Ask Invasion Ossus Armageddon.

[Kotii Solus]

No sooner had Kotii cleared his mind did he hear cracking sound as the roof of the building he had occupied previously exploded upwards towards him in dangerous chunks. The wrong type of instinct over-rode the badger's need to evade. The only thing the Solus did was turn and face the rubble hurtling towards him before the stone slammed into the painted plastoid armor on his torso. The impact was hard enough to cause a resounding klang and send the mandalorian spinning in the air from his position away from the Silver Lion and across the street.

Kotii coughed and gasped for air using every ounce of focus to regain control of his own trajectory as his jetpack continued to provide thrust. He slowed his chaotic path just in time to relatively safely drop and roll onto a roof across the street from the building he had just been standing on and which Gareth Gin had blown up.

Kotii shut his jetpack off just before landing and rolled in a way to protect his jetpack as much as possible. The thrusters stuttered off safely and the jetpack remained operational for the time being. The echani-offshoot gave numerous pained grunts and finally a short groan that betrayed his age as he came to a stop on the roof. Kotii rose to his feet as quickly as possible, slightly winded from what felt like he had been clocked by a gamorrean.

Pieces of a lawn chair, parasol and other roof litter fell off of the mandalorian's injured body as he stood up. Gareth's stone missile had almost knocked the wind out of him with his armor on. The now wrecked chest plate clung to the Solus’s torso and abdomen in pieces, exposing the warriors bodyglove underneath. He did not want to take another strike like that if it could be helped. The only thing keeping the man from spitting to test for blood in his mouth was the fact he was still wearing his helmet. It would be worth getting to a medic and checking for internal bleeding later.

@Versok @Mr. Teatime @Rimrald

 

[Atuu Skirata]

Atuu no sooner stopped cupping his ears before being hit with the force of what felt like a small speeder truck in mid air. To his surprise the weight of the impact had follow through, it was no push, it was a tackle. Feeling the bladed arms cut through his armor, undersuit and make purchase in skin would cause the Mandalorian to let out a pained howl as the two tumbled onto the roof adjacent.

His jetpack would temporarily sputter and cough, but remain on in a less than fully effective state.

Still being grappled, and beginning to be assaulted in the clutches of the abomination again. Atuu would in his battered state, put both hands on his carbine, raising it from its resting position on his chest, and level it at the chest of the abomination, firing - with each bolt he would aim higher. Planting a blaster bolt into the chest, throat and face - aiming his final shot for the chattering maw of the beast, hopefully punishing it for the precieved taunt. In an attempt to grievously wound the beast in return, as his carbine fired.

Should the fire do enough damage to make the abomination release its grip, Atuus jetpack would carry him backwards out of the creatures grasp.

OOC: firing three shots once landed and grappled on the ground. Chest, Throat, Face - heavy damage in an attempt to harm the abomination and be released and jetpacked backwards on the ground. @Mr. Teatime

 

[Darth Raze]

Blaster bolts pierced into General Dram. Bolts from men under his command. It wouldn’t be enough to kill him, but he would be stopped temporarily in his tracks with injuries. Varyn engaging the soldiers with his sabers deflected much of the attack and killed a lot of the attackers. Nonetheless, two remained to keep firing at the General if the man didn’t react.

The building began to crumble beneath Raze and he glared down at the Imperial Knight below. No, at the former Jedi below. Raze could see into his mind. He could see the man had no true purpose, no direction, no ambition, no place in the galaxy. The wraith smirked to himself, purposely anchoring to a large slab of debris from the roof as it collapsed down with the rest of the building. He remained on that piece as it slid down with the building, using the Force to cushion his discreet impact.

Dust kicked up from the collapse, clouds of smoke and fire flaring out from the site of the collapse. However, without warning, all the debris rose and surged at once towards Varyn and the General. Raze was not visible yet, still behind a thick cloud of smoke.

What cause do you fight for? His voice resounded both within the General and Varyn’s minds even though they couldn’t see him right then, Is this an Empire you believe in? Are you so ready to give up your lives for an absent Emperor?

@Alhon @Phoenix

 

[Gareth Gin]

The White Lion's attack proved effective, but it was nothing but the start of his onslaught because, just as he planned, he was not too far behind from Kotii, for he had taken the same trajectory as the debris that hit the Mandalorian, following closely behind. While the Mandalorian fell and rolled around, Gareth managed to land gracefully on his feet, not too far away on the same rooftop, cushioning the fall like force sensitives were known to do. It was not as close as Gareth had hoped since the Mandalorian had managed to stabilize his landing, but still quite close, close enough to be able to use the force to give himself a quick burst of speed that would get himself in melee range once more.

So, by the time Kotii had stopped groaning and tried to get up after a rough hit and a rough landing, the White Lion would already be in front of him. Gareth would throw an overhead punch, aiming to hit the man on the back of his head with his right hand as he got up. While Kotii's body would be going up, the Miralukan's would be going down as he quickly got himself on one knee for even greater momentum, the Mandalorian would probably not be able to get his chin up and look up and at him should this blow connect, his last memory before being knocked out being looking at the floor he was standing on.

@Darasuum @Mr. Teatime @Rimrald

 

[Locust of Sorrow's Wail]

Locust screeched in fury as the Mandalorian took hold of his carbine. Its large left hand whipped down, claws out, to grab the carbine and Atuu's right hand, pinning both flat to Atuu's chest. Long claws would dig and tear into flesh and carbine metal, crushing the barrel and Atuu's fingers to uselessness. The first heavy bolt would be knocked off-target but still partially strike along the insect-thing's side. The next two shots would fire into empty air, if they fired at all, as the Locust kept the gun faced away from itself using its much greater strength.

The shot would be a painful blow to most. The Exalted felt no pain, risen above such petty concerns by its father. Its chitinous hide was resistant to blaster fire and the shot did less damage than the Mandalorian expected. Locust did not release him. Instead, its mantis-like arms would squeeze tighter to crush Atuu. This would badly rend the flesh in Locust's grip, crush his shoulders and already broken ribs, and tear into his lungs while inflicting unbearable the entire time it was happening.

Then the claws of Locust's right hand swiped down to tear through Atuu's helmet and rip his face and eyes from his skull. The impact alone was akin to a ten-foot rancor, perfectly capable of cracking the Mandalorian's skull open even without claws.

"PRAIIZZE BEEEE HZHZHZHZHZHZZZZ!" it screeched zealously in its chittering, maddening tongue, laughing all the while.

@Rimrald @Darasuum @Versok

 

[Varyn Atrix]

Varyn was once again struck by the weight of the darkness that clung to the air around him as Raze descended. Even into relative obscurity, Varyn didn't need to see the monster to know that he was there.

Varyn whirled through the smoke, the orange glow of his blades reflecting off the thick cloud and heralding the deadly warrior that came to cleave through the soldiers, hoping to catch up to them before they managed to fire on Max further. The General seemed to be upright, but it was only further confirmation to Varyn's mind. They were all already dead.

Death.

Varyn's mind had lingered on it more and more over the last several years. Who would have missed him if he was gone? If he just ended it. Of course, he wouldn't. He was too stubborn for that, but if death found him on the battlefield, then such was life. He had cheated death once, certain he would die amidst the Killiks on that accursed station, and yet the Force had a different plan for him. But death wouldn't be cheated, risk was a part of being in war, and Raze's comments that rang in his mind only further seemed to enhance those feelings. It felt as though he had cheated the galaxy and its cruel trick was to leave him with a feeling of emptiness that even this monster could sense.

Varyn's teeth clenched together in anger, and he refused to play into the Dark Lord's hands. He wanted the Lord Commander to break, and he refused, stubborn to a fault.

The thought was shaken away by the crackling of the comlink in his ear. We have your position Lord Commander, a man's disembodied voice said.

Target my position, all heavy munitions: orbital and aircraft, he said into his comlink, and as he said it, his blood ran cold, the reality setting in.

Sir, please repeat last, the voice said, and Varyn could hear the baffled sound in it.

You heard me. Target my position with all heavy ordinance. Standby for my command, he said.

And what cause do you fight for?! he shouted over the clang of battle, voice now raised to be heard. In this case, buying time simply meant surviving, and Varyn wasn't going to rush in just to die prematurely.

It used to be for the Empire, now it's what? To feed your own appetite for death? he asked. Would Raze take the bait? Probably not, but who knew, maybe Varyn would get lucky.

@Alhon @Sreeya

 

[Max Dram]

Max had not expected blaster fire to take down a target like Raze. He had hoped to pin the cretin down, but his hopes turned to dust.

His shots and the grenade were blocked, not by fantastical sorcery but by the lifted bodies of Max’s own men. Imperial corpses, uniformed and pockmarked. Raze lifted the dead as his shield, and then turned his eye to the living. The General realised too late what was happening as the mustered men turned their rifles on their own officer.

Max managed to grab the closest man and near broke his arm shoving him back, but there were so many others. As Raze sparred with Varyn, blaster bolts lanced into Max’s shoulder and sides. He tried to dodge and his armour to the brunt of many, but he felt several shots cut through his plate, scoring his ribs and legs and one drove deep into his left shoulder.

Momentum and adrenaline kept Max going, Varyn‘s quick intervention giving him a brief reprieve. He dropped one of the remaining two men with a hail from his own rifle, closing on the second and slashing wide with his blastsword to cut the addled man down.

The soldier‘s blood spray coated the General’s face and he roared with primal fury. He had found his place in the Empire again and yet Raze had back to killing his Imperial brothers. This was what Sith did. Twisted every fucking thing.

He threw himself behind a mound of bodies near Varyn for cover, trying to gather himself even as he saw the dust and debris being hurled towards them. It took a great effort to level his metal arm and loose the repulsor on his wrist, aiming to scatter most of it before it hit.

Raze was speaking, as if in to his mind, but Max had felt a Sith in his ear before. He had wrestled with his convictions more than most men and was not so easily undermined. Instead, it was the more mechanical comm echo of Varyn’s that he heard. The Lord Commander was going to end all of this with fire and fury. End Raze, end them, end all of it.

So he was not going to make Grand Marshal then. Max actually let out a laugh, despite the pain wracking his body. The end brought a strange release. Perhaps he should have been the bloody Emperor.

@Sreeya @Phoenix

 

[Varyn Atrix]

Theme​

Varyn's tongue seemed to stick in his mouth as soon as he heard the response from the aerial command. He knew as soon as he said the words it would all come to an end, but he knew that it had already ended for so many here today. Men had shot themselves, thrown themselves under tanks, even fallen to Varyn's own blades. There was nothing but despair in the air, and it needed to be burned away with flames.

Open fire.​

The next ten seconds were... surreal. He knew there was no stopping the inevitable, and he wasn't going to try. He had accepted his fate. He didn't need his whole life to flash before his eyes in an instant because he had time to think about it as he waited for the hammer to fall.

Maybe it was Raze's poisonous words in his mind that made the doubts linger or maybe it was those same doubts that had always been there, but those final moments of Varyn Atrix were not those of joy, they were moments of regret and doubt. Doubt was perhaps the single word that had most defined his life and he had never truly found his home.

His mind rolled back through those friends he had made over the years and those he had lost. Crix and Zana. Vahliri, Six, and Altair. He thought of how he had wandered in his days from the Jedi to the Sith and finally to the Empire. He told himself that he had given everything up and sacrificed his soul to make the galaxy better, but Raze was right. And he hated that Raze was right. Deep in his soul he could feel that the Empire had failed in its mission, and that meant Varyn had as well.

His squeezed tightly around the grip of his lightsaber before releasing it and letting the hilt fall to the ground. His fight was over and he dropped to his knees, head hung in a pose not unlike those taken by meditating Jedi.

His breath seemed to catch in his throat and it was difficult to say if the tears that stung his eyes were from the smoke or something else.

I hope I did the right thing. May this make up for the wrong, he whispered quietly to himself. This monster that had haunted his dreams since the raid on Ajan Kloss would finally come to an end. It had pillaged and destroyed countless lives, and if this single moment of his existence brought an end to that beast, then perhaps it was all worth it. Maybe this was what the Force had brought him through all of this to do.

The impacts of bombs and turbolaser shots shook the ground and the heat reached him moments later. Heat, burning light, and then what lay beyond.

--End Story--​

 

[Kotii Solus]

Kotii was still trying to rise when his instincts took over. The growing shadow on the roof underneath the Solus told him something was coming close and fast. He had no way of knowing it was anything but more rubble but he moved all the same.

Kotii moved towards his own left while still on all fours, rotating his body clockwise to spin out of the way in time to avoid the incoming danger. After completing a blur of a motion he could swear he felt a woosh of air pass by his helmet and miss him barely. After rolling the full 360 degrees, still mostly facing the rooftop below him he had gained some distance from his foe. Kotii brought his left leg underneath him and pushed off. This simultaneously would activate his jetpack and send the Mandalorian flying upwards and away from Gareth and kept him within view. The badger would finally be able to set eyes on what had nearly collided with him and was a little surprised to see the Silver Lion so close.

The dar’manda pushed off of the roof once the soles of his feet were able to flatten for a briefest of heartbeat. His jetpack would once again take him into the skies for a second time moving at close to fourteen meters per second. Kotii continued to face Gareth as he gained altitude expecting more magick machinations. The fact he had come at him unarmed made the half-echani refrain from drawing a weapon just yet, not that he had been given much of a chance to in the first place. Distance was his best chance at survival.

In the distance, two blocks away, a torrent of orbital fire rained down on Varyn Atrix and in turn Darth Raze as well as anyone or thing nearby. The place Kotii had thought was a fallback point had just been hit by the devastating strike. The rest of the city had moments before clouds of dust and debris would come flooding their way. Rubble and even a stray cannon blast could still fall on Kotii or Gareth’s position and neighboring streets if they were not careful. But something had changed on the battlefield and Kotii only had a few moments to work it out.

@Versok

Spoiler

Kotii rolls to his own left side and tries to push off and fly away at ~14 meters per second (50 kph) and continue to face Gareth as he ascends. He notices the orbital strike a few blocks away.

 

[Atuu Skirata]

With his right hand pinned to his chest and the carbine he was holding being rendered useless. Atuu would draw his blaster pistol with his left hand he would draw on any and all adrenaline fueled strength he could muster.

With another clawed hand coming for his face, Atuu would work to undo the sling holding the carbine to his chest. Freeing him from the immediate downforce as he would roll to his side as best he could in the abominations grasp.

With a turn of his head and body the incoming facial attack would hit his helmet, and strike on the face and side, piercing the helmet and then ripping a line through the metal. But not impacting his face beyond a deep cheek to nose laceration.

It was at this point he would begin to hear the impacts of bombs, lasers and other ordinance nearby. He would attempt to use the strike as a distraction for the beast. Not knowing it's master was present and likely in danger.

Hoping it would take the abominations attention for long enough that his still powered jetpack could take him far enough away to seek shelter before his adrenaline fueled survival attempt would end. @Darasuum @Mr. Teatime @Versok

 

[Gareth Gin]

The Mandalorian narrowly dodged the punch, the fist of the Miralukan leaving a crater the sized of his hand on the ground instead, with cracks spreading throughout, Had he not been able to dodge it both his helmet and skull would've been left in a much worse state. As Kotii finally got the chance to take a look at him, the White Lion would flash him a malicious smile, it was clear that he enjoyed the fact that the Mandalorian was skilled enough to survive longer than most, and now that he had taken to the skies he would probably be a decent challenge. So, the firstborn readied himself to start running again, he would find a way to catch the armor wearing birdie somehow, he was sure of it.

However, before getting a chance to resume their fight, orbital fire started to rain down and dangerously close to them and it wouldn't take long for the consequences to wipe Gareth's smile off his face. The White Lion first felt surprise, then confusion, and after? Despair. Everyone would be able to feel it through the force, but the exalted would feel it stronger than most...Raze was dead.

The destruction of the Wraith would deal a huge blow to the exalted as they kept on fighting, part of it was, of course, debilitating physical pain, the death of Raze, the entity that had connected itself to them, had left, and with that, a piece of them had been taken away from them.

"No...NO! You promised me purpose! You were...Damn it, no, not like this, not right now!" The White Lion started to mutter to himself like a madman, his voice filled with pain, despair and rage before disengaging from the fight, retreating to avoid conflict and the orbital strike alike. What little capacity for fighting he had right now he would use to make sure he was not shot on the way out.

The beast inside him, while now weakened as a result of Raze's death, was panicking, afraid and wanting to get out, and, as a part of Gareth, he felt it too. However, he could not let the beast take over in such a state, not when he knew that his brothers and sisters would be going rampant without his guidance. The Empire would no doubt take advantage of the fact that they went from unfeeling, relentless monsters to panicked animals. As the firstborn, the only other person other than Raze with any control over the exalted, he had to keep from giving in.

So he retreated, making sure to not be taken out by the same weapons that had destroyed the Wraith. As the beacon of the exalted, most of the monsters followed him as the empire started to push back while the others would be taken out as the tables turned, but those that managed to make their way back would get inside the ships they had charged out of at the start, the exalted.

The Empire had to make great sacrifices to drive back the exalted, but it had proved enough to defend their world. A pyrrhic victory, paid with the blood of their people and two of they greatest heroes. Corpses of monsters and people alike littered the streets of Ossus, rivers of blood and scorched craters painting the landscape of the planet. The empire had won, but both sides had ended up greatly crippled...Which faction would be able to regain their strength first?