Star Wars OPEN Star Wars: Episode XI: THE HIDDEN TEMPLE - follow up to the 2021 RPF Award winning game!

IC: Romulus, Remus, and Nihl - combo with our GM
Saving the Fury

As they emerged from hyper Romulus cursed. The weapon that had been used on the Fury was one that was destroying their Father’s ship, slowly but steadily. He heard Nihl running around, attempting to stop or slow down the spread even as he turned toward Remus. ”Whoever that was will p…” he began.

Suddenly his hands rose, pressing to the sides of his head as the mental message filled his senses. With a panting sound, ”Jakku..Jakku…Jakku…” he muttered before shaking his head to clear his thoughts.

Rem’s head had swung around, almost with a crack, as she saw her brother struggling. Her eyes narrowed but she saw him coming to his senses. Turning her head further, she called out, ”Nihl…get up here. If Rom cannot use his Kuruk side, we may need you to fool the Imperial forces to aid us to get this device stopped, the destruction stopped, to the ship.”

Kuruk was desperate.

He wanted to leave.

To go.

To serve.

Nihl came to the cockpit, looking covered in grime and annoyed.

"What are we doing?"

As the part of Rom that was Kuruk fought and growled, trying to assert dominance again, Rem glanced over her shoulder at Nihl.

She gestured at the comm board, ”See if you can convince any of these FO idiots to give us a hand stopping the destruction of the Fury. I have to cognitively recalibrate my brother.”

Stepping away from the controls, moving before her brother, she reached out through the bond they shared, touching his roiling mind. ’Get control of yourself, brother, before I have to knock you cold.’

Rom’s eyes flared and another growl escaped him as he fought Kuruk, his sister’s touch aiding in the battle, even slightly.

Kuruk wasn't giving up without a fight. Memories hammered at Rom, attempting to drown the Nagai mind in volume. They were going to end up comatose at this rate.

Nihl slid into the cockpit chair, flicked through for a command code and pointed his signal at one of the capital ships; the Maxima-class heavy cruiser.



In the distance, First Order light cruisers ferried the traffic, interdicting freighters and seemingly replacing the crews.



The heavy cruiser carried eighteen squadrons of TIEs, and the light cruiser a mere two, but there were nine of the lesser ships dotted around the system, and all of the squadrons were deployed, managing hundreds of container ships. Whatever they were doing with all these resources?

Nihl keyed through the high-end First Order codes. "Trying this one," he said aloud.

And there it was.

The cruiser replied, a female voice over the comms. "Supreme Leader! We did not expect to find you here. Come aboard, we'll have a tech crew meet you in the VIP hangar. Did you wish for us to escort you to the Heart?"

Rem sighed as she felt the overlay of Kuruk’s personality hammering at her brother’s mind. Muttering ”Cognitive recalibration indeed.” she whipped out one of her blasters, reversed it in her grip, and smashed the butt of it against his temple. In the same moment, she hammered his mind with as much of their shared memories as she could.

Rom felt the hit, felt both sets of memories overwhelming his senses before he sank to the deck, a half spoken ”Than…” escaping his lips.

With her brother unconscious, Rem had the mechs take him, bind his wrists and ankles for the moment, and place him in a bacta tank to heal any injuries, not that it would help with the turmoil the Kuruk persona was causing. She’d have to fix that later.

Turning, she crossed the short distance to Nihl, ”You’d better be one damned good bluffer, convince them to get the ‘Supreme Leader’s’ craft onboard and repaired. I’ll make sure they do not snoop too much.” Reaching out with her limited Force abilities she created a bubble around the craft that should fool all but a gifted Force user that it truly was Snoke onboard.

Nihl glared at Rem. "You're so helpful."

He opened the comlink. "This is Lord Nihl Ren."

"My Lord!" The officer gasped.

"I am taking command of the system, and you are to repair the ship with some immediacy. The Supreme Leader does not wish to be disturbed, so I will confirm which parts of the Fury are not to be accessed." He put some durasteel in his voice. "Are we understood?"

"Yes, my Lord," came a smaller voiced response, and a tractor beam took them towards the Maxima-class heavy cruiser. The line clicked off.

Looking back into the ship, the teenager Nagai addressed his elder. "We'll be aboard soon, what's the next step in your miraculous plan?"

Rem hid a smirk as Nihl spoke, it was so easy to rile those arrogant Nagi born Nagai and get them to do what was wanted and it had worked here as well. She nodded as the ship replied and his ruse worked as was needed.

Glancing back as the astromechs carted her brother out of the bridge, ”For now we act the usually arrogant Knights of Ren. Seeing as they believe Snoke is aboard we have the perfect excuse to cause more drama for his forces and those fighting them.”

The creaks and groans of the device still slowly eating away at the ship echoed in the pause after she spoke, ”We have the IFF of those who attacked us, we turn that over and tell them those forces ‘dared’ to use such a weapon against their Supreme Leader. And that, under our ‘Master’s’ orders we can only remain long enough to have the ship repaired before we must depart to where we were called, Jakku.”

Glancing out at the approaching form of the cruiser, ”A smokescreen for our true mission, after all.” Turning, she glanced in the direction of the medbay, ”We will both give that story and then make sure Rom stays Rom before we depart to find our Father. You will see his import once we do so.”

TAG: @Sinrebirth

 

OOC: The following is a combo with Lady_Belligerent and Sinrebirth – thank you so much!! It's always a pleasure!


IC: Grand Admiral Natasi Daala, Chancellor Aryan Graul, Darth Krayt, Jaina Solo Fel, and Lyz Graul
Meeting of the Minds, Jakku/Kamino

The bridge crew of the Chimaera had been with Admiral Daala long enough that they knew when to keep their heads down and to avoid any eye contact. Their jump to distance the fleet from Kamino was basically a moment to take a breath and regroup.

Daala had Lecersen and Solo Fel taken directly for medical evaluation. The crew that had retrieved the shuttle, and then turned the two over to medical officers, put into their report that Jaina Solo Fel was weak and did not speak. Natasi would meet with them once she made some decisions regarding her fleet and where they now fit into the Empire.

She had sat at her desk staring at the words of one Vice Admiral Ark Poinard. She sneered that Graul was coordinating with Jedi and a Sith fleet. What in the nine Corellian Hells was he thinking? She didn’t care if he had fifteen Megadors, this was sheer madness to align with their ilk.

Her personal comlink had been silent, not one communication since he’d left the Chimaera. Nothing since Fel killed himself… for nothing.

The rogue shuttle was a harbinger that perhaps she should take her fleet and go home. Did Graul know what Jagged had planned at Kamino? The silence strongly implied that possibility. She was furious that it appeared she’d been sent on a mission that was doomed to failure.

"If the Fury didn’t survive, then how did Snoke get to Jakku?" Daala asked Remal, as he was the only one brave enough to be in her office currently. "If this Poinard is to be believed, Snoke was going there. Graul has called all Remnants forces to gather there…" She didn’t say what she was thinking, but she had no interest in working with Jedi or Sith… no! Jedi and a Sith fleet.

It seems one person was now making all the decisions since Fel perished. The tides turned quickly, or was that planned too? Maybe the attack on the Chimaera was to have removed her from the equation…

"Arrange for the survivors of the Bloodfin to be transferred from our ships, they should be back on Remnant ships as quickly as it can be arranged. I will make a decision as to what the Irregular Fleet will do by the time the transfers are complete."

On board the Megador, Aryan barely had an opportunity to settle into the makeshift comm center—Admiral Poinard had personally made the arrangements to accommodate his physical ailments—before the staff inundated him with various reports about the upcoming engagement. He appreciated their diligence in such matters, though it was nearly impossible for one man to peruse all of the information in the time afforded them.

Especially when he was thoroughly distracted by the Sith’s decision to contact him directly.

Pursing his lips, Aryan paused to glance at his wife across the table, a prickle of fear creeping up the length of his spine as he considered the implications. There was no way for him to determine whether this sensation was the result of the Force or merely his trauma reemerging to haunt him. He was not familiar with Darth Krayt, but he had encountered enough Sith entities over the years to understand their power and capabilities. This would likely not end well—but what other choice did he have? He had attracted their attention, and there was only one way forward.

Aryan raised a hand, his fingers trembling slightly as he motioned toward the Admiral. He had also begun to sweat profusely, which further emphasized his unease. "Inform Krayt that I’ll receive his call, but first—"

His voice wavered before trailing off, his eyes still focused on Lyz. Without uttering a single word, he fully conveyed his concerns and what he was about to do.

Nodding slightly, the Chancellor then returned his attention to Poinard.

"You’re right to presume that I wish to contact Daala," he continued with conviction. “Open a channel to the Chimaera, and inform the Grand Admiral that I would like to converse with her about our current situation. I value her input, especially with recent developments. It’s important that we present a coordinated front."

Lyz pushed aside her own concerns and adopted a firm, stoic but supportive expression, resisting the urge to step over and clutch Aryan's hand. He needed to stand strong here and now.

"Opening the channel," Poinard said, a little apprehensive. "I will let Lord Krayt know, but I will emphasise that we won't keep him waiting too long." Lyz felt that fear, justified.

Remal spoke up in the presence of Daala, Lecersen, and of course Jaina.

"I have Chancellor Graul reaching out to us, ma'am, from the Megador."

Meanwhile, in Jaina's mind's eye, a needling, chuckling voice. Grave. Deep. Malevolent.

My girl, you must know that you cannot stop me by playing Empress.

Daala’s brow rose as she looked over to Remal, for a moment it appeared she might refuse to speak to the Chancellor. Her eyes went to her chrono, she’d begun timing how long she’d make him wait. Unfortunately, it couldn’t be as long as she would’ve liked since Jaina and Lecersen had not been present.

Jaina already looked like she didn’t want to be there, Daala felt like the widow Fel should be sedated and in a straight jacket. It was impossible to trust a Jedi without the piles of emotional baggage Jaina had.

"I guess we should see what the Chancellor wants," Daala finally answered Remal, sounding bored.

There was a prolonged silence over the open comm, and it stretched on for such a long time that Aryan began to shift uncomfortably in his seat. An audible sigh underscored his impatience as he released the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. Besides being unprofessional in her conduct, Daala’s dithering could have dire consequences for their meeting with Darth Krayt.

Surely, she understood that.

If she was angry with him, fine; he could deal with that in his own time. He would be the first to admit that he hadn't been the most receptive since departing for Bastion. But it was another matter entirely if her insolence caused a breakdown in negotiations. Aryan wouldn’t stand for that.

Finally, the Chancellor uttered a curse under his breath and gestured toward the comm, his eyes narrowed toward Poinard. "Is this thing live or—?"

However, he did not grant the man any time to resolve the issue before he lost his temper and decided to handle it himself.

"Grand Admiral," he addressed her formally, his tone stern and to the point. "I hope everything is well on your end, and that this delay is not an act of insubordination. My crew has informed me of your misfortunes at Kamino, and I wish to extend my condolences for all the lives that were lost."

He paused for a moment to show his respect for those who had fallen.

"All the same, we must now come together for this final stand, and I require your assistance to ensure that we emerge as the victors."

Daala was unimpressed. Fel’s death had definitely toppled the balance of power, and it appeared that Graul now fancied himself her superior. This wasn’t a discussion she was willing to have with an audience, however, she would not be spoken to as if she were a maintenance tech for Graul’s rubbish compactor.

Misfortunes at Kamino indeed… her expression hardened, if that was possible at this point. She was seething.

She tilted her chin up and opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted.

There was a noise, and the Vice Admiral interjected, his hologram appearing.

"The Chancellor wants to speak to you."

His voice was monotone, his eyes glassy, in a way which Jaina, Aryan, and Daala would recognise -

Mind trick.

A Vongformed warrior joined the conversation.

Darth Krayt.

"My apologies for the entrance," he said, voice clipped, an old Coruscanti accent inflected beneath a Rim drawl, but nonetheless commanding in tone. "But I felt it prudent to interject."

Yes, came what was undoubtedly Snoke's voice in Jaina's head. You should kill him, not me, not your brother... unless you want to kill Rey? That traitor of traitors, coming to find me... but what if she should fall before she gets me? Shouldn't you kill her just in-case?

"What is the meaning of this, Graul?" Daala demanded incredulously. "I suggest you find a replacement Vice Admiral, someone with higher intelligence, perhaps?"

Obviously, she’d completely misjudged Aryan Graul. She would not ally with the Sith!

Jaina sneered at the hologram of Darth Krayt but was more unhappy over Snoke’s invasion of her thoughts.

Get out of my head, creep! Jaina pressed back, how about I just kill all of you? She swayed, and Daala glared over at her. Jaina glared back at the Admiral and shrugged.

She didn’t want to be here, this was a war she had no desire to fight.

The Force bristled with the gathering darkness, even before Aryan could visually identify the dull, faraway expression of a man under the influence of a mind trick. He did not need Daala’s biting commentary to understand that Poinard had fallen victim to Krayt’s whims. It served as a precursor to the Dark Lord’s arrival, whose mere presence seemed to drain the energy from the room. The Sith overshadowed everything, including the anger he could detect emanating from Daala across the distance that separated them.

The Chancellor stirred uneasily as he fidgeted with his hands, the nervous gesture the only way he found to cope with his rising anxiety. Moral issues aside, he wasn’t too keen on dealing with Krayt; there were far too many similarities to the past. The situation conjured terrible memories of the psychosis he had suffered as a result of the Dark Side. It took all of his willpower to maintain his composure and not succumb to his inner demons. He could not afford to experience another relapse, not at this critical time.

"Lord Krayt," Aryan stated after a moment, inclining his chin slowly. However, it wasn’t so much a greeting as it was a simple acknowledgment. "I must admit, under the circumstances, this is most… unexpected."

His eyes shifted toward Lyz before canting his head to regard Natasi’s hologram. While Krayt’s willingness to contact them was certainly a surprise, he wasn’t going to hide the fact that he had framed his words for Daala’s benefit. It was clearly an attempt to smooth over any ill feelings that had developed between them. He wanted to reassure her that he had no prior knowledge of Krayt’s plans. They were not allies.

Not yet.

"I assume the imposing presence of the Megador has piqued your interest," the Chancellor offered with a slight quirk of his brow and a hint of a smirk. "How may we assist you?"

Snoke chuckled.

Well I know more about your cousin than you, so perhaps you should come to me, and we can... direct your rage more appropriate, Sword of the Sith? The politics of Jedi and Sith, of Empires and Resistance, do they interest you now? Surely you just want revenge, to avenge your husband, your older brothers, your parents, your aunt, your uncle? Am I, as Palpatine's heir, not the source of all the horrors in your life?

Indeed, the others were so busy with their political fancy that they would not likely notice her slip out.

Darth Krayt, for example, ignored her and focused upon Aryan Graul and Natasi Daala.

The Moff was nothing; the Vice Admiral, even less.

"The Megador is power, material, and true," Krayt conceded. "But when the Knights of Ren or Shadowtroopers board your ship, I would wager my One Sith would serve you better than Remnant Stormtroopers..." His miscoloured eyes took in Daala briefly, as if he intended to say something else, and then cut to Jaina to change his mind. "Might not an alliance with the Emperor Graul and Empress Daala be satisfactory?"

Lecersen blinked, hard, and looked to Remal, who blanched and looked back.

Lyz seethed, but she kept her molten fire silent.

This was merely politics, though she did give Jaina a side-eye.

Go, she mouthed.

Jaina’s expression didn’t betray her thoughts. In fact, she’d appeared bored up until Lyz Graul’s silent "go", which caused her eyes to narrow. Jaina had thoughts on exactly what old Lyz could do instead of giving her orders, but she’d keep her own counsel from now on.

There was no reason for her to sit there and listen to a puffed-up Sith Lord Krayt make bargains with Graul, and Jaina fully expected Daala to try and gas them all when she had an opportunity.

Politics was her mother’s domain, and Jagged’s. It wasn’t her’s, and Jaina wasn’t about to start involving herself now. She quietly stood and slipped from the room.

Daala noted Jaina’s departure, and oddly she didn’t blame her. Natasi wasn’t thrilled that this Sith Lord was dragging her into his schemes. It was easy for him to dangle titles to gain their resources, she couldn’t be bought that easily.

It was absurd to agree to align with Sith or Jedi, and Daala wouldn’t be easily convinced. She decided to remain silent at present and continued to give Aryan an icy stare. Soon she would have answers as to exactly why he had placed them in this position. That was just one question on her growing list of issues.

The Chancellor’s attention remained on Krayt. Aside from Daala’s continuous scrutiny—a point he would need to address on a more personal level—there was nothing else that warranted his concern. It didn’t even faze him when Jaina Fel abruptly stood and removed herself from the conversation. At this juncture, the Sith’s proposal for a mutual alliance was more crucial than her actions.

Nevertheless, he wasn’t entirely convinced of their sincerity, and he had to stay vigilant. He was no longer enthralled by the promise of power and prestige. As he entered his twilight years, he liked to believe that he had evolved beyond such superficial matters. That’s why he approached the offer with caution, well aware of the Sith’s capabilities. They needed allies, but not at the expense of their own safety.

With a soft sigh, Aryan leaned back in his chair and stroked his beard in thought. "I agree that we could use the reinforcements," he replied evenly, careful to maintain a neutral expression. "It’s important for all of us to set aside our differences and unify under one banner to defeat Snoke."

He paused long enough to meet Daala’s gaze, silently conveying his point with a hard glare.

"However," Aryan continued after returning his attention to Krayt, "you waste your time trying to endear me with the promise of power, authority, and praise. I’m too old to engage in such pursuits. I have no intention of becoming Emperor or leading in any capacity, not at my age. I’d rather retire."

Exhaling softly, he spread his hands in an amiable gesture. "But I do have my duty here, which includes negotiating a treaty to end this war. That is my only objective at this time, and I hope others will join me in that venture."

Lyz managed to smirk as Jaina left, but moreso Aryan’s put down of the Sith Lord. She stepped forward to cover the former but embrace the latter response.

"I think the Chancellor is right; it’s more appropriate that we focus on the current situation rather than the future," Lyz nodded in agreement. "The relationships we have, rather than what we are building." She nodded to Natasi. "Working together, not at the expense of the other. The Sith are but a new partner in this endeavour, and you’re important to the solution, but Snoke is our immediate threat."

Lyz was politicking, but she valued Daala more than Krayt, and Aryan was being a negotiator when Natasi was an Admiral first and foremost. She valued loyalty rather than expediency. Aryan had to walk a narrow line with a Sith Lord, but the Empire would be built upon the back of Imperials who had served Order rather than Power. "We’ll win this battle, end this war, and we’ll let those who have been fighting for Order decide the rest."

She smiled at the Admiral and the Chancellor, and Darth Krayt glowered at her. "The Empire is in good hands," he turned his head to Daala, "from Kamino."

"Does it matter where my fleet is currently?" Daala quickly snapped back, irritated that Krayt had noted her location.

Damn them all, Daala thought. Aryan opened the door for the Sith, but now Lyz was acting like she’d been named a diplomat. Aryan better get that woman under control, she was behaving like a fool by parroting what Aryan had just stated.

Natasi tried to warn Aryan that Lyz could be a problem. Now she flipped from wanting Aryan to be Emperor, to agreeing with why he won’t accept that role. There was something off with her bold behavior.

They were waiting for her, yet she decided to only address Aryan, "we are still in the process of transferring survivors of the Bloodfin back to the Empire, Chancellor Graul. I’m also waiting for the widow of Jagged Fel to determine where she wishes to be taken. Once those matters have been handled, my fleet will be ready for our next assignment, which I assume is at Jakku?"

Daala was still very unhappy, but she would follow along… for now.

"Right, that’s correct, Admiral," Aryan answered in the same manner in which Natasi had addressed him. "We will all rendezvous at Jakku in the short term. I expect to see you shortly."

While it was a relief that she had agreed to assist in their campaign instead of leaving them in a lurch, he could still detect her animosity. It reverberated through the Force, bringing a slight frown to his features. Although he required her cooperation, he feared that she would continue to oppose him until he could talk to her and diffuse the situation. There was obviously a misunderstanding, and he intended to get to the bottom of it before it spiraled beyond his control.

For the moment, Aryan took the circumstances in stride. At least Lyz had stepped forth to express her support for him regarding how to proceed. It was a small victory, but he would certainly take it at this point. He had known all along that she had his back.

He offered a small nod in gratitude before directing his gaze to the others. "I appreciate that we were able to come to a mutual understanding," he continued in an even tone, allowing a small smile to flit across his lips. "Here’s hoping that our ongoing collaboration will lead us to the ultimate victory."

The Chancellor struck his fist on the table to inspire confidence and conclude the meeting.

TAG: @Lady_Belligerent; @Sinrebirth

 

The cracking voice of Emperor Snoke Palpatine. “My friends. You have all come to stop me. I appreciate the effort; but it is over - the war is done. You will have time to grieve, to suffer, to wish that you had surrendered - months to rue your folly.” A spitting rasp. “Once more,” he crowed. “The Sith will rule the galaxy, and we shall have…”

The Force darkened.

“Revenge.”

 

CORUSCANT

IC: Galen Marek
Aftermath

The AGENT program was done.

Between the sabotage that Rose had committed to their systems, the wanton destruction led by Galen and Juno, and the death of its brainchild by Tajana, the decapitated head of HK-4T7 believed they had been, to quote, moderately successful.

“This wasn’t our mission though,” it opined. “We were supposed to locate Lord Krayt.” He began to say, and then a whirring sounded as the droid sought to connect to the network.

“Sounds very Sith,” a pale and waxen Galen said, a bacta patch on either side of his chest, and the Force being clearly drawn hard by him to sustain his life.

“Galen,” Juno said, cautiously.

Rose for her part was reconnecting with the Resistance. Coruscant hadn’t been subjected to a full Imperial occupation, not yet, and the orbiting Mortis and Eclipse had left for Adumar and Ajan Kloss respectively. Hacking the systems, she rejoined the conversation.

“Yeah, a Lord Krayt is in charge of a group of Sith opposed to Snoke,” she looked at Tajana, eyes narrowed. “That’s the latest I’ve gotten from a Jedi named Seha Dorvald, who passed Intel to Finn and Poe and Rey.”

“Jedi?” Juno said, surprised.

“A Hidden Temple,” Rose confirmed. “The Sith took a swipe at them, and the Jedi back, burning down their base on Roon. But Snoke and his Celestial weapons hit back, until Rey figured out Jakku is where the Controller is. Looks like everyone is there for the end, but I’ve lost contact with Jakku and Ajan Kloss.”

“Where is Snoke?” Galen breathed, hard.

“Either Ajan Kloss or Anaxes,” Rose supplied. “Or there are two of him.”

“Clones?” Juno answered, as HK confirmed that data had been left on the Sith network that their base on Roon had been lost, along with Darth Vua. Darth Talon was marked as a traitor, and Krayt had returned to lead the Sith to Jakku - and he’d lost contact then.

“Snoke isn’t a clone, he’s himself, but he used Palpatine’s operations on Exegol to perfect his template,” Galen coughed slightly, and took a deep breath. “He can’t activate more than one of himself at a time. It’s not possible to clone powerful Force users…” He placed strain on this assertion. “You can only keep jumping ahead of the body degeneration.”

“And a successful clone?” HK asked, and Rose glowered at the head, but wanted to know. Kylo Ren was back, after all.

“It’s not a clone,” Galen repeated. “I’d know. I was cloned several times by Lord Vader.” His eyes turned to Tajana, and there it was; he knew her.

The real her.

So what now?

“We need to kill Snoke,” Galen said, standing, weakly. “Without his AGENT program he’s vulnerable; destroy his spirit and he can’t remake his consciousness using a virus. Destroy his clones, and he won’t have a reliable vessel.”

So what was it?

Anaxes or Ajan Kloss?

Or Jakku, with Lord Krayt?

TAG: @darthhelinith

 

YAVIN 4

IC: Tulak Hord
Dark Depths

He spoke, a disembodied voice in the well of his new apprentices’ soul. Echoing.

It was darkness, the true darkness, drawn deep from the heart and deep from the ether of the Force.

No, there was no great God of Darkness, merely ancient monstrous entities who exhaled their endless influence upon reality. The dark side was their lingering, their remnants, their spirit and will, pressing down upon Jedi and Sith and more besides to Fall.

your arrogance blinds you

you come to me, a seven thousand year old spirit, to treat, to bargain

you kill my guardians and view them as pathetic, when their loyalty has spawned bloodlines and empires

I walked with Ku’ar Danar, Tor Valum, and Ajunta Pall

I rediscovered the Heart of Kyber that Adas hid from Soa

I mastered Essence Transfer and Drain Life, lifted the sieges of the Lords of the Jedi upon Yn and Chabosh and killed a thousand of my foes in one act

your Rituals of Nathaema and your thoughts bombs were built off my foundation

my Holocrons announce the rise of the Dark Lord, the Lord of Hate that surpassed all of the Exiles of Corbos; the last Sith standing when the Shadow Thrones fell at my hand

The walls gave way to images, illusions, and truths.

To the snow drifts of a world that held Kyber’s at its heart…

To the Sith Emperor Vitiate consulting books that belonged to Hord…

To the Holocrons collated by Kallig to defeat Darth Thanaton…

the Tho Yor were not weapons, they were armed only to keep you out, to stop you taking their contents

The walls showed a set of dipyramid ships in orbit, above worlds of great Force battles.

they were prisons, of the Shadows that served the Old Ones, the Bogan that escaped Tython, the Lettow that swept the Unknowns, the Rur that defiled the Pius Dea

They swept over Yavin 4, recognisable in its temples and foliage. The Tho Yor opened, drew within it lingering Sith spirits from the world.

Darth Snoke tasked the Tho Yor with undoing the legacies of the Sith, erasing threats and my power, but I infected his Tho Yor network, took his secrets…

The portal gave way to a room, and a sagging piece of armour. It leaned forward, in a throne that was rusted and worn. In his gauntleted hand was a datachip.

“I have it here - the hyperlanes that Palpatine took; the key to the future of the Sith -“

The arm sagged, clanged loudly.

Hollow.

“I am but a shell of armour now.”

Tulak Hord regarded Colcha for a moment, tilted his armoured chin up.

“But with your flesh, we could become great. Hyperlanes - secrets; running from Ord Bueri, near Mon Calamari; running from Champala, near Eshan; running from Thesme, near Mandalore.”

He held the datapad to him.

“Accept my armour, accept my Will, accept my recreated legacy.”

In his other armoured hand was an oversized lightsaber hilt, large enough to be considered a club.

“These hyperlanes lead to another galaxy. A satellite galaxy.” His voice reverberated in the metal. “This one, the Jedi and Sith have fought over for seven millennia, and they will destroy it. We need new grounds. Fertile worlds.”

He spoke the truth. The Nagai invaded this galaxy from another, using new hyperlanes they blazed from the Firefist satellite galaxy to this one. Three, that Palpatine in his seclusion on Byss. They took a more traditional approach to their short-lived invasion later on, via Kinooine, but their initial raids were new paths, ones Palpatine intended to use when he took his Sith Empire extragalactic.

A whole galaxy.

Tulak Hord was offering Colcha it all.

But he’d have to take a risk.

TAG: @Kev-Mas_Colcha (combo)

 

THE FALL OF ADUMAR

IC: Teren Rogriss
Inevitability

The Mortis Monolith and the station collided.

The massive Celestial weapon hadn’t paid it any heeds, its prodigious point defences picking at the swarm of Adumari fighter craft.

The detonation, the full forward magazine set to overload - and a full turbolaser barrage at the point of impact - turned Mortis, which sought to remove the gaping hole in its midriff from view, much as a wounded warship would roll to being fresh shields to bear. Rogriss ordered fighter craft to pursue, and a second battle station began to accelerate.

This one Mortis chopped in half with a glittering blast of energy, but it was a distraction for a third. A transmission sounded out.

“We fight for our future. I’ve done that, at the edge of the Knowns, the Empire and Republic, for thirty years. I’ve fought,” Teren said.

Face spoke up in Adam’s presence. “The signal is coming from the station.” His voice was small.

Meanwhile, Piggy spoke up. “Lost contact with our forces at Jakku. Massive jamming, similar to that which Centerpoint used at Corellia.” His voice was matter of fact; it wasn’t precisely unexpected. “Ben Skywalker
is conscious, though.”

“He wants us to let him go after Snoke and Jaina.” Iella clarified. Her voice was tight; Wedge, Syal and her granddaughter were at Jakku. Whatever had gone down between Iella and Wedge and Nora was forgotten in the face of obliteration. “He says he knows how to stop Kylo Ren.”

Shawynkr’s voice cut across the comms. “I’ve just heard from the Nine Families that they intend to sue for peace with Snoke. Recommend diverting refugees away from Chiss Space, I believe the Syndic’s intend to use our colonies as bartering chips.” Her voice was dispassionate, but irate. The Chiss political imbroglio was never on anyone’s side but its own, and it showed.

“Reige has requested terms for full admission to the Empire,” supplied Face; another hammer blow. “I’ve requests from the next wave of transports for coordinates to head towards.”

It all came down to Adam, Trec and the Praetor. Silence followed as telemetry turned white; Rogriss had rammed Mortis.

“I have a suggestion,” Piggy opined. “I’ve not committed much thought to it, but aren’t the Unknown Regions more than just the galactic disc? What about a satellite galaxy?”

“So instead of a hopeless situation you choose a near-hopeless one?” Iella bit across the command channel. “We should focus on holding the line; Wedge, Ackbar, Jaina, Connix, Rey - they’ll come through.”

But would they?

The massive Mortis monolith diverted course, heading towards one of Adumar’s outlier satellites; a moon. The capital ship needed resources to recoup the energy lost on regeneration of its hull, but its alarmingly fast acceleration saw it slam into K-wings that rushed to get out of the way.

TAG: @adaml83 (combo)

 

ANAXES

IC: Captain Phasma
Aboard the Stardust Envoy, the hangar

The crippled Fury came aboard, with one Nagai twin unconscious, because every time they woke they became a psychopath… leaving Nihl with one sibling to contend with.

The ship came to a landing, and almost immediately the hangar was evidently abandoned. It was after all a secret meeting with their Supreme Leader, and standing there was a trio of individuals.

Captain Phasma.

Arek Graul.

Admiral Stele.

Nihl hissed between his lips. “We’re really going to keep this subterfuge going in front of the inner cabal?”

Arek Graul, standing in a tight Grand Moff uniform, rugged at his collar and looked over the ship. Stele in the olive Admiral attire but also a command cloak, and Phasma in glistening armour, they struck a discordant triumvirate.

“Your Majesty,” Phasma said, metallic in voice, across comms. “I am ready to escort you to the Heart. The enemy is trapped at Jakku as planned, and the enemy has no way of stopping us. I had expected you to supervise the surrender of the Resistance at Ajan Kloss, but I am sure Supreme Leader Ren can finish them off with the Eclipse.”

Nihl pursed his lips.

“Do you think we can kill them?”

TAG: @darthbernael (combo), mention for @HanSolo29

 

JAKKU

ATMOSPHERE

IC: Vestara Khai
Watching The End

Her little Sith meditation sphere paled to the might here. Four Tho Yor and a Resurgent class Star Destroyer; a Mega-class Dreadnought and a score of modern Chiss and Remnant warships; three One Sith Dragons and a dozen ChaseMaster frigates she recognised from her days among the Lost Tribe.

More ships arrived, at an oblique angle.

A bladed Mon Calamari cruiser; the Scythe. A crimson Imperial Star Destroyer. A pair of smaller ships arriving from distant Lexrul. Dozens of modern cruciform starfighters; Jedi in their TwinTails, a blade of light in the Force.

She spied five other craft.

The Millennium Falcon, leading a pair of boxy looking landers and two souped up freighters.

Undoubtedly the Core of the Resistance strike force.

Vestara had to hurry. Heading with stealth to Jakku, she will approach the Imperial base from the ground, and sneak in, find her pet Knight of Ren, and take the Weapon. Whatever controlled the Tho Yor would be hers.

That was the thought until things began to go wrong. Ah incredibly powerful signal, cutting across all comms and channels.

The cracking voice of Emperor Snoke Palpatine. “My friends. You have all come to stop me. I appreciate the effort; but it is over - the war is done. You will have time to grieve, to suffer, to wish that you had surrendered - six months to rue your folly.” A spitting rasp. “Once more,” he crowed. “The Sith will rule the galaxy, and we shall have…”

Vestara felt the Force palpably darken.

“Revenge.”

The comms blacked out, an immense gravity field triggered, and the entire system was locked down. The Tho Yor didn’t defend; they advanced.

Hundreds of TIE Daggers poured out to savage them, the Tho Yor latched onto enemy ships with powerful tractor beams; the Resurgent-class Star Destroyer hammered at targets with a sudden and terribly accurate ion barrage.

Vestara’s ship took a hit, it screamed, as circuits were fried and systems were crippled.

She went down; down - down.

Down.

—-
The Depths

The scream of Ship across their mental link woke a Knight of Ren.

He was laying in a pool of corpses.

His brothers, his, himself and him.

At some point he’d slashed open cloning cylinders, wrecked consoles of the command center, and even some of the cloaked attendants were dead, caught up in his rampage. His arms were slashed, bleeding, more profusely than dangerously.

He had the memories of Ap’lek.

He had the memories of Iudex.

He had the memories of Ap’lek.

He had the memories of Iudex.

Who was he now?

Was Ap’lek his Ren name only?

His Sith name?

There was a whimpering, a trail of blood, leading out of the room.

A room of Sith artefacts.

Holocrons, masks, lightsabers, ornate and aged. Soa, Adas, Tanis, Shaa, Insipid, Haretisch…

It was a treasure trove; everything missing from the Atrisian Vault, the New Jedi Temple, the Bogan Collection…

A cloaked man, the source of the blood, stood over a console, jabbing at controls. Alarms began to sound, and the doors between Ap’lek and chamber with the Kyber mountain began to close up.

TAG: @Silvertough (combo)

 

JAKKU

GALACTIC NORTH

IC: Seha Dorvald
Jedi Wing

The personal ship that included the Horn siblings, Seha and Talon was a tense one; Jedi Master T’ra Saa had joined them, and the Neti was in a dour mood. Her denial about Darth Krayt was palpable.

Her distrust of Talon; almost audible.

Sighing slightly, Seha had found herself thinking about Ben Skywalker. It hd been twenty years since they’d both been duped into serving his cousin, Darth Caedus, and Seha had long put aside any guilt from then. She’d also managed to disentangle her romantic feelings and her work - having a crush on Jacen, then Ben, then Valin… it wasn’t becoming. If Octa Ramis, her Jedi Master, had still been with her, she might have teased her about her interest in Talon, or the GA security guard back on Coruscant a lifetime ago.

But Seha was focused today, and she was altogether too concerned about Talon’s obsession with killing Darth Krayt. He may be a Sith Lord, but with Snoke trying to kill the Jedi and Sith, it didn’t seem the right target to pick on.

Perhaps Talon felt guilty, too.

If the rumours were correct, Talon had been instrumental in killing Grand Admiral Yage, an honourable warrior who had merely sought to restore the Empire and order. To stop the depredations of the Sith and chaos. Seha had helped smuggle Ben out of the Jedi Temple in her misguided service to Caedus; she’d not crossed lines like Talon. She wondered how Tahiri felt about her, who herself had assassinated an honourable Imperial Admiral.

Seha didn’t think it appropriate to ask.

The Force was charged enough without adding conflict to it.

The seventy-two Jedi TwinTails decanted from hyperspace around them, and Seha sat forward in the rear cockpit chair. There they were. Three Sith Dragon cruisers, escorted by a dozen elderly ChaseMaster frigates - former Lost Tribe of the Sith vessels, which told Seha where the One Sith had gotten its numbers from.

Beyond them was a Tho Yor, blocking the way for the One Sith to the planet. T’ra Saa reached for the comms as Seff Hellin spoke up from the pilot seat. “Stealth countermeasures activating.” That would obscure the signal and keep them from being noticed as they approached. The TwinTails fanned out, and the Dragons began to launch their Fury fighters.

“Jedi Master Hett,” T’ra Saa spoke. “You are hereby ordered to surrender to the Jedi Council for judgment.”

A crackle on the comms and Darth Krayt answered. Seha frowned at the comms; apparently there were two channels replying. Perhaps Krayt had some technical wizardry of his own at hand. “I’ll surrender if Talon does,” he said drily. “Not that I recognise the Order that was seeded by Darth Vader’s son as anything but a weed.”

Before Talon could interject, the comms were overridden -

The cracking voice of Emperor Snoke Palpatine. “My friends. You have all come to stop me. I appreciate the effort; but it is over - the war is done. You will have time to grieve, to suffer, to wish that you had surrendered - six months to rue your folly.” A spitting rasp, as Seff expertly weaved them through the stalled formations to nuzzle up besides the Sith flagship. “Once more,” he crowed. “The Sith will rule the galaxy, and we shall have…”

All of the Jedi would felt the Force palpably darken.

“Revenge.”

The comms blacked out, an immense gravity field triggered, and the entire system was locked down. The Tho Yor didn’t defend; they advanced.

Hundreds of TIE Daggers poured out to savage them, the Tho Yor latched onto enemy ships with powerful tractor beams; the Resurgent-class Star Destroyer hammered at targets with a sudden and terribly accurate ion barrage.

In their quadrant, the Jedi TwinTails and Sith Furies began a blaze with activity, and T’ra Saa felt the Force warn them a moment before it did the others -

“Down!”

The Tho Yor blast hit the One Sith flagship and it detonated, sending their ship flipping end over end, disabled in the middle of a firefight, and inevitably, terrifyingly, about to be caught in the irresistible gravity of Jakku…

TAG: @CosmoHender

 

JAKKU

GALACTIC WEST

IC: Ackbar
Arriving

The Scythe, the majestic MC140 battle cruiser, decanted first. Smaller than the older Star cruisers that his father commanded, it nonetheless packed a punch that could take out a Resurgent Star Destroyer. He’d forgotten that, battling Tho Yor monoliths these past terrible days.

Besides him came the Errant Venture, crimson hulled, a positively ancient Imperial II Star Destroyer that had fought i the Battle of Endor as the Virulence. Commanded by Wedge Antilles and carrying the Resistance’s last five X-wings - Rogue Squadron - he knew that Wedge’s own daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter were flying beside Jess Pava and a fifth pilot Ackbar was ashamed not to know the name of. Ackbar knew that Wedge would order his X-wings to launch immediately; a lesson learned the hard way at the Battle of Orinda, where a carrier lost a wing of E-wings to Super Star Destroyer barrage. Ackbar hoped Syal, Rhoen and their child had rested up in the time between their arrival. He lamented that he had dragged them into an engagement so soon after the meat-grinder at Mon Calamari, but gone were days when the Resistance could choose when and if to fight.

Two more smaller ships emerged from hyperspace. Where the Bothan Assault Cruiser Sabaton had stood in-formation, instead there was now an Arquiten’s class cruiser and a pocket carrier, bringing with it captured TIEs led by warlord Gherlid’s turncoats and commanded by Lexrullian fighters. In a handful of days Feral, Zara, Tiber and others had turned around a major Imperial offensive, tricking ten Star Destroyers into a disastrous hyperspace jump.

He spied the Millennium Falcon and the four freighters and transports and personal ships that made up its formation absently, but they did not school with his capital ships, instead heading towards the surface. Ackbar focused his attention on making that so.

A single Tho Yor hung in this quadrant, with a Resurgent as a backstop. The Resistance was to engage this one, and keep it busy until the Controller - as Rey had called it - could be captured or destroyed.

He opened the comms to the Resistance fleet, his voice having a gurgling quality to it as a non-human out of water. Gone we’re the days when Mon Calamari starships catered to their own species; the ships they built for the New Republic, Galactic Alliance and Resistance had been long tooled to many species and a medium ground of temperatures and humidity; to the point that it could be considered at the expense of water dwellers. But that discomfort did not draw from his words.

“We won the battle for my homeworld. But not without cost. But we did win, did fight, did save billions - not just by defending Mon Calamari; but by holding that line so other worlds could have a chance - so we could work out how to beat Snoke’s death machines.” His tone was grave, but strong. “The Jedi have our backs come more, and we are a tide of water that cannot be stopped. We have the support of our fallen allies, the strength of our convictions, and the readiness of our arms. We launch the final strike against tyranny, here and now.” He went to speak on, but his words were interrupted.

The cracking voice of Emperor Snoke Palpatine. “My friends. You have all come to stop me. I appreciate the effort; but it is over - the war is done. You will have time to grieve, to suffer, to wish that you had surrendered - six months to rue your folly.” A spitting rasp. “Once more,” he crowed. “The Sith will rule the galaxy, and we shall have…”

The Force users among the Lexrullian contingent would feel the Force palpably darken.

“Revenge.”

The comms blacked out, an immense gravity field triggered, and the entire system was locked down. The Tho Yor didn’t defend; they advanced.

Hundreds of TIE Daggers poured out to savage them, the Tho Yor latched onto enemy ships with powerful tractor beams; the Resurgent-class Star Destroyer hammered at targets with a sudden and terribly accurate ion barrage.

The ion weapons fired at the Falcon and it’s escorts, but Ackbar had little attention to spare - the Tho Yor in their quadrant had advanced wholesale, unleashing two wings of TIE Daggers - 144 fighters. They preceded in a wave formation, no logic or tactics, simple mass. Two dozen seemed to bunch up in-front of the Rogues - forty swept upon the Lexrullian ships - and twenty vanished into the hull of the Venture - suicide attackers!

Ackbar found his words.

“It’s a trap!”

TAG: @Adalia-Durron, @galactic-vagabond422, @darthbernael, @CosmoHender (if Eeth Koth joins the Rogues)

 

JAKKU

GALACTIC SOUTH

IC: Eleodie
Arriving with the Golden Hand Fleet

They arrived on the southern flank; launched at the back-door of the system. The rear of the Jakku blockade, the exposed underbelly.

Star Destroyers, of a distinct, unique, type, decanted from hyperspace.

Once upon a time the Empire constructed twenty-six dreadnoughts themed after the Executor. Some of them were duplicates; the Executor and Executor II, for example, the latter later known as the Lusankya. The Annihilator was another, one each constructed by Fondor and Kuat. One died defending Kuat itself from the Zann Consortium, and the other, well, the other went through a more circuitous route.

Pirate kingdoms rose up when the Empire died, and one, led by Eleodie Macaravena, seized the Annihilator and renamed it the Liberty’s Misrule, carving out a fiefdom in Wild Space. Fighting against the Imperials that fled the Battle of Jakku, they ruled Freerock and cozied up to the New Republic - to be simply left alone. Entangled in the schemes of Imperial Lords and Chiss Admirals, the long and short of it was that Eleodie’s daughter - or progeny, whether by blood or adoption by zher - was here - named as a tribute.

With a Chiss officer - Sabel. Sent into the Unknowns with the old Empire’s stock of Onager-class Star Destroyer’s, planet busters in the strictest sense - the Kuati answer to the torpedo sphere. They were aged ships, but still packed a punch; as did Sabel, even though he was still half recovering from a brutal brawl with a biot in service to Snoke.

How that compared to a Tho Yor, when they were augmented with Kyber weapons? Their quadrant included a single Tho Yor, idly defending the planet. It was one of the four of them.

Eloedie looked to Sabel, went to open zher mouth. And then the comms between the fleet were overridden.

The cracking voice of Emperor Snoke Palpatine. “My friends. You have all come to stop me. I appreciate the effort; but it is over - the war is done. You will have time to grieve, to suffer, to wish that you had surrendered - six months to rue your folly.” A spitting rasp. “Once more,” he crowed. “The Sith will rule the galaxy, and we shall have…”

Sabel would feel the Force palpably darken. Eloedie actually stepped closer to Decimus and went to squeeze their hand.

“Revenge.”

The comms blacked out, an immense gravity field triggered, and the entire system was locked down. The Tho Yor didn’t defend; they advanced.

Hundreds of TIE Daggers poured out to savage them, the Tho Yor latched onto enemy ships with powerful tractor beams; the Resurgent-class Star Destroyer hammered at targets with a sudden and terribly accurate ion barrage.

The ion fire was targeted at small group of ships attacking the planet itself, and not aimed at them at all - they were far from the main engagement. In their quadrant the Tho Yor advanced, turning its sides so that any fire would be unable to concentrate. From the side that turned away a portal irised and two wings of TIE Daggers emerged and used the turning gravity of the Tho Yor as a slingshot - from a flank those TIE Daggers were suddenly hurled at the starboard side of the Onager Fleet, at incredible speeds -

And the Tho Yor compounded that by firing on an Onager, and slicing their ship in two -

Alarms sounded out as a third of Sabel’s flagship spun away, the bridge exploding into a shower of sparks, as consoles overloaded, bulkheads fell, and gravity gave way, and entirely upending everyone on the deck -

And the transparisteel shattered -

Gravity grabbed at Eleodie and zhe squeezed her eyes closed -

TAG: @darthbernael

 

JAKKU

GALACTIC EAST

IC: Ark Poinard
Preparing

There was a degree of coming and going after Darth Krayt unceremoniously cut the line with an amused noise. Jaina Solo snuck off, but more pertinently the Remnant-Maw flotilla arrived.

The largest contingent save for the Tho Yor, Remal availed himself of the facilities of the Megador and had the Chimaera dock. They still had five Turbulent-class warships, six Chiss destroyers, and the four ships of the Maw fleet, and the massive Dreadnought had berths for all of them - the Remnant crewers could more swiftly reprovision and restock.

Admiral Ackbar had divided the theatres in four, with the Megador holding at Galactic North above Jakku, a single Tho Yor before them. Smaller than the Megador but larger than even the Chimaera, it was essentially a pocket Dreadnought and factory warship, and Poinard respected how dangerous it was. At close range, he feared it could chew apart the Megador, converting its seventy kilometres of hull into more copies of itself.

With the Resistance and One Sith to occupy another quadrant each, with the Jedi tackling the Sith also, Poinard appreciated being able to ignore what was extraneous to him.

The Resistance had the hardest fight; a Resurgent battlecruiser held their zone too. The fourth, unassigned Tho Yor, that was a loose end, but Poinard was of the view the Remnant contingent could handle two Tho Yor. Maybe. He kept long range turbolasers trained on their local threat anyway.

He refocused on resupply and regrouping before Natasi Daala made her way up the length of the Dreadnought. He’d arranged a ready room again, for Aryan and Lyz to talk strategy and plans with Natasi and Lecersen. But Lyz retired immediately after the meeting with Krayt, apparently to cover for Jaina, and avoided Poinard and Aryan.

Which was apparently very easy with a two million man crew.

Poinard sent regular reports to Bastion, and checked in on Adumar, which was under siege. Victories at Mon Calamari and Lexrul had been offset by the latest offensive at Adumar and maybe even Ajan Kloss, by the lack of comms from there.

But when the Resistance arrived, Poinard knew the Battle of Jakku - the counter attack - would commence. By Ackbar’s timing? This would be just as Natasi crossed the length of the Megador, which was perfect for Poinard, as he could get to fighting and not politicking. Daala had commanded dreadnoughts before, so he was looking forward to her take on matters.

He headed to the meeting too, which Lyz signalled she would be attending, an update given via comm message, which made Poinard expect awkwardness he didn’t have time for as a military man. When Remal and Daala swept into the room, Lyz entered from the other entrance, and Poinard had barely finished bowing appropriately to Aryan. It was in the viewing bridge, the throne area where Snoke had commanded his Dreadnought at the Battle of D’Qar - before the Raddus did a Holdo and hyper jumped through it.

Lyz held up a hand. “Look, Darth Krayt would have used Jaina as a bargaining chip, and Natasi, you hate Jedi and Sith and I didn’t want the two of them to get into a war aboard our ship. The Empire is supposed to be above their little wars, and that’s why we’re kicking Snoke out - “

The holoprojector in the table suddenly flickered and activated. Indeed, so did their comms. An immensely powerful transmission had just overwhelmed all their comms; Celestial tech. Just like with Centerpoint, it could push through most encryptions and protections.

The cracking voice of Emperor Snoke Palpatine. “My friends. You have all come to stop me. I appreciate the effort; but it is over - the war is done. You will have time to grieve, to suffer, to wish that you had surrendered - six months to rue your folly.” A spitting rasp. “Once more,” he crowed. “The Sith will rule the galaxy, and we shall have…”

Lyz looked at Aryan; he would feel the Force palpably darken.

“Revenge.”

The comms blacked out, an immense gravity field triggered, and Poinard and Daala suddenly had reports that the entire system was locked down. The Tho Yor didn’t defend; they advanced.

Across the theatre, hundreds of TIE Daggers poured out to savage them, the Tho Yor latched onto enemy ships with powerful tractor beams; the Resurgent-class Star Destroyer above the ground fortress hammered at targets with a sudden and terribly accurate ion barrage.

The Tho Yor nearest the Megador vanished.

It reappeared just above the immense observation bridge, immense tractor beams seizing the Megador. It had micro-jumped into point blank range.

Poinard spluttered, but they were essentially being held hostage in their own flagship. He scrambled to run, and watched as any guns that reacted quickly enough to fire were methodically cut at.

They were caught.

TAG: @HanSolo29, @Lady_Belligerent

 

JAKKU

THE CENTRE

IC: Poe Dameron
Aboard the Millennium Falcon, at a substantial pace of lightspeed

The questions of Ennis were answered as fully as the Resistance could. Poe handed to Ennis and the team heading to the surface a breakdown of what they could expect from a fully stocked Resurgent class Star Destroyer.

The modern warship was three kilometres in length, almost double the length of the Imperial Star Destroyer that the Empire had pioneered after the Clone Wars and Order 66. It carried 144 TIEs, and 8,000 Stormtroopers, as well as hundred walkers of various types. A small army, and a good fighter screen, at that.

But Poe wasn’t concerned. “I’ve blown through blockades worse than that a hundred times.”

Chewbacca had yapped in agreement. He gave the gathered Jedi, old, new, ancient a roaring speech about how the Force was with them. That they could do this, drawing parallels between the Falcon’s sneaking into the Endor system, hyper-jumping to Starkiller Base, and the assault on the signal tower in the Exegol system.

“What he said,” Poe said, grinning.

The Resistance geared up.

The Millennium Falcon had Finn, Chewbacca and Poe. Finn was quiet, but Poe had to built up momentum and Rey had her Force and destiny thing going on and Poe had his Resistance and war thing going on.

But Tirran had command of Ennis and K’Kruhk. The Whiphid regarded the two of them as they boarded. His walking stick supported him as he went. “You’re going to earn your credits either way, my friend.”

Master Vao chuckled as he led masters Zeseem and Atin-Kot up the ramp after them. Five Jedi, their lives in the hands of Tirran Huxley. “This is where the fun begins, eh?” His white eyes roved. “The blind leading the blind, eh?”

Twenty Jedi Knights boarded two transports and were in the air and hyperspace just before the Falcon; the old Corellian freighter would keep up. Tirran would have to push his ship, too.

That left Barriss, Ahsoka, Trace. The ship that belonged to them was a good one, but Ahsoka said she felt like she needed to meditate and prepare for the fight. No distractions, and their discussion forestalled… held off.

There would be a discussion between Trace and Barriss, after all, but there would be one between them all after. Inevitably, hopefully, soon.

When they all came back.

Five ships, cutting across hyperspace directly for Jakku. They’d let the planet pull them out, and decant right on top of the gravity well. The rest of the ships in the fleet - Resistance, Imperial, otherwise - would engage the Tho Yor.

All they had to do was get by one Resurgent Star Destroyer, besiege an Imperial base, and sneak in and past whatever enemy plan that held the base.

The convergence of moons and Tho Yor meant the four ships decanted from hyperspace a distance from Jakku, but they advanced fast.

Ahsoka came to the cockpit of their ship, looking resolute, but placing her hand on Barriss’s shoulder; Trace noticed, but smiled, warmly.

Masters K’Kruhk and Vao sat at the back of the cockpit with Ennis and Trace, focusing on the Force; it was dark, dark dark. Darker than Revan or Malak to Vitiate. Zeseem and Atin-Kot would hear from their Jedi - the two transports were in-system.

Five craft, and yet the most dangerous deployment the Resistance had ever sent.

From the upper most gun-well, Finn spoke up. “Giving you a trajectory, guys, we’ll keep close, rely upon our guns, and blow through whatever TIEs they manage to throw at us.”

“Yeah,” Poe said, sounding almost happy to be back in the fray after their prolonged mission chasing Rey. “We’re gonna find that Controller, and blow it up and then we’ll -“

The line cut, as they soared in-system.

The cracking voice of Emperor Snoke Palpatine. “My friends. You have all come to stop me. I appreciate the effort; but it is over - the war is done. You will have time to grieve, to suffer, to wish that you had surrendered - six months to rue your folly.” A spitting rasp. “Once more,” he crowed. “The Sith will rule the galaxy, and we shall have…”

Finn and Ahsoka and the Jedi gathered all felt the Force palpably darken.

“Revenge.”

The comms blacked out, an immense gravity field triggered, and the entire system was locked down. The Tho Yor didn’t defend; they advanced.

Hundreds of TIE Daggers poured out to savage them, the Tho Yor latched onto enemy ships with powerful tractor beams; the Resurgent-class Star Destroyer hammered at targets with a sudden and terribly accurate ion barrage.

Finn suddenly realised a second too late -

“They’re using the Force to target us!”

A bolt hit Tirran’s ship, sending an ion charge through all systems - including those of his suit -

One of the Jedi landers blew, and twenty lives were extinguished -

Barriss’s ship was jostled by the explosion, slamming Trace to the console and leaving her dazed with a bloody forehead -

The Falcon was ablaze -

They were all heading down.

On target, but all very, very damaged.

Snoke had them where he wanted them.

Finn had a vision in that moment, of Rey, and Kylo Ren, his blade cutting her through. But he wasn’t there. Nor was he going to be there.

He had to trust Rey.

Trust in the Force.

But as they became more shrapnel than ship, he had to wonder as to the dark sense of humour the Force had.

Especially when a dozen TIEs were sent their way; to follow them down and finish the job.

And in the middle of it all?

Adrias Stark.

Unseen, missed, having inserted in-system before everything.

His E-wing was unnoticed.

But he could see and sense Jedi friends aboard those five - now four - ships. Going down, with TIEs screaming towards them.

What would he do?

TAG: @CosmoHender, @Mitth_Fisto, @darthbernael, @TheAdmiral, @Mistress_Renata

 

AJAN KLOSS

IC: Rey Skywalker
The Final Eclipse

Her shuttle arrived.

The dark side was as oppressive here as it had been on Exegol, the entire black, cavernous Super Star Destroyer an angular temple to the Sith.

Snoke was here.

Kylo Ren too.

Other lights, smaller than her own but burning as incredibly in their own right, were fighting down a smaller dreadnought, the Knife 9, and causing their own little miracles. Her heart ached for Falen, for Axtine, for Connix and what remained of the Resistance High Command - for the refugees who had fled Mon Calamari only to end up trapped here.

The enormity of what she had to do was overwhelming enough without saving them.

She had no-one.

But then, a glimmer in the Force; another Jedi. Jaina was here. The Sword.

Rey turned her ship towards the Eclipse, sure that Jaina would have her back.

—-
The Throne Room

The trap was sprung.

Here, at Jakku, at Adumar.

With strikes at Kashyyyk, Roon, Arkinnea and Mon Calamari, he'd corralled his foes to commit to one grand and final offensive - at Jakku. They had overcommitted, and they were done.

Snoke was free to do as he pleased.

Almost.

Rey was here.

Jaina was here.

In a single master stroke, he would have all he needed. Cutting off Kylo Ren, he turned his hand. "Go."

He directed Kylo Ren to the hangar Rey had chosen.

Their final confrontation was at hand.

Did Kylo Ren know?

Did Rey?

Had their battle’s on Kamino revealed the truth?

Snoke did not know; nor did he care.

He simply directed his crew to leave the way from the other hangar to his Throne room free.

For Jaina.

Snoke would deal with her himself.

He tilted his head, waiting for the pieces to get into place, watching the magnification iris, a globe of glass showing the engagement between Knife 9 and a handful of incredibly irritating Jedi. Annoyed, and also that he did not have Knights of Ren to sic on them, he gave an order.

Two dozen TIEs left the defensive screen around the Eclipse and advanced on the defenceless refugees. He ordered the crew to seal off the compromised levels of the Knife 9 and scuttle the ship; to take potshots at civilians. Let Falen and Axtine deal with them; maybe it would distract Jaina, or Rey, to know that millions were in danger.

He had nearly a hundred TIEs left.

He had time.

The Resistance had none.

TAG: @greyjedi125 (combo), @Lady_Belligerent (combo), @Sarge, @ConservativeJedi321

 

THE HEART

IC: Zorii Bliss

It had been a long time since Zorii had felt this hopeless.

She’d managed to follow the route of transports and supplies corralled across the galaxy. Been on the verge of discovery and death a dozen times in the arduous trip from Anaxes to Coruscant to… here.

It was a world in the Colonies, she reckoned, but as someone who spent most of her life in the Rim - at Kijimi, Bonadan and elsewhere, she didn’t immediately recognise the stars.

Zorii knew the Empire had boiled out of the Deep Core with the Eclipse Fleet, and she’d been expecting to see those all-too-close constellations.

But it didn’t matter where she was.

She knew what she was looking at.

It wasn’t complete, she knew that much; the local star hadn’t been consumed to power it, to be funnelled through a Kyber heart…



TAG: No One

 

OOC: Fun combo with our GM

IC: Romulus, Remus, and Nihl
Aboard the Stardust Envoy, the hangar, Anaxes

Remus had only returned to the bridge as the Fury approached to land in the hangar. She’d made sure that Romulus had been secured in a bacta tank, a heavy sedative introduced into his system. The way his mind was screaming and fighting itself meant that she, and hopefully their father, would have to fix her brother’s mind before he could be fully awakened.

She looked out of the viewscreen, took in who was standing and waiting for the craft to land. ”Oh wonderful. But…” she brushed back her hair with one hand, ”considering who they believe onboard…” she glanced at Nihl with a wry grin.

Her eyes narrowed in consideration, ”Well…we are Knights of Ren so…they would expect us to be here, with the Emperor. Which means we can be as brusque and standoffish as we desire, to them.”

Pointing at Phasma in her shining armor, ”The Admiral and her we could, yes. Not so sure about the one in the Grand Moff uniform, he has a funny feel to him.”

Romulus was giving a repeat instruction, again and again.

Go to Jakku and trigger the Contingency.

Go to Jakku and trigger the Contingency.

Go to Jakku and trigger the Contingency.

Nihl pursed his lips at Rem. "If you think we can do this, by all means. You can start the bluff." He retrieved his saberstaff, set it beside him and thought intimidating. Arranged his expression accordingly, and palmed the ramp release on their crippled ship.

Rem could feel the instructions hammering at Rom’s mind as Nihl spoke. ”Can you feel that too? I’m only getting the edges as the command is trying to revive Kuruk in Rom’s mind.” she said as she slid her blaster rifle around by its strap. Her other hand lifted her helmet, sliding it down onto her head.

As the display came up, she turned to Nihl, ”Time to bluff our way through yet another group.”

She nodded, beginning to walk to the main hatch. Stopping just inside it, she let an air of impatience and annoyance fill her senses and features, ”The Emperor has taken to the quarters he chose, I will be your liaison while you are aboard. Only the Knights aboard are allowed in his presence.” Menace and dislike filled her tone as she spoke.

Phasma stood to attention. The Knights of Ren were Lords in the Grand Design, so she had to take them seriously.

Arek Graul glanced from Mareek Steele to the Nagai pair, and spoke up. "I do hope the Emperor is... well. We heard that there had been an assassination attempt by Rey Skywalker and Jaina Solo Fel."

His tone had a slight hopeful note to it, and Phasma tilted her helmeted head slightly, as if she had heard his wish that Snoke was incapacitated. That he was clearly sowing doubt.

Nihl glared at Arek, but the ship sparked and the Nagai spoke up. "We will not allow you to see him, and his ship is damaged; we will convey his wishes to you in due course."

"So he wants us to go to the Final Area? The weapon is not yet ready, we will need to hold Anaxes to divert the flow of supplies for weeks, if not months," Phasma said, firmly.

"The weapon?" Arek opined, and Stele glared at him, the old fighter pilot unimpressed by his inability to stay quiet.

But he did look to Rem. "Well?"

The discussion was quite informative to Rem about the current state of Snoke’s empire. It certainly was feeling less the monolithic entity that the Emperor tried to portray. Her helmet turned toward the one that asked about the Emperor’s condition. As the silver armored one tilted her head at the young man Rem let a derisive snort escape through the speaker of her helmet.

”The Emperor would not be harmed by the likes of those.” she said coldly.

She was most intrigued by this young man and if he was as open as he was seeming now she wondered how he would be once he was aboard the Fury if he did. Otherwise, if she could get him apart from the other two she would, to quiz him.

When the older man turned toward her she turned to face him as well. ”We go where we are commanded, when we are commanded to do so, by the Emperor. Whether the weapon is ready or not, our presence there will encourage our foes to waste resources valuable to them as they futilely assault our position.”

Nihl cast a head to look around the hangar. There was a sleek black command shuttle, a TIE Whisper/Interceptor, and a First Order TIE Defender. The Fury sagged slightly, one of its supporting struts giving way.

“The Emperor has kept hidden the weapon for twenty years. He would not encourage our enemies to attack it before it’s ready; he would not repeat the mistakes of Endor.” Phasma’s senses shifted, and suddenly her command baton popped up into a spear, directing for Rem’s eye.

Nihl ignited his blade and leapt in, swinging for Phasma’s waist and the lightsaber bounced off the armour there -

Then a blaster bolt spanged off the hilt, directly between his hands, and was sent flying from them; Mareek Stele had his sidearm in hand. However Arek Graul was backing away, diving behind a metal box of supplies -

Rem found herself suddenly in combat and this time she didn’t have to hold back. The young man who dived away was of lesser worry at the moment. What was was the spear coming for her face. Her head swayed, letting the spear screech across the side of her helmet, creasing the metal there as she reacted in turn.

Her ST-W48 swung up at the same time that she reached out in the Force to grab Nihl’s saber hilt and fling it back toward him. A cold smile was on her face as she felt the spear still trying to destroy her helmet and then her head. Hitting the secondary trigger on her blaster rifle the underslung quarrel launcher spat one of the explosive bolts it carried, directly at the shiny armored woman who had attacked her.

The armour took the shell but it did propel Phasma back, her cloak flapping and the spear tumbling away -

Nihl held out his hand, but a surge in the Force sped it up so the blade thrust towards Rem -

Stele had used the Force!

Phasma rolled to her feet, producing a small but powerful blaster and hurling bolts at Nihl, who sprang away, shots dabbling the hangar floor. He clawed his hands and hurled lightning at Phasma, but the lightning rebounded off -

A bolt caught Nihl in the clavicle -

Stele had already turned his blaster on Rem -

Rem had dropped the Pull when the saber had started flying towards Nihl. But, when it shifted course and flew toward her, she growled, pushing off the ramp as hard as she could, launching herself sideways and down, out of the way of the flying weapon, Pushing at it now as well, away from her.

Rolling as she hit the deck, she came up, her blaster drawn and facing Stele even as his blaster turned toward her. A cold smile formed on her lips, even as she pressed both triggers, the blaster firing milliseconds before the quarrel launcher spat another both forth again.

Stele shot the quarrel as it emerged from the blaster! The detonation erupted in front of Rem even as Phasma stood and shoulder barged Nihl down - and out.

Arek Graul had not been idle, sliding around the edge of the fight towards the ramp of the Fury -

Rem let the explosion push her backward, as the fragments peppered her armor. From the corner of her eye…her eyes narrowed and one hand slipped from the blaster that was buzzing with a malfunction, probably having a bit of debris jammed in the outlet for the rifle or the quarrel launcher, didn’t matter. That hand moved…fast…a dagger gone from her belt and flying through the air toward the moving Arek. She called out, as she turned her fall backward into a roll, ”Situation Omega, thirty second countdown, override only by Remus. Initiate.” she spoke to the Fury.

Arek held up a hand and the dagger was caught in an invisible Force grip and sent tumbling away, and he was up the ramp.

Whatever Rem had set into motion, it didn’t stop Phasma rolling forward, scooping her spear from the burning hangar deck, and driving it with a roar at her as she came back up, transferring most of her forward motion into the thrust -

Stele squeezed a hand and a throat grab followed -

The blaster rifle dropped as Rem’s hands rose, Pushing toward the woman and creating a pressure between herself and Phasma. The battle had devolved and, as the main hatch began to shut she let out a laugh that became a strangled one as Stele began to squeeze.

Her head turned as well as it could, under the pressure, Phasma still approaching through her Push. The glint of her eyes could be seen through the helmet as she spoke, in a strangled tone. ”Fools…yes, kill me or incapacitate me. And then be prepared to find out what the afterlife entails. But choose quickly, surrender or we all die.”

Behind her a metallic voice sounded, Twenty seconds…fifteen seconds…, coming from the Fury itself.

Phasma was shoved back, and Stele hesitated, releasing the grip. There may have been an impasse if not for Nihl coming too and a bolt of lightning catching Stele in the throat, dropping him.

Nihl sidled up to Rem. “What are you doing to our ship?” He glared at the woman.

She laughed, after clearing her throat. ”Using it as a weapon.” she said firmly. As the countdown continued, reaching ten, she called into the ship, ”I’d back out of there slowly if I were you.” even as she kept an eye on Phasma.

Calling out again as the countdown reached five, ”Situation Omega continues, cease countdown but unless the one aboard fails to emerge or the armored woman makes another move, immediate destruction authorized.” she instructed the ship.

Speaking to Nihl once again without removing her attention from Phasma, ”There are other vessels here and, while dad would…tear through whoever caused me to destroy it…he’d agree with me doing so, if needed.”

Arek Graul was aboard the strange ship, yes, but he was looking for whatever it was that they needed to protect. These Nagai had been Knights of Ren; the Grand Moff needed an angle to bring back to his father, and dark Jedi in his pocket would be that. His own latent Force senses led him the rest of the way - to the Nagai.

Arek recognised his opportunity straight away, and fished a comlink out, connecting it to the hangar. “This is Graul. That’s a bluff, and a particularly poor one at that. There’s a Knight here, another Nagai, and I can sense the familial bond. Either step down, Knights of Ren, or you kill your sibling.”

Phasma checked on Stele, his body spasming. His pulse was strong but thready, which meant she was alone. Fine. “Graul, did you call for support?”

He replied. “I did. Shadowtroopers will be here soon.”

Nihl looked vexed. “We lost.” He deactivated his lightsaber as it settled in his hand, and began stalking off towards the three ships. The teen looked over his shoulder. “I’m leaving. In-fact, I’m entirely done. I want to get as far away from Snoke and Phasma and his weapon while we can.”

A snort from Phasma. “Nowhere in the galaxy will be safe for you.”

The young man hesitated. “Then I won’t stay in this galaxy.” He spread his arms. “My friend here, she’d choose death over an indentured life. Let us go, let all three of us go, and we don’t kill us all. That Fury, right there; it has enough juice left in it to turn this cruiser into ash and you with it. I’m sure of it.”

He took a step back towards Rem, and for a moment his eyes were softer. “Come with me. We’ll go home. Find help for your brother. Get away from all this…” his skin lightened to the Nagai hue of a blush. “I don’t want you to die here.”

Rem had to hold back a wild laugh as she heard the response from the young man aboard the Fury. ”You do not listen well, my companion here knows of that which he speaks.”

She faced Phasma and Stele, ”I faced every being in the galaxy I needed to, killed them when they hid information on my brother’s location, until I found him once more. I can tell you, for a fact, he’d rather I let him die here than become what he was made, again.” her tone was cold but sincere.

”You can keep this twisted remnant of a galaxy if you wish, release all three of us, we will go home, and leave you to the ashes here. Or,” her eyes blazed through the helmet, ”I’m sure your Emperor would be quite disappointed in you all when all three of you are dead and an expensive cruiser is expanding debris.”

Glancing at Nihl, ”Based on your last examination of the Fury, will it get us home?” she asked, shifting her attention and eyeing the other three craft in the hangar.

Nihl snorted softly. “No way.”

Arek spoke from the top of the ramp. “Well then, we release you. To trouble the Empire no more, but you will never return.”

Phasma stiffened, but even she saw an impasse. Someone was going to die here; it wasn't clearcut who. Someone would, and she didn't want it to be her. "The Defender is the personal ship of the Emperor's Eye," she indicated Stele. "It stays; the rest are irrelevant to me. They will be stripped of command codes, and you may leave.”

Her voice was haughty.

Graul’s voice was softer as the Grand Moff stepped down the ramp, held out a hand for Rem to shake. “Well?”

Rem snorted, ”I think you’d be in more trouble than you already will be in if you left the codes for us to know and use.” she replied to Phasma.

She left Stele for last, looking down at Arek’s hand, before she removed her battered helmet. Her fiery eyes met his, ”You attempted to be the second being to take my brother from me. We may be leaving but the Nagai will never forget.”

Walking past him she entered the main lounge of the Fury. Tapping at a secondary console of the holo table, a panel flipped open at the side. Pressing a pair of buttons the mechs of the ship approached, ”Disconnect the bacta tank, take it to the command shuttle, and install it there. Then lock yourselves down aboard that ship.”

The droids set about their work as she set about her own. The main database had already downloaded to her pad but she compared her pad to the ship’s memory, downloading everything else the first download had missed. That done, she entered a sequence of commands, watching as the tank went past, droids carrying it carefully.

Once the command string was input, she closed the panel, walking back to the ramp and Nihl, ”We’re going home, you take the Whisper and I’ll take the command shuttle, with my brother onboard.”

Walking past him, seeing the droids boarding the shuttle, she stopped before Stele, ”Emperor’s Eye, you do not see everything. Nor does he. This galaxy may end up his entirely, but never leave it, the universe at large wants nothing to do with your corruption.”

She stalked past then, heading toward the shuttle as a series of muffled detonations occurred inside the Fury. The command string had not only purged every computer aboard, it had destroyed the hardware, both hyperdrives, and the cloaking engine. She nodded, then walked halfway up the ramp of the shuttle, glancing back at Nihl, ”Home awaits.” she said, with wonder at what they would find.

TAG: @Sinrebirth

 

OOC: Double post approved by GM.

IC: Atin-Kot
Battle of Jakku

The flight to Jakku had been a quiet one for Atin-Kot, for the first half of the trip, at least. That was, until he was woken from a deep, nightmare troubled sleep, as a voice he’d not heard, a presence he’d not felt, echoed from his lips. ”Jakku…the End…come now!” the hollow voice sounded. He’d not felt the wave of energy as the summons that had been sent washed over him but it awoke the traces of his past of the ‘guest’ who had guided him that still resided in the recesses of his soul.

The remainder of the flight, after considering and discarding, talking to Zeseem about it, discarding the thought as he did not wish to trouble his battle brother even more, he spent pacing the small length of the ship they were aboard. His mind raced, worry and not a small amount of fear touched his thoughts. Nothing, not even the torture or deep mental pain of the long millennia came close to the fear of what those hollow words had said.

Arriving at Jakku did little to alleviate those fears, crowding the bridge with their pilot, looking out of the viewscreen at what awaited them. Where they had arrived offered them the opportunity to see almost all of the battle sphere and his oddly shaped mouth let out a mournful whistle. Just as he began to speak, ”Trap…it’s a…” darkness, deep and deeper still, in the Force slammed against his senses. No sooner had that happened then words emerged from the speakers of the comm, a voice he didn’t recognize but one that dripped with the dark side of the Force spoke to all that had gathered.

The moment the voice finished speaking chaos was let loose in the system. The navigation computer shrieked out a warning, the system was cut off from the rest of the galaxy. The Resurgent before them began to fire, and TIEs stormed from the hangars of that massive vessel.

He felt the instant that the Jedi they were to have led were obliterated, closer but more painful than the deaths of the others around them due to proximity. And then his mind began to roil. He staggered, bouncing off their pilot a moment before the ion bolt hit their ship, frying systems and causing who knows what to the pilot in his suit. He staggered again as he hit the bulkhead.

Looking up at Zessem, horror in his eyes and features, ”This…all this…is not even the true battle…” he moaned out. One hand rose, shaking, even as the ship dipped, began to roar toward the surface of Jakku, touching his temple, ”I can see…am there…no idea how but I am…” he managed to get out.

With one hand clamped firmly onto one strut, that same hand moved from his temple, gesturing shakily toward the desert planet as they raced towards its surface. ”The End of Time has come…” not realizing his voice had taken on a similar hollow tone to the voice that had woken him earlier. ”The shards have been called…Beyond Shadows we fight, to keep the galaxy alive…”

He could feel the TIEs drawing nearer but the war in his mind was all he could see, all he could feel. His essence itself, conditioned by three and a half millennia of mind numbing wakefulness, managed to keep from being fully pulled from his body but he felt as though he was in both places at once, almost as though the ship flattening speed they were headed down at was slowly easing that fissure of his self, as the two parts of his essence came closer to merging once more.

Once again his blazing yellow eyes turned toward his battle brother, ”We must…must get there…must keep the First Darkness from winning…”

TAG: @Sinrebirth, @CosmoHender, @Mitth_Fisto, @Mistress_Renata, @TheAdmiral