps spectacularly, if the crystal was indeed as powerful as Arlo suspected—it had to be a source of power, if a Sith possessed it. Arlo could only hope it would work to his advantage...

 

[Kahlil Noble]

A Solari crystal was a being of it's own. A mind, a soul, all with it's own desires and wishes. It's will was beyond what a Sith could bleed and break. All around them war had been waged. Men and women who weren't soldiers trying to fight. Dying. Wives, husbands, parents and their children, the deaths of this rebellion echoed throughout. And the runes on the crystal only served to compound and channel that darkness.

As Arlo reached out, it's screams only worsened. The faint runes glowed brighter as Kahlil forced the Dark through them and to the mystic. The lightning grew more intense, stronger. The crystal of light exuded pain. Darkness. And Kahlil laughed. The darkness that rippled from it refocused him. He stood, wincing as his calf screamed in agony, but he stood none the less. Was this the feeling power brought? How could he have forgotten it?

The gloves he wore burnt away to reveal the blackened fingertips underneath as the blue arcs of lightning surged with a whole new strength. "Give up! It'll hurt less if you just give up!"

Ishani Dinn

 

[Marlon Sularen]

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O P E R A T I O N_D A G G E R

FINAL DAWN
EPOCH , DEEP CORE

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After contact was lost with one of the 439th Legion's Armored Company , a Platoon of 439th Legion Stormtroopers had been sent to investigate the attack to determine what had happened and whether there were survivors or not. It was imperative that the frontlines remained stable to avoid any GADF breakthrough , but fortunately for the Final Dawn , their Artillery Bombardment seemed to be keeping them at bay. As the Platoon of Stormtroopers approached the area in which the Armored Company was supposed to be , they were suddenly attacked by what seemed to look like an X-Wing which unleashed a deadly strafing run taking out nearly half of the 38 Man Platoon. The Rest immediately scattered seeking shelter on both sides of the street , however this Pilot wasn't done with them , he immediately turned around and launched a second attack targeting some of the Platoon troopers that had fled to a nearby building and causing one of it's Walls to collapse.

While this carnage was unfolding , a trio of Surveillance Droids had reached the area in which the Jedi Shadow Bomb had been dropped. The Entire Armored Company comprised of 8 VH-140 MBTs had been annihilated in one strike. From the Military Garrison HQ , Sularen was shocked to see the aftermath of the attack. How could this happen? He thought. How could an entire Company be annihilated by a single blast? But what the Surveillance Droids displayed next answered the Grand Overseer's Questions. Within seconds , the Surveillance Droids soon spotted the source of the Armored Company's destruction , the very reason for the huge disturbance along their frontlines. A Single Starfighter that looked like an X-Wing , launching strafing runs on the Platoon of Stormtroopers which had been sent to investigate the area. Just like Sularen anticipated , the enemy had launched a Second Attack and fortunately for him , the deployment of the Platoon spared other crucial units such as the VH-550 MLVs from attack from this very foe. Now that he knew who was responsible for attacking his forces and causing some disruptions along the Northernmost portion of the Eastern Frontlne , Sularen was ready to strike back and ensure this Unknown Pilots demise.

"I want a Flight Group of TIE Strikers up in the sky now and i want that Starfighter identified asap" Sularen ordered. Soon enough a group of Final Dawn TIE Pilots were rushing to the cockpit of their TIEs with the leader of this Flight Group , a certain Captain Blake leading them as they emerged from the Hangars of the Final Dawn Military HQ carrying the only Starfighter Squadron available to the Final Dawn at Epoch. As the TIEs headed towards the Galactic Alliance Staging Area in pursuit of the Enemy Starfighter that had begun to disrupt Operation Dagger ,Sularen contacted Blake and informed him and his Flight Group of their new task. "Captain Blake. A Single Starfighter of unknown Design has been harassing our troops on the frontlines. I want you to intercept and eliminate this Enemy Pilot whoever he or she may be. Do not fail me Captain." The Blake simply responded with a cold and emotionless "Yes sir" before the Transmission cut leaving Blake and his Flight group to continue their pursuit of the mysterious Rebel Pilot and his Starfighter.

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While , Sularen was busy dealing with a single Jedi Starfighter , General Tylo Belloc had already begin his advance towards Sirius Square. Because of recent attacks along the Eastern Front lines , he was forced to take command of some Units guarding the area South of the Military Garrison HQ. Thus with a Force comprised of a few Hundread 439th Legion Stormtroopers and a few VH-140 "Goliath" Main Battle Tanks and VH-280 "Kodiak" Infantry Support Vehicles , the Final Dawn General began his advance towards the ERM personally leading the Task Force from one of the Main Battle Tanks as a Column of Final Dawn Forces separated themselves from the Main force of 439th Legion Forces entrenched around the Military Garrison HQ , passing by the Sky Ramp and taking the only avenue that would lead them straight to Sirius Square exactly where the Epochian Rebels were said to be located.

At the same time , the Trio of Gunships had departed from the Military Garrison HQ , each Gunship packed holding 40 439th Legion Stormtroopers and 10 Elite Raptor Commandos with these Gunships headed straight towards Sirius Square. While General Bellock's Main Forces was still on route towards the area , the Gunships arrived there first soon encountering the Main Group of Rebels led by Auteme and Titus of Epoch . The Gunships then activated their Searchlights illuminating the Rebel Crowd that soon before them. As they positioned themselves in front of the Rebels , the Loudspeakers from the Lead Gunship came to life as the Commander in charge of the Trio of Gunships sent to support General Bellock , a certain Captain Jim Beckwourth spoke to address the crowd of rebels assembled before his Forces. "ATTENTION , CITIZENS OF EPOCH. THIS IS YOUR FIRST AND ONLY WARNING. LAY DOWN YOUR ARMS AND SURRENDER IMMEDIATELY OR WE WILL OPEN FIRE" Then two of the Gunships beside that of Captain Beckwourth then turned sideways and opened their doors revealing heavily armored and well-armed Final Dawn Stormtroopers and Elite Commandos , their Guns Drawn and Anti-Personnel Turrets aiming at the Rebel Crowd.

The Captain knew that the Rebels would reject this Ultimatum , but he sought to remind them that regardless of their little display of defiance , the Final Dawn still controlled the streets of Odessa and that even with the support of the Alliance , the ERM would still pay a terrible price for their treachery. Thus a Standoff would begin between the Small Group of Final Dawn Forces cramped in their Gunships and the Large Rebel Crowd that had challenged them down below. Whether the Final Dawn or the ERM chose to fire the first shot had yet to be seen but one thing was certain, this battle would be brutal and without mercy or remorse.

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Spoiler: TL;DR

• The Platoon of 439th Legion Stormtroopers takes heavy losses from the Attacks from Zaka's StealthX and the remaining members take shelter in a nearby building (Not the one struck by the 3rd Attack)
• Final Dawn Surveillance Droids identity Zaka's Starfighter as the perpetrator of the Initial Attack and Sularen sends a Flight Group consisting of 4 TIE Strikers after Zaka's StealthX
• General Tylo Bellock begins heading towards the Rebels at Sirius Square , arriving at the mid-point between the Epochian Engineering Corporation HQ and the Sky Ramp
• The Trio of HAAV Gunships with a Complement of 40 439th Legion Stormtroopers and 10 Elite Raptor Commandos each , arrive at Sirius Square before Bellock's Main Force and immediately enter in a standoff with the Rebels

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Tags [BotM/FD] | Dalos Cameron | Kralmus Orr | Alexander Garrick | Stryka Remex
Tags [GA] | Zaka | Auteme | Kirie | Titus of Epoch ​

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[Ishani Dinn]

Objective: Kill Mawites
Location: The streets of Odessa
POV: Arlo Renard, a Chaldean Mystic
Tags: Kahlil Noble (engaging)

The taste of metal filled Arlo’s mouth even as he grinned at the Sith.

“Coming from you… that’s encouraging!”

If this was to become a battle of wills, he would fight until there was nothing left of him.

Arlo couldn’t heal the crystal, not in the midst of battle. He could only block Kahlil’s channeling power through it—something which was no longer working. So he left the crystal to its fate.

The Sith had risen to his feet, laughing. Arlo was surrounded by crackling lightning, his spear abandoned, his eyes burning with the intensity of memory.

He didn’t see Kahlil before him. He saw every Sith that had ever set foot on his homeworld, seeking to corrupt and debase everything in their path. All his life, he had fought Sith and Jedi, witches and sorcerers. His flesh beneath the dragonskin was mapped with scars from wounds they had dealt him.

Reflecting the lightning back to its source, his hand closed around the hilt of the dagger in his side. The pain was immense, but he refused to let it break him. He pulled the blade from his flesh, blood welling up from the wound as he tossed it aside.

“You don’t deserve this power.”

He took hold of Kahlil’s connection to the Force, not to suppress, but to sever.

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"Encouraging wasn't the goal." There was a respect there, regardless. Not from a Sith to.. Whatever the mystic was. Just a warrior to a warrior. The lightning reflected back at his body, rippling through his cloak and singing the flesh underneath. At this point he was only keeping it up to try and overwhelm Arlo with pain before the Sith succumbed to his own power. Yet, the dagger was pulled free. Tossed.

Kahlil's gaze followed it.

"I never wanted this power." He mused idly. The oppressiveness of the man's power once again weighed down on him. But he pulled onto the bond he shared. The Dyad that connected him to Valery. He didn't want to bring her into it, into his choice. But to fail here wasn't an option. One second he was standing in front of the mystic. The next he'd appear behind him, catching the dagger and thrusting it for the man's lower back.

"But I can't stop now."

Ishani Dinn

 

[Ishani Dinn]

Objective: Kill Mawites
Location: The streets of Odessa
POV: Arlo Renard, a Chaldean Mystic
Tags: Kahlil Noble (engaging)

Maybe Arlo saw the teleportation coming, but not fast enough to avoid getting backstabbed.

“If you really didn’t want it...” Arlo wheezed. “Enjoy… your new freedom.”

He severed the final strands of the thread binding Kahlil to the Force, then collapsed in a heap on the ground.

 

[Westenra Mina]

Lynda snorted tossing the legs aside, bloodshot eyes stared at The Mongrel .

She saw the damage he had sustained. How rotted his brain looked.

"Is this how they reward their most dedicated?" she mocked cruelly. "With stagnation? Trapping a mostly dead brain in a can? No rebirth like they promised, eh...all you get is the war part of your creed."

At his assertion that she was just a mad dog that she was more like his own side then hers, she grinned, even as she used her sword to expertly deflect his bolts. Meanwhile, more grenades and rockets began to shower the E-Web positions. The Mandalorians took to the air in rocket packs to make it harder for the E-Webs to hit them, ruthlessly shooting at any Sith Trooper that tried to assume control of a turret, or outright destroying the turrets if possible. They signalled their stolen ships, still in the air, to start firing into the building at select positions, inflicting bloody rocket and laser cannon death as they blasted through key parts of the building, smashing aside certain E-Web positions and allowing a surge forward, though there still wasn't a lot of cover and some were cut down still seizing a better position, but Final Dawn Troopers were beginning to get cut from the air, the aim of the Mandalorians proving true, even diving downward and weaving through webs of fire to hit the gunners with blasters and rockets, even as ships above still fired through the roof to try and hit Final Dawn positions, causing multiple parts of the ceiling to fall.

"The Maw doesn't know how to stop. I do. Hell, they can't stop. Or they don't get into paradise. But there is no paradise..." she hissed, mind red with vengeance as she sprinted towards him blade aimed at his own hilt, hers charged with the psychic energy of her victims to allow it a good chance of cutting through even Alchemized Materials. If those like her were indeed Demi-Gods, as The Mongrel had privately categorized them, then she wielded the weapon of a Demi-God...

"You will never be reborn..." she snarled as she tried to destroy his weapon itself with deadly fast, but also lethally precise superhuman slashes and stabs designed to put him on the defensive, seeming not even noticing an armor piercing bullet rip through her torso, spilling glowing, bright red blood, most of which was re-absorbed via the exposed parts of her skin, the rest trickling in the ground very faintly as she attacked him at full power.

 

[Bronwyn Rees]

It always fascinated Bronwyn that interstellar governments thought they could carry out covert action without prying eyes finally figure out what it was they were plotting. She sat in the central command center that belonged to her former commanding officer, Captain Thon, reading over all the dossiers he had been given regarding his mission here on Epoch. To think that arming the citizens was his goal on this world. Was the Galactic Alliance stretched so thin that it had to rely on glorified conscription to fight its wars for it?

Captain Thon entered the room giving orders only to stop when he saw that his staff was tied to the chairs of the briefing room. He drew his weapon and pointed at the one seat that was turned away from the door, the one that Bronwyn occupied. She stopped reading and turned in her seat, legs crossed and giving him a slow clap, "Congratulations, Captain Thon. I would say by the number of dead in the city you succeeded in arming the rabble against the Brotherhood, right?" she said, her face laced with such smug satisfaction. The Alliance was always there to prevent suffering, or so it said, but Epoch was bleeding and it was the Alliance's fault now. It was not a good look on the intergalactic scale.

"You savages are the reason this planet is bleeding, not us." Thon said, letting the lack of irony hang thick in the air. The Alliance was here instigating this uprising, and yet the Brotherhood was to blame.

Bronwyn spoke in a mocking tone, "Look what you made us do." without getting up. Thon fired his blaster, hitting her energy buckler and sending the shot into Corporal Drae's left arm. "Now, look what you made ME do?"

Thon lowered his weapon. If it happened one time he was not about to let her deflect more shots into his men. "Evil should always be fought. Sacrifices..."

"Please, project your noble martyrdom more for me Captain." Bronwyn growled, standing up and pacing over to Drae. Removing the gag from his mouth she caressed his jawline and smiled, "Corporal Drae, do you want to die for your Captain? Would you die for Epoch, a world you have no interest in, no investment in, and which has nothing relevant to your life?"

Drae violently shook, terror overwhelming him. "No, I don't want to die...I don't want to die..." he said sobbing out of control now.

There was visible disgust on her face as she appraised the snotty crying man. "Weak, but honest."

"Soldier you knew your enlistment could mean your death." the Captain said firmly.

Drae was about to respond but Bronwyn covered his mouth, "But Captain! Did you enlist? Did you struggle to achieve your rank and privilege? Do your men know that your commission was bought by your family? That your entire career was built on connections and wealth and not actual merit?"

"Well, hey, that..." Thon sputtered as his men looked at him with a mixture of fear and anguish.

"Lacking any use for your free time? Felt like joining the military so you could play dress up and pretend to be a hero Thon? How many men have you lost under your command?" she asked him with a frantic joy in her voice.

Thon looked around the room feeling the weight of accusation hang heavily over his head. "I have never lost a single soldier under my command, Mawite. I am a consummate leader."

Bronwyn's frantic joy was dampened by his hilariously unaware answer. The acolyte dispassionately drew the knife from Drae's leg and slice his throat and shoved his head down on the table releasing him to bleed out. "Let's ask Sergeant Tay then, what they think about your command?" she said moving around the table to the young woman sitting across from Drae. She rubbed the blood into her face as she recoiled away and laughed at her abject terror in the same kind of psychotic glee that her questioning had begun with.

With the gag ripped away from her Tay began to spill her guts out loudly, "All of our assignments have been safe! We were given undercover work with little chance for discovery! The general has given you easy work so far and we all know it! The fact that we are here meant that they thought arming a resistance was easy enough for you that you couldn't possibly botch the operation!" she said in one desperate breath.

Bronwyn looked knowingly at the Captain and let the grin cross her face slowly. Thon looked back at her and to Tay, "Non-sense! I am an excellent leader! I have a one-hundred percent success rate!"

"Yes, you do! Has that never once felt strange to you?! Have you ever heard of a military engagement that was one-hundred percent flawless?" Tay continued. The acolyte just let the two go at it for a moment to enjoy the heated anger. Bronwyn shook the woman's shoulders as she shoved her rolling chair away against the wall and began to fanatically stab her until she was obviously dead and the blood draining from her body was a consistent and horrifying drip.

Captain Thon fired into Bronwyn's body twice as she seemed to finish up. The cybernetic armor absorbed the brunt of damage but the impact shook her up and returned her attention and lucidity. The young Sith stared at him, "What's the matter Captain? Not a fan of the truth? These two are not the first two deaths under your command. Remember when you fought in the undercity against the Brotherhood and Lieutenant Ganat reported that Corporal Rees had died in action?" she asked with just enough knowledge to put the Captain on his back foot about just how much she knew about his service record. That report had been thrown out, and he had chosen to report that Rees was AWOL instead of dead.

"Rees is dead. How do you know that? I burned that report..." he said shaken to the core. She knew something that he had deliberately concealed from his command. How could some Mawite have known?

"You're right. Corporal Rees is dead. But I was reborn in pain and blood among the Brotherhood." she said dropping the pin for him. He recoiled back with his expression shifting to pure terror.

Thon charged her after gathering himself and began to assault her with a flurry of blows. Bronwyn just let his punches land. She was laughing now, just enjoying the unhinged attempt he now made to continue his coverup. Blow after blow impacted her body, her face, and left her cackling further. Even as she felt her lip split, her ribs crack, she continued laughing at him. With a lift he threw her to the ground and began to pummel her again. When he stopped short of breath and she was still there, eye swollen shut and blood coloring her teeth red, she just kept laughing. "There is nothing that you can do to me that I fear. I have seen death, I have faced death, and I have been reborn in it. Everyone knows what you are now, Captain. This entire meeting was being broadcast to the rest of your camp. Your men know that you are nothing. A carefully curated military experience for a rich spoiled man child."

After several punches more, Thon fell off of her and onto his backside as she shoved him forward and stood above his heaving form. "You...ruined me. You absolutely ruined me. My career is over."

"Your arrogance ruined you, not me. Your lack of awareness, ruined you. Your career is over and it is all by your own hand. The hubris, you could not see the forest for the trees even on Kashyyyk." she said, spitting blood out of her mouth and letting the Force slowly repair the wounds and bruises before his eyes. Bronwyn was by no means a truly trained and powerful Force user but she had taken to the practice of using it to enhance and repair her body as much as it could be repaired. The Sith tipped his chin up so he could look at her, how his hard work to beat her was undone just as easily as his career.

"They're going to strip me of my rank. I'll have nothing left." he said feebly. Looking at her with pure defeat in his eyes.

"What about all that familial wealth. Liars like you make good politicians, especially if they come from money. Why not make a bid to become a senator? You would fit right in with all the other narcissists that think they know what is best for the whole galaxy." Bronwyn said, coddling the poor baby of a man with some faint false hope. Even as she did that she took his blaster and put it right to his forehead.

Thon looked at her and closed his eyes, "I am nothing, and I have nothing."

"No, you have everything, and I have nothing. You are wealthy, powerful, and from an influential family. What good does your lamentation do you when you have so much in your life? How dare you assume that you have nothing when you are more than any of your men could ever be? Your soldiers fought under your orders even as you lived comfortably. I nearly died, under your orders, and only lived by the grace of the Brotherhood." she said loudly, pressing more firmly against his forehead with his own blaster before turning the barrel onto his last two soldiers and fired until the blaster was completely discharged. Bronwyn discarded the blaster with a sigh, and looked back to him.

"I'm sorry, Corporal Rees. I failed you." he said weakly, eyes still closed as he grew more and more depressed by the situation.

"Open your eyes, Captain. Witness me, and how you so callously threw away my life. Someone who desperately wanted to belong, to be accepted by Krayt Squad. It was your final act though, that was the final cruelty. You lied to the Alliance, about me, and now you face the truth." Bronwyn said, crouching down to his level.

Thon finally fell back onto the only thing he knew, " What do yo mean truth? I will pay you. I'm sorry, please, just let me go."

"I have been blinded by the glorious truth. My truth is retribution. My truth is the Dark Side." she said with a long pause. "Cherish this moment, Thon. It is much more beautiful and vibrant than what awaits you." Bronwyn concluded, slashing his throat violently. As his blood spilled out she stood up, and threw his knife down next to him. His gasping breaths, the blood squelching, it was the highest art form. Bronwyn walked away from his grasping hands, leaving him there to die utterly broken. It was the Captain's death that signified the completion of her rebirth. She was not Corporal Rees anymore.

Taking a moment to enjoy the feeling, she pressed the trigger and detonated the arms depot where civilians were gathering to arm themselves against the Brotherhood. The fear rolled in waves as the bombs ripped the building apart and with it every living soul inside. This was the consequence of lies. Just retribution for those who would trade in wholesale deception against those that trusted them with their lives. There was a divine beauty to the chaos and anguish on Epoch and for now she just took the time to enjoy it from the shadows, content with her growing collection of holotags.

 

[Darth Saevius]

​

Tags: Available and with an impeccable credit score
Location: Secret Maw Citadel on other side of planet.

Thus far, Saevius' antics had proceeded undisturbed for the better part of a few hours whilst battle raged within the city on the other side of the planet. The remainder of the dissidents held captive within the citadel, repeating the same sequence of events that had transpired with the original 8 two more times until he had nearly 6 total thralls under his control. The last of those who would recount the full scope of what atrocities had transpired within this citadel had been silenced. Now, he needed ensure the non-essential documents were destroyed within the repository. Before he broke away to do so, he turned to his thralls, and said with a look of mild disgust: "Find some water and cleanse yourselves. Be quick about it, we have work to do." To some Sith Lords, ordering one's... servants to cleanse themselves may have been a waste of time. But he wouldn't be subjected to the stink they all carried before making use of them. Sure, they would likely die if the Jedi finally summoned the courage to assault this place, but at least he wouldn't have to endure their scent any longer.

The thralls did as they were bidden, going to find some water to cleanse themselves whilst he broke away to finalize the data purges in the repository. All manner of brutes and more mentally adept supplicants to the Maw's designs rushed about the facility, disposing of what data and information that could not be brought with them when the retreat back to Exegol would be called. Quite a few of these men and women would return with them. But those who were natives of this planet? Simply put, the Maw did not have room to take all of them back to the hidden citadel. They couldn't be trusted to take their secrets to the grave either. Saevius spent nearly an hour watching as the last of the data was purged from the mainframes of the base before he ordered the staff 'assigned to remain' to assemble, whilst those who would be leaving with the rest of the Maw set about preparing for departure.

None of the remaining staff would exit that room alive.

​

 

[Darth Kentarch]

OPERATION_DAGGER

Darth Kentarch stood close to the holo-map in the Final Dawn HQ. Events had precipitated rapidly, and the non-descript Sith Lord chose to remain silent and watch how events unfolded. The first showdown would be at Sirius Square where a large mob of rebels had gathered and planned to march on the palace. General Tylo Belloc had begun his advance on the square, while Marlon Sularen seemed to command the entire operation from the FInal Dawn HQ. Kentarch did not doubt the abilities of these men, but if the Alliance now knew that Epoch was under the de facto control of the Final Dawn it was only a matter of time before the planet was firmly back under GA control.

The black-cloaked sith quickly took his leave, speaking and communicating to no one as he moved out towards his objective. Soldiers and armor of the Final Dawn moved down the major streets and boulevards towards the square where the Alliance rebels gathered to push towards the palace. Instead, the Sith Lord used alleyways, sewers, even climbed pipes and the side of buildings to reach his destination unnoticed. Not even his allies could spot the man, and he preferred them unaware of his movements. Odessa was sprawling with cityscape, plenty of cover, and obstacles for the Sith Lord to use to infiltrate behind rebel lines.

It did not take him long either. Only minutes had passed for Kentarch to reach the top of a building overlooking Sirius Square. He kneeled and watched as a woman spoke to a large force of rebels who looked more like a mob than a professional military force. Her words empowered the crowd, spoken with the aide of the Force. Not soon after three gunships arrived, loudspeakers demanding the mob lay down its arms. This was to Kentarch's advantage as it would draw the attention of the rebels. The Sith reached down and doubled checked his Lightsaber out of habit. A blade that was newly constructed and made with a Ghostfire crystal, which would produce a silent and translucent blade. His gaze flicked to the woman speaking Auteme , then to Titus of Epoch . The two seemed to be the leaders of this rabble. Then, as if in the blink of an eye, Kentarch vanished from the rooftop.