The Promised

[The Storyteller]

THEME​

On a planet that was already dark the nights were truly something to behold. Dathomir, a planet orbiting a red sun was a world of beasts and creatures that haunt the nightmares of children. Even those that looked like people were monsters.

Tonight was a special night. The two moons of the Dathomir were aligned, one eclipsing the other. The red light of the system's sun reflecting off of the nearest moon giving the darkness a slight reddish tint. Even in day time the planet was shadowed but now it looked like it had prepared to reflect the arrival of a more infamous force than what already existed on the planet.

The nightsisters, local witches had prophesied some arrival. A darkness the likes of which they were wary of and knew better than to entangle with. Instead they shrank back into their temples. Locked the doors of their village domiciles and had their numbers stay in doors. What rituals came were done behind the sturdy walls of their domain. But the wilds...

The wilds would only bring fear and death.

Birds went mad, cawing like they were frantically trying to warn their kin. They crowed like they knew what was coming. The carrion flew in the sky, passing in front of the red glow of the moon waiting for the feast to come.

Branches bent and snapped. Trees creaked and bowed as only the largest and brutish of beasts passed on the prowl. Creatures were either terrified of what was coming or sent into frenzied. Bodies of prey left chewed but only half eaten. The things that had hunted them were only interested in the kill, not the food.

Long trenches, miles of broken earth ran in lines through the vast stretch of forest. The weeks prior the Witches had come across mounds of bodies. Totems of some rogue witch or cult. But they knew of their own superstitious ways and kept their distances. Those same totems remain tonight to hold their purpose. Streams of beads and feathers flutter in the darkness. Around them quadreped creatures with bright eyes and teeth would pop up and then turn away to make them seem like they were never there.

Deep in the forest a small clearing sits. A crowd of beings, clad in robes hiding any features from the minimal light of the moon. In the center were six special individuals. Chief among them, perhaps smallest in stature was a woman. Pulling back her hood she was met with glowing eyes from underneath the hoods of the other cloak bearing beings.

Her name, was Serana Berrotal and she was The Promised. Red blood like lines ran across her skin and seemed to flow with their own ethereal life across her exposed flesh. On her shoulder was an eerily silent kowakian monkey lizard that had been grotesquely changed by Serana's alchemy. Around the edges of the clearing we kneeling beasts. They would silently run out into the forest to hunt the slightest bit of possible prey that reached their senses. Many of these had been mutated severely from what they had originally been. Some obviously used to be sentient but had been altered to amplify their master's needs. Now they breathed with muscled bodies, grinning with lipless mouths and watching without eyes. Many of the beasts that were around the ceremony were the products of The Promised. But even those that were not were a great danger to anyone that came into the forest.

Spoiler: OOC

PvP between participants is prohibited - but death is enabled. Please keep in mind that since this is an event, posting time tables will be enforced. Participants will have 36 hours to post before they timeout and are skipped. Delays or lack of opposition, intentional or otherwise, will result in a higher difficulty thread.

 

[The Storyteller]

None dared to triffle with the darkness that grew in the deep forests of the dathomirian wilds. The Promised was not disappointed. In fact she was pleased that no disruptions were ongoing. Though the rest of the creatures of the forest were desiring some sort prey to sate their unquenchable thirst.

The figures around Serana raised their heads as she in turn brought her hands skyward. The moon, red and blood lit at its apex basked her in a foreboding light. The woman could feel the aligned cosmic bodies pour their power into the earth around her. A moment of silence as all birds and beasts seemed to realize what was occurring.

A few moments passed and then a rumbling started to roll between the twisted trees. Like unstable gas mains bursting the flattened lines among the forest floor filled with ethereal blue flame. A mix of red light from the glowing moon and the cold fire lit up the darkened forest. Reflective predatory eyes darted to gaze upon the sudden uproar. Yet the extensive lanes of cerulean fire did not burn down the timber. It spread up and down the flattened paths.

From an arial point of view it would become obvious. The connection of lines would all lead to the center making the whole forest a giant ritual focus point. Serana's red eyes glowed a bright red and a smile creased her lips to match. The criss-crossed pattern on her flesh was only further amplified and the cracks seemed to flow like rivulets of incorporeal flood streams with no beginning nor end.

Where the five separate lines met were mounds of dirt. Atop them were totems made of the macabre corpses of dead things. These constructs shifted and shook until finally topeling over. Underneath rose five separate altered rancors that seemed to have risen from a deep slumber. Their lethargic pawing movements raising them from their submerged sate. Their shoulders bent and upturned trees that they shouldered past before coming to a halt at the edge of the ceremonial clearing. The hooded figures inside paid them little mind. Everything was going according to plan.

 

[Solone Wren]

The stress from Emperor in Paradise was eating at her, the cameras, the interviews, the after reports from tabloids chasing her around was making things...annoying and she wanted some release that didn't involve drinking. So, she arrived on Dathomir, hearing about the creepy happenings around the galaxy sparked a sense of curiosity and since she could kill the rancor on the safari with the Emperor, she guessed this would make up for it. However, being back in Mandalorian territory meant she had to step lightly, her clan had exiled her, followed by the rest of the houses after her face appeared on the holonet broadcast of the Emperor's reality show.

The ship landed safely away from where the rumors had reported of strange ritualistic ceremonies and killings, though it was hard to understand what was exactly meant by that because the planet was full of magic wielding assassin witches who did weird ritualistic ceremonies and killing. At times was hard to tell the difference between all the sects, but supposedly this one was the worst and not even the native witches present wouldn't go near and instead complained like old women.

Solone walked silently toward the forest, the blood red moon high over head; she thought the Mandalorians should just raze the world to the dirt and start over since all the trees looked dead anyways as she stood at the forest line, then with a deep inhale she stepped inside, praying to her trickster god to not let her regret this. There was a soft rumbling shortly after she started her trek, and Solone paused, trying to figure out what she was hearing, it didn't match the sound of machine and she would soon see a path of blue flame jet past her. Stepping to the side to keep out of its path, she continued forward more cautiously, now a hand on her quickdraw.

 

[Narir Solus]

Well, kriff. What kind of a screwed up world was this anyway? I mean, really? Dark rituals? Monsters in the forest? Trails of blazing flame? This was why Narir hated the Force. All it did was cause problems, kill people, and stir up trouble for the normal people in the galaxy: normal people like him.

He looked down from the exit ramp of a heavy freighter and then climbed on the back of his basilisk war droid and strapped in. While the Marauder's Revenge was nearby in the air (with Artee and Smartee at the helm) and it was great for shipping the droid around from place to place, it was not so fantastic for a hot drop. Given the literal flames crawling through the forests, he had to wager that this was going to be a hot drop.

Oya! he yelled to his droid, prompting a quick charge out of the rear ramp and began the drop immediately. The feeling of gravity took over immediately. The thrusters guided him toward one of the non-flaming sections of the symbol where the droid slammed into the dirt with ground-shaking force, avoiding any heavily wooded areas. He loved that feeling every time.

Master, sensors from the Revenge pick up five very large life forms in addition to numerous smaller ones. Might I suggest being cautious of getting too close, Artee's voice rang out in the comlink in Narir's helmet.

Furthermore, Dathomir fauna includes rancors. Might I further suggest caution when engaging them, and remove them as quickly as possible, Smartee added.

Narir wasn't sure if there was any extra help out here, but he was pulling out all the stops to make sure he didn't die out in the wilds of the forest. @Darasuum @Faster Than Light @GABA @Raydo?

 

[Birdmando]

This planet under normal conditions would give Parek the creeps, with the literal space magic-using witches that the planet is known for. This planet is Mandalorian turf and he would have thought that they would have been exterminated and/or forced into hiding since they are little better than Sith. The Mando Birdo was stationed on this planet. He was soaring through the air at the moment well above the forests canopy would be, flying with his wings. Even the pattern he is seeing in the forests looks like some sort of strange ceremony is being performed or is about to be performed, not only that the fire is blue. Whatever is happening, he doesn't like it and it's not going to happen.

As he was flying, he did spot a Basilisk War Droid popping out of a heavy freighter. No doubt a fellow Mandalorian in there here to put a stop to this. With that, the Mando Birdo would, while hanging in the air, would start flying over towards the Baliask which would make planetfall, being able to see the rider as the war droid landed, indeed a fellow Mandalorian.

The Mando Birdo would have his usual equipment with him, an XC7 Carbine (along with two extra powerpacks on his person for that weapon), and of course his own beskar'gam. His jetboots would on combat mode as well. Parek would like to think he''s ready for anything, but who knows what he could encounter going into this. But at least he isn't alone.

@Phoenix @GABA @Darasuum

 

[The Storyteller]

The lanes of blue flames continued to streak up into the sky, licking the darkness as high as the canopies of the trees to either side. The flames did not spread but they stayed high and intense. It was clear these were no ordinary flames yet no less dangerous. The roar of burning oxygen still sounded and the heat coming off of them was intense but they retained their formation through the kilometers of forest.

For Solone, the border of the forest was beyond the first ring of blue flames. From the sky it had been clear there was a pattern, a giant pentagram with runes, glyphs and markings that were dozens of meters long at their shortest and hundreds at their longest. But before she could proceed further into the center of the forest, where the rumors had more merit, she would have to cross a wall of blue flame or find some way around it. Howls and calls of predatory beasts were rare at this edge of the forest. They came and went but there was no frenzy around the border of the territory, yet.

☠​

Far in the distance, starting as just a small spec was what looked like a black box. It moved through the night air and rose to be in the center of the moon. Bit by bit the thing came closer. If anyone noticed this thing, more easily misable than some simple bird or airborne beast, was in fact a dark vessel. It flew quietly, with no rush or indication it was in a hurry. It would arrive in a few minutes and come for the pick up of some rather specific and abnormal cargo.

The crew of this ship, running a darkened ship so that the windows did not let out any telling light, were as calm and efficient as the cloaked figures in the clearing of the forest. They detected the medium freighter and did not make any movement to intercept or act on it whatsoever. The captain of the vessel gave a simple order to keep watch on current contacts. They would alert The Promised if any changes occurred. He had a feeling she would rather enjoy those to test her new beasts. Knowing her any interlopers would become her whelps after some alterations.

☠​

For those already inside the forest, past the walls of fire, they would be in the darker parts of the woodland area. The distance between the various lanes and burning was significant, to the point that more light would be seen reflecting through the sky like city lights in the distance rather than piercing between the thick and twisted trees.

Nothing came at the sudden arrival of the massive mechanical beast nor its rider. Unlike the warrior woman on the edge of the forest Narir and Perek would get a sense of more activity. The canopy of the gnarled trees further made it difficult to see anything but the bassist of outlines without aid of a flashlight or better optical view. When he moved, branch tips would brush gently, many had snapped as he descended. While landing in a clearing there was much thicker wood around him. Enough space move without an issue even on a war droid, but the rows and rows of trees made seeing more than one hundred meters impossible, if not shorter distances with the arboreal terrain.

☠
​

The Promised walked slowly with a lit step towards one of the drooling rancors she had changed with the ritual. Her smile grew and reached out a flattened palm to touch the blunted face of the beast. There were four more, waiting on their haunches. They would make good beasts and were just in the first stage of their mutations. But the other monsters would come later with the other rituals and with time.

A group of cloaked figures brandished several ornate trunks and crates. Walking up to each of them they were opened before her. Taking from them she stripped naked, then began to don her hunting armor. Two cylinders known by anybody with a mind would recognize the items to be lightsabers. A few other items were picked up and placed on her person.

As she did this the host of shadowed beings were readying themselves. Another stage in the ritual was coming. When they all made their attire secure Serana walked back towards the center of the ceremony and began to chant once again. In her mind, this was a bachalorette party, and she was going to have some fun. Without saying a word the alchemically strengthened rancor she had touched came behind her and lowered itself closer to the ground and flatted a forearm against the ground, ready to be mounted once the next spell was cast.. The woman's red criss-crossed expression appeared pleased.

@GABA @Phoenix @Faster Than Light

 

[Narir Solus]

Narir was deep in the forests, but he had his eye in the sky still, and distance to cover. His descent had been controlled, and his thrusters had guided him in close enough that it wouldn't take hours to arrive. Though the immediate darkness was thick, Narir pressed the droid forward. Onward, my friend, he instructed the droid, ducking down behind the front armor of the basilisk that acted like an armored windshield that was designed to protect the rider from enemy fire. Although the armor was originally designed to protect from blaster fire, but it could work just as well against trees and low hanging branches.

The droid was a droid, after all, and didn't require Narir to be able to see to barrel onward. It pounded relentlessly through the forest, its bulk, powerful limbs, and heavy armor tearing past trees and branches without difficulty.

It appears we have other possible allies in the area, Artee began. Scanners detect two other Mandalorians in the vicinity, as well as a ship in the air. Although it is flying blackout, it has no cloaking technology. Shall we engage? Smartee asked. The two never seemed to speak one at a time but always in pairs, finishing one another's sentences. That was both quite useful and very annoying at times.

Negative, hold position and get me comms with those other two Mandalorians. Keep my updated, he said, opening up the comlink to be relayed via the Revenge. Any Mandalorians in the sector, this is Field Marshall Narir of Clan Solus, does anyone copy? he asked, hoping they might find some enlightenment as to what they were facing.

We pick up a communication signal at the edge of the forest. Mandalorian. Shall we investigate? Artee asked.

Narir considered for a moment, and weighed the pros and cons. Fly in low, investigate a pick up and drop off, he said as the droid kept pounding through the forest. It would only be another minute or so until he was closing on the ritual location, and he didn't know what kind of evil he'd find there, but he was already preparing himself and mentally running through his tactical options. The familiar sensation of death was in the air, and he knew that violence was only moments away. @Darasuum @Faster Than Light @GABA

 

[Solone Wren]

Solone could smell the burning of wood from the forest, the trees too dense to see the flames as she was quite a ways away from where the darksider cultist was performing her rituals. Frowning, she ran along the perimeter of the forest before leaping, her jetpack kicking in with a wrist flick as she looked above the canopy of the forest, seeing exactly where she needed to be. The blue flames bit at the sky and she saw something floating in the sky in the distance, and yet another ship closer to over the center of where the witch business was occurring and she was more than certain that was a basilisk belonging to a Mandalorian that dropped from it. Knowing it was a bit far for her jetpack to carry her though, she landed once more on the forest's edge wondering if she should land closer, preferably on the other side of the blue flames, instead she scanned the comm channels, hailing one that sounded familiar.

The hail was returned with a call out from a member of clan Solus and Solone rolled her eyes, of all the clans, it had to be the badger one. She paused for a moment before answering, watching as the ship she saw earlier near the edge of the forest, "Yes, Solone here...I'm not liking how this is looking." she told him over the comm. Hopefully she didn't regret getting onto this ship as the hatch opened and she quickly got aboard and walked to the cockpit where it was being piloted by two droids. Solone found it odd, not uncommon, but gestured with a head and spoke, "Hey, yeah, can you take me back to that weird stuff over there." she pointed to the blue fire ring as the ship took off, heading back to where Narir was closing in.

Solone quickly looked around, noting the staleness of the ship, as thought the Imps gotten their hands on it and turned back to the droids, "What armaments does this thing have?" she questioned.

@Phoenix @Faster Than Light @Darasuum

 

[Birdmando]

As the Basilisk would be pushing forward through the trees, the Mandobirdo would reach ground level himself as he descends, although his feet wouldn't quite touch the ground, instead he would flap his wings as he would be following the droid as he would be flying forward, with himself being a few meters above the ground as he keeps pace with the war droid, who is Field Marshal Narir Solus, as he identified himself on the comms. Rishii are fast flyers, keeping up isn't a problem and with the Basilisk clearing a path pushing forward, Parek himself has a clear path without obstacles while flying.

One woman identified herself as Solone on the comms. Surely can't be the same Solone Wren from the Emperor In Paradise. Surely a Mandalorian that went on a date with a Sith Emperor on a holonet show wouldn't dare come back to Mandalorian space. Well, he didn't actually watch the show and he needs to focus on the situation at hand.

Now, he would respond to Narir "Marauder Parek of Clan Kelborn, right behind you." he answered to the Field Marshal. He wondered if there were more Mandalorians on this planet or if this was all that's here. Still, the radiating heat from the burning trees he can very much feel and he can smell it too. It's only a matter of 'when' they will get to they will be getting to the fighting. Very soon he feels. Going into this, it's nice to have the Solus Field Marshal along with his Basilisk as well. Those can do a lot of damage. Comforting, even though it's anyone's guess what they will find when they arrive. Who knows what vile magicks they have.

 

[Solone Wren]

OoC: Its been longer than 48 hours for opposition to post, moving forward...

The ship was of much more convenience than the jetpack and had mentally note to thank the badger for the pick up as the ship quickly made its way over the trees and the ring of blue flames that isolated the witches and their odd cult like activity. The ship kept just high enough to not be caught by the tops of the trees of the wisps of blue flame and Solone frowned to the sight, reminding her of how much she hated the weird games Force users played. The droids turned to look at the soulless when she had asked about the weapons the ship carried and when they began to list the make and model of the cannons and torpedoes; the woman waved her hand, "Ok, ok,got it, c'mon, lets just blow the kriff out this place and call it day." she told the droids, who simultaneous turned to look at her, "Narir would probably agree." they turned back to the controls, seeming satisfied with the response.

Coming in on the center of the ritual, Solone couldn't help but to grin as they would catch the witch as she finished getting dressed, "The Rancors - Fire."

With that command, the laser cannons rained down fire on creatures as they stood in place, tearing apart their flesh and mangling the animals as Solone was relentless in her attack. With them as stationary, the job was simple, if they ran from their masters for their own survival, all the better.

@Phoenix @Faster Than Light

 

[Narir Solus]

Narir's basilisk tore through the forest, evidently unnoticed and unimpeded on its journey toward the center. It had closed the distance within minutes, and Narir could just make out the focal point of the experiment. Laser fire from the Revenge came streaking down, lighting up the night sky and most likely killing some of the rancors in the process.

Narir, meanwhile, opened fire. Or more specifically, his war droid opened fire. A canon and a rocket for two of the beasts and the main cluster canon for a third. Having been unnoticed up until now, it would find purchase with near certainty, tearing apart several of the beasts and leaving them dead on the ground in moments. After all, the blast radius of one rocket was the length of their entire body, and the double-canon power of the cluster canons... forget about it.

Still, Narir knew that this could easily result in something coming out of the death and destruction, and he wasn't going to let himself be caught out. There were still light canons or rockets that could engage, not to mention his own firepower. @Darasuum @Faster Than Light @GABA

 

[Birdmando]

When Narir started blasting with his war droid, Parek landed on both his feet at the droid's left flank and then drew his blaster carbine to his hands, ready for action. It's very unlikely anything survived that barrage of blasts from the ship and from the war droid. Although if something did, he would be ready. It's a shame Parek didn't have any massive firepower of his own, otherwise he'd love to contribute as well. Oh well.

With luck, whatever is the source of all the fire and commotion would be dead. It's very unlikely anything would still be alive.

@Darasuum @GABA @Phoenix

 

[The Storyteller]

The lights of the star yacht and the sound of its flight did not go unnoticed by the inhabitants in the forest. Creatures watched and some may have even mistaken Narir for a more natural beast among them. So no attack came as he moved through the wooded terrain towards the center of the forest. Joined by the avian mandalorian the two would have to deal only with feelings of unease until the fighting began.

Having sent a ride to pick up Solone, she made her way inside the ship to join the two comrades and even go so far as to begin engaging the group in the center of the forest. The ship was far from subtle and when it came into view The Promised was gazing at it while it hovered and turned to look at the beasts she had created. The weapon systems of the ship opened up, strafing one of the rancors and causing it to howl under the continued barrage.

From one side a hail of fire from Narir and his associated basilisk war droid moved forth and utterly devastated one of the hardy spawn. The Rancor mutant howled along with a second as they were both felled. The combined damage of laser cannon fire and the rockets stopped them from continued existence. The third did not make a sound as the plasma based weaponry of the nose on the tank like droid obliterated it.

The single rancor that remained in the clearing reached near the closest edge of the ritual. With a snapping grab it pulled up one of the gnarled trees and proceeded to launch it up at the ship.

The dozens of cult members saw the ground attack. From their robes, in the glint of the weapon discharges they produced weapons. Only the four that had been at the center ignited lightsabers while the remaining dozens brandished vibro-blades. All eyes turned towards the direction where the basilisk and its rider were. In the shockwave of one explosion the rippled air waved their robes aside enough to show lanvaroks on arms. A dozen charged across the clearing, spaced out between them. Another dozen slunk backwards into the darkness of the forest opposite the basilisk mandalorian's approach.

This was not going to be as much fun as she had hoped. The Promised would have to find better beasts. They had died so suddenly. But her creations would be avenged as she was quickly swallowed into the darkness of the forest. The long cast shadows of the center clearing aided the contrast camouflage. The mandalorians were not using flashlights, low light vision modes or any such thing to see. They may as well continue firing their weapons and use them to see. It did easily allow for the dark cultists to find the mandalorians. Though they had surprised the ceremony their hand had been played.

It appeared there was more fire power and danger on the ground than the captain of the distant ship had originally predicted. "Get us closer just in case." He commanded. The crew complied and increased the speed of the ship. "We're coming my lady." He alerted The Promised as the distance closed.

@GABA @Phoenix @Faster Than Light

 

[Narir Solus]

Narir's mind was in the mode of a veteran Mandalorian warrior. He'd seen battle raiding Imperial bases, assassinating heavily guarded Moffs, fighting Sith, and killing pirates. Dathomirian witches were known for their use of the Dark Side, and their hatred of men. He knew how things would go if he were captured. He'd heard horrible things about worms that devoured your arteries from the inside out in the most agonizing death possible.

No, that wasn't going to be an option for Narir.

There was a good 50 meters between him and the incoming cultists, and with the fire converging here combined with the detonations and burning from cannons and rockets, the night was no longer so dark. The basilisk may not have been able to back up as quickly as it could go forward, but it was still mobile enough to out run a person via strafing and repositioning.

The aft sensors allowed an accurate retreat as the cannons began opening fire on the cultists. The light cannons fired tore into the cultists rapidly enough to mop up several and keep fair distance while the heavy cannon (the only one to fire near the saber wielders)... well it could remove multiple opponents with each blast. A bad combination for the charging witches who would almost all be butchered long before reaching him or being able to flee from their charge. @Darasuum @Faster Than Light @GABA

 

[Solone Wren]

Solone grinned as they were successfully tearing up the creatures mutated by the witch who was causing this mess. She leaned forward, reading the senor read out as one of the rancors they did not get threw a tree at the ship. The Mandalorian woman gasped, regaining her balance, "Get the shields up." she ordered as the droids turned the ship to position it to take out the last rancor. However, they did as the Mandalorian ordered, the generator powered up while the other handled the weapons system. Normaly, Solone wasn't too favorable of droids, but she guessed she saw their use in matter such as this.

"It looks like we drew some attention." she said over the comm to Narir, "There is another ship, like a block with an engine." she said as The Revenger circled around the witches ceremony clearing. She watched as the cultists below were being continually mowed down by the basilisk's fire power and it was something Solone never understood about Sith (little known about Jedi) is why they just threw themselves at something that was so significantly powerful than them.

The fire power of the weapons were more than enough to give some light on the clearing, but other than the dead cultists, it looked as though they had scattered into the trees of the forest; she didn't think they would get far, the blue flames seemed to fence everyone on the ground inside. Her attention turned back to the approaching ship, ready to keep them engaged while the other two handled the witch and her servants on the ground.

@Faster Than Light @Darasuum @Phoenix

 

[Birdmando]

With him still where he was and with it the war droids cannons lighting the way to the enemy witches, Parek was also ready for a fight, he would quickly strafe a few meters further to his left and also then begin firing fast-paced blaster shots at witches after the basilisk started firing, specifically the ones with vibroblades so no blaster shots can get deflected, and he'd also shoot at witches not annihilated by the war droid. Two shots to double tap to make sure a given witch goes down and he’d aim for the center of mass as well for easier hits.

With the war droid’s heavy cannons which would be doing most of the work, the rest should be easier to pick out and whittle down with supporting fire. If all goes well, the dozen of witches charging to the Mandalorians would be charging to their doom in no time flat before they would accomplish anything meaningful (besides slow down the Mandalorians for a quick few seconds)

Parek would be ready to react to any changing circumstances as he is firing his shots, ready to adjust if needed. He'd have his eyes on the lightsaber-wielding witches as well. Whatever they were planning doing it's going to fail, they should have thought twice about doing this on a Mandalorian world.

@Darasuum @Phoenix @GABA

 

[The Storyteller]

The Promised watched from a distance of twenty meters to Narir and Parek's three o'clock. She was well within the woods now. Her slim form melding with the dark side of the tree trunks. The continued weapon discharged that cost numerous cultists their lives illuminated the two mandalorians perfectly. With one arm she reached out and used the force to disable the droid by overcharging the circuits that flowed from the power core. This would make it stop all possible functions and while the weapons systems, AI and mechanical parts and core would remain intact it would mean that the droid would be immobilized. On top of that the weapon systems would not be able to pull power due to the damage circuits. The sensor clusters, everything, would be cut off from the power source inside the metal monster. This took a moment to complete but its affects would happen simultaneously.

Afterwards, in the quickly recovered darkness Serana would keep her mostly in cover with only part of her body sticking out. With the distance between her and the mandalorians still being twenty meters and the darkness returning with only small arms and sporadic weapon fire it would make her still body hard to spot among all the wood.

☠
​

Thanks to their leader's actions not all of the cultists were killed outright. Those that had charged were slain, their sacrifice made. However the dozen warriors that had fallen back to the opposite side of the clearing had not fled. Instead they had done like The Promised and delved back into shadow. They moved around counter clockwise from the clearing, deep enough into the wooded area that they would not be seen by the firelight in the clearing. Small patches of fires where smouldering craters of cannon fire had only increased the permanent light slightly. To contradict that was the amount of dust in the air for a few moments that completely obscured the maneuvering of the far sided cultists.

Walking towards the two Mandalorians now that the more common disciples had made their sacrifice, were the four lightsaber wielding zealots. Each step walked over corpses of their dead or a small patch of flame. Aside from the still raging rancor only the four of them were the visible cultists at this point. The Zealots with quickly trod steps had their sabers at the ready in case the two mandalorians fired at any of them.

☠​

The thrown tree crashed into the ship. The ship's shields would have already been up despite the woman's orders though unless she had manually disabled them. However it was still lowered from the direct hit of the heavy, solid and high velocity flora. Ignorant of how simple pilot droids worked the Marauder's Revenge would not fire its weapon systems since the pilot droids did not have combat prerogatives. They were the equivalent of simple commercial craft maintainers and operators despite being owned by a warrior like the Unlucky Badger.

The the vehicle circled the clearing trying to get a bead on the remaining dark siders but the upturned smoke would make it difficult. At best Solone would be able to see the glowing lightsabers of the four Zealots. Meanwhile, being ignored the Rancor huffed and gave chase towards the star yacht. Thundering steps came towards the low altitude vehicle. Larger in size than the average rancor and with the star yacht still not having moved from its position it would try to reach up and grapple the Marauder's Revenge. It roared and howled as it reached to grasp the vehicle through the smoke, outstretched claws capable of tearing durasteel hungry to deal some damage.

☠
​

The distant dungeon ship had grown larger and larger still. "I want all turrets on that ship." The darkened commander said from his captain's chair. The gunners all adjusted and prepped to track manually until the targeting computers could detect the signature of the nightsweeper star yacht. In a few moments they would be within range and able to lit up the relatively small ship if it remained.

@GABA @Phoenix @Faster Than Light

 

[Narir Solus]

Narir saw the sparks leaping from the basilisk, and he knew it wouldn't be going anywhere for a moment. The Witch and her sorcery hadn't managed to permanently destroy the droid, and he could already see the readout display was beginning to reboot, but it would take time.

Shab, he cursed as he realized he would have to at least temporarily abandon ship until such a time as he could get it back up and running again. On the bright side, Narir was decked out from head to foot in armor and weapons. It was a truly impressive array of equipment, and he would use it quite effectively. They may have had glowsticks of destiny, but Narir was a Mandalorian who had spent years in the forests hunting animals and in combat killing Force users.

He was a predator in the forest, and Dathomir wasn't any different.

He leapt from his basilisk and a button press caused his jetboots to break his fall. It was a well practiced maneuver since acquiring his faithful droid, and it was only a moment, which would prevent the Witches from interfering with his landing. Two could play this game, and Narir's armor was laced with scatterweave. Each of the shadows of the forest made him all but impossible to see.

The Witches were closing, but Narir was more than content to wait for them to get closer, beskad in his right hand, and left flexing quietly at his side and brushing along his belt. So many toys, he thought to himself, trying to select which toy was best to use. So very many options.

---​

Meanwhile aboard the Revenge, Atin had awoken and trotted into the cockpit, now highly alert and unhappy about all the bumping and thumping on the ship. In fact, it almost looked a little bit scared and moved over to cuddle up to the leg of @Solone Wren, perfectly happy to jump into her lap when she sat down at the controls of the ship. @Darasuum @Faster Than Light @GABA

 

[Solone Wren]

So maybe Solone was wrong into jumping to the conclusion that droids were useful, her face scrunched into a pout and she went to grab the droid to remove it from the seat, the Solus' badger came up and leaned in on her leg, "What the?" she shook her head removing the droid, sitting down in the captains seat and took control of the ship, tearing off her helmet and throwing it down on the floor where ever it was convenient. "Keep a read on those shields, that ship looks like a lot of hurt..." she said as the ship rocked again, the surviving rancor that took a leap at the ship, was indeed not sentient enough to know about the shields as it would stop the projectiling creature from latching onto the ship; and given there was nothing to latch onto, the rancor would fall with a painful thud back tot he ground. Besides, a 60+ meter ship versus a 10 or so meter rancor was clearly not going to end well.

Solone hit the thrusters as the ship picked up speed and altitude as she got a feel for the ship and no longer leaving it stationary; most of the riff-raff had moved into the forest and now she would take control of the skies as the flying block seemed to pick up more activity. She knew she could out run the slow vessel, but she needed to stick close enough to help her Vod...then again did she really, she wasn't a part of their clan or house, and was declared her dar'manda...the thoughts were tempting, a kriff it all, but when the badger climbed into her lap, those thoughts left and she knew she had to do what was right in the end. "This is all your fault, fuzzy." she grumbled, readying herself, the ship took a wide loop over the forest, well over the perimeter of the flames as she made her way back to the cultist campground.

If the dungeon ship engaged, she would entertain.

 

[Birdmando]

The basilisk in front of Parek started sparking and stopped working. And although the vibroblade-wielding witches were slaughtered, the lightsaber holding ones were sparred before they would be annihilated. Parek observed in the quick moment how the war droid was suddenly reduced to be non-functional at a moment's notice and the witches weren't channeling any force powers. Someone else is acting from the shadows. It's either a single powerful force user who used it or a group of them, acting unseen. Basilisks are reliable machines they don't suddenly break down just like that. Vile magicks...

As the Mandalorian Field Marshall was using his jetboots to break his fall, Parek grabbed the hilt of his vibrosword with his left hand, drew it out quickly. He was alert and ready for enemies in any direction. The Rishii are a species with very good sense of hearing, and that would do well help him be ready to react to any other threads should they jump in to the fray.

For right now the four lightsaber-wielders are coming at them, they are the most obvious threat but not the only one. Parek could shoot them now, but that would be pretty useless as they could just deflect it. As Parek was taught: the patient hunter gets the prey. Now its just up for waiting for them to get close and be reactive to them and other stimuli as well. The Birdmando is ready to go with his weapons and just in case his jet boots are already on combat mode so he can use those in a pinch.