Star Wars Chessboard: The Laws of Power

Censol Brandl
Mistra Command Center

He did not allow his smile to appear as the reports came in. He was indeed proceeding his plan. A lesson of logic instead of trust and the force. A soldiers plan. As war was a soldiers work. Looking up he then smiled at the Sith.

"Equal? I was under the impression you have joined your soldiers on the front-line and was just about to ask who is in command now? Or do you have a new "commanding from the field" approach? How . . . progressive . . . for a Sith?" He said and nodded to Baamptu. Operation Brandl One was initiated. His prepared troops, first among them the Jedi he had kept in reserve would now be on their way.

[Move: h1 - e1]

Tag: Winged, Sinrebirth

 

[image=http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/7977/fortysix.jpg]
[image=http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/3660/chessboardblank.jpg]

 

OOC: Very much enjoying this exchange between the Generals. And it may just be me, but things suddenly seem a lot closer than they did not so long ago...

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[blockquote]

[image=http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/2228/fortyseven.jpg]
[image=http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/3660/chessboardblank.jpg][/blockquote]

 

Censol Brandl
Mizra

Seeing the fighters pass the lines he nodded to Baamptu and looked up at the projections. "A moment please." He said. "I´ll have time for your rant in a minute again." Censol put him on hold and turned to his aide. "Execute my plan. You know it as good as I do. I will take care of these fighters. I think it is time some of my troops see I am not hiding." Censol nodded and turned Polcyc on on his comm.

"Well, I thought you to be more subtle, dear Lord. Even my soldiers realize a victor doesn´t try to talk his enemy in feeling defeated." Censol truthfully replied. "It is not too late to give up. I can spare your life, if you surrender. If we are forced to forcefully take down your army, I can not guarantee for it."

While he talked, he took his lightsaber from his belt and stepped out into the cold winds of Mizra. Only wearing his greyish tunic he looked up and saw the fighters somewhere on horizon. A wave of his hand ordered his protector troops to close in and the troops began marching forward. Preparing whatever anti-fighter weapons they had taken with them.

"Then again, I would enjoy smoking out more of your people. By the way, you don´t like fighters, do you`Sacrificing them like that. I find them to be very useful."

He added.

Move: A2-A3

Tag: Winged or Sinrebirth

 

OOC: Just a note to say RL's kind of tough right now, but in about a week's time I'm going to get back to some IC updates. For now, here's the most recent board. And keep up the great play! Fascinating duel.

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[image=http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/2552/fortynine.jpg]
[image=http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/3660/chessboardblank.jpg]

 

Censol Brandl
Mizra

He kept the Sith ranting, while looking at the field now with his own eyes. His plan had been preordered and he had trust things would unfold just as he had hoped they would. As he had foreseen. Indeed, the Sith was hungry. He had suffered defeats on the field. Had been forced to run for his life. And now wanted to show his superiority. He wanted to show, he was "back".

Desires. Not even those to serve the force. Were a flaw to one mans strategies. Logic, above all. Censol Brandl had to be a General. The force had guided him into war and he had to free this world. Only a General could do that. Not a Jedi. Not a man. Sacrifices. Needs. Strategic operations. It was not a game.

It was a question of survival. A binary choice.

Somewhere, according to his plan in B-4 most likely, the Sith were setting down their fighters and refueling them. Nearby, his soldiers would have taken the hills. And fire. Destroying the last of the Sith´s fighter squadron and securing air-superiority through that. A key-advantage. As General´s said. A terrible sacrifice of those men who would have to suffer retribution from the Sith, thought the Jedi. The General stayed silent, while the Jedi was allowed a single sigh. So much death.

Then he took up his comm and addressed his own squadrons directly. "All ground troops prepare. The enemy has begun his operation. All fighter squadrons, stay alert and on standby. All Jedi out there. May the force be with you."

Censol turned back and walked in. Seeing the explosions of ground fighters from far away.

Move: a3-b4

Tag: Winged (as troops have been lost)

 

OOC: Found some time for some ICs...

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[blockquote][i]Sports Stadium, Zone E3[/i]

Master Diath sat quietly inside the long-abandoned stadium, surveying the field where athletes and sports stars had once entertained the citizens of Mizra. Now the only people on the dusty turf were Jedi Knights, tired and wounded.

"Master," said Liam Doneeta, the Twi'lek who had operated as second-in-command within the unit. "Our lookouts report Ubese infantry have infiltrated the stadium to the north-west...Zone D4 on our maps."

"I sensed a certain unpleasantness was on its way," replied Diath with a grim smile.

"They have a positional advantage," continued Doneeta. "Our knights are wearied and out in the open. There are also Sith Marauders directly to our east. It is possible they might also launch an attack. What word from our General?"

"We are to hold our position," said Diath. "We have received no orders to move. Master Brandl is focusing his offensive elsewhere. We will do what we must."

"Understood," replied Doneeta.

Diath stood up, and addressed his troops, his voice echoing around the near-empty arena.

"You have fought fiercely for Mizra, and I am proud of you! But we are not warriors. We do not train to kill. We do not wallow in destruction. We do not serve the sword.

"So then remember what it is that you [i]do[/i] serve! Because there is emotion here today, and passion, and chaos, and ignorance. And there is plenty of death. If I were a warrior, these things would be my masters. If I were a Sith, these would be my masters. And if I were that overgrown slug Polcyc, these would be my masters.

"But I am a Jedi! And you are Jedi! Never forget it!"

A roar of approval greeted Diath, and he raised his lightsaber to the sky. The end was close.

[hr]

[i]Temporary Refueling Bay, Zone B4[/i]

A dance of destruction was underway, to the beat of a Republican war-drum.

The pilots scrambled out of makeshift tents and dirt-flecked shacks, hurrying to ships that were already aflame. The fires of battle had begun burning before the Sith even knew they were under attack. Refueling supplies exploded in dramatic style, sending charred body parts through the air in a black and bloody rain.

Boom! Another rocket launched from another unidentified vantage point, and how could you coordinate a counterattack against that? The normally ominous snap-hiss of lightsaber ignition was now completely drowned out by the sonic eruptions all around the bay. When one unfortunate apprentice finally managed to escape the carnage, he was shot in the back by a well-placed squad of advance infantry.

When the long-range assault was finished, there was almost nothing left to mop up. Had fully intact starfighters actually been sitting there ten minutes earlier? It already seemed so hard to imagine them. The smoking debris was too powerful an image.

"Fire at will!" was the trigger-happy call of the Republic's best, as they joyously surged among their vanquished foe. These Sith were not unarmed or untrained. They were simply unready.

This is what happens when a Jedi Master goes to war. Sith die.

[hr]

[i]Mobile Sith Command Post, Zone E6[/i]

[b]Polcyc[/b] had settled for the time being, and his retinue had organised as stable a perimeter as they could manage.

"My Lord, the enemy has destroyed our remaining starfighters," came a voice.

It was difficult to tell which of the subordinates had reported that news; all of them were now looking away and seemed very concerned with whatever task they had been assigned to.

[image=http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/4670/fifty.jpg]
[image=http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/3660/chessboardblank.jpg]

[b]Tag: Sinrebirth[/b][/blockquote]

 

Censol Brandl
Mizra


The Jedi Master walked back in and nodded to Baamptu. The Sith had done as he had expected him to. As always, too hungry.

"We got the skies, let´s use ´em." Censol smiled a bitter smile. More bloodshed.


Move: b5-c7 - Chess

Tag: Sinre, Winged

 

Sports Stadium, Zone E3

Diath walked out onto the sand-bitten turf with his saber grasped firmly in hand. One by one, he looked his Jedi in the eye. Then the first bursts of laser fire came soaring through the air, and the last dance began.

The Jedi Master moved like a ghost, and in a way he felt as if he was one- he was dead already, after all. His soul was already one with the Force. His body was all that still tied him to this world.

The mercenaries crept in at the edges of his tired, blurred vision. They crawled along the edges of the upper tiers, launching rockets and grenades without prejudice.

In a burst of fire, Diath felt his Knights leave his side. Not all of them had been able to find their peace. It was difficult enough to expect that of an individual; of an entire group it was impossible. And so some of them did not simply depart from this realm, but left in anguish and despair, and that pained Diath more than any wound. That they died when they were not ready.

As if from far away, the Jedi Code came rushing to his aid.

There is no death...there is the Force.

Liam Doneeta's voice echoed around the arena, and there he was, leading the charge. The Twi'lek rushed up the steps, tearing through the Ubese with the flash of a deep blue blade.

There is no death...there is the Force.

Diath followed, sending waves of power surging up towards his foes, knocking them twenty feet into the air and sending them crashing into each other as they landed. He tore seats from their holdings and hurled them like missiles; he pirouetted and leaped his way through a barrage of blaster bolts while slicing away arms, legs and even heads.

There is no death...there is the Force.

He could no longer feel any of his comrades behind him. Even Liam was nothing more now than an echo.

There is no death...there is the Force.

The mercenaries swarmed Diath, close and personal enough to revert to vibrodaggers and sharp blades. He took half a dozen of them out within seconds, but soon enough the sheer numbers overwhelmed him.

Stabbing pain, in his shoulder blades, his stomach, his legs, his arms...

There is no death...

He smiled to himself.

There is no death...there is...

There is...

There...

...

The lightsaber tumbled from his fingers.

---

[link=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMxUwTyz0hM&feature=related][i]
Skyscraper Rooftop, Zone C7[/i][/link]

On the roof of what had once been the Mizran Holonet Communications Tower, two grounded Republic pilots sat having a cigarra.

"Shame to be missin' out on the fun," said the first.

"Uh huh," said the second.

Violet Squadron swooped overhead, flying so low that the two relaxing pilots could feel the heat off the engines.

"They say we could take out Polcyc from here," remarked the first.

"They say that, huh. Got a sniper rifle handy?"

"Not 'we' as in 'me and you', 'we' as in 'the squadron'. That's where they're headed. Orders from the top."

"Usually I hate orders from the top," reflected the second.

"But not this time."

"No, I still hate 'em. But Brandl's a good guy. Though we're losing a whole load of Jedi. Orion, Sunrider, now Diath. I think the last time the Order lost so many so fast was when Darth Nihilus started comfort eating."

"Darth who?"

"Look it up man. Get to know a bit of history."

"Yeah I don't mind history. It's just Force Users don't interest me that much."

"Force User history [i]is[/i] history. It's their kriffin wars we've been fighting for the last few millennia. That's the story of these stars, baby. Jedi v Bad Jedi over and over again. I guarantee you a thousand years from now, another pair of huttslimes just like you and me'll be sitting on a rooftop somewhere, injured in the line of duty after getting caught up in the latest monk civil war."

There was a long silence.

"Why're you grounded again?" asked the first pilot.

The second pilot lifted both his trouser legs, revealing bloody stum

 

Censol Brandl
Battle of Mizra

The Jedi Master stood in front of his command post on the hill and saw the fire far away. The citiy was burning. People dying. The force was full of screams, mayn silenced, as he saw his plan unfold. He had expected the Sith to be aggressive, to be unable to resist the chance to pierce his lines. He had set his trap and the Lord had stepped into it. Now his Jedi were on the move. For all those they sacrificed, for all those he had to leaveo ut there to die, every single of his Jedi was ready to make the Sith pay. Vengeance was a harsh master, though. And Censol Brandl felt more than a little uncomfortable with the idea of his Jedi going into the battle like this. Then again, a plan on a battlefield was like an time-bomb. Unstoppable, if you did not stop it completely. He could only let chaos reign now, or retreat. And he had no more reason to retreat.

"Have they arrived yet? They shall pursuit the Dark Lord. And prepare our fighters and other Jedi for combat. Soon this battle will reach it´s final moment, Baamptu. The moment we have been waiting for." Nodding he allowed his assistance to go inside again. He closed his eyes and breathed in. The force was rebelling, from all the death and violence.But the cold reason of war had decided his actions.

As he reentered his base, he smiled at Baamptu. Then looked around. "Men? We got a kill to make. Let´s get over with it." he turned to the sensor team. "how far are our Knights from the Lord of Sloth away?"

The hunt was one.

Move: d1 - d7

Tag: Winged, Sinre

 

OOC: No time for IC just now, but here are the boards:

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[image=http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/7839/fiftyfour.jpg]
[image=http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/3660/chessboardblank.jpg]

[b]
Tag: Sinre[/b][/blockquote]

 

ooc: This has been sleepy for a while. I have read Winged wants to start a new game, soon and therefore I suggest we call it a draw. Rather fair of me, I would say. It was a great run, but we can always assume the Dark Lord retreated and these two met each other on another day on the field of honor . . . Sinre, what do you say?

 

OOC: Not at all, I have a couple of ideas, but I won't be starting a new game for quite some time.

Personally I'd prefer to see this played to the end, but the decision rests entirely with you two gentlemen.

 

ooc: Okay, then I´ll wait for Sinre . . . just wanted to open your slot for your new game . . .

 

OOC: Thanks anyway Fins. Like I say, another game won't be happening for a good while, Man Cubs is currently more than enough.

So please, do continue if that is your wish. Over to Sinre, I guess.

 

Censol Brandl
Base

He watched the Sith run. All his holograms, his streams from the fighters showed the retreat. The trap had worked. While the Sith tried to use aggressive strategies to break free, feed their egos . . . he had prepared. "The Sith wants to negotiate." Baamptu said and Censol nodded. No hurry. He doubted they would settle this dispute peacefully. First things first.

"The fighters into attack position. The Jedi Knights of Master Diath shall prepare for their attack. All other units shall wait for orders." Censol said. No pride was in his voice. No joy. Only grim determination. This battle would soon cost more lives. Lives he had sworn to protect. All sacrificed for a greater good. Stop the Sith.

"Open a channel to the Sith." He said and nodded. When Baamptu signalled they were ready Censol sighed. "Lord, I am not negotiating anymore. You know the Jedi. I cannot accept conditions, now. Let your men lay down their weapons, hand yourself over to me and I guarantee none of your people will have to die. Neither will you." Censol folded his arms and awaited the Sith´s answer. Not that he did not guess what it would be. But obviously he had to ask. Give reason a chance, before the madness of war would rage once more.

Move: C7 - E6

Tag: Sinre, Winged

 

[image=http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/517/fiftysix.jpg]
[image=http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/3660/chessboardblank.jpg]

Tag: Sinre

 

OOC: Abusing OOC to make an observation from Qui-Gon Jinn's position within the netherworld of the Force: mate in two moves for White even if Polcyc finds the one spot on the board that even slightly disrupts Brandl's attack.

 

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"There is only one decisive victory: the last."

- Karl von Clausewitz

[hr]

[i]Mizra[/i]

Morning broke over the ancient city of Mizra, and we left our shelter. We hadn't stepped outside for a week at least, but then Vilmahrk the grocer had scurried in to tell us that it was safe, or at least as safe as it could be in the circumstances.

My mother led me by the hand and tried to cover my eyes, but five thin fingers couldn't obscure entire streets of destruction. The first corpses I saw were Ubese, piled up on a mass of charred sticks in what had once been a park. Someone had tried to burn them, but either the fire had died or there had just been too many bodies to burn.

One of them hung limply inside my favourite swing, rocking gently back and forth in the wind.

We couldn't hear blasterfire anymore. At first that had been cool, like something out of a war holo. It was even cool when we had seen the actual soldiers trooping past our house, and I admit some part of my eleven year old boy's soul found it cool when the fighting properly began on our street. But then there were explosions so close they knocked a hole in our front door, and mom had me down in the basement with the nany droid, setting it to its loudest lullaby to block out the screaming from above, and then it wasn't so cool anymore.

My friends were already gathered near my house. Their parents were trying to usher them inside, as if Polcyc might suddenly appear out of thin air- and to be honest that wasn't anywhere near the scariest or unlikeliest thing that we'd heard Sith could do. But kids were kids and we banded together on my front garden while the parents discussed the news and tried to get holo reception out of makeshift receivers.

We had our own version of the news, usually peddled by Goya Fisto, who was a talented storyteller and outrageous liar.

"You know the creepy mansion in Herglic Springs?" he asked, and we all nodded, already entranced. "Well it turns out the Sith were hiding [i]monsters[/i] in there, a four-eyed giant rancor with teeth as big as your arm and it only feeds on Twi'lek flesh-"

The Vao twins shuddered right on cue, their [i]lekku[/i] signing involuntary exclamations of worry.

"-and turns out it was going to have babies and make [i]more[/i] giant rancors and then they were going to unleash it on Glittanai Avenue!"

Sammy Shan moaned and grasped at his older sister's arm. Their dad lived on Glittanai Avenue.

"But then Master Brandl went in," said Goya, puffing out his chest as if he were the Jedi General himself. "His bodyguard asked him if he needed backup, and he laughed for [i]two whole minutes[/i] and then just walked in. Two hours later he still hadn't come out and the bodyguards were getting panicky. So they called a special ops squad and went in after him. And there he was in the mansion kitchen, safe as a Sullustan, sipping on juri juice and reading the old news sheets. And the rancor's head was sitting on the table right beside him."

"Whoa!" said Holly Chi'klin, and fluttered her lashes at Goya, despite him being an entirely different species and probably finding the size of a girl's gills more attractive than the roundness of her eyes.

"What a load of-" I began, but was cut off by some frantic shushing from the adults. One of them had got a receiver working.

A blurry blue figure popped into translucent life in my dad's palm. It was a Devaronian, speaking quickly and glancing around.

[i]"...nearly over. Last Jedi forces on the move, and...Sith daddy cornered in eastern...Cross area. Republic forces advancing...expect victory...if not now...couple days."[/i]

Overhead, a lone starfighter raced through the sky. We watched it go in silence, and every one of us prayed that it was heading to drop a payload on Polcyc. I don't think I've ever wanted anything so much in my life.

[hr]

[i]Sith Tomb, Ziost[/i]

It was not unusual for even Dark Lords to go gravedigging. The wisdom of ancient leaders lay within these sepulchral chambers, and that wisdom was protected by the most fiendish traps and