Ask Event Bacta 'Gainst the Wall

Veer Altaris

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It didn’t take long for things to go from bad to worse, and Veer couldn’t help but grit his teeth with mounting irritation as several downright horrifying, flying Insectoids began to swoop down from the skies above. Of course they could fly. Why the fuck not, right?

It only took a passing glance for Veer to know that - for the first time - he wouldn’t have an opportunity to provide cover fire to his allies - his own life now dangling on the line. Without a word, the Axxilan abandoned his rifle - letting the long-ranged weapon slip from his gloved fingers and clang to the ground. He dared not waste a single moment by slinging it across his back, and instead his hands snapped down to his own waist - fingers of his left hand curling around the grip of his DL-44, while the other grasped the single smoke grenade that was clipped to the Bounty Hunter’s belt.

“Secure the Cadir! That is the priority!” He shouted, barking the words towards anyone who looked as if they were going to peel off to assist him. Dire odds or not, the Axxilan knew the value of protecting the Bacta supply and it far outweighed his own welfare.

Pulling the pistol from its holster, Veer leveled the medium blaster upon the flying Insectoid - aiming for its bone-plated forehead - before pulling the trigger back once to send a bolt of crimson plasma arcing through the air. He made no attempt to address the others quite yet - gauging the risk of lining up another shot against the sheer velocity in which they moved. Simultaneously and regardless of the outcome of blaster bolt, Veer flicked the pin off the smoke grenade and let the small canister fall to the ground at his feet - immediately releasing a cloud of dark, opaque vapor around him in a five-meter radius.

Light on his feet, Veer dove to his own left and crouched low to the ground - attempting to distance himself from his last visible location and where he fired his pistol. Shrouded within the cloud of smoke, the Axxilan would be difficult to see with the naked eye - and the Scatterweave coating of his armor served to further make him all but invisible. He attempted to confuse the swarm that swooped down to tear him apart - hoping to leave the Insectoids swiping through thin air and frantically searching. All the same, Veer knew that he was gambling with fate. He didn’t know baseline Kilik physiology, let alone what the genetically-altered versions possessed. If the insectoids were naturally gifted to see through the haze, the Axxilan had effectively made himself an easy - and momentarily stationary - target.

Veer’s left hand rose up to the side of his helmet - two fingers lifting off to engage the Vision HUD built into his helmet, while his right hand snapped down to draw the other DL-44 from his holster. Assuming he wasn’t promptly torn to shreds, the Axxilan intended to use his own technological advantages to pick off the flying Insectoids.


1.Veer drops his rifle to the ground, instead drawing his DL-44 pistol into his left hand and reaching for a smoke grenade with his right.

2.He fires a single shot at one of the Flying Kiliks (Fk u Logan I hate them) and drops the smoke grenade.

3. He darts to the left and crouches down in the smoke, attempting to keep himself hidden while drawing his other pistol and engaging his Vision HUD.

@Logan
 

Clove Vanhoop

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Clove was frozen in place, staring at the path she had managed to carve. Did... did she really do that? She wasn't the type to win a fight, let alone carve a path to where she needed to go. She was also not one to hurt or kill. And... did these bugs have feelings? Did she just kill a bug who was most likely in pain, her first kill no less? No. She had to shake it off. This was not the time to spiral. There would be plenty of chances to consider the morality of what she did once the Bacta was saved. With a sharp breath, Clove set her body moving, just in time to see the Tiefling(@Wit) jog toward her.

Her gaze followed Alia's gesture to the structure before she nodded. "I like the sound of that; I'll follow you. Good job by the way; you two looked badass taking down that large thing." She smiled at the girl before scanning the area one last time. Her gaze was drawn to the man(@Altaris) who had saved her life and helped with some extra blasts, but this time he was the one in danger. She couldn't just leave him to die after he had saved her. No, she had to do something, even if it was only a single attempt. "I'll catch up with you in a minute, Alia."

Clove let Alia go ahead of her and turned onto her heels, her blaster raised into the sky as she watched Veer and the flying horrifying bugs. He'd created a cloud of smoke, which she assumed was for his own cover. She took a deep breath and began to channel the Force into her own body, before gradually releasing it in gentle waves. Her Force moved across the ground and through the air like a pair of eyes, seeing what she couldn't. It was a thankfully light ability on the girl's stamina, but she could feel the strain building; she needed to slow down the amount of Force she was using, especially since her body was still recovering. But that'd be an issue for later. For now she focussed on the flying bugs, seeing them dance through the smoke.

She took a few steps to the left, kneeling behind a shattered chunk of metal and away from where she'd catch up with Alia, just in case she'd be spotted. With her free hand, she reached for a rock on the ground and lodged it between her armpit. Then she raised her blaster again, peering behind the chunk of metal and aiming at one of the bugs Veer hadn't shot at. She held her breath, tracked the bugs' movements to get a sense of their path, and pulled the trigger, releasing an energy bolt. Right as she pulled the trigger she snatched the rock back into her free hand and tossed it at one of the speeders. The stone clanked loudly against the dented metal, hopefully shifting the bugs' attention away from both her shot and Veer himself.

Whatever happened, Clove lowered her blaster and started crawling away from the chunk of metal and towards another piece of cover—which she couldn't quite identify, a piece of a broken wall?—creating some distance between the location of her shot and the flying bugs. Hopefully, her small stature and light feet were enough to keep her from drawing attention to herself. When she thought she was safe, she straightened her legs and jogged toward Alia.

If everything went well, she apologized to Alia for the delay and began following her towards the building.




tag @Logan + everyone else

- Clove took cover behind a piece of metal, most likely from a broken speeder, like a door.
- Clove used Force Sight while grabbing a stone, to track the bugs.
- Clove then shot at one of the flying bugs while peeking behind cover. And once she pulled the trigger, she threw the rock against one of the knocked-over speeder to make a loud clanking sound (rock against metal) to hopefully draw the attention of the bugs to the rock.
- Clove crawled away from the metal piece to another piece of cover, relying on her light feet and small posture to hopefully get away undetected.
- If all goes well, Clove catches up with Alia to head to the structure.
 

Thayd Karkoza

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After a quick glance through the window, Thayd entered the building right behind Ruzaan (@SlagathorTheUnknown ) and Arctus (@Forsythe Crowholde ). As the two padawans dug the radios out from the bug pulp, Thayd reached out for a light switch that ought to have been on the wall somewhere near the entry. Presuming he found it, he'd try flicking the lights off and on to see if the building still had power.

When the radio crackled to life Thayd's attention snapped to it, and he made his way briskly but quietly over to the reception area. "Careful what you say." His voice was low, coming after Ruzaan had finished speaking. "We don't know who else is listening."

While Arctus laid out the options, Thayd would be taking in what he saw around him. Everything was caked in viscera. Blood pooled on the floor, streaked the walls in half-congealed rivulets. A mural of ruined anatomy. Piles of guts lumped dripping in seats. Thayd looked past the slaughter, moving around as necessary to scan the lobby, keeping his eyes out for a few things in the process: stairwells, elevator, alternate exits. Naturally he kept his blaster up in front of him, ready to fire on any killiks.

He turned slightly to speak to the others as he continued to search. "I don't want to charge into these fucking bugs unless we absolutely have to..." Wheels turning in Thayd's head. "Hell I'd rather cut my way into the Cadir's hiding spot through the wall than try to fight through a hundred or however many of those bugs are swarming around outside his door."

Thayd passed what looked like an elevator lobby, and then finally came to a heavier looking door that seemed probably like it led into a stairwell. He stopped there.

"I think this is the stairs. Cadir's not on the ground floor folks, unless that's him smeared all over the walls." He pointed back at the elevator. "Elevator's over there if you have a death wish."

Grabbing the door handle, Thayd turned it silently and slowly cracked the door open to get a glimpse of what he figured was the stairwell that would lead to the upper floors, or possibly the basement.

Thayd toggles the light switch to see if the building still has power. He cautiously searches the first floor lobby area, staying within sight and earshot of Arctus, Ruzaan and Claudias. He spots what looks like an elevator lobby, goes past it, and then comes to a door that he guesses leads to the stairwell. He opens the door just a few inches to get a quick look at the stairs, to see if they lead up or down, and of course to check if there are any killiks.

@Logan @Tom

 
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X3R

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As X3R plodded forward, briefly crunching over fallen Killiks as he went, the droid briefly paused to scoop up a trooper blaster identical to the first he had picked up. On any smaller being, the act of carrying two blaster rifles at once, one in each massive hand, would have looked mildly ridiculous. For X3R, the twin weapons were small enough that they could have been pistols, which was how he carried them.

Advancing toward the building, he swiveled to fire whenever he saw movement. Before long, however, he had caught up to the group of heroes as they entered the Cadir. His cranial turret swept over the tableau.

"That," he intoned, "is a great deal of viscera. You organics are seldom tidy when you are killed, are you."

The huge droid turned toward Arctus as he spoke, then turned toward the others.

"I agree that we should stick together. In an enclosed space, it is easy to be ambushed or overwhelmed."

He tilted his head downward to peer at the floor.

"It would be logical for the VIP's panic room to be built into the strongest part of this building. I believe that would be the foundation. We should move downward, if we cannot contact him for confirmation of his location."
X3R gets a second blaster, joins the Scooby Gang, advises that they go to the basement unless otherwise instructed.
 

The Gatekeeper

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Outside the Building

With no one around to help him and not having the foresight to move on his own, Roman would find himself sucked into the swirling pit of earth that had appeared below him. One one hand, the Sith was lucky. He was only dropped around twenty feet downward into one of the tunnels beneath.

On the other, he probably had at least one broken leg and was now staring face to face with some kind of killik that Nirn liked to keep as pets. It clacked its mandibles at what seemed to be a free meal, its pointed legs clacking softly on the stone floor of the tunnel as it moved toward Roman

Veer’s thought to obscure the vision of the killiks attacking him was a good one, though it alone wouldn’t have quite been enough to truly save him. Luckily for the handsome rebel, a tiny pointy eared ex-Jedi decided to lend him a hand.

Through the combined efforts of Clove and Veer, as well as the aided smoke grenade giving them an upper hand, the two were able to dispatch the flying creepy crawlies without taking a scratch. Or well, at least two of them.

Clove’s attempt to distract the last remaining flier with the rock didn’t quite work as intended, instead the bug spotting her as she attempted to move to her last bit of cover. Deciding the smoke was too much of a hassle, the bug instead set its sights on her.

Streaming toward her, the flying killik attempted to drive all four of its fang-like limbs into Clove’s torso, attacking her from behind and to the left. Alia would see this potential disaster about to unfold, though whether she wanted to help or not would be up to her.

From her vantage point, Arla’s attack was a good one. Her arrow would fly through the air with incredible precision, though just before it would hit its target the young Sith would see the projectile simply hard stop mid air and hover there before turning itself back around and firing straight back at her.

Nirn was no game beast that could easily be sniped from distance. She had sensed the arrow coming and with her ability in the force, gave it a firm stamp of return to sender. Through the eyes of her killiks she could see Arla’s position, though the girl was much too far away to adequately deal with herself.

Before Nirn could decide what to do with the pointy-eared archer, her focus was drawn somewhere much closer. And not to Emryc, surprisingly.

Through the combined effort of Draugr and Zak, they were quickly able to dispatch the trio of flying bugs that had attempted to assault them. The sizzling fry of the Sith’s lighting in particular seemed to be very, very effective at weakening them as the Jedi finished them up with his lightsaber.

This would give the two a clean path forward, though Draugr’s lightning slinging might have drawn attention to him that he would regret. Nirn was moving directly toward the two unlikely allies, the force coalescing around her hands as visible crimson energy crackling with inky blackness.

With only a sinister smile, Nirn raised her hands toward Zak and Draugr and unleashed her own torrent of lightning energy at them, lightning so fierce and so hot it nearly melted the duracrete beneath it.

Inside the Building

The flipping of the light switch from Thayd offered little light from overhead, though it did produce some as it seemed the building was at least running on some form of generator power. Emergency lights flickered to life, casting the area the Scooby Gang currently found itself with an eerie, horror-movie-esque vibe.

Looking at the desk, Arctus would find a small piece of laminated paper labeled "Fire escape routes," which luckily was a map of the Cadir's building that showed the best exits to take incase of fire. He would see that the building itself had several stories as well as two sublevels, though the map itself wasn't super informational outside of that. Most of the rooms weren't labeled, though he would see that sublevel A was labeled "Generators."

As Ruzaan spoke into the comm he wouldn't hear anything on the other end but static, at least for a few very tense moments. Then, a quiet voice would come through, one he would recognize as the Cadir that had spoken earlier. Though, it would be noticeable that the signal was growing weak, as if the generator running the electronics in the panic room was beginning to fail.

You've only made it to the main level? Came the Cadir's voice, hurried and dripping with panic. The quickest way to the panic room is the stairwell, it'll be several flights down to sublevel B. Gyxik paused for a second as the sound of a few keys clacking on a data terminal could be heard.

The stairwell looks clear, at least for now. But the area outside of where I am has several Killiks, as well as a Vratix named Jyt who has been joined. Jyt is currently working on breaking the passcode to open the panic room.

As Thayd moved towards the stairwell and took his peek, he would see what Gyxik had seen: nothing at all. Although, since the Jedi had the foresight to try the lights, he would be able to notice something that would have been almost invisible in the dark.

Along the walls, stuck with some kind of strange tar looking substance, were what seemed to be billiard ball sized spore pods. If Thayd looked closely, he would even seem them on the stairs that lead down to the sublevels.

Given the Scooby Gang’s general makeup being mostly meat based people, it might occur to X3R that taking the lead down the pod laden stairs might be the best bet. Though, he would be hard pressed to find anything in his databanks about what exactly popping one of the pods might do.

Only one way to find out though, right?

Meanwhile, in the upper floors, Hauron would quickly figure out that Smoe was pretty much the most useless sidekick of all time. And yes, that even included the Gungan from that one movie about Constellation Conflicts.

No idea, Smoe replied to Hauron’s question about the whereabouts of the Cadir. This place is huge man, I get lost all of the time.

If Hauron poked his head out the door and into the hallway, he’d see two assassin-killiks like he’d seen outside feasting on the remains of the other people that had once been in the room. They seemed fairly distracted and unaware of the Mandalorian, though that was until Smoe accidentally let out one of the loudest dad sneezes ever heard by human ears.

Instantly, the killiks would turn their attention back to Hauron and Smoe, clacking their mandibles at the thought of some more meat to tear through.

In Space

The decimation of the CDF forces continued as the Hapan and ISC fleets did what they must, and what the Killik Hive had forced them to. The CDF light fleets, hopelessly and cruelly outgunned by the ISC heavies, still continued their press. It was like watching someone purposefully shove their hand into a meat grinder just to see what their fingers looked like when they came through the other side.

Of course, this was the intention. Softening the formations was one thing, but the the mental toll that killing your own took on people - especially soldiers - could not be underestimated. The Killik war tactics probably seemed savage to most - but that is because they were. When you could replenish every dead soldier with two more live ones, the only real cost of war was time.

As the dartships began to engage with the ISC fighters in earnest, they would suddenly engage in a rather strange maneuver. The dartships would split themselves into two groups, and begin engaging in thicker screens and passes - leaving a large open trench for the Shardships to plow through, somewhat devoid of the potential of friendly fire.

See, the Killik shardships were not like your typical warships - they were carved from asteroids and strengthened with resin, and they were nearly five kilometers long. They might have been slow, but that's because they didn't need to be fast. They were strong and built for ramming , and only sustained firepower from Star Destroyers had hope of breaching their armor.

One of the groups of shardships would begin plowing its way straight into the ISC heavy groups. All the while, it would launch its entire payload of chrysalis projectors. These hard chrysalises would seek out unshielded enemy ships, and each one was loaded with six Killiks that would start boarding and looking to Join those aboard. Many of them would fail, but some wouldn't. And then those ISC forces would begin turning on their own, just like the CDF.


32 Shardships
3250 Dartships

I didn't put the CDF forces in my previous post, so these numbers will reflect what remains after the previous posts of losses. No losses to command carriers, command frigates or battle cruisers. Around half of the original starting forces for everything else. So the CDF has lost around half of its light formations, and half-ish of its heavy formations.

4x TE-4 Command Carrier
4x Acquitans-Class Command Frigates
4x TL-2 Battlecruisers
4x Bothan Assault Cruisers
7x TE-1 Destroyers
7x TE-2 Carrier/Destroyers
10x Corona-Class Frigates
10x DP-10 Corellian Gunship Frigates
10x Sphyrna-Class Corvettes
10x CR-90 Corvettes
900x TE-34 Wing Fighters
400x BTL C1-Y-Wing Starbombers

@Altaris @Apollyon @AutoFox @Darasuum @Evan @Faded
@Forsythe Crowholde @LilyNion @Phoenix @Scoobert
@SlagathorTheUnknown @Sreeya @Tom @Valen Pelora @Wit
 

Arla

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Arla hadn't expected her strike to be exceptionally effective, but this was... well, it was even worse than that. The arrow stopped entirely, and truthfully when it didn't go "splat" in an explosion, the huntress could guess what was coming next.

She leapt from her balcony to the next as the energy bolt only narrowly missed her and slammed into the wall behind her. She watched the lightning spew out of the... woman-thing? She could feel it scorching the air, supercharging everything in the area.

Kriff, I'm out of my league, she muttered to herself, peering out from cover at what was going on. I wish mother was here, she said to herself, of course completely unaware that the other half of her parentage was here.

But there was no time to worry about it now. Instead, she focused on how she could help influence the battle. She saw Draugr and... probably some Jedi as they made their way toward the woman. Instead of moving herself, she reached out to the Shadow, drawing on the power of her spells.

Eth cabdoy, ug-el hamdai! she chanted, throwing her hands out to the side for a moment as a flash of green shot over her arms.

Rather than attack the creature directly or even do anything to distract it, she used her magicks to cloak the two warriors as they moved in. Draugr (@Scoobert) would likely recognize what was happening, but the Jedi (@Apollyon) would likely be quite unused to being wrapped in dark magick. Except this time it wasn't designed to injure. It bent the light around them both, making them quite difficult to spot and target amidst the chaos of the battle.

While such a move would have been impossible to pull off for an average Force-user, Nightsister magicks were known to be able to hide even ships. Two combatants on the battlefield - while certainly not easy - was possible.

Dodges the arrow sent back her way. Uses magick to attempt to obscure Draugr and Zak. While it wouldn't be possible with standard cloak, magick cloaking is more powerful so hopefully it is okay. If not, just let me know.
 

The Storyteller

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Altronis derived no joy from the victories they were achieving. Friendly ships were shredding through the enemy, but you could barely even call them enemies. No, they couldn't think like that. This was an enemy far more nefarious than anything the galaxy had faced in countless generations.

Continue assault and brace for evasive maneuvers, he commanded. The ships continued to open fire and as the main Killik ships pushed forward, the command Force and Heavy Beta opened fire.

Move bombers into that opening. Permission to engage, he said. And this was the real strength of the ISC over the bugs. They had bombers that could pound away at even asteroids, and the bugs did not. The bombers would sweep in and begin pounding the lead ships, no doubt doing heavy damage specifically geared at incapacitation, and hopefully creating a large roadblock to the follow-up ships.

Move some of our fighters to defend Heavy Alpha, he said.

Light Forces, evade and continue engaging fighters, he said. He knew they'd be able to evade without much difficulty, but he had no illusions about what was coming next. The Heavy and Command forces were about to take a hard beating from the incoming Killik ships.

What Altronis didn't expect was the boarding actions. The first few ships had impact and as the bugs started making their way through, Altronis received the words.

Scramble marines and security, ships on full lockdown, prepare to be boarded, he said. The ship's emergency bulk heads would start slamming into place, internal turrets would spin up, and marines would prepare to defend. The bugs would begin trying to indoctrinate people, but they would find stiff resistance every step of the way.

Still, the bug advance and the CDF assault was starting to inflict casualties of their own. On the bright side - the very slim bright side - Heavy Beta and the Command Force were able to open fire before the ramming began. Hopefully they could slow those rammers down before things got too hot.


Pretty much the whole post is actions, sorry. Map updated, ships particularly in Light forces were lost too.

ISC Navy Write-up








 

Hauron Solus

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For now, Hauron did not seem to have a good reference for where he was in the building. There wasn't a map and the only living employee nearby was a few fries short of a happy meal. Without a lot of options other than scanning floor by floor, the Mandalorian began moving out into the hallway.

The armored body of the Mandalorian had taken one step into the hallway and over cracked glass only to practically jump out of his beskar'gam. The thing that made him tense up was the rapid inhale of breath just before the sneeze from Smoe. He had heard sneezes like that before and knew what was coming next.

Hauron Slightly winced at the sudden flecking of snot and spit hitting the back of his torso, but more-so at the two assassin killiks that turned to click their mandibles at them. The Solus wasted no time in firing each blaster pistol. The dual westar-35s would aim primarily for the heads of each insect creature. Four blaster bolts of yellow tinge would try to kill the killiks as Hauron began to back pedal. The man wanted to keep the distance between them in case the two blaster pistols weren't enough. The young Mikkian might need to shoot even more to bring one of these things down, let alone two. Smoe wasn't going to take care of either of them.

Hauron shoots four blaster bolts at each Assassin Killiks and begins to back pedal down the hallway in the opposite direction of the assassin killiks.

@Logan
 

Darth Draugr

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The force lightning paid off as the flying killiks looking to assassinate the Sith Master fried like shrimp. The smell was horrendous, almost as bad as Bantha shit. Almost like someone took the Bantha shit and lit it on fire. Unbelievably gross and and absolutely vile. Nevertheless Draugr had to push forward. Looking onward, the sight he caught of the Nirn Queen would have any normal man adding their odor to their pants, but thankfully the Zabraki was not like normal men.

The Nirn Queen must have liked the idea of force lightning because she decided that was how she would greet the Zabrak and Togruta on the battlefield. The lightning came from her hands and outward aiming to strike where the two stood. Keep in mind this is no normal lightning.. the colors protruding from her fingertips was crimson. The most powerful form of Force Lightning known to the galaxy. Draugr was fond of this ability, so he knows just how destructive and powerful this flayed, bug, woman thing is. Now was the time to act.. or well react.

Firstly, the Zabrak had to stay alive, otherwise the Crimson lightning may be enough to execute him in one attack. Diving to the left, he would make it out of the way of the targeting strike of lightning. When he looked to himself and had seen the green magick of his people swirl and felt the darkness cover him in its glory, he could only begin to chuckle evilly to himself as he knew his nightsisters on the battlefield were supporting their leader in this battle, as well as a nightbrother. 'I'll have to thank them later.'

Now it was time for the Nirn Queen to know the strength of the Son of Dathomir. Running forward cloaked by the darkness would aim to strike at the Nirn Queen. As he was hidden as best as Arla could could offer he would come close into melee range and thrust his crimson blade forward aiming for center mass of her torso. If successful this could be devastating enough for a kill, but if not then upon a successful strike it would cripple the effectiveness of the Nirn Queen.



@Logan
 
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Zakrym La

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Zak pushed himself from the ground as his shoto returned to his outstretched hand, it's blue blade burning furiously. All three of the Killik swarmers had been cut down and somehow he remained unscathed through the endeavor as well. He wasn't really sure how he had managed it but Zak also understood that he didn't have time to ponder that question. The Living Force urged him forward, and before long Zak broke through the fray and found himself before the Nirn Queen, with Draugr to his left.

"HEro timeeeee..." Zak thought, his heroic internal dialogue turning into a horrified squeak as he saw the Nirn Queen's sadistic grin and the crimson lightning that sparked in her grasp.

The Togruta reacted almost in tandem with the Zabrak Master, leaping to his right as the Nirn Queen extended her hand to blast pair of them with the likely lethal lightning. "OH SHIT! OH KRIFF!" He shouted as he tucked during his dive, turning the maneuver into a roll that ended with Zak coming up on his feet.

It would be then that a sickening chill ran up Zak's spine, a strange green mist swirled about him, the Dark Side coiled around him as it concealed him within it's cold embrace. Zak's skin crawled as his roll finished and he came up onto his feet, he could hear his lightsabers humming but he couldn't see them. In fact, he couldn't see his arms but was aware of where they were, it was unnatural. He didn't like it but he didn't have the time to voice his qualms, the Force had guided him here and even if this wasn't strictly a part of the Living Force, the Force was still shrouding him in that moment.

Zak darted three more steps to his right, causing relying on the shrouding that concealed him to hopefully allow him to flank this monster. After those three quick steps, Zak charged in towards the Nirn Queen's flank. Provided he reached his target, Zak would slash out with both lightsabers towards the Queen's legs. His primary lightsaber aimed towards her lower calves, his shoto blade aimed towards her mid thigh. His goal was to cleave through at least one of her legs, if not both and leave her helpless on the ground.

The Force had guided him this far, he trusted it to bring an end to this and protect the people of Thyferra.

Zak realizes the shit he is in, dives to the right. Realizes he is invis, dislikes the dark side, takes a few steps to his right to continue flanking the dommy mommy then darts in and slashes with both sabers at her legs. Primary saber at lower calves, shoto at her mid thigh. The goal is to make her weak at/eliminate her need for knees.
@Logan @Sreeya @Scoobert
 

Charlotte Le'Anna

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The large holomap flashed with as it was updated in real time. Ship and fighter positionings rapidly changed while the battle evolved. Charlotte was not a master tactician. As all Hapan women, she was schooled in the necessary tactics…those tools were further honed at the Academy. She knew what to do but there was a reason the Vice Admiral stood beside her. The regal Hapan officer spoke quietly in her ear while the ship buzzed around them. Not for the first time she found herself wondering what would happen if they faltered. Charlotte kept her voice lowered. “We must alert the surface they should prepare for if we fail to hold.” Her eyes flicked to the Shardships. She waved her fingers to connect to the ISC.

“Altronis…we’ll finish the CDF forces, if you can hold the Killiks.” The Royal Fleet along with the bombers continued to pound the CDF. They were nearing the end of the line, but main Killik battalion was essentially unscathed. “Your highness…the Commandos.” Second could cost hundreds of lives. “Prepare all ships to be boarded.” Immediately counter measures began sliding into place. “If there is a chance the Killik have take them…they are lost to us.” The order clear. They could take no chances. Even a remote possibility of a Joined would be killed. Their sisters lost forever. Charlotte’s face became a hard mask. Why care now about the lives of others? When there was already so much blood on her hands.

“Have the boarding shuttles loaded with unused munitions from the bombers. They will integrate with the ISC fighter craft, board the Shardships and detonate.” The Shardships were hollowed out asteroids and did not possess all the same structural weakness as traditional craft, but they were still weaker on the side. “They will be heroes…Launch.” They were sworn to her. They died for her. She should feel nothing. Two could fight a war of attrition.

The Royal Fleet continues the assault on the CDF in an effort to free up some ISC resources. Boarding counter measures are started and the Royal Guard and Royal Commands launch to detonate bombs within the Killik vessels.

@Phoenix @Logan
 

Emryc Thorne

Faction Leader
Consortium
Rank
ISC President

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Sreeya
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Sep 20, 2020
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Emryc landed with a thud on the ground when the tendrils released him, poised in a crouch for a moment before he rose again. He wasn’t used to facing anyone close to him in strength, and the realization exhilarated him. He couldn’t help the faint grin that graced his lips as he once again stood to his full height. All around him the chaos ensued, but his focus was fixated on the Killik general in the distance that had attacked him. There were multiple efforts to rescue him, but he waved them off, intending to stay on the battlefield.

The ISC droids and soldiers that flanked him would continue their attempts to fight back against the waves of bugs around him. Emryc joined in with his mace, clobbering at any Killik that got too close. His focus, however, was on the Hive queen he could spot and sense in the Force at this point since their last brush. She had her focus shifted all while manipulating the entire horde. Emryc had to actively fight against Raze roiling and clawing inside him to take over. This was Raze’s battlefield, this was his playground, and he was denied while Emryc attempted to stay in control. An entire debate raged in his head as he bargained and negotiated with Raze on working with him instead of taking over fully.

Emryc absentmindedly bludgeoned Killik with his mace as he walked and argued internally with himself. At one point, he brought up his comlink to the generals on the field, “Send two platoons of droids and a support squad to assist those going after the Cadir,” He stated. His command would be executed at once with 80 total troops deployed, most of them NB droids with 20 V3-G4 series joining them. They would rapidly approach those that were pursuing the building, ready to provide support wherever needed. (@SlagathorTheUnknown , @Evan , @Forsythe Crowholde , @AutoFox )

The half Sephi spotted a curious sight - a Jedi and Sith both going to attack the same enemy, the Killik general. It was then that a speck of killik blood landed on his nice shirt, staining part of his chest. The sight enraged him, his jaw tightening and nostrils flaring a bit. That alone was enough to finally settle the debate, and he had to abruptly reach down and quickly don his sunglasses. While it may have looked strange at a time like this, there was a reason for it.

As Draugr and the Jedi both launched their attacks, Emryc tapped into the Force once more. This time, Raze joined him, unchained and unhinged to attack in concert. By now, the half Sephi’s eyes had turned murderously yellow, and he couldn’t afford having anyone see it. It was a risky move, but the opportunity was too tactical not to take.

Without warning, he launched a targeted attack directly at Nirn while she had two attacks coming at her. The attack would be a devastating mind shard, targeting only her. It was a joint effort from both sides of him, working like a grenade that would ideally burst through her psyche and send a trillion shards flying like knives to cut through her focus, her thoughts, her mental reserves, all to shatter her focus and cause her intense mental agony at the same time. This was timed exactly when Draugr and the Jedi launched their attacks. (@Apollyon @Scoobert )

Force users in the area would feel the sudden pulse of raw power once more, but they would likely think it was coming from Draugr. The attack pulsed with obvious Dark Side and the Zabrak was the highest ranking visible Sith on the field. Emryc timed it by design, intending for the Sith Master to be seen as the dark side Force powerhouse to deflect attention away from himself.

Ideally Emryc’s attack, combined with Nirn being distracted and having two attacks coming at her would ensure she suffered heavy damage coming out of this.

@Logan
 

Roman Antilles

Character
Sith Order
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Champion

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Faded
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Jan 6, 2020
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.


Unlucky

Only way to describe Roman's situation. As the dirt underneath him collapsed, the Sith warrior along with the heavy repeater both fell down into the catacombs, luckily the heavy gun didn't land on top of him but rather off to the side. He could feel his right tibia shatter in the impact, sending a sharp shriek of pain through his leg and up into his groin region.

To make matters worse, it seemed that the large beast was approaching him with fangs dripping in saliva, likely to make the Sith its next meal. "Oh...fuck me..." Roman said, barely able to come to a knelt position as he withdrew and ignited his lightsaber. Left hand curled into a claw as he unleashed a billow of invisible tendrils onto the monster, attempting to force choke it.

@Logan

Roman breaks his right tibia, ignites his saber and attempts to force choke the beast that is approaching him..
 

Ruzaan Kai

Character
Jedi Order
Rank
Jedi Padawan

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SlagathorTheUnknown
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Ruzaan was about to go dashing down the several flights to sublevel B, but the cautiousness of others around him made him reconsider his haste, which kept him from trampling wantonly all over the pustule-ridden stairwell. However, time was not on their side, and there was no guarantee that reinforcements would arrive given the heat of the battle raging outside (@Sreeya). His best guess was that these blobs were filled with the very substance that caused one to Join, so he set himself two rules; don't break any of them, and if that happened; don't breathe it in.

The first could be rectified by simply not stepping on any of them; easier said than done, but simpler perhaps for him than others given his unique sense of spatial awareness through his montrals and the guiding light of his lightsaber. The second problem- of breathing in spores- he would try to solve by holding his breath if he sensed that one popped near him. With a Jedi's training and discipline, he could make one breath last longer than most; hopefully until he was out of range. The presence of so many of the bulbous things hinted that they relied upon numbers rather than individual potency to do the trick.

Carefully, trying to strike a balance between speed and caution, Ruzaan began descending the perilous steps. "If you follow, step only where I place my feet" he called back to the others. (@Evan @Forsythe Crowholde @AutoFox @Tom)


@Logan
Ruz carefully steps down the stairs, using his lightsaber to guide his steps and try to avoid trampling any of the blobs.
If one does break, he holds his breath while continuing to descend
 

Alia

Character
Sith Order
Rank
Acolyte

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Wit
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Jul 21, 2022
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Alia was curious to see what Clove was planning, so she kept an eye on the Half-Annfyn ex-Jedi as she moved to help Veer. Despite her own lack of vertical visibility, Alia was able to spot Veer through the chaos of battle and could understand why Clove wanted to help him. He was cute, and ofttimes that was enough to overcome common sense. Not that she judged Clove for that, because a moment later she herself was doing the same when she spotted the flier move to attack Clove. She could have left her, it would be the "Sith" thing to do, but she was cute, and Alia felt enough goodwill because of their initial interaction to rather not see her get skewered like a starter at a Dathomirian winter barbeque feast.

"Clove, behind you!"

She shouted as she started running towards Clove and reached out with the Force, not having enough time to cast an intricate spell, and relying on a rather simple usage of her less oft used abilities. She grabbed the flier in a telekinetic hold and tried to pull it backwards, away from Clove. She simply hoped to do what Arla had done for her earlier, slow the thing down enough for Clove to have a better chance to save herself. She might like her, but that didn't mean she was going to hand her a rescue on a platter, this was a two way street after all. She had done her bit, not it was Clove's turn to do hers.

@Logan @LilyNion
Alia shouts a warning at Clove and uses the Force to try and pull at the flier moving for her and slow it down enough to give her a better chance at avoiding the attack.
 

Clove Vanhoop

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Independent
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Veterinarian

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LilyNion
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Everything went so well; Veer was saved, she shot another strange bug out of the sky and she was ready to meet up with the Tiefling girl. But nothing ever stayed well. Clove was confidently moving toward the path when her half-Annfyn ears twitched, picking up the sound of wings flapping closer and closer.

Sugar.

This was it. She wasn't sure if she could make it, but she wasn't going to let a bug jumping at her back kill her. Alia's voice, warning her of what she already knew, came as a relief; it meant she wasn't alone. But she still had to deal with the bug. Shooting it would result in a spray of acid blood, but acid blood she could handle better than meat hooks. Speaking of the meat hook; she had to get out of the way first. While she placed her feet more firmly in the ground Clove felt the Force flowing past her and towards the Killik, doing something.

Clove had no idea what the Force did or if it worked, but she had to trust Alia. Using the opportunity, the half-Annfyn pushed her feet onto the ground and jumped to the left, throwing her body out of the way of the Killik and into a roll. Although her spine made it difficult to call it a roll, it was clear she was struggling not to slam the ground face first like a Rancor on ballet and fall prone. But she landed well enough to keep her bearings and recover, and aimed her blaster at the Killik's neck, which was hopefully striking where she used to stand. She pulled the trigger without hesitation, firing a bolt at the bug before raising her left arm to shield her face, the bundle of fabric in her large cape-like sleeves flowing along in the air, hopefully catching any acid blood before it reached her arm or body.

If everything went well she owed Alia a large cake and a massive cup of hot chocolate with a lot of whipped cream, cinnamon and marshmallows.




tag @Logan + @Wit

- Clove gets grumpy and turns around, facing the flying Killik with her blaster raised
- Clove notices the Force getting used and despite not being sure what it does, she trusts Alia and hopes it buys her enough time to jump out of the way, letting the Killik hit the air instead of her body.
- Clove shoots as she hopefully gets away and covers her face with her free arm, her long ass sleeve flying into the air, shielding her arm.
 

Veer Altaris

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Independent
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Citizen

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Altaris
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Even in the heat of the moment, Veer had to exhale a sigh of relief that his last-ditch plan actually worked. It was a fifty-fifty gamble on the altered Kilik physiology, and it was one that spared the Axxilan from summarily being torn to pieces. All the same, he didn’t fail to notice the aid he received from Clove - and while she likely couldn’t see it, Veer tilted his head and nodded his appreciation towards the half-Annfyn. He didn’t dare vocalize his gratitude after narrowly managing to cloak himself in the smoke.

His attention didn’t linger on the half-Annfyn for a moment longer than was necessary to convey his sentiments. With his Vision HUD engaged and both DL-44’s in hand, the Axxilan promptly fixed his attention onto the two remaining Kilik’s that swarmed within the smoke cloud. Their insectoid bodies were clearly outlined due to their thermal signature, and it was all too easy for the trained Marksman to line up both pistols to attack.

Veer leveled both his pistols - rapidly pulling back on the trigger to unleash two bolts of crimson plasma into the opaque cloud of smoke. They were split to target both Insectoid’s at once - aimed center-mass to maximize damage. The Axxilan knew he would only have one attempt before his hidden position was compromised, and it was for that reason that he sacrificed a more precise aim to fire both pistols at once. If nothing else, Veer hoped that their uncomfortably close range would be enough to compensate. Regardless of the outcome, the Axxilan turned and bolted to his own left - attempting to rapidly distance himself from both the cloud of smoke and the position from where he’d just fired, prepared if the Insectoids managed to survive his volley and follow him out of the cover.

He briefly glanced over towards Emryc, Zak and Draugre - and thus caught sight of Nirn unleashing her lightning upon the latter two. Bereft of his rifle, the Axxilan decided to avoid the confrontation for the moment - knowing full-well that he was outmatched by the overwhelmingly powerful Force Users.

Instead, the Axxilan glanced over his shoulder - his attention snapping towards the sound of shouting coming from Alia. The moment that he spotted the third Flyer moving in to attack Clove, Veer lifted his left forearm and leveled it upon the creature - while his right hand momentarily slid towards his vambrace to press the button there. Just then, the grapple-line from within his vambrace shot forth - zipping through the air in an attempt to coil and snare the wing of the flying Insectoid from its left. His attack was timed alongside the Force pull from Alia - attempting to use its own backward trajectory to physically tear the wing of the creature.

Using the smoke as cover, Veer fired two shots from his blaster pistols - one aimed at each of the remaining Flyers.

Veer then bolts to the left and out of the smoke, spotting Alia and Clove.

He uses his grapple line attempting to snare the remaining Flyer's wing, hoping to rip off its wing while Alia yanks it backwards.
@Logan

@Wit @LilyNion (Tagging those addressed in my actions.)
 

X3R

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Independent
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Citizen

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AutoFox
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X3R eyed the growths that lined the stairwell dubiously, and not for the first time wished he had not removed the flamethrower that had once been built into his cranial turret in the interest of passing security checks. He held his blasters at the hip, pointing them out from his body like the barrels of a dreadnought's turret. He considered offering to go first, but was glancing down at his ponderous hull in hesitation when one of the organics - a Jedi, he believed, though he was still puzzling out how their order differed significantly from the Sith - stepped forward.

"I will follow immediately behind you." The huge machine intoned. "I am not sufficiently flexible to take point without precise guidance. However, I am armored, and should something happen, I can form a physical barrier to protect those behind."

He looked around at the others.

"Is this acceptable?"

@Evan @Forsythe Crowholde @SlagathorTheUnknown @Tom
 

Thayd Karkoza

Character
Jedi Order
Rank
Jedi Knight

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Evan
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Dec 27, 2021
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Hearing the Cadir's voice come through the radio and grasping some inkling of what might be coming, the jedi's face sunk with dread. They'd been summoned to the pit! Called up to dive for oblivion, come what may. Somewhere back in the secret scoreboard of his mind a long twisted wishlist titled "Favors the Cadir owes you" started to fly out in an endless tallying. The big glib robot was correct, they'd have to go to the basement. The basement's basement, in fact. Thayd was no dummy. He knew where these killiks came from. He had seen with his own eyes as the ground unclenched its great knotted jaws and spewed them up from some wretched hearty motherlode deep down. He heaved a sigh, repeated the word "alright" to himself a couple times, then looked to the others.

"Let's get this bitch on the road."

Then he fully opened the door, stepped into the stairwell and immediately stopped again as he took in the sight of what appeared to be some kind of gooey lair. It was time to plumb the depths. The depths of hell. His eyes peeled back this fresh vision of horror in the scant red light of the stairwell. All along the walls and the steps, globs and gobs and pods smeared all over like tumors in a cancer-ridden throat, pasted in a tar-like substance. Thayd was so transfixed by this scene he barely noticed as Ruzaan moved past him and took the lead descending the stairs. When the Togruta spoke of copying his footsteps, Thayd knew he was right. These pods looked delicate: dank throbbing wads of mucosal tissue. Like Ruzaan, he would do his best to avoid making contact with these things, so as not to rupture them and doom them all to some terrible fate.

Placing his feet in the spots recently vacated by Ruzaan’s feet, Thayd made his way cautiously down the stairs. It occurred to him that should one of these pods burst open in a cloud of death, the breathing device contained in his utility belt could be of great use, and he readied himself to retrieve this device at a moment’s notice if need be. It was slow progress down, but provided they didn’t encounter some nasty surprise, they’d reach a landing on the stairwell with a door labeled “Sub-level A -- Generators” or something like that. Upon reaching such a place, Thayd would speak aloud to the others.

“I’m going to take a look inside this room. Ehhh, just to make sure there’s not something in here that’ll eat us on the way back up or something.”

And with that he would, again with all caution, crack open the door to sub-level “A”, and try to get a glimpse of what was inside.

Thayd is disturbed by the state of the stairwell, but decides to go down anyway, following Ruzaan very cautiously. When they reach sub-level "A" he carefully opens the door to get a look at what's inside.

@Logan @SlagathorTheUnknown @Forsythe Crowholde @Tom

 

Claudias Tannaras

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Independent
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Ambassador, Brentaal

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Tom
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Aug 18, 2021
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Claudias lagged behind his comrades as he walked, hobbling as quickly as he could after the other defenders as chaos rained down around them. The situation didn't improve as he finally followed inside after the others, panting, before promptly gasping as he saw the scene. Blood and viscera had been spilled all over the room, and the Brentaaalan's legs would turn to jelly as he began vomiting. "Deus allbeing..." he choked, coughing as he stood back up.

The Brentaalan had seen gore and horror before-- years ago on Firrerre, but the carnage throughout the room was on another level. It was as if every surface had been painted in viscera, the shredded corpses of the dead reminding him of a monster's lair, the remains of all the people it had preyed upon left strewn around-- only for the monsters to be slain by brave heroes, calling upon the strength of Deus, or Sol, or whichever God or Goddess the writers worshipped to win.

He'd never put much stock in such fae'tails, but all things considered he was practically living in one at this very moment. Surrounded by force wielding knights and warriors clad in beskar, fighting against a horrific and unambiguously destructive and monstrous foe. These people were heroes, heroes who he happened to be in the company of.

Silently the Brentaalan followed after the group, though they would soon split off, the Mandalorian (@Darasuum) heading upstairs. As famed warriors they were, one Mandalorian against an innumerable number of flesh eating insects was far from a fair fight. The Jedi by contrast had their incredible blades and powers, and it seemed that the monstrous automaton (@AutoFox) would be following them. Hauron would require his aid, however little that might amount to.

He was far behind Hauron and Smoe Jith when the Mandalorian started firing. Hobbling after him, the Brentaalan would watch as two of the massive beasts began rushing towards them. Eyes as blue as the sky widened as Claudias leveled his blaster and fired a number of shots at one of the beasts, a bit further back than The Mandalorian, struggling to trail back with him.




@Logan
 
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