Battle of Coruscant: The Capital

[Berlioz]

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"You would not believe the kind of cool shit people ignore on the street because it doesn't have a logo on it. It's actually insane. I built, from scratch, a droid butterfly that made your house smell good. You know how damn hard that was? Do you have, like, the slightest god damn clue how crazy it is to solder nano-silicon and reprogram janky-ass Corellian tech? Well, first, you need a base platform. Solid durasteel, else it'll get too hot and you'll go right through it, and wind up with third degree burns. Not fun. Then, you get yourself a 10millimeter Nano-soldering iron for the metal on metal, make sure you get your Solder from Corellia - don't buy any solder from Hutt Space, it's garbage. Cheaper, yes, but garbage. Then you-"

Ray hadn't stopped talking for the past 3 minutes since they'd left the front archway.

His heart rate was through the roof, pounding against his chest as he anxiously trotted through the Coruscanti Senate building corridors, a solid 50 pounds of explosives heaped on his back by two black leather shoulder straps. His mind was still in full throttle, trying to desensitize the hellish past hour where he'd gone from taking a nap in the motor pool to rigging the second most important Political facility in the Galaxy to explode. He reached to his left pocket, pulling up a small datapad as he took a long, shaky drag from his cigarette, shutting up for the first time in exactly 188 seconds, a short-lived reprieve. Above the datapad appeared a small blue holographic image - the Senate Building. His eyes narrowed, gingerly tapping the hologram with his right index and middle finger, zooming in onto four columns surrounding the main hearing chamber.

"Amazing the kind of crap you can find on the Holonet. Absolutely amazing. Did you know there's exactly 1,434 species of Butterflies on Naboo?"

He swallowed heavily, Brisk jog - it's like 250 meters ahead.

"You do now." His feet began to move once more, breaking into a slight jog as the metal crate shifted along his back. His mouth continued to run, burying the image of a smoldering dropship with a turbolaser hole through the center. The young Sith pilot whose skull was still impaled by a vibropike onto the blown gunship's hull. The Sith Priest's screams as he fell over 700 feet. The cindering Sith corpses along the front plaza, gunned down by a Republic Lance Walker's heavy gatling repeater. The-

"God damn it, I love me some butterflies. They are so pretty. Don't you think? Holy shit, I can't get enough of them."

The Republic duo continued along the Senate corridors, enroute to the central columns within the building's rotunda.

@SonOfTheo

 

[Nerovec]

Nero moved slightly behind the first wave of attackers and watched in frustration as the republic fired rapidly at them, he saw one of his fellow Sith getting hit by a bolt after which several more shot him dead.

The Sith was fueled with anger and was about to sprint forward before the roof was blown and debris missed him by an inch. Nero got knocked unto the ground but quickly managed to scramble up, as he looked around him he would see a lot of dead sith and soldiers. This however fueled his rage even more. He got up and with the help of the force picked up several larger pieces of debris which he then started throwing at the republican defenders' position.

@Calixis

 

[SonOfTheo]

Indura sensed some hesitation from both the Lieutenant and Corporal. The Lieutenant must have suddenly indicated that he was delegating dealing with Indura to the Corporal (which made sense, shit was starting to really, really lose coherence on the first floor). The Corporal didn't acknowledge her directly, but instead whistled. Her face turned to a slight grimace before she picked up on what he was whistling at; not her, but a crate full of something that sounded like hardware. She guessed: computer equipment? Guns?

"Y'all know what this is?" He clarified and told onlookers exactly what this was. She didn't understand much of it (her traps were made of tree branches and ropes and other roughage, not military grade munitions... generally) but she caught some key words. 'Thermite', 'single trigger', 'weak points', and 'destabilize'. She got the gist.

She sensed a small but pointed woosh of air as he pointed at her and addressed her. "You're with me - watch my ass. Platonically." She didn't catch the joke. She could bounce sonar waves off of his ass but that wasn't a good way to ascertain whether the ass was phat. She disregarded and started following him, cradling her rifle at the hip and marching after him, assuming they were headed to go stick charges on stuff and things.

---

Ashla, the man was a talker. From the time they'd taken off and left Lieutenant Krusair back to his own devices he'd been talking about robots and butterflies and soldering iron, most of which went over her head while she occupied herself sweeping and clearing rooms and halls in their path so he could haul the gear he needed without having to worry about getting jumped by Sith. She'd switched to her Max Tac Precision now, slinging the .48 to wrest on her back. The Max Tac would perform better indoors on account of its automatic fire setting, but if they ran into Sith while she hustled with the .48 they'd be dead before she could slide the bolt back after the first shot.

"Amazing the kind of crap you can find on the Holonet. Absolutely amazing. Did you know there's exactly 1,434 species of Butterflies on Naboo?" He swallowed audibly. "You do now."

"Wow," she said, trying to sound invested, "That's a lot!"

She wasn't certain, because she was really focused on making sure they weren't about to be blindsided by a Mando deathsquad, but she thought the Corporal seemed down about something. She didn't press, because again, very busy securing their path and all, but also because she was down about something too. Probably everyone on the planet was down about something. The Sith were taking this planet no matter how much fight GAR gave them, and that was a death knell for the greater Republic. She didn't know just how important Coruscant was, whether the Republic could fall back to Chandrilla or some other core world, but she had suspicions and hoped they were wrong.

"God damn it, I love me some butterflies. They are so pretty. Don't you think? Holy shit, I can't get enough of them."

She had no idea what a butterfly was.

"Eugh," she shuddered, a stomach-heaving mental image forming in her head, "do they lay eggs in the churners? That must be hard to clean."

Just then she realized she could hear rapid footsteps coming from the hallway ahead. She glanced around for somewhere to shelter and saw a pristine ornate door. She sullied it with a kick, opening onto a hastily abandoned meeting room. "Hide!" she whispered hoarsely to the engineer. Inside, a gorgeous marble table covered in powered-off datapads and pieces of paper.

Mounted on the middle of the desk was a hologram unit displaying a scratchy green rendering of a hollowed asteroid, with a paragraph of scrolling demographics information displayed underneath. Surrounding the desk, a dozen or more swiveled chairs. She beckoned the engineer inside and closed the door, then swung herself over the hologram desk and mounted the Max Tac's tripod on the table's marble surface, taking aim at the door.

The footsteps grew nearer...

---
@Berlioz
ooc: This is an encounter setup. Blind honey and brainiac bottom seeking hunky Mandalorian/Sith guys for office room fun.

 

[saam]

Lanna yelled, "Ikora." Turning she met the padawans eyes. Ikora had also seen the shadow fall over them, her eyes gazing up in awe at the starship overhead and knew Lanna was urging her to retreat. Something was about to happen. Disengaging from the sith Ikora followed Lanna, sprinting for cover. Shells begun to drop from the starship, hammering into the ground. Ikora stumbled as the earth literally shifted beneath her feet, the force of the blast sending her flying forwards, quickly Ikora used as much of the force as she could gather to minimise shrapnel from tearing her apart. Luckily she was sent sprawling behind a barrier of rubble which tore away in part from the sheer power of the starship, but mostly kept in tact. Quickly Ikora lunged forward and sprinted after a moving figure she thought to be lanna.
Ikora threw her body inside after Lanna, quickly getting back on her feet and setting her back against solid cover. Ikora said "Good call Lanna." before feeling a sharp pain from her stomach and saw that a piece of shrapnel had pierced the side of her torso. Pulling it out, she pressed her palm against the wound and set to heal it with the force.

 

[Sreeya]

The walker was barely held together, smoke rising from damage it had taken on the way to the capital. By some miracle, all four legs were still intact, though every step was wobbly. The cockpit swayed from side to side with every turn as Talia aimed the blaster cannons, plowing her way towards the capital. As she saw drop pods began to land, she immediately fired at a few of them, immediately decimating a few soldiers before they ever landed. The cannons then shifted to fire at a freighter that had been blasting towards the plaza. The power of the walker was enough to blow a hole through the ship’s defenses.

Talia peppered every Sith and SBZ in sight, mowing through the forces that were clustered in front of the capital building, clearing a path for anyone trapped within the building. She came to pause as she saw an unmistakably familiar figure muscling out of a drop pod and making his way up the steps. Her heart stopped then, her jaw tightening as her teeth gritted in pure rage. Fingers curled into fists, and she almost chewed through the cigarra between her lips. Talia moved forward, grabbing the comms and blaring the audio so it announced through the air, her voice echoing for all to hear, “PRUDII KYRAMUD!!”

She placed a hand on the Chiss’ shoulder, “Its been a pleasure, Commander. I’m sure I’ll be a pain in your ass in the future. Remember me and remember this day. Remember I am Mandalorian. True Mandalorian, for better or worse,” She mustered a faint grin, paused as if to say something else, gazing into his eyes with shameless pride. Without another word, she grasped the edge of the makeshift hole in the head of the walker, hoisting herself out and up till she climbed above the head. Talia rose to stand above the walker, fixing her gaze directly on Mand’alor. Rage coursed through her veins like poison as she looked upon the man she had known as a child, the man she had once trusted.

Talia knew he would be looking at her now and know exactly what was coming. The battle and chaos all around her smeared into an abstract. At that moment, it was just the two of them and the weight of every memory they had shared. Visions of their childhood flashed through her mind, moments of laughter, friendship, camaraderie….family. It all furled within her mind, admixed with the poisons of reality, the pain of betrayal, the ache of the end of a chapter in her life. She reloaded her XPC and leveled it, “TRAITOR!” She screamed as loud as she could, knowing full well he wouldn’t hear, firing off a three round burst at him.

Talia followed the shot by activating her jetpack and closing the distance between them in a flash. She slammed down into a landing, only a mere few feet away from Prudii. Today was judgment day.

@Prudence @Soverin

 

[Dacua Strogh]

As the flag bearer of her group, Dacua was proud to be the first to rush forward into battle, their symbol of magnificent glory trailing along behind her in the form of a bloodstained cape as she ran forward, rifle raised. "WITH ME!" She motioned towards the nearest member of the Avengers as if to indicate them to follow. "LET'S SHOW THEM WHAT WE'RE ABOUT!" The unknown woman rapped her knuckles along the top of her helmet before activating her jetpack; one could practically feel the joy that she gave off, though no one would see her smiling face hiding behind the tinted visor of her heavy helm.

Her jetpack lifted her up, the cape billowing upwards and somehow, despite all logic, not burning in the devices flames as she blasted into the air, soaring high above the fighters below and landing on a fallen pillar near by. "NOW'S NOT THE TIME FOR FEAR COMRADES!" With bravado she lifted her XPC Rifle and began putting blasts into every enemy in her sight as she awaited her companions to join her in the fray.

 

[MasterTyvokka]

Jacen was holding on to the leg of the walker for dear life. Or at least what could pass as "holding on." A fellow defender, Talia, had hijacked a Brotherhood walker and Jacen had managed to hitch a ride by getting up on to the foot and wedging his foot into the structure of the leg to support himself. He had just emptied one of his few remaining mags when it was time for him to figure out how he was going to switch it out. Jacen's left shoulder had been dislocated in the battle and a combination of the pain and pinched nerves made the arm almost useless. The operative word was almost. He tucked the blaster under his left arm to secure it. He then fingered the release, grabbed a new mag, and inserted it into the blaster. The pain from the pressure Jacen was using to hold the blaster in place was excruciating but not as bad as he thought it'd be.

The walker was becoming more and more unstable. In fact Jacen had nearly fallen off a couple of times The fighters were doing a number on its structure. It was about time for Jacen to get off what was soon becoming a death trap. Thankfully the walker finally came to a halt in front of the Capital Rotunda. Jacen was in the process of dislodging his foot from the walker's structure when the voice of Talia rang out from speakers embedded in the walker somewhere. It was clear the woman was very angry with someone and she had just spotted him. Jacen got himself dislodged and jumped down from the foot.

A enemy soldier appearing out of nowhere from the foot of a doomed Hijacked walker must have been quite a shock to the two SBZ soldiers who stood gawking at Jacen just before he shot both point blank. Jacen knew he had to find another weapon. He had one mag left in his rifle which hung on his back and one unused on for his pistol but that was it. Unfortunately he couldn't raise his rife due to his injury and if he could help it he wanted to save what pistol ammo he could. Jacen found a light carbine on one of the dead SBZ soldiers and hefted it up. It was a bit awkward with one hand but it would do. Jacen charged toward the Rotunda steps hoping from cover to cover firing at targets as he went. The minute he could go no further he hunkered down and chose his targets.

 

[Lieya Grando]

Lieya lowered her gun, and followed her sister that motioned for her, out to battle. The woman jumped up, simultaneously turning on her jet pack, which caught her in the air. Then, it lifted her swiftly up. With her gun still tucked into her shoulder, she pointed it at the ground, and twisted around twice as she flew up. The compressed material that was released from her jetpack left two rows of DNA shaped streams behind her, and then it lightly faded away. She hovered up, ways over the pillar, before she turned off her jet pack, and fell a few feet, hard on the ground.

"NOW IS NOT THE TIME FOR FEAR COMRADES!" He partner yelled out over the battlefield.

"THAT COMES LATER!!" Lieya replied, in a voice filled with love and devotion to her cause.

Planting her feet on the towering column that must have once stood tall, she pulled the trigger, carefully aiming at one opponent, then the next, and the next, and the next. Point, pause, pull. Each enemy soldier, she attempted to shoot at, she successfully shot down, or immobilized.

"Hey, Dacua! What do ya say we get moving to the Capital?" She shouted, over the noise around them. Extending an arm, she pointed with a flat hand to a defined path through the battle field. "Let's take a group of our fellow soldiers with us."

 

[Prudence]

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Explosions perforated the air as drop pods continued to fall from the skies. Each one met the duracrete stairs in an explosive impact, sending chunks of duracrete and smoke flying through the air. The blaster fire that seemed to surround all of them whizzed through the air, leaving the smell of ozone in the air and burn marks on the walls. Prudii himself had his XPC-71 in hand and was mowing down a grouping of GAR soldiers when he heard the sound. The first thing to catch him off guard was the sound of a walker, as they hadn't had walkers on their lines yet. He turned his head to focus on it for a moment, leaving his fellow soldiers to deal with the GAR troopers. To his continued bewilderment he saw the walker firing on his own troops. A rage built within the Mandalorian as he saw a drop pod shot from the air by the walker, and his explanation came in the form of a hole in the side of the walker. It had clearly been hijacked.

Prudii was jarred from his thoughts, however, when a voice that he had been praying not to hear screamed his name. His heart fell as he saw her pull herself out of the walker and stand atop it. Why was she here, why did she have to see this. He hadn't thought much about how Talia would feel about the attack, but now she was here and she was forcing him to think about it. This would have been so much easier to handle in a debriefing or something. He felt a slow anger building in him that she was here, but quickly realized it was anger at himself more than her. They'd been friends since a young age, and Prudii had always had an affinity for Talia... maybe even full blown feelings for her. He'd never shown it well, it'd come in the form of stepping on her face climbing a tree, or pulling her hair, or now that they were adults getting on her nerves and ultimately ending up in brawls with her. Throughout life Ral had always overshadowed him in every sense. Ral had been cooler both when they were kids and adults, and had made Prudii out to be the weird one. The only reason he'd ever been Mand'alor was Ral's death, and here he was, still at odds with Talia.

Prudii didn't just the tall female Mandalorian standing atop the walker, he saw decades of memories, his childhood friend, and a whole swirl of emotions staring him down with weapon in hand. He began to speak up, his helmet speaker volume set to max, "TALIA, IT DOESN'T HA-" but his attempt at peace was cut off by a trio of bolts from her gun. He rolled to his left, effectively dodging the shots. When he came up he saw her sailing through the air towards him, a sight that would have been terrifying to most beings of the galaxy. Instead of fear, though, Prudii felt sadness. This truly was the end of their relationship, what little of it there had been before. He'd reached out to her before Mandalore, he'd done what he could do in the form of an olive branch but then again Prudii had always been the stupid one. He typically messed things up, and his friendship with Talia was no different. He steeled himself, his rifle raised, as she landed.

A feeling that typically didn't accompany combat for him was gnawing away at his being... guilt and sadness. He felt his stomach churning, and his throat tightening but he just gritted his teeth. If he surrendered now then things would likely go better... he might even be able to mend things with Talia, but Prudii was far too stubborn for that. Instead he just murmured a few words that wouldn't be audible beyond his enclosed helmet, "Talia... I'm sorry."

He spoke to her now, his resolve set for what was to come, "Talia... Moira.. we're friends. Please... We don't have to fight." The words were lies now, and he knew it. They weren't friends, they hadn't been for a while. Their friendship had been dead for years now, and that was okay. Talia deserved someone that wouldn't let her down, and that would never be Prudii. He also realized they did have to fight, and that his attempts to delay it would only buy him a few precious seconds of peace before what was to come. He began weighing in his mind whether he thought he could bring himself to kill her or not.

 

[Vinny]

The first row of SBZ troopers that stormed the atrium of the Senate building were mowed down by a wall of hot plasma. Blaster bolts harried down from above and across the room. A killzone. Cain would have been impressed if he had not been busy keeping himself alive and ensuring the success of this particular endeavor. He twisted and spun, blocking bolts that made it past the warriors, soldiers and priests that crowded around him. One soldier dropped to his knees, a blaster bolt through his gut, Cain reached out with the force and shot a bolt of lightning at his shooter, sending the man into convulsions and falling off the side of the railing above. Sparks flew off his corpse and sent a small explosive device near him into overload, bursting and raining shards on sith and gar alike. One trooper howled in pain and gripped his face, fragments digging into his eyesocket.

Cain shoved him toward the back before he could try to cling to his robe. This was not go- A blast shuddered through the atrium. A half dozen priests cried out and lunged just as a sith warrior was crushed beneath a pillar. A second pillar began it's own descent and Cain caught it with the force, the weight eased by the efforts of two priests. He cringed, hefting it and twisting with a great deal of effort. The column flipped up, slamming into the walkway framing the right side of the atrium, crushing two GAR troopers and destabilizing their position. The other half of the room was in fine enough condition. "Lightning volleys!" Cain ordered, gesturing toward the haphazard barricades at the base of the steps. One of them was blown away by a bolt of lightning, shrapnel from the shattered table killing the soldiers behind it.

"Forward! Keep moving forward!" The Sith Master roared, glaring up at the rails. The time for grandstanding and showmanship was over. These men were prepared to die, he intended to honor them by killing them at their best. His gloved hand tightened around his hook-handled lightsaber and he tensed his legs. Kicking off the ground he spun, curling into a ball and wrapping a protective cocoon of the force around his body. The next instant he was on the upper level, landing on his feet and sweeping his blade out to the right, beheading the first trooper in line. He rose, turned, and bore his teeth. His men continued to push towards the stairs below as Cain turned himself into a living blender. He began a slow, spinning march across the platform. They had to choose, fire on him, or fire on the troopers below.

@Calixis

 

[Kori Buor]

Following the hijacked walker off of the skyroad and towards the capital, Asterion did what he could for the limping walker, killing any Sith, Sacred Band warrior, or even Mandalorian who attempted to attack the behemoth to try and bring it down. He even took a few shots at some of the passing aircraft, scoring a lucky shot through the canopy of an unshielded fighter, killing its pilot and causing it to careen out of control and explode in a nearby skyscraper sending fire and debris flying into the air to rain down on the defenders and attackers alike. But it was just one, and there were many more flying about the city, attacking the Republic soldier's and the captured walker. That thing isn't going to last much longer, whatever they're going to do, I hope they do it.

As they approached the battle-site of the capitol building, the Wanderer spied a figure climbing to the top of the walker's "head" and though he was unable to identify what was being shouted, he got the distinct impression the woman was either cursing or challenging someone on the ground before she fired a burst and took off into the air. The man in the Mandalorian armor shouldered his particle beam rifle and began shooting at any enemy he could see, not caring if they were Sith, SBZ, or a Mandalorian; anyone who would dare attack a civilian population center with such reckless thought did not deserve the right to live. Pulsing the trigger as he quickly moved from cover to cover, Asterion gunned down dozens of enemies. Armor, lightsabers, blasters; none of it mattered as the particle beam rifle did its job in ending those before it.

Making his way forward Asterion could easily see a man in Mandalorian armor (@Prudence) and the woman (@Sreeya) from before engaged in a vicious duel as words were shouted and exchanged with their blows. For a moment, he considered pausing to aid the woman, but he felt like she had it today, and judging by the unbridled, unrestricted rage she was channeling, she wouldn't want his help.

Moving on, the man would keep that fight in the back of his mind as he killed another three Sith with his particle beam rifle, gunning them down with short bursts which would render their lightsabers worthless to block with as each particle bolt would explode on a blocking blade and either knock the weapon out of the Sith's hand, or into them. Either was acceptable to Asterion. Reloading his rifle, he slung it and exchanged it for the XPC-71. Once he was sure it had a full charge the Mandalorian burst into the atrium and started shooting at anyone that didn't appear to be an ally or was very obviously a Sith or Sacred Band member. With each pull of the trigger, Asterion would gun down another warrior with a quick burst of particle beam fire. Looking up the stairs he saw a Sith (@Vinny) cutting into the Republic defenders. Pulling out a thermal detonator, Asterion armed it and threw it into the mass of advancing Sith. The following explosion incinerated many of the Sith warriors, others were torn to pieces from their proximity, while still more were thrown up into the air or flattened by the blast wave. Taking aim once again, Asterion began mopping up the remaining Sith in front of him. Though he knew more would soon come, the Wanderer simply hoped to buy some time and kill as many of the heartless fools as he could.

 

[Ranavik]

From his vantage point along the rest of the soldiers, Rhoc could see the explosion and force-aided process of clearing out the pillar trap by the Sith and their Ziostian allies. However, they were not immediately charging in, even as they filed in through the archway and into the foyer. He noted one of the voodoo workers in robes (@Vinny ) seemed to be addressing them all as they gathered in the foyer - the gesticulations he-or-she made as he-or-she (presumably) spoke gave the nautolan that impression, anyway.

Rhoc narrowed his eyes, deciding to keep an eye on the guy-or-girl. He suspected them to be some kind of leader, at least of higher rank than the rest of them. If he got a chance, he'd try and take 'em down - hopefully inciting some chaos by putting a few kinks in the Sith command chain.

To his dismay, as the defenders' fire focused on the ranks of invaders, the Sith leader and his-or-her followers proved to be quite competent at keeping their upper brass alive, utilizing defensive force and saber methods as they pushed forward. The secondary round of pillar traps just inside the chamber proper did a decent enough job, managing to crush several of the sith and their allies, but it wasn't holding them back well enough. The demo teams would almost certainly need more time than this...

"Lightning volleys!"

"Forward! Keep moving forward!"

Their commander ordered them, guiding the army into dismantling the barricades and surging on up the stairs against the oppressive waves of blaster fire.

Then he (thanks to hearing his voice, Rhoc finally pinned the figure down as a dude) did what was probably the craziest move that even someone as reckless-natured as Rhoc couldn't really believe. He jumped right up to the platform where all the defenders were stationed, and started spinning both him and his saber around amidst the ranks of soldiers and security forces, who clamoured away from him whilst the blaster fire divided between the more immediate threat of the sith on the balcony, and the more long-standing threat of the invaders trying to claw their way up the staircase.

"Keep them back, he's just trying to screw with us!" Rhoc yelled.

Though, to be honest, he wasn't entirely sure. But surely there was nothing in the universe with infinite power, bar the finicky bitch that was the force itself. It had been... what, hours? Since the invasion on Coruscant had started. Surely the guy couldn't keep this up very long. The bigger worry was probably the fresh Mandalorian reinforcements who weren't as worn-out as the rest of them were.

Betting his chips on that fact, Rhoc turned his attention - and weapon - to keeping the Sith leader needlessly busy until he wore himself out, whilst giving the others a chance to focus on the lower floor and stairs. He fired an onslaught of bolts at the black-robed man, stepping forward in obvious challenge in the hopes that he'd take the bait. "As for you... get your lightstick-flailing ass the F'UCK off our balcony!"

 

[Sreeya]

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Talia expected him to dodge the blasts, but she hadn’t expected him to attempt to exchange words with her. She was blind with rage, driven by the fuel of betrayal and powered by every memory he tarnished with his trickery. He had been a lapdog of the Sith through and through and always attempted to convince himself and others of the opposite. Talia circled around him like a predator stalking prey, “You’ve lost the honor of being able to name yourself among a friend. You turned your back on our people and you have been following your own hidden agenda.”

“You would have our people crawling on hands and knees at the whims of the Sith, you snake!” She drew the sword at her hip, keeping her other hand occupied with the sunspear, XPC dropping back to its sling. Talia lifted the visor of her helmet, letting him see her fierce gaze, “Look me in the eye, Prudii, look me in the eye and gaze upon those you’ve turned your backs on. Look me in the eye and know this is the price of betrayal. Look me in the eye and know this is the cost of turning your back on our people. Know that you will have to answer for it today and I’m here to dole out what should have been given to you so long ago. Today the galaxy will know that you do not speak for our people, Prudii. You are no longer one of us, Dar'manda.”

Talia paced around him, tuning out the sounds of battle all around them, her steely blue eyes fixated on him alone, “Draw your weapon, Mand’alor. I am not Moira to you. I am Talia Al’Saif.” Without another word, she whizzed towards him once again, the edge of her blade coming in for a slash that had her weight behind it. Her movements were practiced, and she moved with deadly precision, prepared to pivot in response to anything he threw out. She actively pushed back any emotion that threatened to seep through. Her heart broke with every swing of a sword or every pull of a trigger, but it was a necessary path to cross, one that he had laid down the foundations for long ago.

@Prudence

 

[Prudence]

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No amount of knowing it was coming could prepare Prudii for hearing what Talia had to say. No amount of knowing it was true could prepare his heart for it, and to see his enraged former-friend encircling him like the predator she was was the final blow. Prudii felt his eyes grow hot but he just gritted his jaw and listened to her shout at him. He released his XPC now and the rifle dropped into a similar sling. For now his hands just hovered by his hips, ready to arm himself. She tore into him as hard as he knew she would, as Talia had never been one to mince words. He just circled with her, keeping the Mandalorian directly infront of him. The voice that was shouting at him didn't even sound familiar to him, it wasn't the girl that he'd known his whole life. This wasn't the girl that he'd picked on, that he'd chased after, and that he'd shared laughs with. This was a creature born of rage and betrayal, bound to have her vengeance against those who had created her. The worst part to Prudii was that he knew who had created her, and it had been himself. He had done what he thought was necessary, though he knew Talia would never agree.

When she lifted her visor the pain he felt only increased. Before him he saw a woman he'd known his whole life, that he'd invested emotion in, but yet she looked so foreign. As if everything he'd known about her was gone now, and all that was left was her likeness. Her words bit, tearing away a bit more of him with everything she said, and he just took it. Lifting up his helmet he stared her down, his red eyes locking with hers. Prudii relaxed his jaw a moment, allowing his pain to flash across his face just momentarily before he set his features once more - allowing Talia only the slightest of glimpses into his mind. His mind screamed at him to say something, to apologize to her, to tell her you'll always be my friend, but when he opened his mouth to speak his lips betrayed him. Jaw set in defiance, and eyes glistening Prudii practically spat his words back to her,

"I am doing what I had to do to help our people, but you wouldn't understand that, GAR Poster Girl. If this is how it has to be, then so be it."

He pulled his helmet back over his head, covering his face. If Talia wouldn't claim him anymore then she would see the face that everyone else saw, the cold T-Visor of his helmet. Her final words to him were some of the most heartbreaking, even though he had no time to absorb them and allow them to sink in. Instead he jumped backwards a bit. In a flash his right hand drew his vibroblade, the vicious metal blade extending as he drew it. His hand was already moving to intercept hers, his strength plenty to hold back her advance. His mind was still racing, weighing whether or not he could bring himself to kill her should it come to that, and for the first time in his life he didn't think he would be able to. As he stepped back he raised his left hand, spewing hot flames towards her, hoping to delay her advances. The sound of the surrounding battle was still raging around him, but as their blades met he still heard a sound that haunted him to his core. It was a young girl's voice, no older than five or six, with a haunting hollowness "Hi, I'm Moira! What's your name? Do you wanna be friends?"

 

[Soverin]

The massive walker stood on shambling legs before the detachment of starfighters barreling in, even then, the commander balanced along the slanted interior to blast them from the sky. On every passing moment the walker's descent was assured. Both body-chamber doors were open now -- one side slowly slanting skyward, while the other was a vista of a sobering twenty-two meter fall.

He still had a footing, gripping the edge of the higher tilted viewport he bobbed up and down in preparation to leap, but took pause upon a passing thought. He scrambled across the had floor of the walker back into the cockpit, tumbling over to one side as he climber. The walker's head fell to a complete turnover as Rosh snagged the transponder module and withdrew his blaster pistol, striking two bolts through the cockpit's windshield. Clipping the transponder to his belt, he used window's frame to propel his escape -- leaping out and away from the Walker before it quickly lost it's footing and plummeted to the ground before the Rotunda. The great shadow that loomed over the large formation of sith forces before crushing them against cold durasteel was foreboding; ominous.

Feet pressed firmly against the side of the Rotunda building Rosh opened one palm to find he was clutching the wire of his grappling hook. For safety's reassurance, his gaze drifted down to where the wire was connected to his belt, extending far past his hand to a veranda above. Face frozen in fear he began to pull himself up, holstering his blaster pistol to climb faster.

Over the side of the building he climbed, and fell, onto the interior floor, perfectly content laying still with semi stable ground beneath him. For a spell he went limp and took a deep breath. It was much needed, something to keep him going, keep him sane.​

(OOC: Sorry for short-post, busier today than expected. Will post more in a bit.)​

 

[MasterTyvokka]

If there was a word for the situation the defenders was in, it was hopeless. Most of the defenders had retreated inside the Rotunda in order to use its cavernous rooms and vast halls for ambushes and cover. Those few less fortunate defenders, like Jacen, Talia, Asterion and other were all but trapped outside. Too many Sith and SBZ soldiers poured into the rotunda and more kept coming. Jacen could have cut down many as the entry way created a bottle neck. However there were too many and garnering the attention of the main body of the enemy would have led to swift death.

Jacen's survival instinct were not completely in control, however. He still had a duty to the Republic and those he was fighting with. Jacen peaked over the low wall he had taken cover behind just in time to see the walker fall with a deafening crash that shook the ground beneath him. He hadn't seen the mad soldier with the grappling hook get out. Jacen hoped the man had made it before the thing fell. He quickly duck back down as a poorly aimed shot whizzed over his head. Jacen returned fire with the carbine he had borrowed. Jacen's shot hit home.

His soldier's instinct's continued to control his actions so Jacen made a quick scan of his surroundings before ducking back behind cover. Jacen had been trained to make those scan during the brief time he was exposed and analyze what he saw while he was hunkered down. He had seen mostly SBZ soldiers with a few Sith and defenders dotting the battlefield. He had seen the man from the spaceports make a daring run for the entrance to the Rotunda and a thermal detonator helped the mandalorian clear himself a path.

Jacen also witnessed Talia begin a duel with someone she clearly hated with all her being. Jacen had no plans to interfere. Not out of some honor or becaus he somehow felt he should leave the two to fight themselves but out of the simple fact that they were engaged in melee combat and with his wounds he was not sure he could hit him without hitting her.

The thing is real combat was not like in the holobooks and holodramas. The heroin and villian didn't fight one another in a bubble with no one else daring to interfere out of fear of ruining the heroic or triumphant moment. In real life combat was brutal and unfair. Duelers were not in some bubble where they could be left untouched by anyone but themselves. The other side would always take shots they had and even ones they didn't. There wasn't a whole lot Jacen could do right now to make himself useful. Yes, he could shoot SBZ soldiers but there were so many that probably wouldn't do a lot of good. Jacen could help Talia though. Jacen popped back into open and quickly found his target. His shot was true and dropped an SBZ soldier taking a bead on quick moving form of Talia. The SBZ soldier was really quite daft. His shot would have been just as likely to hit his own man. Jacen may have saved both of them.

 

[Sreeya]

Sappy Theme​

Talia had regretted seeing his face the moment the helmet came off, her breath catching in her throat as she saw those same eyes. As far removed as he was from the man she knew, the eyes were the same, and they were uniquely him. She couldn’t stop her advance now, she had played her hand already. She kept her charge forward, meeting Prudii’s own blade as he moved back.

Her own mind flashed back to countless memories, and seeing his face even for a brief moment reminded her of their childhood. They had smiled more then, and thoughts of war and conquest had been so far away. “Do you think we’ll ever be in those big battles like we hear stories about?” “Silly, why would we ever be in those? We only need to worry about Mandalore. Who cares what’s going on outside of it?”

Prudii mocked her title, pivoting as he hesitated just a bit. The words were fillers and she knew it. He had accepted he was facing judgment right as Talia prepared to pass it. She saw his gauntlet lift, dropping abruptly to a crouch and jutting out with her leg to knock him off his feet. Talia kept on the move, springing off their sword’s interception to pivot around him and slash across his side, “Using the poster girl’s tricks against her?” She laughed bitterly at his use of the flame thrower, the fire harmlessly flaring out where she stood prior.

“We’ll always fight together, right?” “Together. Always.” It had been such an easy promise then, such a whimsical thing without any alternative realities to take away from it. Talia hadn’t thought about those days for decades, and it stabbed into her chest as a thousand pointed needles. She choked back her feelings, moving with cold efficiency and pushing Moira out. She had to remain Talia to see this through, she couldn’t lapse into Moira Kryze.

All around her, the battle raged on, Talia remembering to be light on her feet as blaster bolts grazed her shoulder and sides. Her armor had already taken damage from before where Prudii’s was still intact. From the corner of her eye she saw the men from earlier (@Kori Buor , @MasterTyvokka )rush past her and put themselves as her exterior guard so she could face off the Mand’alor himself without interruption. It was a silence, unspoken camaraderie that humbled her. It reminded her that they were all in this together in some shape or form. From origins that were worlds apart, with identities and ideologies that didn’t line up, today they were all here to fight as one. Talia smiled faintly as she realized that if there was a day to fall in battle, it was today. With that, she kept her attacks pressed on Prudii, fueled by rage.

@Prudence

 

[Vinny]

Spoiler: OOC

@The Star of Chaos has requested coordinates for an orbital bombardment.

Cain carved his way through two more soldiers, kicking another one in the chest and sending him crumbling into one of his comrades. The Sith's comm hummed in his ear and he blinked, hesitating for just a moment. He had almost forgotten about the comm in his ear. He stepped back, blocking another pair of blaster bolts as the confused majority of Republic troopers tried to decide whether or not to kill him or his men. "Lord Cain, you have been given firing orders for the main Orbital Bombardment cannons. Please provide a target." Cain swore as a bolt ripped through his cloak. He tapped his comm with his free hand and spun into a flurry of blocks. "This is Lord Cain, I need eyes on the battle outside." He rasped, ducking another shot;

"Keep them back, he's just trying to screw with us!" One soldier yelled. Cain spun and spotted the figure a few soldiers away from him. He bore his teeth. "Am I now?' He sneered, hiding weight he was feeling in his chest from overuse of his powers with bravado. He would have to rest again soon, there was no choice. He cursed the slow response of his- "Sir! Corporal Antar He-" Cain cut him off with a snarl and blocked another flurry of blaster bolts. "Targeting coordinates for the republic reinforcements! Now Soldier!" Cain demanded, and two troopers swung, their eyes wide with understanding, toward him.

Cain backed up even further, deflecting the two bolts back at their creators, only for that same soldier to bellow at him. "As for you... get your lightstick-flailing ass the F'UCK off our balcony!" He fired several shots, one that Cain was forced to block with the force through his own palm. He spat on the ground and shifted to the right, toward the ledge, and nodded his head toward the atrium below. His troopers were pressing up the stairs now, closer and closer toward their goal. He sneered when words erupted in his ears. "Target: Republic-Mandalorian Reinforcements approaching Senate Concourse. Resh Nen Orenth Osk!" Cain smiled and leaped off the side, tucking into a roll and retreating for the rear of the swelling horde of Sith troops.

"This is Lord Cain! I am Ordering an Orbital Bombardment-" He gasped for air, stumbling into the hallway as blasterfire rained around him. He nearly tripped over a dead Sith trooper; "Coordinates Resh Nen Orenth Osk! Center point: Senate Plaza." He had no idea exactly where the coordinates were pointed, though he supposed it didn't matter. An orbital bombardment was largely inaccurate. He only hoped that it wouldn't draw in too many sith with the bombardment. They would cripple morale regardless. Cain let out a shuddering breath and waved his troops past him, they'd use numbers if they had to, damn the consequences.

 

[Jason Vaiken]

Aethoria's ship was still under attack, but for the most part the situation is handled so she snaps an order off to 20 of her vessels forming the blockade. "Transmitting coordinates, I want this place pulverised. Total saturation bombardment, 30 minutes."

She then comms the Sith below "Attention attention, all Sith, you have five minutes to find cover before my guns train on the target supplied by Lord Cain. I would prefer not to blow you to pieces." She then comms Mand'alor Prudii, "Mand'alor, I have just issued orders for a saturation bombardment, please evacuate ASAP." Finally she comms the War Leviathan and Empyreal detachments in atmo and transmits the coordinates, "Begin a precision strike on this coordinate in five minutes, maintain fire for 5 volleys then support landings and help our troops create breakthroughs."

With the final order 20 of her ships will begin to fire in five minutes regardless if people are able to detach themselves from the fighting. Unfortunately for her, just as her ships received these orders and began to train their guns, more Republic fighters came and thus diverted the fire of the fleet to handle them on top of pushing back a Republic counter-attack.

"Hold up on that bombardment, focus fire on the starfighters and beat off this counter-attack. We must hold this position!"

Spoiler

@Prudence @Vinny, you can go and describe the details upon your next round of post

 

[Prudence]

theme​

He had hoped, for even a fraction of a second, that the sight of his face would have slowed her down. He had hoped she would see humanity in him, that she would remember their good times, or that she would remember anything about him fondly and ease off, but that reprieve didn't come. No break was given to him, no reprieve from judgement, and no second chance. Then again, Prudii had used up his second chances time and time again. Countless times throughout their childhood Prudii had found himself messing with Talia's relationships, or just genearlly making things hard on her, yet she had always been forgiving. This was big though, Coruscant was Talia's home and Prudii knew it. Even though she had recently returned to Mandalore and taken up its mantle, Prudii knew where she called home. As soon as the Bounty Hunters Guild had offered her a job she had gotten the hell out of Mandalore and changed who she was. Long gone was small town Moira, Prudii's friend, and born was the fearsome hunter Talia, and here Prudii was crusading on Talia's home.

The voice had changed now, it had grown older and more mature. "I promise I'll come back to Mandalore sometime Moira.. I've just gotta get away." "You better, you ass. Just stay alive ok?" The words echoed through his head, and he couldn't believe how much he'd taken their relationship for granted, and maybe if he'd known how it all was going to end he'd have stayed around on Mandalore a little longer. He couldn't turn back the clock, and now all he could do was put himself into this fight to try to stay alive. He tried to pivot with her, but he hadn't caught her dive in time due to the flames. Her blade passed through his guard as he tried to turn and he felt it bite through the unarmored side. The pain shot through his body, but pain was something he could handle. Her words held a bitter laugh, and it just twisted the knife already lodged in his heart. To hear the laugh that had always stood beside him, now trying to kill him was a pain he hadn't ever experienced.

He rolled away from her blade, his own blade retracting and reattaching to his belt. His roll brought him to the edge of the small platform they were fighting on, and down the first two steps. He could feel the burning wound on his side, soaking the flightsuit on the outside of it with blood but he powered through. He was reaching for his rifle when he heard his comms come alive, "Mand'alor, I have just issued orders for a saturation bombardment, please evacuate ASAP." Prudii turned to the sky and could already see the Star Destroyers above moving into position, he may have five minutes but he didn't want to risk it. Prudii swiveled his head back to face Talia, and realized she couldn't hear his comms. She wouldn't know that the bombardment was coming, and would likely get caught up in the center of the blast. He worked his way to his knees and pushed off the ground as quickly as he could with his repulsorboots and jetpack. He used the two in conjunction to get the drop on Talia before she could swing and take his head off. When he reached her he opened his arms, seizing her by the waist. Prudii was hoping that the sudden unexpected tactic would catch her off guard enough to keep him alive, at least long enough to get her away from the blast. If she was going to die today it wouldn't be by a senseless orbital bombardment.

Prudii carried the two of them down the steps and across the plaza, killing his jets once they were out of the designated strike area. The two of them fell out of the air, Prudii hitting first before his grip on her was lost and he tumbled across the ground. His body ached from the impact but he powered through, rolling to his knees. Talia's words to him on Mandalore echoed through his mind now as he found his way to his feet “Lead on, alor. I’ll be with you.”

"I did what needed to be done, Talia. Yes, I allied with the Sith to get the job done. I did plenty of other things that that I'm not proud of, but at the end of the day I won us Mandalore. So whenever you go to sleep at night with whoever it is you're with now, and you're able to go home, not to Coruscant, not to the Republic or the BHG but home you can thank me. The Sith helped us get where we are, but their help wasn't free and their debts came calling. So crucify me, blame me for everything, whine about how much better Ral would have done it, I don't give a damn. Deep in the back of your mind, in the places you don't like to think about, you know Ral died and I got the job done." Prudii withdrew his vibroblade again, extending it to its full length, and prepared for her inevitable charge.