Private Wrath of The Amalgam, Part One

[Sawa Ike]

Maple Harte Elise Ike

Sawa went inside and she was listening to Elise for the moment... if she was going to be... she didn't get to finish the thought as the first inklings came to her... something was coming and then there were attackers coming at them as Sawa spoke. "Oh I see." She said it and looked at Elise for a moment and then back at them as she was walking forward with her hands clenched into fists. "Hey guys so how is your healthcare?" She said it with a gleam in her eyes as she wasn't one for playing as someone shouted. "Get down on your knees." The blasters were there and Sawa spoke before she moved quickly. "I'm not your mother last night." She rushed him as he got angry firing off a shot then her hands were around his neck and his head at a different angle. ANother punching at her as she was close and her hand came forward splitting it like a tree trunk down the middle with screams before Sawa let out a snarl grabbing anotherone and holding him as a shield while looking at him. Wide eyes and a trembling lip while she spoke. "You know you have lost yes..." She said it and he was nodding.... "And that I am going to evicerate your soul for what you have done..." He nodded again. "After draining your mind." That seemed to make him panic more as she pulled at him and her mouth opened... stretching for a moment with her fangs elongating and ripping into him before she pulled at every bit of energy until he was a husk that shattered like crystal and she clapped looking at the others who were coming to attack them. "Oh this is going to be fun."

 

[Boriskno Fel Set]

On the bridge of the Castan SD Technor...

"What is it with them three?" Bo (Boriskno) were standing there with arms folded looking at the holo-projection of the main hangar deck by which Karlie's ship had been brought up.
Ian Sade had walked up next to the general, also quite interested in the view.
"I can understand our quirky blonde, but the other two?...
Odd..odd behavioral programming for those two killer androids." Bo continued. More talking to his self then expecting a reply from Ian.

Bo knew only what he were authorized to know about Nine Lives android daughters. The more he knew, the more he thanked Berkana (God) that they were not infiltrators on the Technor. The havoc they were statistically should have been able to create would have them fire scrambling for hours.

Ian were somehow were focused on one of the androids, not immediately replying to Bo. Then again, it weren't a tactical question but one of curiosity. The general turned to Ian. He could see his interest of the trio.
"Heh... maybe if we come out of this campaign alive, you'll fill me in, Ian." He said before turning. They were both above, on bridge's extension. Down below were the officers and techs stationed over their own monitors and ship controls.

"Commence countdown to jump coordinates Nano Alpha One." Bo gave the go ahead for the jump.
They had already received the signal that phase one of their coalition attack had been triggered.

"Commencing countdown to jump in 20..." The engineering officer repeated. This of course was relayed to pertinent stations throughout the SD.
20 seconds were enough for every deck to secure for a jump.

"Uhm, Lieutenant...continue with the countdown, just reduce G-dampener to 98.5% in the main hangar." Bo then ordered with a smirk. THAT, he knew, would be enough to knock that blonde on her ass when the vessel jumped.

...5....4....3....2...1....

​

 

[Karlie Lynn Destat]

Ok, who's the Joker?...

"Seriously...come on, stop playing around." Karlie didn't know what to make of it, as the saber drew closer to her.
It were obviously not something which she thought may be thrust open her. then again, she weren't thinking in those terms of possibilities.

"Fine..." She then gave in, playing out the game...whichever one of the two were fraking with her.

The hilt felt like a glove.... it...it felt familiar, like she had held it before. And at that moment, the plasma blade deepened in color and intensity. Karlie took a moment to look over to Vera and West who still seemed astonished as to the blade's reaction to the blonde.
"My...mother's huh?" Karlie realized neither of them were playing with her. So how the frak did the blade activate on it's own? She knew enough about saber history to know they all don't activate on their own. there were and have been fail-safe interlocks that prevent sabers from energizing. Hell, some sabers have a master lock on them that prevents activation from unauthorized handling.

"Ok...cool I guess..." Now what? was she to like hold it like a candle...for how long?..??
"Soo...anyone know how to shut this thing off?" Like was she supposed to hold it..like forever?
Karlie's eyes looked about as to where she could put it down, activated.
At that moment the yellow flashers accompanied with the tell-tale siren that the Technor was about to jump.

Naturally that didn't concern Karlie nor anyone else not required to man their station. The jump were going to be flawless, with the G-compensators that neutralized the ultra g-force affect of a object instantly accelerating past light-speed. It was such old tech that it were flawless and very rarely even drifted from calibration.

Only this time, the G-comps were modified...thanks to general Fel's antic.
Incidentally, before we get to the anticipated jolt, Karlie's desire to put the saber down and turn it off, actually deactivated the plazma blade.
"Oh... that was easy-" She were surprised again, as the blade deactivated on it's own.

Lucky for all...

"Ooh-OH!.." the ship jumped and Karlie found her feet and self suddenly being jerked off the floor, and into the arms of-

Now one must know that as the plane of an object in motion moves in one direction, the opposite happens with an object resting on that plane.
Karlie were facing her friends and basically was facing toward the rear of the vessel. The vessel jumped forward and Karlie was airborne in the opposite of the force, forward and toward Westenra.
Yep, she were caught by her friend West.
That G-force phenomenon only lasted momentarily and for a moment, Karlie was in West's arms..eye to eye with the biot.

Of course, Karlie being human and who were crushing on the other. Was found in an awkward embrace with another..er, biot.
"Gasp!... oh shoot... I...I'm so sorry.." She quickly managed to recover from her fall, drawing herself away from West and looking over to Rom like she were caught doing something she shouldn't have. In Karlie's mind, she had embraced another....uhm girl in front of Rom, who was actually Vera, but had remained in Rom's guise for the blonde's sake, by which the blonde was playing/acting like she didn't care for Vera, who was in Rom guise...but she did.
Right.

Anywho, Karlie didn't know what happened, as that little G-trick during a jump was new to her. No one , at least no SD commander had ever pulled that as far as anyone knew. Then again, the Castan SD Technor was not Boriskno's as he only commandeered it.
"I...I don't know what happened..." She were definitely apologizing to Rom, who was really Vera, whom Karlie were still crushing over but had wanted Rom, who was Vera to think she were not.
Apparently she were still, crushing on Vera who was in Rom's guise...

"Really, I don't know what happened... I didn't jump into West's arms on purpose.." She stammered a moment before realizing how it may sound to her other friend. " I don't mean it that way, West...."
No, no she didn't.
Although she had in reality been in West's arms many a times before. But that was when the blonde was in dire trouble and needed..rescuing and protection for the most part.

"I...I'm not that way.
I mean....I don't jump into another's arm when I'm-
Sigh... " No, she didn't wish to explain . nor admit that she were stuck on Vera, despite all that took place between them. That she simply would not jump into the arms of another...another, period. Rom knew that very clearly.

"...you know what I mean."

 

[NPC Treasury]

Once the ship had entered hyperspace, as expected, Kay was already cozied up in a chair in her room with a holobook on her lap and tea cupped in her hands. This was her first day off in a while and it was quite deserved. It made her miss The Free Lady. That ship was either still floating around in space somewhere OR it had been salvaged by space pirates and was currently being used in some crime or another. Kay missed having the ability to just go anywhere she wanted. Nowadays she needed to pay public transport, so she chose not to travel very much.

It didn't take too long for them to reach their destination, however. Yet reading the mystery story and losing herself within it probably helped with that.

Once the ship exited hyperspace, Kay got herself ready, cleaning her dishes first before she gathered her satchel. The guards escorted her off and already her mood lifted as she saw The Amalgam waiting for her. Kay smiled brightly as she approached, wrapping her arms around her tightly. "So good to see you, Amy! You look well. The trip was relaxing, thank you. And yes, i brought your favourite cookies." Reaching into her satchel, she pulled out a paper bag filled with a baker's dozen of them. "Just try not to eat them all at once. You might get an upset tummy. So....a reunion? I hope it goes well."

 

[The Amalgam]

Both Vera and West were at a loss to describe why the weapon reacted to Karlie Lynn Destat as it. They didn't really have time to examine it as the ship jumped and Karlie stumbled into Westenra's arms. Then she stammered to explain herself to Rom, even though it was comically awkward.

This was encouraging. It meant Karlie cared about Rom/Vera enough not to want to make her jealous. Vera wondered in the old days whether it actually would have.

"I saw everything. I know it was unintentional. Hey, my understanding of humor increased by half a percent! Thanks!"

"So did mine!" Westenra said excitedly.

Both Androids squee'd in delight at this.

"We bound to kick all the ass now with an upgrade like that! Excelsior!" Westenra exclaimed.

Vera facepalmed at the amount of cringe that had uttered from Westenra."

"Dial it back, Sis. Please..."

Westenra blushed. "Let's just focus on ass kickery then.

Meanwhile...

"Oh, yes, a reunion alright. Just what the doctor ordered..." The Amalgam said to NPC Treasury with a smile as they walked. "We shall have..."

(Fur Elise by Beethoven plays)

(Cutaway of The Amalgams soldiers opening fire on Sawa Ike and Elise Ike with every nonlethal weapon they have)

"The most..."

(Cutaway of Nine Lives screaming in agony from the Cattle Prods applied to her back)

"...glorious..."

(Cutaway of the Castle Morpheus and the Teknor along with the Absolution of Loste coming out of hyperspace)

"...of reunions..."

The pair continued to the sanctum.

Alwine Daye

 

[Karlie Lynn Destat]

A fork in the road...

Karlie snapped the last clasp shut, before exercising her wrist movements. The bull servos reacted in sync with her own.
Karlie were in one of the officer's quarters which she had commandeered for the crossing. They were coming up to their first split zone and she needed to be battle ready. Forming a fist, she took up a boxer's stance and let a few swings fly. Flawlessly the bull servos silently mimicked her muscle/memory movements, punching air a few times. She were gauging herself in the reflection of the quarter's dress mirror. Stepping back she then let a few round house kicks-

CRASH!... duraglass reflecting mirror splintered into shards as it came down.

"Crap" She cussed, crunching on the glass as she stepped away.
She needed to adjust the suit's proximity sensors. They hadn't been fully calibrated as she needed to do a few more trial runs with it. And no, it were not yet fully field battle tested either. Karlie were going on pure guts and confident in her design. After all, it were to somewhat mimic a form of biot. So her theory went. While Lady Li-Ves' creations were androids in human skin guise, Karlie designed a human in android exterior. It was an innovative approach on her part. Karlie were more a bio-geneticist not a biot engineer. But she had learned much from the samples gathered on biot tech and incorporated what she learned of the battle droids she had acquired. In essence, she not only improved her battle droids in so many levels, but came up with her own self repairing battle armor....and with bionics too, may it be noted.

She needed to put on the suit's helmet to fine tune the calibration.
"Ok..." she made some eye point adjustments, as it were a HUD eye/mind controller, then removed the helmet. The battle armor would function on it's own, not needing the helmet as it had tuned in to her body chem-electrical muscle neurons.

"...lets see if we can redecorate these quarters.... Hi-YA! " forward power kick to already ruined mirror.

Back her body shot in the opposite of the bull powered kick, sending Karlie against the table behind her. She toppled over it, taking chair, laptop and smacked into the opposite wall. Definitely must include in this scene that the wall decor (a heavy one..maybe a shield or something) popped off the wall and crash down on her lap.
"W...WTF?!..." she exclaimed in surprise shock, finding herself on her ass.
Then she quickly checked herself over.
"Hehe...Neeto!" Nope, not hurt, nor had she barely felt the impact.

She hopped back up on her feet...poised to strike again...looking...looking around for something to smash, intent on trashing the quarters. That would teach the general to toy with her. It had obviously been Bo who pulled that G-trick off which had nearly gave her away to Rom before she recovered her poise. Anyway, these quarters would need some good elbow grease after she were done with it-

Buzz...buzzzz... the door announcer went off, just as she got hopping to give one of the dressers a really good kick.

"Frak..." She sighed.
"Go away... I'm fine." she shouted. Most likely it were either some officer that had been waltzing down the corridor and heard the ruckus inside.

Buzz...buzzzzz...
Seriously? no one followed orders anymore?
"Oh..." Karlie took to look at her crono. They were close to her and the carrier's drop off point.
"...shiet.
Alright!.... give me a moment....just about done." She then set on finishing what she started.

Buzz...buzzzz....

"Oh for Berkana's sake!...ENTER!" she shouted, giving the quarters cue to open the door.

"Heh... so it's you." Karlie said with a wide grin.

"Well?...come on, what do you think?" she asked poised with arms apart, then spun around showing off her new battle armor.

 

[Boriskno Fel Set]

...about that fork in the road.

Before the SD Technor, Castle Morpheus, along with the Absolution reached their final destination, the Technor momentarily drooped out of hyperspace with the Castan B-1 Carrier, before they had encroached into sith space.

It were to transfer Karlie on over to the droid carrier, which were to outflank the Amalgam's troop positions which were expected to engage the coalition Marine boots and Morpheus knights during the assault landings.
In short, Karlie were in command of her battle droid army which as stated were meant to outflank the Amalgams own ground troops defending their keep.

The two Castan vessels (Technor and B-1 Carrier) dropped out of the coalition formation. A moment later, the Technor resumed to catch up with the Morpheus and the Absolution.
The Technor just needed a moment to drop out with the carrier to have Karlie launch out of it's main hanger, before popping back into hyperspace....

"See you on the other side, Spitfire...." Bo transmitted to Karlie as her LCX-L3 cleared the underbelly of the Technor.
"...or meet up with you again on Othala." he finished, before the Technor popped back into hyperspace to rejoin the Morpheus and the Absolution.

 

[Elise Ike]

Her grandmother was many things, most Elise didn't really care about, though at the very least she had to give it to the women when she made a good joke. Herself chuckling, saber in hand as the elder vampire made a 'your moma' joke more and less before the fighting broke out. With a slight sigh she tagged in behind, her own moves much more graceful compared to her grandmother.

Like a dancer on ice Elise sped around the enemies as they fired, giving quick slashed at vital areas, blasting their minds full of nightmare's before slitting their throats with her hilt blade. All the while not even staying around long enough to watch them die, non of them were worth her time. "Seems you are having fun granny, but please don't get to strung up on weaklings like this".

Sawa Ike The Amalgam Maple Harte

 

[Maple Harte]

The Silent Erika descended through the Atmosphere of Kar Shian, stealth drive engaged. The glossy, obsidian J-Type 327 Nubia with red tinted viewports was soon knifing through a snowy atmosphere, landing far but not too far from the main base.

Maple was the first off the ship, The Machine Gun-Sniper Rifle Hybrid well oiled and ready to kill, Laertia close behind in her Black Armor, armed with a Darksaber-Type Lightsaber and an ornate heavy pistol put to a charric configuration.

Morpheus Knights and Castagne Marines led by Nine's head of security Terri followed out with silenced blasters and vibro weapons, some with chain guns, automactic shotguns with silencers, and grenade and rocket launchers.

Maple took position on a hill of snow, overlooking a fully armed perimeter leading to the white pyramid. Laertia and Terri took position near a fallen obelisk. The snow fell thick.

Maple took aim, zeroing in on one soldier. The goal was to aggro them, and then, when all the enemy was focused on her, that is when Laertia and Terri would strike, functioning as a spear for the rest of the attack.

Maple breathed in and out, then fired. The soldier's head exploded. She zeroed on another. Then another. Each trigger pull took a head off.

Soldiers launched flares into the sky, but she kept firing, seeing them with thermal imaging. Someone had already busted in, she noticed. She went still as she felt the presence of Sawa Ike and an unfamiliar presence ( Elise Ike ). Sawa must have heard Nine had been taken. There was no Liam Neeson to go get her, so they would have to do.

Maple squeezed off more kill shots strategically setting off grenades, and blaster clips, resulting in mounds of exploding gore from the enemy, who began trying to fire mortars at her.

That was when Laertia struck, teleporting close to a squad trying to keep Maple pinned with suppressing fire, her charric pistol slamming some of them backward while the Morpheus Knights and Castagne Marines opened up, slaughtering loads of distracted soldiers pinned down by Maple's sniper fire.

Laertia's blade came out, ash gray and katana like, a gift from her Master Ursula. She would cut The Amalgam's head off with it if possible. She savaged her way across a security bridge leading to the pyramid, rockets from the soldiers taking out auto turrets mounted on bridge pillars leading to the true perimeter of the glossy white stronghold.

Maple finally chose to start moving, patiently shooting counter snipers and mortar operators while Laertia and Terri gutted the Amalgam's red garbed soldiers in unison. Pushing forward, leaving a trail of dead in their rank, their enemies fighting as fiercely as the Knights and marines on their side did, flanking the enemy and trying to trap them in cross fires, forcing the enemy to choose whether to defend from them or the much more immediate threat of The Black Knight of Nar Shaddaa.

Hooo-boy, was Laertia pissed, Maple realized. Laertia had gone full Doom- Slayer on everything, hacking it apart, tearing through its combat pattern with her superior one, blade moving everywhere, compensating for its mobility issues by using her Iaijitsu to confuse then behead opponents...

Meanwhile...

The Amalgam had been enjoying a light dinner with NPC Treasury when she went still in her simple white wooden chair in Kay's guest quarters, lavishly decorated.

She felt them. They were here. The Surface Persona that was still the Amalgam seethed with joy at the thought of battling and turning Uri while the true persona, that of Darth Phyre, seethed with joy at the thought of encountering Julia for the first time ever.

But first, one truth to break them, then another down the road to shatter their minds and make their souls beautiful and willing to commit atrocities.

The Amalgam rose, so giddy to meet her daughters and drive them mad with the truth so they would see the pointlessness of their struggle against her that it hurt. When they knew they would at last see the pointlessness of fighting her and the beauty of The Bogan. If the concept of 'Yandere' was Radioactive, The Amalgam would be constantly emitting lethal levels.

"Kay, dear, please excuse me. My daughters have arrived...and I am to greet them..." The near impossibly beautiful SithSpawn told its only friend at the dinner table. Her cookies would make the Beast fat if it was not careful. The Brain Demon itself had already poked fun at her in one of its more trolling moments because of this.

She grabbed her saber, the Surface Persona's overwhelming desire to see Laertia and Maple so powerful it forced Darth Phyre within into a slumber. This HAD to be its truth to reveal...

"Finish up without me...so glad you are here, Kay. Such wonders await..."

The Amalgam left her quarters and unhooked her Split-Saber from her belt, she walked calmly but giddy on the inside, evil little heart swelling with twisted affection, as she stopped a moment to watch the soldiers start flooding the areas Elise and Sawa were in with skin contact gas designed to knock out vampires over a security terminal, then told her men to redouble their efforts to take the vampires alive . As she walked through the snow, toward the perimeter barriers and main bridge where the fighting took place, she felt the Darkness build. Her lips quivered as she saw Laertia in the distance, fighting and killing her warriors. They were skilled and deadly men in their own right but they were nothing to Laertia ultimately, despite managing to slow her down through well coordinated group tactics. She squee'd in delight as she at last spotted Maple shooting the bridge soldiers with the last of her rifle ammo before pulling out her saber cane, a viridian shoto sliding out the bottom of a red shaft.

She savored the moment. The build up. Literally two and a half years of foreshadowing both IC and OOC. It had been a long, long road to this moment, and this narrator owes a great deal to the rpers who helped flesh this all out with me through constant, patient posting. It literally couldn't have happened without you.

While the Marines and Knights fought the Royal Marines of Kay's dead empire, Maple and Laertia had killed their way through every soldier upon spotting the Amalgam on the snow covered bridge.

The walk to eachother was slow, the two killing machines sizing her up. Laertia had more experience fighting the Amalgam due to hunting her relentlessly since Kay's empire fell, but Maple had the benefit of desperation and hatred.

She smiled as they got closer, each muscle tensing in anticipation. She could feel their hearts pounding as fast as her own.

No question: They had all been anticipating this.

"DEMON!" Maple shouted vengefully at her nemesis, pointing her cane at her as they at last came into attack range. "VENGEANCE FOR CASTAGNE IS UPON YOU! FOR MELIDA! FOR THE MARKSMEN!"

"I'm so thrilled you've arrived!" The Amalgam gushed at both of them. "Both my daughters here at the same time...I'm overwhelmed...I could cry if I was weaker."

"Yooz murrderredz a wholle citeez!" Laertia growled. "YOOZ WYLL PAYYZ FER EVRY SYNGUL WUN OV DHOSE DETHZ!"

"Twice. I murdered a city twice. Certainly lit a fire under both your asses..." the Beast joked, spinning her purple blades.

"But I will admit...I haven't been much of a sport, have I? Killing cities, killing innocent villagers with a knife...slowly...and none of you understand do you? None of you understand why I want you both? Even after all this time?"

"WHO ARE YOU?!" Maple roared over the fighting behind them.

The Amalgam giggled viciously.

"Oh, you poor dearies. Think. Please. For once..."

"Annytingz you gotzta tellz uss iz lyez..." Laertia snarled at her, preparing to attack in a Shien stance.

"I really thought it would be obvious by this point..." the Witch chuckled, ready to move in an instant.

"Why do you call us your daughters? You never raised us." Maple protested. "To me you've never been anything but an extremely creepy Witch with a bad case of Scarjo Cosplay."

"Hey at least the Narrator didn't make me look like Wilson after they stuck him in the Hyperbaric Chamber. I count the Scarjo looks as feature, not a bug."

"Wut duh hellz are yooz tooz tallkinz abboutz? Arr weez gunna tryyz annd kyllz hurr orr notz?" Laertia complained, bewildered.

"We're having some pre fight insanity banter, dearie, its contractual. Do try and keep up." The Amalgam chided, spinning her Lightsaber. "So! Let's dance! And by dance, I mean let's try and kill each other!"

Laertia looked stricken by those words, for she had used the exact same line towards Mythos before attacking him.

"Yoo wuz dhere..." Laertia trailed.

The Amalgam smiled. "I've always been there. I'm an infiltrator."

Both combatants sprang forward at The Amalgam, who cackled insanely in joy as their blades clashed.

Meanwhile...

It was Rom who stepped into the chambers of Karlie Lynn Destat .

"Karlie? The attack has begun. We have to leave..."

Rom stopped, observing Karlie's armor.

"You have learned much." Rom spoke softly. "They are waiting for you in the hangar."

Rom could not help it.

"Good hunting, Karlie. I'll do my best to make sure as many of Castagne's soldiers come back as possible. I...I..."

Rom decided to close her mouth, not having the emotional nuance yet to fully articulate her feelings.

She instead led Karlie to the hangar, where everyone, Westenra included, was waiting. Vera picked up an assault blaster with an underslung launcher and headed aboard the ship.

As it left the Technor, Westenra (Next to Ian Sade for their foretold rampage through The Amalgam's facility) asked her sister a question.

"So what was it about the Amalgam you figured out, Sister?"

Vera got close and whispered the answer into Westenra's ear. Westenra suddenly looked crestfallen...she felt so bad for Maple and Laertia suddenly...

Meanwhile...

Darth Rigor entered the chamber, carrying a long bag where Nine Lives was being tortured. She was badly cut and bruised and burned, shaking and shivering in her chains, malnourished. The torturers jammed another cattle prod to her back and Nine screamed.

The Blond Sith in the White Catsuit stared at the tortured vampire. Her tormentors stopped. "Lady Rigor. The Amalgam has ordered the prisoner is to have no visitors.

"I'm not a visitor..." Rigor replied coldly, breaking both their necks with the Dark Side. She knealt down to examine Nine, before rending apart the chains that bound her.

"Can you walk?" Rigor asked with clinical detachment.

"Enough to reach your neck for proper strangulation, Rigor..." Nine growled, on the verge of snapping.

"Anger. Good. You will need that..."

Nine blinked as Rigor held out her Katana. Nine snatched it it out of the sheath, grabbed Rigor by the throat and slammed her against a wall, Katana tip threatening to go into Rigor's skull.

"You slaughtered your own people..." Nine snarled.

"You fed homeless people to your daughter, and you think to lecture me?" Rigor snorted. "Besides, you really think someone who murdered and inhabited their daughters bodies afterward is going to be bothered by 'your' condemnation?"

"How about just being bothered by the sword tip about to puncture your fething skull?" Nine hissed.

"Nine...grow up..." Rigor replied curtly.

"Why release me?" Nine snarled.

"Castagne wasn't my idea. Nor was Melida. The Amalgam is a Psychopath."

"You still helped her..."

"She had my Butterfly..."

"You're planning to kill and inhabit Karlie!"

"No...just clone something I can take control of. It is a frustrating task. One I had initially hoped to do without bloodshed. But the Amalgam made that impossible due to her sadistic nature."

"So this is your way of getting back at her? Why not just kill her?"

"This body was made by her. She ultimately controls it. I can't directly defy her." Rigor answered stoically. "You can either take me at my word or kill me. But even if you don't believe me, you know I am the only one here who can help you escape."

Nine grimaced, then picked up her sheath and fitted it onto the sword.

"Where are my clothes?" Nine growled.

Meanwhile...

The Lightsaber duel between the three combatants carried them all the way to the Pyramid's inner perimeter, past multiple security walls.

The duel had been brutal. Maple snd Laertia pulled every trick they knew in the duel, only to have The Amalgam dodge, parry or block all of it, forcing them back with the occasional burst of lightning, or even tricking the pair into attacking each other through clever footwork and evasion. The Darkness of Kar Shian was empowering her, making her stronger and faster than usual.

Laertia in particular was highly aggressive, teleporting and attacking from unpredictable angles. At one point she attempted to shoot her with her charric pistol only for the Amalgam to kick it out of her hand, then her face.

Maple attacked in a pure frenzy, blending shooting and cane fighting in a drunken manner, but the Amalgam defended and evaded with such grace and alacrity that it was like trying to strike a gust of wind, her purple blades a humming fan fending off power strikes.

As both Maple and Laertia attacked from two different angles at once, The Amalgam, in one swift and elegant spin, evaded both blades, Force jumped and spin kicked them both backward into the snow, cackling.

The pair rose up, determined to kill her. Maple seperated her cane into three sections held together by San-Ni staff energy couplings and began whipping her weapon around her like an overly long Nunchaku. The Amalgam spun and slashed at Maple viciously to counter attack, forcing Maple backward, and scouring a light grazing strike on Maple's thigh, before kicking her backward into the snow as hard as possible.

Laertia dashed forward, faking a stab, only to teleport above her for a downward slash...and was caught by The Amalgam, who parried it just in time, using an Atrisian Judo move to catch Laertia and fling her bodily into a nearby boulder.

Used to pain, Laertia scrambled up, scowling under her helmet at The Amalgam's sadistic smile, and threw out her power in an attempt to suppress her connection to the Force. But the Amalgam's corruption, bolstered by the intensity of Kar Shian's planetary Dark Side aura laughed off the attempt and brought Laertia to her knees with an application of deadly sight directed at her torso. Laertia was in so much pain from the attack, in spite of her helmet's pain regulators that it was all she could do to just keep breathing.

Maple snarled in hatred, reaching out, trying to crush her with the Darkness. The Amalgam stiffened in joy as she felt Maple's rage try to turn her bones to dust. She shrugged off the weak attempt and blasted her backward with a Force Push .

"Give up, my daughters. You are no match for the Dark. The Power of Kar Shian flows through me."

"You didn't raise us, Beast. Why do you keep acting as though you did?! Maple demanded as she struggled up along with a clearly winded Laertia, who got back into a fighting stance.

That's when the chit at last, truly hit the fan. The Amalgam smiled.

"Oh but I did...not as myself obviously, but I was there..." the Amalgam trailed, skin wriggling on her skeleton, face rearranging, changing pigment from fair to purple...

Maple and Laertia stood back in horror. Laertia especially looked stricken, and even though her armor covered everything, it was clear the air had left her...

"No..." Laertia whispered, even as her heart wrenched at the awful truth. The sight making her want to tear her eyes out.

"Dhatz nott truez..." Laertia whispered in a weak voice, her morale shattered. She felt tears coming thick under her helmet. Tears of shock.

"That's impossible..." Maple hissed, even though her heart was making it obvious it wasn't.

(Slow Imperial March Theme Plays for a few seconds)

The Amalgam stared at them with the face that had belonged to the one who made them what they are today.

The Amalgam stared with the face of Ursula Sandraven.

(Ursula Sandraven's Theme Plays)

(Theme: "You Only Live Twice" by Nancy Sinatra)

"Impossible?" The Beast asked with Ursula's voice, replicating her old, stern commanding body language perfectly.

"We would have sensed it. We would have known. You lie. You murdered her and ate her knowledge, like you do with all your victims!" Maple snapped, denial in her voice clear.

"Not this time. Over the decades, I have gone undercover, from time to time in Light Side groups like The Marksmen to corrupt and dismantle from within. That requires special magic. Magic that suppresses my true self in favor of a more currently accepted one. I would go about, sabotaging, then, once I earned their trust, I would emerge, and slaughter them. The false personalities I make don't last more than a few years on their own, but in the case of the Personality I crafted for the Marksmen, Ursula...it had more staying power than normal. Because of the both of you...I stayed silent in Ursula. Quiet. Content. So no...you would not have sensed it. Don't you see? You've ALWAYS been Sith, deep down. That's why you can't fit in among real Jedi...either one of you..." The Amalgam spoke using Ursula's Sandraven's grim schoolteacher mannerisms as though she were doing nothing more than imparting a particularly hard to understand lesson to particularly recalcitrant students, which wasn't that far off from what was actually going on to be honest.

Maple fell to her knees. It had been a lie. She knew it as she searched her feelings, from the moment she had joined it had been a Lie.

"Don't you see? We were meant to be together. Making our own rules, killing who we please. Is that not exactly what the both of you have done since I forced you out of retirement? I gave you the skills to be independent of their rules, their structure. I gave you the skills for success. I raised you. I loved you. I gave you weapons, taught you techniques--"

(Cutaway of Naked Snake shooting The Boss in the Field of Flowers.)

"--if that doesn't make me your mother...what does?" The SithSpawn asked, Ursula's face melting and shifting back to The Amalgam's as she asked.

The Amalgam shut off her blade, looking at the stricken, silent Laertia, whose posture now looked loose and slack.

"You always wanted my full attention, Laertia. Now you have it." The Amalgam said, in a soft voice that lacked her typical malice. "It was me you were loyal to. Not the Jedi. If I had entered your life as I am now, it would be me instead of that Lie I made up that you pine for. I was afraid of you before. I thought you made me weak because, if I am honest...I almost gave up the Bogan for you."

She looked at Maple. "You were an anomaly in the Jedi's perfect, self serving, neat little structure. You would never have truly had a place amongst them. You would have been wasted on their moralizing. I showed you a world where you make your own morals, and live with the choices no matter who it inconveniences. But I was drawn to you for your madness is like mine. Your destiny is even more glorious then Laertia's."


Maple felt sick as she stared at The Amalgam. She wanted to vomit. She wanted to curl up and die, and she flinched at the lancing sensation of pain she felt that signified Laertia's heart breaking.

"The only thing left is for you two to stop pretending you are good people. You aren't. You're like me. A killer. Without someone to murder regularly, without mortal peril, neither one of you has any place to fit into. You both are so close to being beautiful like in my dreams. You think the forces of good are gonna be grateful to killing machines at the end of it? Think you're gonna get invited to the snazzy parties, with your kind of records? No...you're the monsters that lurk in the background, waiting for the desperate to give you an excuse to be unleashed. To be satisfied with whatever scraps fall from their table. But they will nearly always want you out of their sight. Because you are the grim reminder that their way, in the long run, is purchased with blood, sacrifice, and cruelty, the same as my way. They just dress it up to make it more socially palatable."

Maple forced herself back to a fighting position, Laertia teleporting close to Maple.

"You'll never need to be at the margins of society if you just accept the darkness and be enlightened. Don't you get it yet?! It was always meant to be this way, us united. Taking what we want...as a family. A family with the Dark in their veins...but a family. We don't need the petty morality of The Galaxy. You both made your own rules for years because of me--"

Maple's sabercane reactivated. The Amalgam sighed.

"I am who I am in spite of you. Not because of you." Maple asserted. "I left on my own. You didn't force that. I always said Ursula was fooling herself. Didn't know how right I was."

"I don't want to fight either of you. Who else will ever understand you the way I do. We were meant to be together!" The Amalgam snarled in a tone that almost came across as pleading as she looked at Maple, then Laertia.

The Amalgam held out her hand to The Black Knight.

"Didn't you want my love, my affection, my attention? You can finally have it. As much as you can handle. All you have to do is renounce The Light. We can finally be Mother and Daughters openly. All three of us."

Laertia slowly removed her helmet, and for a half second even a murderous, sadistic animal like The Amalgam suffered intense emotional pain (Even the Darth Phyre secretly controlling her felt that pain.) at seeing her tear streaked face and death glare as she leveled her ash blade at her.

"Duh ownlee tingz I ruhnownce..." Laertia hissed in emotional agony, no longer able to deny the truth, "iz yooz..."

The Amalgam looked stricken herself. For a long, long moment, to Maple's cold horror, she actually didn't see an evil Witch wanting to dominate and destroy them. The Amalgam, in that moment, looked only like a deeply wounded Mother who had just had her children reject her to her face.

The Amalgam guarded with her blade, not hiding the pain on her face at Laertia and Maple's words. It was sickening how human she looked in that instant.

"You were supposed to be happy..." The Amalgam whispered sadly at them, though her eyes lingered on Laertia's tear ridden ones a split second longer.

Then her eyes turned sulphur.

Maple and Laertia sprang forward, the duel continuing twice as vicious now...

 

[Sawa Ike]

Nine Lives Elise Ike

The first thing that came to her mind was annoyance and then pain... a gas that was being released from her enemies and coming after the two of them brought a snarl as the world went black. She didn't feel Elise and for a brief moment se wondered if she had betrayed he but Elise was many things but she was Atrisian.. even dark and twisted by rage they had a sense of honor. THe snarl dying away as she laid there and her sneer become calming for a moment.... the she was in her own version of hell and chaos as she sat there back in that ramen shop... she knew what it was but sat there as the lights around her flickered with several sensations around her.

She could feel others were here... off to the side and in her mind... Maple, her friends, Elise, Nine and someone she had faced before but she wasn't certain about it as sitting there she looked at the face of Xavier for a moment and he was just as proud and dangerous as he had always been but he was serving another purpose. 'get up' He said it and she snarled for a moment looking at the swirling food in front of her.... 'Get up.' She heard it stronger and there was a pit in her stomach for a moment before she was snarling and feeling a familiar heat in her body. 'GET UP' he said it stronger and she turned to look at him as he was rotting and her mouth opened in a snarl.

She came to looking out at the woman who was in charge of all this and her silver eyes fixed on her narrowing for a moment as flecks of gold appeared and burned brighter. "Release me." She said it and was moving as her body overheated and was melting her bindings... she could feel Maple was here and fighting before she moved finally getting released and she spoke looking at the woman who revealed herself. "I have no idea who you are?" She said it and looked at Elise Ike as she spoke. "Do you know who this is?" She had lost some of the bite as surpris was on her face and then she felt something a pang and she was moving.

Her body moved though when she fel it and the Amalgam started fightiing with the others as Sawa let the force go throughout her muscles and she slammed into a door hunching over with her feet planted as she felt it. The refined earth in the metal, the earth in the rocks and the air as she started super heating it to twist and open with her bare hands. The rage was there and more before she was pulling at the door and the first familiart scent touched her nostrils.... she looked at the muscled figure with the blade to someone elses throat and her voice came out more as a hiss with fangs fully extended and her hands were more like claws ready to rend flesh and get to the meat of the issue.

She charged Rigor not paying attention to her but more allowing the flames to lick from her finger tips and she screamed as the power crackled. Like in the cave with Ni-Ne when they were first meeting the fury and anger bubbled up so that it could dispel anything in front of them or try to.. she didn't know what this thing was but it was threatening her.... Then she stopped and her chest heaved for a moment when she was looking over at the muscled form with the sword and she moved quickly... he body reacting and she stood there for a moment looking at Ni-Ne and then she wrapped her arms around her. Head going towards the crook of her neck.

She could smell her and someone had been harming her... someone had sought violation upon her and Sawa scented deeply the flesh and blood... Her nostrils flaring as she went to the underlying scents of her before she spoke and pulled her head back enough to look at her. "I will drown all of them in their own blood and string them to dry in entrails." She said it and could feel in the force as she brought her hands up top trace and hover but she remained there waiting. The sensation of Maple battling as also there int he back of her mind and she didn't focus on Elise before she spoke. "Granddaughter bring me a limb and let me beat her to death with it."

 

[NPC Treasury]

Kay was enjoying her dinner with The Amalgam . The two caught up a little, discussed her tea shoppe and even her retirement from the Galaxy. Most especially from politics. Although her son had tried to convince her that she could be of use still and help the Galaxy, she had her doubts that such a thing would ever be possible. Her worth to family, friends and allies were revealed when she was taken prisoner and set to be executed. None came to look for her or even realized that both her and her ship never returned from a diplomatic meeting during the time of the Jedi-Mando war. And it was months after her escape that anyone had even thought of her.

Her late husband held more worth and care than she ever could. Kay was nothing but a has-been, having lost all power, influence and access to wealth. There were times when she just wanted to fade away from existence entirely, just like the legend of Padme Amidala.

Maybe some day.



The atmosphere of the room changed when Amy took her leave. Kay watched her go, her eyes lingering on the lightsaber that Amy took with her. "Be careful...." That was all that she could say. A pit at the bottom of her stomach made her aware that this was no picnic reunion. Something else was going on, something very personal to her friend. She recalled the encounter with Maple Harte on the Graveyard; the woman out to kill her just by association. Was she here?

Kay was Amy's guest and so she did as she was bid, continuing to eat her meal as the guards stood watch outside her door. Yet her movements were slow while her appetite began to lessen. This wasn't going to be a typical day at all, and one whose events she could never dream of.

 

[Karlie Lynn Destat]

Much could be said for intelligence...if there had been any.
Everyone expected a tough fight. Just didn't really know what to expect.
The coalition had for the most part gone in blind. Alliances had been made, forces had been gathered and pretty much all of Karlie's assets that she had been able to acquire the past 2 years she had at her backside....er, forefront rather. Her forces were at the forefront. It were what tactics called for and she was after all a brilliant tactical anaysis ...Ok, all book smart, but nonetheless educated in tactical advancement of troops. Only in her case she were taking full command.. Full command (yes, must emphasize that ) of her acquired and modified battle droids.
No general, nor colonel was going to bench her this time.

Aherm... Not to compromise our blonde's tactical ingenuity at this time, but one must point out that the last time our little go-getter were given a platoon of Castan Marines, they had gotten all... like 100% of them all...ALL mind you; killed.

Now, now...don't go jumping into conclusions. It were not all Karlie's fault. It happened on Melida/Dan for starters.
Actually, it really didn't get a chance for the Marines to start anything as inadvertently the first few minutes after setting down on Melida/Dan, their landing craft got BLOWN UP..KABOOM and all that plus not to mention the falling debris and shrap metal as a result.

Ok, the details as to what the freak happened on Malida/Dan.
First off the blonde had been overconfidence in her abilities and with no actual field experience.
2nd, she didn't believe at the time that the situation on Melida/Dan called for an entire platoon deployment of Castan marines. She was going to handle it with just a handful of marines. It were all she believed were needed to acquire a viral sample that was reportedly devastating the system. She were to determine by the samples gathered whether it was a biological weaponized attack or some idiot drank expired milk and...sigh...and the zombie apocalypse started from there (yes, Zombie Land premise).

Anyway to condense an otherwise long chapter, the blonde ordered the platoon to remain with their transport and she and two other marines were to go and fetch some samples.
Well as luck or rather Karlie's lack of luck, an already infected flying vessel that were out of control just happened to crash down on the transport and the platoon.
Yea, Kaboom-boom-boom-kapow! and all that which followed, went kaput in the first 10 minutes of landing.
Not her fault, no. But had she deployed those marines... then what crashed down on the transport would have just taken out 3-4 personnel, not the entire platoon.
So one could understand both the Cabinetry and Karlie's reluctance to command another battle group comprised of living souls.
Enter, her battle droids.

An evil diabolical baddie, that for many years that for the most part spanned a generation would have plans within plans for such an apogee confrontation; there would be more than just what would await in forces on land, air and underground.
That's where our blonde came in.
While Morpheus knights, Castan Marines and credited characters rained down upon the slithering snake's head (that would be the Amalgam and Rigor), they would be met by the Amalgam's best, the living, breathing brainwashed acolytes, soldiers and zeolous followers who were manipulated in some mind warp thingy to die for the Amalgam. Idiots for short.

Aside from these loyal acolytes, disciples or otherwise weak minded stooges, there were hordes of reanimated undead, corpses that were preserved just for this wonderful family picnic. These undead numbered in the thousands...hundreds of thousands if one were to count (that tally hopefully will be left to the clean up crew) of walking corpses that were hungry for blood... lusting for the blood of the living, our heroines, Maple, Elise, Sawa, Alwine, Laertia, Terri, Castan Marines, Morpheus Knights etc...
In short, they were to set loose on pretty much all whom had a warm pulse.
These zombie forces were to overwhelm, confuse, slow down if not halt altogether, and kill all the coalition forces. Well, at least the typical non-force user grunt and knights.

Well, Berkana bless this little blonde (that would be Karlie, by the way), for she were given the task in softening up these waves of zombies if not eliminate them all. And engage these walking corpses and what-nots she did. Of course she didn't do it first hand, don't be silly. She were at the command center both analyzing the ground battles and deploying her own waves of battle droids upon the unholy reanimated walking dead.

Her battle droids were the perfect countermeasure to these waves of undead that would have been unleashed once the coalition made advancement upon the Amalgam's stronghold itself...where Lady Li'Ves were kept.
It were as Karlie had expected, a flanking maneuver once the coalition forces (Maple, Elise, Sawa, Alwine, Laertia, Terri, Castan Marines, Morpheus Knights etc... ) got within the compound. Then the hordes of undead would or should have surrounded the compound entering from every gate, blast door, turbo-lift, sewage drain and frozen meat cases (some were stored in that manner) and overwhelm the coalition forces by sheer numbers. No amount of sword yielding, blaster happy, somersaulting, split leg martial art could of kept up with.

What the blonde had calculated on; and this was in analyzing Melida/Dan, Castagne, and other previous large scale attacks on systems by said Amalgam was that the queen...er, the witch rather...she used the undead to wreak havoc against armed forces to amplify the chaos of battle.
Karlie had planned on this and had brought with her an entire legion of modified battle droids to battle against the undead. Hell, chromium durasteel (among one of the armor alloys) against enamel teeth and overdue manicures? Not a chance. Not when her battle droids were blasting away with banta blaster rounds. Rounds designed to take down a banta in one shot...or two depending on where it hit.
Just keep in mind that these battle droids were targeting machines....they rarely missed.

Ok back to our heroine and the current situation/assault on the Amalgam's fortress and engaging the dead before they overwhelmed the coalition's living breathing heroines and their supporting marines and knights.

Wait....wait... Shoot, almost forgot one important detail.
Ian Sade.
Unfortunately, Ian will have to post on his own as to why he found his self gorilla taped to one of the command chairs in the Castan B-1 Carrier, mumbling incomprehensibly (cussing really, but who's to tell with his mouth taped) as he watched the air, ground and droid assaults on the monitors.

Now on with Karlie's orchestrated droid assault on the undead...

As Maple Heart and company started to initially engage the sentries manning the lookouts of the fortified compound, and with Ian securely bound, and gagged to the best theatrical seat available, Karlie racked her medium repeater blaster rifle (a heavy repeater would have been a tad too much for the girl at this time). She took a moment to look back at the ever mumbling and cursing Ian, blowing him a kiss before motioning to her attachment of personal centurions to follow her. The remaining bridge crew of course were also centurions and lord and behold; only loyal to her exclusively.

The B-! Carrier had already launched more than 70% of it's payload by the time she and her three centurions (body guards) got to the hangar tunnels. The droid troop carriers you see didn't need full hangars. These tunnels ran along the troop transports which by the way were facing outward for ready launches.
Karlie and her trio reached their transport hub and went through the sealed hatch with Karlie taking up the rear command chair.
"Kar Shian...your turn to burn!
Hit it boys!" She said as the transport shot forward. The girl were pinned to her seat as the transports were designed for droid only and with little consideration to any other occupants.

"Ohhhh..lee shhhiet... s..s..s..slow the frak down!" She were able to muster before the centurions did just that, reduce their hyper descension velocity.
It took a few seconds to get her eyeballs back facing front and to focus.

"Holy shiet...pant..pant..." She took to looking at their current situation. The carrier had deployed the full capacity of transports and ALL now were ahead of her, with the first ones that had been launched already on the ground.

Blaster fire...more like cannon fire from ground to air batteries were all around them with a recorded 3 troop carriers lost before they even crashed to the ground. 2 more did crash and burn, but that was about it due to the rapid launch and descension.
Karlie's transport was grazed but not overly damaged. The centurions were able to get the transport safely below targeting fire and land successfully.

"Oh Berkana....what a rush!..." Karlie said while scrambling to undo her harness and get herself off the transport and into the heart of zombieland.

Pew..pew..pew..pew....ratta tat tat and pow pow pow!... heavy blaster rounds lit up the ensuing battlefield before them as the battle droids commenced with taking down the undead that were sprouting like daisies in early Spring.
No no, not like daisies. Damn Dandelions! You know; those nasty weeds that pop up on your lawn when you blink. That's what the undead were like. Chop one down and three more popped up. Chop those three down and 9 more popped up...like WTF?!!

Karlie had never really been in a bonified sanctioned battle field before. But that doesn't mean she lost her cool, no.
Ok, maybe for the first few minutes she were like deaf, motionless as she took it all in...the percussions, the shockwaves, the earth underfoot trembling and thumping.... it were unbelievable the amplitude of what it was like in the middle of a real battle. She were aroused by it...it was thrilling to say the least. her heart...her freakin heart was pounding away to the tune of the explosions and the firepower-

"Ahhck..." Karlie were slammed to the ground by one of her security centurions, her normal senses returning.

"Oh shiet..." She absently commented, getting a rush of adrenaline as she took it all in. " I can get use to this...-" karlie were saying before one of her centurions cut her off.

'RC's (Reanimated Corps ) concentrating at 3, 4 and 5 o'clock'

"Yea?.. you don't say..." Karlie were eyeing the horde that were advancing, despite the number of their dead, dead piling up ahead of their advancements.
"Interesting..."For a moment she were fascinated as it reminded her of the sea. Her droids were firing away at them, momentarily seeming like they were being pushed back, only to then surge forward much like the waves breaking through on to shore. Only Karlie and her troops were on the shore trying to push back the sea.
The undead were much like the raging sea during a storm, surging toward them, getting closer meter by meter no matter the amount of grazing fire her centurions were laying forward. The reanimated undead were cresting over their own dead relentlessly (like in WWZ).
Only that Karlie observed that as they overtook the forward centurions...they didn't even so much as bump into her droids. They were not interested in getting to her army at all, they were all coming for her!

'Commander, RC's targetting your position. Vacate!' her lead centurion called out as he and the other sentry took up a defensive position around her.

"Heh! Ain't this a kick in the pants..." She almost broke out in an ear to ear smile, realizing they were only trying to get to her...much like the zombies and Karlie clones she had encountered on Heretic Station.

"Looks like mommy dearest still want's a piece of my freakin ass!" Karlie said as she stood up drawing her medium repeater rifle waist high and letting it rip.
"I got this boys!"
Ratta-tat-tat ta ta ta....laser fire ignited from her repeater, blazing away at every undead-

"Gasp!" She stopped firing a moment as one of her centurions dropped forward.
"Yikes...s..." She had inadvertently hit it with friendly fire (how odd a frase for a mishap)
"...s...sorry!" she called out, cringing at the thought of shooting down one of her own, even if accidently.

"Eeek..." she were then grabbed by one of her security centurions and brought more behind the lines, before the advancing raging undead got too close.

"Alright...alright!...let me down. I'm good." She managed to find herself on her own feet again, a hundred meters from the horde.
"I've danced to this tune before..." Karlie knew somehow she could use this to her advantage... but how?
They had already cut down hundreds if not a thousand or two of these raging corpses and there were tons more it seemed, popping out of just about any open crevice, sewage drain or open doorway. They were more like ants or roaches now.

"We need to somehow group get them all in one place...funnel them..." She were starting to think, devising a plan so as to more efficiently round them off and put them all down.

 

[Ian Sade]

A few loose screws...

Last minute changes were the name of the game when it came to the eve of battle. And this one battle had several in the works.
Ian had stood by Westenra on the Technor to see Karlie off. The initial plan...the plan that had been devised by the coalition before the blonde took it upon herself to include untested droids to this offensive had him in doubts. But they were Ian's doubts. Doubts which he had about Karlie's experience when it came to battles. He knew the girl didn't have it in her to take life, much less lead droids into battle.
Ian had gone over the battle droids dyno sheets and current modifications, as per Karlie.

But the girl had been AWOL for months... and could she really go into battle without experience? Actually the question was, as he and West watched the blonde clear the hangar; could he let Karlie go into battle?

"Lieutenant..." He looked over to West a moment.
"...change of plans. I can't let that girl go and get herself killed." He then looked over to the LC-X3 heading toward the B-1 droid carrier, then his crono. There wasn't much time till the Technor would jump.
"It ain't in her to fight in this manner.
I'm jumping ship." And with that, Ian made a turnabout and headed to one of the nearby fighters that was being prepped for the upcoming battle once they jumped to Kar Shian.

"YOU there!.." He barked, pointing to one of the flight line crew.
"...unlatch the harnesses, I'm taking it out."

"Sir...I believe we're about to jump...sir?" the man replied, getting over to unlock the fighter from it's base and tether as Ian quickly climbed into the cockpit.

"..then you best be quick as I'm firing these drives..." It were all that was heard before the fighter's canopy sealed.
A second later the drives came to life just as the flight line mechanic jumped clear of the fighter taking off.
The moment Ian cleared the hangar deck the Tecknor disappeared behind him. it had jumped.


A moment...maybe two, later...

"No, don't walk away.
Karlie listen to me.
Karlie!" Ian knew they were running out of time as the B-1 Carrier they were now in was about to jump as the Technor had done. But the blonde wasn't hearing him when he had come out of his fighter and tried to have her stand down on command.
The blonde had just looked over to him in disgust and waved his silly notion off. Karlie was adamant in retaining command of her carrier and subsequently the battle droids. They were hers, not his, she shot back at him.

"They became Castan assets once you brought them before the Cabinetry." He took to inform her as he chased her to the command bridge.
"Karlie, listen to me for once...you're not aborting this mission and I'm not undermining your authority. All I'm asking is for you to relinquish command of your units to me."
Nope, his words were meaningless, she stated. he had no authority.

"Look, I'm not looking to debate with you on this. Time is pressing.
The coalition forces are already on the countdown to engage. General Fel is in agreement with me (lie). Give me the command of this ship and droids, Karlie.
Now, please."



Fast forward now to the B-1 Carrier emerging in Kar Shian...

Here is where we find the colonel coming to, as the last of the gorilla tape firmly secured him to a chair... a chair on the bridge of the carrier.
"Wh...what the?" he had to shake the stun off.

Had Karlie stunned him? SHE DID!!
That crazy freakin queen had gotten one over on HIM!
"Karlie..." he spoke as calmly as he could.
"Karlie, what do you think you're doing?" He said as he watched her strip another large piece off the roll. he knew where that piece was going to go next.
"Seriously...listen to me a moment...we can figure this out together....
Karlie...
...Karlie don't. " Ian did his best in avoiding the gaff tape to his mouth. But he were securely tapped to the chair as Karlie shut him up.

"rrrrmMmmmMMmmMmm" He were senselessly struggling. The blonde had tapped him up like the time she had been tapped up in that black-ops interrogation chamber.

 

[Boriskno Fel Set]

Hours before the first ground assault...

"What do you mean, he jumped ship?" the surprise look on the general's face was priceless.
First off, he didn't fully understand as to how the colonel jumped ship or as to the why?
No way Ian would bail on them, not at this pivotal point in the game.

But jump the colonel did. Only it were from the Technor to the droid carrier, the Castan B-1...Karlie's battle droid carrier.
As to the why, General Fel didn't agree. He knew the blonde. had trained Karlie and beside the fact the girl was a little too far left, she were quite capable of fulfilling her duties. well, it were what he believed anyway. he believed in Karlie. And no, aside with whatever the colonel said about him agreeing with the colonel about having her step down; false.

"I see...." he nodded, before turning to his navigational officer.

"Ensign, project the B-1's proximity on our triangular trajectory to Kar Shian. " he ordered.
The nav comp projected the coalition ships relative to each other and the system Kar Shian. It were more a calculated triangular rendition as they all (the ships) were traveling through hyperspace. Ship signals were distorted and prevented precise tracking. This of course was both beneficial and disadvantageous. Beneficial as far as not being able to be targeted by any weapons while in hyperspace. Disadvantageous as far as it currently concerned the exact whereabouts of one of their vessels.
But as distorted as the signals were as far as ship locations, it did nevertheless show that it were still en-route along with the rest of the coalition toward system Kar Shian.

"Alright...whatever the outcome was, it's still on track." the general said, looking at the calculated ship positions. The B-1 carrier's beacon was steady and not weakening, indicative that it were still on course.



Some time later....

'General Fel, ETA to emergence in 1 hour 30 minutes. All battle stations manned and in full readiness.' one of the crew chief from the working console below the bridge reported.

"Good...good.
Have the marines assembled and board their transports 20 minutes before we emerge.
I want our fighters and bombers to launch soon after the first boots hit pay dirt.
They should provide air cover without compromising our forces." and so on and so on with going over their pre-assault plans. It were safer to repeat the plans than having some nervous Nelly botch up one of the coordinated clockworks.



Present moment.....

General Fel, along with the other coalition vessels had established orbital superiority, knocking down not only communication satellites, but pretty much all threats to their vessels. Fighters and interceptors were launched, which quickly took out what planetary defenses were in place, along with what fighters and missiles were launched from the planet.
In short, the success of the operation were now left up to the ground forces. Ground forces that General Fel could see included the questionable battle droids. only...only that all reports regarding the battle droids indicated that Karlie were on the ground, and in command.
So WTF happened to the colonel? Where was Ian?
The fighter Ian had commandeered had indeed made it to the B-1 carrier. Only that there had been no peep out of the colonel during the ground assault.

General Fel couldn't help but sport his patented smirk, knowing somehow his sassy blonde had gotten the best out of the colonel.

"Hehe.." Fel weren't going to have Ian live this one down... "..atta girl..."

 

[Elise Ike]

It was clearly a trap but there wasn't much Elise could do as the gas rose around her. Normally such a thing would have no effect but having to concentrate on other means meant she wasn't able to control her breathing and stave off the clouds. The world became faint, her senses, both in the force and physical began to slowly close.

As her sight and hearing slowly came back she craned her neck to the side, looking at Sawa with a dumfounded expression, mainly at her question. She didn't even know the person whom they were looking for let along the women her grandmother was asking about. Perhaps she should have just stayed on the ship and let all this happen by itself.

A sentiment she continued to have after her grandmother easily took care of business, soon embracing whom she assumed to be this Ni Ne person. Herself somewhat awkwardly standing just to the side, only coming out of her minor day dreaming as her grandmothers request. "You want it ripped off with blood leaking from it? or saber cut, burnt and crispy"?

She replied, walking to the varying bodies that littered the area, picking out one with the most mass to it, her job outside of being a Sith Lord coming in handy surprisingly. "Quite the brutal and tribal way to kill someone ... then again such is quite the embarrassment towards this foe". That and Sawa probably didn't think they deserved wasting power on. Elise ripping up one of the limbs and casually tossing it to her grandmother, "go knock em dead".

Sawa Ike Nine Lives