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There were many Jedi on this world, and even the native Levron were glowing in the Force, and for Coren that gave him something worth fighting for. If the Bryn could feel the Force with any sensitivity, the ones who were nearby and reaching into the Force, they would feel him calling out a challenge. And to his own comrades, he provided hope, he provided focus. As his saber was humming he could feel the Force around him, not the kind the kind of power he needed to pull on the Light he was using before, but enough to give him the jolt. Staring down the incoming hordes of Bryn, the Jedi Master, through his implants activated the sound system in his arm, a blasting synthetic beat coming from the arm as another breath placed him into the mind set he needed to be to fight the hordes.
A Battlemind, not something Coren had trained to use, but something that was given to him through pure destiny and will of the Force, his aura was sparking, almost burning with a soft fire, not visible to the naked eye but to any sensing in the Force, they’d see it. As he was being approached, he approached in kind, each step deliberate as he moved, his saber in a reverse grip in his right hand as he was using his left to direct the flow of projectiles coming towards him.
Stepping out of time with the beats, but feeling the flow of the Force around him, he caught the first spiker round on his saber, feeling it splinter, he shook his head. He’d have to do this the old fashioned way. Extinguishing the blade, he reached to the Force, directing the rounds away from him, the stray one going back to his foe, if inaccurately. Those who fought alongside him knew that the longer Coren Starchaser was engaged with a foe, the tighter he grabbed to the Force, and the more he would access it. But this was a new type of foe.
If you’re going to do something, do it now, do it big!He called out in the Force. Throwing his hand out, a brilliant white light, not destructive nor life giving just bright, like magnesium burning, in a blast outward towards where the shots were coming from.
Aurelion accepted her power, and the connection was forged. In that instant, Jyoti was nearly jolted out of her seat as she had joined the psychic network established by the Padawan. It was as if she now had a thousand eyes spread across the battlespace. She could see everything, as if she was observing a chessboard from above. Every thrust and counterthrust by her allies and enemies alike, like waves crashing against each other, trying their damnest to wash over the other.
With such clarity, she could see Shatterpoints of various intensity blooming across the battlespace – precious moments of opportunity to turn the tide of individual fights, or the greater war now unfolding across the system.
In space, the largest Shatterpoint centered around the flagship of the enemy fleet. The base of a particularly powerful Bryn psychic who currently stood as a direct counter to Aurelion. This powerful being appeared to be the glue keeping the whole operation together as their commanders and drones grew increasingly desperate in their attacks against disciplined Directorate veterans.
She took advantage of Aurelion’s battle meditation to directly address the psychic, assuming a terrifying visage within the astral plane as she focused upon them with a searing spotlight.
For over a thousand generations, The Jedi have stood as the guardians of life, liberty, and justice. We will endure for a thousand more and beat back the agents of chaos time and time again.
Already, your forces crumble against a real army. A true coalition of countless races that stand against you and your spiteful brand of fascism.
The Bryn'adûlwill learn, as the Sith Empire and Mandalorians have before.
Now I come foryou...
Her warning thundered through the Force like cascades of lightning, telepathic bolts of constitution clapping against the defenses of the head psychic.
It would be something to fight them on the astral plane, but she was only acting to bolster Aurelion who seemed capable on his own. She had a more kinetic solution in mind.
Proton fire and warp shears awaited her enemies.
“Red and Blue, deploy boarding pods and fighters," she spoke in the real world, "and have our cruisers and frigates continue pressing the advance."
She focused on Knight Daneli, who was now attached to her cruisers. “Deneli, welcome to the party. You get the callsign ‘Smoke’. Help cover my fighters as they make their bombing runs. I see the Directorate and Yurbs have closed in on the main Bryn fleet, so you’ll have some help. Good luck.”
With Aurelion’s Battle Meditation even more potent than before, the crews acted with almost machine like with near perfect harmony, the starfighters of Red and Blue quickly streaking forward on their assignments. As the starfighters pulled away, the artillery cruisers began to fire steady streams of boarding shells from their hypervelocity cannons just as they came over the horizon. Each shell contained a deadly biot specifically designed for chewing right through capital ships. The Bryn were not the sole users of bioweapons in this fight, as they were about to find out in a matter of moments.
However, just as the cruisers opened fire, more of the enemy boarding creatures reverted out of hyperspace, right under them as they continued their flanking maneuvers. One of the targeted cruisers evaded a successful latch simply by virtue of its velocity, the ships crossing hundreds of kilometers every second while at combat speed. As it continued rocketing forward, that cruiser and the others opened fire with aft mass drivers and positron cannons that could literally annihilate naked creatures like this if their antimatter bolts made direct contact with any part of its armor or flesh.
The second targeted cruiser wasn’t so lucky, and now had one of the ugly suckers gripping the underside of its hull. Upon collision, some crewmen were knocked off their feet from the force of impact, and some internal systems began to go haywire as power cycling suddenly experience disruptions, deck lights flickering on and off. In the CIC, monitors flashed red as a slew of warnings filled up the screens. They were in trouble, and had to act fast, or they’d be dead in the water. Point defense cannons – 40mm autorippers – were directed at the creature, while more Inago started to filter out of the hangar bay, skittering along the hull toward the Bryn creature to eat through the tendrils and dislodge it.
Great River had officially entered the battle, already trading blows with the Bryn, but this was the beginning of the end. Despite the Directorate and Yurbs incurring heavy casualties, Jyoti could see few avenues for success for the enemy as she advanced, seemingly in tatters themselves. If the Bryn could be beaten here and now, then the allied fleets could turn their full attention to battling the warbeasts on the surface and save Yurb.
What would remain of it after this battle, anyway. No matter what, no one would be coming out of this bloody affair clean.
Summary of Actions:
* Successfully boosted Aurelion and psychically trolled the head Seer a bit before returning to directly commanding ships under the positive influence of friendly BM.
*Red, Black and, Blue Squadrons continue their flanking maneuvers beyond the horizon of Yurb, keeping at long range as they begin to encircle the enemy fleet.
*Launched fighters and boarding shells at the Divine Brutality.
*A cruiser in Blue Squadron was successfully latched by one of the enemy Debauchers and is now deploying countermeasures to stop it as the ship begins to be drained. The other cruiser avoided a latch and the vampiric effects and is now firing upon the other Debaucher with all the other cruisers (presumably still chasing) as it continues with its original mission to flank the Bryn’s first wave fleet.
OBJECTIVE: INSURGENT
LOCATION: SEE ZEALOT TRIO MAP BELOW
EQUIPMENT: IN SIGNATURE
BYRN IN VICINITY: Galak
| OTHERS TBD
INTENT TO ENGAGE: Luna Terrik
| Open to engage up to 2 others as Krarolk or any member of the Zealot Elite trio
ENGAGING: Kaia Starchaser
As the humanoid blocked Krarolk's axes and rushed towards him, he realized that she was a Jedi.
Her power was one that the Zealot had never seen before, one that the Jedi he had fought on multiple occasions on other Byrn conquests had never demonstrated. The ground itself seemed to ripple with energy around them, rattling as if an earthquake was upon them. Struggling to keep his footing steady, Krarolk watched as the Jedi leapt up into the air with a large chunk of rubble, using it as a platform to bound over the Zealot. At the same time, the lightsaber that had been knocked out of her hands earlier flew back to her side, giving her a formidable weapon. With both of Krarolk's axes meters away, his only weapon against the formidable Jedi was his glaive. In terms of armaments and talent, he was at a disadvantage. However, the Zealot had a reasonable amount of experience with Jedi. With his superior strength and speed, the Zealot could annihilate the female Jedi's stamina reserves before delivering a clean decapitation and taking her lightsaber as a trophy.
Finally securing footing on two large chunks of sandstone amidst the shaking ground, Krarolk prepared his first strike. With his axes inaccessible to him, Krarolk recalled his spiritual energy and sent it all into the blade of his glaive. Normally, he would spread it evenly across his armor and arsenal. However, by imbuing only his glaive, he granted it a degree of strength that gave it the slicing power of a lightsaber with the weight of a warhammer. It was the Zealot's ultimate offensive technique, and one that he reserved for only the most formidable of opponents. Targeting the Jedi above him, Krarolk thrust his glaive upwards, its tip glowing as brightly as a lantern.
The Zealot Elite Commander and his Skag ascended yet another rolling hill, arriving at a barren plain overlooked by the outpost the Fallen Major had described. It was almost exactly two kilometers away by the Commander's estimate, a perfect distance for his sharpshooting. He dismounted his Skag and tied it to a nearby stone before pulling out his rifle. The Zealot Commander wielded a Wendigo Spiker 2A, among the most powerful long-range handheld weapons in the Byrn'adul arsenal. Kneeling down on his right knee on top of a barren hill, the Commander peered through his sights at the facility ahead. With its shielding down, the soldiers patrolling its windows and ramparts would be vulnerable to long-range fire.
Taking advantage of this possibility, the Commander locked the distant figure of a soldier in his sight and opened fire. Though he couldn't tell where the Spiker hit, the soldier fell to the ground limp. His second shot had the same result, causing panic among the outpost's garrison, who found it difficult to identify a sniper almost two kilometers away. He still had over one hundred shots remaining, so the Commander intended to have some sadistic fun.
Note: The Zealot Elite Commander is firing on the F3 outpost from the northeast corner of E2
The Bryn'adul to the left of them. The Bryn'adul to the right of them. The Bryn'adul in front of them, gathered and thundered. Siege Towers stood looming over the field as wave after wave of brutal creatures surged forth to try and surround the outpost as the people of Yurb fought or fled with their very survival on the line. Poison crept, worms dug, brutes fought, and hellfire rained.
But there was one among their number that did not stay their hand as perhaps they should. One that did not hold the tide or laugh at the small, insignificant creatures that crept across the world as terraformers sought to choke them out.
Though far from a a starfighter that sailed between stars, one of the Siege Towers began to move. Not with the grace of the lumbering bulk, nor forward into the din of battle. No, this one stepped to the side and how many were underfoot it would not count, nor its course alter. Even its tendrils, balistas, and turrets began to fire erratically in whatever direction they happened to face.
And then the sound in the deep as its horns cried out. The towering beast essentially stumbled with its limber yet heavy hollow legs further and further aside until one edge of its crown slammed into the side of another Siege Tower.
Meanwhile, within the heart of the beast, a metal woman clung to the...console as the walking fortress she stood in trembled and shook from the collision. Quite the unique experience. One she would certainly document at length by compiling all recorded inputs for accurate recall and simulation later. Perhaps, given time, Nyx might even better understand the controls that she blindly manipulated.
It might actually be too far to say she 'controlled' the tower, however. More than she simply gave it little budges. Such a simple, yet effective creation would surely not enjoy the sensation of a Force-suspending creature tampering with the Draelvasier technology -- even localized effects that migrated within could solicit beneficial reactions. Whatever it took to make the 'pain' stop. Fortunately, Nyx had no programming that made her hesitant to manipulate the living war machine in this fashion. It was a weapon; she would use it like one.
Nyx activated her comlink to establish a link back to command (Luna Terrik
). War Marshal, this is Nyx. I have secured a means of manipulating one of the enemy's towering beasts. My visibility from my currently location is, however, limited. Could you, perhaps, guide me on target? Of course, there were many targets in her immediate area. Perhaps they could be so kind as to simply say 'roll over.'
Nyx is meddling with the Siege Tower's internal systems using the Ysalamir in opposition to Draelvasier technology's heavy Force-basis. One of the Towers at D7 (hopefully) crashed into another, and may have crushed some units under 'foot.'
Everything that followed, seemingly came all at once and threatened to drown them amidst the destructive carnage that was the Bryn'adûl swarm; A worthy description of their Forces as the shield had fallen over Edsert City and suddenly the streets were plunged into chaos and violence. The Lervon were beings of sand, capable of concealing themselves better than most humanoid beings, yet it did not stop Caedyn Arenais fearing for their lives as he watched in horror as the Hive Bombs came descending down upon the district around them (Grid F5).
Nida Perl
's aura flared as she summoned the Force to protect her and Kyra Perl
both, Caedyn soon reaching out with his left hand to create his own telekinetic barrier shielding him from the darkness and the biological gas that had exploded forth from the Hive Bombs to fill the street in what his Padawan suddenly declared to be poison. Caedyn's right hand moved to draw upon the hilt of his Lightsaber as a cloud of sand, dust and debris rushed around the perimeter of his Force Shield, the impact of the hostile drop-pods carrying the poisonous gas far and wide in the initial blast wave.
"They've released chemicals on us-- b-black clouds-- bats.
Poison, I think. Stay away from the pods! They explode!"
"Nida, Kyra!" Caedyn called to them both sharply, urgency in his voice; "Slow yourbreathingif you know how, and Kyra remember what Master Del'fino taught you" he encouraged the Sisters, while raising his lightsaber as a source of light amidst the black ink like substance that temporarily surrounded them. They weren't in a good position, were the Bryn'adûl drones to come charging on through while they were busy dealing with this mess, they'd be caught completely off guard. Furthermore, somehow the two Sisters had managed to encase the drop-pod that had nearly crushed them both within Nida's control over the force barrier, sealing the Draeyde creatures within. While Caedyn's vision was near blinded from the distance set between the three, he could feel the creatures presence in the Force, as well as the growing tension within his Padawan.
Their immediate need was to free themselves of the surrounding ichor hanging in the air, and through Caedyn's left hand he channeled more strength to the Force Barrier around him, his head dropping in order to discourage his mind from becoming distracted by the bat that his Padawan cut down while applying more and more telekinetic pressure against the interior of the Force Shield with the intent of lowering his guard and releasing a wave of kinetic energy from within, hoping to dissipate the hindering smog.
"Brace yourselves!" Caedyn called to the Sisters, giving them a brief moment to prepare before releasing the energy surrounding him, a shock wave and wall of kinetic force exploding outward in all directions, taking the cloud ichor and poisonous gas with it, as though a torrential wind had picked up everything from around them, throwing any loose and unstable objects into the air as he drove their perimeter back in an attempt to clear their view and give them all room to breath.
For just a moment, the situation was beginning to look up.
The little shield generator droid quickly scooped up the child and moved it toward the crowd that rushed by. Through the rush, Matvec could see a pair of younger parents, distraught as they were see the droid and child. They moved quick to scoop him up, moving then to join up the with the rest of the rush as they headed toward the bunker. A small victory, maybe. Yet one that he could hold onto for hope that by the end of the day, they would have done more good than damage these monsters could inflict.
That small bit of hope was strained by the city shield shimmering, then failing completely, followed by the enemy rapidly making their way in. The pods, which had crashed through the shield earlier, seemingly opened up to release monstrosities of the night. The zeltrons beside him, sisters, he surmised, recognized this first. Whomever the older jedi was with them, around his age, was seemingly able to keep his head best and cast a barrier around them and the gases.
There were certainly moments where he missed the sting of the ocean against his skin, and the smoothness of the currents that would run along his body. Living a land based life could be a difficult one. That didn’t mean, however, there weren’t certain advantages to having lived a life in the seas and the anatomy that was a necessity for that. Namely, lungs that were able to pull the tiny amount of necessary oxygen out of the least inviting air.
While the two Zeltrons and the Human dealt with the air on the ground, and trusting that they could handle themselves, Matvec took the time to leap high into the air, landing with a cushion of the force on a nearby rooftop. The others were concerned with the gas at the moment, which they should be. Other threats had emerged from the pods, with a few of the bats making a beeline for their position. Perhaps they smelled the scent of fresh meat. They wouldn’t ever reach the ground again. At leatst, not in one piece.
A brilliant blue blade ignited in the darkness of the fog with a soft hiss, spinning into a shii cho form that held close to where the young man's body would be. The darkness obscured his movements, the only indication of where he was being the blue blade emanating from his hand. The first went down without much of a fight, having it’s wing sliced apart with multiple rapid turns of the blade. It’s companions, a pairing, were much less keen on having their lives ended by an acrobatic Nautolan who was grinning something fierce.
They swept in from opposite angles, forcing him to hop softly into the air, thinning his body to allow one to fly above and one below. He landed with a soft thud, eyes quickly rushing up to see the hideous creatures rushing to attack once again. The same flight, except this time Matvec possessed the time to slip to the side, bringing his blade down in time to slice the bat’s head clean off. It’s body was sent tumbling across the rooftop, falling to the street below where the others sent the dark gases banished away.
The sudden absence of gas seemed to distract the last bat for just a moment, turning it’s head to see the prey on the street below. By the time it remembered the much more immediate threat, it only had the time to see the red skinned alien flying in to plunge a saber into it’s body. He rode it back down to the street, landing hard next to the dead body of the decapitated one. All the while, that feisty, humorous grin stayed plastered to his face.
With the threat extinguished, and the group safe for the moment, Matvec deactivated his blade and attached the hilt back to his belt. “Everyone alright down here?” His eyes focused primarily on the two padawan learners. This warzone was no place for them. They should have been back at the rest, enjoying themselves while they learned the proper ways to expel the darkness. That would have been the fair way about things.
“What…” Nida stared into the transparent bubble she had constructed, inky darkness and screeching insectoid creatures swirling within it like a black pearl. Her center of gravity was lowered, feet spaced widely one in front of the other to keep her steady as she fed the barrier with both hands. The Bryn beasts threw themselves at the invisible barricade, suddenly illuminated by the light conjured by her sister. A shrill chorus of dying shrieks reached a fever pitch as the draeyde were exposed to the light, before fading into stillness.
There was no time to marvel at what had happened, not as many identical pods rained down onto the city. They may have bested one pod, but many more detonated nearby, indiscriminately covering the streets of Edsert with ominous clouds of pitch gas. Nida found it difficult to breathe, pulling the edge of her robe up over her nose and mouth as the words of Master Arenais found her through the smog. Drawing the force to her, the padawan steadied her breathing, willing herself to keep calm and conserve oxygen at the same time. When he shouted in warning, Nida braced herself against the damaged drop pod. A shockwave of Force, practiced and powerful, ushered away the gas in the immediate vicinity. Clambering up from her position, Nida was relieved to see her sister still standing.
The Force shifted in a way that made her skin prickle at the back of her neck, and she came to the swift realization that the city had been swarmed by these insect creatures. Something else felt wrong—looking up to the sky, she realized that familiar electric pulsations that rippled across the barrier were absent. They were exposed. “I’m not sure if we can make one that big, Kyra.” Her voice sounded strained.
The goro droids deployed across Edsert would instinctively raise their shields and swing their hulking arms at the airborn creatures as they flew past, but most of the droids proved to be too slow and bumbling to strike their targets. Tapping into the Silver comms, she spoke to the team of Jedi within the city to try and keep everyone apprised of the situation and their goal. “We need to converge at the bunker—the goro droids are mobile shielding units, they will help protect the civilians.”The Jedi throughout the city would find these ursine bots lumbering along wherever Jedi and civilians were, onboard shields flaring to life to protect them from the ichor and assault.
Thumbing the ignition of her lightsaber to urge a yellow blade forth, Nida called out to Nautolan Jedi. “Matvec, we need to head towards the bunker!” His swift, aerodynamic takedown of the draedye was impressive. “Please help look after everyone.” Quick and precise with a blade, she felt a little more at ease knowing that they had the Jedi Knight’s strength. They may be able to hold off the worst of the beasts for now, but Nida always feared the worst, and her gut told her that with the shielding down, this would not be the worst enemy to befall the city.
Her feet slid into a half-step in time for her to slice one of the draeyde from stem to stern as it swerved for her. The bat’s carcass dropped to the ground, and Nida breathed a shaky exhale. A healer by nature, blade work came a little too naturally to her than was comfortable. “Kyra?” She called out, reaching frantically to find her sister’s force signature, to keep her safe however she could.
To say he wanted to get back into the war was definitely a loaded statement. Coren knew that he had to be on the war front at times. He was the Sword, he was the tip of the spear, who would drive back the dark side. And he knew more about fighting the Sith than most in this galaxy. It didn’t mean that he was the best, but it meant one of the most vocal. He helped rally an entire alliance of people behind him at one point, and now, with his return? He was hoping to take it easier, be there to defend, and pass on his lessons to the greater galaxy.
Hell, even today, he was at the hospital on Commenor with Celeste Rigel. There to witness the birth of his daughters. But even through that, he could feel the calls in the Force, from Kaia, and to a lesser extent as a call, from Kyra. It had been a few hours but now Celeste and the twins were asleep. Maybe it was luck, but more likely, it was the Force. As more reports were coming in, he heard Silver Command moving to rally part of the defense fleet. Writing a note for Celeste and the girls was one thing he could do, and he gave Celeste a kiss while she slept before taking his swoop bike to the temple.
His Y-Wing was there, and he ensured that it was fueled and ready. As he rode through the streets to the Temple, he ensured Porter was loaded up. It didn’t take him long to load himself up, flight helmet and his spacer gear, and his grav chute was all he needed. Finding his ship lifting off, it wasn’t long before he joined the wing of Jedi fighters and shuttles. Checking in with the Wing, he let them know who he was as they all leapt into hyperspace.
Objective: Dramatic Entrance! Location: D4/D5 Enemies: Osam
NPCs with Permissions
The fighter group was going to be entering the fray ahead of the bombers and shuttles. The fighter craft, a mixture of X-Wings and other similar variants were heading forward to back up the fleet, comming into Gir Quee, three squadrons of Silver fighters and X-Wings, as the bombers and shuttle craft were entering atmosphere from the other side of the war zone, moving to circumvent the combat. Coren’s own Y-Wing, dark navy, with green and yellow trim, ahead of the other bombers. Shields hot, weapons off, and engines to full, the fighter was merely here to drop the Jedi Master off. “Squads Gold and Blue, take care to watch my X-Wing, we have Bryn at close fire.” He could feel that, and any of the Jedi pilots he came with could as well. The combat shuttles were going to be landing to bring their Jedi and soldiers to the ground.
As he entered atmosphere, he was reaching out, he could easily feel his daughters, even if Kyra Perl
may not feel him. But he also picked up quickly on Nida Perl
.I’m going to have to write an apology already...Feth. There was the feeling of a Battle Meld out there, and he could feel faces, familiar and not so. PPlaceholder 0128
, another crusader Coren Starchaser recognized. Reaching into the Force, he was starting to pull on the light side, looking for where he could be the most useful. He could ping more Jedi, from the New Jedi Order, the Silver Jedi Order… all working together.
This was the first time he’d returned to the battlefield, in how long? Running a finger over the wedding band that linked him to Celeste Rigel. Watching the Jedi, he could feel them all, their focus. “Porter, take the Y-Wing beyond the fighting, I’ll come back to you.” He said as he took the flight helmet off, and grabbed his lightsaber. Flicking a switch that retracted the roof of the Y-Wing. A deep breath as the air went whizzing past, he could feel Kahne Porte
and the other Outer Rim Force users, that was where he was going.
Grabbing hold of the battle meditation, he was reaching to the other Jedi, for their strength and to add his own to the cycle, he wasn’t sure if Caedyn Arenais had gotten to this part of the his father’s Holocron but after a count, Coren tossed himself from the seat of his fighter and when the Y-Wing was clear, he reached into the Force, into that battle meditation, and pulling strength and adding his own, the aura around Coren lit with the glow of the Ashla itself as he hurtled towards the Force users, and could feel Enlil
questioning what to do next. Those within the Light Side would feel what the Jedi Masters were capable of as he found an area of Bryn. Focusing his attention he moved himself to the area activating the gravchute enough to prevent himself from splattering all over the ground, he launched a blast of the Light he was holding and a stunning blast outward, blasting Bryn back and ripping the drones while staggering some of the Brutes as he activated his lightsaber, golden light from the weapon radiating out as the sounds of additional Y-Wings flew overhead.
He didn’t even speak, but his aura said two things, to his allies ‘The Jedi are united and nothing can push us back…’
"Slow yourbreathingif you know how, and Kyra remember what Master Del'fino taught you"
But she had done so poorly in that class! The girl gave a panicked weeze, the realization that she had been doing poorly in all classes coming at an inopportune time. Breathe... breathe... Focus and redirec-
The air cleared around her in a sharp woosh. Kyra opened her eyes, grinning a little to herself as she thought that had been her doing. Her expression faltered, freezing on her Master as she realized he had been the source. Dammit.
“Everyone alright down here?”
“Kyra?”
Kyra turned in place, the space Caedyn had carved out for them clear and calm of threats. She located her comrades in three quick glimpses, her hand reaching out for her sister amongst them all. "We're okay!" She called out to Matvec, her heart rate slowly lowering. "...I think they don't like light," she added, her tone wary as she watched what bats still linger in the air make purposeful movements back towards the dark clouds of poison down the street.
She gave a cough, her lungs burning against the damage the vapor had done
As the little group of jedi regathered on the street, Kyra watched on dumb struck as a group of levron emerged from the poison fog unharmed ... and unhindered from the bats. A laugh of disbelief caught in Kyra's throat, the tension dissipating from her as she looked to her friends. "Bet they coulda just dispersed into the sand and hid from the -" An jaw clattering explosion rocked the street, something lost in the distance.
Kyra caught herself, arms out spread and stance widened. Her amusement washed away as a wave of terror took over her, the girl unwittingly taking on the battle meditation sent out by the Bryn force users. The city, she realized in an instant, was lost. Her expression crumbled, her shoulders falling in as the group stood directionless in the square.
'Now what?' their gasping silence seemed to ask.
A sudden fleet of reinforcements flew in from above. Coren Starchaser
's voice did not appear over the comms, but they did not need it to feel the announcement of his arrival. The master's energy vibrated strong and true, bringing morale to the masses and eradicating the whisper of Bryn influence from Kyra's mind.
She knew who he was at once, her chest swelling with exhilaration as she followed his path. "Dad!"
The ship flew onward, hitting off to somewhere else, but the hope inspired by his battle meditation remained. Kyra slowly looked back down to Caedyn Arenais , her smile catching on her face as she realized what she had just said. She flushed in embarrassment, quickly looking away. No one heard that! Nida Perl
's panda droids hunkered forward, erupting a shield over her before she could protest.
"We should--" Help the civilians now? But no, that didn't feel right. The battle meditation of her father and Master Elise invigorated her, echoing through her body and driving her bounce on her toes. She was ready to help-- she was ready to fight. The concept of running and retreating when so many minds called out in anguish-- she flinched, the mere reminder of it drawing her attention to the cacophony of voices echoing through the force.
The true depth of the growing battle meditation lingered outside her grasp, the padawan not heeding the forces gentle tug. Not while all the voices screamed. Death hung in the air. She clamped her hands over her ears, cringing in pain.
"We can't leave them," she uttered to the group, protesting the path she knew they'd want to stay. Her eyes pried open, bubbling over with moisture as a glance was spared the direction Coren Starchaser
had flown off to "They need us," she asserted stubbornly, looking to the senior of the group, Caedyn Arenais . He would feel what she could not admit out loud. She wasn't leaving while her father remained on the field.
Through the roar and turmoil of the war zone, the whipping sand and focus through the force to centre herself in concentration, a voice broke through. “Shatter it”, she couldn’t, if she released her stance the creature would return to the ground and they would lose the opportunity to kill the beast. The large worm like creature recoiled in pain, it face half frozen in carbonite, it was a ghastly sight.
Seemingly out of nowhere a young man appeared on the top of it, and for a moment Abaigeal thought it was someone else, someone she knew, but it can’t be. She pushed the thought from her mind and watched. The young soldier attacked the creature, she could not see what he did, but it soon became clear and Abaigeal finally dropped her arms and the force funnel of sand stopped.
Shields were back up, even if only a small coverage area, it was enough to give them some small sense of hope and trap the creature. It did not take too much convincing for Abaigeal to retreat, the creature’s head was about to explode. She dived behind the nearest cover and waited. But she would not wait for long.
The enemy was at the gates, at the walls and soon would be in, if they had not advanced already. Yet, the force prickled along her skin, which began to lighten and shimmer, someone somewhere engaged battle meditation and it filled her with strength and power, determination and the sustenance of the light side of the force.
Sensing the light in others around her, including the young man who remined her of her old mentor. Odd but she could feel the connection, as if an only friend had arrived. But now was not the time to contemplate all that. Abaigeal found herself close by another solider, Warchief Waddles
by the armour he was Galactic Alliance, it was good to have the assist and give him acknowledgment with gratitude for his help. “That gun of your’s is very impressive”, she said on approached. “What is the next plan?”, she had only just arrived on ground and needed a briefing on the situation.
But the force was calling her in an entirely different direction, and she would not be able to ignore it for much longer.
Sergei closed with his next enemy, the whole outside of the outpost was a melee now. This was brutal close quarters. The drones were many in here, but would find themselves utterly outmatched by any of the Dire Wolves that remained in a one on one fight. Which was why they attempted to overwhelm each of them with their three to one odds. Sergei was in a haze as he went from drone to drone, slaughtering his way efficiently, effectively, and ruthlessly through the enemies as they presented themselves. Until finally a brute stepped up to confront Sergei. This thing was fast. It was strong. It's overhead swing would have certainly cut through Sergei clean as he hopped to the side. His response was to level a pistol at the thing's face, but that's when he found out how fast this thing was. It swung back up in a counter swing, and Sergei had to step back to not lose his hand. His training flashed back to the front of his mind, remembering the gritty days in his SF training on Ord Jannon. He quickly holstered his pistol and parried the next strike of the brute as it closed the gap, doing a quick stab at him to try and catch him off guard. Sergei then decided it was his turn to rush. He blocked one last strike with the flat of his blade as he did a quick spin on the brute, grabbing the haft of its pole-arm, and jamming his sword into the beast's throat. It would stagger back a few steps, before looking Sergei dead in the face with what would have probably been hate filled eyes before rushing Sergei once more. Sergei raised his fists as the weapon was now quite firmly lodged in the brute's throat, before it's face exploded after being shot multiple times at point blank range from a HARM. Sergei turned to find John, his TCD-1D who spoke to him quickly.
"Sir, not like you to hand off a weapon like that,"
Sergei then quickly drew his pistol on yet one more rushing behind the droid, firing two APFSDS darts through its chest, tearing massive holes in it before responding.
"Keep your guard up, sit rep,"
"Turrets are down sir," John would raise his weapon and fire three more rounds at several nearby drones "And based on intel on enemy numbers, once this shield goes down, we can't hold,"
The screeching of the worm inside the outpost itself wasn't unnoticed, but Sergei and his men were more than a little busy. Their reprieve would be short lived as while the Bryn were brutal and quite savage close range fighters, Sergei's commandos were the stuff of legend. As several Rhivaks would get a few kills, one would have the unfortunate opportunity to meet a TCD-2D up close. And as it would charge the droid, it would simply catch the beast by the horns and throw it over top, smashing it into the ground on the other side, before using its Phrik-A plated claws to tear its heart out before the beast could fire its beam weapon once more. Sergei grabbed his own slung HARM and finally reloaded for the first time in minutes since he'd gone into the melee. Once he slapped the new magazine home and racked the charging handle, he would retrieve his sword as the two would proceed to the next brawl. Here brutes, drones, and Commandos were going at it, several drones managing to overwhelm and pin a Commando to the ground as a brute decapitated him. As the brute roared in glee, Sergei blew its head off with his HARM, both John and him picking apart who they could as they ended the fight. This was bad. Orbital fire support wasn't working, and apparently these things didn't care if they died. Taking the moment that they had gotten, Sergei pulled up his Wind Talker, and opened a channel to Luna Terrik
and Hope. They couldn't keep this up. But they could kill everyone here.
Sacrifice of a well trained and chosen few for the many
"Hope this is The Dire Wolf, call is 'BROKEN ARROW'. I say again 'BROKEN ARROW'. Begin exfiltration plan and bombardment,"
-------------------
The comms would reverberate through the halls of the CIC. Broken Arrow meant the allied position was being overrun, and there wasn't any chance to recover the position. The enemy numbers were over twenty five thousand soldiers in a concentrated place, to destroy one thing in particular. Something which now wasn't even able to protect the city proper. The exfiltration mentioned was a fool hardy plan at best. A long shot. And one that couldn't be used as an excuse to stop the attack either. One weapon that the Hope hadn't fired this entire battle, mainly because they didn't at all ever want to use it, was now going to be called upon. A weapon that would annihilate everything for kilometres, and fortunately due to the terrain it would be contained in the "local" area around the shield outpost. But everything there would be atomized, the very sand they stood upon for hundreds of meters deep would be turned to glass. It was something that should never be called upon to stop a threat, to end a battle on the ground. The difference in numbers was just too great, and all other options appeared to be ineffective.
In the hangar, klaxons blared as the fighters and support craft finally had rearmed and were launching once more. Red, Black, and Gold squadrons would launch, forming up around Hope, and letting Hammer, Dragon, and Wyvern flights do the same. Once all fighters were formed up, yet another barrage of SIM-02 Archers and SIM-06 Hellfires would let loose from Hope, in an attempt to carpet bomb the entire area outside the shield and soften up the enemy for the airstrike that was coming. And all six flights of birds were indeed coming.
But their payload wasn't the final strike.
The final strike was powering up on the bow of the ship. A massive 600 meter long weapon intended to be used against battlecruisers and even super class star destroyers. Deuterium tanks would be flushed into charging cores, as the weapon energized and began its power up cycle. Even if it meant sacrificing The Dire Wolf and the entirety of TDW's commando forces, they were prepared. They would utterly destroy the meat of the Bryn's assembled combat forces. They would stop the invasion. If it meant the sacrifice of a few to spare the many, Sergei was prepared. They all were. On board the ship's final ace in hole was readied. It's answer to the overwhelming might of the Bryn's combat forces.
-------------------------
Sergei continued pushing with his Wolves as they fought to clear the remainder of the trenches. The course was set. They had all heard the Dire Wolf's communication. Utter destruction of the enemy, mutually theirs if necessary. Sergei had troops fall back to the final protective line of trenches, they would have to try and stage a breakout if the shield fell. Unless the next strike was enough to turn the tide, unless forces came to give them enough support to tip scales better than a 30 : 1 disadvantage, Sergei knew that they would fall. The only question was now how many they took along with them. Sergei was ready, they all were. And while Sergei could call off the final strike to avert the potential disaster, he didn't see this ending that way. These animals were just too numerous. And no amount of conventional firepower would be available by the beleaguered defenders to turn the tide of this. They were entirely surrounded. So it was simple to Sergei. They would now be the bait that drew in the Bryn, the hook that kept them there, and the very ground they stood on would be the anvil on which they'd be annihilated.
Even their deaths would buy them all victory.
Due to the shield outpost being surrounded and only given a temporary reprieve, Sergei has looked at the intel on the enemy forces and called on the final option for TDW to hold the Shield Outpost. He's going to destroy it, and cause massive destruction across E-6, D-6, completely destroy everything in E-7/8 and D-7/8. This is due to them being outnumbered by over 60:1. It will take several turns for the weapon that will do this to fire, as it needs to charge the weapon to full power, get a firing solution, and then fire. This will atomize everything in these hexes and glass the sand down to a hundred meters below the surface. Sergei alone has the codes to Hope that can avert the firing and stop the ship from essentially glassing the area around them. All of the dropships and fighters from Hope have been launched in a last ditch attempt to either turn back the tide of enemy forces, or if unable evacuate as many from the area as they can while TDW buys them all as much time as possible.
Last barrage from Hope is 200 SIM-02 Archers, and 90 SIM-06 Hellfires.
Current losses for TDW as follows: 22 TCD-2Ds, 29 TCD-1Ds, 45 TDW commandos, 5 TGC commandos
A vibrant blur of blue energy took to the air overhead as the Jedi Knight Matvec Triddol
took to the flying monsters overhead, the Bryn'adûl Draeyde falling in pieces as his blade cut through flesh and bone. It was a grim moment in which Caedyn would have felt guilt in his relief at seeing the creatures fall, were they spared the time to reflect and dwell on such feelings; Yet the battlefield ceased for no one.
While his Padawan fell victim to the influence of the Bryn'adûl Ashaka warriors, it was another presence in the Force that found Caedyn Arenais from elsewhere amidst the battle for Yurb. 'Elise...' he gave the presence her name, spoken without words but across the telepathic connection in her battle-meditation, 'I hear you. Stay strong, Master'. It was all that he would say, to acknowledge and to remind her that Caedyn was with her and all of the other Jedi laying down their lives for the people of Yurb.
Much more immediate however was Kyra Perl
's sudden sense of anxiety in response to picking up on the Bryn'adûl Force Users and the influence they cast across the war-zone. "Kyra!" Caedyn called for her attention with a firm and authoritative tone, "Do not give them the benefit of influencing your feelings. Every time you let fear dictate your behavior you put others at risk. Remember what we've been training for" he instructed. The on-going fight gave no room for gentle lessons, no time to sugar coat the hard facts. They were all under extreme threat, tension and the need to keep moving before the invading swarm overran them in numbers.
Coren Starchaser
's arrival alongside the various transports bringing reinforcements to the surface of Yurb were a hell of a sight, yet his Padawan's desire to move to help her Father placed him in a difficult position concerning the ethical decision to leave the Lervon behind for the sake of assisting their own where the fighting was at it's worst. Death was thick in the air across Edsert City, losses on all sides and no matter what decision the Jedi Knight would make, more would fall beyond his control or ability to save them.
"Master Triddol" Caedyn spoke hastily, laced with stress as he turned back to the Nautolan Jedi Knight, as well as Nida Perl
; "We need to get these people clear!" Caedyn indirectly answered his Padawan, turning his attention to the priority at hand. He couldn't risk his Padawan running off after her Father into the bulk of the horde. Not without his being there to protect her, and not while the Lervon depended on them for safe-keeping.
"Master Starchaser's more capable than any of us, and he won't have come alone" Caedyn battled with the assumption, wanting to believe it while exchanging his lightsaber into his left hand, his right moved to draw the CS.38 side-arm from it's holster. It was an aggressive weapon, yet they were facing an aggressive hostile force that seemed intent on stopping at nothing to crush the presence of the Silver Jedi on Yurb. 27 full metal jacket rounds lay within the extended magazine, armor piercing made with only one purpose. A conflicting necessity...
Location: Yurb Space Objective: Escort the bombers on their attack run Allies: SJO and Allies ( Jyoti Nooran
, Gir Quee , Reshmar ) Enemies: Byrn'adul
-----------------------------------------------
"Smoke...I like it."
I had no idea what Jyoti meant by that nickname, but now wasn't the tin,e to ponder that thought. There was ships that needed holes blown in the side of them. Leading the group of bombers in my X-Wing, I saw the oncoming Bryn'adul ships. Quickly pressing a button the S-Foils opened into attack position. It was time to raise hell. My comms began to crackle.
"Incoming Bryn'adul ships! Stick to your positions, we must complete the run! Now is our chance!"
"You all continue ahead. I'll take care of them."
Cheers and hoorahs echoed throught my cockpit. Slamming the control yoke forward my ship accelerated fast. The enemy ships broke apart as they tried to flank around me. Not today. Engaging my guns I took out three ships immediately. Whipping the ship around in a 180 I blew up a ship that got past me. Dropping straight down I began to fly upside down. The blue bolts of energy screamed across the open space. Two more ship down.
"Help! I got one on my tail!"
Turning my head I saw the bomber being attacked from the rear. Closing the S-Foils I quickly sped to the bomber. The Bryn'adul ship sat directly being the bomber, just firing away. Opening the S-Foils I fired two shots and blew up the enemy craft. Looking down I saw the bomber had some smoke protruding from one of it's engines. That can't be good.
Speeding back to the front of the pack I saw all of the enemy ships were destroyed. We had a straight shot toward the Bryn'adul Capital Ship. All we had to do was deliver the package.
Objective: B
Equipment: Kasurigamax2.
Location: On the ground.
Allies: Bryn'adul
Enemies: Anyone not Bryn’adul.
Forces: Lonesome.
Sarask, quick as a flash had reached the walls. She looked up them, tilting her head slightly in an animal-like manner. She had vanguarded the siege towers slightly, but that was good. She didn't want to be there during the assault. She wiggled her hips, calculating for a moment, before pushing herself upward using the power of her legs, scrambling up the wall swiftly before gravity had a chance to push her back down, gripping onto anything she could find, even the wall itself. She eventually managed to take a grip just under the edge, listening. Some fighters, shooting probably. A few weapons teams, perhaps. Siegeworks.
She hauled herself over the wall, before letting out an ear-piercing screech, compounding it with the Force, paralysing or simply confusing those around her, mostly on the enemy's side. Then, she bounded off swiftly before pushing her luck. She'd knock at least one faceless soldier off of the wall, hurtling to his demise, meanwhile, Sarask joined him, but slowly, as she descended carefully down along the wall, before bounding off toward the City, zig-zagging to avoid enemy fire.
Pilot of SB-06 Ram'ser-class Super-Heavy Bomber Ash'amur 1-1, grid reference E7, providing long ranged air support for friendly forces at the ruins at grid reference C7
If being targeted by multiple different weapons groundside wasn't enough of a distraction for the creatures shooting up at them, each of the SMFD-02 Gar Oya'karirs and the SB-06 Ram'sers had powerful electronic countermeasure suites, and at the comparatively short range it was being engaged at, its full-spectrum distortion projector almost completely blocked incoming scanner and sensor pings and made it extremely difficult for targeting computers to decipher what data was what. Given that there were several craft in the area being shot at with the jammers, it was far from easy to target these craft.
On top of that, the reflec coating on the outside of the craft made visual identification at the high altitudes they were engaging more than difficult. Even so, a few spikes found their mark. The powerful shields on the bombers, the larger targets and only targets hit, more or less took the incoming fire in stride. She'cu transmitted his intention over the Manda to take up 'screen formation' around the bombers to protect them from incoming ground fire. Quickly blink clicking his way through the HUD interface that was linked to his ship, Vral almost instantaneously gave him the go-ahead.
Combined with the sensor jamming, this made it extremely difficult for the incoming ground fire from far from accurate weapon systems firing at high altitude high speed targets they were likely never meant to engage in the first place, even if the sound of their main guns firing definitely did. The bomber's assault continued, however. This time however, the bombers launched a pair of assault grade Juryam-class Brilliant Seismic Missiles. The missiles coasted toward their target on launch velocity granted to them by the launchers alone at first. Their reflec laced fiberplast exteriors made them extremely difficult to detect. At planetary ranges such as these, the missiles didn't even need to engage their engines.
The missiles were aiming to impact with the last remaining dropship at C8 and B7, four missiles aimed at each. If by some admittedly unlikely means they were detected save for the terminal phase, the missiles' advanced droid brain would instead attempt to get close enough to the target before detonating with the aim of catching its target within its large area of effect. The bomber crews followed that up with four missiles of the regular variety, hoping to thin some of the troop numbers, four missiles dropped from each bomber, making only minute course corrections when needed but otherwise relying on launch velocity to take them to their targets. Eight missiles made for the Bryn'adul troops at C8 and eight for the troops at B7..
The escorting droid fighters followed this up with three Getna-class guided air-to-ground missiles, this time not aiming for the Bryn'adul troops themselves, but instead aiming to create a literal wall of incendiary plasma fire between the friendly positions at C7 and the approaching Bryn'adul. If anything, they hoped it would buy their vode on the ground time. Vral wondered if time was all they could really buy against this numberless horde. It made the incident that happened on Rodia weigh even more heavily on his mind now, knowing he'd been responsible for depriving the CIS of soldiers like them at a time like this when a foe like this existed.
The return fire was heavy. The calls of shields failing were echoing all across the comms. The call for backup to the two squadrons of Kyr'galaar stealth multi-role fighters and two squadrons of Oya'karir stealth multi-role droid fighters. They had to do something now, outnumbered and possibly outgunned, it remained to be seen whether they were outmatched. "All fighters, mra'jada, execute mra'jada niram'a now!" all sixteen fighters more or less formed a line and dove through the enemy formation, firing at them with everything they had before breaking left or right, allowing the one behind them to follow-up with the same.
While powerful weapons, the spikes weren't enough to punch through the tough armor of the starfighters. The composite plate and the stesr'gar frame underneath held firm for those craft that had lost their shields. Flashing warnings across the HUDs of the pilots warned them about being exposed to much more incoming fire.
The Jai'galaar fighter-bombers were all equipped the with same ordnance loadout. The deafening roar of the repeating super-heavy mass-drivers going off, roughly eight more times in relatively quick succession likely drowned out all other sounds, sending HEIAP rounds meant for engaging capital ships into whatever gunboat was unlucky enough to be in the crosshairs of the pilot. With so many targets in the sky and in such close relative proximity, the three Tbarsr-class guided baradium cluster missiles launched by each bomber exploded into guided submunitions that tracked the individual gunboats barely scant seconds after being launched.
With the huge number of gunboats taking precedence over the friendly forces requiring ground support, each fighter-bomber unleashed incendiary plasma rockets from their four MRP-01 mass-driver rocket pods. Just to add to the outgoing fire, they also fired at targets of opportunity among the gunboat formation with their two fire-linked gimballed RHM-04 repeating heavy mass-driver cannons, firing HEIAP rounds for maximum damage potential.
The Kyr'galaar mutli-role fighters put out a similar amount of carnage. They fired their quad fire-linked gimballed RHM-04 repeating heavy mass-drivers as well, quickly shifting from target to target with quick bursts of lateral thrust and cycling of target locks, raining HEIAP rounds on several gunboats. Each fighter locked and tracked three separate gunboats, unleashing a trio of Tra'beviiin-class brilliant missiles at their targets.
Asmulr 1-1's pilot was about to order all fighters to break and engage targets, given how severely they were outnumbered when they all saw the gunboats turning off and heading in the direction of the city. "All fighters, turn and engage. We do not let those shabuire get away. Fight till your last round, let's show these shabuir just how mando'ade fight! Oya manda!" He realized that if this continued, there was a good chance that more than a few of them would not be going back home if they couldn't put a stop to the majority of gunboats here and now.
Thankfully, however, as they gave chase, their backup came from the other direction, leaving the gunboats caught in a deadly crossfire. The incoming fighters, two squadrons of Kyr'galaar multi-role fighters and two squadrons of Gar Oya'karir droid multi-role fighters, weren't coming at the gunbaots head on, rather, they'd paired up, and one was coming at them from between port relative to their current heading and their current heading, and the other was on an intercept vector that put them coming from between starboard relative to the gunboat's current heading and their current heading.
While they were roughly at the same altitude level as the gunboats, their backup was at a higher altitude, which in the days of contemporary starfighter combat didn't quite confer a direct advantage, but it certainly helped. Both the droid fighters and the Kyr'galaars were identically armed. Between the pursuing fighters and the incoming ones, one hundred and twenty eight RHM-04s were sending a hail of accurately aimed HEIAP rounds at the gunboats. the repeating super-heavy mass-drivers on the Jai'galaars added to the hailstorm of high velocity large caliber rounds sent the way of the gunboats. Ninety six Tra'beviin brilliant baradium missiles, more than enough for remaining gunboats several times over, some of the missiles locked to the same target.
If this didn't work, if they didn't stop the shabuire now, they were in serious trouble. The fighters with him, including his riduur's squadron, they'd be out of air to air missiles. They'd come prepared for providing CAS, they didn't expect so many of the enemies ships to make it past the defences in orbit and arrive planetside. They'd grossly miscalculated how prepared their enemy was prepared to fight to maintain air superiority, and while it was valuable information like this that they were hoping to ascertain by coming here, he wondered what it would end up costing them in the end.
"Do you really have to leave, buir?" asked his youngest son. making him look up from the datapad that had his deployment details. He thought about what to tell his son. How was he supposed to explain that they'd been asked to head out into the void to stop another monster that threatened the galaxy after they'd only just escaped from those that took their home from them.
Ruus just put on a smile instead and turned to face his son. He was twelve now, the youngest of his three children. Until he was called up, Ruus' and his wife's biggest concern had been preparing the ad'ika for his verd'goten. When he got the new orders, however, she knew. She knew that he wouldn't pass it on to someone else, not when Aran had asked for him personally. He'd never let his old friend down like that.
Part of him wondered about why it was they were running to the aid of the jetii when they'd only just barely escaped annihilation themselves. It was then that he realized why they couldn't turn down their alor. There were people who were being slaughtered by these monstrous shabuire, and it didn't matter that he was far from a fan of the jetii. His feelings on that particular matter were complicated, what wasn't was that they had a chance here to make sure that these Bryn'adul chaakare didn't do what happened to them to others. Even if they stemmed the tide, then that would be enough.
"Adi'ka," he started, dropping to a knee and putting his arm around his son's shoulders. "If I didn't have to leave, I wouldn't. Your mother will keep your training up, but I have to help...the jetii, you know how they are...fight some dema'golka di'kute. Make sure what happened to us doesn't happen to these people." His son stared at him for a good long moment and then nodded.
"Can you show me how to fight these dema'golka when you come back, buir?" asked his son. He wasn't so sure his son understood the situation, how could he, he was just an ad'ika. Something about the way he'd asked if he could be taught to fight the monsters, he had a feeling that his son understood more than was immediately obvious.
"'Lek, adika. Of course," he said, smiling as he stood back up. "Now I want you to stay strong for your vode, okay? Buir will be back, and I'll bring plenty of stories to share. And don't worry, your ba'vodu will be there with me, and you know aliit takes care of aliit, right?" His son nodded. "Good boy."
Present time
Chaos. Everything was chaos all around the order and disciplined fire coming out of their lines. The creatures coming at their fortifications quickly learned that numbers and the speeds that they were travelling at wouldn't save them. The entirety of both A company and B company from both battalions opened up on them as they made their approach from the moment they popped up on scanners.
There were twenty seven MBT-01M tanks in his lines, and each tank had two RHM-03 repeating heavy mass-driver cannons. Eighty eight 125mm HE-Frag-FS rounds exploded in front of the creatures, creating sixty seven thousand five hundred tungsten fragments which the fast moving creatures then moved into. Twenty three hull mounted HRR-02 heavy repeating rippers tracked and fired AP-HE rounds at them, easily over several hundred rounds loosed at once.
If that wasn't enough, eight of the IFVs fired at the oncoming horde as well with their HRR-02 heavy repeating rippers, both turret and hull mounted. Easily over twenty four heavy repeating rippers in total. The amount of AP-HE rounds being sent accurately at the oncoming creatures was staggering, even for a foe like the one they were facing. Adding their fire to the mix were the sixty four Gtasada-class incendiary plasma rockets being fired at the oncoming infantry as well as the thirty two Juryam-class brilliant seismic missiles being fired at the Brumaks. The remaining eight IFVs poured in Class-D disruptor fire from their twin RCDC-01 repeating class-D disruptor cannons into the Brumaks.
While this was happening, A and B company's MBT-01E tanks, eight in total, fired a staggering total of thirty two heavy incendiary energy torpedoes from their QETL-03 quad energy torpedo launchers at the onrushing horde of Bryn'adul infantry. These tanks also poured in fire with their HRR-02 heavy repeating rippers, firing AP-HE rounds at the alien creatures.
A and B company's six MBT-01D tanks fired their SCDC-01 super-heavy class-D disruptor cannons at the Orbaliscs, three each. Each weapon was easily capable of taking on extremely heavily armored walkers or super-heavy tanks, and given that Class-D disruptors annihilated matter at the molecular level and from the living force itself, Ruus was confident that they wouldn't be standing, especially after the tanks added in their sponson RCDC-01 repeating class-D disruptor cannon fire to the mix.
C company's 3 MBT-01A and 3 MBT-01R tanks directed their fire to the flanking forces at C8. Forty eight Gtasada-class incendiary plasma rockets were fired at the infantry there. Adding to the hell being unleashed at them were twelve Juryam-class brilliant seismic missiles, these ones aiming for the Brumaks. Sponson HRR-02 heavy repeating rippers turned their attention to the infantry as well. The three MBT-01M tanks in C company, including the command tank unleashed four APFSDS-T rounds each at the Brumaks, while following this up with fire from their sponson RCDC-01 repeating class-D disruptor cannons.
C company's IFVs only added to the mix. Thirty two Gtasada-class incendiary plasma rockets and fire from the fifteen HRR-02 heavy repeating rippers all went into the infantry, while sixteen Juryam-class brilliant seismic missiles and fire from the eight RCDC-01 repeating class-D disruptor cannons went into the Brumaks as well.
The infantry were another story as well. The sixteen verpine shatter anti-material rifle equipped infantrymen from A and B company along with the sixteen verpine autocannon equipped troopers engaged the Brumaks with APFSDS rounds, aiming for limbs and whatever else looked like it would hurt. The sixteen missile troopers fired Striilir-class brilliant missiles at the Brumaks as well, firing until their launchers ran dry and forced them to reload, making it one hundred and twelve missiles in total. Sixteen PPC-01 phased pulse cannons worth of fire streamed out as well, accurate fire being poured at joints and other weak spots.
The remaining forty eight marksmen fired at the larger Bryn'adul troops, thirty two with deadly DR-03 Class-D disruptor marksman's rifles, and sixteen with SR-2M verpine shatter sniper rifles. The latter used APFSDS rounds to maximise the chances of doming the chaakare. Precision fire from about ninety six riflemen firing a mix of BR-6B verpine shatter battle rifles and RR-04B ripper rifles firing AP rounds in two round bursts joined them, all of this aimed at dropping as many Bryn'adul troops as possible.
Thirty two PPC-03 phased pulse cannons from the thirty two R/IS-01 'Nuhaatyc' reconnaissance/infantry support droids hosed the oncoming infantry horde with deadly high velocity fusion plasma bolts. Three hundred and eighty four Striilir-class brilliant missiles missiles streaked out from the position in the ruins towards the Brumaks as the droids emptied their missile launchers, beginning the reload process right as they'd fired.
Ruus saw all this through the command interface in his command tank. He knew that for every one of the shabuire that they'd killed there were so many more ready to take their place. He knew it was going come down to nasty close quarters fighting at some point. He just hoped they could kill enough of the shabuire before it did. He remembered what his son had asked him, about teaching him to fight the monsters and he let out a derisive snort at the mere idea of there being a technique to killing the shabla things. There was no honor in killing them, there was no finesse involved. This was something that needed to be squashed with a hammer, and he only hoped that they'd brought a big enough hammer.
Shuklaar Kyrdol, on board C2 gunship Beroya 1-1, Vornskr Mirshir-Jurkad Rammikade Quick Reaction Force, en route to assist friendly forces as the shield outpost at grid reference E7.
The enemy never intended to engage them at D3. That much was made immediately clear. They hoped their aircraft would do the job while they marched at a remarkable pace to press another objective, likely the city by Shuklaar's best guess. Shuklaar was about to call a pursuit, when he heard the call of 'broken arrow' from the Direwolves. They were at the shield outpost, and things were likely not going well. Things were not going well anywhere, and he'd hoped that Ruus's two battalions would draw the majority of the attention off of the shield outpost. Unfortunately, he'd been proven wrong.
It didn't sit with Shuklaar well, leaving the outpost at D3, but it seemed that there were more pressing matters, and if anyone could be trusted to bug out and fade away until they were needed it was Vriz and the rammikade with him. The city was probably the best place for them, somewhere where the sheer numbers advantage of the shabuire could be minimized. "Weraala 6, pull you and your men back from the outpost. See if you can't help our jetii friends at the city. Karyatr 6, divert to the shield generator outpost at grid reference E7. Beroya 1-1, shield outpost and on the double. Those are your orders, vode. Let's make it happen."
The commandos were rearing for a fight now. They'd been ready for one, but now it finally seemed that they were going to get one. Shuklaar readied himself, prepped himself mentally. Shuklaar didn't know if it was the adrenaline and stims slowly being released into his system, or if it was because the gunship pilots were pushing their craft as fast as the shabla things could fly, and having been involved in the development process, he knew that they could really move when pressed to. He could feel the vibrations of the scramjet boosters in the engines, ever so slightly. Not because the engines casing was vibrating, but because of how the atmosphere reacted with their atmospheric friction shielded craft.
The next few moments were a blur. He could barely recollect what happened. They'd come in from an westerly bearing towards the outpost. There were eighteen gunships with them. Two hundred and sixteen RHM-04 mass drivers sent accurate bursts of HEIAP fire into any Bryn'adul infantry left alive in the area not too close to friendlies to risk friendly fire. Close enough for friendly fire or not, each of the eighteen gunships unleashed four Getna-class anti-armor brilliant missiles each, making for a total of seventy two missiles aimed for the Rhivaks and Brumaks. Both the mass-drivers and the missiles were made to engage far larger targets that what they were currently engaging, large fighters, bombers and even gunships in the case of the former and massive armored walkers and super-heavy tanks in the case of the latter.
On wings of fire, Shuklaar, Ragar and the thirty two Strill Securities Vornskr Mirshir-Jurkad Rammikade descended from their gunships, supported by eight R/IS-01 'Nuhaatyc' reconnaissance/infantry support droids. The droids poured accurate bursts of fusion plasma fire from their PPC-03 phased pulse cannons into the larger Bryn'adul infantry, while each of them emptied their missile launchers at the Brumak and Rhivak, forty eight Striilir-class brilliant missiles striking out toward various targets.
Ragar and his men unloaded with everything they had. Each squad leader was packing a PBHR-01 Particle Beam Heavy Repeater, which they used to take on the larger Bryn'adul infantry. Snipers with AMR-4 verpine shatter anti-material rifles, two in each of the four squads, targeted the Brumaks and Rhivaks with APFSDS rounds, aiming for limbs and joints, hoping to cripple them or buy some time for more heavier weaponry to be brought to bear to neutralize them completely. The two heavy weapons operators in each squad took the same cue and repeated the process with their verpine shatter autocannons.
Both squad technicians and riflemen engaged the 'regular' Bryn'adul infantry with their FL-01 verpine shatter flechette launcher and AR-2CQB rifles respectively. It was nothing but accurate fire from the elite Strill Securities shock commandos.
Thirty six verpine autocannons on back mounts targeted limbs and other potential weak spots on the Brumaks and Rhivaks with APFSDS rounds, hoping to in the very least slow them down, while twenty eight MML-01V miniaturized missile launchers fired K-26 explosive anti-vehicle rockets at the Brumaks and Rhivaks. If that wasn't enough to slow the Bryn horde, three hundred and eighty four depleted baradium tipped baradium nano missiles moved like an angry cloud of hornets towards the Bryn'adul infantry.
"Mando'ad! No one dies here today! Remember, ib'tuur jatne tuur ash'ad kyr'amur! So let's kill these shabuire! Tra'cyar mav! Oya manda!" bellowed Shuklaar over the comms as he fired his FL-01 at the Bryn'adul in front him. a chorus of adrenaline fueled, stim addled, 'oya!' answered him back. By his side, Jare'la sprayed fire with his PPC-01, his tacked-on combat subroutines informing him that engaging an enemy so large in number in close quarters was non sequitur. Just when it seemed that the rammikade were fighting on their own, the mechanized infantry arrived.
The sixteen IFVs with them opened fire on the Bryn'adul horde. Twenty HRR-02 heavy repeating rippers sent streams of AP-HE rounds at the Bryn'adul infantry. Thirty two Gtasada-class incendiary plasma rockets detonated amongst portions of the Bryn'adul horde of infantry that weren't quite locked in close quarters with friendly forces. Sixteen Tbarsr-class guided baradium cluster missiles unleashed a veritable hailstorm of guided submunitions that landed amongst the Bryn'adul infantry. The remaining four IFVs took to sending precision shots at the Bryn'adul's living tanks, the Brumaks and Rhivaks, each tank letting off a quartet of shots with their twin RCDC-01 repeating class-D disruptor cannons.
The infantry didn't engage yet, instead moving up slowly but surely behind the IFV's to avoid much of the incoming fire that was sure to be directed their way. Unfortunately for the Bryn'adul, their hell wasn't quite over yet. The sound of engines was the only thing that heralded the arrival of about fifty six craft; eight Jai'galaar fighter bombers, sixteen Kyr'galaar multi-role fighters, sixteen Gar Oya'karir multi-role droids fighters and sixteen Busayr-class Heavy Assault Transports. That was right before they opened fire.
A total of three hundred and thirty six RHM-04 repeating heavy mass-driver cannons sent accurate streams of HEIAP rounds at anything left still standing, avoiding friendly casualties because of the firing matrix created by the Manda tactical battlenet modules linking them and the infantry. The Brumaks and Rhivaks got a nasty taste of eight RSM-01 repeating super-heavy mass-driver cannons firing HEIAP rounds meant to engage heavily armored capital ships.
Eighty eight Tbarsr-class guided baradium cluster missiles streaked out towards the enemy, splitting into many submunitions and seeking out targets among the horde. Ninety six Getna-class anti-armor brilliant missiles closed the gap between launch platform and Rhivak/Brumak targets on the ground. Shuklaar let out a short murderous cackle as the destruction unfolded all around him. He didn't know if it was because he wasn't getting any younger, and the stims and his implant were finally getting to him, or if it was because in all his life, he'd never hated an enemy so, and never wanted them to die so much.
Pain rung through every cell of the Primarch, but not for the debilitating toxin. Something in his mind, in the crux of his power in the force brought a sudden flash of nuclear proportions to the forefront of his mind. Perhaps the Seer had felt this as well, it seemed the ship that had been bombarding them was preparing for something more. He could feel it, smell it. The oscillations of energy compiling in the distance layering over one and other in incredible fashion for incredibly destructive power not too unlike their sentinel beams. He felt the Chieftain was in danger, he felt his heart break. Trauma stricken, but determined the Primarch held on to his faculties.
His attention was torn away from the Servitors underground; commanding them to return, their progress slowed slightly as the Primarch's attention was drawn to the Siege Tower opposite their own, the large beast wielding round into their own and taking him from his already wobbled feet. The Primarch lurched low, pulling himself toward the Command Centre.
Blood trickled from the Shamans mouth as he found his mind making... words hard. "What... what is happening??" The Primarch slurred, he could feel those infected outside, their mutated and layered genetic composition tearing them apart as the xenophage wreaked havoc inside. He had limited time it seemed; but his life-draining powers and the slow of his secondary heart seemed to be giving him more time.
"The Siege Tower seems to have lost control of its secondary function modules, and several of our guards in the area. haven't reported in." The Primarch sneered; blood trickling from his nose and eyes; quickly wiped away. The Primarch opened communications with the boarded Siege Tower, they luckily still had full control of the command centre. "You can control everything from the primary module in the command centre. Cut it off, now!"
The hail was met with a series of confirmations and excuses. Whilst the secondary module was no doubt now under foreign control, they could still fight back. The secondary function modules deeper within the beast were disconnected entirely from the controls of the Siege Tower. However it also lost them a percentage of the beasts operating capacity, now only able to use either sets of weaponry rather than the other.
But still, that feeling of dread remaining. The Humans fought off the Draeyde in some areas, but that wasn't it either. The battle on the ground worked in their favour; this was not a matter that could be dealt with by sword and might but by the vessels above.
The Primarch returned to the top, staggering as he did as he took command once more of the Servitors beneath the surface; instead now they were close enough to deal with the mechanical threat posed to them. From underneath the ground, massive swaths of land held by the Tank Batallion would cease to exist, eaten and collapsing beneath the armed tank battalion holding over grid section C-7.
He gripped the snatch grip, his forearm tightening as he ran to the defensive lines. The Rangers poured in behind him, some great number of them still, into the lines, inter-mixing with the TDW troops. Mercenaries were mostly assholes, but these gents were alright. Tulan took position, pushing the bipod of his machine gun outwards, and charging it once more.
The blaster charged to life, a fresh charge set into it.
And ahead of him-
Targets.
The fields of dead served as evidence of their passing. They made it easy, for a machine gunner.
And they fell in droves, while Tulan was dropping fat bursts into the advancing, idiotic, useless hordes. They wanted to throw their lives away? Fine by him. He had enough ammo left for most of them. But a transport over his idea, and the failing shield generator- sparked the tactician in him to life. He grabbed a TDW mercenary, hoisting him onto the machine gun, picking up his RS16 again.
"Where's your commander!" He screamed at the mercenary, who pointed him in the direction of one Sergei whatshisname, didn't catch that last part.
He sprinted over to him, popping shots at targets of opportunity at the same time, crossing the distance. Gunnery Sergeant Kor in the flesh, he wanted to say. He grabbed Jack by the arm, pointing to the transports.
"If we can make our way to those transports, we can ditch this place and get to the city! We need to cut their attack in half at the city! This place is screwed, we need to get our boys outta here!"
The transports landing to the west were a fast-ticket out of there. They just needed to get there- and Tulan and the Rangers couldn't do it alone.
The enemy was relentless. Even as the cliff face toppled the Obalisc's continued to fire. Their aim was errstic and not the best, but when they did hit their beams splashed against shields. The advsntage the Sensenmann had over their opponents was the shielding system, as the Obalisc's only had their own skin to protect them. Plus the Sensenmann had self-healing laminanium armor to ack it up, much like all of the Eshan Industrial droids did. They were war droids of the finest make and ability. Skimping was just not something thst EIC did.
The Sensenmann continued to fire their heavy megamasers on the Obalisc's and the cliff face around them. Keeping the enemy unstable would make it all the easier for them to miss their shots. A round of carbonite missiles was launched next. These would be better against the leaving beings than fhe previously fired torpedoes. A versatile loadout was always preferred when deploying a Sensenmann to the battlefield. They wre quite well equipped for anything.
Meanwhile, on the front lines, the Bryn forces were thinking they had an easy time of things as some of them ganged up on her Hunter droids. Unfortunately for them, the Hunters coukd adapt swiftly, and began to work in packs to pick off targets of higher value, leaving the drones to the equally deadly EMBU units so they could focus on the larger threats of the main forces. Bryn Hunters were designed to match the strength of their foe. Add in their weapon loadout and their self-healing armor and they were quite robust.
These droids, in packs, would shred Baedurin soldiers with combination attacks from their flame and cryoban projectors, which were in turn followed up on with strikes from the large and powerful Soothsayers. The Baedurin unfortunate enough to get near to the Hunter's would be slaughtered forthwith, as the droids taunted them in their own language. The few that were ganged up on in early battles would sctivate their self-destruct which, coupled with the output of their arc reactor, would blow up entire swaths of enemy forces, especially the ones that downed them.
The five Moonwrought, having deployed their forces, also entered the fray. Each of them was a lightside oriented master of the Force, hand-picked for the fight by Niamh because she needes the strongest of the strong with her. They had all tapped into the battle meditation provided by Elise and Coren Starchaser
and were using it to coordinate their attacks with one another. The five man squad, equipped with Moonwroughr armor and brands, were working in unison to lay waste to the Bryn forces that drew near to them, and coordinated the Monsterjager droid known as Gamma.
It was in this way that when the last Servitor began to assault the front lines, Gamma was ready for it. Its critical mistake was in drawing near to the surface to attack the ground forces. An armsaw blade delved into the ground just as the worm assaulted some of the living forces near the perimeter. It would strike the worm as it attempted to strike its foes, and at the same time blast away with the neural scrambler, flooding the worms mind in an attempt to knock it unconscious. It was a powerful weapon and the droids were designed to fight powerful beasts.
Kahne glanced towards Abai as she said the words back. Words that were repeated for a very long time. Which to some would seem like a overused throughout the galaxy but to some they held much merit. The landing was about to happen and Kahne could already feel the effects of the battle as emotions of many were running high throughout the area. Death was evident here, and as his Jedi companion cleared the way of dust and sand that overshadowed them to present them with a cleared picture of things around them.
The Jedi touched the ground and within a few moments he could feel and enlightened mood. Things were going to be okay, regardless of what happened. They were here and they would hold out until the very last. Kahne had felt the effects of battle meditation before and here it seemed stronger and more potent than ever. There was incoming volleys of fire that made his way towards them, Kahne raised his hands and he raised a force barrier to shield those around him from the onslaught until they got into better position to return fire which they did so with much fury and equal if not stronger will than their foes.
The bombardment lasted a few seconds as Kahne lowered the barrier and Jedi and allies alike carefully moved forward. Kahne in turn moved foward, calling on the force to aid him in this fight.
Nimue ignored the Jedi. There was no time to fight between themselves, not when the ever dominating presence of the Brynadul grew closer and closer by the minute. The seer they were fighting impressed upon them all the things that Nimue thrived on. Fear and weakness. Only his version was a poor imitation of the ones Nimue utilized daily. It was almost laughable, a pathetic attempt to frighten what could not be frightened. Nimue shrugged off easily, like brushing away dead leaves from the front of a door, before it could even begin to think about taking root in anyone on the ship.
She was a little proud of Aurelion when he reached out to speak back to the seer, with a tone just as firm as Nimue often was when she was chastising him. He had come a long way from the shivering, awkward boy she had first met on Dathomir. However, what happened next was what Nimue least expected. Aurelion’s battle meditation coursing through the battlefield with voices that were as familiar to her as her own. A crack of a smile formed on her face as she listened to the ancient words that had been used for millennia, to bring comfort and power to the Silma. She could not say for certain if it would do the same for the Jedi as it had done for her sisters all those years ago, but it was helpful nonetheless.
The difference between light and dark was never more evident than when Aurelion made a firm promise not to let either of his masters down. Juno responded with encouraging, coaxing words. Nimue on the other hand… “You had better not.” Clearing her throat some, she began to translate the words of the omnivident as it poured from the meditation. “Yhdessä olemme yksi. Together, we are one. Yksi mieli. One mind. Yksi ruumis. One body. Yksi sielu. One soul. Yksi vioma. One power.” It was chanted, again and again, like a matra aiming to bolster everyone who allowed the words to slip into their minds. It would be enough for now, but not enough to last.
“You are wrong.” Nimue spoke aloud again, though her voice was deeply impressed on Seer Kalanthir
. An ancient voice containing power that the young cockroach could only dream of. “He is not my weakness…” Their joined forces, along with the others that helped to support them, crashed across the battlefield. Wave after wave of pure, unrelenting golden light. “He is my strength.” The light pushed against the wall of ebony raised by the Seer, like a rancor running head first into a tower of loosely stacked plates, but it wouldn’t be enough. Not by half. Maybe enough to keep him at bay, but not enough to shatter the defenses.
Nimue cast a side glance at Juno. She knew. She knew that this would not be enough. Two Masters and a padawan alone could not even hope to defeat this, especially not now that their third Master had slipped away to see to other matters. For probably the first time, a sith and a jedi actually agreed on something. Neither were fools. Both were aware that they would need help. That the people fighting these forces on the ground would need more than a battle meditation to win.
So, against her better judgement, Nimue reached out to the battlefield, finding herself in a swirling storm of lightside force that aimed to attack the siege tower. She could feel the impressively strong warmth projected by Elise, wave after wave of burning heat attacking the metal struts that kept it up. Deciding to help, Nimue added her own dark mastery to the mix, to double down on her attempt. Her power came in the form of an ethereal force only noticeable to those who were paying attention. It wrapped itself around where Elsie did, causing the metal struts to bubble and pop aggressively as the heat began to melt them. The structure wobbled dangerously, left and right as the rivets popped free of their place. One by one. To accompany her aid, and to ensure that the jedi was not surprised by her attempts, Nimue’s ethereal voice floated into her mind.
Taking place behind cover as the Servitor began to go wild, Isaiah smirked. The New Jedi Order had been right to turn to alternative forms of weaponry to battle the Brynadul, shame many others had yet to adapt to such things. A violent hiss cut through the air as the rifle shot out vapor signaling an empty ammunition cartridge.
With practiced precision, the warrior ejected one cartridge before quickly slamming another one home. The Mandalorian never need take his eyes off the fight happening with the Servitor. To say it was foolhardy for a man to ride such a beast would be an understatement, but if it worked who was Isaiah to judge? To be missing half its head the creature still put up a relentless fight, the rider upon its back hanging on for dear life and shoving grenades into the things skull.
Lost in the fight Isaiah almost didn’t notice the figure that had moved alongside him. Hand shooting towards his sidearm, the Mandalorian caught himself. Dark visor turning to eye the Jedi, Isaiah removed his hand from the pistol on his hip. “It's nothing special, just something overlooked. The Jedi of the Galactic Alliance came up with the idea when first creating plans to fight the Brynadul.”
Glancing once more to the Servitor, Isaiah realized that the creature was not much longer for this world. “Edest is being overrun as we waste our time speaking. Drop pods spewing out creatures, and ships lowering.”
Remembering the crestfallen expression of his friend. Isaiah’s purpose on the planet wasn’t to simply fight and kill but ensure as many survivors as he could. Lowering the rifle Isaiah stood looking back to Edest where he’d come from. “The main objective is to ensure that we evacuate the civilians.”
Location: Back line of E7
Peeps: Specifically there to support Ryv
and Beltran Rarr
in their duel against Tathra Khaeus
, but also buffing all receptive jedi and addressing them through the force.
With that final command, the Priest gave himself away to the Shadows he commanded, allowing them to raise him up and empower him, his eyes turning themselves back as shadows given form began to roll off his body, filling the room and empowering the Ashakian Acolytes, increasing the strength of their Battle Meditation to meet that of the Softskin Jedi.
Enlil began to pool his thoughts, expand his consciousness, and open his mind to the world around him. It was like taking in a deep breath, filling his lungs with fresh, clean air, but his whole body felt relief. The soothing sensation spread fast and to every corner of his being, and with it came a sensation almost like pins and needles. Acute awareness.
"Someone give me something I can use," he murmured as the effects of Battle Meditation began to strike against the awareness he'd opened, and suddenly, many thoughts and emotions became available to him.
All of these warm emotions, all of them centered in goodness... he sorted through them for what he needed and drew upon it.
Coordination.
"Have you found a solution?" he asked calmly. It would not do to add conflicting emotion to their spiral of collective consciousness.
To say he wanted to get back into the war was definitely a loaded statement. Coren knew that he had to be on the war front at times. He was the Sword, he was the tip of the spear, who would drive back the dark side. And he knew more about fighting the Sith than most in this galaxy. It didn’t mean that he was the best, but it meant one of the most vocal. He helped rally an entire alliance of people behind him at one point, and now, with his return? He was hoping to take it easier, be there to defend, and pass on his lessons to the greater galaxy.
Hell, even today, he was at the hospital on Commenor with Celeste Rigel. There to witness the birth of his daughters. But even through that, he could feel the calls in the Force, from Kaia, and to a lesser extent as a call, from Kyra. It had been a few hours but now Celeste and the twins were asleep. Maybe it was luck, but more likely, it was the Force. As more reports were coming in, he heard Silver Command moving to rally part of the defense fleet. Writing a note for Celeste and the girls was one thing he could do, and he gave Celeste a kiss while she slept before taking his swoop bike to the temple.
His Y-Wing was there, and he ensured that it was fueled and ready. As he rode through the streets to the Temple, he ensured Porter was loaded up. It didn’t take him long to load himself up, flight helmet and his spacer gear, and his grav chute was all he needed. Finding his ship lifting off, it wasn’t long before he joined the wing of Jedi fighters and shuttles. Checking in with the Wing, he let them know who he was as they all leapt into hyperspace.
Grabbing hold of the battle meditation, he was reaching to the other Jedi, for their strength and to add his own to the cycle, he wasn’t sure if Caedyn Arenais had gotten to this part of the his father’s Holocron but after a count, Coren tossed himself from the seat of his fighter and when the Y-Wing was clear, he reached into the Force, into that battle meditation, and pulling strength and adding his own, the aura around Coren lit with the glow of the Ashla itself as he hurtled towards the Force users, and could feel Enlil
questioning what to do next. Those within the Light Side would feel what the Jedi Masters were capable of as he found an area of Bryn. Focusing his attention he moved himself to the area activating the gravchute enough to prevent himself from splattering all over the ground, he launched a blast of the Light he was holding and a stunning blast outward, blasting Bryn back and ripping the drones while staggering some of the Brutes as he activated his lightsaber, golden light from the weapon radiating out as the sounds of additional Y-Wings flew overhead.
He didn’t even speak, but his aura said two things, to his allies ‘The Jedi are united and nothing can push us back…’
Aw, man. And she was going to have to ask her for help, too? Today sucks. Juno reached out, connecting to Elise telepathically. Yo. Having fun down there?She couldn’t resist trying to be at least a little irritating even in a moment like this. Still, she rolled her eyes and quickly switched to a serious tone. She was never one to be oblivious to the stakes.It’s Juno.My padawan and I are working with some of the others in the fleet on a Battle Meditation of our own. Thing is... I'm not much help up here right now. This Battle Meditation stuff, I've never really known how to...ugh, here it comes,...Look, you were always pretty good at this, and if you can lend anything to me, I need as much help as you can give. A-And I bet you need mine, too! Nice save. But if they could share their energy together, draw on one another, they might both benefit from this. As much as Juno at times found Elise to be a bit irritating herself, at the end of the day, they were both Jedi Masters. And Knights and Padawans together before that. They butted heads, but in a weird, roundabout way, they were friends. Juno sighed, and it was almost like the smirk creeping across her face could be sensed through their telepathy. So, what say we give 'em hell? Together.
If you’re going to do something, do it now, do it big!He called out in the Force. Throwing his hand out, a brilliant white light, not destructive nor life giving just bright, like magnesium burning, in a blast outward towards where the shots were coming from.
While his Padawan fell victim to the influence of the Bryn'adûl Ashaka warriors, it was another presence in the Force that found Caedyn Arenais from elsewhere amidst the battle for Yurb. 'Elise...' he gave the presence her name, spoken without words but across the telepathic connection in her battle-meditation, 'I hear you. Stay strong, Master'. It was all that he would say, to acknowledge and to remind her that Caedyn was with her and all of the other Jedi laying down their lives for the people of Yurb.
So, against her better judgement, Nimue reached out to the battlefield, finding herself in a swirling storm of lightside force that aimed to attack the siege tower. She could feel the impressively strong warmth projected by Elise, wave after wave of burning heat attacking the metal struts that kept it up. Deciding to help, Nimue added her own dark mastery to the mix, to double down on her attempt. Her power came in the form of an ethereal force only noticeable to those who were paying attention. It wrapped itself around where Elsie did, causing the metal struts to bubble and pop aggressively as the heat began to melt them. The structure wobbled dangerously, left and right as the rivets popped free of their place. One by one. To accompany her aid, and to ensure that the jedi was not surprised by her attempts, Nimue’s ethereal voice floated into her mind.
The front lines clashed. Elise stretched her battle meditation further, a breath in and out helping her sink deeper into the force. Their men held strong against the Bryn that charged for them, bolstered and strengthened by their cause as they worked together. You see the thing about war is... when you have something to lose, frailties slip away. The impossible becomes possible. Humans pull off miraculous feats.
Elise's battle meditation rippled throughout the cityscape, warm pricks of light appearing on the horizon of her mind as the jedi around tapped in. Thoughts bubbled to her, the experience of many shedding light to a situation they had been fighting blind in. They were overwhelmed. Numerically, the front line would soon fold. But the Silver Jedi were not the sword, they were the shield. The Master took another breath in, turning her attention inwards towards her people. The solution was not to hit back harder. It was to hit back smarter.
She let their calls throughout the force fill her, seeking to see the bigger picture.
"Someone give me something I can use,"
Elise....
I need as much help as you can give. A-And I bet you need mine, too!
"Have you found a solution?"
They will fall.
‘This is OUR world.’
'I hear you. Stay strong, Master'.
If you’re going to do something, do it now, do it big!
So, what say we give 'em hell? Together.
Elise seized up as Nimue
's presence reached her, the flow of energy wrapping around her efforts... and bolstering her. The once slow task was completed in a moment, the two practitioners disabling the siege tower in one fluid motion. Their energies danced together-- dark and light, forming one neutral force.
Stronger... together.
Her eyes snapped open, skimming the battle field she stood before. The desert sand stretched as far as the eye could see, ever shifting under the feet that churned across it. The idea came to her-- her heart breaking into a rapid beat of hope.
Masters, she implored, her voice echoing throughout the battle meditation countless others had tapped into. Lend me your strength.
The Bryn’adul assault had descended on Yurb, and the din of the brutal front line battle breaching even the noise of the beast ravaging the city. With each passing second, the ground trembled in aggravation, at times making balance seem like a conscious effort. Battle meditation from both forces permeated her senses, giving way to the odd sensation of an icy fist clutching her heart and fire in her veins. It was neither entirely pleasant nor was it wholly repulsive.
Allied ships screamed above them on their way to the front lines, the familiarity of a strong presence not only noticeable to her. “Dad?” Nida repeated, and her voice would have sounded incredulous if she weren’t distracted by the war at hand.
The small group of Jedi had a rare reprieve to themselves in the besieged city, soaking up the presence and spiritual enhancements of those who’d come to join them in their fight. It seemed to be the boost they needed to solidify their resolve. She nodded knowingly to Master Arenais, fearing what would happen as they ventured toward the bunker and eventual spaceport. Amani Serys
came through the comms to indicate that their team had received the droids, and were sending them back with civilians in need of protection. Nida’s gut twisted, wondering what thing needed to be distracted. “Thank you—and please, be careful!”
Fortunately they had covered a decent amount of ground, with the bunker being close by. As predicted, the home stretch involved being assailed by numerous draedye, protected from the light by a coating of darkness and invigorated by the shamans. While fighting their way through, Nida noticed one of the beasts heading for Kyra, and the fire in her veins sent her surging towards the enemy creature without much thought.
“Kyra!” She called out to her sister, yellow blade angled back as she pushed herself to gain ground on the creature, Force inspiring her to reach the assailant before it reached Kyra. As Nida closed the gap, the draedye seemed to notice her as being the closer target, and swooped sharply back towards the elder Zeltron with a sudden swiftness that she could neither predict nor dodge. The beast’s sharp talon swung hard into her right eye, burying itself into the eyeball and ripping into the socket. Completing it’s turn upward, the draedye lifted into the air and prepared to strike at Nida again, as the Zeltron howled in pain. Her light saber clattered awkwardly to the ground and both hands clasped over her right eye, blood seeping aggressively from between her fingers and down her hands.
What kept her standing through the pain and fear that she’d lost her sight was the sudden presence of Elise, as if the Master were standing next to her. She was not there, of course, but the battle meditation she provided gave Nida the strength and comfort to slow her breathing and work herself away from a panic attack.
“Please,” She whispered back, not to anyone in particular. Perhaps, if she were lucky, her voice would reach the others, far and wide. “Let us save these people.”
Enlil
, Elise,
P
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Osam
