Beyond the Horizon Run-On: TEAM 1

OPENING FICTION

Please use the link above to read the opening fiction above and continue the story.

How does your team meet? Has your team been assigned to defend against the boarding party on one of the Plagueian ships? Has your team been assigned to clear the ground of the forces invading the planets throughout the Jusadih system? There are many possibilities for you to explore, use your imagination.

Please make each post follow on from the previous post. Each post must be at least 250 words to count. Each individual from the group must post TWICE by the end of week 2 for the team run-on to count.

Placeholders may be used; all you need to do is post saying: "Placeholder" and you will hold that spot for a maximum of four hours. After that time, other people are allowed to follow on from the post prior.

It is up to you all how you organise posts and storyline. We suggest you start an email chain and brainstorm, but you are ultimately the ones posting.

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Team 1:

-- Andrelious
-- Teu
-- Sang
-- Alaris
-- Furios

Kapsina Orbit
Jusadih System

Andrelious J. Inahj had only been commander of Void Squadron for a matter of days when the order to head to Jusadih was given. The ex-Imperial had been astounded at Wuntila’s zeal to help another unit, though he kept his own objections to himself.

Now the Battlelord found himself in a ship that he deemed ‘Rebel’ technology, leading the attack against starfighters of Imperial design. The irony, though, wasn’t important. The enemy fleet had been allied with the former Grand Master Zoraan. Zoraan had nearly stripped every single Brotherhood Jedi of their power. Andrelious himself had only begun to show signs of the infection when a cure was discovered, but the Arconan had seen enough comrades lose their minds to know that he had been hours away from going the same way.

Shooting at and destroying a lone TIE Interceptor, Inahj probed the area with the Force. He sensed fear in many of the surrounding pilots, even in some of the newer Void members; Montresor in particular was flying his first mission as part of the elite squadron.

A greater sense of fear was detected, however, on board the Ascendancy. Inahj could see even without the Force that the Plagueian flagship was damaged. It would likely need extensive repairs before it would be of any use to the Ascendant House.

With a final sweep of his sensors, the Void Commander made a big decision. He banked his StealthX towards the stricken Nebula-Class vessel.

There were always opportunities for those who could keep their head while those around them were losing theirs. Something that Inahj would now hope to prove.

Officer Living Quarters
NSD Ascendancy
Kapsina Orbit
Jusadih System

Furios was sitting on his bed, deep in a Force trance in his quarters. He was still dressed in his usual attire except for his boots, which lay on the floor next to the bed, and his long jacket, which hung by the door. The Templar was tired from the effects of the Horizons plague and relished every moment of his recovery. So he remained deep within his trance, oblivious to the initial barrages the ship was sustaining. When the shields went down and bombardments began striking durasteel plating rather than energy, he still slept. It wasn’t until a blow was dealt to the ship that was strong enough to launch him into the ceiling of his cabin that he woke. The Epicanthix landed on the bed in a sprawl and immediately moved to a fetal position as he held the back of his head where it hit the ceiling.

“Son of a-“

His expletive was cut short as another quake knocked him to the floor of his cabin. Furios sat up and reached for his boots which had been knocked in two different directions. As he was lacing up his footwear, the lighting went out, soon replaced by slowly flashing red light. Just as well, an alarm klaxon began blaring from the speaker on the wall, announcing a hull breach.
“This is just a perfect way to start my morning,” Furios thought to himself as he scanned the room for his communication link to the bridge of the Ascendancy. Unable to see it from sitting on the floor, the Templar slowly got to his feet. A crunch under his heavy boot announced the demise of the ear piece in question. Furios moved his foot aside to verify the tiny electronics’ destruction. With a sigh, the Epicanthix picked his duster up from its unintentional home on the floor and checked to make sure his flask was still in the inside breast pocket. Satisfied with the presence of the alcohol, he swung the coat around, pushing his long arms through the sleeves. He pressed a hand to his hip to check that the saber hilt was still clipped to his belt and opened the door to the rest of the ship.

The corridor was empty of life. Only the undulating red light and the alarm filled the hall. Furios jogged away from the rooms and toward the bridge. The door to the next hall opened to reveal a state of chaos. Engineers and crewmen ran in different directions as the amount of necessary repairs continued to skyrocket. Another explosion from the aft of the ship propelled Furios as well as the bustling crewmen toward the front of the Ascendancy. The Epicanthix was awake now and easily landed on his feet. Most of the crew members were not so agile and hurriedly scrambled to their feet to continue their desperate work. The Obelisk continued weaving between the busy workers as he continued toward the bridge. A familiar face appeared from around a corner as Alaris Jinn entered the busy hallway.

“Alaris, you’ve been awake for a little while, right? What’s going on?” Furios asked as he weaved through the busy workers.

“We ran into a remnant of Zoraan’s forces. Multiple capital ships are attacking and we’re not doing too well at the moment,” the older of the two Obelisks replied.

“Well I broke my comm so can I borrow yours?” Furios asked.

“Communications are being jammed actually. Do you need to talk to Tra’an?”

“Well I was hoping for some sound orders from him, but if it’s all that bad, I’ll be taking out boarding parties.”

“I’m doing the same,” Alaris continued.

“Then we’ll stop wasting time and get to it.”

Furios turned to follow the Exarch as he continued on his way to the nearest hangar. As they ran, a feminine, computerized voice recited the levels of the ship that contained hull breaches. Numbers coupled with letters to create a map of damages the ship had sustained. As the Templar made his way toward the next hangar, he couldn’t help but feel that the length of the announcement was far too long.

Jusadih System

BAC Darkest Night

The blooming florescent blasts erupted along the length of the Heavy Cruiser, smashing through the hull and opened up the ships insides to the vacuum of space. Bodies floated out, some of them warped beyond recognition by the intense heat of the turbo lasers. The remnants of Zoraan’s fleet were dispersing, chased by star fighters and the immense capital ships of the Arconan Expeditionary Force.

Sanguinius stared with intense fascination at the vast tableau of destruction and death. The feeling of power that one felt standing at the helm of a ship like the Darkest Night never felt to excite the Prelate. The Entar revelled in that power, clung to it like a drowning man might cling to a lifejacket. Not so long ago, the Quaestor had been in the throes of the Horizons Plague…nay, the curse, thought the Anaxsi as he watched his opposite number’s Assault Cruiser swan sedately through the wreckage that was now sprawled throughout the dominion of the Ascendant House

Now he was in full control of his senses and the return of his connection to the Force made him exuberant in his jubilation at Arcona’s swathe of destruction. A wry smile marked Sanguinius’ face as he turned his attention from the devastation outside his ship to the woman that stood behind him.

“How nice of you to join us, Teu,” Sang smiled benevolently, “I welcome you to the Shadow Clan.”

Teu inclined her head in acknowledgement, “I appreciate the welcome, Entar.”

“I apologise for the lack of decorum, but we are at a state of war.” The Quaestor chuckled, gesturing at the battle that raged outside the ship.

“I kind of worked that out for myself, Sanguinius.” Teu grinned.

The two Obelisks laughed for a couple of seconds before recovering their senses. Sanguinius offered a hand to Teu, who deftly shook it.

A young Lieutenant coughed nervously beside the Dark Jedi, alerting them to his presence. “Captain Tsucyra, Commander Hoarth says that the Invicta demands that we move to the aid of the Plagueian flagship, Ascendency.”

“Thank you, Lieutanant Quari. Give Commander Hoarth my compliments and tell him the bridge is his. I feel a need to visit my former compatriots.” Sanguinius smiled once again, his face always bright.

The young officer was perplexed by his superior’s explanation, “Very well, sir.” He saluted and turned briskly on his heels and strode away.

The Anaxsi turned to Teu who looked equally perplexed. “I intend to pay a visit to my old Clanmates, I do hope you’ll accompany me, Teu?”

“You were once in Plagueis, Entar?”

“For my sins, yes….” Sanguinius replied, as he tugged at his robes.

Teu sighed and shrugged her shoulders, “Sure, why not? I come to Arcona to get away from stress and look where it gets me.”

The Prelate grasped her shoulder, “Good, I’m glad to have you with me.” He whistled and a dark shape padded softly towards the two Arconans from the corner of the bridge. “Tam, come here.”

The Cythraul sped up. Bounding happily towards his master and jumped up at Sanguinius, driving him back a few steps. Teu recoiled in response to the appearance of the beast, “Don’t worry, Teu, Tam’s harmless…except when he’s in a bad mood, which isn’t too often.” Sang scratched under Tam’s chin and tussled his ears, Tam’s black and white coat lay thickly upon him. “Right, let’s go, I’m in the mood to smash some heads together.”

The two figures strode from the bridge with the bulky mass of Tam loping closely behind them.

INTRUDER ALERT!

“No way, really?” Alaris was tired of the message being screamed across the entire ship. His ship. No matter who was in command of the Ascendancy the Twi’lek always thought of it as his ship. He had acquired it after the war against Crask’s Jedi. It was for the Plagueian Fleet, definitely, but it was his command; his Star Destroyer.

“Why haven’t they turned off these karking warnings?” Furios asked rhetorically.

Whatever vast amount of forces Zoraan had managed to accrue in his time away from the Brotherhood had been unseen by the New Republic, the Galactic Alliance, the Imperial Remnant, Hapes, the Corporate Sector, the Hutts, and the Dark Jedi Brotherhood. Vast as it was, Alaris and Furios were tearing through them like they were worth no more than a list of their names scrawled on a piece of torn flimsi.

Alaris knew these corridors better than any Plagueian so weaving through them was second nature. The curled around a corner which took them along the outer hull on the port side. The entire hallway was flanked by a massive duraglass window which gave the Obelisk a perfect view of what was coming at them. At the moment, it was a Bothan Assault Cruiser Alaris recognized.

“The Darkest Night.” He grinned.

“Is that some Twi’lek curse I’m unfamiliar with?” Furios batted back blaster bolts from an apparent wall of intruders.

“No. Arcona has come.” He sneered, waiting for the Cruiser to open fire on the all but defenseless Star Destroyer, but the attack never came. “Perhaps, they come not out of maliciousness.”

“More than we can say about-”

A blaster bolt struck the blast door control panel beside them and sent a barrage of sparks out at Furios, cutting him off. “We’re not getting through that group.” Furios started stepping backward when Alaris called out.

“Stop. Push them!”

Alaris drew the Dark Side into his arm and shot it forward, feeling the pressure of Furios’ identical attack from beside him. The blast knocked into the front of their firing line pushing them back into the second row. Alaris sprung down the corridor at a breakneck speed and began slashing away randomly and violently.

The hallway was a mess when he was finished. He looked back at the Templar who had a faint look of fear and awe. Furios shook it away slightly and followed the Exarch further toward the hanger.

“It’s just up ahead. Don’t get too squeamish.”

Teu sighed softly; she had left one warzone for another it seems, however this time she wasn’t in the middle of it. She thought back to the events of the last few weeks that brought her to where she is now. She had no qualms with most members of the Clan itself; however she did feel betrayed by those who held the most amount of sway.

Her own husband had kidnapped her son and hid him away as if she was something to be feared. Little did he realize his own position put her son at greater risk? He had betrayed her and thus she lost faith in where the family stood and decided to forge out on her own, she packed up her sparse belongings along with her young daughter and sought refuge with allies she’s made over the years.

She did not expect the welcome she received, she admonished herself privately as if she had expected anything less, the Brotherhood had just finished a war that torn the Brotherhood in two for a short while. Her fingers idly traced a scar that was still puckered pink as it healed, she knew a few hours soak in a bacta bath could remove the scar nearly entirely but how would she remember the failure it showed. Instead she let it heal on its own time.

A loud thud brought her back to the present, her crystal blue eyes suddenly cleared as she calmed her mind enough to deal with the matters at hand. She glanced over at her counterpart and smirked, ready to face whatever came their way.