Silas Darkstar
Knights of Ren
Posts: 198
Affiliation: Knights of Ren - The Magisterium
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Post by Silas Darkstar on Dec 29, 2023 0:57:28 GMT -8
Belle Époque Cabal - Blacksite
A ray shield barely activated in time, blocking much of the projectiles but a few make it through and got lodged in the protective armour that the members of Rancor Battalion were wearing. They quickly started taking ready to fire positions as several Riot Shield equipped members came running in from behind them and took up a shield wall as the pair of Force Sensitive women started taking out the snipers nests. Half the group aimed for the nest where Jin was hunkered down within, while the other half turned their fire focus upon Yvaine. Blaster bolts started flying through the air, no longer set for stun. Myria had sought to show these whelps her generosity, but now they would experience the iron glove. So long as they were alive, a few injuries were acceptable.
Lockdown procedures were initiated, with forces from the 666th Legion being summoned to surround the building by air and at ground level. Meanwhile forces of Rancor Battalion swept the building, making sure to evacuate Myria Horne and Amaris Delvardus before working to secure checkpoints to prevent the escape of the two loose Force Wielders. But while Air and Ground exits or entries were pretty well cordoned off, there was one path into and out of the blacksite that they did not have covered...
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Post by Roland Ferrum on Dec 29, 2023 15:51:12 GMT -8
*The intervening weeks since the coup was first launched in earnest did not go as smoothly as that group might have hoped. Despite their early victories, capturing or killing key figured who would likely resist, key figures had managed to escape capture or execution and word had spread through the city planet. Stories of what had actually happened at Fel Tower were already spreading through upscale tapcaf and seeding bedrock level dive alike when the official story had started broadcasting on the local news waves. It was random rumor, but it was also a concerted effort by the propaganda minded members of the slowly building resistance, to keep information flowing despite the lockdown the cabal had on the official news stations.
In addition to the information war, there was a concerted effort to weaken the military position of those who had perpetuated the coup. While mostly targeted on military infrastructure, disrupting communication systems and supplies bound for the various military stations on the planet, there were also direct attacks on soldiers of the empire that had sided with the cabal. Patrols mysteriously vanishing, mysterious explosions, and other such activities were slowly mounting up despite increased security measures. In truth the resistance was little more than a nuisance to the massive military machine that was Coruscant, but even those nuisance attacks were starting to add up.
The 666th and 999th Imperial Legions took the greatest brunt of the loyalist's ire in the immediate aftermath of the coup. The day after the attack, the soldiers who had been injured in the attacks on the palace and Fel tower and were recovering in a military hospital were found suddenly dead by means of mismanaged medication. An investigation later discovered that a single doctor who bore completely legitimate credentials and who bore a passing resemblance to Roland Ferrum but who no one could recall seeing before that day had visited each of those patients the same evening as the attack. Afterwards any patrol conducted by soldiers of either legion either mysteriously disappeared without a trace or were wiped out in quick firefights that were over before reinforcements could arrive, their attackers mysteriously disappearing without a trace. Confining the legions to base hadn't helped either. The 666th lost nearly an entire company when an unexpected explosion took out their barracks. Fear was beginning to permeate the ranks, not knowing where the next attack would come, or what form it would be in.
The mood of the populace was slowly turning against Baltasar and the Cabal behind him as well. The evening of the attacks also saw the first appearance of a mysterious figure in the undercity of Coruscant. All across the city people spoke of a figure known only as the Grey Ghost, a ghostly grey lightsaber wielding figure that seemed to appear out nowhere in their greatest moment of need saving citizens from murders, muggings, kidnappings, or assaults, swooping in and then disappearing almost as quickly as he had appeared as soon as the danger was passed. His legend expanded as whole criminal enterprises, drug kingpens, slaving operations, and worse were all uprooted overnight as the weeks progressed, their victims speaking of the Grey Ghost in hushed and grateful tones once the local authorities finally arrived at the scene. Then the Grey Ghost began to mix in military targets, associating those complicit in the coup with the criminals of the undercity in the minds of the populous adding to the erosion of support. There were as many theories of the identity of the grey ghost as there were taprooms on Coruscant, but the prevailing theory was that he was the ghost of a long dead Jedi brought back by the attack on Fel tower which mirrored his on death during the purge of the Jedi temple, though the true answer was far more mundane than any of the stories.
Roland reflected on all of those victories as he moved once more through the undercity of Coruscant, unable to summon the pride he once might have been at what he and his ragtag group of survivors had managed to accomplish. With his father dead and his aunt still out of commission Roland clung to a combination of his Imperial Knight training, and military discipline to keep his raw emotions in check and his mind focused on the mission ahead. His friend inside the cabal had finally managed to get him the location of the secret prison that held his cousin. He moved through the undercity, glad to be back in the modified scout trooper armor, grey trimmed in blue, of the 3rd Engineers. All 9 members of his current squad wore similar armor, each one pulled from what remained of his own soldiers for this task. He'd been hesitant to use anyone else for a hit and run mission that would require the precision this one would have. In truth an all out assault with what forces he could bring to bear would have been the surest way to free his cousin, but he couldn't risk the entire group on this uncertain chance. There was still the possibility of a trap, though he trusted his source implicitly there was no way to know if she'd been discovered and led down a false trail. In fact the only person he had told outside of the current group of 9 about their mission objective was Captain Swain, his own second who would inform his Aunt and Colonel Foresi only if this effort failed, having been unable to give his aunt any hope of her daughter's rescue for fear of having that hope ripped away from her and sending her back into the catatonic state she still hadn't fully recovered from.
Arriving at their destination, the group fanned out around the old access hatch that Roland now stood underneath. The former Imperial Knight apprentice immediately reached out to the force to get a sense of what was above them only to be shocked by what he felt. There was the telltale sense of struggle, as if a small conflict was already in progress above them. Fearing for his cousin he expanded his awareness to get the sense of individuals involved only to pull back in sudden shock as he he felt another familiar presence in close proximity to his thankfully still living cousin.* "What is she doing here?" *He asked out loud but mostly to himself, knowing that Sgt. Withers and his men would have no idea what he was talking about. He reached back out the two familiar minds, trying to convey a short and simple message.* <<I am near, and I am coming.>>
*He wasted no time after that, having felt the other side of the hatch clear and the soldiers above already sufficiently distracted Roland cut away the hatch with his lightsaber, and leading his men into a currently unoccupied side corridor. The hatch had long ago been built over on the prison side, giving the appearance and security of a full wall, however the builders who had done that remodel hadn't been concerned about insertion by lightsaber at the time, and that building oversight would come back to haunt the building's current occupants, so long as Yvaine and Jin could hold out long enough for him to get to them.*
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Jin Song
Member
Posts: 196 
Affiliation: First Order- Fiora Delvardus
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Post by Jin Song on Dec 29, 2023 22:51:03 GMT -8
Belle Époque Cabal - Blacksite
Jin felt the white hot bolts of plasma whizzing past her head as she hunkered down in the snipers' nest she had occupied. She was bleeding, brused, hungry, and scared. But most of all, she was angry. Angry that she had no idea what was going on outside these walls. Angry that she had nearly killed Amaris. Angry at these troopers who dared stand between her and getting back to Fiora. She poked her head up to return fire and check to see how Yvaine was doing. The younger Delvardus was holding her own, allowing Jin to concentrate on staying alive herself. She had already spent one of the blasters that was up here and was relying on the back ups. The Knight wasn't sure how many more shots she had, but damn it was she going to use them all. All except the last one... She wouldn't be going back in that box, and sure as hell wouldn't be a bargaining chip to harm Fiora. But then, like a match striking to life in a lightless room, a presence made itself known to her. One familiar from her times in the Palace, a soul that she had always gotten along well with. And for him to be here in her hour of need... The Force truly worked in mysterious ways. Jin tried to clear her mind and concentrate enough to send a return message, but she had never been good at the heady stuff, so the best that Roland would get from her would be a simple Hurry! before all concertation was lost under a renewed hail of blaster fire.
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Silas Darkstar
Knights of Ren
Posts: 198
Affiliation: Knights of Ren - The Magisterium
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Post by Silas Darkstar on Dec 30, 2023 4:32:14 GMT -8
Belle Époque Cabal - Blacksite
Half of the detachment of Rancor Battalion in the room started forming a semi circle around the sniper nest, the shields helping protect their comrades behind them. But it was also true that a blaster bolt assisted in being aimed by the Force was superior compared to those that were unassisted. Thus, despite her depleting ammo supply, more of Jin;s shots were hitting their targets than the other way around. Still, the group maintained its position as they kept firing up.
The other half of the Rancor Battalion group had its hands full as Yvaine was managing to push through and acrobat through them, sending out Force Pushes that scattered the group about. They started pairing off in groups of one shield and one gunner, hoping to better their odds. But only time would tell how successful that tactic would prove.
One of the patrols turned a corner in the basement then, their guns immediately flying up into a ready position as Roland and his group appeared in the basement
It's the Grey Ghost! THE GREY GHOST! SHOOT HIM!
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Post by Roland Ferrum on Dec 30, 2023 20:02:16 GMT -8
*Already a few steps forward of his soldiers Roland was the first to react to the unlucky patrol. The violet blade of his lightsaber whirled around him, deflecting the patrol's first shots back into their midst, causing the first casualties almost instantly. With a burst of force augmented speed the Colonel was suddenly among the patrol, cutting down the remaining members before they even realized what had happened. It was then that he felt Jin's scattered message through the force urging speed. Whatever the situation was he wasn't sure how much time they now had. What he had originally intended to be a stealth mission seemed to have turned into a much more direct action. Trusting Sgt. Withers to bring the soldiers along behind at a more normal pace Roland once again drew on the force to augment his speed, taking his friend's advice and hurrying. Within moments he'd slain another pair of guards and burst through a security hatch onto the catwalk leading to the last sniper's nest held by Rancor Battalion. Whether it was luck or the force, he'd arrived in what was likely the most convenient portion of the prison to make a difference, and he wasted no time doing so.
Turning the whirling violet blade of death on the occupants of the tower ended that threat to Jin and Yvaine before anyone had a chance to realize that another threat had arrived. He launched himself off of the sniper's nest and down toward the larger mass of soldiers at ground level. As he began his leap he deactivated the lightsaber he was already holding and pulled a second one off of his belt with his left hand before using a pair of telekinetic shoves to send one to each of the former prisoners, his own blade toward Jin, and the spare Imperial Knight lightsaber toward his cousin. By the time he landed among the soldiers of Rancor battalion he a third saber was in hand, the gold blade of his father's lightsaber once again enacting vengeance on traitors as they began to fall around him. Moments had passed and Roland was intent on using as much of that surprise to his advantage as he could as he began his deadly dance.*
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Jin Song
Member
Posts: 196
Affiliation: First Order- Fiora Delvardus
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Post by Jin Song on Dec 31, 2023 20:10:48 GMT -8
Belle Époque Cabal - Blacksite
Jin kept plugging shots where she could, but the troopers were getting better at anticipating her moves, random as she tried to make them. The next time she came up from her hiding spot she saw Roland leaping down and sending a lightsaber speeding toward her. Jin understood the assignment. The lightsaber was drawn to her awaiting hand with her own telekinetic powers. Tired as she was, holding her weapon of choice in hand was enough for a second (or at this point possibly third) wind. The violet blade leapt to life as she followed the royal cousin in a direct assault. Her rage and anger finally being given the means to be unleashed properly on her enemies. The revenge she sought could only be sated with the blood of Rancor Battalion. ARAGH!!! She exclaimed as she removed the head of a trooper while simultaneously holding another in the path of incoming blaster bolts with the Force. These would be usurpers thought that those with the Force were a danger? Jin would show them just how right they were.
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Silas Darkstar
Knights of Ren
Posts: 198
Affiliation: Knights of Ren - The Magisterium
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Post by Silas Darkstar on Jan 1, 2024 17:26:09 GMT -8
Belle Époque Cabal - Blacksite
There was a moment where it seemed like Rancor Battalion might have managed to finally get Jin and Yvaine backed into corners out of which they would not escape. But it was then that Roland Ferrum arrived, the figurative one that got away, and started handing out Lightsabers like candies. They did their best to pull back and keep a distance from their newly armed opponents, but it was to little effect. Their blades deflected back blaster bolts and cut through the shields, and what distance was managed was covered in moments by their Force assisted speed. Within moments, the detachment within the immediate space had been cut down. The rest of Rancor Battalion that was stationed throughout the Blacksite would soon be converging upon them, but for now, they had a brief reprieve
Myria sat by the window in an Imperial Transport next to Amaris, her gaze looking out and down at the building as she flew further and further away to safety. There was the chance their wayward prisoners would be recaptured now, otherwise she would make sure they were recaptured later. Regardless of the when, they could still act and pretend as if the situation was under control and force abdications from the Twins. If all else failed, they still had Amaris in custody and could use her safety to force their own ends
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Post by Roland Ferrum on Jan 3, 2024 17:00:09 GMT -8
*Roland was the calm next to Jin's storm as the pair of them took down the members of Rancor Battalion in the immediate area, her with renewed furry, while Roland cut them down with the calm detached efficiency he'd been trained for. As the last of the soldiers fell the 2 members of Roland's own 3rd Imperial Engineers who'd been following finally caught up, arriving at the same snipers nest that Roland had made his entrance from. Turning to his companions Roland couldn't help but smile underneath his helmet.* "Let's get out of here before reinforcements arrive. My soldiers still have our exit corridor opened, but I didn't bring enough to hold it for long, this was supposed to be a stealth mission, but a couple of very noisy ladies put an end to that." *He couldn't help but let out a laugh at his own joke, just happy to have arrived in time to help. It was one of the first genuine laughs he'd been able to summon since the start of this mess and it felt good. Still laughing he reached out to the force and launched himself in an assisted leap up to where his engineers waited, ready to lead Yvaine and Jin out of the facility, and though the undercity to safety.*
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Jin Song
Member
Posts: 196
Affiliation: First Order- Fiora Delvardus
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Post by Jin Song on Jan 3, 2024 19:46:29 GMT -8
Jin had been seeing nothing but red after joining the melee. She would have not survived had it not been for the two others. But as the last trooper fell, Jin could start to feel herself again. Her heart was pounding in her ears, her breaths were heavy and labored, and she felt wet from the blood (her own and that of her foes) and sweat. The pain was the next thing to return. In the past few hours she had been zapped, stunned, and knocked around. She deactivated to loned saber and dropped the severed arm she was holding in the other hand (how'd that get there?) before turning and checking on Yvaine. As Roland cracked his joke, Jin looked away from the princess and at their rescuer. She couldn't even muster a fake smile just simply a shrug. We woke up and were told we were hostages. We weren't going to just sit by and do nothing, waiting for a rescue we didn't even know would come. Jin grunted as she mustered up enough energy to make the leap after Roland. No doubt that womp rat Myria Horn has already fled... How I'd love to get my hands on her... The former street rat trailed off imagining crushing the "Grand Admiral's" throat under her boot. Jin was careful to keep Yvaine between her and Roland as they made their exit, she still intended to protect the younger Delvardus.
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Post by Roland Ferrum on Jan 14, 2024 8:42:27 GMT -8
*The part of Roland who'd been trained as an Imperial Knight disapproved of the venom in Jin's voice as she mentioned her captor. He hadn't been that boy in a long time though, and he understood her feelings all too well. His concentrated campaign against the legions that had killed his father over the last few days were evidence of that, so instead of chastising her he instead committed that name to memory vowing silently to give Jin her chance at the woman. By unspoken agreement Roland and Jin worked together to keep Yvaine between them as his soldiers led them out of the building and back toward the entrance to the Underworld of Coruscant where a pair of his engineers had just finished preparing it to blow.*
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Silas Darkstar
Knights of Ren
Posts: 198
Affiliation: Knights of Ren - The Magisterium
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Post by Silas Darkstar on Jan 14, 2024 13:32:05 GMT -8
Belle Époque Cabal - Blacksite
What had remained of Rancor Battalion was soon crushed as the explosive charges went off and the building started to collapse in upon itself. When the last of the explosions died down and the building seemed to settle into its new state of disrepair, the 666th Legion started their search and recovery efforts. Bodies were pulled from the wreckage and identified, to determine who had succumbed and who had survived. But initial suspicions were that the 2 prisoners that had been held here were alive and at large. Patrols were already being beefed up to begin search operations across Coruscant
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Jin Song
Member
Posts: 196
Affiliation: First Order- Fiora Delvardus
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Post by Jin Song on Mar 13, 2024 21:32:52 GMT -8
Since escaping from the Blacksite, Jin had been doing two things: The first was hunting for any trace or hint of Myria Horne's wearabouts. The Second was seizing control and organizing the various gangs in Coruscant's extensive underworld and leading this small army in a merciless guerilla war against the traitors who now controlled Coruscant's surface. She used her small personal army to hit any and every target they could. No target was too beneath them or too dirty. Supply trains were unable to be sent without heavy guard, patrols would drop from contact and only days later would their butchered remains be found, and officers would be tortured for information. This information finally lead Jin to the answer she sought. With the impending invasion from the fleet in orbit, Myria Horne would be on the move, from one heavily fortified bunker to another. Jin wiped the blood off her hands using her already stained and torn shirt as she looked over the path the the Imperial would be taking. For the most part, it seemed she was attempting to travel incognito, posing as a regular logistics convoy. But this meant they would be keeping to the same routes, to not tip people like Jin off. That meant there was a window of opportunity. Halfway through the convoy would stop at a smaller outpost to refuel and take on and off load some cargo. This would be the best chance at ambushing the cargo tram. Jin conferred with her lieutenants, and they swiftly settled on a bold plan...
Jin tucked a few strands of grease and faded hair behind her ear as the electrobinoculars were passed to her. Finally, she whispered, this war hasn't helped the Imps punctuality... Jin tracked the cargo tram and its heavy escort as it filled into the walled imperial base. She passed the binocs back to the man who had passed them to her in the first place. LIGMA, let's move! The acronym of her bands name was something that had grown over time. At first Jin had referred to her collection of gangs as the Loyalist Irregular Militia, but one particularly rowady group decided that wasn't fancy, nor funny, enough for them and decided it needed a few more letters. Thus the Loyalist Irregular Garrison Militia Alpha was born. Or as most of the gangs now called it: LIGMA a humorous name in spite of the dirty work that they performed.
Jin and her command staff moved forward and joined the various squads that had been holding positions all around the enemy fortifications since before sunrise. Jin had gathered all of her little armies strength for this. Every able-bodied fighter, and every ounce of munitions that they had, captured, stolen, or donated by Roland's forces, was here and ready to be brought to bear. Jin watched as the last escort speeder touched down and powered off for the momentary break. That's when Jin gave a nod to one of her men. He hefted a large bundle of captured imperial grenades. His job was to lob it as far as he could, and Jin would use the Force to finesse it into the opening in one of the bunkers. The plan was to bust that bunker wide open, so that they would have an access point from which to assault while other teams used smoke grenades and improvised explosives to attack other sections of wall and keep the defenders of guard. The would-have-gone-pro-if-it-hadn't-been-for-that-shoulder-injury-senior-year gang member took a deep breath that matched Jin's as he aimed his shot and Jin let the Force begin to flow through her. Now. The man launched the explosive across the no-mans-land and with Jin's stabilization and guidance, it clattered into the main viewport and ripped the bunker apart with an ear splitting explosion.
The Knight Tribune was the first one through the breach. Her borrowed Imperial Knight lightsaber was in hand as she cut through the opposition. The ordinarily quiet artist had seemingly gone farel as she fought her way through the base, only one thing held her focus: Myria Horne was somewhere here with Jin's lightsaber and she would have both...
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Silas Darkstar
Knights of Ren
Posts: 198
Affiliation: Knights of Ren - The Magisterium
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Post by Silas Darkstar on Mar 14, 2024 18:16:11 GMT -8
Belle Époque Cabal - Myria Horne
Ever since that pair of brats had broken free of their cages, things on Coruscant had gone from bad to worse. It had been bad enough with the Grey Ghost running around, but intelligence had reported Jin was managing to rally and assemble an army of criminals from the underworld. Their combined guerrilla tactics had taken quite the toll and Gar was starting to panic as his precious forces were chipped away at. As it stood, their numbers were being focused around the defence of the Palace and other vital areas. But if their own coup and these subsequent rebel actions were anything to go by, they were unlikely to hold such places for long. It was why she was on the move at present: no one place was safe and travelling like this would mean she would be difficult to pin down for an ambush.
However, such a comforting thought was immediately blown apart by a package of explosives being thrown into and detonating within one of the bunker emplacements. Defensive forces were already scrambling to mount a defence as Myria sat sternly at her desk within the temporary Office she'd made for herself. With one hand she gripped the saber hilt that she had kept as a prize from the very person she was certain was attacking her right now, whilst the other hand activated an emergency comm. It took a few moments before the hooded shadowy figure appeared on the projector
She's found me! I need your help! This situation on Coruscant is falling apart and you promised us victory!
Silas remained silent for a few moments as firefight exchanges could be heard going off in the distance
Did you not take Coruscant and sit Baltasar upon the Throne? Or was that not the victory you were envisioning...
Warden you know damn well that's not what you promised!
Perhaps... but your use has come to its end. You were a valuable distraction, but that is all you ever were and will ever be. Goodbye...
What?! NO!!
She slammed her fist down on the projector just as the projected image disappeared
Bastard! I should have known... fine, I'll deal with this myself...
She tossed the projector across the room as she weighted up the lightsaber hilt in her hand. People went on a lot about how it took a Force User to properly user a lightsaber. But Myria didn't need to be the best swordswoman, she just had to be lucky. A lightsaber was just a plasma bladed sword after all, and she'd practiced with swords plenty. With most of her forces running through the hallways toward the danger, Myria took a right turn from the office and headed up toward the roof top where several of the landing pads were. Better to go somewhere open than get stuck in close confines, plus if she was lucky a reinforcement gunship would be on its way and could help deal with any pursuers
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Nem Yin
The First Order
The dark expanse of the intergalactic void is not as empty as they would have you believe...
Posts: 439
Affiliation: The First Order
Traffic Light: Blue
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Post by Nem Yin on Mar 16, 2024 7:05:33 GMT -8
Jin Song. It was a name hissed from the lips of the underworld. After slicing into Coruscant's holonet network, the First Prefect had assumed his hunt for the Tribune Knight would come down to relying on facial recognition, trusting in the masterful shaping of the greatest bioengineering savant of the modern age and the biot she had designed to scan electronic databases. Only instead of a ping from a captured image spied through a grimy underworld camera lens, Nem had heard it from a few old friends amongst the less reputable communities of the Galactic City's lower levels. He could hardly believe his knife edged ears, an army of gangbangers and street hustlers, mustering the courage to take on the forces of the Arch-Traitor Baltazar. Ordinarily he wouldn't have believed them capable of such a feat, but even a parasite has self survival instincts and will fight for its home when driven into a corner. More so, they were led by the very woman he sought, the person he had been led to believe could bring an end to this bitter conflict.He began his search in the district she was last reported in by a hutt pimp currently in her service, Croakus the Corpulent, who despite his shared interest in self preservation was still underworld scum at the heart of it. The skeezy Nar Shaddaa gangsta was all to happy to accept the coin of an old pirate acquaintance like Nem, who had built up a reputation amongst the criminal community reeving the space lanes as a top lieutenant of Arkan the Black, Captain of the Cutlass and leader of the Bloodrage Pirates. Levels above the sky was in flames as the Yuuzhan Vong forces laid siege to this quarter of the planet, engaging the traitor forces in the skies and in the streets. Streaming globs of molten fire and super-heated rock streaked through the air, vaporizing traitor ranks if the soldiers were lucky, while the unlucky roasted in their plastoid plate as armour ran like water and molded to the blistered flesh cooking beneath it. Rakamat siege beasts exchanged fire with armoured assault walkers, weathering a storm of heavy blaster fire as the creature's dovin basals created singularities that swallowed the lethal barrage, allowing the monstrous Yuuzhan Vong war beast's to return fire with powerful volcano cannons that melted through armour and cooked off any unexpended internal ordnance. Freakish long legged leviathans known as Fire Breather's walked among the upper streets, exhaling gelatinous flame that clung to anything it came into contact with and was hot enough to burn through ferrocrete. It was good cover for his pursuit of the Tribune Knight. By all appearances, his people were fighting the good fight against the traitorous legions of the true Emperor's faithless uncle. Good cover until he made up his mind which side of the civil war he wanted to end up on. While he certainly harbored no ill will against the citizens of Coruscant, after the losses his own people had suffered, he couldn't give much of a damn about their well being at the moment. As usual Domain Yin's actions concealed its true intentions.After reaching the surface, Nem found his way to the mid level streets where Jin's irregulars were preparing to strike against the fortified Imperial bunker. He was an entire hab-block away when the first explosions of the assault she led rang out, making his way through a street packed tight with Coruscanti citizens living and working in close proximity to the base, hidden in plain sight among them thanks to the ooglith masquer he wore. That symbiotically adhered layer of second skin cloaked his true appearance in a veil of humanity, just another bald and pale skinned man with blue eyes among many, draped in a travelers over-cloak with the hood pulled up over his head. As the detonations echoed from their epicenter nearby, the people around him panicked and began to run for cover, forcing him to fight his way upstream a filthy tide of craven civilians scurrying for safety like a swarm of rodents. Many of them slipped and stepped over one another as the streets became slick as chemical rain fell from the upper levels above, as fire suppression systems activated in response to the Yuuzhan Vong liberation efforts high overhead. Those greasy drops stung his mqaaq'it through the porous membrane of his false face, causing him to blink the polluted brine from his ocular implants as he looked up, holding a hand over his unassuming visage against the intense brightness of the burning upper levels that made it seem as though this lower section was exposed to the system's sun. He could see the outline of Tsik-Seru racing through clouds of black smoke, vanishing as more bright blooms blossomed in the duracrete sky."This infidel better be worth all this trouble." He muttered under his breath, forcing a path the opposite direction of the throngs of frightened people seeking shelter. She left an easy enough trail to follow. Nem just followed the explosions...
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Jin Song
Member
Posts: 196
Affiliation: First Order- Fiora Delvardus
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Post by Jin Song on Mar 16, 2024 21:40:00 GMT -8
The anger and hatred that had been simmering under the surface of Jin's resolve to fight Baltasar and help save her home in the name of her beloved, finally was free to flow. Her rag-tag army wasn't a real match for the trained troopers under Myria's command, not in a frontal assault anyway. But that didn't matter, they didn't need to be. Jin just needed them to think they could win long enough for her to get to Myria. And she was making good progress. The silver of her borrowed blade was getting her far. And any other threats were being swiftly dealt with through her use of the Force. She was close, she could feel it, intuition and her connection to her saber grew with every step and leap forward. She looked upward. The coward would try and flee again from the landing pad above, something that would begin to prove even more dangerous perhaps as the Vong began their assault. But who had the Vong sided with? Jin banashied the distraction from her mind as she pushed through the base, the smell of her prey's fear pulling her ever closer.
The doors that opened up to landing pad shook and rattled before bursting open. Jin stepped confidently across the threshold and stood to face her quary. Jin allowed herself to smirk as she took a couple more steps toward Myria. No shock collar now. Give me my lightsaber now, and I may leave your fate to the court martial. Jin held out her left hand, silently hoping the Imperial would resist.
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Silas Darkstar
Knights of Ren
Posts: 198
Affiliation: Knights of Ren - The Magisterium
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Post by Silas Darkstar on Mar 17, 2024 19:10:08 GMT -8
It really was like hell on Coruscant, with the Yuuzhan Vong assault happening on the upper levels whilst the base below was assaulted by Jin's criminal gangs. Quite the fitting scenario to find herself in at the end of this short but wild journey to the top of the Empire as the doors at the far end of the landing pad burst open. There were many in her position that would have balked at the fight to come and accepted the out. But Myria knew better than that. There was no way out of this that would leave her alive. So what better way than to go out spectacularly
It's a shame that, because you did look so fetching in it dear...
She flicked the activator switch on the saber, causing the red plasma blade to ignite and cast its crimson glow across Myria's right hand side
Tell me, who do you think is even up there now, invading Coruscant? That boy king that sat on daddy's lap and got handed the keys to the kingdom? Or that rejected harlot that seems so smitten with a throne she has no claim to? Neither of them is going to let me live, even if I peacefully surrendered to a court martial... No Dear, I don't suppose I will go down quietly...
Even then, she was unlikely to make it off the platform alive. A sniper with the Magisterium was already set up and in position, ready to take any killing shots that might be required. Loose lips sunk starships, after all. Myria charged forward, closing both hands around the hilt as she brought the blade up and across in a slash
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Nem Yin
The First Order
The dark expanse of the intergalactic void is not as empty as they would have you believe...
Posts: 439
Affiliation: The First Order
Traffic Light: Blue
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Post by Nem Yin on Mar 18, 2024 6:56:30 GMT -8
It was minutes after the initial attack that the Intendant reached the besieged edges of the Imperial fortification, his soundless stepped approach concealed by a hissing column of putrid steam expelled from a sewer grate from the dark mouth of an adjacent alley, the stink of the streets now clinging to the Executor's mysterious over-cloak that swathed his human mask in shadows. He dropped into a crouch as his mqaaq'it ocular implants adjusted to changes in the lighting, magnifying his vision several fold as they zoomed in on the still smoking hole blown open like a carbon scored scar. There was chaos and confusion in the air, as the gangs used smoke grenades intermingled with deadly ordnance. One never knew if a lobbed shell was going to erupt in a cloud of smoke or swarm of razor shrapnel. He moved quickly, sprinting at one opportune moment when the search lights on the wall swept in another direction. As the head of a Domain of bitter assassins and spies, it could be said that Nem moved with something of a silent grace, his sinuous form almost seeming to blend with the quiet corners of any room. He shadowed the Loyalist Irregular Militia, creeping through the carnage they left in their wake as they stormed through the bunker. Standing in a red room full of warm crimson splatters on pearlescent white plastoid, the Yuuzhan Vong knelt next to one of the bodies of a fallen trooper and examined the corpse.
Was this a traitor? Had this man made the choice to side with the Arch-Traitor and damn his honour, eschewing duty for the promise of wealth or position, to take up arms against other true blooded Imperials? Or had he simply been caught on the wrong side of the dividing line, when the barons and moffs who held political power made their plays and decided the fates of the legions under their command? The false lips of his human mask parted and he exhaled a hot breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding in. Like his own people in this conflict, these troopers had been pawns, the playthings of whatever puppet master was behind this cursed civil war. Had it been the enigmatic man he had met in an obscure and out of the way diner on Empress Teta? Or was the person responsible still here on Coruscant, hidden behind high walls and even big guns?
A sound alerted Nem that he wasn't alone. He lifted his head as he heard the crunch of a plastoid booted foot on duracrete stone debris, then the scuff of its sole created by the accompanying step of a stormtrooper appearing from a side corridor, the soldier's E-11 blaster rifle held up and pointed at the Intendant. Manipulating the muscles of his ooglith masquer, the Executor put on his best approximation of an infidel grin, boldly staring down the trooper as he slowly rose back up to his feet. Instinctively his hands went up above his head, fingers splayed and palms exposed to the plastoid bedecked man looming towards him, assuming the position even before the trooper issued an order. "Hands up!" He said, somewhat pointlessly. Nem nodded, then motioned with a simple raise of his false brows to indicate the fact that his hands were already up.
"Already ahead of you, my good man." He remarked in an upper class Coruscanti accent, what one might expect from an Imperial officer. "There's no need for violence. Allow me to show you my credentials." Purposefully steady and slow, he opened the front of his cloak to remove a folded wallet from an inner pocket, which he flipped open to reveal a gleaming electrum badge issued to him by the late great Emperor Nicademus Delvardus, and his Imperial ID. The Executor's position was listed on the identification as 'First Prefect', a title grandfathered in to this new age following the former Emperor's passing. That symbol of authority caused the trooper to pause, lowering the blaster rifle held in their shaking hands, no longer seeing the disguised Yuuzhan Vong as a threat. "First Prefect, my apologies. I didn't recognize you. You should find somewhere safe to hold up, sir. The base is under attack." The stormtrooper looked around nervously, clearly unsettled standing around in a room full of his fallen comrades strewn about in bloody marionets on the floor.
"The whole sector actually." Acknowledged Nem, putting away his badge beneath his cloak, using the cover it provided to slide the hilt of his coufee blade into his right hand and hide it up his sleeve. "The Yuuzhan Vong are liberating..." He paused to shrug his shoulders and shake his head. "...or conquering, I suppose, depending how you look at it. Either way, they're raining down hell fire on this slice of Galactic City pie."
"Wait a second." Replied the confused trooper, his blaster still held down at his side while his tiny brain tried to connect the dots, his mind racking his memory for any useful tidbits of information. Then it donned on him. "Aren't the Yuuzhan Vong under the First Prefect's jurisdiction?" By this point Nem had crossed the space between them and was standing face to helmet with the trooper, his sparkling blue eyes of deception piercing the black visor of the soldier's helm, whose glossy surface captured his reflection and distorted its proportions. Nem's mask continued to smile. "They are." He agreed with a nod, bringing the serrated edge of the curved bone dagger held reversed in his grip against the body-glove covered throat of the stormtrooper in front of him. Beneath his helmet, the soldier gulped. "Yes, I'm afraid we're on opposite sides of this conflict. It pains me terribly to admit it, but, it looks as though your forces might be losing. If I were you I'd run along and reconsider that last turn in your career path, maybe try something different, something new. I'm told pirating can be a lucrative profession." Seeming to take the hint, the trooper made to leave, but was stopped as Nem's free hand grabbed the soldier's blaster and pried it from his grip. "Leave it. Thank you." Setting the E-11 down on the table next to him, Nem stepped aside to allow the stormtrooper to leave, but not before he snatched the thermal detonator affixed to the back of his torso plate.
After the stormtrooper had vanished, the Executor continued his hunt for Jin through the complex, following a trail of destruction and lightsaber scorch marks. He could still smell the aroma of burnt ozone on the air. As he arrived at the hallway connected to the landing pad doors, he stopped short as he spotted a pair of LIGMA troops stationed outside the doors. They were likely supposed to be watching the Tribune Knight's back, but instead they were staring open mouth, gabber-flasted by the lightsaber duel taking place out on the landing pad platform. The Intendant used their distraction to activate and hurl the thermal detonator he had just stolen, sending it rolling down the opposite end of the hall where it summarily exploded seconds later. The blast drew the notice of the two gangsters standing sentinel, who took one last glance as the flashing laser sword battle, then went racing down the hall in the direction of the unknown explosion. On the heels of their departure, Nem slipped out the door, stalking the perimeter of the landing pad from below rather than ascending to the tarmac. He recognized Jin from the footage he had seen, but as for the other woman, he hadn't a clue. Rather than leap to the Tribune Knight's aid, he watched from his place of concealment, waiting to see how things played out.
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Jin Song
Member
Posts: 196
Affiliation: First Order- Fiora Delvardus
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Post by Jin Song on Mar 18, 2024 11:51:04 GMT -8
Jin's smirk only grew as she watched Myria make her final stand. The charge and slash betrayed an amount of training with bladed weapons, but it was a far cry from being proficient with a lightsaber. The Tribune Knight simply stepped back and aside to avoid the initial slash. One hand went behind her back as the other used the silver blade to parry the following strikes. But that empty hand was not ideal. Jin used it to focus her connection to the Force. She made slight pushes and pulls at her unattuned opponent, just enough to throw her off her game. A foot pushed out of position here, a swing ending with more resistance than expected there. It was clear to all present that Jin was toying with the officer, and loving it. Either of them is better than your sloppy attempt at grabbing power. The former street rat made a slash across the career officer's chest, purposefully only removing her rank plaque. It clattered to the ground and Jin smirked. No wonder you needed to keep Amaris locked up too! One look at you at your incompetence and Balthasar would have kicked you from to the curb like week old take-out! Jin didn't bother to parry the next attack. Instead she brough her hand back out from behind her back and with the Force simply stopped the incoming strike, and Myria. This little 'fight' has been the most relaxed I've been since I left Empress Teta to try and stop this civil war. But I can't play with you forever. Jin plunged the loner saber into her opponents chest. Then she reached out and easily took her own saber back. With a twirl and flurish, Jin removed Myria's head with the red blade. All the rage and anger flowed from her as her quest for revenge was completed. Deactivating the silver blade, Jin reached into her pocket and retrieved a commlink. LIGMA, pull back and disengage. Mission accomplished. Regroup at rendezvous Gamma. Jin bent down and picked up the rank plaque from the ground, stowed it in a pocket and turned to leave. Only then did she notice the audience she had had during the confrontation, raising the red blade and pointing it toward the unknown watcher. She spoke a little shaken at not having noticed him through the whole struggle. Wh-who are you! You're not one of mine or the garrison!
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Nem Yin
The First Order
The dark expanse of the intergalactic void is not as empty as they would have you believe...
Posts: 439
Affiliation: The First Order
Traffic Light: Blue
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Post by Nem Yin on Mar 19, 2024 6:55:21 GMT -8
Spotted. Strong hands gripped the edge of the landing pad platform and slowly lifted the Intendant over the side as he climbed up onto the elevated surface, rising to stand across from the questioning knight with her red blade held at the ready, his own hands appearing empty but far from disarmed as he held them up in feigned submission with his palms exposed to her. Those hands were the same pale pink complexion as the human face he wore, unremarkable and easily forgotten, perhaps save for the two blue eyes that glared out from beneath the hood of the dark over-cloak he wore. While nothing outwards about his appearance seemed extraordinary, there was something that stood out about him that only someone with a Force sensitivity might notice. He lacked a detectable presence. Standing opposite the landing pad platform from Jin, Nem might as well have been an illusion, for the absence of ripples and waves he made within the fey. Yet there he stood, as the world around them burned in the background. In fact, a piece of sky-bridge from the upper levels chose that moment to plummet from the burning heights overhead and crash to the streets below a few blocks from the garrison, causing the tarmac beneath their feet to shake as the duracrete jungle of Galactic City rumbled and groaned in protest."An astute observation." He remarked in a gravely tone, coarse as broken stone ground underfoot, lacking any trace of the upper class Coruscanti accent he had used when addressing the stormtrooper he had encountered earlier. "Right on both accounts. I'm not one of yours, and I'm not theirs either." With perfect fluency in galactic basic, he spoke with the same tone and cadence as a lower level thug, betraying just a hint of menace. Lowering his empty hands, he gripped the front lapels of his cloak and pulled it out away from his chest, smoothing out the folds flapping in the heated breeze sweeping in from above. "I'm my own man." He stated somewhat pridefully, before his hairless brow lifted and his head shook as he reluctantly conceded that point. "Or so I'd like to think, but these days we all seem to serve a master, whether we want to accept that fact or not." Nem shrugged his shoulders casually, appearing unconcerned with the implications behind that statement. He crossed an arm across his chest and performed a half bow, though his intense blue eyes never left the woman across from him for even a second. "You can call me Uzas, though my name isn't half as important as why I'm here."Was it any wonder why people didn't trust Intendants? A dozen different Yuuzhan Vong across the galaxy at any given moment were claiming to be the great Executor Nem Yin, Yu'shaa of the Praetorite Vong, and here was the true owner of that title claiming instead the name of a dead domain mate when he had every reason to be upfront and honest. Yun-Harla, the Trickster Goddess, would have been pleased by the game he played. If she existed, but you can be certain she was as dead and gone as Uzas."I've come a long way to find you, Tribune Knight." He said rather ominously, taking a bold step towards her, despite the hissing energy blade she held in her hands. More explosive booms echoed in the distance as a massive chone-vrone worm devoured its way down the towering length of a Coruscanti skyscraper in the background that stretched from the bowels of the underworld up to the smoke choked sky, its windows shattering outwards as the Yuuzhan Vong weapon of war burrowed towards the planet's pollution riddled bottom. Nem paid it no mind, extending an empty hand towards her as he took another step closer. "We don't have a lot of time, Jin. You need to come with me..."
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Jin Song
Member
Posts: 196
Affiliation: First Order- Fiora Delvardus
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Post by Jin Song on Mar 19, 2024 17:08:08 GMT -8
This "self made man" made Jin's skin crawl. She still wasn't used to being a public figure, and took a beat to understand how he may have known who she was. Her usually dyed hair was faded from a lack of upkeep, and her skin was caked in dried blood and muck from her months fighting in the underworld, so she was still a little surprised at being recognized. Especially by an outsider. Was this an underworld rivel of some kind, looking to take over the small army she had cobbled together? What did he want? Though Jin was not proficient at reading people in the Force, being more of a warrior, she reached out all the same to try and find some sort of feeling or vibe. But she found nothing. A void in the Force. It could only mean one thing. This man was Vong. She had never met one, but the experience of being in the presence of one had been described to her in great detail in her training. Though she tried to keep an open mind in theory, being a Coruscant native brought a deep seeded dislike for the Vong; generational trauma from the Vong occupation during the war that brought them into the galactic spotlight. Her eyes had not parted from the Vong's almost hypnotically blue eyes. Knowing that one of the far outsiders stood before her now seemed to sharpen her senses of the suffering of the people caught in the crossfire of the planetary invasion, in this section particularly at the hands of the Vong. Do you think I'd still be here if I didn't need to be? I'm here to protect my home and show that the war between Octavian and Fiora doesn't have to be! She left out the part where she had been hungry for revenge against the woman she had just slain, but that perhaps needed not be said. Why should I come with you?
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