Dragus
The Sith Eternal
In front of the Empire, to all you Vader haters out there. We'll blow your planet up.
Posts: 1,409
Affiliation: Sith Eternal
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Post by Dragus on Sept 12, 2023 20:10:56 GMT -8
Three massive engine cones burned cobalt blue in the cold void, bleeding trailing wisps of radioactive particulate as the Tector-class Star Destroyer 'Nightlord' broke from its lunar orbit. The blackened shard of ruinous quandanium steel glided across the system towards the nearest hyperlane, its impervium ramming prow gleaming beneath the starlight as it slowly began to accelerate. In a brilliant flash of light, the dreadnought leapt to hyperspace, departing the system.
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Viggo Grimborn
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Affiliation: The Thrill of the Hunt and the Sound of Credits
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Post by Viggo Grimborn on Sept 15, 2023 14:06:11 GMT -8
As the Shellfire made its way into orbit, Viggo came onto the bridge. Moving to the droids in charge of plotting their course, he gave them his orders. "Set course for Fresia. It time to get us another ship."
With a single roger, the coordinates were inputted and the ship leapt forward into hyperspace. |
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Dragus
The Sith Eternal
In front of the Empire, to all you Vader haters out there. We'll blow your planet up.
Posts: 1,409
Affiliation: Sith Eternal
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Post by Dragus on Oct 1, 2023 8:16:22 GMT -8
Hakusar's Hook, an immobilizer 418 cruiser of the Fleet of Famine, was rechristened as the 'Black Talon' as a part of the reorganization of the Dark Apothecary's fleet bound forces. It was joined by Battlegroup Neebray of the Greater Roon Remnant 2nd Fleet, which took up the previous position held by the Night Lord near Ryloth's largest moon and the former site of Moff Delian Mors command centre. Primarily the fleet formation safeguarded the shipments of Doonium and Ryll spice throughout the Abrion Sector, but they weren't limited to protecting military and mercantile supply lines. The Dark Apothecary, well renowned for his sweet-tooth, had developed a liking of pondon sweet-tarts. Orchards of the hardy fruit blossomed across the systems inhabited moons, destined for the fine china plates of Roon's upper tier ranks and high society.
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Dragus
The Sith Eternal
In front of the Empire, to all you Vader haters out there. We'll blow your planet up.
Posts: 1,409
Affiliation: Sith Eternal
Traffic Light: Blue
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Post by Dragus on Jan 21, 2024 0:54:18 GMT -8
Slipping out of hyperspace, the Scarab emerged just shy of one of Ryloth's moons, a nameless green and blue orb that had been transformed into a game reserve with a diverse mix of wildlife. Behind the controls, Jake Garret brought the Svelte-class shuttle into the satellite's atmosphere, easing off the throttle as turbulence rocked the ship. Wisps of smoke rose off the ashy end of the deathstick hanging from his lip, while his right hand reached for the open bottle of namana liquor sitting in the cup holder beside him. Taking his hands off the controls, he stubbed out the butt in an ash tray attached to the console dash and took a swig from the bottle, savoring the burn before returning it to the holder. It didn't take the edge off, not even the spice could do that, but he did enjoy the tickling sensation it had on his throat. Guiding the shuttle down to the surface, he flipped a toggle to extend the landing gear and settled onto a smooth patch of grass surrounded on all sides by forest wilderness. It took him a minute to run through the shutdown mode, then he swiveled around in his seat and headed for the rear hatch, pausing just long enough to grab his heavy repeater and pack from where they were hanging on the wall.As he walked down the ramp, he raised a hand to his brow to block out the sun while his eyes adjusted to his surroundings. It was mostly for show in case he was being watched. Never hurt to appear human, even if was far superior in just about every conceivable way. His senses, which were highly attuned, did hear and smell anyone else in his immediate vicinity. He lifted a gloved hand and scratched the stubble on his chin.Good, he didn't need any complications for this extraction. Unslinging his rifle, he checked his ammunition counter, then returned it to his arm when he was satisfied. Taking out his pack of smokes, he gave the rectangular container a quick pat until a thin deathstick slid out and plopped it in his mouth. Ritual. Removing a portable lighter from his armorweave longcoat pocket, he lit the end, then set off into the wilderness. It didn't take long to immerse himself in the difficult terrain, watching for exposed roots threatening to trip him while at all times listening for sounds of predators.He doubted there was anything that could kill him, but the moon was known to be host to a number of dangerous creatures, such as the narglatch or tusk cat. He was prepared for possible run-ins. His quarry was an even more dangerous predator, believe it or not. Razor sharp fangs, a hide resistant to vibro-blades, and big. Very big. He grinned, exhaling smoke as he worked his way towards the swamp he had seen on his descent. That was alright. He enjoyed a challenge.
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Dragus
The Sith Eternal
In front of the Empire, to all you Vader haters out there. We'll blow your planet up.
Posts: 1,409
Affiliation: Sith Eternal
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Post by Dragus on Mar 11, 2024 6:49:12 GMT -8
Sinuous as a serpent, Jake crouched and crawled his way through the brush, sometimes down on his belly when he needed to move stealthily or squeeze his muscular frame through a tight space. His Imperial heavy repeated was slung across his back, allowing him to use his hands to pull his body forwards, sliding across mud and slick branches that had made a mess of his previously clean armour-weave long-coat. In those rare moments where his senses told him he was really truly alone, he stopped to light up a deathstick, savouring the narcotic euphoria that took the edge of his heightened state of existence, if only for a moment before his bio-engineered DNA purged the toxins from his body. Resting on the ground with his back against the gnarled trunk of an old oak tree, the NJX slid a gloved hand into his coat, digging through a pocket hidden in the lining to retrieve a sheet of flimplast. Unfolding the thing square sheet, he opened up a map on the area captured by a scout fighter patrol seven days earlier, studying the terrain between him current position and the target area. He still had a ways to go. Maybe he should have set down somewhere closer. Scratching the stubble on his chin, he put away the map and got back to his feet, taking a moment to scrap the mud off the soles of his boots on the roots of the tree he'd been taking shelter under.
It was only as his body straightened that his posture seemed to freeze in place, his eyes going wide and his breath caught in his throat as his hyper-attuned senses alerted him to another presence. Slowly he turned his head to the right, brow narrowing as he squinted at the forest darkness, spying two glowing yellow eyes peering back at him. His left leg slid back through the mud, while his upper body attempted to maneuver his rifle sling around, which was when the creature in the dark chose to attack. Bursting from the brush was a large narglatch, sweeping lethal claws at the Nu-Jake as it pounced at him, carving through the air like a deadly scythe but failing to find purchase in the gene-forged soldier. Garret moved too quickly. By the time that first sweep of claw came for him, he was already bounding into a forwards roll through the mud that saw him rise up six feet away and turn, his repeater muzzle following the flowing feline form of the predator hunting him. He grabbed the bottom of the barrel with his free hand and pulled the trigger with the other, unleashing super-sonic metallic spikes that blasted from end of his rifle, ripping into the feline-xeno's flank. Alien blood misted the air and the acrid stink of discharged gunpowder tickled Jake's nose.
Not enough to kill the beast, the barrage of slug fire caused the narglatch to bound behind a tree before sprinting through the brush, circling the NJX as it tried to find an opening to attack. Brushing smoke away from the muzzle, Jake reached forwards and turned on the ultra-sonic vibration generator of the vibro-bayonet attached to the front of his heavy repeater, causing the long length of sharpened durasteel to glow orange as the metal vibrated and superheated. Grinning ferally, he lowered the blazing edge and motioned towards the wild jungle cat with his other hand, beckoning it forwards. "Here, kitty-kitty." Snarling, the narglatch pounced, surging out of the brush once more to attack him from a different angle. This time he was ready for it, twisting to face the large felinoid, planting his feet as he thrust his arms forwards. The bayonet tip punched its way into the beast's sternum and slipped down its stomach, opening its guts as the leap that carried it into its attack also created enough momentum to drag its torso across Jake's blade. The result was that the narglatch landed just past Garrett, who had already spun a hundred and eighty degrees to face towards his prey. The jungle cat collapsed as its guts spilled out onto the damp earth, steaming in a pile of offal sure to draw other predators.
Switching off the vibration function of his bayonet, he detached it from the barrel of his rifle and wielded it like a dagger, using the knife to saw into the dead narglatch's mouth as he extracted one of its large canine teeth. Wiping his wet trophy on his already filthy coat, he tucked it away in his pocket and slung his rifle back across his back. Delayed but not defeated, he continued on into the next leg of his journey, smelling the bog water of the swamp he was looking for not much further ahead.
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Dragus
The Sith Eternal
In front of the Empire, to all you Vader haters out there. We'll blow your planet up.
Posts: 1,409
Affiliation: Sith Eternal
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Post by Dragus on Jul 14, 2024 6:44:25 GMT -8
In high orbit over the outer most moon of Ryloth, a Victory-I-class Star Destroyer cast a long shadow across the surface of the satellite, maintaining a synchronous position above a doonium refinery on the ground below. The facility had stopped reporting in about a week ago, sometime during when the coup was taking place on the Nullus Beacon, thus it had been a while before a force was sent out to investigate. In this case, the crew of the 'Abomination', who were tasked with finding out what happened and assessing whether or not the refinery was still salvageable. Based on the view from the main screen of the bridge, Captain Sevatarion suspected the damaged was caused be a meteorite impact, as a similar sized crater appeared to have been hammered into the centre of the facility. His own assessment complete, the Captain dispatched a recon force of two LAATs to the surface, each carrying a squad of gene crafted Nu-Jakes kitted out in Sith Trooper armour. The silent clone soldiers swayed in the enclosed compartments of the vacuum sealed transports as they dropped out of the star destroyer's ventral hangar and launched towards the surface. Based on the moon's current rotation, the refinery was on the satellite's night side, shrouded in shadows that flickered off flames aloud to run wild in the absence of factory slaves.Cones of yellow light illuminated the landing site as the two circling LAATs came into land, setting down on the rust red Rylothian dirt long enough to disembark twenty-four crimson gammaplast troopers, split into groups of twelve with each team led by a Sovereign Protector wielding the two pronged SP-B50 blaster rifle. The first generation Nu-Jake soldiers carried the SE's preferred choice of arm, the ST-W48 in rifle configuration, bracing the stock of the firearm against their shoulder pauldrons as they spread out from the transports to cover all angles of approach. The motion trackers mounted on their shoulders detected no traces of movement apart from the occasional distortions caused by the unchecked fires. Jake Keen, the NJ3 leading first squad, checked his hand held life-form scanner. The device wasn't picking up anything, including life signs of any of the staff that were supposed to be housed here. Strange. There was obvious damage at the heart of the facility, but nothing including the unchecked fires running rampant throughout the refinery that should have incapacitated or killed those stationed there. He bent down as he observed a unusual puddle of slime, bubbling like black oil on the dirt, exuding an acrid steam that strained the respirator built into Jake's helmet. Extending the vibro-blade on his pronged weapon, he dipped the edge of the blade into the viscous substance, causing it to hiss and react violently. Retracting the dagger, he saw blemishes and spots in the face of the blade where the acidic nature of the puddle had eaten through the Imperial steel."That's disconcerting." Said the Sovereign Protector, lifting his gaze as he got back to his feet, only to observe several such puddles of goo spread across the courtyard surrounding the crater. It was then that he heard a warning cry from a voice sounding identical to his own, warning the squads over the shared communications channel. Hostile contacts! A chorus of blaster fire barked from the muzzle ended of roaring blaster carbines as they lit the night, discharging crimson bolts of energized gas into the darkness. It took the tracking hardware Darth Astera had designed into Commmander Keen's helmet visor to get a lock on the enemy units emerging from broken holes in the refinery walls. They were big, easily as large as a ranat-ogre, but standing atop four insectile mandibles attached to a bulbous thorax. Four more pincer tipped limbs extended from the creatures abdomen, comprised of an armour hard chitin. As the bugs appeared, the Sith Troopers fired into them mercilessly, concentrating their fire to bring each bug down with limited success. Jake soon realized why as the collaborating software between his J-20 electroscope and visor identified the attacking insects. "Scree!" He shouted, just in time to see one of the bugs spew a curtain of corrosive juices onto the nearest Nu-Jakes. The fast acting acid quickly ate through the sealed gammaplast plate of their Sith Trooper armour and boiled alive the clone inside, whose unwillingness to cry out in obvious pain meant he died in agonizing silence."Grenades!" He instructed his men, firing his two pronged blaster with one hand practically point blank into a Scree abdomen, as he plucked an incendiary grenade from his belt. He popped the pin free with his thumb and hurled the deadly cylinder into one of the holes through which the bugs were appearing, where it detonated seconds later in a fiery pyroclastic cloud, driving several insect attackers back. More bangs erupted around the courtyard as the Sith Troopers backed away in a coordinated tactical retreat, covering one another as they moved to the southern edge of the refinery. The further they got from the impact crater at the centre of the facility, the fewer insects seemed influenced to follow them, until they were pursued by only the most stubborn Scree, which were summarily put down in a flurry of concentrated bolts. They regrouped just outside the refinery perimeter, while Commander Keen got into contact with Captain Sevatarion and asked for reinforcements.Acknowledged. Responded the Captain of the Abomination, an NJX whose tailored genes were advanced beyond even a third generation Nu-Jake like Commander Keen. Drop-pods on route to your location. Your orders have been updated. Obtaining a Scree specimen is now your highest priority. Secure one of those bugs and then extract your team via LAAT gunship. We'll level the refinery site from orbit once you complete your mission. Captain Sevatarion, out.
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Dragus
The Sith Eternal
In front of the Empire, to all you Vader haters out there. We'll blow your planet up.
Posts: 1,409
Affiliation: Sith Eternal
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Post by Dragus on Aug 10, 2024 9:17:17 GMT -8
"Easier said than done." Commander Keen barked back over the Abomination's open communication channel, before pulling the pin on a thermobaric grenade and hurling it over the front ranks of the soldiers under his command. "Take cover!" He roared, giving his men precious few seconds to shield themselves before the explosive detonated in a fiery kinetic blast that showered them all in bug parts and slime. Shaking debris from his cape, the NJ3 raised his two pronged blaster and snarled a command at his troops. "Give them all you got!" It was tough going even with state of the art ST-W48 blasters, whose crimson bolts barely penetrated the armoured carapace of the alien Scree. The soldiers closest quickly switched to their underslung quarrel launchers and began dissecting the insects like battlefield surgeons as they blasted off chitin covered mandibles with each shot, giving ground inch by inch as more of the creatures emerged from the refinery. The squads heavy weapons troopers had greater success as they went prone and swiveled their tripod mounted FWMB-10 repeating blasters from side to side, sweeping hot laser across the first row of the disturbed nest, punching steaming holes through bug carapace that boiled their gooey innards into a congealed stew. All things considered, the situation was looking rather grim to Commander Keen, who'd been forced to get in close and dispatch one of the horrific Scree with the vibro-blade prong of his ceremonial weapon. It wouldn't be enough. Already the first of the red gammaplast Sith Troopers he had brought with him were going down, pierced by gnarly alien pincers and torn apart by gnashing fangs, while long proboscis sucked the brains out of their skulls. "Pull back!" The Sovereign Protector shouted, backing towards the edge of the cliff the installation precariously bordered. He felt his the ground give beneath his heel as he reached the end of the line, forming a last wall of resistance as the Scree closed in around them.Just then as all seemed lost, a flaming orange twin-tailed meteorite flashed by overhead and struck the refinery's heart, impacting with enough force to flatten the nearby invasive insects infesting the facility. Black smoke rolled out the rapidly cooling armoured hulls of two drop pods smouldering at the base of a crater, their protective outer shell still glowing orange from atmospheric entry. Gas hissed along the pods seams as they unsealed, dropping ramp arms to reveal unlit interiors that contained red eyed demonic beasts. Mutant Doashim harvested from the subterranean caverns deep below the City Beneath the Mountain, cursed Kala'uun on Mother Ryloth. Mechanical implants with jutting antenna appeared to have been surgically attached to their horned skulls, allowing the domesticated predators to receive wireless commands from their handlers back aboard the Abomination in orbit. Six of the black scaled monsters, three per pod, emerged and immediately went on the prowl. Gladius length talons stabbed and tore the chitin off of shrieking Scree as the sithspawned hunters tackled down their prey and gorged themselves on insect flesh. The effect was dramatic and offered the troopers some relief as the drones they found themselves facing moments ago turned from their relentless pursuit and attempted to help their kin deal with the reptilian beasts.Bane-Shrike incoming. Said a voice in Commander Keen's ear moments before an LAAT came swooping by overhead. The emerald composite beams of its ball turrets cut through the ranks of the Scree in seconds, while streaking mass driver rounds sent the warrior drones scurrying for the safety of their bug holes. This was their chance. Jake lowered his ceremonial blaster and looked to the man to his right. "This is our chance. Come on!" Through the chaos of primal combat and a storm of resulting explosions, the NJ3 led his men back into the refinery grounds, concentrating their fire to ward off suicidal Scree, and coordinating where they could to take out enough limbs to disable suitable specimens for collection.
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Dragus
The Sith Eternal
In front of the Empire, to all you Vader haters out there. We'll blow your planet up.
Posts: 1,409
Affiliation: Sith Eternal
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Post by Dragus on Nov 10, 2024 10:24:36 GMT -8
Two amethyst streaks winked into existence and zipped across the star system, barely visible against the dotted black canvas of space as it approached Ryloth's outer most moon, a natural orbital satellite without a name. Once upon a time it had belonged to Heeth Panteer, a native of Alderaan fortunate enough to be off world when the Empire destroyed his home planet, but in recent centuries it had largely been ignored. As the two streaks slowed to sublight speeds, they were revealed as purple painted starships, flying in tandem as they entered lunar orbit. One was a C-9979 landing craft, a familiar sight in Sith Eternal occupied space, while the second was a far less common HCT-2001 Dragonboat-class Reugeot 905 freighter donated to the Dragner Group by the CEO of DragCorp Industries after hiring the private military contractors for a specific mission. Painted in the Dark Apothecary's signature purple, the dragonboat was nicknamed the 'Dragusboat'. Both transports were loaded with refurbished Trandoshan equipment, including hover pods and incinerator tanks. The moment the two vessels entered the upper atmosphere, the freighter pulled ahead of the landing craft, leading the way in towards the surface. Plasma blooms flared across nose of either vessel as they rapidly descended towards a lunar landscape covered in a lush foliage of swamps and jungles. In the cockpit of the lead ship, Commander Jake Moranis stood with his arms crossed, staring through the viewport ahead as a command crew of four second generation Nu-Jakes operated the controls.In fact, every PMC aboard the two transports happened to be a Nu-Jake, one of the cloned super soldiers bred on Kamino as the Dark Apothecary's improvement of baseline humanity. Alchemically augmented for perfection and hypno-conditioned for obedience, life had been sweet for the Nu-Jakes at first, who had been given roles in the military. Fleet technicians, Sith Troopers, Sovereign Protectors, and even the Elite Praetorian Guard were all within the realm of possibility for a clone with adequate gene enhancement therapy. However, perfection came with a steep price tag, and even the best organic soldiers had their limitations. A decision was made at the top to switch from a largely organic based military to an automated one produced by the droid foundries of the SE's many forge worlds. The Nu-Jakes, who had devoted their entire lives to serving the Sith Eternal, found themselves out of work for the first time. Some of the lucky ones managed to get set up with cushy gigs thanks to the contacts they had made over their years of service, but for the vast bulk of the clones the options were limited, with most of the low paying civilian jobs found throughout the empire were already occupied by ranats. That was until a few of the more clever clones came up with an idea to put their years of combat experience to good use for monetary gain. That's when the Dragner Group was started.A haze of spice smoke settled just below the Commander's vision as he stared out the window, occasionally glancing down at the datapad held in his left hand. An unnecessary tick. He'd already memorized every scrap of data the device contained. Based on orbital scans, they were close to the landing zone, essentially the most flat and open stretch of terrain they could find on the continent. Their orders were to secure the landing sight, setup a mobile command center, then bring the light of civilization to this inhospitable stretch of wildness. Whatever that entailed. Held by the fingers of his right hand was a rust spotted flask he lifted to his mouth, then tossed back his head as he took a healthy swig of something strong and stinging, taking some of the edge off his overworked hyper-attuned senses. After taking his sip, Jake returned the flask to a pocket concealed inside the leather greatcoat he wore over his black combat fatigues, which included several pieces of carapace armour comprised of a stygian-triprismatic polymer. Slung from a strap across his back was a SX-21 pump-action scatter blaster with enough barrel wear to let others know it had seen plenty of use. The other Nu-Jakes serving as crew were similarly armed and garbed, eschewing the crimson gammaplast plate of their former station and the advanced weapons provided by the workshops of Darth Astera in favour of whatever black-market tech they could get their hands on."There." Said the Commander, folding his right fingers before indicating an open plane coming into view as the tree line of the jungle ended with his index finger. "That looks like the spot. Tell our landing craft to set down and get to work erecting the base. We'll provide cover from the air until they've got the walls up." They weren't expecting trouble, but it never hurt to be cautious, especially out on the arse end of the Outer Rim. The information they had on the moon was that it had once been host to a wildlife preserve, only to be abandoned in later years along with the animals located there, several of which included dangerous predator species. With their populations left to grow unchecked, who could say what they would find groundside. As his own pilot eased off the accelerator and slowed their approach, the C-9979 previously behind them slid past and performed a half turn as its landing struts extended. Avian species hiding in the jungle canopy took to the air as the landing craft's repulsor engines disturbed them, scattering rodents and small mammals through the grass. Meanwhile the HCT-2001 swiveled around in the air, allowing the NJ3 in the lower gunners pod to train the targeting reticule of the freighter's rotary laser cannon on their immediate surroundings.From the air Commander Moranis had a good view as the C-9979s boot doors slid apart and the boarding ramp extended to the ground, allowing a small army of repulsor trucks and clones in utility coveralls to march off, where they wasted little time raising the outpost walls.
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