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

[Jem Fossk]

Church of the Dark Side
Odessa, Epoch

Darth Solipsis​

You go on ahead, I'll be right there, was the biggest lie Jem had ever told to Dagon. She knew it when she said it. She said it anyway.

Ok, but be sure to turn around if you get in too hot.

I will.

That was the second biggest. It was all necessary though. If a few lies could earn her the safety of this world and others then she'd gladly lie again, her master didn't understand what she could do here. If anyone could reach Darth Solipsis it was her. His daughter. His flesh and blood. His reason for falling, and ... his reason for living.

She hoped.

That hope grew dimmer as she watched address the crowd from the ductwork above. The presence of the darkside crept over her skin, weighing her down like oppressive blanket. She had never seen so many darksiders before. It wasn't hard to picture the destruction just a handful of them could cause. For the first time in her life Jem wanted to be someone else.

She wanted to curl up and not move until Dagon found and dragged her out. She wanted to fly away, escape to some distant part of the galaxy her father would likely never touch. Let someone else deal with this. She didn't want this to be her problem.

But she wasn't someone else, and coming here was her choice. She pushed back her apprehension and crawled further.

There would be no facing her father in public, that was just plain stupid. She followed the grate to an outlet in the wall and let herself drop to the ground. She found herself standing backstage, the dimly lit area cool and quiet.

You shall ascend. Wonoksh Qyâsik nun

You shall be one. Ja’ak.”

Hazel eyes peeked through the curtains, a wary hand hidden on her saber. He was unrecognizable to the man that had found her at their estate, but then again... she was only seeing his back.

 

[The Human]

Alias: Dalos Cameron
NPCs Tagging Along: Kallos (Nautolan), Apathi and Human, two Elite Raptor Supercommandos and a small human child.
Location: North of Epochian Essembly
Armour: Humans Armour and Mask
Equipment: 1x Red Lightsaber, Twin Nadir Repeating Blaster Carbines, Big Disruptor Cannon, 4x Whistling Bird Grenades, 1x Multi-Purpose Cluster Grenade
TAG: Marlon Sularen

After a full hour of walking, there had been some progress made throughout the hostile streets. While the Elite Raptors kept them from getting shot, time has been running out. All this time, the Human kept feeling a presence from all around them. It was an uneasy presence, as if he kept sensing danger at every turn. Rounding the corner, Dalos had to hold his fist up to order them to halt as multiple rebellious elements started to pass near them on the streets as they all hid in the shadows. This was becoming way to difficult to get by, they kept hitting patrols every few moments as he nodded towards the group as one of the Raptors tapped his shoulder, pointing at a speeder truck.

Giving a nod, they rushed on over to it and one of the raptors proceeded to rip panel out, hotwiring it within a few seconds and they shot out. One Raptor drove as the Human and another Raptor kept watch, the rest being behind crates for their own protection. As they took off, several landspeeders showed up as spray of blaster bolts filled the air with the Human and Raptor. A blaster fight ensured with blaster fire echoing along the streets as they flew over it quickly. Running out of his Nadirs, he threw them down and lifted a crate half of his size, only to drop and Force Push it directly into another landspeeder, smashing the windshield and the people inside it, crashing the landspeeder directly into the ground.

Then it was felt, something was pulling the speeder truck back. Glancing towards the back, he noticed a robed individual using the Force to slow the truck down. Taking off his Disruptor Cannon and handing it to the Elite Raptor, he shouted out as he focused on the Force, holding both hands together as his body started to smoke.

"I am ordering you two to take them to Headquarters, no matter the cost. Do not wait for me!"

Looking back forward, he ran off and jumped off the Speeder Truck in a leap of faith, Dalos pushing both hands forward as a massive force shockwave occurred all along the street. Windows nearby shattered, glass flying all over, trees barely older then twenty splintered into fragments of wood. Stone from nearby buildings flew off and metal siding flew off the buildings. The landspeeders and mixture behind them were very unfortunate, being hit with the blast directly as parts of their engines flew off, glass shattering into the pilots faces and flipping the entire landspeeder onto its back, some flying directly past the Human directly into buildings.

Landing in a rough fashion, he tumbled onto the ground and rolled as he hit a nearby tree trunk, stopping finally with the smoke around his body hissing off his burnt body. Giving a loud groan, he slowly stood up as the landspeeders nearby were destroyed yet he still felt that presence from afar. It was confirmed as a brown robed individual leaped off one of the tall buildings above and landed near the Human as it ignited a green blade from its lightsaber.

"Surrender and I shall see your tyranny is forgotten."
"You mean like those you hanged in the streets, those that you allowed to have happened?"
"And here I thought I be talking to a civilized man."

The Jedi would dash forward and strike down with his lightsaber, a human as Dalos ignited his own red blade as they connected, looking at each other. Pushing onto the hilt, he shoved him off as the Jedi spoke again, whirling it to the side.

"Not even refined...an acolyte with such ability in the Force. A Jedi Knight such as myself can guide you down the rightful path, the rightful path of the light, we can end such conflict around us."
"Conflict always occurs, it is the people that enable it such as your own that should be ended!"

Dashing forward, the Jedi Knight effortlessly blocked parts of Dalos lightsaber blows, parrying them as it glanced off the Humans armor several times. Before the Jedi Knight could mock, Dalos would use another Force Push as the Jedi Knight had barely enough time to block, skidding across the street straight into a downed speeder and bending it inwards. Giving his own growl, he got up and dashed as they connected once more. The Human was not a man ready for such combat against another, he only hoped he can buy his team enough time.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------​

"Command, this is Elite Raptor Four Two Nine, with Four Three Zero, we are incoming to Headquarters with Kallos and Apathi. Stand by the gates to be opened. Inform Superior Marlon Sularen we will be in soon."

 

[Allyson Locke]

//: Epoch, Other Side of the Planet Far //:
//: Valery Noble //:

Deep within the shadows of the city's outskirts, a figure moved silently, finally emerging from a smog-like mist. Allyson leaned against some ruins of the damaged buildings. A hand moved, carefully signaling the other member of the two-person team. When Valery showed her face, the Corellian gently smiled. Missions like this always had high emotions; Allyson already felt the strain in her neck.

"Hey." She whispered, nodding as the woman drew closer. Like their mission at the black site, Allyson pulled out one of the tiny spiders and ran her finger down its spine. "I was able to transcribe and download the coordinates." She was happily pleased, mainly because the Wayfinder was ancient technology. Allyson took a moment and handed Valery another one of the tiny robotic spiders. "His name's Aragog. He has a copy of the information, but Chuck is going to be our point." The little spider did a little dance swaying his thorax from side to side after hearing his name. Aragog, seeing this, decided to mimic this movement as well.

The tiny spider stopped and began to spit the information out in the ancient language. It took a moment, but the AI translated it into basic. Another glance to Valery, Allyson spoke, "You brought the package secured? I'm a tech girl and a tech force girl...so is there a way for you to suppress any force energy the thing is gonna give off?"

Allyson could feel it; the Wayfinder was emitting whatever force entity it had, and the closer they got to the location of the coordinates, it only grew stronger. "I don't want anything to be swarming on us if possible." Allyson put the small droid on her shoulder.

"The rest of SIA is covering our butts on this, but I think we're going to be on our own. If any one of us falls - the mission comes first. Call for help, but press forward." Valery would understand, Allyson hoped. The woman was seasoned and strong - there was no reason to sugarcoat things. "Let's keep moving; any questions? Concerns?" Allyson moved to climb through the ruins; whatever happened to this part of the planet was devastating. She could feel the dark side clawing at her, whispers of chaos wanting to drive her insane, and the farther they moved, the stronger they got. Allyson held her breath as she crawled through the last wall, leaving them to the lands of Epoch.

She remembered Epoch, the tales of what the One Sith had done and why they were attached to the realm. Rumors were that the dark temple had the remains of Daella Apparine . A part of her wondered if that's what the Wayfinder was calling out to. The thought made the Corellian groan; she wasn't in the mood to face any sort of dark evil force ghost. Stopping, Allyson looked at the mountain range that lay before them. "Oh joy," Glancing towards an uprooted tree, she pointed. "Over there, some of the SIA scout teams left us some gear." Moving over, she began to dig. A pair of speeders and climbing gear lay ready for the pair to use. "Perfect, let's keep moving."

 

[Dagon Kaze]

UPRISING OF EPOCH
THE GREAT ERROR vol. II
Issue #9 w/ Allyson Locke Valery Noble

watch the world burn​

As much as they had to lay low on Denon, far from the all-seeing gaze of Darth Solipsis , both Jem and Dagon still had their duties as Jedi against the Sith to fulfill. Hesitant, at first, given this was her father's world, the Knight finally gave in knowing that Jem's skills ought to be sharpened as much as in isolated practice as in real situations. He would've given Zaka the responsibility of oversight of his apprentice had the Blackfang not been a vital element in supporting the uprising; a warrior through and through.

All Dag had to do was put his trust upon Jem - that she would listen. That if it got too hot, she'd make a hasty exit rather than playing the hero. As she always did.

And the raven-haired Jedi Knight's own reasoning to be on Epoch? A hidden New Sith Order redoubt in the frozen hell of the planet's so-called Atlas Region - its location uncovered by the slicing artwork of Xan Deesa . There he hopes to find any intelligence on Sith infiltrators and assets operating in the Core - especially on Denon. They had to be a step ahead if they wanted to have even a slim chance against the prophesized Sith'ari.

Gloved, bandaged hands caught the edge of a barely hanging railing of stone and the presence of the Dark Side lashed out. The railing gave in with a groan and Dag swung the last of his momentum to spring from it and upon the more stable remains of a terrace.

"Always booby traps with you Sith." he murmurs, glancing back down at where the railing had crashed into a pile of sharp rocks that soon dispersed by the strong gales of the restless storm.

Fatigue was already setting in with a fast pace; traversing the treacherous Atlas Region to reach this frozen hellhole had taken its toll. If that was not enough, the whispers in his head had only grown louder in volume and among them one more audible than the rest. Its familiarity rang true not through his mind but through his blood.

He swallows hard, muttering a whisper, "...father." he squeezes his eyes shut, seeking to grasp the center of his being, to find composure before opening them again only to see an afterimage of his twin brother disappear in the dark hallway ahead. His heart skips a beat but Dag presses on forward - only forward - as his eyes begin to settle with the darkness.

"Steadfast, Kaze."

"...steadfast."

 

[The Mongrel]

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

Spoiler: TL;DR

• The Mongrel calls in four Razorghasts to help hold Lynda's forces back
• He shoots at her point-blank with a shoulder-mounted sonic blaster

The Mongrel did not show it, could not, but Lynda's mockery bit deep. Her words cut to the core of his doubts, of his deep weariness and his certainty that he had earned paradise already, damn it. What if she was right? What if, for him, there was only War? So long as the Dark Voice could wield him, he might never be allowed to pass into Death, and thus never reach Rebirth. Could the natural cycle of the Avatars be perverted by their own prophet in the same way that the galaxy resisted it? Could he be forced into the stagnation he despised?

The Mongrel told himself it was all a trick, designed to demoralize - just as his own words to her had been. Yet there had been a grain of truth in what each of them had said to the other, and he could not shake away his grim thoughts entirely. Instead he forced himself to focus on the flow of battle, which was just as well; Lynda was fast, deadly fast, and it took everything he had to keep up with her barrage of thrusts and stabs. Several times he was just fractionally too slow, the tip of her blade gouging the surface of his armored body thrice.

The warlord preserved the hilt of his dread blade, though, carefully taking hits on his own chassis rather than allowing Lynda to damage his weapon. If he lost the shimmering crimson energy sword, he would have nothing to parry her blows with, and she would carve him up in seconds. "You 'know when to stop?'" he mocked, forced back a step by the fury of her attack. "Doubtful. You've flitted from one war to another, drenched in blood wherever you go. You look for this. Killing gives you purpose. Killing brings you pleasure."

"There is no place in their 'civilized' world for you."

There was no way The Mongrel could kill her, of course. The impact of that armor-piercing bullet, a weapon not unlike the one that had gradually felled him at Nirauan, had been so minor to her that she seemed not to have noticed it. He suspected that no amount of blasting or hacking away at her form would bring her down for long; whatever strange technology, sorcery, or combination of the two fueled her seemed to be beyond the ability of ordinary mortals to defeat. But this had always been a fighting retreat. Epoch itself wasn't the goal.

One day she would face someone stronger than him, and fall.

Until then, he would cover the withdrawal. By that point, there was effectively nothing left of the inventory Epoch Engineering Corp had stored at their corporate HQ; all of it lay in blasted ruins strewn across the hangar floor. There was nothing worth fighting for here except the escape of the Taskmaster, who was many floors above them on the executive level. Time to fall back, then, and keep this mad group of killers from totally butchering the limited forces the Maw had deployed here. That meant deploying something more on their level.

"We will all serve even beyond death," The Mongrel told Lynda, "in order to restore the Holy Cycle. That is our gift to the galaxy: to delay our Rebirth in order to bring the cleansing to others." At his signal, the small "bodyguard" he'd brought with him scuttled past the overwhelmed Final Dawn troopers and into the hangar. It would have been impossible to smuggle his whole tribe into the Deep Core, even if they had been restored to combat effectiveness... but perhaps their newest innovation could serve in their stead.

Scuttling with horrific speed on their spidery legs, four Razorghasts skittered into the battle zone. In the close-quarters fighting, their weapons would be especially deadly - and their extreme mobility, combined with their heavy armor, would protect them from reprisal. Sonic cannons and flamethrowers roared, filling the hangar with sound and fire far more devastating than the blaster barrage had achieved thus far. Buzzsaws and shock prods bit into infantry. Cable-like limbs wrapped around airborne Mandalorians to pluck them from the sky.

Each Razorghast was piloted by a man - or woman - not unlike The Mongrel himself. The pilots were veteran Scar Hounds, warriors who had seen many battles, but had eventually become too grievously wounded for even cybernetic replacements to get them back into the fight. Instead they had been placed in the spiderlike body of a Razorghast, outfitted with horrifically deadly weapons and a swift, well-armored vessel to give them one more chance to die well for the Avatars. As they bit into the foe, the Final Dawn troops began to withdraw, sealing the doors behind them.

That would help with the broader battle, but The Mongrel still needed to do something about Lynda herself; if he stayed on the defensive, he was eventually going to take enough hits that she would deal him death by a thousand cuts. Maybe he could at least buy himself a little breathing room. At his mental command, a small sonic blaster popped out of his mechanical shoulder, unleashing a close-range blast even as he continued to spin his dread blade in parry after parry. If it forced her back a moment, he might regain the offensive.

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Confusion.

That's all Kahlil had at first. There was the numbness again. The lack of connection to the Force, like when he was suppressed. Yet, it was stronger this time. A stronger effect? No, something different. He blinked slowly, his hate filled yellow eyes receding back to their natural silvery grey. "What.." He'd forgotten for a moment, just a moment, on where he was. On what he was doing. The warmth of blood brought him back.

He blinked, looking down to his hand. To the man before him. No longer drowning in the dark all he had was regret. Panic. It was one thing to let himself fall. To hide in the darkness and use it to numb him from the things he'd do. But to loose that? To be sober and aware of just what he'd done? He left the knife where it was, carefully lowering Arlo to the ground. The unnatural shadows that covered his features were gone, leaving the man to just stare down at the mystic.

"I.." He wanted to apologize. But what good was that? The first person he'd killed was the one to save him from the darkness? That wasn't likely even the mystics intent, was it? Kahlil gritted his teeth. He reached down, clicking on a com on an open frequency. Odds of him getting the man help? Low. Non existent. But he kept pressure on the wound regardless as he let out the call for help. The least he could do was try to save this man's life.

 

[Zaka]

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

​

Spoiler: tl;dr

• Zaka eliminates two of the four TIE Strikers sent after him.​

​

The astromech's warbled reply was as disappointing as the advance on the Final Dawn's position. The StealthX made a wide berth above the battleground before swooping back around in the direction of the neo-imperials. Through his viewport, he could see artillery fire arcing up into the sky and back in the direction he had just come from. With his newly found target in mind, Zaka once again punched the throttle to the max, racing past as he prepared another Shadow Bomb.

Torpedo shell slotting into place and prepared to drop, he was in the midst of easing the yolk on another attack vector, when LB's sharp trilling alerted him to the approach of unknown fighter craft.

"Is it the Defense Force?"

Data was spat out across a screen.

TIE Design.

Trajectory from the Garrison.

"Guess not."

Blaster bolts from the stormtroopers below crashed into his shields, and for a split second, he was tempted to make that dive deeper and wipe them out with the Bomb, but reason won out. Tugging back, the StealthX swooped low, close enough to the ground that he could discern rank pauldrons on the shoulders of some of the stormtroopers. Shooting upwards, in his minds eye, he caught a glimpse of an X-Wing being laced with fire, its cockpit alight, and he shoved down on the controls, instantly leveling out as a flurry of plasma shot above his fighter.

"How many, LB?"

He guided the fighter from side to side, avoiding Imperial fire as he tried to get a look over his shoulder. The astromech's head rotated to face the rear. Three ships. No, four. And it twittered the number just as they veered to the side. Momentum was slower, so the turn was tighter. The infamous sound of the twin ion engines screamed closer and then past them.

Zaka watched as two of the atmospheric fighters overshot as they turned to follow him.

LB warbled out some warning about the other two, but Zaka sinking deeper into the Force's currents, ignoring the talkative droid.

His finger squeezed down on the trigger, lasers from each S-foil bursting out simultaneously to converge in one spot. The closest of the two dove down, but the first flew directly into his line of fire - too deep into his long turn to maneuver out of the way. Puncturing the eyeball, it exploded a second later, fiery debris plummeting to add to the fires in the streets below. Abruptly rocking forwards, Zaka saw his shield output drop tremendously.

He veered to the side, and then shot down to avoid another direct hit.

He snap-rolled, visually spiraling towards the surface as he caught sight of the other diving TIE passing under him. Adjusting, his finger depressed the trigger again, and the quad-firing X-Wing spouted out bolt after bolt, gradually drawing ever closer it punched through one of the wings. Converging in a single spot, it blew the wing apart, its pieces left to fall to the ground in separate parts.

"Two more," he quietly reminded himself.

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Location: Epoch​

Valery: Appearance​

Outfit: Factory Link​

Lightsabers: Link!​

Ship: Factory link​

Tag: Allyson Locke ​

​

Once Allyson gave the signal, Valery stepped out of her cloak, leaving behind only a trail of smoke that quickly faded in the breeze. She joined the woman by the debris of the ruined buildings and looked around for a moment, making sure nobody had spotted them while she also took note of all the damage that had been done. ​

​

Her eyes then shifted to Allyson, who she greeted with a nod of her head. She took the spider that held the copy and listened to her fellow Shadow's instructions before she spoke.​

​

"I've got it secured," Valery said before she grabbed the Wayfinder and showed it, careful to make sure it was obscured between their bodies. "As long as I have it on me, I can cloak its presence in the Force alongside my own dissipated signature. I have a few other tricks in case someone does detect it or me as well, though - a failsafe," she said with a smirk. The only real problem was if another Force-sensitive was really close, which is why Allyson was able to sense it without much trouble now as well.​

​

Valery then began to move forward with Allyson and shook her head, "Everything seems clear." she said as she put the Wayfinder away again, and kept the slicer spider on her shoulder. "The mission comes first is something I live by, so that won't be a problem," she said with a determined nod.​

​

The two continued their path until they finally reached the gear left behind by the other SIA teams. Spotting the speeder bikes, Valery grinned a bit - she quite enjoyed going for a ride, although these weren't the best circumstances to do so. But before taking a closer look, she made sure to collect all the climbing equipment.​

​

Turning her orange eyes to Allyson again, she smirked, "Want to grab these bikes and see how far we can get with them? Or are we expecting trouble even out here?" she asked, hoping that wasn't the case. ​

​

Whether or not they'd take the speeders, Valery was ready to continue their journey, the dangerous yet important Wayfinder closely secured on her person.​

 

[Traden Avarice]

Location: "Temptress" - Tsrotzhu-class Multipurpose Gunship - Conference Room (Dropping into Epoch)
Traden "Titan" Averice: Operation Lead
War Hogs Primary Objective: Secure Final Dawn's military garrison
War Hogs Secondary Objective: Apprehend any Final Dawn Collaborators
War Hogs: Phaineve Halseigh Dagmar Kortu Gorthalon Mela
Friendly Tags: Zaka
Enemy Tags: Marlon Sularen


"Don't worry about me, I'm sure I will survive against... how many tanks do they have?" B.O.B. said over coms. B.O.B., or "Bionic Occupational Bot" if you preferred, was the teams extremely intelligent, albeit sarcastic, A.I.. And B.O.B. was controlling Mr. Cuddles, the squads heavily modified MV-R2 'Dragonhawk' Main Battle Tank.

The Tank released a low droning sound as it hovered above the ground, slowly exiting the Temptress and making its way to the street.

"Don't worry... I'm sure it's not an entire army were going up against, being that we are still in the core. Oh, here's an update, one second Bob..." Traden read the updated military intel as it came up on the display on his wrist. His heart sunk as he realized that this might me Coruscant all over again.

"Kriff..." He muttered.

"Kriff? Why Kriff? How many tanks do they have? ...I heard that... Traden?" Bob was clearly concerned as the tank made its way towards Traden, taking cover behind the building complex.

"Ok, well... it IS an army were going up against." Traden shook his head with visible frustration, "Ladybird, mind getting me some eyes in the sky? If thats doable..." He said over coms to Phaineve Halseigh , referring of course to their surveillance drone. It might not be doable, as there was some intense naval activity occurring right above their heads. Traden looked up, taking in the spectacle that was transpiring above him... It was almost... beautiful.

"Please clarify 'Army'... Awaiting clarity..." Traden submitted the update to Bob with the press of a button. Mr. Cuddles stopped moving forward, silence filling the coms as Bob processed the intel. Then...

"You CANT be serious. I'm going to die, Traden, is that what you want... You know what... YOU'RE going to die to Traden... Kriff..." Traden ran across to the next street, blaster up at the ready, making his way towards the enemy lines that were heavily guarding the garrison. "Oh come now, Bob. You know i like a challenge..."

"you know... Maybe I like warm bubble baths, but you don't see me jumping into bubble baths... because I DON'T HAVE A BODY, and even if i did I would short circuit..."

"... and your point is what exactly...?"

"I KNOW MY LIMITATIONS. Oh force, just take me now..."

Traden chuckled. He then observed as rocket fire began to stream overhead, heading towards the GADF Staging Area. "Ladybird, you've got incoming! Looks like it might just miss you..." Suddenly an X-wing screamed right overhead of them. Traden looked beyond the building to witness Zaka 's first attack against the enemy line. The light caused by the explosion from the shadow bomb was brilliant, taking out an entire unit of tanks.

"Thats our window right there! Let's move!"

under the cover of the chaos and confusion that the friendly X-wing pilot continued to provided them, The small squad approached the scattering enemy forces, taking up strategic positions against the remaining forces that were west of the Garrison. Mr. Cuddles, due to his hovering abilities, was able to position himself in a position where no roads or tanks could reach to... on top of a building looking down towards the Mass of Marlon Sularen 's Artillery Battery's. There were a few enemy troops they encountered in the fray, but Traden was quickly able to put them down before they could report their position.

"Thank the force for that X-wing!" Traden said quietly from his position, which looked down towards the Artillery. The X-wing appeared to be focused on dogfighting with some Tie Fighters that were now engaging him in an attempt to stop his reign of terror. Traden had an idea...

"Ladybird, you there? Think you can unleash some hell on these Artillery positions? Marking their locations now..." Traden sent the marked location to Phaineve Halseigh . If she was able to lead their assault against the artillery, Mr. Cuddles would drop down and clean up after her, and Traden would have a clear path to enter the Garrison unnoticed in the midst of the chaos. Hopefully the X wing pilot would keep those Ties off of Ladybirds back.

UPDATED MAP POSITION OF WAR HOGS ASSETS

​

 

[Seto Du Couteau]

Seto Du Couteau, Senator of Empress Teta
Location: Epoch, EEC Executive Floor
Action: Organize and Assist with the Alliance Take over of the EEC
Weapons: REC-EVS/01 "Sohei" - Pattern Electro-Vibrosword
Attire

Seto smiled and nodded, hiding his natural impish grin slightly, he was certainly ready to deal with whatever government assembly left over on Epoch. When the threat of civil unrest and strife knocked heavily on the door, anyone offering a chance to avoid revolution was always taken up on their offer. Regardless of cost at times too. Seto by no means was opposed to, Well, strong arm negotiations, some might stretch the definition of Black mail to attribute what we do but that is quite the exaggeration. He nodded to his Chancellor as he quickly went to work on his Data-slate to finish a few last minute details.

When the turbolift suddenly stopped, a split second Seto’s eyes flared and for a brief moment the young Du Couteau heir feared the worst. But the moment passed and one of their own Tech Experts managed to get the lift working somewhat. His eyebrow raised at the rather unusual exit path the Chancellor took, with a glance back to the Tech Expert he only shook his head as the Expert continued to work on slicing the controls for the Lift. A single inward sigh and Seto slipped through the opening to finally reach their intended floor.

“Local Representatives, Lawyers or Nobles. They all have their. . . flaws.”

Turning his head to face the Chancellor once again, Seto offered a weary smile knowing the upcoming pain of Lawyers and the litigation piling up for the Chancellor. “-There is this folklore on Teta told by my fellow Nobles; a story of a very petty Noble who tricked another into climbing down his basement to enjoy some wine and once the Noble was well enough drunk, the Petty Noble then sealed up the basement hallway where the drunk Noble was laying passed out and left to essentially perish.” Seto responded, smoothing out some of his wrinkles on his clothing from his climb moments ago.

His journey to reach the Palace was momentarily halted, or he could very well climb the stairs back down. I wonder how long. . .

After a moment of realizing how many floors up they were, Seto mused he could for a few minutes to allow their Slicer to fix the Lift controls. He doubted that he was going to miss much at the Palace, but punctuality was important for Seto. And of course he really wanted to avoid the upcoming legal battle between the Alliance Lawyers and Agents with the EEC Lawyers and their no doubt legal complaints of this hostile acquisition.

“Well, at least we aren’t dealing with revolutionaries and anarchists.”
​

|| Aerarii Tithe | Tu'teggacha ||

 

[Westenra Mina]

"Well what do you expect?" Lynda mocked again as she fought The Mongrel . "You think other warriors of the Alliance wouldn't do exactly what I did to all that cattle you pretended were warriors at Jedha? You overestimate Civilization's restraint when it comes to your type, clinging to the Bryn'adul's coattails..."

He was smart, she'd give him that much. He took the damage to his armor rather than the blade, because they both knew that without it, he was a dead cyborg walking.

"I will admit only this much...killing Maw brings me immense pleasure..." Lynda said, even as her databases looped the record of her dead pets.

"There will always be a place in their world for those like me. Because there are always enemies like you on the horizon..." she hissed as she struck, laughing coldly at his assertion that he served the three avatars.

"But you...take away the three Avatars, and what are you left with? Your rotted brain? An unfeeling body that even now struggles to keep up? You're nothing to your Gods even if they exist. Why would they reward you? Or any of the fools who died under your watch? Is that what you were told and you simply accepted it, like the cattle you are? Or did they have to torture the belief into you, because you had too much common sense to buy into their paradise?"

The Mandalorians of Clan Hades were fearless. When the Razorghasts appeared, they immediately waded into direct combat, dodging their onboard Weaponry while House Li-Ves Soldiers managed to seize E-Webs and started firing at the cyborgs to try and draw aggro on themselves, one Designated Marksman firing on one with armor piercing rounds.

Meanwhile, the Sonic Pistol of the Mongrel hit her at point blank range, making her fly backward.

Her flesh wriggled everywhere disgustingly like rats were underneath as her design took the sonic damage. It was clear his sonic cannon had done something even if it wasn't certain what. If the Mongrel squinted hard he'd be able to view part of her strange, obsidian skull as parts of the flesh on her face tugged randomly in different directions. The flesh looked red as a beet, and she seemed only a second or two slower than usual as she snapped the fingers, flesh tugging away in random directions even there. Her blue and red, hoplite type armor
had sustained significant damage, torn and shredded like the flesh beneath. The sword was still intact, and had already begun repairing the damage to her systems. But she wasn't sure she could take another hit so soon...

She snapped her fingers and took a running leap. One of her own side, at the signal, tossed an active fragmentation grenade with three seconds on the timer at her and the Android (whose flesh hadn't stopped writhing) kicked it at the Mongrel as she leapt into the air...

Meanwhile...

Lynda's vengeance obsessed mind had accounted for the fact that such a sensitive operation for a known Maw Asset must surely have a HVT somewhere in the building.

While the Final Dawn Troopers and other assets of theirs were trying to evacuate (and getting blasted at through the walls by one of the stolen smuggler ships while the other continued to fire through the roof, now setting their sights on the razorghasts themselves), another team of House Li-Ves Soldiers had deployed on the roof, armed with Mandalorian Assault Rifles, and shatter pistols, along with stolen First Order Repeating Blaster Pistols and Stun Grenades.

The silent shatter pistols were used to kill EEC security teams as every EEC personnel here was assumed to be working for the enemy.

There was to be no negotiation. Zero. Not with Tu'teggacha , and certainly not with Aerarii Tithe and GAMA. They were crazy enough to take on GAMA.

That said, far more mercy would be shown to GAMA than EEC.

They only knew an HVT was here, but even their own considerable espionage group hadn't been able to tell them who.

That's why they moved quickly through the passages to the Executive level, shooting any EEC security team that got in the way. When they started encountering (and being held up for a bit by) and killing Final Dawn troops, they knew they were on the right track.

Orders upon reaching the Executive Suite were to execute everyone in charge of top level decision making at EEC, even if they were not the HVT they were searching for.

A message was to be sent: Any who dared work for the Maw willingly (or didn't rebel) was not safe. It didn't matter if they wore a business suit or battle armor, they were dead meat...

 

[Tren Chaar]

A I R _ S U P R E M A C Y

EPOCH AIRSPACE
B-WING HEAVY STARFIGHTER​

---

---

“Blackfang, Revenant Lead. On your six.”

The skies above Odessa were painted red and green with crisscrossing laser blasts. Four Galactic Alliance B-wings, broken by wing pairs, emerged from behind the towering Epochian Palace, stalking the TIE Strikers which were harrying the StealtX.

The Blade-shaped ships, typically tasked with capital ship hunting, had turned their attention - and oversized payloads - to the streets of Epoch. The Brotherhood of the Maw was heavily dug in, necessitating the heavy hitters to crack their defences so the soldiers of the Alliance could pour forth. Revenant Squadron’s One Flight had already racked up an impressive kill count, and the hunt had only just begun.

“Two, stay tight,” Chaar ordered flatly. “Three, Four, go high.” Two of the B-wings pulled into a climb away from the surface of Epoch, forcing their enemies to split their attention, and most importantly, draw them away from the StealthX. While the Umbaran didn’t trust anyone outside his squadron, and much preferred to work alone, orders were orders. Scrape the Eyeballs off the Jedi so he could continue his devastating bombing runs.

The commander toggled his fire selector to proton torpedos but kept his targeting reticle far from the silhouette of the TIE Hunters. No point in giving them an early warning. He wove between the towers of Odessa as he and his wingmate closed with Zaka and his pursuers. High above, Revenant Three and Four were standing by for orders to drop down from above on the unsuspecting.

“Break right on my mark,” he explained to Zaka, slowly sweeping his targeting reticle to where what he guessed to be Zaka's vector. It was all about the timing - he needed to get a lock long enough for the torpedos to find their mark, but not long enough for the TIE pilots to be able to react to their target-lock alarms.

“Three, two, one,” he depressed the trigger stud, launching a missile. “Mark!” The shimmering red proton torpedo streaked out in front of the B-wing and into thin air.

Thin air that, if all went according to plan, would soon be filled with one of the TIE Hunters lured by Zaka.

Galactic Alliance: Zaka | Traden Avarice | Revenant Squadron
Brotherhood of the Maw: Marlon Sularen​

 

[Tu'teggacha]

Location: Odessa, Epoch Engineering Corporation Facility
Tags: Aerarii Tithe | Seto Du Couteau | Westenra Mina

Spoiler: TL;DR

• EEC's corporate lawyers try to delay GAMA
  • They invoke a legal clause about establishing physical safety before inspections
  • They capture footage of the massacre by Lynda's troops to use against Tithe
• Tu'teggacha prepares to escape with his fighter escort

They were known as parasites, prowling the spacelanes to seize whatever wealth they could from the unwary. They had topped great dynasties and deprived countless innocents of their life and liberty, but they were utterly without conscience or remorse. It was said that they laired atop piles of their ill-gotten gains like starfaring dragons, laughing down at the penniless masses, unconcerned with the fates of peasants and slaves. There was no level they would not stoop to, no tactic that was beneath them, no world they would not ravage in their greed. Indeed, some called them the greatest threat to galactic order ever known.

No, not Mawite marauders. Corporate lawyers.

Seto might be grateful he was dealing with lawyers rather than the riots raging outside, but few who had actually dealt with EEC's legal team would feel the same way. There were gradations of attorneys as far as what they were willing to do - and what their clients were willing to let them get away with - and EEC's attorneys, their masters being quite literally (if secretly) a howling horde of techno-barbarians, were allowed to twist the law in basically any way they saw fit. It amused the Brotherhood to see them turn the Alliance's own rules against them, throwing the regulations underlying their decadent "civilization" back in their faces.

Best of all, in this particular situation, they didn't even have to win. All they had to do was play for time. So they fell back on the most basic and proven techniques of their trade: gaslighting and obstruction. Deny, deny, deny, as the old maxim went, and they had the legal arguments to back it all up. Well, kind of. It was the sort of legalese that one fired out of a scattergun; each individual argument was not particularly strong, but it was surrounded with - and followed up by - so many other bad-faith arguments that shooting it down was like popping a single bubble in a methane swamp. With any luck, they could keep it up for hours.

They did have one possible actual ace in the hole, however.

Agrippa The Hutt vs The Seventh Coruscant Circuit Court of Arbitration would certainly apply in this circumstance, they explained to the GAMA official... except that that particular case hadn't taken into account the Essential Wartime Production Act, Article Three, Clause Xesh, Line Forty-Two, as interpreted in Kuat Drive Yards vs Odaalbo Sanitation Services, which clearly established that corporations involved in military-grade starship manufacture must have the physical security of their facilities ensured before any inspections or seizures could begin. So unfortunately, this whole takeover was totally unlawful until the riots ended.

But the legal back and forth was about to hit a turning point... or perhaps an ending.

As if to punctuate their point about "physical security", reports of the extensive killing on the lower floors began to filter upward, grim footage showing up on the security cameras. The building itself, though strongly-built, shuddered violently as Lynda's smuggler ships opened fire into (and through) its walls, weakening its structure. Terrified EEC personnel were freely gunned down across the corporate offices, footage captured in excruciating detail and broadcast on the screens on the executive level... and beyond. Copies of the slaughter (somewhat censored so that they could be played on the evening news) were already en route to the holonet.

Genuine unease punctured the cold, corporate armor of the lawyers as the noise of gunfire began to drown out the legalese. "Chancellor," the lead attorney said, staring transfixed at the monitors as her coworkers were ruthlessly butchered, "is... is this your idea of justice? I understand that our corporations have had legal disputes, and the Senate investigation into our activities believes it has turned up evidence of misconduct, but this... Have you signed all our death warrants on the suspicion of collaboration with the Maw, without so much as an inkling of due process?" She smoothed her shimmersilk suit to cover her terror.

"Rest assured that we will rebroadcast this footage. Your political career will be over."

She was obviously frightened that her own life was about to be over as well, but if law school had taught her anything, it was never to her advantage to show how she was actually feeling. Her one chance to get out of this alive was to pray that Tithe himself hadn't authorized this massacre, and might be able to put a stop to it. Buck up! She was Eldonia Prisst, Esquire, and she'd stared down worse that this. Well, not really, but she wanted to give the impression of strength. Secretly, though, she had begun to wonder if her son was going to grow up without a mother. Jondo had divorced her a long time ago. Would he take the boy in, despite the affair?

For his part, Taskmaster Tu'teggacha cared not for the fate of the lawyers, or any of the EEC personnel being murdered in the hallways - many of whom were totally unaware that EEC had any connection to the Maw. They died in terror and confusion, leaving behind shattered families and grieving friends, one more piece of the ruin this rebellion would leave in its wake... and a totally unnecessary one. But the Ebruchi fed on pain and fear, so he slurped up the whole mess of raw emotion and dying souls like a child with a milkshake. The executive shuttle was ready to depart, and the Mawite fighter escort was on the way. Soon he would leave this place.

Not mission accomplished, exactly, but success denied to his foes, which was almost as good.

 

[The Mongrel]

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

Spoiler: TL;DR

• The Mongrel dodges back from Lynda's grenade, but is struck by some shrapnel
• He charges forward again, trying to strike with his dread blade while she's disoriented
• The E-WEBs are booby-trapped and de-powered in the Final Dawn retreat
• The Razorghasts go to town, being extremely effective in close quarters

Well, she certainly was sure of herself, The Mongrel would give her that. She was sure that civilization would embrace her endless thirst for blood, despite all the evidence to the contrary. "Ask the Confederacy how well they tolerate those who crawl over the corpses of innocents to strike at us," he replied, referencing the massacre at Rhand. The deaths of nearly all of the Brotherhood's slaves when the Holy City of Gehinnom fell had led not only to judgement for Laertia Io, but to the fall of Daegon Corvinus as Vicelord.

Civilization had rules... rules that the Maw, and Lynda, broke.

She continued to prattle away about the falseness of the Mawite religion, right up until he shot her point blank with his sonic blaster. That actually seemed to stun her, even throwing her back and buying him some breathing room... not that he actually breathed anymore, per se. Her flesh seemed to crawl over her strange, inhuman skeleton, or perhaps to ripple like waves on the ocean. The Mongrel laughed at the sight, a cold, mechanical sound bled dry of emotion or humor. She was a construct, a thing built for war.

And he'd become the same, little by little.

"Now it all makes sense," he told her, stalking coldly forward. "You cannot accept faith, cannot even understand it, because you have no soul. The doors of paradise are closed to you, so you must pretend they do not exist. How sad." The revelation bolstered The Mongrel's own faith, restoring the confidence that Lynda's taunts had begun to steal. Perhaps his own road to the Galaxy To Come was still a long one, a path of torment and war that might continue for years... but he had a soul, a soul that could prove worthy. And it would.

The sonic blast that had thrown her back didn't keep her down for long. Lynda was back in the fight a moment later, kicking a grenade in his direction. That was an... interesting tactic. Certainly it looked flashy, like something out of an action holovid, but The Mongrel really couldn't see how it would be better than throwing the explosive. A grenade didn't somehow blow up harder if it struck its target at higher velocity; the impact wasn't really the point. But such questions were academic when there was still a grenade flying at his face.

The Mongrel leapt back, putting more distance between them, his powerful cybernetic legs propelling him rapidly. The grenade hit the end of its timer in the open space between them, its fragmentation charge bathing the area in shrapnel. It was a highly effective weapon against lightly-armored infantry, shredding flesh like an enthusiastic diner at a steakhouse, but far less effective against heavily-armored targets. A few bits of shrapnel stuck into the upper layers of The Mongrel's armored chassis, but nothing bit too deep into the durasteel.

The distance between the two combatants now was far greater than the effective range of the little sonic pistol in The Mongrel's shoulder, so even though it had proven by far the most effective weapon against Lynda, there was no use in trying to use it from this far away. Instead the warlord closed in again, rushing forward so swiftly that air sung through the small holes she'd poked in his armor like breath into a flute. He came at her with a quick S-curve swing of his dread blade, hoping that her disorientation would help him land a blow.

Meanwhile, the Razorghasts - unleashed for the very first time - went to work. The Mandalorians had been bold to engage them in direct combat, but exceptionally foolish; shredding infantry, no matter how heavily armored, was exactly what they were designed for. Sonic cannons exploded skulls while shock prods sent two thousand volts through metal-armored bodies at twelve amps, the kind of electrical charge used in executions. Properly unleashed, it would leave behind smoking corpses with burst hearts and eyes running like eggs.

And Razorghast armor could hold up a while yet.

The house soldiers who went for the abandoned E-WEBs soon discovered that the Final Dawn was far too disciplined to simply leave behind perfectly good equipment for the enemy when conducting a fighting withdrawal. Each abandoned repeater had been rigged with a grenade, the explosive detonating the moment someone touched the firing stud. They were there purely as a trap, for an E-WEB required an external power source, and the generators had been either removed in the retreat or slagged with blasters if they could not be carried.

As the battle spilled out of the hangar and into the hallways of the building, The Mongrel wondered who exactly was backing Lynda. The Galactic Alliance and Brotherhood were galactic powers, the kind of regimes that could field huge forces. How could any individual, without the support of a major faction, throw seemingly endless personal armies into conflict after conflict? He could see only two possibilities: either Lynda and her ilk had secret backers, or the faction-level forces she wielded must be a facade, and he would reach their end.

Eventually, at least, because they seemed infinite at the moment.

 

[Westenra Mina]

"Oh, you're referring to The Black Knight, the one they only exiled instead of executed? My my, what a terrible punishment..." Lynda taunted right back. That exile had been a slap on the wrist and damn near everybody knew it. The Black Knight's reach was not purged from the CIS, far from it. Even now her Nuetralizers were spotted occasionally in CIS space in the open.

"If they'd truly been pissed they'd have killed her. But even they can't argue with results, or are you going to tell me these dumbass vat clones are better than unwilling slaves?"

But he seemed to have figured out what she was, at least somewhat. He taunted her about not having a soul. This made a sneer curl on her lips.

"Maybe I don't have one. But if you ever did, you tossed it aside years ago helping these dogs. You're nothing but a sucker, Mawite. I bet you can't even enjoy yourself unless you kill anymore. You have been condemned to stagnation. Rot. For nothing but a promise. No self respecting God would ever bother giving you anything but more torment. Why would they honor such a promise, with the work they supposedly gave you? I can be killed a hundred, a thousand times, and rise again and again, whole and new. While you..."

She rushed towards him as he did her, a super human blur

She blocked his blade, contemptuously parrying it.

"You must resort to stall after stall. Your Gods are nothing compared to what created me. Feeble little spirits at best, using dumb wretches like you because they don't have the strength to kill everyone themselves."

She slashed and stabbed at his pistol, constantly moving to frustrate any targeting attempts. She would deal with his one unexpected protection first and then she would take him apart and sell him for scrap.

She would try and find a way to keep him alive of course. House Li-Ves was extremely creative in its torture methods...

The Mandalorians that had been killed so far had boobytraps of their own. As they flatlined, their remaining allies dived back.

Plank Gas released from their corpses. Destructive and highly corrosive to metal, the lethal acidic gas would soon flow over the Razorghasts, while Missiles from the ship firing above along with the laser cannons, the grenades, and rockets were directed on their bodies, trying to destroy the annoyances as quickly as possible. Retreating Final Dawn Troopers were shown no mercy, ruthlessly sniped as they fled. The booby traps they laid to cover their retreat destroyed from afar with blasters, even as the other ship fired through the building to try and kill them.

The Assassination Team sent to kill Tu'teggacha was forced to take the emergency staircases, delaying them slightly. But they were in minutes of arrival. To buy them more time, they ordered the ship currently firing through the building to now direct all it's fire momentarily at the executive landing pad, refusing to allow any hope of escape...

 

[Phaineve Halseigh]

{Location: "Temptress" - Tsrotzhu-class Multipurpose Gunship - Cockpit}
{War Hogs Inbound}
{Objective: Land and try not to die}
[APPROACHING EPOCH]

Updates to the consoles at her disposal confirmed Mr. Cuddles' successful deployment; moments later, B.O.B managed to interface with the battle tank's dormant droid brain. The loading bay's cameras now caught an image of the War Hogs' descent through the ruins. Please. Stay safe... Phaineve's teeth gritted as she returned to the Temptress's controls. "Scanners, check. Ordnances..." she'd felt the urge to utter aloud. The captain had already begun to miss the sounds of familiar voices.

She turned noticeably relieved, even delighted, when a communique from Traden Avarice came in.

"Ladybird, mind getting me some eyes in the sky? If thats doable..."

"Ladybird here. I copy ya', Titan," Phaineve spun her seat quickly, addressing a small terminal at her port flank, on it plastered a diagram of the unit's Ferret II reconnaissance vessel, or Eyes. But she hesitated before the keys which would have summoned the drone to Epoch. "We'll have to hold off on Eyes for now. Too many ships coming in-- they're bound to detect it, even with stealth systems engaged. I'll try and plot a safer entrance," she took another small pause before continuing, "I think I should be able to relay you some city-wide camera footage. And I'll see if any satellites are still running in orbit." Phaineve pivoted starboard, running her gloved fingers over an glossy touchscreen.

The interference generated by the chaos in orbit, and the torrent ripping through the ground made the latter especially difficult. Even if any orbiting body had survived the carnage above Epoch, there remained the issue of drawing clear, usable scanning information from it. Updates would need to make it past all the background noise intact enough to garner anything useful out of.

"Ladybird, you've got incoming! Looks like it might just miss you..."

The comms chimed with Traden's voice again, preceding tens of microscopic blips on her radar. Rockets... Dammit. She spun, eyes affixed to the buildings at the Temptress's starboard flank. A free hand glided over a console, already drawing in the gunship's ramp in anticipation of evasive maneuvers. Closer. The ordnances began to accelerate on the circular plane of the undetailed PPI display.

An agonizing rumble, followed by the shattering of glass, erupted through the air. Phaineve's eyes bore witness to the sight the sounds belonged to; missiles sheered through two levels of a nearby apartment complex, spraying the ground with super-heated metal then detonating violently against the ground. When all was over, plumes of smoke began to rise from the craters. She consulted the gunship's computers; No damage to the Temptress herself. But the support beams within the crippled building had taken a critical beating. "Feth!" It was breaking apart-- collapsing.

Phaineve's hands did the rest of the work, punching keys in rapid succession until the Temptress jettisoned from the badly scorched courtyards, atmospheric drives igniting in flame as beams of blackened metal came crashing down...

---

It came time that changing circumstances warranted further risks to be taken. With Brotherhood volleys proven efficient in reaching the bounds of the Alliance staging grounds, Phaineve had begun to take to the skies; cruising lightly for now, she'd made use of her time by calculating Eyes' descent into atmosphere. Earlier, the captain had decided against taking the War Hogs' only surveillance drone through Epoch's skies; but now, she permitted the Ferret to approach with its limited stealth systems engaged and set on a course at the very edge of the fighting.

"Ladybird, you there? Think you can unleash some hell on these Artillery positions? Marking their locations now..."

She nodded at another one of Traden's updates, then set to work mapping the streams of data he sent over the War Hogs' comms. "Copy that, Titan. I'm on my way..." Phaineve let the Temptress veer carefully starboard, and in the mean time engaged the gunship's autoloaders. Gradually, in each of four missile batteries, discord missiles slid into place, blessed with a healthy serving of Buzz Droids.

Oh. They very much would give the Brotherhood hell.

---

War Hogs: Traden Avarice , Mela , Gorthalon , Dagmar Kortu
Marlon Sularen

 

[Zaka]

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

Blaster fire pelted his rear shields, a quick glance to the shield readout left a grim look on his face. Shields were critical. The next shots that foudn him had to be glancing, or they could punch a hole through him. Veering out of the way of another flurry of TIE fire, he cut the engines, slowing dramatically in an attempt to replicate his earlier maneuver to force the TIE to pass or threaten collision.

From the corner of his eye, he could see one of the two TIEs cutting their speed to match him.

Damnit.

Wrists working, the Stealth-X went into a stomach raising spiral, dipping low, he heard a voice emanate from the comms board.

"Blackfang, Revenant Lead. On your six."

About time.

Smoothly transitioning out of the spiral and accelerating, Zaka continued his attempts to shake the Strikers on his tail.

LB read out the sensor readouts in his sporadic, high pitched trills and twittering, explaining the situation with the four B-Wings that had arrived on the scene. They outnumbered the remaining TIEs now, two of them chased another off up high, while he and his tail went low, with Revenant Lead and their wingman on their ass.

Revenant Lead spoke again, and Zaka's head bobbed, as if the man could see him.

Countdown.

LB trilled.

The Stealth-X snapped to the right just before he fitted into the Strikers line, and as he looked up through his cockpit, he could see the bright beacon of red light heading for him.

No, not for him.

The space he occupied.

Accelerating, the boom and the excited warbles were all he needed to know Revenant's Commander had fired true.

Relief flooded through him, and he reached to the comms system, on the cusp of eschewing the single rule placed upon a StealthX pilot.

"He's fethin' good," Zaka laughed, reclaiming the yolk and following LB's directions back to his original attack vector. "He freed us up, so let's do the job."

If that was not proof that the Alliance and the Jedi needed each other to succeed, then what was it?

Knifing through the air, the Shadow Bomb was ready for release, and Zaka dipped into the oceanic currents of the Force. Sure, they may have been overkill. But they got the job done in a way where their efficiency could not be questioned. Finger pressing the firing trigger for the missile, the clamps released the baradium packed ordnance, and through the Force, he propelled it, guided to the largest cluster of artillery batteries still in the midst of hammering away at the Alliance's forces.

 

[Kirie]

Auteme | Titus of Epoch | Marlon Sularen
​

On the approach to the palace the statue of Sirius Epoch towered above them. Kirie averted her eyes on instinct the moment she saw the hanging bodies suspended from the figure’s outstretched arms. She steeled herself, and brought the grotesque sight into her camera’s frame, lingering on the image before slowly panning the camera back to Auteme. The crowd was incensed, surging forward propelled by anger and the encouraging cries of Auteme. Even after they moved along, the image of the hanging bodies seemed burned into her retinas, and a chilling sense of dread began to take hold.

Kirie struggled to keep up as the crowd pushed its way up the steps and towards the grounds of the palace proper. It was getting harder and harder to keep up with Auteme and Titus with the heavy camera, and she felt herself lagging behind, having to right her balance after being jostled, or skirt her away around a scrum of people struggling with a palace guard. Violence was breaking out all around them, as the Epochian police and defence forces clashed with the crowd again and again. As the group moved along, occasional shots rang out, and blaster bolts sailed above their heads. Kirie ducked down lower, but maintained the shot with her camera. People were dying around her. Kirie couldn’t see them in the mess of the march, but she could feel it.

The group around her jolted and stopped. She heard shouting, and a scream. Looking around confused, she grabbed a man’s shoulder and called out.

“What’s going on?”

The man looked at her, panic in his eyes. “The army is coming! They’re coming to kill us!”

Kirie frowned, not understanding, and then she realised. The shots, growing in number. They had started distant but they were louder now, closer. Kirie swore and fought her way to the front of the crowd.

“Auteme!” she yelled out to the woman. “The military are on their way here.”

 

[The Human]

Alias: Dalos Cameron
Location: North of Epochian Essembly
Armour: Humans Armour and Mask
Equipment: 1x Red Lightsaber, 4x Whistling Bird Grenades, 1x Multi-Purpose Cluster Grenade
TAG: Marlon Sularen

Lightsabers of red and green would clash among each other in the streets, among the wreckage of landspeeders, splintered trees and partly destroyed buildings. The Jedi Knight, effortlessly defending against and retaliating heavily against a less poorly trained Agent known as Dalos Cameron. The green blade struck against the side of Dalos and caused a cut in the armor of his, backing up while deflecting another blow from the opposing lightsaber. This been an ongoing process over and over, every few strikes, the Jedi Knight would strike at his armor, chipping it away at every hit. Every time Dalos appeared to have an upper hand, he would get backhanded and hit again with the lightsaber. He was out of his element and severely out of his league.

"By now you been killed a dozen times over! Surrender and your life will be spared!"
"Like the lives you spared hanging around us!"

At that moment, he flicked his lightsaber around near the wrist, causing the other to back up with Dalos striking at a much faster pace. There was a plan involved as he kept trying to disarm him at each point, trying to get closer and closer till finally the Jedi Knight flicked the lightsaber up and disarmed Dalos, the lightsaber of his flying out of his hands by pure pressure with Dalos lunging forward to grapple him. The lightsaber clashed loudly against his armor and the Jedi Knight pushed back as the Human flew back. Trying to lean up, the lightsaber was near his eyes and held there, the Jedi Knight speaking loudly again.

"If you wish to die by the sword, then I shall not grant you surrender!"
"I know, that is why I will not surrender with your pockets weighed down!"

That moment, there be loud whining noises as the Jedi Knight looked down to realize he had whistling bird grenades put into his robe. Pulling away, he quickly threw it off and Force Pushed it into a nearby fire as the whistling birds exploded into the wreckage of the landspeeder. Turning around, he noticed a beeping cluster grenade planted on the ground and Dalos diving behind another wreckage as fires wrapped around the Humans body. Lifting the cluster grenade with the Force, the Jedi would attempt to push it, only to have the entire landspeeder wreckage get thrown right at him and interrupt his concentration. It was just enough as the cluster grenade went off, kinetic shards of chips going everywhere with the Jedi Knight taking the full brunt along with a landspeeder crushing him directly into a nearby building.

Dalos laid on the pavement, panting loudly as part of his body was still wrapped in flames. Noticing it at long last, he rolled on the ground to put it out and brush his outfit of debris while grabbing his nearby lightsaber. Walking towards where the Jedi Knight was flown into, he glanced around it to notice the whole body crushed in and his arm still gripping the lightsaber. Not wishing to take any chances due to how chaotic of a night it has been, Dalos ignited the red blade and cut the arm off the now defeated Jedi Knight corpse before striking at the neck to ensure death of itself. Pulling the lightsaber out of the hand and adding it into his robe, he would turn and walk towards headquarters feeling rather sore and exhausted.

This was indeed, a very long night.

 

[Vesta]

Midas​

To be anyone.

It didn't matter which side controlled what, it didn't matter where she was, the Shi'ido could wear any face, obscure her presence in the force, and observe from both close up and afar. Here, now, she mingled in the streets as a forgettable Jedi Knight, watching the Alliance press on through Epoch despite her order and Dark Lord's desire to press back against the Jedi order. It was these moments, these disguises she shaped herself, like clay, into, that gave her much more inspiration and solidified her resolve to a much greater degree than devotion to the Sith cause ever could - to be able to literally become anyone she set her eyes on, or anything her imagination could conjure, to have the power to force her will upon others, and still not possess the singular object of her desire.

It was a passionless existence, one which burned her to the core, cut her to the bone, and disillusioned her forever from the ideals of any group - though the Jedi mantra rang especially hollow to her, knowing it would be a life deprived both of power and of purpose. She kicked over the corpse of some fallen person, stared into their unseeing eyes with hidden disgust, and then looked up towards the sky with a wistful stare. Neither side could give her what she wanted and she was, again, at a crossroads - to abandon what she'd crafted her life around, to try things on her own, or to jump feet first into the waves of an uncertain future.

There was no future where she could have everything she wanted, not without a past that wasn't her own.

Darth Solipsis desired the chaotic revision of the status quo, the destruction of everything through the fires of change so that things could be set right by the hands of those who would do right - might making things right, as they ought to be - but the scope of that vision fell short to her, its limitations grounded in the shortsighted desire for what she amounted to divinity. There was passion there, in his words, in his actions, and he had the power to make it happen if the stars aligned, but she didn't share it with him, could not. The fire in her had long since burned out, replaced by the frigid contempt for everyone else that had anything even resembling what they desired.

Stepping over the body, and back into the shadows wherein she faded from sight as she wandered away from the back of the Alliance lines, she wondered if she could ever have that fire back. Her promise to Quinn Varanin had been much larger than anything she had honestly planned to accomplish, having traveled the stars aimlessly for quite some time riding on her mother's legacy out of some pointless crusade for retribution. Broken apart for the final time, this time permanently, she had found herself - as she traveled through the darkness as little more than a shade - without that same zealous will to exact revenge. Nothing she could do would get her what she wanted now, not without that burning desire driving her onwards, and she wasn't so sure she could get it back.

Without the anchor she'd created in Quinn to her identity, to a singular face and name, to be anyone was entirely the same as being nobody.

Was there a point in supporting this marauding group if there was no benefit in it to her? Their leader himself was out for what was the only path to freedom for her - and he'd take it for himself, leaving her to remain where she was, without anything or anyone. The rest of the Maw, perhaps, didn't care much about life beyond the road to victory - she'd witnessed them casually throw their lives away for little more than the appreciation of their dark master - but she wasn't so easily satiated, never was, never could be. Wearing another face now, some faceless civilian that was locked in the struggle to escape the encroaching army, she watched the resignation form in so many eyes, the weariness for the world taking them in their panic as they realized there wasn't a future for them. She slipped away again, lost in the crowd as she disappeared, but not without coming to an understanding.

'The only way to light that fire is to take it for myself.'