Workmen's Compensation

[Darth Kentarch]

Corellia High Orbit
Shipyards

It had been days now. No one noticed a thing; his powers in changing his appearance helped Darth Kentarch hide among the workers as one of them. He learned their routines, he learned their work schedules, and he learned the layout of the shipyard facilities. Over time he picked up pass codes to secure areas, learned the structural weaknesses, and most importantly he learned the orbital rotation patterns of the shipyards over the planet itself. In the short time Sith Lord had spent on the station, he knew enough to complete his mission: Drop the shipyard stations into the atmosphere of Corellia, and cause them to fall onto the major city Coronet itself.


Sitting a Sitting at a computer in the control room Darth Kentarch watched as ships came and went unloading supplies for the construction of ships. Glancing through the view screen he recognized the large transport ship carrying some mercenaries from the former Sith Council had arrived. Quickly he used the administrator override, which he stole from the administrator, to approve the docking of the transport ship. Then sent a command for those inside to wait until the order was given. “All workers remain aboard your vessel until inspectors have cleared your vessel. Order 37B.” The last bit was a phrase word to let his mercenaries know that they were safely docked.


Standing Kentarch moved over to the communication terminal. “Hey Jeeves, what the heck are you doing?” The communication officer asked. He would never live to find out. Releasing his force disguise the worker shifted into the black cloaked figure that was Darth Kentarch. His red lightsaber came to life and cut down the communications officer. Quickly he issued a lockdown, and temporarily halted communications. Several of the other operators and officers in the control room starting screaming. One by one, trapped in the room, Kentarch cut them down.


After they were dispensed with Kentarch moved back to the communication terminal. “This is administrator Fletcher, we are experiencing a slight comm malfunction, please stand by momentarily.” Kentarch said over the comms, using the intel he picked up to impersonate the head of the shipyard station. Then the Sith Lord switched to a secure channel he had established with his fellow collaborators, including [member="Jacen Cavill"]. “All units, Operation Starbuster are a go. I say again Operation Starbuster is a go.” As soon as he spoke, the transport he cleared earlier opened it’s hatches opened and black armored soldiers with blasters came pouring out. Blaster fire soon was heard as the mercenaries moved through the station to plant the demolition charges on their respective targets. The destruction of the Omega Protective's best asset was on.

 

[Darron Wraith]

Corellia High Orbit
Shipyards


Blending in had been easy, getting his men and droids on board even easier. The ring that Soliael had given him had worked like a charm, and growing his facial hair out a bit and ruffling his hair had helped. Baggy workers garmets and safety gear masked his appearance and warrior's build further to the point that he looked just like every other worker there, and the same was true for his men. Flirting a bit with the inventory manager had made the transfer request for supplies that much easier, the only thing she didn't know was that the supplies weren't for working on the stations.

They were for bringing it down.


Fifty Mirari class body guard droids were just now activating as the Sith Lord processed the operation command. Their friend or foe systems had been calibrated, as well as the mission parameters. Cases and cases of Blas-Tech weaponry were being opened by the thirty mercenaries that Darth Kryptus had brought with him. A couple of Tartoros class walkers were being activated secretly in the lower levels of the station. A few simple charges had already been planted a week before the required time. Schemes upon schemes had been laid in place, and the time for them to be borne to fruition was coming close. Everything was just about ready, they merely were waiting for a command.


Cavill walked further and further down the station, drawing closer to the systems he needed. Everyone on the ship was a stranger to him, and at the moment he regarded them like a giant regards insects. Everyone was focused on their daily tasks as they managed the station perfectly, that they paid little mind to the attack that was about to happen. Under his coat, the lightsaber he always kept at his side pulled his pocket down. Moridin's gauntlet hummed with a week of unused kinetic energy, and his Iron Skin armorweave was going to have to be his armor for the night.


"Gentleman, are you ready?" Came Jacen's voice as he removed the ring that his friend had given him. The Serreno native's eyes closed for a moment as he braced for the pain that soon rolled over him in waves. To cut oneself off from the Force wasn't an easy task, and to reopen themselves to it only increased the pain. All of his senses were tingling as he made himself the axis of the universe. Dark power was rolling through his veins as his rage began to flow from him and out in the the life around him. Kryptus opened his now yellow and red eyes as he pulled his lightsaber from his belt and removed the jacket he was wearing. Standing among his men in one of the many hangars that was unattended, he sent the command to the other Sith Lord who was the brains of this operation.

"My men are in position, give the command and we will bring it down."

There was no back up plan, no escape for the men. Well there was for Cavill, but they didn't have to know they had been doublecrossed. Their lives meant nothing so long as Operation StarBurster was a success.


[member="Darth Kentarch"] [member="Enigma"]

 

[Onrai]

No longer part of this.

 

[Ayden Cater]

The moment someone triggered a lockdown in one of the orbital shipyards, a dozen things happened near simultaneously. The first was that all power in the reported lockdown area cut off, plunging it into darkness save for emergency lights. Next, all consoles throughout the shipyard were cut off from planetary installations, their local databases wiped, and their input consoles frozen. Then emergency bulkheads thudded into place. Those trapped within would then put on helmets and achieve hard-seal in preparation for potential atmospheric venting. From there, those that could access the escape pods would do so, loading them in a dozen strong before launching. Outside the shipyards, the Corellian Defense Fleet was already mobilizing. Interdiction fields were activated and laid in place across the system. FLEETCOM HQ went to red alert. All civilian traffic in the system was rapidly grounded and any ship not possessing a military Protectorate IFF transponder would be escorted to a landing zone or blown to pieces.

Thousands of starfighters were scrambled and moved into predetermined formations in low, medium, and high orbits around Corellia while capital ships took up a defensive formation around the shipyard, maintaning a five kilometer safe zone. Escape pods that launched from the shipyards would be tractored out into open space where they were scanned for life signs and potential hazards. After that, they would be pulled into a shield hanger where the occupants would be presented with several dozen battle droids and armed troopers would would check their IDs and either detain them further or ferry them to the planet.

The Sith attack on Fondor some months previous had illustrated a number of failures in Protectorate security. The station had nearly been crashed into the planet thanks to sabotage efforts. Afterwards, all major shipyards had updated security plans put into effect. Emergency repulsor lifts, shielded and with independent power sources, had been ordered installed to prevent such attempts. Of course, not every shipyard in the Protectorate had had time to fulfill these orders yet. However, as Corellia was one of two major foundry worlds, they had been the first to have them installed.

On the shipyard, no one could access any consoles. No one could get power to any systems like life support, door controls, or internal communications. The Corellian Defense Fleet was already in the process of sorting through escape pods. The station was motionless and had thousands of guns trained on it. No one could cancel a lockdown, save for the head of CorSec, or a member of the Corellian Engineering Board of Control. And as this happened, Ayden got an alert in his office on the planet. He put what he was doing down, he grabbed his hat and coat, and headed for his private shuttle to take up to the Starfall. And Ayden smiled. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice... now you're dead.

[member="Darth Kentarch"] [member="Jacen Cavill"] [member="Enigma"]

 

[Darth Kentarch]

Corellia High Orbit
Shipyards



Quickly the station was taken over by Kentarch’s men. But while causing the shipyards to fall out of the sky and onto Coronet below, the Sith Lord want to be assured this was a personal statement as much as it was planetary destruction. The Soldiers worked quickly, placing the chargers and detonators in their respective locations. Kentarch moved over to the main control terminal and began punching in a few commands. “All clear.” Then suddenly one by one the system began to shut down. The Omega Pyre had arrived. The atmosphere had vented, the bulkheads closed, the terminals went down.


Taking a step back Kentarch watched for a moment, summoning the force to shield him from the life support systems kicking offline. Like the workers, Kentarch’s mercenaries brought helmets to shield themselves from the lack of atmosphere. Yet they were disposable. For a moment it seemed as if everything was had stopped. Then the control room hummed back to life, lights and terminals switching back on. In the time Kentarch had spent in disguise on the station as a worker, he learned of the lockdown protocol. Then took the time to set and emplace a sub routine to by-pass several lockdown procedures for the control room.


Systems like life support and communications. To the Omega Pyre, it would appear he was offline for now. But Kentarch had no plans on keeping that a secret. He switched on communications and set it not just for Omega Pyre frequencies but the whole HoloNet. “You think you are safe. It is an illusion.” His voicing said ominously over several comm frequencies and the HoloNet for all the people of Corellia and the Omega Pyre forces to here. “The Protectorate can’t save you from the coming storm… My Kind have a saying. Peace is a lie. And there is no greater lie then the peace sold to you by The Lord Protector [member="Ayden Cater"].” Then the Sith Lord added a message for someone special. “Or war profiteers like the former Lady Protector Cira. In the ensuing moments the fate of this planet will be decided. And everyone in this galaxy will know they will never be safe from the tyranny of the Sith.” Kentarch then switched back to [member="Jacen Cavill"]. “Darth Kyrptus. Continue as planned. Prepare to sabotage the station orbital stabilizers.”



[member="Tali"]

 

[Ayden Cater]

Ayden sat in his shuttle, looking over the first sitrep that had been delivered to him when an alert went out. This was not the first time that an attack had been carried out on a shipyard, and they were much more prepared for it this time. One of the consoles on the station had been brought back online, impossibly. Pausing only for a heartbeat, Ayden began tapping in commands. It would take a few moments, but the commands were going out. The next time the consoles shut off, there would be no bypass to get them back up. The commands were sent with the highest level of authority within the Protectorate. When the consoles shut down again, there was only one man who could rescind the lock, and he was on his way to handle the situation.

By the time the shuttle docked, a com channel was opened from the station. Apparently this was a grand attack to expose the... wrong-doings of the Protectorate? Ayden could not help but chuckle. It was like listening to the Atrisian Emperor declare that they did not retreat from a fight, mere hours after his forces had done just that. When he stepped out onto the bridge of the Starfall, the consoles within the shipyard went dark once more and would not come back up. Power was cut off, and all systems were locked.

"Send a message to Denon and Rhommamool. Have them dispatch reinforcements on the off-chance this is the prelude to a larger attack." Ayden began handing out orders as he took his traditional place on the bridge. Border stations had not signaled any unidentified fleets, so that was a fairly remote risk. Of course he'd have said an attack on Corellia was a remote risk too. "Notify CorSec and begin deploying extra security forces on the planet. I don't want a panic breaking out in the capital. Show folks that we're in control and there's no danger. I want all available heavy capital ships to get a tractor lock on the shipyard. Contact FLEETCOM HQ; have them do the same. In the likely event that these terrorists attempt to blow the repulsors, and in the unlikely event they blow the back-ups, we'll be able to pull the shipyard into a stable, high orbit."

While the bridge officers began going about executing their duties, Ayden retreated to the ship's meditation chamber and knelt. Opening himself up to the Force, he could feel the sick, twisted taint of the Dark Side on the station. He began to selectively extend his will over the patrol ships. Any pod with a Dark Side presence would immediately be taken to high security areas for processing. Any pod with only Dark Side figures within it would be shot on the spot. It was easy enough to point out the aura of a Sith. The amplification he received from the chamber meant that it was practically impossible for the average Sith to hide from him. Of course, all that was simply what would be done if they waited for more. That wasn't Ayden's style.

"The Sith were broken at Drommund Kaas. They were beaten at Korriban. They were beaten at Ossus. The 'great and terrible' Sith were beaten by the Republic. At the same time, we have had our sovereignty challenged by the Atrisians and then the Fringe. The Atrisians were beaten at Fondor and the Fringe, whose might had turned away the Republic at O'Reen, were stopped in their tracks at Eriadu. The Sith attempted to bomb our shipyards at Fondor two months ago and were defeated. Time has shown that when those who crave power and seek to subjugate the galaxy attempt to impose themselves upon the Protectorate, they were defeated. The Protectorate is not beholden to any foreign power for protection. It had taken upon itself the mantle of responsibility for these territories that entrust their safety to us, and it is a burden not taken lightly.

Lady Protector Cira devoted her life to stamping out injustice when she first formed the OmegaPyre private military corporation. She did not accept bribes, she did not turn away those less fortunate who were in need. She did not tolerate slavery, and she never turned down someone who cried out for help. It it on these foundations that the Protectorate was formed, and it was on these principles that Cira carried out the duties of her office. When tragedy struck and the Protectorate was left to question its future, former Exarch Tegaea Alcori stepped in. The Bando Gora threat was removed. Any doubt that the Protectorate would continue on without Cira was left to dust when I assumed the office following an attempt on the Lady Alcori's life.

Since then we have faced more attempts at challenging Protectorate sovereignty than ever before by forces whose goals have been the subjugation of our worlds, the destruction of our homes, and the deaths of every man, woman, and child who stood against them. These forces have come against us, and they have been found wanting. They have challenged our resolve and have found us to be united. I read to you now the words that my father read to me, and his father before him all the way back to the writings of a man named William Henley.

'Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.'

We are not a fearful, defenseless people who will be taken away by the wraiths of the old Sith. We are Corellians. The galaxy itself bends to our unbreakable will, our insatiable drive to conquer our destinies, our ceaseless belief in the power of companship, and our endless faith in one another. We will not be cast into the dungeons of terror by the mad ramblings of a man at death's door. We will live on long after those responsible for this attack are brought to justice." Ayden finished and resolved himself. The shipyard would not be brought down onto the planet. Not today. Not ever.

[member="Darth Kentarch"] [member="Jacen Cavill"] [member="Enigma"]

 

[Gilamar Skirata]

Gilamar had been visiting Corellia, some sort of starship expo hosted by an up and coming shipwright. The kid had some skill but he knew that starting a Shipwright was no joke, and it was even harder when you started one on the home planet of one of the Galaxy's most well known ship building companies. With the small expo over and his donation placed Gilamar had decided to take a VIP tour of the Corellian shipyards. All seemed well...And then the lights shut off, and lockdown protocal had been thrown into effect. "What the karking hell is going on," he muttered. Of course this would happen with him being nearly naked, that is without his armor and rifle. What he did have was a beskad sitting at his waist and a Mandalorian Ripper.

Sucking his teeth when the emergency lights popped online he made his way to the escape pods. Rounding a corner he sucked in air as he met the men whom caused this issue. With a curse, he drew his weapon quickly and fired the energy coated slugthrower into the two mens' chests. Placing his gun back into its holster he jogged over and took one of their rifles and donned the armor, not so that he would blend in, but so that he had a little more protection than his...clothes. Luckily he had not been in an area that had been vented.

When the systems hummed back to life Gil kept the helmet on, just in case something went haywire, though he risked being shot at by the remaining security teams. With a curse he listened to the terrorist. To Gil, his identity was still unknown. Re-routing the com in his helmet he contacted Ayden, pressing his finger to the non-existent ear piece out of habit. "Ayden...It's Gilamar, I'm on the station and it seems all the pods are gone. Who is this nerf herder?" Almost immediately the power shut down again, and his helmet really came in handy as the visor adjusted for the low light.
[member="Darth Kentarch"] [member="Ayden Cater"] [member="Jacen Cavill"]

 

[Chloe Blake]

We are not a fearful, defenseless people who will be taken away by the wraiths of the old Sith. We are Corellians. The galaxy itself bends to our unbreakable will, our insatiable drive to conquer our destinies, our ceaseless belief in the power of companionship, and our endless faith in one another. We will not be cast into the dungeons of terror by the mad ramblings of a man at death's door. We will live on long after those responsible for this attack are brought to justice.​

Corellian Space
The Aurora Hawk
YZ-1200

A flick of a switch would show the IFF ODF transponder codes of one freelancer and fellow Corellian by the name of Chloe Blake. Considering the time spent working with the Protectorate and the fact that her homeworld was one of the FLEETCOM headquarters, the young Warden of the Sky had plenty of opportunities to still maintain good relations with the OP.

Hearing the Lord Protector's speech coming through the open comm was enough to get a wide smile upon her face. Always the monologist, she mused internally, while a more serious gaze went drifting towards the space station in question.

"Saltan valoramosa n telval mord," came her soft reply in Olys Corellisi to the one who had blasted his threats earlier.

Assumption is the first step into a shallow grave.

 

[HK-36]

Abregado-Rae's Obrit,
The Siege Tower

It has been a slow day for HK and his Company so far, the droid was aboard his frigate, a nice view of the planet below from the bridge. There was an easel with a canvas situated on the bridge, the Droid Observer was standing in front of it, clad in his usual armor and grey cloak, a palette of paint and a brush in his hands.
In soft strokes he applied the paint onto the empty white surface of the material, capturing the image of the planet he has sworn to protect slowly.

His serenity did not last too long as his communications officer spoke up,
"Sir, we have received transmission from Denon, their fleet has been summoned to Corellia,"
The droid glanced to the Officer, still applying smooth strokes on the canvas,
"For what purpose?"
He asked simply, the Officer paused for a second,
"Sith attack on the shipyard, sir."
HK shook his head slightly,
"Every Force-damned week."
He muttered before putting the brush and palette away. He walked over to his Captain's chair, sitting on it, looking out at the planet in front of him,
"Very well, alert our troops to begin preparing for the positions and make sure Colonel [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] who is staying with us will be on her feet as well, Corellia has called for Protectorate's aid."
HK glanced to the Officer,
"And Abregado-Rae shall answer, prepare our fleet for jump into hyperspace."
The Yeoman next to him quirked her brow as he spoke to the Communications Officer,
"You mean our ship?"
He just glanced to her,
"Yes, our single-ship-fleet."
He answered in dead-pan.
"Move it."
HK ordered simply.

Soon enough, the Siege Tower would be sailing through space again, facing away from Abregado-Rae it disappeared with a flash of light, entering the tunnels of Hyperspace heading towards the planet of Corellia. However, the planet was a bit of a distance away from the ship's position, their journey would not be instant, it would take some time.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="HK-36"]
Aboard the Siege Tower

Dramatic events were occuring! A party of Sith had once again assumed direct control over a Protectorate shipyard. This time with the intent of plunging it into the planet of Corellia and laying waste to its capital. It must be admitted that during the Fondor skirmish the station almost crashing into the planet had been an accident because Siobhan unleashed a couple too many explosives when attacking Darth Apparatus - or someone who seemed to be him -...but then she had force pulled the station back into position. Not every bad thing that happened in the Galaxy was the fault of Sith. Or Velok.

Regardless, dramatic events! Also dramatic speeches on both sides - Siobhan had never liked those. If she were to ever give a speech it would probably be of the 'Soldiers. I am your Exarch. You are Omegans. There are Sith. Kill them!" variety. Perhaps with Harbinger quotes. 'We shall assume direct control. The enemy shall bend to us. Our techniques will tear them apart. This hurts them.'

Anyway, what was Siobhan doing when Gondor called for aid and Iron mustered the Rohirrim so that they may ride now? As it happened she was actually on the Siege Tower as well in a a cabin she had, well, requisitioned. Our morally questionable, at times sort of dark side 'heroine' was lying in bed alongside a young and rather pretty female ensign, who was fortunately covered by sheets so that no kiddies might be harmed and was listening with rapturous attention to Siobhan's more or less accurate stories of her deeds while held in a close embrace.

"So it is true? You single-handedly beat the Bando Gora's Machine God and then sent their dark lord Abaddon into the abyss? That's so...amazing." Yes, including the part where a load of Omegan soldiers had died when she brought down the mountain ceiling of the Bando Gora's subterranean lair and the floor was split open to reveal pits of lava. Presumably Siobhan was not focusing too much on the part where she would have fallen into the pit if Maelion Liates had not saved her.

Siobhan looked bashful, just a little. "Well, not me alone. HK gave cover when the mechanical dragon was spewing out flames and buzzsawed his head. But, yeah, telekinetically ripped the beast's wings off and beat him to death with it," she said, sounding totally modest and not at all taking credit for everything. To be fair it had happened that way. "Bastard was a tough fight, but gave up the ghost."

"And you can really fly with the Force? I thought that was just something out of movies," the admiring ensign - a redhead in case anyone is interested, though her name was not Kelly Chambers and she hopefully did not have scale itch - spoke with a wide-eyed look on her face. What was her name again anyway? Ah, well, surely Siobhan would remember.

Siobhan nodded and pulled the girl closer. "How about I take you...flying when there's shore leave? I promise it's totally safe. You'll just have to hold on...tight."

"Tight, huh? I'm holding you to that," the girl brushed her lips against Siobhan's and it soon turned into a deep kiss but before anything non-PG 13 could happen suddenly an annoying, insistent voice blared out of the loudspeakers, for destiny or rather force plot had decided that just maybe Siobhan would have to do some actual work in this thread.

"Sith insurrection on the Corellian shipyards. This is not a drill. I repeat: this is not a drill. All personnel to their stations. Omega expects that every citizen does their duty."

Siobhan made a face, looking annoyed and a bit like a petulant child. Truly it was a horrible thing that something like a Sith insurrection should get in the way of her fun - because it was not like she already got enough of that. "Again? Is it just me or has the Protectorate become real popular since I retired. All those hours of paperwork and meetings...I could've used a break." No, she was not vain and narcissistic at all. Retirement referring to her leaving her office as Exarch after her wife the former Lady Protector Tegaea Alcori stepped down due to the assassination attempt. Said assassin had been crushed and beheaded by Siobhan. Of course, there were a number of details - painful ones - that had not been released to the public. Regardless, no more obligations to the Protectorate.

Apparently the ensign did not see the humour in this and immediately started putting on her uniform. "This is not a joke. Innocent lives are threatened," she said, some reproach creeping in her tone.

"I know. Duty and all that. I'll be on the bridge. Don't worry, I will take you flying," Siobhan said indulgently before she finally left bed and looked for her armour...for some reason the room was rather chaotic. But force plot was her ally and soon she was battle-clad and swiftly heading to the bridge.

 

[Delsin Shaw]

Corrllia Shipyards.

There was one thing that I needed, and that happened to be a starfighter. With my return to the Protectorate, I would need a suitable starfighter for my needs. Hence my being here in the ship yards. Still, I was silent. Pointing to a few ships that were available to me and he would tell me the information. With simple hand movements, I would show the man to either continue or to stop. Moving to the next one, unknown model to me, the entire place went dark. My helmet activated allowing me to use night vision and to iluminate the immediate area. I activated my communications unit, not to speak, but listen.

I was good at listening, and even with this, I watched as a man spoke about who were the people trying to take the place over, waiting for a responce, I pointed at the man, and then to a escape pod. As i walked down the hall to where there could have been a possible meating place where I could be ordered. Smiling as I started to type out a message on my left arm. Sent directly to [member="Ayden Cater"],

Reading, "Where will I need to be deployed?"