Knightfall :: Guidance

[CENTER]Children of War
Knightfall: Guidance[/CENTER]

This thread will contain weekly information about each House's objectives. The story is not specific about how these objectives are achieved. It only alludes to the certain events happening, but does not state how they happened. How the story unfolds is therefore down to you.

The objectives are just to remind you what happened in the Chapter introduction and to keep you on course for the later developments in the main story. Unlike in the GJW, the objectives are not designed to be prescriptive, they are only really there to state the obvious (i.e. you would probably have concluded it makes sense to chase after the guy who just jumped out the window anyway).

Each House will take part in the same run-on but with different objectives. Your House will be graded on whether or not you achieve the objectives. You are therefore advised not to get side tracked into running off to help the other House; there will be the opportunity to work together later in the story.

You are encouraged to draw on whatever resources you find helpful, be they they character profiles on the DJB Wiki (listed here), information on the Vong from Wookieepedia, wherever.

Synopsis

The Vong raid was as quick as it was deadly. The simultaneous Peace Brigade strikes on Aeotheran and Tarthos as well as the main Vong assault on Sepros were coordinated with such precision that it could only have been an inside job. The main Vong battlegroup has kidnapped the Overlord’s son from Sadow Palace and withdrawn. However the Peace Brigade forces of Admiral Yashais dei Izvoshra still hang over the other worlds, a warning for Fleet Admiral Araic Simonetti and what survives of the Dlarit Navy to keep away or else the colonies will be destroyed from orbit.

Colonel Septka of the Palace Guard has discovered the identities of the two main perpetrators. With no way to get off world whilst the two fleets in orbit remain in a standoff, you are your battleteam have been dispatched to the hidden fortresses from which the Vong and the local turncoats planned the invasion. It is up to you to hunt them down and recover the codes for the planetary defence networks before the orbiting Peace Brigade fleets lose patience and initiate a full Base Delta Zero orbital bombardment.

[CENTER]Children of War
Week 1[/CENTER]

Please note: The story is left it open exactly how you track down Vega Mine/Obsidian Station. You might find something Wyla or Ran left behind, hack their computers, rush after them and beat it out of them, tail them all the way to the base—the choice is YOURS. Though they are mentioned in Week 2, what specifically happens to Wyla Sarn and Ran Arnet, whether they live or die, are placed under arrest, have their head shrunken and stuck in a jar, etc, is also in your hands.
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House Ludo Kressh

The past few nights have been a long hard slog and the betrayal of the Delta-32, otherwise known as Orenth, was unprecedented. Your squad mates have now pushed most of the Brigaders out of the Inner City and into the surrounding jungles; hopefully into the maws of the natural predators. However Marakith may have been recaptured but Orenth has sabotaged the weapons systems. With the Brigade fleet still in orbit, you and your teammates are effectively stranded and in immediate danger of a reprise attack.

The new information from Colonel Septka proves invaluable. You have heard the name "Vega Incorporated" whispered since the True Brotherhood invasion four years ago, but it never occurred to anyone Sylus Vega would sink this low. Having unmasked his inside contact, Colonel Wyla Sarn, Deputy Commissioner of Dlarit Police, and in truth a Vong agent in disguise, you must now pursue her in the hope she will lead you to the hidden refuge from which Vega and his underground company are operating out of.

Objectives: Pursue Wyla Sarn and locate Vega Mine.
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House Marka Ragnos

The past few nights have been a difficult time for many of you, some moreso than the rest after enduring dire familial losses. As always seems to be the case, Kar Alabrek was hit particularly hard thanks to being the main military garrison city, and hence a more attractive target to the Peace Brigade filth. You have finally pushed the Brigaders out of the main city and into the wilds. The Yuuzhan Vong have withdrawn, however the defence systems and shield generators remain offline, leaving you at the mercy of the Brigade ships still in orbit.

The new information from Colonel Septka on Sepros about "Vega Incorporated" proves vital. As your brothers in House Ludo Kressh hunt down "President" Vega on Aeotheran, your own anger rises against the traitors inside the Dlarit military on Tarthos. Ran Arnet, a drop out who failed to make the grade to join DSOG, narrowly evades capture when you go to arrest him. You are certain the snivelling coward could not have been operating alone. Your mind wanders back to the excursion Lord Paladin led into the arctic the previous year, and how he had been troubled the enemy could avoid his senses. Joining the dots, you must pursue Arnet to wherever his Vong contacts are hiding.

Objectives: Pursue Ran Arnet and locate the arctic base.

[CENTER]Children of War
Week 2[/CENTER]

Please note: As with Week 1, the story is left open as to how you fulfil the objectives—ultimately the choice is YOURS. Though they are mentioned in Week 3, what specifically happens to Sylus Vega and Bur'lorr Amnan, whether they live or die, are placed under arrest, have their head shrunken and stuck in a jar, etc, is, like in Week 1, once again in your hands. In the end, this Guidance is just that: guidance, and how much you choose to draw on is up to you.
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House Ludo Kressh

Having unmasked the Police Commissioner Wyla Sarn as a Vong spy actually called Ona Amnan, you have chased her into the labyrinth beneath mine Five Beta which was abandoned by Dlarit Mining ten years ago for being unstable. You arrive to discover the structural instability has been caused by an infestation of Killiks in the lower catacombs, whose network of tunnels threaten to destabilise the entire mine.

You still do not know exactly what awaits you in the remains of mine Five Beta, only that it is now the lair of President Sylus Vega and his illegal corporation Vega Incorporated. Despite being up against the Killik swarm, Vega's mercenaries, his converted Jedi watcher, and his psychopathic bounty hunter aide, you know that if you fail the Orian system is forever doomed. You must break into the upper levels of Vega Mine, find Sylus Vega, and put an end to the standoff in orbit that is preventing DSOG from engaging Admiral Izvoshra's Peace Brigade fleet.

Objectives: Get the access codes for the Aeotheran defence network back from Sylus Vega to reactivate the planetary defence grid.
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House Marka Ragnos

After the traitor Ran Arnet fled from you like the coward he was, you swiftly gave chase, catching up with him before he could escape to sanctuary with his Vong allies. After interrogating him and gaining intel on where to find the Vong hideout, you have headed into the snowy northern wastes to the crash side of Obsidian Station which was shot out of orbit four years ago during the True Brotherhood invasion. Having found only what you expected, you start to wonder if Arnet has sent you on a wild goose chase. However, not long after arriving his intel proves correct when the new Vong defences come to life--literally--and emerge from beneath the snow.

As with all Vong technology and creatures, it is still next to impossible to sense what is inside the wreckage, aside from perhaps one or two Peace Brigade contacts assigned here, or worse: another of their converted Jedi minions. Given the small number of Force signatures, you know this is likely to be the main Vong fortress in the system, and that you are likely to come up against the leader of their infiltration teams. Nevertheless, there is not the time to assemble an army, and you must get back the access codes to the Tarthos defence network to allow DSOG to do its job to get rid of the Peace Brigade ships in orbit that are still holding the planet to ransom.

Objectives: Get the access codes to the Tarthos defence network back from Bur'lorr Amnan to reactivate the planetary grid.
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Additional note: The Killiks at Vega Mine and the captured Silentium at Obsidian Station were mostly included in the Prologue just as teasers for possible future stories. Exactly what you choose to make of them during the Feud is COMPLETELY up to you. E.g. if you want to set the Silentium free and have it help you take out the Vong, you can do that; if you want to try and invent some way to destroy it, you can do that too; if you want to just ignore them both completely, that option is entirely open as well. They're not really the "main" plot, so if your do anything with them that doesn't really make sense you won't lose any marks for it.

[CENTER]Children of War
Week 3[/CENTER]

Please note: As with the previous weeks, you have a lot of freedom as to how you interpret the story and approach the run-on. Week 3 especially has a large degree of openness as to how fast you want things to proceed. If you want to skip a few hours and all be out of the mines and crashed station, you can; if you want to spend some time fighting off the Peace Brigade ships still in the process of fleeing Orian, you can; if you want to hurry to get to the Vong rallying point midweek to start battling Varesh's armada, you can. Provided you're to the Vong by next week, whatever you do between now and then is totally up to you.
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Clan Naga Sadow

You and your House have battled long and hard for the past week, in the streets and now out in the wilderness after tracking down the enemy conspirators, but have now at long last finally brought an end to the stalemate that was keeping you and your battleteam trapped planetside. With the codes for the planetary grids reacquired from Sylus Vega and Bur'lorr Amnan, Aeotheran and Tarthos are now secure, the shield and weapons systems are back online, and the threat of orbital bombardment has passed.

Fleet Admiral Araic Simonetti, Commanding Admiral of Special Operations, and temporarily acting Commander-in-Chief, has issued the call for all Dark Jedi to rendezvous with the Star Destroyer Final Way, as well as sent men to the Cenota Facility on Gamuslag to collect the lethal VGB, the Violator Gas Bomb, assembled from the design specs of Macron Goura, who himself remains MIA. Despite routing the Peace Brigade fleet, Simonetti has allowed Admiral Izvoshra's command ship, Patriot's Fist, to escape in order to tail it to the secret base from which the Vong have been launching these attacks on Orian and the surrounding spacelanes.

Reunited with your fellow Clansmen, battleteams from both Houses now take to the skies, heading to regroup with the Special Operations fleet currently in orbit of the gas giant Amphor, to promptly pursue Izvoshra and the few Peace Brigade stragglers and put an end to the Vong threat once and for all.

Objectives: Rendezvous with the other House on the Final Way, then follow Izvoshra's battlesphere to the hidden Vong rallying point in the Tingel Arm.

[CENTER]Children of War
Week 4[/CENTER]

Please note: This is it, the final battle! Your primarily objectives are to safely get the Violator Bomb onto the Yammka, as well as take out the main villains: Vasi Khess, the Force-sensitive leader of the Shamed One rebellion, and Varesh Shai, the Warmaster of the Yammka Vong who oversaw the sacking of Sadow Palace. This is your chance to shine. There is also Romm Shai, the Yammka’s captain, and Admiral Izvoshra, the Patriot’s Fist’s commander, still to be dealt with. While those two are secondary, it still means if you want to perform a bombing run on the Fist to take out the battlesphere and kill Yashais, you are free to do so: just remember the main objectives are the Yammka, the Warmaster, and the Force-imbued heretical Shamed One leader. This is one of those rare chances to take part in something memorable to put on your wiki that nobody else will be able to do again—so get remembered as a Hero of the Clan!
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Clan Naga Sadow

It was still only a few days ago when the Yuuzhan Vong struck without warning, and in all that time you have hardly slept. The few hours on the Final Way travelling out into the deep abyss of Wild Space have perhaps been the first brief respite you've been able to find, that is if you have been able to sleep at all in knowledge of the impending final battle. Six years. It has been a long time fighting the invaders since they first emerged on the outskirts of the Outer Rim. And it all comes down to this. The survival of Clan Naga Sadow is in your hands.

Upon arrival, you watch as one of the Vong cruisers slams into what you can only assume to be their flagship—what is going on? Are they fighting amongst themselves? It seems in the six days since their initial attack, the fall of the Yuuzhan Vong Empire two years ago has finally caught up with them. It would seem their Gods have not returned like they had hoped after butchering so many young apprentices on Sepros. You watch as two factions of Vong tear into each other, one group seemingly having turned suicidal and launching their ships into the mighty flagship and its escort on kamikaze runs. The Peace Brigade remnant who escaped Orian appear caught in the middle.

As tempting as it seems just to leave the Vong to destroy themselves, the Dlarit Navy has been here once before, three years ago, at Telos. This time Admiral Simonetti is not prepared to take that risk. This time it ends here. The Violator Gas Bomb will see to that. Everything, Vong, human and alien alike will meet their end here. Simonetti's orders are clear, you must plant the VGB in the heart of the Yammka. And despite the war unfolding between the rival Yammka and Yuuzhan Vong, you still have another mission to get done: rescue the Overlord's son, Remulus Sadow, and the Proconsul, both of whom you sense still live somewhere aboard the gargantuan Yammka. But... there is also another Force presence—almost as if there are now two Remuluses? How can that be possible?

All this means running the gauntlet of the civil war currently unfolding on the Yammka between Warmaster Varesh Shai of the Yammka Vong and the Force-sensitive Vasi Khess of the Shamed One rebels...

Objectives: Plant the Violator Gas Bomb inside the Yammka and defeat both Varesh Shai and Vasi Khess.
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Additional note: Appreciating how much of the story there is still left to cover, we don't want to hurry you such that you don't have any time to enjoy it. While the intended closing date is Sunday 13 September, what we may do if you're still getting through the fight is put on some light Epilogue events while we mark up the Week 4 events next week, giving you an extra week to get the Run-On sorted. This is not guaranteed though, so do try and aim for the 13th deadline as much as possible if you can. Regardless, the run-on won't go on indefinitely, so at most it'll mean an extra week.

Additional note #2: While I don't want to put words in anyone's mouths, or ink in anyone's pen, while killing the Vong is a given, how you end up dealing with the Peace Brigade is totally down to you. It might just be the Vong blow them up. It might be Simonetti and the fleet deals with them off screen. They might sue for peace and Yashais ends up joining the Corporation, the choice is yours. Since this is now the end of the story, the ball is well and truly in your court now. I make no more mention of Varesh, Vasi or Yashais in any of the epilogue, so it is completely open how you decide to deal with them. So there is no need to fear any Dark Jedi Masters suddenly appearing from the shadows to take out the villains. That privilege entirely falls to YOU. Aside from having your own Death Star show up, there's practically nothing you can do wrong.

Just do note, the "second Remulus" is because Vasi was injected with his blood, so, no, there is not a clone of him.

PS: If it helps you at all, Varesh Shai is the left half of my avatar, Vasi Khess the right half.