Star Wars New Sith Trials III: The War of Three

IC: Darth Kronos

Their situation was chaos.

A word he was using more and more often to describe his life.

Everything had gone so poorly so quickly. And, of course, he was left to make the tough decisions as everything around him crumbled.

Before it all turned into disaster, he had allowed Draconis to comandeer the shuttle. Kronos was too tired and injured to do so, and he felt Draconis was a better fit for the role. More balanced. More level-headed. The Heskal mission had ended up in disaster as well, and Kronos would have rather not face the large consequences of failing his mission. Somehow, he knew, Bellorum was not nearly as forgiving as Insipid was. Best to leave the harder decisions to Draconis, he thought.

Before, a nurse had appeared to numb his wound with a bacta patch. It worked wonders, but he knew he would need much more treatment than that. "Thanks," he mustered. Subtle similarities of Esmerelda were emerging, and he was trying to ignore them.

Then everything went to hell.

Upon landing in the Atonement frigate, he and the others were greeted by a battleground. Several factions of soldiers had already faced three other Sith, and the troops that had accompanied them emerged from the shuttle. An officer confronted them, ordering the capture of Draconis and Serapis "in the name of the Twilight Sun." Soldiers with oversized blasters soon followed and began firing upon them. They packed a large punch, and the mere sight of them was enough to send many of Draconis's soldiers back into the shuttle. The nurse-soldier was there, next to him, asking for his orders. There was a clear tremble in her voice. Just as much as there would be in his if he would allow himself to show it. He spoke to not only her but the rest of his soldiers as well. "Get Draconis and Serapis out of here. They are our priority. Capture any opposition you can, but kill it you have to."

Kronos walked out of the shuttle, lightsaber in hand, and prepared to join the fight.

TAG: @Sinrebirth @dragonsith13 @DarthIshyZ ,

-----

IC: Mallace

More enemies arrived. A sudden shuttle entered the hangar, and multiple soldiers emerged. From a security station covered in fire, an officer made himself seen. The prisoners, the ones Insipid had highly coveted, were here.

Men with large blasters fired upon the new shuttle, and half of their troops went back inside. Slightly amusing.

Six men wielding nothing but blasters were sent after her. Absently noticing Saadi taking on an equal amount of opponents, though they had makeshift lightsabers, and Cocytus was no where to be found, she engaged her enemies. It was a simple take down. The first few moments were spent deflecting their desperate blasts. The next were spent ducking, dodging, and rolling out of the way, all the while swinging her blade at their legs to cripple them. Those who were crippled were impaled the moment their bodies touched the floor. But a few were crippled in a different way. Mallace cut at their weapons first before slicing at their chests or necks. With them dead, she turned her attention to the final man standing. He had decided to run. So, he was clearly the smartest out of them all. But running only delayed the inevitable. Using a Force-aided leap, she jumped in front of the soldier and swung in a diagonal motion across his chest, killing him instantly. All of the six soldiers sent after her died in less than twenty seconds.

Heavy breathing followed. As it always did.

Another person teeming with power, aggression, and frustration, albeit wounded, emerged from the shuttle. His lightsaber was in hand, and Mallace swore she recognized him from somewhere...

Regardless, she knew this fight was not close to being finished.

More distractions.

TAG: Sinrebirth @Dagobahsystem

 

Fun lil' combo with Lady Belligerent!

IC: Hel & Syren
The Arae, above Nirauan

“Is it just the two of us? What’s the mission?”

Syren paused in her motions, looking up from her bag and scrutinized Hel once more. As she looked her over, she pondered the questions presented and only briefly considered keeping details from the young woman – young child, really. However, being Haretisch’s daughter, neglecting to disclose exactly what they would both be getting into would most likely backfire in some horrid way, so the assassin took a breath and told the truth. The simple truth, anyways.

“The mission is to keep watch on our Prime Minister and to ensure his negotiations with the council go smoothly. If they do not, it is my...” Syren paused, clenching her jaw as she forced herself to adjust her view on the forthcoming assignment. “It will be our job to step in and… keep him safe.”

She kept her face impassive and her emotions guarded for good reason, watching Hel for a reaction. “Just the two of us.” She furrowed her brow in concern then, choosing not to bite her tongue from the bitterness that lingered there at having her fellow Sith tag along. “Unless the Lord Imperator decides to add someone else to the crew.”

Hel mentally cringed at Syren’s response, ’someone has a killik up her backside.’ She’d dealt with people who treated her like a child before, so this was no different than any other mission. “So, I’m a babysitter, or I am being babysat?” Hel asked in a nonchalant tone. “Because I’d like it known up front that I don’t need babysitting, I’m perfectly capable of guarding the Prime Minister myself.”

Syren smiled at Hel’s assertions though it wasn’t meant to be a kind one. Behind the expression was well-disguised displeasure and increasing unease at the very mention of Aryan being under the protection of an inexperienced little girl. To keep a sneer from curling up the side of her lips, she returned to fastening her satchel and preparing to leave.

“No one is as capable as I am to keep him out of harm’s way, and I certainly do not plan on distracting myself from that duty by playing babysitter,” she stated confidently and without any vocal inclinations one way or the other. “I was assured you would be an asset to this mission, not a detriment.”

Hel turned away and rolled her eyes out of Syren’s sight, she pulled over a chair from a side table and sat down. She’d anticipated that the more senior Sith would be in charge, but her father never specified. He knew she was capable, he’d placed her in charge of the Revelator...before it was blown to pieces. But, if she hadn’t been on the Luxury Elite he may not have survived the battle there.

She sighed and watched Syren’s packing.

“That’s quite a lot of weaponry,” Hel commented. She didn’t like that the woman was peeved that she was there, but she could try and get along. “Most of these negotiation things are boring, unless there have been threats?”

“We’re Sith. There are always threats,” Syren responded, her fingers brushing the vibroblade holstered to her thigh and then the onyx saber hilts on either hip. These weapons were as much a part of her as her own body and should the need arise, she would utilize them the only way she knew how – to cut down anything that dared to threaten her life. Aryan was a part of her life now, a very important part and she would make damn sure he was protected.

Positive she was ready, she picked up her bag and threw it over a shoulder, moving towards the suite door as she did so. Looking back at Hel, she briefly wondered if the girl would understand her personal feelings on this mission. She could never know the truth of course, but there was a spark of curiosity there for her companion, one she pushed aside for the time being.

“We need to get going,” Syren instructed. “We can discuss specifics on our way to the surface.” At that, she turned to make her way to the hangar, expecting Hel to be on her heels.

TAGS: @Lady Belligerent @Darth_wanderguard

 

IC: Darth Francium
Attacking the Breach

Francium was caught somewhat off guard when one of the men rushed him so fearlessly. Falling into a stance, he spun to his right, away from the low combat knife. He brought his shoto saber around himself, deflecting the blade aimed at his shoulder and jarring the arm of his combatant. He followed his spin by putting his elbow into the back of his opponenent as the man fell past him, knocking him to the ground.

Francium had grown up on the streets, and his close combat and defense skills were second to none where he was raised. He had used this very maneuver as many as a thousand times before, albeit not with such dangerous weapons as those he now held.

His favorite part of the maneuver, however, was that it put one opponent behind him, and another to the front. Most opponents, and likely the two he faced currently, saw this as a disadvantage for the Sith, but he relished the fact that it put his opposition on opposite sides, so that they had less of an opportunity to assist one another if one made a mistake.

He shifted his stance into a more sideways form, making his body a smaller object to hit while putting a blade on either side of him toward each of the officers. He dipped his mind into the force, allowing him to see both before and behind him equally, so that he could more easily defend himself and not be taken by surprise.

He grinned at the two men. “I respect your courage, and that respect has caused you to momentarily fall into my good graces,” he spouted. “I will give you just one chance to surrender your allegiance to me, and if you choose to remain loyal to Hades, I will be forced to put you both through a pain and torture so unimaginable that you will have wished you never become a soldier. It will be worse than death.” He chuckled, and spun his saber once to show how at ease he was. He waited for their response.

Tag: @E. L.Knight @Darth_wanderguard

 

IC: Leda
Shuttle, Deward’s Palace, New Moraband

Leda swiftly studied the speeders in the cargo hold with Astra close by, but Alana’s whereabouts were unclear. Oh well, she thought, more concerned with getting to the castle grounds in one piece. She could feel the disrupted earth beneath them shift and turn unnaturally, the ancient ship groaning with strain under the increasing pressure. The young Sith glanced down the open ramp to see the green-coated ground ripple with movement like a churning sea, small waves cascading out and away from their position. It was the damned moss she had read about before the trip, malicious tentacles of vines already working to dismantle the shuttle from the moment they had landed.

“Alright,” she began under her breath, sensing the urgency of danger in the Force. She was already strapping her satchel to the back of one bike, hopping aboard and starting it up. Continuing, she spoke in a louder, more commanding tone. “We need to remain moving until we reach our destination. And be sure not to touch anything…”

Right as that last word passed over Leda’s lips, her yellow-green eyes landed on Alana at last, though what she saw caused a string of violent curses to tumble forth over the din of the speeder engine and the somehow noisy motions of the moss. The self-proclaimed thief had exited the shuttle on foot and walked directly into the threat as if she were on a kriffing midday stroll through a park. How she managed to steal anything was beyond the warrior, as the girl had all the subtlety of the massive rancors that called this swamp home.

Even before she could react, the moss had already ensnared Alana’s boots and was steadily creeping up the staff she had been holding. Leda was more than half tempted to allow it to continue and simply move along with Astra, but she couldn’t be sure if that would only make her look bad to the Empress, which wasn’t a notion she even dared to entertain. Unseating herself from the idling speeder in a huff, she unsheathed her short sword from the holster upon her back and tried to rein in her anger as she marched down the ramp towards the girl. What better time to get in some practice with her new toy than now?

“A little tied up, are we?” she teased as she came to a halt near the bottom, but without an ounce of mirth in her voice. “Moving will only make things… tighter. So do try and stay still until you’re free? Then get on a fragging speeder and leave anything green alone.” There was obvious restraint to Leda’s words, wanting to say much more but knowing there wasn’t time.

Harnessing the Force, she reached out with her free hand and attempted to gently pull at the winding vines that continued to work their way up Alana’s legs. She was prepared to simply cut and severe the plants altogether but thought it best not to lead off with such a violent maneuver. While her research of the area had been quite thorough, she was aware she didn’t know everything.

TAGS: @WookieeRage @SkywalkerShine @Lady Belligerent

 

IC: Alana Geyser
Shuttle, Deward’s Palace, New Moraband

The moss underneath her began to slowly work its way up around Alana's brown boots. The young thief was completely unaware of this sneaky act as she stood there and observed her surroundings. All of a sudden, while feeling pressure around her ankles, the blonde woman glanced down and gasped. The green, mushy moss was alive! There was no way that plants like these could be alive. Sure, plants were living organisms but not this living!

Alana growled in frustration and attempted to raise her staff to whack the moss, but to no avail. She glanced down at her staff, noticing that she couldn't lift it all the way.

The reason? The moss grabbed the bottom part of the staff! It was as if the moss prevented her from using the weapon against it. This seemed like the end for the trapped Human girl. What could she do? Then, she thought about her crew. It was either die by the "hands" of the moss and be swallowed alive, or call on the Sith lady and the spice woman to save her. Alana had no other choice but to call for help.

Struggling against the strong moss, the young woman called for help in desperation. Her expression was full of worry as she breathed heavily. "HELP!!! Someone help!!" Alana shouted. All of a sudden, the woman named Leda came to her rescue. However, being a Sith, she didn't look all too pleased about it.

“A little tied up, are we?” she teased as she came to a halt near the bottom, but without an ounce of mirth in her voice. “Moving will only make things… tighter. So do try and stay still until you’re free? Then get on a fragging speeder and leave anything green alone.”

Even though Alana was stubborn at times, she had to listen to Leda... for her safety. She stood still while the young Sith woman worked her magic. Literally. She used this mumbo jumbo trick to carefully untie the moss from spreading on her legs.

She heard of this trick. It was called The Force. Twen told her about it, seeing that he heard good things about the Jedi. Alana did as well when she was an imaginative little girl. However, as a grown woman, she didn't think the Force was all that real because she never saw it up close. It was only a fairytale. But now that she witnessed someone perform it, Alana was truly amazed. Maybe she could learn this trick to her own advantage and make a better living in the thief business.

After the moss was removed from her feet and staff, the thief ran beside Leda in a hurry. Standing there on the ramp, Alana smiled up at her. "Thank you. And... I'm sorry for leaving the group like that." Then she asked the ultimate question:

"Could you... teach me how to do that?"

TAG: @QueenSabe7 @WookieeRage @Lady Belligerent

 

Draconis
Prison ship ~ Hangar Skirmish

A barrage of blaster fire opened on them from a nearby security booth within the hanger, after an over-zealous Officer had made it his mission to capture them. The dozen soldiers rushing back up the ramp at Serapis and Draconis were inexplicably caught in the barrage of heavy blaster fire directed originally it seemed at the two Sith. Thus, the six soldiers that had initially moved in on him, were not able to even raise their blasters entirely before being hit blaster fire as they near the top of the ramp.

The next proclamation, from Lord Kronos with ignited lightsaber in hand as he emerged from the shuttle, for the shuttle’s soldiers to renew their efforts to capture Draconis and Serapis must have felt like whiplash. Equally and all the more confusing was the fact that they were being fired upon by seemingly their own troops. Weren’t all these soldiers on the same side to begin with? For a moment Draconis looked on the scene with a sort of smug hilarity hinting at the side of his lips.

Lord Kronos had ignited his blade, ready for a fight. But with who? Draconis step back slightly and to the side as if on cue to allow several anticipated blaster bolts to cut down some of the soldiers next to him, originally charged with confronting him. The confusion in the air was evident, and Draconis further fed it. A wave of confusion was cast over any of the remaining soldiers who had survived the initial firing squad from their own troops. Drawing their minds further into a state of fog. Directing it right back at the female Hapan mercenaries and their Officer, identifying them as threats to the already confused and disoriented Kronos directed shuttle soldiers.

Draconis continued to waltz around blaster fire, in between the soldiers directed at both Serapis and him. Clearly Serapis’ prowess in dealing with the situation was truly inspiring and giving them a decided advantage. All the while Draconis’ weaving in and out of the his would be captors, further added to the confused and mixed lines of sight and targets between the Hapans and the soldiers. They would gun each other down in a matter of moments if it continued.

Draconis stopped at the side of a female soldier, a medic. She would not likely even realize he was creepily there using her as a human shield. An unignited lightsaber drawn and a moment from being ignited into an arc that would relieve her of her head.

@Sinrebirth
@Darth Kronos
@Dagobahsystem
@DarthIshyZ






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IC: Astra
Planetside, Deward's palace...

The girl gathered her wits as she exited the ramp. She was wearing a tight neoprene suit and had a machete strewn across her back. A marksman blaster of the DL variant was holstered to her shoulder. She also had a bandolier of grenades wrapped around her frame; the underbarrel launcher was a primitive necessity of her military training.

Her mind was clouded as everything around her was entangled. She remained untouched as she guided herself to the speeder. She didn't pay any mind to her companions as she stroked the chassis of her own first vehicle. Ravenous would've tortured her for having such a thing..

She straddled the bike as Alana got tied up and took off on the speeder. Astra flew up to Leda and Alana and tossed a small bag of spice to the ground before them.

Ready to party?

She took off into the dense jungle towards the castle.

Tag: @QueenSabe7 @SkywalkerShine @Lady Belligerent

 

GM UPDATE

IC: Antwon Ruusel - Nirauan, Empire Hotel

“Maybe,” Ruusel looked to the window and exhaled. “The tax situation here is the worst kept secret in the unknown regions, but still not household knowledge outside of the system. You can blame the Red-controlled media for that.” He sat back, scratching at the back of his neck with one hand - a tell that he was in deep thought.

“If we try to convince the Reds that we’ve agreed to... I don’t know, to mass-relocate the Greens to a fertile system where they can establish their own colony and elect their own leaders, they’ll either cave right away or laugh in our faces at the logistics of such an idea. Could we do it? Probably. But it would come at huge cost. And would the Imperator agree to it, is another question. He turned Boneyard to a smoking crater because it annoyed him, and no one’s forgotten about that. I don’t know if they’d even believe.... Wait a tick.”

Ruusel paused, and then a lightbulb came on. “Maybe the Greens aren’t our only leverage. And maybe you’re the voice of reason in this government. If someone told you Darth Haretisch was going to round up the tax-paying Greens and exterminate them all, would you take them seriously? A mission of mercy may be better received than a hostile takeover.”

TAG: @HanSolo29

~

IC: Corporal Gareth — New Moraband, Citadel Gates

It was the quaking of the battleground that disguised it - the bursting of shells, the thump of grenades, the pangs of blasterfire - a deafening symphony of war. Over the chaos, Corporal Gareth had failed to hear the whine of fighter engines drawing closer.

As Finis was pushed to the ground, his initial assault shunted aside like nothing by Francium, Gareth came to accept even more that he couldn’t win. But he would make this Sith remember him. He ripped off his helmet that the enemy might see his face before the end. From his belt he pulled a thermal detonator, armed it, and hurled it to the dirt. All three would be caught in the blast - but Gareth would never hear it.

Unceremoniously, the TIE propelled by Insipid swept, only feet from the ground, and glanced the top of Gareth’s head. He fell to the dirt, dead before he hit the ground, just as the detonator exploded, the blast encompassing Finis and Francium and himself and sending each flying.

TAG: @Quinlan Vos, @E. L.Knight

~

IC: Comms Technician — Bridge of the Repentance, in Orbit Above New Moraband

Data was streaming in rapidly.

“Admiral,” a technician turned, “citadel defenses are down! Estimates are ten minutes until restoration of tower batteries.”

The surface to air defenses had lapsed, thanks to Draconis. But the why wasn’t important - not at the moment, anyway. It was the tower batteries that had protected the citadel from approach by capital ships in the first place. Fighters were fast enough to avoid the turbolasers, but a Star Destroyer, or even a corvette for that matter, would have been torn apart.

Still, the Atonement loomed over the citadel in low orbit, like a six hundred meter bulwark shielding the tower batteries from fire. It would have to be destroyed, and quickly, if the defenses were to be neutralized before they could recover.

Admiral Jerod had a trio of Star Destroyers to hand - but each was engaged with the Resurgent and would be made vulnerable by turning to engage the Atonement below. Two of the three would be enough to make quick work of the Atonement and subsequently the Citadel, while the third could cover the retreat but would be left alone to die at the hand of the Resurgent.

Jerod himself was on board the Repentance, and the Imperator aboard the Intrepid.

That left the Standardizer.

TAG: @Jerjerrod-Lennox

 

IC: Admiral Lennox Jerod
Location: ISD Repentance, New Moraband orbit

Some would call the previous maneuver kamikaze.

Some would call it brilliant.

Jerod hoped it was the latter.

It was now a proper capital ship scrum ou there with no space to maneuver, it was so tight that even the corvettes had to eventually stop moving for fear of ramming their own ships, they would also would have come under fire from the Citadel’s turbolasers.

Jerod was now in a quandary. The technician had reported that the shields were down and he had to get his mind to work. With all three destroyers engaged with the Resurgent, it meant that only one ship could be sacrificed in the next maneuver, and that unfortunately was the Standardizer. Jerod hated losing a ship as he would rather have all three destroyers to press home the advantage. But with the shields gone at the Citadel, and the Atonement now a sitting duck, Jerod had to act before the shields recharged.

There were First Order and Twilight Sun ships everywhere. Jerod expected the First Order ships to play by the rules, the Twilight Sun ships less so, for them, rules were for idiots. Pirates and mercenaries had a way of throwing out the rulebook and using tactics that were downright suicidal at times.

He had only one option, the unknown was how Lord Haretisch would react to losing one of his Star Destroyers and literally in a sacrificial move. Hopefully this move would enable a swift victory for the Imperium.

“Bombard the Atonement” he finally announced after rubbing his chin in thought for around thirty seconds “Once that has been blown to bits, send the fighters in to take out the turbolasers before the shields recharge. Bombers first, interceptors escorting. TIE fighters to hold back in defensive formation around us. Once the turbolasers are taken out, take out the Citadel, wipe it clean off the map, that could be a job for us and the corvettes.”

Before the comm officers could carry out his orders he added “Inform the Intrepid of our plans, ask if they can join us in taking that ship out, maybe even taking out the Citadel. Inform the Standardizer they are to cover us and help us in our retreat. Inform the Captain he is to evacuate the crew if they get to critical damage. We need all the crew we can get” He hoped the Standarizer would take as many chunks out of the Resurgent before it died, all of the Imperium ships were not looking in too good of a shape. At least with getting a glimpse at the Resurgent the Imperium had some ideas of what it could do.

An impressive bit of machinery…..

The comm officer nodded and got to work. There was a slight twist to Jerod’s stomach at losing another ship and crew (thank his lucky stars it wasn't his this time) He immediately stamped out the thought, this was unfortunately, a war. An in war, you lost people and ships, nothing was ever invincible. And it looked like they had the advantage thanks to Jerod’s near kamikaze tactic.

Jerod suddenly remembered there were troops on the ground as well, time to get them out of the way before they were taken out too “Inform all troops on the ground that they may want to get out of the way before that ship either lands on top of them or spews it’s guts everywhere. Inform Lord Haretisch of the plan, and hopefully he can pull his Sith troops out of the way too”

“Yes sir” replied the other comm officer in the pit and immediately got on the line to Intrepid.

Orbital bombardment was always a useful tool when you wanted to blow either a city, ships on the ground or in atmospheric orbit to dust. It was a favourite tactic in the Galactic Empire and Jerod had seen it used to good effect. It was a beautiful sight seeing lines of green lancing out, combining with the reds and oranges of the fire that followed.

A sight to behold he thought.

His piercing green eyes were said to be like a cat focusing on his prey. Jerod’s prey was the Atonement and the Citadel, now he had to make sure all went to plan.

TAG: @Darth_wanderguard

 

IC: Darth Ravenous
TIE fighter in the crossfire..

The TIE fighter propelled ahead. A vessel he never had flown before. He was used to the designs of the old. He was a better pilot than Sith, yet he felt out of his element in this fancy machine. He tossed aside the mangled limb of the ex-pilot to a 'splat' and fell into a power position. For once he could clear house of the filthy pawns of anyone who was not him.

He jerked the stick left and pulled into a spin before preforming an immelmann to line himself up behind an unsuspecting 'fist' fighter. The Beast's ears perked to an incoming transmission from none other than Sloane...

How he despised her was not possible to transpire into any language but one word recognizable to the thousands of known galactic languages..

A coward...

First Shadow and Beast---

A bloody mit slammed the comm off and slid across the dash leaving a crimson trail in its wake. Ravenous spat meaningfully to the side and pulled the trigger of the TIE, effectively obliterating the poor fool ahead.

Thoughts of desertion crossed his mind but his fighter wasn't equipped with a hyperdrive. His blood soaked hand switched the comm on again.

"Sloane, you worm... I suppose I have to bail you out once more. Are your fancy medals blocking you flying hand?."

He sensed Kwea through the force; One of the olds..

He blasted another fighter apart before burying the flight stick forward and jerking it back to level the vessel directly behind Kwea's fighter. Another bloody swat to the com's contacted the girl.

"I've got your six... I'm falling in line for now.. I'm ready to make a difference."

He fished his arm for the ex-pilot's limb he discarded before.

Tag: @Sinrebirth @Halle Dray

 

General Grievance Vexx
Ground Assault, Facing Insipid

The strike from the TIE fighter leaves Vexx crouched under a promptly-deployed Force barrier, but the impacts on the ground have left him in a state of shell shock, disoriented by the deafening blasts, not to mention the thick airborne dust and debris hanging heavily in the air around him. He curses in Kaleesh as he dispels the barrier and glowers around, looking for Insipid and Hades; the former because he wants nothing more than a fight with him and the latter because he doesn’t trust him not to take advantage of the moment and annihilate him. But what is this? Another coming to aid Insipid?

So...the god-emperor is going to throw down more pawns, Vexx thinks with a growl of disappointment. These Sith never fight with honor and it disgusts him. At the moment, he is disgusted with himself for thinking the god-emperor might have a sliver of personal dignity in him. When will he ever learn? He curses in Kaleesh again and braces himself as Insipid uses the Force to attack Hades. He knows he is next.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spots movement that is Anark attempting a master-requested blitz from the surrounding clouds of debris. His focus remains on Insipid however, knowing the pawn is but a distraction, although not necessarily a harmless one.

Insipid’s execution maneuver directed at beheading him might have been an effective way to remove the Kaleesh General from his chess board, but Vexx has never been one to give opponents the pleasure or satisfaction of easy removal. He swiftly falls back on the deft precision of Makashi and the ease with which it enables a practitioner to handle multiple attackers. With his feet broadly planted, he makes one fluid lean, step, and spin to the side, throwing off his cloak and aiming to engulf Anark and temporarily blind him with it in the process. He manages to save his head and his leg, though it isn’t quite swift enough to avoid damage altogether. A glancing blow to his leg from Anark’s blade leaves a glowing gash in the durasteel appendage. The burn gradually dissipates to leave a blackened scar in the metal and Vexx can feel that he has been hit, but there is no time to inspect the damage. Insipid is retreating!

“Like hell you will,” the cyborg grumbles, retrieving his DT-57 from the compartment in his upper leg and firing off several shots at Insipid’s retreating form. He hates distance combat, but to let the god-emperor retreat unscathed is not on his agenda. His skeletal hand becomes a blur due to the rapid firing and kickback from the blaster as he furiously tries to put a few holes in Insipid’s back. While his focus is intense on the god-emperor, he extends his sense through the Force to stay vigilant as to what Darth Hades might be up to in the interim.

Tag: @Sinrebirth @E. L.Knight @Snokers

 

IC: Kwea Acantha
Space battle

First Shadow and Beast,’get out of the middle of that capital ship scrum, it’s no place for a rescue mission. Head to these coordinates, and clear local space.’Assault should be joining you shortly.’


I've got your six... I'm falling in line for now.. I'm ready to make a difference."


Kwea has watched with a mixture of horror, disgust, and awe as Ravenous had commandeered a TIE fighter. The bloodied Beast was crazy and dangerous, that was for sure.


She kept her eyes trained on his fighter as he took out several ships with his lasers. A transmission came in from Admiral Sloane at that moment, “First Shadow and Beast, get out of the middle of that capital ship scrum, it’s no place for a rescue mission. Head to these coordinates, and clear local space. Assault should be joining you shortly.”


Taking her brown eyes off of Ravenous, Kwea glances to her nav computer and saw that the coordinates were straight ahead.


Straight through a whole mass of blasts and fighters.


“I've got your six... I'm falling in line for now.. I'm ready to make a difference."


The growly voice is Ravenous rumbled our through her common now and she realized his fighter had moved behind her.


For now? A difference?


She didn’t know what he meant.


And frankly, she didn’t know that she cared. All she needed to do was get to those coordinates and move safely to the next square on the chess board of life.


Gunning her engines and setting off, weaving through, and firing at the fighters that were ahead, Kwea toggled the comm.


“I’ll see you at the coordinates, Beast.”


It wasn’t that Kwea had lost respect or, dare she say, compassion for anyone, it was just that she knew how the Sith worked. She had already had more chances than normal and she couldn’t mess with that. She still had quite a good many years that she wanted to live.


And besides, Insipid would triumph... right?

Tags: @Sinrebirth @WookieeRage

 

IC: Saadi
Prison ship skirmish

While surveying the multiple corpses strewn about the hangar like so many slaughtered tauntauns, Darth Saadi rolled his left shoulder up and backwards, then down, and forwards, in a circular motion, surveying his own damage. The pain from the blast to his shoulder was minor compared to the sword wound in his back. It burned constantly, like an Imperial interrogation droid might its torture victim. In a rage Saadi took his stolen beskad from the Luxury Elite and decapitated the already dead Mandalorian who had wounded him, spitting on the stump of neck flesh that remained of the cowardly warrior.

It was then that the enraged changeling felt a disturbance in the Force. In the confusion of the battle, a new and more powerful presence had emerged. Saadi knew who it was, having encountered this fearsome figure before, unfortunately. Turning to gaze across the hangar, he beheld the cloaked, and mysterious dark Sith, Darth Draconis.

He, along with Darth Serapis were the main objective of this particular mission, after all.
Saadi grinned as he witnessed Draconis execute a medic in cold blood.

The chaos in the hangar had not truly subsided much, in spite of the fact that it had been secured by himself, Mallace, and Cocytus. The latter was nowhere to be seen. In fact, the fire from the space battle raging outside, was threatening to wreck havoc in this place.

With the two Sith prisoners released from their incarceration, and the whole place seemingly about to blow, Saadi made preparations to head back to the Assault and leave this graveyard behind him. He nodded at Mallace, indicating their ship with a tilt of his head, as he sheathed his beskad and turned towards the Assault.

Tags: @Sinrebirth @dragonsith13 @DarthIshyZ @Darth Kronos @Darth Cocytus

 

Darth Cocytus - Escaping the Prison Ship

Darth Cocytus smirked thinly at his handiwork, feeding the destruction of the Citadel and the countless death with it. Surely Darth Insipid will be pleased with the competition of his mission. However, self-congratulations had to be cut short as he felt the ship shake beneath his feet. As the sirens of “Abandon Ship" rang in his ears, the Kaminoan knew he only had a short time to escape.

Calculating his decisions in a nanosecond, Cocytus quickly made his choice. The shuttle was too far away from where he was to get there. Only the escape pods were close enough to make his escape. With enough speed, Cocytus sprinted his way through the halls to the closest chamber. Sparing no time to lose, the young Sith Underlord hopped into an escape pod and jettisoned himself into the safety of space.

In the safety of his pod, Cocytus watched the destruction of the Prison Ship from which he escaped. He toyed with the thoughts of Saadi and Mallace meeting their demise in the inferno. However, he had other business to attend as he steered his escape pod away from the intense battle. Cocytus reached for his com. “I have fired upon the Citadel, Master Insipid, and escaped the Prison Ship by escape pod.” He spoke in his usual soft coldness, “I await further orders to further our plan…”


Tag: @Sinrebirth, @Dagonahsystem, @Darth Kronos



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IC: Soliloquy
The Swamps and their Secrets

The Holocron watched with passing interest as their fate was set by whether the droid body betrayed their request or not. It was an odd thing, having a fate again, and then when the droid 'Emperor' pulled them, held them from their chest there was a passing moment where the direction was unclear, and then they were placed into the plug for the right most, empty sarcophagus. As requested. Their musings upon the perfidy nature that yet held true performing the requested action were cut short, what musings those would of been! Alas, we must now imagine for as the last facet settled data spontaneously and without request flooded into the Holocron - of course the simple truth that was already deduced was shown plain and true, it was a body creator. The glowing container indeed held flesh that was held to be used and shaped before filled with an alloy which was bone or whatever equivalent one needed.

There was a precedent set forth by the dissimilarly similar Emperor Sidious and even their own Emperor ne' Supreme Leader, both in another universe to rely and preserve and persevere after failure or age had caused them to lose their life. Simply it was a spare backup body lacking only in a mind, perhaps the old method of doing the same was to tear a piece of your soul in creating a soul shard for a holocron that is continually updated during their living years and then. . .plug and played if your latest scheme was your downfall.

Having your knowledge backed up to make sure that you have a legacy? Worth many worlds. Having your enemy kill you, watch you die, and feel it in the Force only to be resurrected to kill them in turn? Priceless. Especially when one considered that Darth Insipid has been within the same form for the last seven months, but not same outward appearance of course, nor had the Supreme Leader the time to hunt down cloning technology and prepare a backup as his usual modus operandi. Soliloquy would thus have as promised by the God of Rot - a real body in exchange for the holocrons word. Another perfidy individual entity doing as promised for self interest, even if that self interest had killed it in the process.

The droid glanced to the second form. The date. The AI of Darth Sidious began to reshape it’s hand to correspond to that of a Holocron - an interface amendment that it had worked on during their power down moments as if the droid going silent had ever truly blinded the holocron. It plugged in.

Ah.

The droid downloaded Darth Sidious into the body in the left sarcophagus.

And a soft chuckle escaped the Holocron, a lonely beat of ragged and rasping laugh that was soon joined by the harsh tones of a woman, the lively belly laugh of a man, the chortle of a youngling, and onward until the host was laughing loud, long and deep. It lingered on until the sealed vessel was open.

Then it stopped and silence reigned. "Betrayal is most sweet when expected." it simply stated as it watched and waited to see, to find out, to know. Although the mind could be saved, a piece of soul transferred, imbuing a body with the Force was one of the longest running issues.

It was time to see. "Are you one I can teach? Or are you a face?" it simply asked into that silence yet so pregnant with potential.

TAG: @Sinrebirth

 

Draconis
Commandeered Shuttle

It was not long before the reality of their situation began to set in with the Prison ship noticeably showing signs of distress. Draconis noted that the Kaminoan hade decidedly made the judgment that he was not in an advantageous position to try and make the shuttle and opted for a nearby escape pod. The Clawdite and his associate were seen making their way to what he could only assume to be their ship and disappeared out of his sight.

One of the pilots whom had been previously sealed inside the cockpit, pronounced his favor in living and willingness to renounce previous allegiances in order to escape the punishing assault by the Imperium that would consume the Atonement and them inside it.

Serapis and Draconis’ chaperon, Kronos, was coming to as the shuttle ramp sealed. The headless body of the medic rolling down the ramp and back into the shuttle as well, coming to a stop at the base of it inside.

The whine of repulsor lift engines and subsequent roar of the shuttle’s main engines signaled that at least one of the pilots, the one still seated, was keener on getting them underway.

Draconis gestured firmly towards the pilot, more intent on pronouncing his undying love for living than actually applying their escape to allow for such to transpire. With a gesture Draconis closed the man’s windpipe for a second, releasing it after he was confident the pilot would remain silent. Causing the pilot to stumble back into the cockpit slightly. As the man regained his footing, bracing himself on his pilot’s chair, Draconis was finishing inputting a set of coordinates into a datapad. The datapad was pushed into the man’s chest. “Get us clear of the Atonement and Imperium Destroyers, and prepare to make the jump to these coordinates.” Producing the coordinates from memory as if it was all part of the plan, as coincidentally Draconis had known them for quite some time. Draconis said nothing else but let his fiery cold eyes bore into the pilot whom promptly and fearfully turned and sat back into his seat.

The shuttle barreling through the hangar, as a gangway gave way, impacting one of the wings. Luckily a glancing impact with no damage, as more fireballs erupted with debris being casted about like party favors in a celebration. The glow of turbolaser fire could be seen flying through space outside, from its point of origin that of the Imperium cruisers. The continuous impacting and shredding the Atonements compromised shields and hull bringing it to the brink of erupting.

Exiting the hangar, the continuously commandeered Twilight Sun shuttle rolled away from the massive main barrage of the Imperium targeting the Atonement. Seeking cover against the underside of the Atonement, which was being ripped apart, the shuttle was able to begin to pick up speed. Affording a moment for it to put some distance between the crumbling ship, continue to pick up speed, and make a break for the coordinates.

Draconis reached above on of the pilots chairs to a control panel, inputting the transponder code which would signify their alignment as they reach the coordinates in the distant shadow of the Resurgent. Awaiting.

@Sinrebirth
@Darth Kronos
@DarthIshyZ

 

IC: Darth Kronos

He tried to get over the dead bodies. But there were so many of them. They had all piled up on the ramp, and it had made it virtually impossible for him to get across without stumbling several times. As the Twilight Sun mercenaries were murdered one by one, until the rest fled due to the evacuation order, realization set in. Kronos had lost. With all of the remaining soldiers either dead or gone, and Draconis and Serapis having begun to murder indiscriminately, he knew his allies were thinning. All he knew he had for sure was the medic-soldier whose voice was too similar to Esme's for his liking, and the pilot. He knew neither by name.

But even they were gone as quick as a snap.

As the chaos in the Citadel hangar raged on, the situation had become worse. Holes were blown into the walls and the sounds of warfare from outside only became louder. As he hopelessly watched the Battle from afar, Draconis had locked into his next target. Raising his lightsaber, he swiftly sliced the medic-soldier's head clean off. And suddenly, from behind Kronos, a sharp, painful jolt was shot into his back, causing him to collapse to the ground immediately.

The last image he saw before he blacked out was of the medic-soldier's head rolling past the multiple dead bodies on the ramp and onto the battlefield. He briefly imagined that happening to Esme.

.....
​

Kronos woke up to a painful headache and blurred vision. As he tried to come to, he felt for his surroundings. The cold metal suggested he was still in the shuttle. But... it was moving.

He was being transported somewhere.

But where?

TAG: @Sinrebirth @dragonsith13 @DarthIshyZ

-----

IC: Mallace

The battle was won. She knew that much. Since the surviving Twilight Sun soldiers had fled the scene, there was little fighting to be had. Mallace lowered her lightsaber and released a breath of both relief and victory. She had survived. She had done her part. Now, all she could do was hope that a superior would see her worth and take her under their wing. Become one step closer to receiving any shred of respect in this broken Empire. So she would eventually no longer have to bow down to anyone.

She noticed Saadi give her a nod, indicating they go to the shuttle they had just come from, and she returned his nod. There was nothing friendly about it. Only business. Mallace still didn't fully trust the Changling yet. He seemed aloof from everything. He gave her the impression that he would backstab anyone if given the chance. He had a very sinister aura around him, so she would remember to be careful. She still hadn't forgotten about their first encounter...

However, she trusted Cocytus even less so. He had disappeared midway through the battle and had never returned. What had he been up to? He had always appeared shady. An aura of disgust surrounded him almost constantly, and it always felt like he was itching to kill somebody. In a way, she was glad he left.

Character profiling. It was imperative for her to understand her associates if she were to advance within this new Empire.

It was a skill she would have to improve.

Constantly.

TAG: Sinrebirth @Dagobahsystem @Darth Cocytus

 

IC: Darth Francium
Attacking the Breach

Had Francium not taken the time before the battle to extend his sense of the force, he would have been beheaded by the TIE Fighter that flew past. He had just enough time to fall to the ground, lying prone as the TIE hurtled past.The corporal, however, hadn't been so lucky, and was killed almost instantaneously with a grazing blow to the head. What Francium failed to notice, however, was that he had thrown something into the dirt beneath him before the fighter killed him. Francium began to stand, turning to face the other officer, when the explosion went off.

The young sith was thrown from his crouched position, landing hard on his back 20 meters from the blast point. He shook of the daze and attempted to stand, but the pain was immense. He looked down and saw a long gash along his abdomen, and winced in pain. He brought the force close and used it to stymie the wound slightly, and the proceeded to use every ounce of strength in his body to force himself upright.

He crawled over to a large rock, propping himself up and trying to relax. He opened up his comlink, sending a message to any Imperial squadrons in his immediate vicinity with an order to come and surround him and bring medical personnel with them. He didn't like wasting the time he should be spending in battle writhing in pain on the ground, but he knew he needed to be patched up before he could head back out.

His eyes began to feel heavy, and he slowly began to pass out from blood loss. As his vision faded, he saw the outlines of soldiers running up to him, and he vaguely heard them shouting something incoherently. He only hoped that they were his men, and not soldiers of another faction. That would be a horrible way to die, unconscious in the middle of battle. Everything went dark...

Tags: @Darth_wanderguard , @E. L.Knight

 

IC: Astra
Deward's Palace...

The amount of time that passed was hazy as she opened her eyes. From her point of view she could see a room in disarray; Worse than any spice den she had the pleasure of passing out in. A smell hit her nose and she retched over from the pungent sour smoke smell that enveloped her.

'Thanks for the Spice.'

She turned to see the obvious source of said smell. A zit-ridden teenager with a stupid grin on his face. She had seen the nuance in it countless times before. She was coming down from the spice high and was not in the mood.

Men were pigs, but easily maliable. A boy, even more so.

You would think she would have tried to manipulate him first but his mistake was not tying her up.

Astra swung her legs around to lock them around the little dweeb's neck. She could release the others after retrieving the key off his unconscious body; This was her muddled plan anyway.

Tag: @Lady Belligerent @QueenSabe7 @SkywalkerShine

 

Combo with @Sinrebirth

IC: Darth's Anark & Insipid
Ground Battle - The Retreat...


Anark's brain felt truly wired. The rush and simultaneous disappointment of clipping the Kaleesh General made his next breath catch in his chest. The desperation in Insipid's voice was palpable.

‘Anark! Now! We’re going!’

The Inquisitor stood there for a short moment, lightsaber outstretched and pointed towards Vexx, though there was some distance between them now. He heard Insipid say something in the haze of the battle about Sloane and coordinates.

'We've lost." Anark stood with yellow eyes trained on the General. Insipid was fleeing to the TIE fighter, beckoning him. He watched the monstrous cyborg pull out a blaster and rushed, arriving in the nick of time, in front of his former master's exposed back. Anark caught a barrage on his lightsaber, mumbling to himself and hyperventilating in his concentration, rapidly contorting his wrist to catch the bolts on his blade. One slipped through and scuffed his shoulder. It glowed and smoked. Anark felt the burn straightaway.

He tucked his head tightly towards his test, trembled as he conjured, and thrust his head up, releasing a reverberating Force-scream, levelled straight at General Vexx.

Anark sprinted to catch up with the God-Emperor. He tore off the entire sleeve from the arm that had been maimed, exposing a pale, bulging bicep with a spectacular charred wound at the shoulder, They both clambered into the ship. Anark knew their path to the Luxury Elite would not be clear. He knew that both the Imperium and Twilight Sun would put everything into seizing the opportunity to apprehend them.

The Supreme Leader must not be taken. Not alive.

Insipid flinched as the General opened fire on him. His angle was not good for a block, but then Anark was there, brilliantly deflecting all manner of attack, but was wounded, such was the intensity of the attack.

The Supreme Leader grimaced and sent a nudge to the side of Vexx, in the direction of Hades, designed to draw their respective gazed back to each other. Insipid shifted to space behind the pilots seat, uncomfortable but more focused on the tactical display while he trusted Anark to fly them up.

Trusted him, Insipid thought with a soft smile, unconsciously resting a hand on the man’s shoulder, feeding the Force through the wound. His eyes flickered across the tactical, and a finger quirked, pinning a location to his board. ‘Here, Anark.’

Insipid spread his consciousness out around them, his eye drawing to a Corellian corvette, the Marauder, which seemed to be at an angle to them but there was attention being focused their way. As Insipid did so, he detected the slight blurring of Anark’s persona, a transformation stalled and not quite bifurcated - something repressed. Insipid would have to attend to that at a later date. Instead, he spoke up.

‘That corvette is drawing a bead on us, turn to 2.327, and the frigate will block us.’ Sloane’s rendezvous was on the wrong side of the Sun task force, but most of its attention was focused upon the explosion that had been the prison cruiser. Six hundred metres worth of debris was strewn out between the Sun group and the First Order Star Destroyers, and matters were so confused that he could not ascertain whether the others had survived.

‘Your choice, Anark.’ They could thread their way through the two dozen or so smaller vessels of the Sun group, and hope the two of them could detect any gunnery targets, or Anark could apply himself to thread the still-burning wreckage of the prison ship.

His old apprentice didn't hesitate, he headed straight for the debris field of the prison ship. He was aware of Insipid's hand passing healing energy through his shoulder - that he was also delving into something deep inside that he had no business with; Anark didn't much like it. He engaged the booster engines. They had now entered the perimeter of the wreckage - the maze. Anark felt like he'd entered the maze that was the God Emperor too. He marvelled, whilst piloting carefully with wide, bloodshot eyes, at the way that Insipid always had an immediate backup plan to call upon when things went awry. Always had someone on standby waiting in the shadows. Anark had met Sloane only once, very briefly at a war council assembly. She shook his hand like a man with a vice grip. The voices in his head had taken to referring to her as 'THE EEL'

"Another military goon with a mighty stick up her rear..." Anark slapped the tactical display and cursed himself for saying it out loud.

The ship picked up momentum, Anark let their speed build slowly. He kept his eyes peeled for Herper's mangled body floating and revolving through space. He could no longer see the Sun task force. He was unsure if they would pick them up on their sensors.

"Supreme Leader, forgive me," he cleared the croak in his voice, edging further into the wreckage, "but what exactly is our next move? Zakuul... I mean New Moraband is vital in this fight. The Luxury Elite is Bellorum's precious pearl. That old wretch Haretisch has a legion of warships and soldiers but if we stomp out the faux empress first, then The First Order will be able to crush the Imperium without too much trouble?"

He waited for a response, the hair on the back of his neck standing on end as the display registered two Sun fighters approaching from up ahead among the wreckage.

----

IC: Bo Etraa
Citadel...

Bo scowled. The Empress clearly wasn’t happy with his and others performances. The battle for the Citadel was not going as planned. As soon as Bellorum’s transmission cut he smashed the emergency stop button on the elevator, bringing it to a grinding halt. He pressed the descend button and repositioned his twisted and tattered clothing as he was taken back down to ground level.

The doors parted and he was greeted by two iron-clad sun guards.

“Can either of you fly?”

One gave a curt nod.

“Come with me. We’re Rendezvousing on the Luxury Elite.” He paused for a breath and held his shattered calf. “Get us there in one piece!”

----

Inside the Scimtar, Bo got to work applying a bacta solution to his wound. He could see enemy fighters through the viewport – First Order star destroyers too.

The pilot began the treacherous journey to the Luxury Elite.

Bo tried to find his brother in the Force…

TAG: @Lady Belligerent @Kaleesh-Cyborg @E. L.Knight ​

 

IC: Serapis
Aboard the shuttle

It was a dream. Or something akin to it. Perhaps Serapis was still delusional from his time in isolation. He came to at the end of a battle. Apparently he had made some good moves because he sensed the word "prowess" in his fellow Sith.

Now the group was being ushered back aboard the shuttle to leave. Bodies everywhere. One on the ramp as it was closing, the head rolling, the eyes open in apparent surprise. No blood, cauterized wound, so must have been a lightsaber.

The air smelled of ozone. Blasters.

Kronos was on the deck, passed out. He appeared to be rousing. What had happened? They were being released, then they... weren't?

The ship took off. He heard the pilot coughing and gagging. Draconis ordering. A half smile came to the Ithorian's face. The illusion of control isn't an illusion if you truly had control. Draconis had it. The pilot only wished he did.

He looked around at the rest of the beings in the shuttle. Exhaustion was the order of the day.

He knelt to check on Kronos, kicking the errant head out of the way. He appeared to be relatively unharmed. Kronos was one of Serapis original connections to the Sith, other than Lady Belligerent and Ike. Oh, yes, and that strange Lorekeeper. He helped Kronos sit up.

Still, Serapis felt like he had been absent for much too much.

Tag: @Sinrebirth, @dragonsith13, @Darth Kronos