Incursion

Aabsdu

12-07-2007 21:17:02

This is the forum we will use for the Seventh Great Jedi War Run-on, which will run throughout the entire event. I have some great things planned. Come Sunday, I will post the rules of the event here, as well as my opening post.

A few things I want to talk to you all about specifically:

1) Don't god-mode
2) If you create a sub plot, make sure you finish it
3) Don't kill other characters without their permission
4) Read up on the Vong. To give you a hint, almost none of you are going to be able to easily kill them, as you'll see in the GJW storyline. So, don't think they are weaklings

~~~~~

GJW RO Rules:

*During the course of this Runon, your clan is writing about events that occurred during the most recent chapter released for the GJW. Unlike previous runons where you write about the future, here you are writing about the past and your actions are constrained by those that are outlined in the released plot.
*The run-on will be conducted in specially designated forums, already set up for each clan. Passwords may be obtained from your Consul.
*The plotline of the runon may not deviate from that of the official plot, nor may it progress beyond the events currently shown on the current 'day' of the GJW site.
*No one but the author of the post is permitted to make changes to it. The Author may freely edit his post up until another person posts on the run-on.

Aabsdu

15-07-2007 02:34:36

**OOC: Special thanks to Fier for the opening two segments in this post**

One Week Ago...

The shuttle settled onto its skids. The armored figure walked down the ramp, his strides were in a hurry and no one was there to greet him. As he walked through the halls, his mind turned over the reports he had read and over the even more limited information that he had discovered. All he had was what the news reports said and the leaked intelligence files that at this point were public knowledge. His force meditation that his master had assigned him had brought disturbing thoughts to his mind. Guardian Aalos Fier sighed inwardly. Boring work often left him itching for a taste of battle again.

Consul Aabsdu sat at his desk getting ready for a holo meeting in less than an hour. The door to his office flew open and a figure strode in. Aabsdu sighed, his apprentice was still brash, worse then ever since his return from the outer rim. As Aalos Fier swept into a bow though he knew that the young apprentice had a deep respect for him. Slowly the figure rose and the Consul knew that the news was going to be especially important, for it was one of the few times his apprentices face showed emotion.

"What did you discover that brings such trouble to your mind?" spoke the Consul.

"My Master, it is a long and difficult story, but I will try to explain the best I can…"

~~~~~

The holograms were waiting, along with Proconsul Daragon, when both men entered the room, Aalos Fier still in his armor. The holograms of the Aediles and Quaestors of the two Clan Plagueis houses showed puzzled expressions, as the young Guardian should not be present for the meeting.

Consul Aabsdu spoke first "Before we begin this meeting, Guardian Aalos Fier will be delivering a quick briefing to you. In fact, that will be all this meeting."

Aalos Fier stepped forward after no protest was made.

"Clan leaders. I know you have all heard the rumors of the alien incursion on the galactic rim. I have recently been to Coruscant to speak with our clan intelligence operatives. The Yuuzhan Vong, as some call them, may be a more grave threat then previously realized. I do not think we have much to fear if we take appropriate actions for defense in the unlikely event of an attack, but I do urge caution."

"The Yuuzhan Vong use a Biotechnology that we have never seen before. It is highly efficient in its uses, and dangerous. We have reports that they also use slave armies which might be a threat as they could eventually bolster their forces."

"The most disturbing thing I have noticed is casualty rates when fighting the Vong, one of my intelligence officers ran the numbers and they are much higher then we originally thought. The New Republic has developed special tactics to counter the Yuuzhan Vong shielding technology, and it might be wise to incorporate that. While this kind of knowledge is public, Yuuzhan Vong tactics are not. Unfortunately I have not been able to find out much data in this regard other then that normal weapons usage will only result in that of our troops dieing in the event of an encounter."

"I do have reports that they possess both capital class and starfighter class ships of varying sizes, and as we know their armor is highly effective on their ground troops and from reports is lightsaber resistant. Also in the rumor mill in that regard is that the Force mind tricks won't work, and that using the Force to anticipate attacks only yields minimal results, though these reports are of course unconfirmed at this date. The clans' intel officers hardly go out of their way to speak with Jedi, even the ones that don't know they are working for us."

After moments of silence, Jagan spoke "So what is the potential threat we might face?"
"None," Aabsdu interrupted suddenly, causing Fier to quiet quickly, "The Dark Council is full aware of the threat these freaks are bring to the New Republic, but we... I am confident that we are not in danger."

"We are closer to Coruscant then the rest of the Brotherhood, Consul," Quaestor BubbaX said sternly.

"All the same, we have more important matters to worry about. We are in a war right now, and I want our clan to come out on top. Afterwards we have an awards ceremony. Then, only then, will we worry about these creatures."

"That ceremony would be a good time for them to attack," Royal said.

"Not all of our forces will be in Antei. A few smaller squadrons will stay behind, as well as a few of our members. Just let me get this straight, right now..."

Aabs paused a moment before continuing:

"There... is... no... threat."

~~~~~

Present Day
Miid Ro'ik Warship Merciless
Three light-minutes from Jusadih System

Commander Gravenor Phin situated himself as he prepared to lead the attack against the supposedly called "Jusadih System". He has been tasked with the job of taking the small task force of one Miid Ro'ik warship, one A-vek Iiluunu, and two Sh'rip Sh'pa. After all, his main goal on this mission was to conquer the system's planets and terraform them for Yuuzhan Vong liking.

The system was so close to Coruscant, and yet so weak, that Surepem Overlord Shimrra Jamaane had put little thought into its fate. This would be a simple victory for Gravenor, which meant easily earned praise, and quite possibly a promotion.

[Commander Phin], a warrior said to him, [We will be entering real space shortly, right above the second planet from the sun].

Gravenor smiled widely, showing it sharp, pointed teeth. The Merciless's yammosk would coordinate the attack, with him simply telling them what to do. It would be a quick and easy campaign.

[We'll start at the second planet], he told the warriors, [And work our way backwards. Then, we'll move in for the final strike].

His plan made him laugh at himself inside, since it was so ingenious. Pick off the smaller planets one by one, but leave the capital planet until last. By the time they got around to it, whatever life forms were living there would be so terrorized they would probably flee. Which just meant easy pickings for Phin and his fleet.

[Exiting darkspace now, Commander]...

~~~~~

In one of many communication rooms in Diadem Fortress, home of House Exar Kun, a non-force sensitive technician called across the room to Sith Warrior Dismal Visutor. He had agreed to stay to watch over Diadem while most of the house was away in the Antei System for the ceremonies. In fact, almost all of House Exar Kun, save for the younger journeymen and a few others, were off planet, which was a rare occurrence, and potentially dangerous.

"Master Visutor, there appears to be an enemy force jumping out of hyperspace around the planet."

Dismal looked at the screen in surprise as a huge force launched their attack on the planet. This was the absolute last thing he could have wanted to happen. "Who are they?"

"We're not sure, sir," the technician replied after punching in some information into the computer, "But it would appear they are laying siege to the planet. Reports are coming in that Koni has been leveled to the ground, and the other cities are under attack as we speak."

"What about Ash Citadel?"

"Under attack."

"Diadem?"

"It's…"

The entire room shook as a massive BOOM moved through the room, and then back out again. Alarms blared almost immediately, and suddenly the quietness that had existed a few minutes earlier was replaced as everyone prepared to defend their home.

"Report," Dismal yelled to the technician.

"Around two hundred fighters and are pouring down upon Diadem from Sector be-eight-nine. Unidentified origin, but they appear to be… um…"

The technician grew silent a moment as he appeared to argue with the person transmitting the information to him.

"Well, sir, it appears the ships are of an organic type."

Dismal questioned this to himself, but said nothing aloud. Never had he heard of an enemy such as this, not to mention it seemed they were chewing through Aerun with ease. One thing was for sure, though:

Dismal has a bad feeling about this.

~~~~~

"Evasive action!" Consul and Sith Battlelord Aabsdu di Plagia Dupar screamed across the command bridge of the Vengeance as the alien invaders tore through the defensive line set up by the clans of the Brotherhood and started to attack Plagueis' vessels, which had been set up as rear guard.

Almost the entire Plagueis fleet was in the Shroud for the ceremonies, with only a few small vessels still in Jusadih. That was turning out to be a mistake, however, as his watched his fleet ripped apart. Thus far, he had only lost around half of their various starfighters, primarily their TIE fighters, but the main vessels were sustaining heavy fire.

Their alliance with Clan Scholae Palatinae and their friendly relations with Clan Tarentum would be useless here when the clans were on their own trying to survive this ambush by these alien creatures. Aabsdu assumed these were the alien threat known as the Yuuzhan Vong, and he hated himself when he realized that their organic ships proved his theory. He had been wrong, and now he would have to face that fact.

He watched as the Victorian was ripped apart and then exploded in a ball of flame. There would be no survivors, not to mention the Atrum Pars was not without escort. Initial reports suggested practically all of their TIE Fighters had been destroyed, along with all of their Kimogila and Dunelizard fighters, and they had only been battling for a few minutes.

"Master Dupar," one of the crewmembers called to him, "Reports are coming in from the Jusadih System. It is under attack by what appears to be the same creatures currently attacking us."

Inside Aabs' mind, he was shocked, frustrated, and above all else pissed. "Which planets," he asked calmly, although he was anything but.

"It seems only Aerun right now, sir, but the planet is in a bad state. Almost all of the major cities have been leveled, and reports suggest Diadem is also under attack."

Aabs screamed inside his head, but kept his cool on the outside, "Very well. Once the fleet forms back up, I want a task force to return to Jusadih and make sure our other planets do not suffer the same fate."

Of course, that was if they ever managed to survive this mess.

Arturius

15-07-2007 15:00:52

Guardian Aalos Fier slammed down the passageway and through the bridge doors. His anger was palpable as he slid into the intelligence station. He began examining the reports immediately. He turned and looked at his Master the same time his Master was looking at him. A Gunnery coordinator called out to them "Sir! Our fire is proving ineffective. It's just...bending."

Aabsdu Dupar looked straight at Fier "You know these creatures better than anyone on this bridge. Recommendations."

Aalos Fier growled "I already GAVE those to you. You told me there was no threat."

Aabsdu did not show emotion when he spoke "I was wrong, I have to live with that. We need something to counter our enemies and we need it soon."

Aabsdu turned away as he spoke, coordinating the fleet.

Aalos Fier sat pouring over everything he knew, and watching the tactical reports coming in, he sighed inwardly. The shots were pouring out but they were proving ineffective. A few shots were getting through. Aalos Fier started watching these. He noted how they seemed to be in places of higher concentrations of fire.

"Master! Coordinate fire onto matching vectors to overwhelm their shields. It's not the improvements I had suggested but it should be enough to begin damaging the enemy. It's not gonna be much but it might slow them down a little!"

Aabsdu wasted no time, almost all their fighters were gone. He began coordinating fire and saw they WERE getting through in some places, but the damage was limited. He sighed inwardly, they might be damaging the enemy but they were taking far more damage in turn. They needed something else....

Dismal

15-07-2007 16:38:26

The Sith Warrior’s face began to turn slowly pale. These so called “organic” starfighters were tearing through Aerun with ease, leaving a vast majority of the planet in shambles. A dreading sensation told the Equite that the rest of the planet, including the Diadem Fortress, perceived to be invincible by House Exar Kun.

“Have we made contact with Consul Dupar or Proconsul Daragon?” asked Dismal, mind racing fast, contemplating on any possible way that that these invaders could be beaten off.

“Yes sir. They say they will send a task force in due time,” responded a technician.

In due time?!” exclaimed the Kunian. “We need a task force now.”

“It appears they are under attack as well. Consul Dupar says to hold them off for as long as possible.”

Another loud explosion could be heard as the large chamber started to shake, bits of gravel and a billowing cloud of dust fell from the walls.

“Sir, we’ve lost all of the laser towers,” said a technician from the far end of the room.

“I don’t think as long as possible is much longer…” grumbled the Sith Commander, looking around the room at all the tactical screens.

“We have a distress signal from Nyo, milord,” said a female technician. The Sith quickly strode over to the lady. “Wish for me to replay the hologram?”

“Yes, quickly,” said Dismal very impatiently.

“It’s broken up, but here you go Master Visutor.”

“Hou…ar…Kun…lease…hel….invad….Nyo….destroy,” the light voice of an Aerunian official said, the hologram flashing, eventually retreating back into the projector.

“We have our own battle to deal with, disregard it. Keep attempting to annihilate the hostile craft,” the Equite said.

“Sir, the library is under heavy fire,” said another Kunian staff member.

“Pay no heed, books can be replaced, the vehicles cannot.”

“Someone try to reach Consul Kunar of Scholae Palatinae, send a request for aide,” commanded Dismal once more.

“On it!”

Warrior Dismal Visutor wondered if he, or anyone else in Diadem Fortress would survive this deadly offensive assault. The structure was under heavy fire and the built-in defenses of the Fortress were limited, especially now that these foreign invaders had destroyed almost all of the laser turrets. His goal was simple: above all else, fight for his house, destroy these intruders.

Kal

15-07-2007 19:32:06

The TIE skidded into the hangar of the Vengeance, the smoke and flames from the ship clouding the room. Kal just managed to saber the glass out of the cockpit, jump out, and roll aside before it exploded. Standing, he absently brushed off his flight suit. His cloak had been in the fighter. Angrily, he ran through the halls to the command bridge. Kaliidrad was one of the most skilled pilots in Plagueis. That was probably why he was still alive. The fighters, the Vong, he assumed, had shown more skill than he'd ever seen. He'd got maybe one laser into a fighter, and that had seemed to bend away, doing nothing. It was a battle few could win.

As he reached the bridge, he ran quickly to Consul Aabsdu, using a brief Force push to knock away the officer that tried to delay him. When he stopped, he nearly shouted at his Consul. Authority be damned, he thought, this is war.

"Aabsdu," he said angrily, "Why the hell haven't we jumped away yet?"

The consul fixed him with a calm gaze. "We can't."

Vorrac's eyes nearly popped out of his head as he said "What the hell do you mean? We should be getting back to Jusidah by now, regardless of orders!"

"We would be," the Consul said coldly, "If not for the fact that we really, physically, can't. Orders would not hold me right now. Something's stopping us."

Kal had known the answer before he asked the question. He hadn't wanted to accept it, but when he saw a ship like the Dark Prophet destroyed like that, it was hard to deny. He had seen it, as had nearly everyone else. The Prophet had been a big ship, and when ships that big exploded, it was hard to miss.

"What, then, are we going to do? The ships are all moving." Kal was not willing to accept that the Brotherhood would just give up.

"Grand Master Sarin has ordered all ships into the Shroud. It's our only hope." Aabsdu kept his calm look, but from the look of his eyes, he was filled with fear.

Kal felt a similar sensation, a deep sickness. He wanted to run, and hide. He wanted to vomit. However, Kaliidrad Mortashka Vorrac was not one to run and hide, and had a stronger stomach than that.

He was about to turn when Aabsdu said "Kal... Jusadih is under attack. They're hitting Aerun, and winning. Diadem is falling." The Consul saw the flicker of fear, understood why it was there. That was why he had told him.

Kal went pale with the news, but his resolve became stronger. He ran from the bridge, looking for a turret, looking for a fighter, for something to do. He had to fight the enemy. He had to fill his mind with battle, to leave no room for fear. But you are afraid, he heard within himself, You're always afraid, and you always will be.

"Shut up," Kal said to himself, knowing full well who the voice was.

His "change" had been getting worse, and now, it even spoke to him. He would need to conguer it soon, or else it would destroy him. Along with the Vong attack, and the fact that the Clans would soon start shooting each other, this meant his chances for life were slim. However, he did not fear death as he ran through the corridors, trying to distract himself. What he feared was evident from his next thought.

Please, he begged to no one in particular, Let her be safe.

Scorpius

15-07-2007 21:19:17

"Get down!"

Through the Force a group of five journeymen were thrust to the ground just before part of the wall collapsed beside them as another blast rocked Diadem Fortress. A man in black and purple robes strode towards them, silver eyes narrowed into a menacing glare. Apart from the glare, his rather stoic expression hid the fear and fury that Krath Archpriest Scorpius was really feeling.

"Stupid children. Get below ground," hissed the Archpriest as the apprentices scrambled to their feet and made their way to a lift.

Another blast rocked the fortress as Scorpius made his way towards the communications room that Dismal was in. The Archpriest was one of the highest-level Dark Jedi still remaining on Aerun, having recently resigned from the position of Proconsul to both focus more on diplomacy with the Aerunians and attempting to figure out the cause of a growing inbalance in felt in the Force. Unfortunately, it would seem that the cause was now on the doorstep of Aerun.

Scorpius stepped towards the door to the communications room when he was stopped by a protector standing guard. The young Obelisk yelled out towards Scorpius over the sirens and alarms ringing throughout the Fortress. "Only authorized personell allowed in, sir!"

The Archpriest did not even bother saying anything, flinging the protector into a wall before stepping through the doors into the communications chamber. "Dismal," said Scorpius, stepping towards his former apprentice as he glanced about the room at the chaos surrounding the fortress that the Archpriest had played a large hand in creating. "I have just received word that the Chancellor of the Aerunian Senate and most of the Aerunian military leaders were killed when the aliens destroyed the castle holding them... The government of Aerun has been wiped out, and they will be of no assistance to us."

The Battle Team leader gave a dismal nod, looking from his former master to a screen showing the great library of House Exar Kun beginning to collapse. "Our back-up will not arrive in time, sir," said the Warrior. "Our defenses are failing us."

Scorpius turned and looked at a screen, showing several of the invading craft wipe out a few fighters manned by journeymen. "Vong," he hissed. "We.... we may need to retreat, commander."

Dismal turned and looked at his master, only barely masking his surprise. Scorpius had been the primary architect of Diadem Fortress when House Exar Kun moved onto Aerun. He had spent years working on its defenses and fending it off from invasions like that which happened during the last Great Jedi War. Scorpius would never abandon the fortress unless it was absolutely necessary.

"If you need me to, I shall take the Scorpion and attempt to destroy as many of these scum as I can," said the Archpriest.

Dismal let out a sigh. "I'm sorry to tell you, master... But the Scorpion was destroyed several minutes ago when a section of the hangar bay collapsed."

Scorpius stood tall, masking his feelings as he was told of this news. His ship was a StarViper Assault Cruiser... an extremely rare, and even more extremely expensive, attack craft. It was the only possession that the Archpriest prized as much as his lightsaber. Now it lay destroyed in a pile of ash and rubble as more blasts shook the mighty fortress-- the bastion of strength and defense for all of Clan Plagueis.

"May the Force help us," murmured Scorpius as he watched the tallest tower of the Ash Citadel collapse on a viewscreen, countless treasures of lore and history being destroyed with its collapse. "Dismal, what will you have me do?"

BubbaX

15-07-2007 21:36:32

Battlemaster Dacien Victae stood silently in a corner of the Strike Cruiser's bridge, surveying the carnage of battle. He was a stranger to neither fleet actions nor desperate situations, but still a chill ran down his spine and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on edge. In his years as an imperial officer, he had never felt such overwhelming uncertainty - in fact, for once in his life, he found himself contemplating the hereafter. Was there an afterlife? Would he continue to exist in some form? Did the so-called masters really understand the cold, unflinching eternity that would soon envelop them? No, nothing was certain - nothing, that is, except the necessity of getting out of this fight, regrouping, and then crushing the force-forsaken invaders. Nothing more, nothing less. Making a quick assessment of the situation, Dacien decided that he would be better put to use somewhere else. The Vengeance had a competent crew and Aabsdu was, thankfully, a capable commander. It didn't take long for Dacien to pinpoint the ailing Vibre-class Assault Cruiser Ambition as the most useful place for his particular skill set.

"Kal, glad you're not dead. Follow me." Dacien suddenly said, stepping up behind his newly-arrived Aedile.

Somewhat taken aback by the sudden appearance of his master (the shock of battle and the palpable fear on the bridge had distracted him from Dacien's presence), Kal quickly pivoted to face the battlemaster. With a look of mild annoyance on his face, Kal responded with a curt nod and an "affirmative" grunt.

Dacien checked Aabsdu's face for any sign of objection, saw none, and offered a fast, sharp salute - the first in years - to his Consul before racing out of the room at top speed, Kal right on his heels.

The two Dark Jedi hurled themselves through the doors to the hangar, spotted two TIE Defenders in for rearming and commandeered them under their authority as house summit members. Interestingly, neither of the Defenders' pilots objected to having their fighters stolen - let someone else do the dieing for a change, they figured.

Dacien performed a fleeting check of his fighter's systems, powered up the ion engines, and rocketed out into the freezing vacuum of space. He aimed his craft at the shortest route to the Ambition - straight through the thickest dogfighting. Common sense told him not to risk it, that there was a safer way he should take to the VAC, but his too-long-dormant fighter jock senses told him to risk it all. The adrenaline rush was too good to pass up. Kal obviously felt similarly, as he had punched his fighter toward the nearest enemy... probably a bad idea, considering what was happening all around them, but Dacien didn't feel like arguing - he wanted blood.

"Kal, enemy fighter on your six - I've got him," commed Dacien calmly and with a hint of darkness in his voice, "We'll take these and then break through to the VAC."

"Yes, master," replied Kal as he let loose a volley of emerald fire, "I'll try to leave you something to kill... what the--" Kal's bolts had simply vanished, and the enemy fighter he'd targeted turned to face him.

"What, did you miss? Use the force, Kal, don't waste time out here."

"I did use the force, Master. These things somehow bend our shots away from their hulls. It's almost impossible to hit one. Besides, that, it's a huge blank spot in the force? Can you feel these fighters? I've got nothing."

Dacien reached out with the force, searching for the enemy fighters, but felt only... abyss. It was the first time since his adolescence that he could not feel something in the force, and it shook him to the core. These... Vong... they're invincible? That's just not possible. There must be some way to get around their defenses. He lined up the Vong ship tailing Kal and flipped over to missiles. Suddenly a sharp jolt rocked Dacien's TIE Defender, knocking it off course and dealing significant damage to the shields. Dacien's finger slipped on the trigger, sending two concussion missiles shooting off ahead of him - well off target.

Taking a brief moment to gather his senses, Dacien ran over his current situation in his mind: If that had been a Vong weapon, I'd be dead... one of our own fighters must have hit me. I'll deal with that later. Where'd Kal get to... too many stupid holes in the force out here. A a shouted curse over his comm snapped him back to the fight in time to see his two misfired missiles connect with a Clan Taldryan TIE, detonating it and its payload in a brilliant flash - just as a Vong fighter ripped past. Dacien stared at the cloud of smoke where the Taly TIE and Vong fighter had been, expecting to see the Vong ship come tearing out of the smoke at any moment... but it didn't.

"Master, I think you just killed one," crackled Kal's voice over the comm.

"It's about damn time," replied Dacien, a twisted grin on his face, "I haven't blown up a fighter in years."

"It's my turn, cover me."

"Negative, Kal, we need to get to the VAC - it's in trouble."

Kal knew his master was right, but the urge to spill blood was strong. It took all of his will to turn and follow Dacien into the hangar.

Kal

16-07-2007 00:38:16

Flying into the hangar, Kal was glad to key in the landing sequence. It meant he didn't have to cut his way out of this one. Poor little Sith, did you need your Master to hold your hand this time? The voice came unbidden, but chilled Kal to the core.

"I thought I told you to shut up." He said icily, as if someone else could actually hear.

He ignored the cackling in his head as he climbed out of the ship, keeping on Dacien's heels. He ignored the startled glances from the many crew members, and the questions and comments they were asked. Two mean-looking men with lightsabers did not enter a ship unbidden, especially when most of them recognized Dacien, and some remembered Kal as a student of his. Making their way quickly to the bridge, Dacien didn't miss a stride in throwing the security guard aside with the Force. As they entered the room, the man behind the door was about three seconds from the same when Kal delivered a nose-crushing headbutt, partly to dispose of extra aggression. At Dacien's raised eyebrow, the Knight merely shrugged. Stepping forth onto the bridge, the Battlemaster quickly did what he'd come to do.

"I'm taking command of this vessel," he said calmly, "step aside."

The captain hesitated only once before seeing the look in Kal's eyes, and the fact that the Knight had his hand on his saber. Vorrac was but a Knight, not nearly as dangerous as Dacien. However, Kal had always had a talent at looking much deadlier than he actually was. The man soon stepped aside, walking much faster than he had to. Dacien was soon barking orders, and Kal was soon leaving the bridge, looking for something to do. He had just left it, the door sliding shut behind him, when it all happened.

You can't save her, the other said in his head, if you're stuck on this ship.

"Do you ever shut up?" Kal said, not caring who heard.

Why should I? You'll soon be mine, anyway it cackled to him.

"You know I'm not strong enough for that." Kal said, more a threat than a statement.

Do you think me a fool? The voice said again, Your skills must grow, but you are young, at least in body, and I am patient.

"Just leave me alone," the Knight said, anger rising.

Give it time, you will see. I may not feel this enemy, but I can tell that they are deadly. You will want my help, before it is over. The voice finally seemed to fade, but Kal knew better. It was still there, as it always was.

Kal strode off, finding a turret room. So many thoughts raced through his head, all at once, in a jumble. Where was Bri? What of the kids? Had the Vong found Ty and Teri, or worse, little Marcus? Taking a seat at the turret, he was soon lining up the strange enemy fighters in his sights and firing, feeling but a glimmer of satisfaction when one actually died. He was thankful of his back facing the door, for once. No one could see the transformation of his enraged eyes, from green to molten yellow. The other was very close to control, indeed.

Vessicant

16-07-2007 04:37:11

Chahir Vorrik settled into his seat, eyes half-closing at the delightful wave of discomfort courtesy of the cognition hood’s barbed legs swinging into place around his neck. This was likely the only pain he would be granted in this battle, so he tried to savour what little there was. The sensation ended far too soon, with the creature squirming to conform to his head within seconds. Now the familiar presence of the coralskipper itself touched his mind, followed quickly by the guiding tentacle of a yammosk. Behind him the ingress tube swelled shut like a monstrous esophagus and detached from his ship, but he paid no attention to such trivialities, instead focusing on the scene ahead. He launched soon afterward, turning his eyes toward his wingmen as they drove toward the heart of the frantic enemy. This would be the final day this particular pack of infidels would draw breath; the Gods would be pleased.

So it had been for nearly half an hour since he’d left the Flaming Wound, four kills to his personal credit, and only a minor blow passing through his defenses. Nothing that the Yaret-Kor couldn’t heal upon being properly fed and rested. That would have to wait, however; his only real concern so far had been withdrawing once to give the hungry cannon enough stellar debris to continue the fight. These Jeedai, and there was no question that was what they were despite their apparent ignorance of the tactics used by the others, were clearly getting the worst of it, but they were tenacious, and the Children of Yun-Yuuzhan weren’t without their losses. That only served to increase his desire for self-sacrifice. A twinge of respect struggled through the sea of righteous anger for the one now in his sights; the one who had robbed him of a wingman and Domain brother. He bared his teeth, insomuch as a being without lips can further convey, willing his craft to unleash another volley.

The Defender rolled around the superheated stream of rock, its pilot coming ever nearer to the end of the flight manual as far as tricks were concerned. It certainly helped that his wingmen had abandoned him. Normally, he’d hope they were dead, actually he’d do more than sit around hoping; however, the present tactical situation made him rethink that. Let them be immortal.

He wasn’t fairing half as well as his Vong counterpart, though he was damned grateful for killing one and scratching the shells of a few others. He only had an inkling of how he’d managed any of it since the rational part of his brain had been somewhat supplanted by more primal things. Things like running, and shooting blindly, and lots of it. The Warlord wasn’t accustomed to shrinking from a fight, nearly a decade of vicious training had rewired his brain against it, but there was something incredibly unnatural about these Vong. It was hardly captured in what military briefings his political clout afforded, or the galactic media at large could provide. It took having all your Force probes, quad laser blasts, ion cannons, and even missiles melt into nothingness or be redirected into the void to really appreciate the seriousness of the situation. That and having lava shot at you. At least he’d been told to reset his sensors for biomatter in time. Being able to see the enemy was a definite plus.

The pursuit led the three craft under the nose of a reassuringly metallic warship. Normally he wouldn’t stray this close to an Arconan, but its guns were looking very appealing, provided that they managed to miss him, of course. A pair of turbolasers opened up as expected, blanketing the area with emerald death. Somehow through all the desperate jinking and unrepeatable language two ships emerged. Below, an exhausted dovin basal shuddered in its death throes, a chunk of oceanic scenery careening helplessly through space for a half-second longer. The shield held, though several bruised and uprooted men could argue otherwise.

Vessicant growled as he found the leader still on his tail. He hadn’t been counting on even one being destroyed, but he’d wagered on at least gaining a reprieve. He banked right, then reversed direction hard while cutting the throttle, smiling as he watched the skip slide past him. He pushed the foot pedals to the floor as one, jerking back in his seat even as he twisted the hand yoke into position. A hail of incessant fire marked his hard-fought second time on this guy’s six, and he intended it to come to something; he wasn’t likely to get another chance, and there were a lot more to deal with.

Arturius

16-07-2007 08:40:37

Aalos Fier nearly fell out of his chair as the ship rocked from yet another enemy impact. He turned and stared out across the crewpit as a technician called out “We just lost another Turbolaser sir!”

Aabsdu was still standing fairly calmly and issueing orders as fast as he could think of them. The Vong countered nearly everything he tried to do before he tried to do it.

“Consul! A ship has attached to our hull, it’s larger then the starfighters.” Spoke a technician in the corner.

Fier stood as Aabsdu turned to him “What do you think?”

“Probably a boarding party Master, I can assemble Exar’s Shadow and attempt to repel the boarders. Dismal is on Aerun right now so I believe that leaves me in command.”

Consul Aabsdu diPlagia Dupar nodded. “I’d recommend collecting any available fighter along the way that you can. I’d also increase your standard weapons loadout for those of you without a saber. If they are half as deadly on the ground as they are flying you will want all the help you can get.”

Fier thought a moment, pushing down the initial reaction to claim he could handle it and nodded “Indeed, that might be a very wise decision”.

Aabsdu stared at his apprentice as he walked out the doors. He was learning and learning fast.


Sichoa Qet strode along, his command cloak falling around his shoulders.

[Be prepared for the infidels! They are unclean and it will bring you no honor to die by their hand!] he shouted to his warriors. They had just boarded one of the ships in a bid to take additional captives. He had five other warriors with him. They were all armed with Amphistaffs and Thud Bugs as well as Blorash Jelly.

A couple of figures suddenly appeared and began firing out at his men. He saw the warrior to the right of him hurl a thud bug and it decapitated one of the two figures at the end of the passage. The other human took one look at his friend and fled.

[We need some alive] he said angrily.

[We need the Jeedai alive, he did not fit the bill] spoke the warrior.


“This is Shadow Two, all Exar’s Shadow team members report, join me in the primary armory near the bridge. Prepare to repel boarders!”

Aalos had gathered nearly 20 security personel and other volunteers, many of them survivors from turbolasers or other jobs that no longer needed them from destruction or some other cause. He had taken enough time to don his armor, which was gray with black stripes to match Exar’s Shadow team armor, since it was the same basic design of their own. He loathed the new paint job on the armor but he was going to be glad for it’s protection. He had with him his Force Pike that he got to carry as a Flight Leader, his standard team issued weapons, and naturally, his DC-17 with full attachements.

He had the normal attachement on for now, but he expected to have to change when the fighting started. He hoped it was not near anything vital, he had a feeling there was going to be a lot of damage…

Anochiir

16-07-2007 08:46:54

The Archpriest looked around his meditation chamber aboard Hells Iris. It wasn't his own, but it would suffice. Settling in, he closed his eye and began his meditation. Shortly after beginning, he was brought back from his inner peacefulness by a harsh voice coming from the next room.

"Archpriest Anochiir..."

Opening his single cobalt eye, a very flat look was turned upon the intrusion. He had forgone the awards ceremony to avoid people; now they came and found him. Walking out of the chamber and into the quarters he was occupying, he looked at several holograms on the desk.

"Anochiir, are you there?" the Consul was looking fairly haggard as he spoke.

"I'm here, Aabs," Anochiir replied. "You realize you intruded upon my solitude."

Aabsdu's face turned almost as flat as his own, "Your precious solitude can be put on hold. You are to report to Diadem Fortress and aid them against the Vong."

"The Vong? They're in MY system?" Anochiir almost screamed.

The hologram shook his head, "Take Hells Iris and rescue as many of our Journeymen and members as you can. After you have retrieved our members from there, you will take them to safety to regroup. You will continue to assist Dismal in a counter attack later on against the Vong."

Anochiir nodded, "I'll be there shortly. Will you also be coming with reinforcements?"

Aabsdu shook his head, "We are caught here by something. Jumping is useless as current time."

"I see. Looks like I'm the cavalry."

"Be safe, Anochiir. Don't get yourself killed," Aabsdu said softly, unsure if the Archpriest even still heard him as the connection disengaged.

========

Hells Iris Bridge
Orbiting Kapsina

Storming onto the bride, Anochiir began barking orders, "All hands to your posts! Anyone not there will be executed immediately. We are heading for Aerun which has been attacked by the Yuuzhan Vong. This enemy is like none we have faced before. I will be here to assist where I can, but we are not here to fight yet. We are going to the aid of House Exar Kun. We depart immediately. Coordinate a jump to take us as close to Diadem as possible without breaking atmo."

The bridge exploded into movement as the crew rushed to their positions. Opening a comm to Diadem he spoke quickly, "Dismal are you still alive?"

A frazzled Dismal came to live before him, "Anochiir? I thought you were onboard Malice..."

Anochiir shook his head, "I'm coming to Aerun to rescue you guys and regroup. We will be there as soon as we can. Get into the lower levels and barricade the doors. I will come in through an alternate route."

Dismal shook his head, "It's too late, Anochiir. Diadem has fallen. We are scrambling to get out with the few people we have left. The Aerunian government has fallen and they are of no use to us."

Anochiir slammed his fist on the desk, "Damn it all, Dismal! Just survive, I'll be there soon."

Taura

16-07-2007 12:24:14

PRT Tau'ra was on her way to find her master SBL Aabsdu when she heard the call from Aalos Fier that the Vong have boarded the ship. The young Twi'lek had just left her damaged TIE in the hanger from an unsuccesful mission to hold off the Yuuzhan Vong, who's ships could not be penetrated by her fire. As she was doing an evasive manuever to avoid being hit from enemy fire from one ship another Vong ship fired on her TIE. Tau'ra, with the aid of the force, swerved again but only to hit another, friendly, fighter she could not see causing minimal damage but enogh to end the mission.


Focusing her mind back on the immediate situation she sped up her pace in order to find a higher ranking Dark Jedi before the Vong found her. Just then a sense of dread came over her and her Lekku began twitching as an appending doom was approaching. Adrenaline began to flow into her veins and the Protector began to feel fearful, but enraged and then she saw it.

As several technicians were coming up on her. they were very pale and stricken with fear, she saw a shadow coming around the corner and then her first glimpse of the Yuuzhan Vong. A grotesque mutilated figure clad in Vonduun Crab Armor terrified Tau'ra who drew out her blaster ready for a fight.

I am not going to let these things take this ship she thought, knowing all to well that one journeyman could not possibly stop this creature. At least she can try and hold it off till Aalos Fier and his fighters came.

The Yuuzhan Vong saw the Protector and knew he must keep some Jeedai alive, so his intention was to take her captive. Her intention was to fight, flee or die, but never get captured. She once was a slave and never wanted to be a captive and be tortured ever again.

Tau'ra, filled with a darkness and engulfed in rage, she repeatedly fired her blaster at the oncoming enemy. The blaster had no effect as the Crab armor repelled every blast. She fired again and again, and the Vong kept coming. Tau'ra had only a blaster and dagger on her and knew she had to get more weapons, seek out stronger Dark Jedi, and her master.

Knowing her limited powers and abilities she ran as she continued to fire on the Vong, but doing as much to get away and not to be stuck in a close combat duel with the creature. She had to evade capture.

Just as the Protector thought she was far enough from the Vong it hit her, it was a lash from the amphistaff, which the Vong had used as a whip. the pain was immense and knocked her down only to be saved by two of Aalos Fiers fighters.

Guardian Aalos Fier was on his way to battle the Yuuzhan Vong when he heard a bloodcurdling scream and sent some of his fighters to check it out, just in time to save the journeyman, and take her to safety. The Guardian was ready and could fell his darkness and adrenaline increasing, he was going to fight or die, but he will never allow these creatures to defeat his Clan or take his Consul and master captive to be tortured by their pain devices.

The assualt had begun.


PRT Tau'ra (Obelisk)/FM/Satal Keto of Plagueis [ACC: INI]

Arturius

16-07-2007 13:27:27

When they brought his Master's other apprentice forward his blood chilled, anger exploded through him. He did not know her well, but to him, she was a sister as to him Aabsdu was a Father. He walked around the corner at the same time a Yuuzhan Vong did. A Thud bug smashed into the wall near him as fighters around him opened up. He calmly reached down and grabbed his DC-17 and attached the heavy demolition charge to it. He raised the weapon and fired.

Smoke and fire exploded down the hallway as his fighting force continued pounding the enemy. More Vong appeared in their armor, and as of yet none were dead, though the first one was injured by the detonation. Then the fire escalated, one of his team pulled Taura to safety as Fier launched another attack.

WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP.

A large crewman appeared carrying a modified T-21 and was blasting away. Acrid smoke filled the passageway as thud bugs hit the walls around them. One of the bugs smashed into his side nearly splitting the armor. Then another thud bug slammed into the head of a ship's lieutenant standing next to him. Blood spurted as the limp body fell to the floor. Fier snarled as a warrior jumped forward. Fier leapt and met the mutilated figure head on. An Amphistaff struck against his reinforced armor but did not slice through. Clenching his fist the vibroblade set into his glove snapped forward and he punched with all his might. The figure stumbled backwards and then multiple blasts from the T-21 struck the figure. He spun and hit the ground but was moving again quickly.

"Running retreat, head back to the armory! We shall make a stand there!" Fier shouted. The deck was slick blood, the bulkheads splattered with it or blackened from the blaster fire. Gouges in the walls and ceiling from the thud bugs were everywhere and smoke was choking everyone present as the group began falling back. Fier was left wondering if his team would survive, and he was wondering where the other members of Exar's Shadow were....and if they were still alive. He hoped he had not failed one of his few friends and brought his Battle Team to destruction.

Dismal

16-07-2007 13:59:59

Sith Warrior Dismal Visutor opened his mouth to respond to his master, but was cut off by the chamber shaking violently, three large explosions heard in the background.

“Master Visutor, we’ve just lost the vehicle storage, training annex, and house quarters!” exclaimed a technician.

“Damn it ALL!” roared Dismal. “Master, open a link to any Aerunian cities. Send a distress signal; we need all the troops we can. Communications, send all Journeymen to man fighters.”

“We’ve just lost Ash Citadel,” said another technician.

Scorpius retreated to an empty seat, sending a very simply encrypted communication to every town that was known to be inhabited. “No response from any city, Dismal.”

“Very well, assist the staff with tactical offenses,” the Warrior said.

“We have no more defenses besides the Journeymen, sir,” said a staff member. “We’ve just lost the library and the hangar bay is all but destroyed.”

“AH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” the Equite snarled. “We have no choice but to retreat. Order the Journeymen in fighters to exit Aerun. Scorpius, we’ll have to go to the hangar bay and see if there’s a ship we can exit in that is still in one piece.”

“Incoming message from Archpriest Anochiir, onboard the Hell’s Iris” said the communications officer. The solemn one-eyed visage of the clan’s Knight Class Envoy appeared in a flickering hologram.

“Dismal, are you still alive?” the Krath said quickly.

“Anochiir? I thought you were on board the Malice….”

Shaking his head, the Archpriest spoke once more. “I’m coming to Aerun to rescue you guys and regroup. We will be there as soon as we can. Get into the lower levels and barricade the doors. I will come in through an alternate route.”

“It’s too late, Anochiir. Diadem has fallen. We’re scrambling to get out with the few people we have left. The Aerunian government has fallen and are of no use to us.”

Anochiir cursed and yelled, “Damn it all Dismal! Just survive, I’ll be there soon.”

Dismal responded with a simple phrase, then closing the comm. link. “I’ll meet you in space.”

= = = = = = = =

Diadem Hangar Bay

Fire rained down from the invader’s ships as Dismal and Scorpius examined the wreckage and rubble that was not long ago Diadem Fortress. “Search the area for any two man fighters or shuttles! We don’t have much time!” said the Warrior, running about himself.

After ten minutes, which seemed like an eternity and a half, the Battleteam Leader exclaimed. “I’ve found a Phantom!”

“Excellent,” replied the Krath, sprinting from across the hangar bay. The pair climbed into the vessel, Scorpius taking a seat at the gunner’s position, Dismal at the pilot’s chair. Within two minutes, the TIE’s cloaking device was turned on and the craft was rapidly approaching Aerun’s atmosphere.

Taura

16-07-2007 14:22:19

During the Battle that preluded Tau'ra was carried to a safe distance while the fighters helped Aalos Fier. As she heard the enduring struggle she tried to gather her strength. When the retreat was called the Protector was helped by her new comrades to the armory where she mustered the will to continue the figtht despite the pain. Not a member of Exar shadow she decided to team up with the Guardian who saved her and fight until summoned by her battle team Satal Victus. It matter's not who you fight with its that you are doing all you could to stop this incursion destined to wipe out the only family you got thought Tau'ra as she grabbed weaponry for the oncoming fight.

The Protector grabbed a vibroshiv, A280 blaster rifle, along with her S-5 blaster pistol already with her as well as the dagger she still caried. Though she wishes she had her Victus armor on hand to give some protection against those amphistaffs. The others grabbed as much armament as one can handle, along with grenades, anything to stop these creatures.

"What Now" said Tau'ra as she looked at Aalos Fier, still fighting the residual pain left over from the lashing of the amphistaff.

Seeing her like that made Fier's blood boil and remembering the slaughter that happened he began to fear the Yuuzhan Vong were unstoppable. He looked at his team and saw that they too were having their doubts, but still they knew what they must do.

"There must be a weakness in their armor", "They must be killed, we just need to find out how" said the Guardian.

The only way to find out is to go out there and face them once again.

As they left the armory to find the Yuuzhan Vong they saw the sight of there enemy tearing through any non-force sensitive with out mercy, leaving nothing but sickening horror in their wake of genocidal madness, looking for the Jeedai.

GRD Aalos Fier's team prepares to fight,with all their combined Dark powers and armament, this scurge and find that all to important weakness.

PRT Tau'ra (Obelisk)/FM/Satal Keto of Plagueis [ACC: INI]

BubbaX

16-07-2007 20:44:30

There was never any time to think in the thick of battle. Bright flashes, loud noises, general disarray - none of it was conducive to real intellectual pursuits. No matter, thought Dacien, calmly watching the chaos unfolding around him. I doubt there's any brilliant tactic I'm missing here... this might actually be one of the most straight-forward battles I've ever been in: Run or die. No tricks. I like that, it's easy. Dacien briefly let his mind slip back to his most difficult moments. In all of those cases there had been a sense of hope, of some long-shot hope. Even in the face of overwhelming numbers, Dacien realized, he had never felt truly outclassed. His enemies had been pirates, Republic Fleets, and even the remnants of his beloved-empire, but they all shared one thing in common: Dacien could understand them; he could think and reason like them. Now he found himself in an impossible situation, faced by an enemy that was completely invisible to his finely-tuned force-senses. If I can't feel them, I need to see them... the old fashioned way.

"Lieutenant," he barked, "status report."

The officer turned, quickly knelt, and offered his update without raising his eyes to meet Dacien's firey gaze. "Sir, we've lost two turbolasers and all but one of our ion canons."

"'Lost'?" inquired Dacien, "What do you mean? Can they be repaired?"

"Not without time, sir. We can't do it while we're in combat."

"Great, so we're spitting at them and they can just suck it up with those gravity-bending defenses of theirs."

Unsure of how to respond, the lieutenant decided not to risk an awkward, potentially fatal, reply.

Dacien stood silent for a moment, mulling over his options. No ions - like they'd work anyway - and only two remaining turbolaser batteries. That was no good. There had to be something else they could throw at the Vong or they'd be completely overwhelmed before they could make good on their escape into the shroud...

"Lieutenant, are the tractor beams operational?"

"I believe so, sir, yes."

Dacien couldn't help but grin.

"Tactical," shouted Dacien as he turned to face his weapons officers, "use the tractor beams to grab large debris - or better yet, non-Plagueis fighter craft - and ram them into the Vong fighters. I killed one by using a Taldryan TIE as my own weapon, so those gravity defenses must not be able to handle such a large target." There was no need to let the command crew know that his kill had been accidental.

The crew got to work immediately, targeting large pieces of debris (and a CNS TIE or two) and hurtling them toward nearby enemies. At first, the projectiles missed wide, but after a few shots the crew got the hang of aiming the tractor beams to hit specific targets. They had the element of surprise. Two Vong fighters were quickly knocked out of the fight - not destroyed, but damaged severely. Unfortunately, the Vong were faster to adapt than Dacien had anticipated.

"Sir, more enemy craft have diverted to engage us - including two larger vessels," cried a voice from somewhere on deck.

Dacien turned to a nearby display and immediately spotted the incoming threat.

"Boarders. They're going to board us," said Dacien under his breath. Then more loudly: "Prepare to be boarded! Tactical, target all fire on those two larger ships."

Dacien ordered an alert be broadcast over the ship's comm and had an urgent message sent to the Vengeance to report the incoming boarding ships. Handing command back over to the Ambition's captain, Dacien hand-selected six security personnel to accompany him to repel he boarders. As he left the bridge, he keyed his comm to Kal's frequency and informed his student to prepare for company.

Aabsdu

16-07-2007 21:31:57

Ten Minutes Earlier...
Ash Citadel
Aerun, Jusadih System


The faint words of "Intruders have entered the base, intruders have entered the base" continued to play over and over again in the background until finally the intercom was silenced. Still, however, the words replied in Security Chief Dac Zarbo's mind as he raced away from Ash Citadel, having just escaped the intruders and managed to get outside. He figured his best bet would be Diadem Fortress. Surely no enemy could penetrate its defenses, at least he hoped so.

Now a few hundred years away from the Citadel, and in the thick of Aerun's jungle, Dac turned around just in time to see the Citadel he had spent the past two years protecting explode in one large ball of flame. What was left crashed into the ground, causing a large shockwave to blast through the surrounding area, knocking Dac backwards onto the ground.

He lay there for a moment, until suddenly he heard a crack behind him, and looked up to see seven large humanoid creatures running through the forest. He surpressed a scream, and got back to his feet before turning and running. He ran in the opposite direction of the creatures behind him, and it just happened to bring him back to the now demolished Citadel. He looked on in horror at the mass amount of destruction and debris, and could swear he heard someone screaming out for help.

Then, Dac Zarbo heard something even worse behind him. A strange language, that sounded a lot like coughing and grunting. He started to turn in fear, but couldn't when a whip-like object wrapped around his neck, and all he could do was let out a faint whimper as his vision darkened.

~~~~~

Antei System
Vengeance, Command Ship of the Consul of Plagueis


"Focus all fire on the closest and smallest enemy vessel you can find," Aabsdu said to the Seargent standing next to him. His plan was to try to focus all fire on one single vessel, and small vessel, and that hopefully the amount of firepower, what was left at least, would be enough. Thus far, the Vengeance hadn't destroyed any Vong vessels, save for a few fighters. The rest of Plagueis' fleet didn't seem to be doing much better, although the Ambition appeared to have some sort of idea. Better yet, Dacien had some sort of idea.

The battle was still no more than three hours old, and already Aabs was tiring. In fact, he hadn't really moved from his spot on the bridge, looking out of the viewport, since the Vong had first appeared out in the distance. None of this came to the Consul's mind, though, for he was too focused in on the trouble that they had to get out of.

"What is the status on the boarding party," he asked.

One of the communications officers was the first to answer, "It appears only one ship boarded. Master Fier and his men are taking care of them."

Sadly, Aabs doubted that. It wasn't a lack of confidence in his apprentice, but fear in the confidence of the Vong. He turned to the Seargent, "Take control here for a moment. Just make sure we don't lose more ships." Especially ones with Dark Jedi on them, he thought to himself.

When the man saluted, Aabs turned and walked out of the bridge.

~~~~~

Miid Ro'ik Warship Merciless
In Orbit Around Aerun

[Commander Phin, reports indicate that only one cities continues to stand, and it will fall soon.]

[And the Jeedai],] Commander Gravenor Phin asked.

[All encountered have been slain], the slave responded.

[Send a task force to sweep the area for any survivors. I want them alive.]

[Yes, Commander. We also believe that a lone ship is exiting the atmosphere on the distant side of the planet. How would you like to proceed?]

[Send a squad of coalskippers to check it out.]

The Chazrach confirmed his order, but Gravenor heard nothing save for one thing:

[center]VICTORY[/center]

Scorpius

17-07-2007 11:57:06

A.R.M. Secret Base
Somewhere in the Decarian Jungle....


"Incoming!"
"No response from Koni City!"
"Libram Khaan is gone, sir!"
"Watch it! They're destroying out hanger!"
"Communications with Maricuul completely gone."

X'lor Salamon stood in the makeshift command center for the Aerunian Resistance Movement, and organization founded shortly after the Dark Jedi arrived on Aerun. With the assistance of Dark Jedi from rival clans of Plagueis, the Aerunian rebels had managed to launch an attack on Diadem Fortress during the last Great Jedi War, nearly assassinating the quaestor at that time, Scorpius. Unfortunately, the Kunians managed to defeat the invaders and capture their leader, Tib Aaron, who was subsequently executed by Scorpius in a very public manner.

After Tib's execution, X'lor Salamon rose to lead the ARM of Aerun. He had been quite successful with increasing the resistance's power on the planet, countering advances made by House Exar Kun at all turns. But now he faced an enemy even more terrifying and foreign than these Dark Jedi. An enemy that was, apparently, wiping out the millions of Aerunians on the planet without a second thought.

"Lieutenant, send a message to the Dark Jedi.... requesting their aid," Salamon struggled to say as these alien ships destroyed his entire movement.

"Aye, sir!"

A link was sent to the Kunian ambassador to the Aerunian Senate, the Archpriest Scorpius. An image of the Dark Jedi, looking quite displeased as he got into a ship, scowled up at X'lor Salamon.

"You scum. How -are y-- conta-- me!"

"We are facing a mutual enemy here, Jedi. They are completely wiping us our here. We need your help," pleaded X'lor.

The flickering blue image of the Dark Jedi stared up for a moment, as of thinking, before smirking cruelly. "You peop-e kill-- mem-ers of House E--- Kun, assaulted our -0me, and nearly ass--sina-d me," hissed the Dark Jedi. "I relish in --- fact --at you will suffe- a --rrible death. Goo--ye, X'lor Salamon."

The image flickered off and another explosion rocked the base. X'lor Salamon looked floored as he slowly walked through the room towards a balcony, the walls around him beginning to crumble. As he approached the door to the balcony, a large ugly figured blocked out the sun. Salamon looked up, too scared to scream, as a large hand came towards his head. Salamon felt the creature begin to squeeze his head slowly at first. Then the other Aerunians in the room heard a quick squeal followed by a large crunch, turning in time to see their leader's lifeless body slump to the ground.

Within five minutes of X'lor Salamon's death, the Aerunian Resistance Movement was just a memory.


----------------------------------------------------------

"You know, we probably could have used their help," said Dismal as he piloted the cloaked TIE Phantom into the sky.

Scorpius, sitting in the gunner's seat, scowled as he put his communicator away. "They wouldn't last five minutes against these creatures," replied the Krath, his fingers on the gun controls should any of the Vong noticed the cloaked phantom begin to flee. He gazed down at the fortress he had spent years of his life building and defending; a tribute to the great of House Exar Kun. Now large parts of it were ruins, and smoke seemed to be pouring out of every opening. Just before they passed through some clouds, Scorpius could see groups of Yuuzhan Vong walking towards the fortress, several of them executing the journeymen he had yelled at earlier.

"Frack," cursed Dismal, causing the Krath to look over at him with an arched eyebrow. "The Vong just wiped out our HoloNet transmitter on Joran."

Scorpius sighed as they continued ascending into the atmosphere. He looked down at Aerun once more, seeing a large cloud of smoke where the Ash Citadel should be. Had Scorpius been an emotional man, he probably would have released a few tears at the fall of Aerun and the threat that Clan Plagueis and the Dark Brotherhood now faced. They, like every other organization and being in the galaxy, would suffer from these Yuuzhan Vong.

The Archpriest sighed once more as the Sith piloted them away from Aerun. The glanced around the skies, seeing scores of alien spacecraft. "Damn it all... Anochiir is not going to be able to stand up against these vermin. Tell him to meet us on the far side of Relaren," said the Prodigy of Plagueis. "Hopefully he can pick us up and we can retreat to Kapsina fast enough."

Jaden_Kyrath

17-07-2007 16:15:10

The room seemed to echo with the noisy voices of several crew men, all of them discussing the same thing with different people: The upcoming Battle with the Vong. There voices showed so many emotions, such as, courage, disgust, curiosity, and etcetera. But an even deeper emotion seemed to spread through them all, fear. All of them feared something different, like loss, destruction, and, of course, death. Though all of these emotions would be considered pathetic, it was natural for this situation; we were going against one of the most powerful threats to the galaxy, The Yuuzhan Vong. Though this emotion was all over the ship, it did not touch one person, and that was Jaden Kyrath. The Dark Jedi Knight had been absent to the rest of the crews discussions, and sat alone reflecting on the past few days. It had happened so fast it was almost hard to remember.

For those who knew Jaden, it would be odd for him to be on this ship, in fact, it would make no sense. The Sith Knight should be with his fellow crew members of Exars Shadow, but was forced to be here by a recent indiscretion. Not to long ago, the Dark Jedi Knight found himself charmed by the beauty of one lady novice, and soon found himself with her in his bed. This affair lasted for nearly a week, until he was caught in the act by Anochiir, which was soon reported to his Consul, and former master, Aabsdu. The punishment was filed quickly, and within moments, the Dark Jedi Knight was pretty much made the slave of Anochiir. He was forced to use his personal leave time in his Battle Team, and was not permitted to the ceremonies of his fellow allies, but instead, was forced to follow Anochiir.

This eventually led to the sudden message that Dismal and Scorpius were in deep trouble, and needed the aide of another battalion. So Jaden was commanded to join this group of soldiers, and to make haste about it. So now here he was, dressed in his armor with a Sith sword strapped to his back, and his lightsaber at his side. He was no more than an outsider to the others, being one of the very few force sensitive people on the Hell Iris, all of them giving him disgusted looks. Funny enough, he himself also felt somewhat disgusted being surrounded by them. They were so weak and pitiful, and he was forced be part of their crew, it was an insult. Bu the more he thought about, the more he knew that in the end, he would become stronger from it. Before Jaden could drift any further in thought, his day dreaming was ended by the alarm sounding off, battle was nearing. The Dark Jedi Knight rose from where he sat, and popped back into reality as the Hell Iris closed into where the battle to save Dismal and Scorpius would begin.

Jagan Roda

17-07-2007 17:16:32

Jagan was awoken from his deep meditation with the sirens and warning cries of the ‘Vengeance’ ringing in his head. His brow furrowed, and his shoulders slumped. He had only recently got back from a long reconnaissance mission in the outer-rims, and now, during his resting period, he was being called upon to aid the Clan again.

Hurriedly he dressed himself in his combat suit, tight fitting white armor with a black over tunic. He looked good, and took his time in looking himself over in the mirror, making sure every seam was folded, and every hair was in place. Appearance was of the utmost importance to Jagan; first impressions are lasting, and often give amazing amounts of information into a person.

Jagan was rocked suddenly as yet another missile crashed against the hull of the ‘Vengeance‘. “Damn!” cursed Jagan loudly. “If only these damn gunners would do their jobs properly and stop letting us be shot at, I could get to work”
He went back to the mirror, and dusted himself down again. He was now ready for war.

Jagan left his chamber for the bridge, and grabbed his lightsaber from the wall opposite while leaving. He would need that.

He reached the bridge just as Aabsdu was leaving. No words were said between the two, yet a knowing glance from the Consul informed Jagan of everything that he needed to know. The Vong has arrived.

Glancing back at Aabsdu, Jagan nodded towards him, wishing his luck. But thoughts of others were not held to for long, as he had things to do.
Jagan approached the bridge commander and was informed of the current status of the battle.

“And what of the ‘Vengeance‘? Are we all good? Are all systems running?” Jagan replied in a somewhat mocking tone

“Sir, a boarding party has landed on the port side, numbers of invaders are small but they appear to be forcing the defences back-”

The commander looked back at Jagan from the radar. He was gone.

Jagan rushed down the corridor, saber in hand, grabbing a dozen or so journeymen en route. He knew that Fier could not handle the Vong on his own. He could admit that the lad had confidence, sure, but no Jedi in the world could defeat a Vong without a saber, hell, even with a saber it was near impossible. So here he was again, all of his talents falling down into protecting another journeyman.

Arcadian

17-07-2007 17:58:40

Arcadian mind was wandering, not exactly the smartest thing in the middle of a Vong assualt, but that's how things went some times. The young commander of Satal Victus flew calmly through space in his Tie Fighter, still a little dazed from everthing that had happened over the last few hours. He snapped back into reality and turned on his communications device "Vexer" he said quietly
"Yes commander" came the reply
"Report" he barked "all members of Victus survived the assualt" came the reply.
"Excellent" he said "I'm heading to the Ambition to meet up with Bubba and Kal... don't die on me Vex"
"Yes Commander."

***One Hour later***

"This is Commander Arcadian, requesting permission to land on the Ambition."
The young Jedi Hunter had made it to the Vibre-Class Assualt Cruiser quite easily, which worried him, but when he finally arrived at the Ambition, he knew this would be difficult. He immediatley picked out at least 20 Vong fighters, three of which broke off and headed towards him. " I hate this job" he thought to himself. Arcadian immediatley span to the right as a small hail of plasma flew towards him, he then dived and increased his speed to it's maximum as he rushed towards the Assualt Cruiser, then the voice came over the Comlink. "Commander" shouted a voice he recognized as Kal's "are you a complete idiot" the voice got louder " CAN YOU NOT SEE WERE BEING BOARDED." "Yes sir" he replied "but you know me." "God dammit Arc" there was silence for a few moments as Arcadian continued to avoid to the Vong ships the Kal's voice returned "open the Hangar bay." "Thank you Kal" came Arc's reply "shut up" said Kal "or I'll kill you when you get here."

Arcadian continued flying like a madman, and watched with a grin as the gates to the Hangar bay opened, all thought of dodging the plasma gone, Arcadian raced towards the open doors, with about two hundred feet to go, when a shot from one of the Vong fighters destroyed his left wing, he started to fall. Doing his best to keep the Fighter under control, Arcadian covered the last two hundred feet, and crashed into the hangar bay, slamming into the floor and sliding across it until he finally came to a stop at the other side of the hangar bay. "Nice entrance" came Kal's voice over the comlink. Arcadian didn't reply, he just opened the cockpit of his Tie Fighter and jumped out. "ow" he thought to himself. The hangar bay doors were already closing.....when suddenly a Vong fighter slipped in and landed not 50 feet in front of Arcadian. The area that looked like a cockpit opened, and Arcadian drew his Sith Sword "well" he said to himself "this should be fun."

Kal

17-07-2007 18:52:36

Kal rushed through the halls of the Ambition, hoping beyond hope that he'd find someone. He'd already found about six people, two off-duty crewmen, a maintenance worker, and three Journeymen he didn't know. However, if he didn't find someone else soon, he knew for a fact none of them would live against the Vong, who'd boarded a few seconds ago. At least he'd been able to get rid of one boarding craft, with the help of every surviving turbolaser left on the ship. Whatever it was that stopped their lasers, they seemed to be less effective when the enemy craft were moving. Hopefully, he'd find someone else with an actual lightsaber. However, his hopes were soon dashed as a pair of Vong warriors came around the corner ahead of him.

"Dammit!" He shouted, then said "Well, what are you waiting for? Shoot them!"

The disorganized rabble around him soon let loose with every bit of firepower they had, a barrage of multicolored bolts flying at the Vong. However, the Vonduun Crab Armor deflected every shot that hit. If the Vong weren't moving so fast and his people knew how to aim worth anything, Kal would have told them to shoot the aliens in the head. However, a pair of thud bugs soon removed the heads of two of the Journeyman, and with a wrist movement from one of the warriors, his amphistaff hissed and spat out a jet of what could only be venom, blinding the third. The other three people with him looked as if they were going to run, but an icy look from Kal froze them in their tracks.

"You three," he said, drawing his lightsaber, "Are going to engage those Vong in close-quarters combat."

The maintenance worker looked at him, wide-eyed "Are you insane?!"

"That's what they keep telling me," Kal said with a grin. "Now go, or I'll cut your legs off and let them have some fun."

Reluctantly, the crewmen put their guns down and raised their fists, while the maintenance worker drew a non-regulation knife. The crewman would have reprimanded him, if not for the warriors, who now seemed to chuckle and ready their staves. They'd been thirsting for some hand-to-hand combat. The three men ran forward, Kal just behind them, but the crewmen were down, cut in two before they could even punch. The maintenance worker lived only by complete luck, and he jumped at a warrior, stabbing at the alien's chest. His look of horror when the blade barely went in a centimetre was soon the last look he'd ever have. However, as he died, Kal had time to stab his blade at the Vong, missing the chest and hitting the armpit.

"Sonofa- huh?" he didn't have time to finish the comment as the blade actually went in, piercing into the Vong.

His time was further cut short as he had to run to evade the alien's comrade. He didn't stop there, running at full pace until he was around the corner. His thoughts raced. Did I just kill one? he thought, amazed at himself. He'd killed a Vong because he'd missed an attack. He then turned, peeking around the corner to see the next. He was proven to be very lucky when the Nang Hul only caught his ear, and his right eye. Reeling back, Kal growled as he felt the bloody gash along the side of his head.

Poor little Sith, came the sound of the other within him, Did the little bug hurt you?

Kal just growled before standing, turning, and running as best as he could with one eye. He'd been able to kill a warrior because the alien had been busy with a maintenance worker on top of him. He had no more maintenance workers to spend, and he'd not get such an opportunity again. However, it was time to let Plagueis in on a little secret. Keying up his comlink for Dacien, he spoke quickly.

"Master," he said, "I found a weak spot in their armor. Go for the armpit."

BubbaX

18-07-2007 00:01:18

"Master," Kal said, "I found a weak spot in their armor. Go for the armpit."

Great. If only he'd told me that before I wasted those five security officers, thought Dacien as a thud bug slammed into the wall next to him. To his right lay the last of the security officers who had accompanied him from the bridge to repel these Vong invaders. The private was hiding himself behind the disfigured bodies of his comrades, using their corpses to absorb the impact of thud bugs. Every so often he would work up the nerve to look over the bodies and take a shot or two at the two Vong warriors down the hallway.

For his part, Dacien was standing just forward of the door to the hall they were fighting in. He had little trouble avoiding the the thud bugs, as he could step behind a nearby wall to avoid them if need be. He had called in reinforcements from all areas of the ship, and had been rewarded by the arrival of four Plagueis journeymen, eager to prove themselves to the battlemaster. Alright, if they wanted to die, then he would oblige them.

"You four, charge the warrior on the left; aim for the armpits," said Dacien in a disturbingly cool voice.

"Master Victae... we can't hope to take that... that thing down," whimpered one of the journeymen. A moment a weakness. It would be his last.

Dacien removed the journeyman's head with a single swift motion. As the body collapsed to the floor, Dacien grinned at the remaining journeymen and growled, "Do as I say - now - or I will kill you myself."

Without hesitation, the journeymen ran through the doorway, straight towards their designated target. Two were dead before they were within striking distance. The third managed to angle his sword at the warrior's right armpit and thrust it with his full force, only to be struck down by the warrior's amphistaff. With an otherworldly cackle, the Vong warrior lifted the dying journeymen up and began to inflict new wounds to increase the sith's agony.

So the other dead journeyman had been lucky - death was swift. It didn't matter to Dacien either way. No one would miss these men, and their lives had been worthless until now. The Vong's preoccupation with torturing the journeyman would prove to be a fatal mistake. Seeing an opening and moving with force-supplemented reflexes, Dacien reached out with the force to grab the journeyman's sword and, concentrating his full ability into the move, jabbed the weapon upward into the weak armor in the warrior's armpit. With an alien cry, the warrior crumpled on top of the writhing journeyman.

The remaining warrior flashed Dacien a grotesque facial expression - could it have been a smile? Remembering the security officer still hiding on the floor next to him, Dacien glanced down and ordered him to fall back to the bridge and inform the captain of what was happening. As the man ran out of the room, Dacien stared down the Vong warrior. Time to test these things. I hope his blood won't stain my robe...

Dacien lashed out toward the warrior, saber held in both hands. The blue saber connected loudly with the warrior's amphistaff, and the two combatants stood locked in place for a brief moment, sizing each other up. Reaching out with the force, Dacien attempted to push the warrior into the wall, only to find that his attack had no effect. Not only were these creatures invisible to him, they were also immune to his force attacks. The Vong warrior had no such trouble, shoving Dacien back several feet into a bulkhead.

Flipping to his feet, Dacien felt the cool trickle of blood run down his forhead. So this guy's tough. Time to stop playing. The warrior charged Dacien, the dark jedi barely sidestepping his opponent in time. Bringing his lightsaber to bear, Dacien sliced down, catching the warrior on his leg. The attack did nothing. Dacien twisted around behind the warrior, landing a hard kick on the Vong's lower backside, and knocking the creature off balance.

Coming in for another lightsiber strike, Dacien failed to notice that the Vong's staff had gone slack. Seemingly out of nowhere, Dacien felt a sharp pain in his leg as a whip-like object wrapped around it, dropping him to the floor and causing him to lose hold of his saber. Suddenly, Dacien felt a flurry of blows hit his body. He could feel bones crunching and tendons ripping under the relentless attack. Dacien knew he had to make a move soon or risk being too injured to put up a fight. Reaching out desperately with his right hand, the battlemaster drew his saber back to him, flicking it on immediately and slicing down, hoping to sever whatever had gripped his leg. It worked. The pain in his leg faded quickly and his opponent seemed momentarily taken aback - a weakness that Dacien would fully exploit.

Rolling over on his back and reaching out with the force, Dacien hurled his lightsaber straight up through the creature's armpit and saw it punch out through the warrior's jaw. The body collapsed on top of him. Dacien too a moment to gather his strength before sliding out from under the heavy frame. He continued to lay on the ground, assessing the damage that had been dealt to his own body.

Soon he heard the rapid movement of feet coming down the hall from the direction he had sent the security officer. Dacien stood, albeit more slowly than usual, retrieving his lightsaber from the corpse of the fallen warrior and turning to the door to face whatever was approaching. Planting himself firmly, he flicked on his lightsaber as his aedile's head popped through the doorway.

"What the..." began Kal, staring at the bodies flayed around the room, "Did you do all of this, master?"

"No, not all. I killed that journeyman, though, for sure," he said as he indicated the decapitated body.

Kal flashed his master a dark grin. He was impressed by the carnage, and by Dacien's obvious wounds.

"I thought that looked like your handy work. So there were two in here? We took down two a few floors down. Oh, Arcadian has landed in the hangar, but I hear he's has run up against an, uh, obstacle. I figured if there were no more Vong to fight up here, we might want to go down and keep him alive. Sith Commanders are so hard to come by."

Dacien agreed, and the two of them ran toward the nearest turbolift, though Dacien silently cursed each painful step.

Kaidoz

18-07-2007 04:06:52

As Kal and the others came to the bottom of the turbolift, there was static on Kal's radio. "Sir, Blademaster Markis Durotar reporting in, I heard you guys could use some help fighting the Vong and thought I would see what I could do to help."

"Perfect timing Guardian, we could use another body here." Kal chuckled as he got to Arcadian, Wow, four Vong and only three of us, not very good odds Kal thought to himself. "When can you get here Durotar?" Kal said back on the Radio.

"As soon as I'm needed sir I'm flying around in space right now, trying not to get scrapped." Durotar replied. As he was flying threw debrie trying to lose the vong fighter on his tail. As he flew over a large peice of a starfighter, he nearly got hit by the Vong's plasma cannon, another on of those and i'm screwd. Now how can i get rid of this bug, wait, how could i be so stupid, i just need to shoot him right. So Durotar flew over a chunk of an asteroid and went into a nose dive hoping the vong would persue, but strangely eonugh he seemed to not care that Durotar had dived and kept going, so to get his attention, Durotar span turned his fighter around and shot at the Vong warrior, now angry, the Vong charged at the guardian, "good girl," Durotar muttered as he flew into a dive again, then just as they got past another peice of a fighter, a turbolaser came out of nowhere and blew the Vong to bits. Now to get back to Kal Markis thought as he flew back into the debrie. "As soon as you need me i'm at your disposal sir."

"Ok, then get here now, you might not be able to take a vong for long but you can at least hold one of them off long enough for one of us to hit it from behind." Kal smirked as he dodged a thud bug. Now what to do until the guaridan arrives?" Kal thought as he was nearly hit with another thud bug.

Just then Durotar came hurdling into the hanger and landed his ship, chargeing over to his three companions, "Guardian Markis Durotar of Plagueis reporting for duty sir!" Markis said as he leaped behind cover.

Arturius

18-07-2007 15:09:28

Aalos Fier was sweating heavily and his anger was up. Bodies litered the floor around him as the fighting continues. Taura was not far away slicing with a procured sword of some sort. Aalos felt the rage, embraced it. The young Zabrak suddenly fell deep within the force and he grabbed a small piece of debris and slammed it into a Yuuzhan Vong warriors head. He charged with his force pike in hand.

The Amphistaff whipped around and met the warriors force pike head on, the two weapons locking against each other as the rest of the battle faded out for the two warriors. Then the fighting truly began. Slash met block met slash as the two passed through a doorway into a Mess Hall. The amphistaff’s razor sharp side sliced a line into the armor adorning the Zabraks body, but did not pierce it. The force pike bounced off of the Vonduun Crab armor to no effect at all.

The Yuuzhan Vong smashed into him and knocked him to the ground. An intense pain raged from his leg as the point of the amphistaff’s tail pierced his thigh under his armor plate. Aalos Fier smashed his elbow straight into the warrior’s face.

The fight had been waging for nearly a full half hour between the ship board brotherhood members and the Vong boarding party. They had managed to kill a few of the Vong but there had been three left before he drew this one away from his two companions. The fighting was intense as blasts rocked the passageways outside the room and acrid smoke choked anyone and anything trying to breathe. The Vong were cursing and shouting at the journeymen and their compatriots regularly.

Aalos spun and slammed his shoulder into the Vong and managed to climb to his feet, only to find the Vong on his already.

Sichoa Qet snarled deep in his throat. The human was faster then he expected. He wasn’t like the other Journeyman at all, this human was a warrior outside of being a Jedi. It made him more formidable. He relished the fight as his forced his Amphistaff to spit venom at the Jeedai, only to see the venom strike the armor to no effect. This fight was one worth of the Gods.

He spoke carefully in the galactic basic he had taken the time to learn from the tyzowyrm “You are a strong warrior. You will bring me much glory when I present you to my Commander, dead or alive.”

The Zabrak snarled back at the figure “The only way you could do that is if you won this fight, and that is not going to happen!”

The fight resumed. Aalos was struck across the chest and then his force pike was knocked from his hands and across the room. The fight hardly slowed as Aalos used his armor’s built in weapons, from the vibroblades in his gloves to the reinforced armored plates. Aalos was driven backwards. Finally though the Yuuzhan Vong succeeded. The amphistaff’s fangs found a gap between the armor plates and venom for a brief moment made it’s way into Aalos’s bloodstream. Aalos hit the floor dazed. The Vong picked him up by the throat and looked him straight in the eye. “You are mine now Jeedai!”.

Aalos drew on his reserves of strength and punched the figure straight in the face, then found himself flying through the air where he impacted against the wall shoulder first. Blood trickled from a gash from a strike against his helmet just above his right eye. Pain swelled through his leg as blood dripped from the injury there. His veins themselves were on fire from the venom. To add to this when he impacted with the wall his shoulder went out of place. Aalos looked defeatedly at the floor near him. The Vong strode over and reached down to grab him by the neck again as Aalos’s arm snatched out. He jerked his arm hard and the object in his hand went straight into the armpit of the warrior. Blood poured and the warrior snarled and stumbled backwards. He said something in vong and collapsed to the floor. From his armpit protruded a large butchers knife left out from the last meal when they were celebrating after the completion of the military exercises. Another warrior strode through the door.

Aalos knew he was going to die, he did not posses the energy he needed to stand let alone fight the enemy before him. The Yuuzhan Vong snarled and started to move forward when the glowing end of a lightsaber suddenly protruded from his forhead. It disappeared almost as quickly and as the Vong warrior dropped away Consul Aabsdu took his place. Sounds of the fighting had suddenly ceased outside in the passageway.
Aalos stared up at his master and could think of only one thing to say “Their armor is weak at the armpits. You can kill them there.” Aalos thought of nothing else as darkness closed in from lack of blood and the enemies venom flowing in his veins.

Taura

18-07-2007 18:29:42

Tau'ra fought hard to repel the Vong, she struck out with her sword just to be thrown back by the might of the Vong. She even again tried to fire her blaster at the head and with no avail it would only be repeled by the Amphistaff. With all her might she could not penetrate the crab armor. In the meantime the Yuuzhan Vong warrior was mercilessly striking her down. if she tried to retreat he only lashed out again with his amphistaff turned whip. The last time it wrapped her leg pulling the Twi'lek down in agony.

Just then she turned toward Aalos Fier and saw him take a lash from the amphistaff's tip. She watched in horror as he hit the floor, and then it happened after he was thrown around and grabbed by the Vong, Aalos in a desperate attempt thrust an object into the armpit of the Vong and he fell. He did it he found their weak spot raced in the mind of the young Twi'lek as she began to gather what strength she had. She didn't have time to see Aabsdu come up with his lightsaber blazing, she just went for her dagger and lept at the Vong, only to be stunned by a thud bug from another Vong coming down the corridor. She heard it coming only to roll away slightly before it struck. The thing tore into her arm and severed one of her Lekku. She screamed in horror as she felt the blood gushing out and seeing a piece of wriggling lekku on the ground. But still she focused her sight on the Vong over her.

The Vong went to grab her in order to take a living, barely but still living, Jeedai to his leader as a prize, then from the corner of her eye she saw her Consul and master, he forced the Vong off Tau'ra and engaged him in battle. Slashing at the Vong with his saber he tried to get an advantage to kill it. But there was also the Vong, which had been fighting Tau'ra first. That Vong warrior was now grabbing her. As she laid there trying to summon the force to control the pain enough to survive the agony she suddenly felt a surge of energy from somewhere, probably adeneline but it was enough. As the Vong reached down, Tau'ra in bitter hate, covered in blood, thrusted her one good arm out and jabbed the dagger into the armpit of the Vong. The Yuuzhan warrior believing at first she was too weak let down his guard slightly only to allow her to give the death blow. Consul Aabsdu wathched as Tau'ra went unconscious and knowing no other Vong was around at the time finished his duel, he came at the warrior with all his fury and lashed out with his saber killing his opponent.

Aabsdu

18-07-2007 19:22:05

Antei System
The Shroud


Aabsdu took in a deep breath as he calmed his emotions, letting the force flow through him. He had come in the knick of time, just as his apprentice, Aalos Fier, had been hit and injured. The battle had been tough, especially since it was the Consul's first real fight against the invaders, but he had come out victorious, the boarders now repelled.

Just as he deactivated his lightsaber and placed it back on his belt, Knight Jagan ran into the hallway, lightsaber ignited with fury in his eyes, only to stop when he noticed the carnage, and the fact that there was no fighting occurring.

"Sorry, dude," Aabs said with a grin, "Beat you."

Jagan's eyes fell to Aalos and Tau'ra, somewhat dismayed, although he did not let it show. The Force showed him that they were alive, but badly injured. "Those two need medical attention immediately," he said. Aabs looked at him in a 'duh' type of way, but other then that did nothing beside punch a few buttons into a comlink and then walked back towards the bridge.

As he walked down the hallway, the entire ship rocked hard suddenly, and alarms started to blare faster than before. Obviously, they had suffered a direct hit somewhere, now he had only to hear the bad news for himself.

When he reached the breach, it was mayhem. Crewmembers were running everywhere and shouting across to each other to pass commands around. In fact, only a few of them actually noticed the Battlelord when he entered the room, something he took note of for use later.

Situating himself next to the lead officer, Aabs asked sternly, "Damage?"

"One of the engines was taken down, beyond repair for the time being, sir. We've also suffered several direct hits to the hull; our shields are all-but depleted. I'll be honest when I say I don't know how much longer we can hold out."

Aabs said nothing, but in his mind raced through possible options. The other clans were far too weak to help them right now, but all the same, he was not going to flee when ordered to stay put. He had to find something.

Just as these thoughts sped through his mind, the Consul looked out of the large view port onto the battle around them, and watched with somewhat curiosity as the Pacifica slowly moved through the carnage, firing its weapons when given the chance. It was a small ship, used more as a vessel of transportation than a ship of war. It also seemed to be of no important to the Yuuzhan Vong attackers. Aabs always did like that ship...

Suddenly, three large blasts shot out from one of the nearby Vong warships. One of them hit a vessel belonging to Clan Arcona, while the other two landed directly on the Pacifica. After a brief explosion, the ship disappeared forever, only pieces of debris remaining.

Aabsdu was speechless.

~~~~~

In Orbit Above Aerun

[All resistance has been wiped out on the planet, Commander. Survivors have been rounded up and placed in encampments.]

[Good,] Gravenor Phin replied, staying down upon the planet from his post onboard the Merciless. A planet that had been a lush shade of green upon his arrival was now filled with the blackness of smoke and dust. The initial invasion had gone well. The planet was now theirs, and they had only lost around twelve coral skippers in the process. Very successful, and Gravenor decided that they were ready to move onto the next planet, one that reports called "Nintura". [Begin the transformation. Set up this "Diadem" as the base of operations.]

[Yes, Commander.]

[What of the fighter trying to flee, I want that dealt with before we move on,] he asked.

[Engaging now, Commander.]

Arcadian

18-07-2007 23:05:51

"Guardian Markis Durotar of Plagueis reporting for duty sir!" Markis said.

"Get down you idiot" shouted Kal and Arc simultaneously. Arcadian risked a glance over his busted Tie Fighter and ducked down quickly as four thud bugs whizzed over his head. Well he thought to himself not exactly what I thought would happen if Bubba and Kal arrived.

Kal looked over at Arc and was suprised, the young Jedi Hunter looked quite beat up, he was bleeding from a large hole in his Phase One Clone armor, and his left arm was at an angle that normaly, it would not be able to be at, his helmet from his Clone armour was missing, and the rest of the armor and his face were burnt. "Arc" said Kal, Arcadian looked over at him "what the hell happened?"
"Well" said Arc "I think we've got a minute till they run out of thud bugs so..."


*** 20 Minutes earlier ***

Arcadian drew his Sith Sword "well" he said to himself "this should be fun."
Arcadian had never donned his Pilot armor and as such was still in his Phase One Clone Armor, hopefully it could withstand at least a blow from the amphistaff. The Vong warrior was now out of his ship and advancing slowly on Arc, amphistaff in hand. Arcadian breathed softly, trying very hard to not feel any emotion, especially fear.

When the Vong was about twenty feet in front of Arc, his amphistaff coiled and spat something at him, he dodged under it and proceded to charge at the Vong. The warrior was momentarily suprised and Arcadian took advantage of it, swinging his Sith Sword at the Vong as hard as he could, the sword bounced off, and the Vong took a swing at Arcadian, the fist of the large creature collided with Arcadian's face, and sent the young Jedi Hunter flying to the right. Arcadian landed five feet away and lay on the ground for a moment, that was one moment to long as the Vong was already above him, the amphistaff slammed into the ground where Arcadian had been a moment before, the Jedi Hunter grabbed onto the Vong's leg and pulled, causing the warrior to lose his balance. Arcadian jumped to his feet and swung his left fist towards the Vong's head, the hulking creature, who had already regained his balance, caught Arcadian's arm, and twisted it, Arcadian felt the pain increase until he heard a loud snap as his left arm broke in two places, the Vong rapped his other hand around Arcadian's throat and lifted him off the ground. The warrior then hurled the young Commander ten feet and he skidded along the floor to the wall,twenty feet away. Arcadian lay on the ground and gasped, using all his concetration Arcadian lay on the ground until he could no longer feel the pain.

The Vong walked slowly towards Arcadian, as Arcadian stumbled to his feet, knowing it was his only chace, Arcadian put away his Sith Sword, and pulled out a fragmentation grenade, when the vong was only five feet in front of him he activated the grenade, and gently tossed it at the Vong, he knew at five feet he would be hit, but only just. The Vong caught the device and dropped it, three.....two....one. BOOM! The Explosion rocked the small hangar bay, and sent both Arcadian and the Vong Warrior into the wall, the young Jedi Hunter lost his helmet and felt his face burn a little.

Arcadian got to his feet, very slowly, looked at the Vong, who was't moving and walked towards the other side of the hangar bay. When he was half way to the other side, he heard a rasping nose behind him,

[Jeedai] came the voice [you are mine.]

Arcadian looked around and saw the Vong walking towards him, a few dents in his armour, but otherwise, appearing unharmed "how in the hell..." said Arcadian to himself. He didn't have time to wonder, as the world went black for a moment. Arcadian got up and found himself unable to see, and with his ears ringing. He got to his feet, very slowly, and looked around as his vision returned, the Vong warriors amphistaff lay on the ground 50 feet in front of him, and the what was left of the Vong and the hangar doors were strewn around the hangar bay the shield was still up, so Arcadian was not entierly sure how that had happened. Thank Plagueis
thought Arcadian to himself. He walked over to the remains of his Tie Fighter and was about to send out a message when he heard a noise behind him. Arcadian turned around and saw four vong fighters land in the hangar bay.

Yep he thought just my luck.

Diving behind his Tie Fighter Arcadian was relieved to see Kal and Bubba step out of the turbolift and walk towards him.

*** Present Time ***

"So that's about it" said Arc
"well" said Kal "that's... interesting
Arcadian chanced another glace above the rim of his Tie Fighter, and saw the Vong barley ten feet in front of him.
"Kal, Bubba, and Markis, can you keep them busy for mabey, 30 second."
Markis, nodded, Kal and Bubba smiled. Stood and drew there lightsabers. The jumped over the remains of the Tie Fighter, closley followed by Markis, and raced towards the Vong.

Arcadian climed into his Tie Fighter, and checked the systems, Yes he thought communications are working.

He activated it "This is Commander Arcadian, all avalible members of Satal Victus report to the Ambition, immediatley, that's an order."

Scorpius

19-07-2007 15:00:50

"Our communications are out," said Dismal as he piloted the TIE Phantom above Aerun. "I can't get through to him."

Scorpius sighed as he glanced out at the space around them. "I think that is the least of our problems now," said the Archpriest as he saw what Dismal would seen see on his own screen: Yuuzhan Vong vessels rapidly approaching them. "How many are there?"

"At least ten Skips heading our way," said the Sith as he got ready for some tricky piloting. "Guns ready?

"Yep," said Scorpius. "Why is the cloaking device not working completely?"

"It was damaged when the hangar bay was attacked."

"Oh."

"This is going to be fun," said Dismal, taking a sharp turn as the coralskippers caught up. "Here we go!"

The ship shook once as spectacular laserfire began to surround the small vessel. Dismal gave himself to the Force, trying to feel where the shots would hit and dodge them before they did. Scorpius, meanwhile, began to return fire. As he attempted this, though, he became particularly perturbed when his shooting appeared to be doing nothing.


"Damn it all! Anochiir is never going to be able to save us through this mess," growled the Krath. "He needs to retreat or we risk losing him and that vessel too."

"What about us then?" yelled Dismal, finding it very hard to avoid enemy fire.

At that moment two shots hit the TIE Phantom, and the Dark Jedi aboard felt a foreboding in the Force. Beeping filled the cockpit and some lights started flashing. Scorpius looked over his shoulder at his apprentice. "What the hell is going on?"

"They've disabled our engines," said the Sith glumly. He heard Scorpius attempting to shoot at the approaching coral skippers before speaking again. "Guns are out too. We're sitting ducks."

It was the first time ever in their years together that Dismal actually felt fear in Scorpius. The Archpriest always hid his feelings with the Force, but now the fear could be read entirely in his face. He was actually trembling as the coral skippers surrounded the Phantom and began to drag it away.

"Where are they taking us?" asked Dismal, himself now feeling scared. After all, if Scorpius was worried enough to be trembling, something was truly going wrong. The Archpriest did not need to answer, though, for Dismal saw the mammoth vessel they were approaching. It was a capital ship about the size of an Imperial-class Star Destroyer, called a Miid Ro'ik. Scorpius had read about them once, and obserbed as the dovin basals on the organic vessel locked on the gravitional field of the TIE Phantom to begin pulling it towards the Vong warship, similar to how a tractor beam works.

Scorpius could only assume that the Yuuzhan Vong had determined that the TIE Phantom was being piloted by Force wielders, given their quick reaction times and the discovery of Dark Jedi on Aerun, no doubt. That would be the only reason they had not decided to just blow the ship out of the sky. Now the Plagueans would have to suffer a fate worse then death. This is what caused Krath Archpriest Scorpius to tremble as they entered a port on the organic vessels.

"Dismal," said Scorpius softly, slowly withdrawing his lightsaber from his belt. He glanced down at the curved, silvery hilt, running his finger over the cold, smooth steel; the memories of constructing the lightsaber, suited to his preference for Makashi, filled his mind. It was the only possession he had left that he held dear. It had saved him from enemies countless times in the past. It was a pity that it would not be able to do so now. "Dismal... We are now going to be prisoners of war. But these... creatures will be like captors you have neither seen nor heard of before. Trust in the Dark Side of the Force, Dismal, and remember your lessons. Perhaps we may survive this mess."

The TIE Phantom came to a halt inside the vessel. The ugly, foreign warriors of the Yuuzhan Vong stood waiting for their captured Jeedai, their grotesque armor enough to send a chill down the spine of a younger Dark Jedi. Scorpius and Dismal exited the vessel, lightsabers ignited. Their blades cast shadows on their darkened faces as each glared at the invaders. The Yuuzhan Vong had killed countless friends and comrades in just a few minutes, destroyed their home, and may, for all the pair knew, have wiped out the celebrating forces of the Dark Brotherhood. Scorpius and Dismal were not going to go peacefully.

Not that the Yuuzhan Vong expected them to.

Kal

19-07-2007 18:50:46

As Kal ran toward the Vong, his Master and the new guy at his sides, he felt fear he'd never had before. He'd done this sort of thing, a blind, suicidal charge at enemies, so many times that he'd lost count. Most of the time, he'd had a good chance to win. Now... he'd killed one of the Yuuzhan Vong on basis of luck. He knew his chances in an even fight, knew they'd probably be jettisoning his corpse after this. Four of the Vong could have probably made short work of an Elder. As he lifted his crimson blade high, it wasn't fear of death that gripped his mind. I don't know where she is, he thought darkly, And I may never see her again. As he came close enough to parry the first of the Vong's attacks, the heat of battle took over. I'm going to die, he thought madly, And I'm gonna take one of them with me. With a laugh, he ducked another swing of an amphistaff and stabbed for the armpit, a move easily parried. Rolling back, he lifted his blade and swung down at the Vong's head. The alien countered with his staff again, and the two entered about the equivalent of a saber lock. Only when the guttural noise, the unmistakeable alien laughter, filled the air, did he realize something was wrong.

"What the hell are you laughing at?" He shouted at his foe, having to use the Force to hold off the Vong's monstrous strength.

The foe made a wrist movement, and his staff went limp in his hands. It didn't end there, though, for the staff soon coiled around the blade of Kal's saber, ending with it's snake-like head hissing and biting at the Knight's face. Kal barely had time to bring his head back before the fanged mouth snapped in front of his face. Deactivating his saber, he watched the thing fall to the ground and stepped back, taking a ready stance. It was when the staff started to chase him that he got a look of fear, jumping back from it's snapping. It was really quite comical to watch. Eventually, though, the Vong stepped forward and reclaimed his staff, his sick grin as wide as ever. Or maybe it was the pincers on the side of his head, pulling his cheeks back further than they were supposed to go. One never could tell. Jumping at the warrior, he brought another head-aimed strike, followed by a spinning attack to his side and what looked like an attack for the feet. As the Vong took the bate, though, Kal brought his saber at it's face. As fast as it was, the Vong could only move enough to have his eye taken out by the blade.

"An eye for an eye," Kal said, the still-bloody gash on his face quite evident.

The Vong growled, but it was when Kal heard the one behind him that he knew he was screwed. He barely had time to duck out of the way. That staff would have taken off his head. Running, he looked for a way to beat them. Thankfully, he found it fast, in the form of a parked TIE fighter. He grinned, leaping for the cockpit. A spray of venom narrowly missed him as he jumped in, tapping at the controls quickly. He knew there was no room to fly. Thankfully, he didn't need to, keying up the laser cannons on the fighters and firing at the warriors with a laugh. As armored as they were, the laser's punch managed to rip the pair to pieces. As he was about to find another, though, the cockpit was ripped open and a third Vong pulled the Knight out by the hair. It was at that point that he saw Dacien.

The Battlemaster brought his blue blade at the warrior in front of him, only to growl as it countered his attack. He'd broken through it's blocks at least three times, attacks that should have killed. If it weren't for that damned crab armor, this Vong would be in pieces. Of course, the cuts in his robes and skin showed just how even-matched the pair were. Bringing another pair of attacks, Dacien backed up to parry before releasing a vicious riposte. The Vong ducked beneath it, laughing gutturally, before bringing another five strikes. The worst part about these foes was that, every time you hurt them, every injury they took, they laughed more and more. It was like they were in love with pain. Such skilled, vicious, and devoted foes couldn't be beaten.

"Why won't you die?!?" Victae shouted, bringing his weapon back at it's neck.

The armor stopped the blow like nothing. The Vong had known this, and it had given him time to let his staff go limp and coil around the Battlemaster's neck. Dacien jumped backward, a strangled cry escaping his lips as the staff began to choke him. It bared it's fangs, ready to take his eyes and his life. It was then that the armored glove of another, different armor, white plastoid armor, grabbed the serpent by the throat. The creature uncoiled from Dacien and wrapped around Arcadian's arm, biting into his shoulder. As it met only armor, Arc threw it down, stamping on it again and again. It was a panicked attack, but it was all he could do at the moment. Eventually, though, as his heavy boot stomped the serpent's head again and again, it went limp. Arc stepped back from it, surprise written across his dirty face. He didn't see the Vong warrior come up behind him and grab him. He didn't have to, for Dacien's saber found the exposed armpit and soon burned through the warrior's organs.

"Thanks," the Commander said, giving himself a shake.

"Thank you," Victae said, eyeing the dead amphistaff. A groan soon drew his attention.

Markis Durotar lay on the ground, his loss against the Vong evident. One of the Nautolan's many head-tails had been severed, laying in a pool of blood some distance away. His arm was also removed, as well as his legs, just below the knee. A further gash in his side showed how unmatched he'd been. Running over, the pair checked over his wounds quickly.

"He's bleeding out," Arc said, "He won't make it to the medbay."

"Well, then," said Dacien, "I'll just have to give him more time."

In a flurry of blue attacks, the Battlemaster's saber flashed across the Guardian's bloody stumps. With a cry each time, the bleeding was stopped as the flesh cauterized. The only wound left was the gash on his side, which wasn't deep. Arc quickly administered a bacta patch before the pair began to pull him off the battlefield. It wasn't long before they saw the TIE fighter, with a Vong pulling Kal out by the hair, amphistaff dripping with Nautolan blood.

"I say we give him some payback," said Arc, as if completely oblivious to his wounds.

"I agree," said Dacien, running toward the TIE with his saber.

Kal had himself braced in the cockpit, slamming the Vong's arm into everything he could. Just because it wanted to pull him out didn't mean he had to fit through. He snarled at it like an animal. Kaliidrad was far from being afraid of death. However, that didn't mean he was against giving his killer a good fight.

"Let go of me!" He shouted at it, pulling back with all of his might.

The Vong almost had him out when the flurry of emerald bolts slammed into the creature's armor. Arc let fly the bolts from the S2 pistol as quickly as he could pull the trigger, feeling as it got hot in his hand. Dacien ran past him, nearing the cockpit quickly. As the Vong struggled to move his head away from the shots, it wasn't expecting it as Kal slammed the cockpit hatch on it's arm. It let out an alien cry, backing up and falling from the TIE. Kal climbed out as quickly as he could, standing and preparing to rejoin his allies. Before he could take a step, he heard the other speak for the first time in a while.

You let it live? it asked him, sounding incredulous, It's weak.

"Just shut up, Grandfather." Kal's voice was icy, knowing that grandfather was an understatement.

Use your anger, child. Mercy is a thing of the weak, of fools. Do not let it strike again.

Even as Kal went to deny him, A new feeling pulsed through him. He wanted vengeance, he wanted pain for these invaders. He wanted his enemies to die. The anger grew within him, his eyes became a molten orange-gold. He reached for his saber, drew the crimson blade. The taint of the other in his mind laughed.

Yes, my son, it said to him, Finish the deed.

The Vong warrior sat up and groaned. As thick as his Vonduun Skerr Kyrric was, the metallic floor beneath him had knocked him unconscious. As he awoke, he looked for his amphistaff. It had landed about twenty feet away. The warrior lifted his arm, only to feel a savory splinter of pain rip through his flesh.

[Broken], he said in his guttural tone. [So be it. My victory will be all the sweeter.]

As he went to stand, though, the shadow crossed over him. The Jeedai before him looked as no other had yet. His eyes were a fiery orange-gold, and his skin seemed pale. He held his crimson weapon in his hand. The warrior soon sped himself, almost standing up in time. However, time was cut short as the Jeedai tensed, jumped, and landed on the warrior's back, driving his crimson blade home through his skull.

"Die, you freak," the Knight growled at the alien, deactivating his saber and clipping it to his belt.

Well done, my son the other said, and Kal gave no second thought to the wave of glee that flew through him at the words.

Korroth

20-07-2007 18:00:51

Kal turned around, looking for another Vong warrior he could hack to pieces, his rage and blood-thirst still burning in his veins…but the only Yuuzhan Vong in sight were those lying dead on the blood-splattered floor. As he regretfully acknowledged this, his comlink suddenly sputtered to life.

“I’m tr… to lan… et… out of the way!”

Kal looked outside the hangar bay, and threw himself to the ground just in time, as something resembling a TIE fighter ricocheted above his head and into the hangar, skidding along the floor, then finally crashing into a wall and stopping, with half a wing missing and the other buckled. A hatch flied open, and a tall journeyman jumped out, glaive in hand. Kal got up from the ground and strode towards the Pau’an, his expression making it obvious he wasn’t very impressed.

“And what do you think you’re doing! You almost…”

“Sorry, sir, no time for greetings.” The journeyman interrupted, pointing towards the magnetic field of the hangar bay, where a coralskipper was flying in and alighting onto the floor. “They were capable in space, lets see how they do on the ground.” The journeyman sprinted to the organic starfighter, just as its sphincter hatch opened. The Pau’an spinned his blade-tipped staff into his right hand, but skidded to a halt as a spiked and deformed Vong stepped out of the coralskipper. The monstrosity whipped out its amphistaff, and lunged at the distraught journeyman, who reacted just in time and parried with his own glaive. The force of the blow reverberated up his shoulder and jarred his teeth, but without hesitation he striked back, slashing at the Vong’s chest. He recoiled in surprise as the blade simply bounced off the creature’s armour. The Vong warrior gurgled in something like a laugh, and the amphistaff whipped out of nowhere and coiled around the Pau’ans glaive. The journeyman tried to pull his weapon away, but the Vong was too strong for him.

“His armpits, get his armpits!” Someone shouted from the other side of the docking bay. The journeyman gave one last tug , then, without warning, he gave in to the Vong warrior. With a grip still on the end of the glaive, he directed the blade as it was being pulled towards the fiend, plunging it straight into its undefended armpit. The Vong gave out a piercing scream, then the journeyman twisted the glaive sharply, and the Vong fell lifeless to the ground. The Pau’an let out a shaking breath of relief, tugging his weapon free, as Kal and Markis reached him.

“Well, that was fast.” Markis commented “I didn’t even have to unsheathe my blade.”

“Yeah, that’s nice, you left none for me!” Apparently, the Commander had already decided he didn’t like the Pau’an “Where did you sprout from anyway?”

“Nice to meet you both Aedile, Guardian Dorutar. I’m Guardian Korroth Karn. I was in the first wave of star fighters sent out to the enemy. Probably the only one to get out, as well. When I realized that I was the only one left, and that shooting at those…things wasn’t helping much, I worked out it would be more appropriate to play the coward and hide behind a piece of debris rather than play the hero and get blasted into space. After they moved on, I went out looking for any survivors nearby. What I wasn’t looking for was the straggler that you see here on the floor, which is the same chap that blew half my TIE Fighter away. Just when my life-support system went critical, I spotted you on my sensors, so I just figured it would be nice to pop in and say hello.”

Tolter

21-07-2007 12:41:49

Caesar approached the Ambition after intercepting a call for all Satal Victus members. Though he was not a member of the team anymore, his Apprentice was. He began getting the feeling of something bad going on with his student but he didn't know what it was.

"Templar Caesar request permission to tag-along with your team Commander" joked Caesar. He waited for a reply.

"Aye Caesar, we are on the Ambition. Dorutar is here with us. He was shook up but he is healed now." replied Arcadian.

"Very well then sir, I will be there in a heartbeat."

-------------------

The door on the TIE opened as Caesar jumped out, his green saber ignited in one hand. He began to walk around the perimeter of his ship, then deactivated the weapon and placed it on his belt.

"About time you showed up!" came a voice behind him.

He turned around to see his Aedile, his Apprentice, and his Quaestor. "Yes sir. I had to attend some business that kept me from killing these worthless creatures." he stated pointing at one of the butchered Vong warriors that lay on the floor. "Where is Commander Arcadian?"

"Right here" replied Arcadian as he stepped away from the TIE. "So you joining the team now?"

"If you will let me, then yes sir."

"Welcome to the team then" he responded.

Aabsdu

22-07-2007 22:18:19

"Clear the way, we only need to hole them off long enough to reach the Vengeance," Captain Volo Lee told to the pilot of their small Gamma Class ATR-6 Assault Transport. They had been assigned as a patrol guard for the Plagueian fleet in The Shroud, but now they were just trying to get back to the hangar of the command vessel, but things were looking grim.

"Captain, there's something you should…" **BOOM**

~~~~~

From the main bridge of the Vengeance, Consul Aabsdu watched as the assault transport exploded. Worst of all, he couldn't even remember if the transport had ever been given a name. It made no difference, though, as the ship was simple added to the list of growing casualties, many of which were on Clan Plagueis' side. The battle had been going on for a full day now, during which Plagueis' fleet had managed to back up somewhat from the Yuuzhan Vong invasion force, and losses had slowed down, but all the same still poured in. Their fighters were taking the worse of it; both of their VT-49 Decimators had been destroyed. They were getting destroyed.

"We need to get farther into the Shroud," he said to himself, "We're getting killed staying here in the line of fire." Maybe once they got farther into the Shroud he would be able to figure out how to send help to Jusadih. He turned to relay the new orders to the other ships.

Kal

23-07-2007 01:07:20

Kal stood outside the door to the medbay on the Ambition, sighing and shaking his head. The ship was now free of all Vong invaders. Sure, it had taken a good half the crew, along with far too many Dark Jedi and the hangar venting all of it's atmosphere and, as a consequence, parked ships, but they were alive. He stood there for multiple reasons. For one, he himself had been injured. Aside from the nasty scar on the side of his head, his eye was completely healed. It still didn't work, but it was in perfect physical shape. Another reason he was here was that the Commander of Victus, Arcadian, who happened to be one of Kal's few friends, had sustained injuries.

"Ohhh..." A groan heralded the final reason.

Guardian Markis Durotar had given his arm, legs, and headtail to fight for them. The wound in his side wasn't deep, and some prosthetic replacements were being attached. The arm was sadly a good six inches shorter than the other. At least the legs were a decent fit, though they would make him seem shorter. For his head-tail... well, that would have to wait. At least he'd never be stupid enough to get that close to an amphistaff again, at least on his own.

"How are they?" asked Dacien, who'd just returned from the bridge.

"They'll be fine, Master." Kal said in his cold, steady tone.

Oh yes, the weaklings will be fine. They should be dead, they deserve death for their weakness. But they'll be fine. The other spoke to him, the chill to the words freezing even Kal's icy heart.

"Shut up," Kal mumbled almost by reflex, forgetting Dacien was there.

"Hmm? I didn't say anything," his Master said, a hint of surprise in his eyes.

"Not you, just... nevermind." Kal said to Victae, averting his eyes. "What orders from the Vengeance?"

"Well, until communications died, we were told to get ourselves deeper into the Shroud." Dacien didn't look pleased in the least.

Things were definitely getting worse.

Arturius

24-07-2007 13:27:34

Aalos Fier woke slowly in the tank. The Force Meditation had helped speed up the healing process. However, he was not fully healed, despite the fact the nurse was motioning him to the surface. Aalos obliged and arrived at the top of the tank to a good looking nurse. He looked around and suddenly he snarled as hatred swept through him. Fierce burning intense hatred the likes of which he had never felt before. It fueled him, it guided him. It provided him with power as his eyes seem to shift colors, taken on a molten yellow look.

The Nurse cried out in fear and went backwards. A 21-B medical droid started to come over but was slammed against the wall by a force shove from Aalos. He leapt from the tank and landed easily on the deck. Others in the medbay quieted realizing that danger had arrived. Slowly they exhaled as the Guardian strode out of the medbay.

Aalos was angry, so many injured, so many dead. He could feel it, and he could draw strength on it. The dieing were fueling his hatred, which in turn fueled his power. The Yuuzhan Vong were going to pay. His body was sore but he was still prepared to fight. He had only spent a few hours in the tank but it had been enough, the force was all he needed at this point. He strode into his quarters and donned his armor. He added one feature, a black shoulder cape. He snarled and left his helmet hooked to a small strap near his neck, so that it hung underneath the cape out of sight. He strode through the passageways and corridors until he reached the bridge where a battle weary Aabsdu stood giving orders.

Aabsdu was tired of watching his ships destroyed, so tired that when his apprentice first appeared he didn’t notice him. Then he felt the shear roiling power behind him. It was the sign of someone growing stronger in the force. Aabsdu turned to face his apprentice and was startled to see the color change of his eyes. Suddenly Aabsdu was struck with the image of a Sith, his apprentice’s power was growing. Aabsdu smiled coldly and found himself less weary with such a fired up individual beside him.

“Hello Fier. I am glad to see you have recovered from your wounds,” spoke Aabsdu.

“I am not completely recovered, but I have enemies to kill. We know their weakness now. I also have another recommendation that has occurred to me. A possible counter to their armor.”

Aabsdu perked up immediately. He crossed half the distance between the two in a single step “Speak quickly Guardian.”

“High powered slug throwers Master. Equiped with armor piercing rounds, some of those rifles are designed to punch through six inches of durasteel, I do not think even the Vong armor would prove to be immune to that. I saw some in the armory and would like to begin equipping the journeyman with them immediately.”

Aabsdu stared at his apprentice, mostly cause he knew his apprentice was right. “Do it. And send a message for all units to try and recover such weapons if possible. I want as many of those rifles as we can find.”

“Yes Master” Aalos kneeled before Aabsdu, and Aabsdu smiled.

“Rise Jedi Hunter. You are proving yourself to be a true clan asset. Keep up this work and it will not be long before you gain your first lightsaber.”

Aalos rose, there was no smile, no happiness, no joy. Just roiling dark hatred. He was forever changed by this war and his desire for power was growing. He wanted to decimate the enemy, the abominations who were not present in the force. The young Jedi Hunter made a pact with himself to strengthen his knowledge of the force. He was not going to allow any more of his family to die without a decent fighting chance again. Anger boiled as he turned back to Aabsdu “I am going to begin setting traps in case of another boarding party. Mines and improvised barriers. I don’t intend to be caught off guard again.”

Aabsdu nodded and watching his apprentice stride away, he was flourishing under his tuteledge but he wondered if the young Sith’s intense desire for vengeance might not get him killed. He was still only a Jedi Hunter after all.

Taura

25-07-2007 11:10:33

Tau'ra awoke hours after the confrontation with the Vong only to find herself lying in the medbay with an intense pain in her head and a sick feeling inside. looking over to her left side where a droid was finishing up healing her shoulder the Protector only thought What..happened at that instant her memory returned striking her with a wave of bitterness, fear, and anger. Thud Bug..Lekku..missing..shoulder..Aalos...VONG!

At that moment she sat up, knocking over the droid, causing a flash of pain to resonate from her wounded shoulder. The Twi'lek stood up quickly only to find herself collapsed on the floor from more blinding pain and the sickness. A phantom pain from her half severed lekku.

Get up you weak fool came a voice, deal with the pain later, the Vong are still out there and you can still fight

Summoning all she could from her bitter hatred toward those monsters, the obelisk got up and left the medbay, trying desperately to keep her composure and hide her pain and weakness.

Use the pain to drive your strength, use it to fuel your power she thought to herself making her way through the corridors. The smell of death was in the air.

Tau'ra did not know what to do next except head to the bridge and report to master Aabsdu, yet there was something else she must be doing or somewhere she needed to be, a voice hours ago over the commlink. Victus...Ambition...

Then it came to her, Commander Arcadian

Tau'ra finally made it to the bridge and reported in to her master

"Master Aabsdu, I am ready to continue the fight, what is your request of me" replied the war battered Protector, as she looked at her Consul and Master she asked one more question before he spoke "Master, has there been any word from Commander Arcadian and Satal Victus, on the Ambition"

Tolter

25-07-2007 20:52:20

The droids continued to work on Guardian Durotar, who by this time was unconscious. The feeling that he could have been there too assist his student raced through Templar Caesar's mind. He had failed in his major duty as a Master, he had allowed his Apprentice to become severely injured.

He looked at his Aedile and Quaestor who were talking amongst themselves a few feet from where he stood. The sound of their voices seemed as though the situation was getting worse. He happened to catch a few words of the conversation but quickly turned back to the more important thing to him, his student. The droids stopped and cleared away, showing the new Markis Durotar. He appeared to begin waking back up. He started to raise his head but Caesar stopped him. "You must lie down, regain your strength before we leave again."

"No Master, I am able to sit up for a little."

The Quaestor began speaking aloud to the whole room, which was filled with casualties. "Attention to orders." All those capable of standing came to the position of attention. "Before losing communications with Consul Aabsdu, we were under orders to go deeper into the shroud. We will follow this order. Those able to fight will fight, those who are in no shape to fight will stay in this room guarded by someone. Now, everyone standing, follow me."

What was left of the crew followed their Quaestor, including Caesar leaving his Apprentice behind in the medbay. Before leaving, he instructed that if he is feeling in any better shape that he join the fight. It was going to take more than they had.

Aabsdu

25-07-2007 21:40:11

The Shroud
Vengeance
Command Ship of Plagueis

It was hard to tell, looking out through the viewport at the continuously ensuring battle, but Aabs could've swore that there were less Yuuzhan Vong then there had been a few hours earlier.

A good ways into Day Two of the battle, Clan Plagueis' fleet was still alive, but taking heavy damage. Deciding it was best to move farther into the Shroud for better protection, and the fact that the other clans were doing the same, Aabs had ordered the fleet to retreat, which they had slowly been doing. At first, the Vong followed, but over time it seemed as if they were slowly starting to pull back, although there were still more then enough of them causing problems still.

On one hand, it was a relief to finally have somewhat peace to treat the injured, inspect the damage, and come up with a plan. On the other hand, for Aabs only had two, it was frightening, for it surely meant that the invaders were merely buying their time, waiting for something, coming up with a new strategy.

"Status," Aabs asked whoever wanted to answer him.

"Medical bays are overflowing, and engineers are working to repair as much damage as they can, but some of it will take time," someone replied.

Time we don't have, Aabs thought to himself, but kept it in his mind. He turned to see one of his three apprentices, Tau'ra, walking up the bridge. The woman, half of whose lekku was sliced off, asked him for orders.

"I haven't heard from the Ambition or the other ships," Aabs told the eager Dark Jedi, "Communications are still being repaired. As for orders, go to the medbay and tell them to treat you immediately, Consul's orders."

It seemed Tau'ra started to protest, but Aabs' face clearly told her that now was the wrong time, and she scuttled off towards his destination. Meanwhile, Aabsdu turned back towards the viewport, listening to the various reports coming through the bridge.

Jaden_Kyrath

26-07-2007 15:25:54

Silence, silence was the word that most described this moment. The alarm that rang so loudly had abruptly stopped. Something was wrong, something did not go as planned, and everyone on the Hells Iris knew it. The anticipation of battle had left everyone’s system, and what remained was confusion. Not only was the fact the alarm stopped confusing, but Anochiir had said nothing, and the ship was still. Even though everyone was in deep confusion, to those who could feel/use the force, it was even more confusing. Dismal and Scorpius’s essence lingered where the ship stood. It was not too faint, so they must have been here recently, but what confused those who could feel this, was the fact that they could only feel Dismal and Scorpius’s. It was obvious that they did not just leave; they must have been able to sense the Hells Iris coming closer to their ship. So the question that lingered in those who could feel their essence was: Who captured Dismal and Scorps, and why is their captor’s signature un-sensible?

All this silence, all this confusion, it was too much for Jaden. The Dark Jedi Knight let out a small cry of frustration, as he headed towards the front of the Hells Iris, where he would talk a few things over with Anochiir. As the Sith Flight member continued his way down the path, something hit him, not in a literal way, but figuratively. He sensed a familiar force signature, someone who he had known for quite sometime. The Dark Jedi Knight stopped in his tracks and looked to his left to find a stressed out Galaphile, sitting down with his hand on his head. Jaden looked wide eyed at his fellow member of Exars Shadow, he of all people Jaden did not expect to see.

The Dark Jedi Knight spoke with surprise in his voice, saying, “Gala!? Why are you here? ,”.

Galaphile raised his head to look up at Jaden and said, “I should be asking the same thing to you, but there are bigger fish to fry right now Jaden”.

The Dark Jedi Knight looked confused at his fellow Exars Shadow member and answered him questioningly saying, “What do you mean?” but before Gala could answer, the sound of Anochiirs voice came from the speaker saying, “We are now setting a course for Morroth, all of you must be prepared pending our arrival,” and with that notion, the ship was silent once again. Though the ship was silent, Jaden was about ready to explode with anger. Not only was Dismal one of his best friends, he was also his leader. He could not let Anochiir abandon Dismal and Scorps, no matter what. The Dark Jedi Knight gave a quick glance to Gala, who had the same furry in his eyes as Jaden, and both of them rushed to find and stop Ano from making this terrible mistake.

Within moments the duo reached Anochiir, who faced the front window, gazing into the stars before the ship would launch into hyperspace. The Dark Jedi Knight stopped a few feet from Anochiir and yelled with a heeding voice, “Ano, what the hell do you think you’re doing! We need to save Dismal and Scorpius, or they will surly die!”. This comment did not sit well with Anochiir, and he turned to Jaden and Gala, giving them both a stern glare, “And who are you Jaden, to tell me what to do!?” he said in a furious voice. Galaphile answered for Jaden, speaking like he was so right, “You know as well as we do that abandoning them would be just like abandoning the war, it’s just ludicrous!”. Anochiir just looked at the two for one last moment then turned away, facing the galaxy once again, not willing to put up with the arguement. Jaden couldn’t take it anymore, he let his emotions bottle up inside him for to long, and now it was time to give Anochiir a wake up call. “Anochiir, your decision sounds like something a traitor would do to his people, his leaders and his friends,” he said with a passion. “And now you leave me no choice. Seeing as you won’t look at the truth, then I’ll make you,” he said. He slowly walked up to Ano, unhooked his lightsaber, and placed the cold hilt of the steel on his neck. “Make your choice Ano, because unlike you, I would lose all I have for my friends and my brethren,” he said speaking truthfully, and ready for whatever might happen…..

Dismal

26-07-2007 15:37:43

The words of his master rung within the depths of Sith Warrior Dismal Visutor’s mind. Trust within the Dark Side of the Force… As these foreign invaders, seemingly all-powerful, continued to ravage the Dark Brotherhood, it was increasingly hard to do so. Both Equites ignited their lightsabers, ruby and emerald blades rushing forth from their hilts, casting dull blood-red and verdant glows upon the ships floor, as well as the Yuuzhan Vong’s grotesque and repulsive features. The glow only gave the creatures an eerie feel to them.

[Don’t even try to fight, Jeedai,] said one of the Vong warriors, [it is futile.] He was wearing a black, tattered cloak. Obviously a team leader of some sort. After a hand gesture from the cloak-garbed Child of Yun-Yuuzhan, all five other warriors raised their amphistaffs, and after a stroke, six bursts of venom shot towards the pair of Dark Jedi.

Both Dismal and Scorpius were instantaneously blinded as three bursts of toxins hit their eyes. Their faces began to rapidly adopt a crimson hue, and pain erupted down their necks. All they remembered, in their last few moments of consciousness, was the sensation of a large sphere hitting them, and a blast of brilliant white light.

Detention Center 5AA-B, Merciless

Pain. Intense pain. Searing pain was the only thing Warrior Dismal Visutor felt as he awoke from his deep sleep.

[Jeff’k, cease beating the infidel,] a deep, guttural voice said. The Kunian was still mostly blinded from the toxins that hit his eyes earlier.

Yuuzhan Vong Priest Shar’del was clothed in a flowing black robe, with large spiked boots as shoes. [I believe this Jeedai has suffered enough cleansing pain by our own hand. Bring the Embrace of Pain…]

A deep dread filled the Battleteam Leader’s heart. His half-brother Niman “Visutor” Zor-El had been subjected to this “Embrace of Pain,” and when he finally escaped, he was simply not himself. It was as if part of his mind had died... Hopefully, Dismal could escape the same fate as his brother…

Anochiir

26-07-2007 15:38:06

The Archpriest spun quickly, knocking the saber from Jaden's hand and pulling his own on the Knight, "You WILL respect your betters, Knight. So help me the next time you draw a weapon on me will assuredly be the last mistake you ever make. We will find your leader and Scorpius. These men mean almost nothing to me, but they are clanmates."

With that Anochiir pulled a dagger from his waist and laid two deep cuts on Jaden's face, "To remember your insolence."

Anochiir turned and looked into the viewport, "Set a course for Nintura. We are going to be the cavalry. Only Jaden, Galaphile, and myself are boarding the Vong ship."

The bridge erupted in dischord, "Archpriest Isradia! That's suicide!"

Anochiir lifted his saber and ignited it, "What I say on this bridge is law. I am the captain here. Any who wish you argue that fact will visit the detention block."

After the bridge became silent, Anochiir left motioning Jaden and Galaphile to follow him. Arriving at the armoury,he handed each man a belt, "This is a stealth field generator. We cannot mask ourselves from the Vong using the Force, but technological means will be of great assistance. These will be worn at all times. We will find Dismal and Scorpius and bring them back to Hell's Iris."

Grabbing another generator for himself, he made his way to the hangar. Jaden and Galaphile followed him with confused looks on their faces, "Archpriest Isradia, we are going to die, aren't we..."

Anochiir shrugged, "Perhaps. But, I think between the three of us, we will find a way to stay alive and resuce them. Use any means necessary. We're going to Nintura. That's the next likely place for an attack."




Anochiir looked at his companions, "We are going to take a small shuttle to the Merciless and we are going to liberate our clanmates from them."

Anochiir and the others laid in wait for the Vong to show up.

Arturius

27-07-2007 20:38:24

Jedi Hunter Aalos Fier rigged the small trip wire. They had alerted the crew that certain corridors were off limits. They had placed barricades, rigged certain areas so they could vent atmosphere. Even set it up so that they could blow electrical lines to fry the enemy to death. Other corridors were rigged so that they hade remote detonated explosives.

He moved a table into place with the Force. Creating another barricade. They had also taken the time to establish smaller armory positions and had hunted down every slugthrower on the ship they could find. There was no guarantee the slugthrowers would work but they were equipping they force sensitves aboard with them first. Taura had appeared and had assisted for awhile. She’d received more medical treatement and was looking better, but as she tired Aalos had ordered her back to rest some more. When she had protested he had told her he needed her rested and ready to fight.

Aalos looked down the corridor. This ship had become a ship of death, personel losses on the ship alone were staggering. Not all of it had been from combat. They had one area suddenly decompress on them and it was now locked down. The ship had taken damage though he heard they had at least one of the turbolasers repaired that had been knocked out in the fighting. Aalos had taken other measures to ensure evacuation if it was needed.

He had ensured that there was a fighter for his Consul and two escort pilots if it came to that. The fighting for the most part was quiet at the moment. Aalos Fier however was going to ensure the safety of his Consul and the ship. His next goal though was to develop a way to attack if it was possible. Aalos smiled beneath his helmet, they had taken a beating, but now they were much better prepared, even if they were not going to win at least they would hurt the enemy.

BubbaX

27-07-2007 22:19:02

Long, purposeful strides made all the difference. One of the most important aspects of leadership for a Dark Jedi was undoubtedly the ability to project an image of power and control. Dacien knew this, perhaps better than most. He could not allow his soldiers to fear anything more than they feared his own powers; his own fears also needed to be properly disguised under a mask of determination. The Vong threat was, at least for a few welcome minutes, a distant one. Engines blasting at full power, the Ambition had entered the Shroud and was losing its pursuers. Dacien's most immediate concern was not, in fact, some alien invasion force; his most immediate, most critical concern was the sanity of his own apprentice.

Dacien had felt a dark storm surrounding his student and Aedile since this ordeal began. Kal tried to hide it, of course, but he could not fool his master. The Battlemaster had to handle this swiftly and decisively. He could not allow weakness to cloud Kal's mind - it could get them both killed.

After divvying out assignments to the members of Satal Victus, Dacien, Kal, and Julius separately patrolled the hallways of the Ambition, ensuring that all was under control and giving the crew a visible reminder of what awaited them should they fail. Dacien, however, had an ulterior motive. He silently followed Kal, watching the other through the force, searching for any sign of what may be troubling his apprentice - and then, suddenly, it was there. A hint of powerful emotion, perhaps affection - love, even. So Kal has a secret..., the Battlemaster mused. The almost happy feeling emanating from the Knight was buried almost as fast as it had appeared, and now Dacien could sense intense anger and hatred swirling violently within Kal. It was almost as if Kal was... fighting himself. Dacien turned down a corridor that would take him within earshot, but still out of sight, of his student.

"You won't fraking touch them," muttered the Knight.

Dacien waited for a reply.

"Just get out, leave me alone -- SHUT UP!" The voice was still Kal's.

The anger welling up inside the Knight was palpable.

"This has gone on long enough," Dacien mumbled under his breath, taking a step forward and to the left, entering the chamber.

Kal stood facing a mirror, glaring with a brutal expression at his own reflection. He didn't even notice Dacien footsteps.

"Knight Vorrac!" Dacien thundered, using the force to blast awareness into the aedile.

Startled, Kal turned to face his master, wiping his face clean of all expression.

"Ah, Master. I was just abo --"

"Who are they, Kal? Who are you protecting?"

Apparently confused, Kal returned only a blank stare.

"Answer me, Knight. Who are you protecting?"

Again, no reply.

"Who are you talking to?" Dacien demanded, trying a different approach.

"No one, Master," said Kal calmly.

The two men stood in silence for what seemed an eternity. Dacien could feel his student's apprehension, which told the Battlemaster that he must have struck a nerve. Whatever Kal was conflicted about, it was dealing with, it was clearly a threat to his sanity; a weak link in the chain. And Dacien had to stamp it out - by force, it seemed.

A snap-hiss and the white light of the room was augmented by a blue glow. Kal responded in kind, clearly holding no reservations about defending himself against his master. That, at least, was a good sign.

Kal whipped out his right foot in a face-level kick, but Dacien easily dodged, and then caught Kal's foot with his left hand as it came down, twisted, and pushed the Knight backwards and down. The Knight rolled to his left, barely escaping Dacien's own kick. He stood again, facing his opponent, and leveled his lightsaber at the Battlemaster.

Kal

28-07-2007 00:43:42

"I do not wish to hurt you, Master," Kal said, watching with confusion, his anger but a tiny twinge.

"You? Hurt me? You highly overestimate yourself," the Battlemaster said, watching his student like something under a microscope.

Kal circled his Master, saber held in his customary makashi stance, ready at the side. The Battlemaster's attack came forth swiftly, aimed for Kal's side, undoubtedly his weapon hand, but Kal was ready, stepping to the side and deflecting the attack sideways. He followed up by striking at his Master's weapon, but this, too, was blocked. It was followed by a quick riposte, which Dacien skillfully diverted. It was followed by a feint for the neck that went for the feet. Kal not only leapt over it, he managed to land behind Dacien and bring an attack at his head. It was blocked.

"You've improved," Victae said, eyes locked on his apprentice.

"They keep telling me that." Kal said, stepping back for another barrage of attacks.

Yes, my son! the other cried within him, A Sith is not truly ready until he kills his Master!

Kal mumbled "Shut up," before stepping back and bringing his blade into a wide arc to block Dacien's blue weapon.

"Whom are you speaking to, my student?" Victae asked, eager to get to the center of this mystery.

The two attacked again and again, the power of Dacien's movements twisting around the elegance of Kal's. The sapphire and crimson hues cast across the corridor brightly, and flashed across the faces of the pair. Kal could not manage to strike Dacien, and it was frequently angering him. Soon, his eyes were a molten yellow. However, Dacien could not keep the slight misgivings in his eyes. Kal was improving as the anger intensified, not just because of sharper focus. It was like further years of skill were being added on.

Strike, parry, swing to the right, stab, duck, spin, jump... the commands issued to Kal before he recognized he was obeying them.

With a cry of "NO!" he leapt back, skin pale, eyes orange-gold.

"Kal, what are you hiding from-" Dacien was soon interrupted as Julius stepped around the corner, saber drawn, surveying the scene.

"Stand down, you two," the Templar said, his emerald blade held ready. "We have enough dead, we don't need our Quaestor and Aedile fighting."

"Julius, please, I have this under-" Dacien was cut off quickly as Kal spoke, shouting at Caesar with a snarl.

"You want my power! You want him to kill me, so you can be Aedile in my place!" The accusation rang out, carrying a tone they'd never heard from Kal.

Even as the Knight moved, Dacien countered and Julius stepped forth. However, the Templar didn't get a chance to move before a Force push by both combatants sent him head-first into the nearby bulkhead.

Jagan Roda

29-07-2007 10:58:31

A loud crash of metal falling on metal sounded throughout the corridor, shortly followed by the Dark Jedi Jagan stamping down the hall.

“Bloody Journeymen! Who ever gave them the priority in battle? Aabs is always looking to them for promise, for potential, but hes got it right here!”

Jagan walked into his chambers, smashing the desk next to the door with his foot.

“The arrogance of those two, trying to take on the Yuuzhan Vong by themselves. Where the hell was my call?”

Jagan paced up and down in his chambers, chucking his saber to the wall. He was seething; he had been forgotten yet again. Why send out 20 inexperienced jedi when they could have just sent him.

Jagan punched the wall with full force, smashing a dent into the chrome, his knuckles cracking. He looked down at his hand and to the blood seeping from his fist. Jagan continued to pace in his room over and over again for about an hour, time passing by slowly for the Aedile.

Jagan stopped pacing for a second and looked out of his large window into the depths of the shroud. He didn’t need this, he was better than this by far. Jagan needed to get off the ship. If this clan crashed and burned in the mean time they will only have themselves to blame.

Grabbing his saber back off the wall and putting on his cloak Jagan left his chambers headed off down the corridor. He walked along briskly, ignoring the people that passed him by as he approached the hangar doors. He inputted his key code into the terminal and the large doors opened to him.

Meanwhile, in the command bridge, the hangar door light had come on. The crew member on duty alerted Consul Aabs of the breach of lockdown. Initially Aabs thought that the Yuuzhan Vong has managed to board and grabbed his saber from his belt as he rushed down to the hangar.

Aabsdu arrived just in time to see Jagan climb up onto a TIE phantom fighter.

“Jagan! Where the hell are you going? The Yuuzhan Vong could attack at any minute!”

The Jedi Knight looked back towards his Consul, staring at him then turning away. He closed the hatch and set ignition of the ship, blasting out of the Vengeance and into hyperspace.

Aabsdu

29-07-2007 14:02:00

Idiot, Aabs thought as he watched Jagan leave the hangar and attempt to jump the hyperspace, only to be pulled back. The Consul didn't wait for the Aedile to return to the ship, he turned and walked back towards the bridge. He didn't know how, but the Vong were using something that kept their ships from leaving the Shroud, otherwise he would've been in Jusadih by now.

Jusadih… ugh. He hadn't heard anything since the initial invasion. Anochiir, Dismal, Galaphile, Jaden, Scorpius; all great members, who he would hate to lose, and yet he could do nothing but hope that they would survive until he could send help. Meanwhile, he had his own problems.

Now in day three of the engagement, the fleet of Clan Plagueis had managed to retreat farther into the Shroud, and the Yuuzhan Vong had not followed them. They were staying near the edge, no doubt so that they could keep communications open. His fleet had managed to stay together for the most part, but now they needed a plan. They would repair what they could, but the Vong were still there, no doubt preparing to come and finish them off.

"Master," Aalos Fier said. He stood next to Aabs on the bridge of the Vengeance, looking out of the viewport as he usually was, except now there was no battle going on, only the vacuum of space.

"What do you suggest, Hunter," the Dupar asked his apprentice.

"Antei seems a logical choice. We can use the communication system there to contact Kapsina. Plus, it is a fortress."

For a moment, Aabs said nothing, merely looking out of the viewport, "Yes," he murmured to himself, "Logical choice indeed."

"Except," now he was speaking to Fier, "That is exactly what the other clans will do, and they will fight for Antei. A fight we all know we would lose. No, we need something else, somewhere else. Perhaps…"

Suddenly, Aabs looked away from the viewport and turned to his apprentice, newly christened Jedi Hunter. His face showed hope, determination, "Fier, take a shuttle and retrieve Proconsul Daragon and Quaestors Royal and Victae. Tell them I want them here immediately."

Aalos bowed his head and scurried off, but Aabs stayed on the bridge, turning to the crew as he started to shout orders. He had a plan, an odd one, sure, but nonetheless he was positive that it would save them.

~~~~~

Hyperspace Between Aerun and Nintura

Pain, HA! These foolish Jeedai know nothing of the word.

Commander Gravenor Phin thought these words as he looked at the two infidels before him, trapped in the embrace of pain. They had attempted to flee him, and had failed. Now they would pay the price.

[Take their weapons,] he told one of the slaves. He and his people would never get near their disgusting technology, but the Chazrach didn't mind, or if they did they were too afraid to defy orders.

The slave walked forward and took the lightsabers from they belts, walking out of the room to take them to another, out of sight. Gravenor looked back towards their prisoners, smiling to himself. They would be at Nintura soon, ready to take yet another planet for Yun-Yuuzhan. As for these Jeedai, their fates would be revealed soon enough.

With that, Gravenor turned and left the room, leaving the torturing to those more experienced. He had more pressing matters.

Vessicant

29-07-2007 23:59:19

Earlier: upon entering the Shroud


The pilot shuffled morosely away from his machine, oblivious to the frantic sea of motion around him. The whole of his focus rested with his own flexing hand, which had been wrapped around a control yoke more or less since the start of this insanity, aside from pauses to rearm and repair. It was unbelievable. He wasn’t the most technologically inclined, or the most steeped in knowledge of the Dark Side, but he’d at least thought of himself as a capable combatant, especially with a starfighter under him. That view had been dealt a serious blow. Flex. He would leave it to those still fighting to oversee the fleet’s withdrawal into the Shroud; the enemy seemed to have slowed their advance, and at any rate he was done.

A TIE Defender, a weapon granted by his stature and ability, a weapon that had made little difference against this foe. The Vong ships defied all logic, shrugging off fully powered lasers, even missiles, but succumbing, sometimes, to what he’d normally call “tactics of desperation”. It was fitting, since he had been on the verge of desperation for the most part. That didn’t even begin to describe the madness of their absence in the Force. What times these were when a Warlord could call eight kills a personal triumph, and mean it. Flex.

He turned toward the sound of metal crashing to the floor, at once wrenched from his reflection. It was a band of sweaty technicians cannibalizing a stricken Interceptor. He lowered his hands, continuing on his way across the hangar floor. No one had noticed the display, or if they had they could just as easily chalk it up to soreness or frustration. Only a Force-user could peer through his flight suit, and all of them had been too busy and lacked reason to put him to such scrutiny. Not that he would have cared if they’d seen his doubt; at that moment he was beyond embarrassment, beyond keeping up appearances. This was an even greater sort of helplessness than he’d felt during the Exodus. The Exodus, when his quest for power had dragged him into an unknown universe, away from everything he’d known and cared about. For the first time in a long time he found it impossible to repress his lingering fear that he’d never see home again.

A depressurizing hiss came from his suit’s support system as he worked toward removing his helmet in the hallway. Vessicant raised an eyebrow as he passed a group of workmen in an adjacent corridor. There was barely repressed hostility in their eyes. The Sith blinked, but kept moving, masking his mental state with aloofness, and wondering if this truly was the end of the Brotherhood. How long before their own troops began betraying them to the Vong in exchange for their lives? The Sith suddenly regretted a few of his and others’ “corrective” Force uses in the past, not on any moral grounds, but out of pure self-preservation. There was also infighting among his fellow Jedi, something they couldn’t afford, but which was almost certain to happen. He quickened his pace despite himself, a hand brushing his lightsaber subconsciously. He might just have a need for that particular piece of equipment soon.

Kal

30-07-2007 18:06:27

The trio of sabers in the corridors of the Ambition had drawn quite the crowd. Many of the crew members, as well as the Dark Jedi on board, knew better than to get messed up in it. That, and the fact that many were secretly betting on the outcome, proved to be the reason the trio still fought. Kal's crimson saber showed the extent of his makashi skills, trained to impressive extremes for a Knight. That said, if it hadn't been for Dacien's absolute resolution not to let Vorrac die in this conflict, the pair of Equites would have defeated him quickly. Caesar fought off both of the pair, determined to stop the conflict if he had to kill the pair himself. The combat was quite the spectacle to every observer.

"Stand down!" Julius shouted to the other two, his emerald blade whirling to defend a pair of strikes.

"Never!" Kal shouted, his eyes now completely taken by the orange and gold hues of his rage.

Vorrac backed away from a pair of attacks from Dacien, only to gain a slight reprieve as Caesar's next blow was blocked by Victae. Stepping back, the Knight made quick use of the moment to take a swing at Caesar's legs. While he did jump over the strike, Kal's next attack, a downward swing, clashed with the Templar's blade hard enough to knock him to the ground. The Knight's killing strike was blocked by his Master.

"You'll not spill friendly blood on my ship, student," Dacien said, his eyes locked on Kal's.

Kal just backed off with a snarl, using the full skill of his elegant form to hold back his Master. Yes, his anger was making him better, but he still faced a Battlemaster. It took all he had to hold off Victae. As he brought his blade whirling to defend himself, he heard the voice of the other like a splinter of ice in his mind.

I can help you, little Sith, the voice said, a new tone than before. I possess skill to kill them both

"No," Kal said, "I'll never let you in."

You know what I can do, young one. You've seen it before. The voice continued, unceasing as Kal's saber parried an attack and launched a pair of strikes.

"I have, indeed. That is why you'll not control me." It was not the voice that bothered Kal, not the voice that sickened him. It was the longing, the want to let it control him.

"Who are you speaking to, Kal? What voice do you hear?" Dacien could tell he was close, closer than ever before, to finding that which troubled his student.

You know you crave it, my son. To let me in, to feel the power rushing through your veins. Nothing Kal could do stopped the other from being right.

It was then that the upset occured. Dacien caught Kal's saber in a lock, holding the crimson blade as the two pushed with all of their might. The lock lasted only seconds before Dacien threw his focus at Kal with a Force push that threw him into the wall. His saber clattered across the floor, out of his reach, and the Knight crumpled. Dacien stepped forward, placing his saber tip at his student's throat.

"It's time for some answers, Kal," the Battlemaster said, confident in his victory.

Kal felt his head swimming. He was dazed, the knock on his head had weakened him for a few minutes. That was all the other needed. The prescence rose up from Kal's mind, through his defenses, like a black tide. It took him, icy fingers gripping deep into his mind and soul. The Knight's saber hilt flew across the floor, coming to Kal's hand as the Knight leapt up with an inhuman, many-voiced cry of anger. Landing behind his Master, he quickly brought an assault of fifteen strikes in the blink of an eye, using a form quite apart from makashi. Soon, very soon, he had disarmed Dacien, and a Force-assisted kick in the chest knocked the Battlemaster down. Their roles were quickly reversed.

"You will die now, weakling. I am the Master now... ugh..." Kal's icy tone was soon replaced with groaning.

Falling back, Kal's hands flew to his head as he dropped his weapon. Reeling back, he soon braced himself to the wall. Groaning, he crumpled to the floor, sweat rolling from his face from the exertion of his actions. Finally, he dropped to all fours, panting, shaking slightly. Dacien soon stood, walking to his apprentice and standing beside him. Eventually, Vorrac looked up and met his eyes. The Knight's were their original, deep green once more.

"Kal, you are going to tell me what the hell's going on." Dacien's eyes were like shards of ice.

"One condition," Kal said, showing no fear.

"Name it," Victae said in reply, glad to be getting somewhere at last.

"Direct me to the nearest dark room. I need some sleep." Kal's head still swam a little, and he was only glad with his Master's reply.

"Gladly."

Tolter

30-07-2007 20:05:43

Caesar followed, weapon in hand, as his Quastor and Aedile found the closest room. He did not want to take any chances of a mishap, afterall, Vorrac was a Sith. He was still fuming from what had occured, his anger raged but he would not act on it. Only worse things would come of that.

"Caesar, you stay out here." exclaimed Dacien.

With a short nod, and the deactivation of his light saber, he slumped to the ground and wiped the sweat off of his face. He sat next to the door, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to listen to the conversation or just wait for something to happen. He heard bits and pieces for a few minutes, but was stunned at what he heard following a screaming coming from the room.

"Its like he has taken over my mind - and my body. I cannot push him down inside much longer before he bursts back up again." he heard the shaken voice of Knight Vorrac.

"Kal, who's voice is it?"

He couldn't hear anything else. The sound of the repairs being made to the ship drowned out the conversation in the room. Still, he did not let his guard down. He rose to his feet and took his weapon in hand, keeping it deactivated. He decided to walk a few paces down the hall, back to the medbay. He wanted to check back on his Apprentice. He was cut short.

"Caesar, where are you going?" asked the voice of his Quastor, who had left Vorrac to get some much needed rest.

"Just going back to check on Markus, sir. It shouldn't be long."

"No. You will stay here and guard this room. For the next few hours, no one goes in, no one comes out. Is that understood?" ordered Dacien.

"Yes, sir."

"I'll go check on Durotar for you."

Caesar relaxed back on the floor as Dacien walked away. He kept his hilt in hand, hoping for the worst.

Arcadian

03-08-2007 20:11:20

Arcadian strode quickly through the halls of the Ambition his mind was wandering. Bubba had sent him on a simple recon mission to make sure the Vong hadn’t followed them further into the shroud, “Only go as far as you dare,” he had said. Well, he had gone as far as he dared, and found nothing. Arcadian had told the few members of Victus that had come with him, Vexer, Rayne, Wuntila, and Nariah, to do another quick sweep of the area before returning to the Ambition.

The Jedi Hunter moved quickly down the hall, finishing up the last few details of his report to give to his Quaestor. Arcadian was pleasantly surprised when the people at the med bay had told him he could leave, not a day after he had suffered some very harsh wounds from the battle with the Vong. The recon mission that he and the few members of Victus had been sent on had been routine but nonetheless he had made a short report. Storing the datapad on his belt the Jedi Hunter moved towards the med bay, despite the fact that Markis Dorutar was no longer a member of Victus; he was still one of Arcadian’s closest friends, and that was something not everyone could say.

Arcadian rounded the corner that led to the med bay, and saw another member of Victus sitting on the ground in front of a door lightsaber in hand. Julius Caesar looked up as Arcadian rounded the corner, and he stood immediately, readying his lightsaber until he saw who it was.
“Oh it’s just you Arc” breather the Templar,
“Um, yeah” replied Arcadian “what’s going on here?”
Before Julius could reply Bubba walked out of the door to the med bay, he was speaking to Julius before he even saw Arcadian and said “Markis is fine Julius, he’s going to make a full recovery.” Turning the Sith Battlemaster noticed Arcadian and said “ah Arc, your back, how was the mission?” In answer the Jedi Hunter handed his Quaestor the report he had written, Dacien took only a moment to glance at the report before looking back up. “Good” he said, “now come with me, something has happened.” Arcadian followed him the few steps down the hall without question.

Aabsdu

05-08-2007 22:39:02

Aabsdu paid little heed as his pilots scurried past him. His mind was on the enemy contact ahead, but the anger he felt threatened his clarity. He had fought long and hard to keep this Clan from utterly destroying itself from political infighting. Now the invaders were very near to finishing the work begun by those within the Clan who would have rather seen Plagueis burn to validate their egos than real progress be made. He would not let this Clan fall.

The lift doors parted at his approach and re-opened moments later onto the chaotic bridge. The bustle of activity quieted with his arrival.

"Was this not supposed to be a safe passage out of the Shroud, away from the enemy and towards home?" he asked anyone brave enough to answer.

Few dared to meet his eyes.

"My lord," the officer of the deck said, assuming responsibility, "it would appear that the enemy possesses a means to navigate the Shroud. They have sealed off this avenue of escape."

"No doubt," Aabsdu replied refusing to let the anger welling within to cloud his judgment. "What is the tactical situation?"

"The enemy fleet is composed of thirty-two capital vessels supported by numerous smaller craft," he said guiding the Consul over to the relevant display. "They approach on this axis of advance," the officer said indicating a sweeping red line, "and will intercept us in four minutes."

"And no one sensed their presence?" Aabsdu queried those few Jedi assembled on the bridge. Strange none among them had felt the enemy waiting for them here. Granted, the Shroud was known to cloud the senses of Force-users, but normally some impression was possible even at twice this distance. Sensors were obviously not reliable, but it bothered him the enemy had laid an ambush for them completely undetected. Was this how the Jedi Council felt during the Clone Wars after learning Sidious had been among them the whole time? It was a feeling of helplessness he was unaccustomed to. They relied too heavily on their abilities to do the work for them.

The ship's Executive Officer broke Aabsdu's reverie. "My lord, we must assault through the enemy line and press on to Jusadih. If we turn and flee, the enemy will harass us all the way back to Antei."

He weighed his options as he watched the icons representing his battered fleet close with the red line showing the waiting enemy. Though little prescience struck him in the matter, his instincts led him to believe that should they attempt to breach the enemy line, what came out the other side would little resemble a fleet if anything at all.

He should run.

But what lay behind him to run to? The XO had been right at that. There was only one possibility: Antei. Were other elements of the Brotherhood fleet to survive, they may assemble there for a counter-attack...or a last stand. Or would they attempt to destroy him? His choices were simple: a certain death now, or a probable one later. He wagered to himself that no other Clan would have guessed Plagueis could have survived even this long.

He may as well see if there was anyone left to disappoint.

"Prepare for concussion missile barrage on my mark. All tubes, all ships." His orders were quickly relayed via comm. laser to the rest of the command. "When the racks are empty, come hard about for Antei."

Though not the choice he would have made, the XO did take some comfort in the Jedi's confidence. These Dark Siders had that going for them if nothing else. They always could sell a plan. He checked his board. "All ships ready, lord."

"Mark."

With that, several hundred concussion missiles left their racks in rapid succession hurtling towards the enemy line. Aabsdu's intent was not destruction, merely distraction. It would either work or it would not. He had no other option.

As the spiraling missiles neared their intended targets, proximity fuses actuated and detonated the warheads turning each into a brief, but deadly shrapnel bloom. The enemy vessels' gravity-bending defenses were unable to lock onto the missiles before detonating. The missiles caused only superficial damage from the bursting clouds of shrapnel, but it had been enough to lessen the incoming fire allowing Plagueis to escape.

In turn, as each ship's launchers emptied, the Plagueis fleet remnants wheeled about and headed for Antei with the Yuuzhan Vong battlegroup in pursuit.

~~~~~

"The enemy is following us, attempting to attack, Master Dupar," one of the officers on the bridge informed Consul Aabsdu di Plagia Dupar. He had expected as much, since he knew the distraction would not be a complete success. Things were never a complete success.

"Just hold them off long enough to get out of range," he shouted back as the bridge erupted in activity. He looked out of the viewport, the only thing he'd done the past four days, and watched as the Solace exploded brightly, lighting up the scene until it faded away forever. The destruction of yet another of their ships proved an advantage, however, as they took the opportunity to retreat, continuing to pull farther and farther away from the Vong, and yet they were still following, hundreds of fighters pouring towards the Plagueis vessels as their few TIE defenders and interceptors flew to attack them. Aabs noticed the members of Satal Victus among the forty-odd fighters lifting out of hangars.

They only had to hold on long enough to get out of range. They didn't have to win the battle, only escape it with as few casualties as possible. As the Vengeance shook yet again, though, Aabs started to doubt just how few that would be.

~~~~~

In the middle of space, Jedi Hunter Aalos Fier cursed aloud as he and Quaestor Royal headed towards the Ambition to locate Dacien Victae. He had just left the hangar of the Atrum Pars, where Royal had been, when the Vong had attacked. He watched as his brethren attempted to distract them as they moved to retreat, but the Vong were attacking all the same.

As their Delta Class JV-7 shuttle zigzagged through space to avoid the onslaught of Vong attackers, Royal was seated cross-legged on the floor, deep in battle meditation as he worked to offer his assistance to those in battle, specifically the members of Satal Victus as they flew through the enemy, trying to stay alive.

Meanwhile, Fier could only sit in the pilot's seat as he worked to get them through this mess and into the hangar of the Ambition.

Kal

06-08-2007 16:55:11

The familiar noise and rocking of the ship's missile tubes emptying had Kal awakening with a grin. He had slept, he'd had hours to regain full control over the other, along with a helpful sedative, and now, one thought ran through his mind.

Battle, he thought, even as he savored the delicious feeling of thought uninterrupted.

The Knight couldn't know how long he'd have control over the other, how long the other prescence would remain dormant. He didn't know whether they were attacking, defending, or worse, doing that Brotherhood-wide mixture of attack and defense that made them feel powerful, yet usually had them with worse wounds than a suicide run. He didn't even know where they were. He only had a limited time, a fraction of freedom, before Vorrac would surface again.

"Vorrac," Kal said to himself, not even realizing he had.

Vorrac. Darth Vorrac, Sith Lord of ancient times, of thousands of years ago. A member of the Sith species as well as their order. From the time before lightsabers were an idea. Kal's ancient progenitor, whose special DNA was so diluted by that of humans that it's only purpose and function, now, was to prove relation between the two. The Sith DNA in Kal was so little that a detailed genetic search would not have found even traces of it. Now, since Kal's "rebirth", Vorrac's specter took refuge in his descendant's mind.

Vorrac was like a cancer. He grew within Kal, fed off of Kal's spirit. Not long ago, he had overstretched his powers, overused his host. Since then, he could still increase the powers of his host. If not for the blinding, unthinkable pain the specter took, the damage he felt, and the control he lost over Kal's mind, he'd have had lightning pouring out of the Knight's fingertips. Now, even aiding Kal in saber combat was dangerously harmful. Even a lower Equite power would likely have them both in critical condition.

As Kal walked to the sink of the medbay, his eyes widened as he saw the changes, and realized them. He could see, from both eyes. The black stubble across his face made him look like someone who would come after you in a dark alleyway in the lower reaches of Coruscant. The new scar enhanced this appearance, but it was the eyes that caught him off guard. The eyes, once a deep, violent green. Now faded, pale green, even somewhat yellow. The proverbial tumor was growing.

"No." Kal said to himself, as if to dispel the image with words. "I will not be taken."

Taken? it was a whisper of the other, of Vorrac, in his head. No.

"What, then, grandfather?" The Knight did not even chuckle at the understatement.

Given, the voice within said in a near-silent cackle. You've been letting me in, little Si...

Kal felt a surge of relief. The other couldn't even finish a sentence, which showed his dying power. Walking to the door, Kal's senses detected no guard there, where he could have sworn Caesar had been left. He must have been called away. As he exited the door, senses told him they were there just before Royal and Fier strode past, stopping to speak to him. The lich ignored him, but at the sight of Fier, he felt a surge of kindred.

"Kal!" The zabrak shouted, walking up to him. "Where's Dacien?"

"I don't know, probably the bridge. Why, brother?" Aalos was one of the few Kal had considered close enough to call family.

"We're looking for him, we need his-" Aalos stopped, looking closer at the Knight. "What's wrong with your eyes?"

"Nothing," Kal said. "Missiles recently fired. Why?"

"We're retreating, the missiles and fighters are trying to buy us time." The Jedi Hunter knew Kal's response before he saw the dangerous flicker in his eyes.

"RETREATING?!?" Kal shouted, but before he could finish, Royal stepped in.

"Fier, we must go." With a nod to the aedile, the lich and the Zabrak strode off.

Kal strode off, not in any particular direction. Fury gripped him. He was angry, anger enough to give the other a foothold, were he not so well-rested and partially sedated. His Clan was retreating. He respected Aabsdu's position on the matter. Even so, he felt insulted that he had only now been awakened by the missile tubes. He could have been of use, he could have been in the battle. Now, no empty fighters remained. As he rounded the corner, though he saw something that took his focus. Something emerging from an empty room, with an amphistaff at the ready.

[Jeedai,] the Vong hissed in it's guttural voice, standing ready for combat. The patrols had missed one.

Kal's hand flew to his belt, and he realized his greatest mistake yet. He was so used to having it handy, so used to carrying it everywhere that he'd forgotten to grab it. Back in the medbay he'd left a few hallways back, on the table, sat the Knight's lightsaber. He was unarmed in the face of a Vong warrior. Falling back to old teachings, teachings of Teras Kasi he'd never bothered to complete, teachings that he knew wouldn't save him, he assumed a Foraderri and glared into the face of the Vong. His blood would run, after this battle. He would die against his foe.

"A fitting end for us both," he said, meaning someone other than the Vong by "both of us" as the alien stepped forward and raised it's hissing weapon in a fighting stance.

Kaidoz

07-08-2007 16:58:06

Markis walked through the halls of the Ambition, wincing every now and then. The prosthetics really were a poor fit, and every so often they grinded against his charred flesh painfully. He'd have to get new ones made, after all of this. Walking along, he soon reached his destination outside the medbay. His Aedile, Kaliidrad, had never been kind to him. However, he knew that the Knight may have his uses, and friends with lightsabers were hard to come by.

"Well, may as well get it over with," Durotar thought, feeling the grating of the prosthetics to his legs and knowing of Kal's wealth, his ability to finance a new body, if Durotar needed it.

As the door slid open, though, he got a look of confusion to his face. Vorrac was nowhere to be found, but his lightsaber sat on the cabinet near the bed. Grabbing it, the Nautolan turned it on and tried a pair of clumsy swings, then, as he caught the corner of the bedsheets, switched it off. It would do no good to cut his arm off. Holding the saber in his metallic hand, he left the room, looking for the Aedile. He was but three steps down a certain hall when he heard the unmistakeable gurgling and rasping of a Vong's voice.

"It can't be... the patrols got them all." Sweat dripped down the nautolan's forehead, fear gripping him. He remembered what Vong could do.

Looking around the corner, he saw his Aedile in combat with a Vong warrior. The alien's amphistaff whirled at the Knight, at times a razor-edged staff, at times a whip. It caught Vorrac a number of times, leaving whiplashes and gashes on his arms and legs. Finally, the Vong threw down a blorash, tripping his foe. The Vong's eyes grinned, and he lifted his weapon for a staff.

[Die, Jeedai,] the warrior hissed in poor basic.

The alien had only time to raise the weapon before Durotar had his Aedile's saber hilt-deep in the enemy's armpit. The Vong fell, and Markis maintained a shaky hold on the weapon before Kal stood and held his hand out, retrieving his weapon.

"Durotar, correct?" The Knight asked, getting a nod from the Nautolan. "Expect new prosthetics in your future."

Aabsdu

12-08-2007 19:39:49

In Orbit Around Antei

Aabsdu looked upon the conflict that had suddenly been thrust upon him, and the decision he had to make. For a moment, he thought about everything that had happened these past few days. They had survived the initial attack. Attempted to flee back to Jusadih and assist there, but they had been stopped.

That battle was a blur to him. The Vong had attacked hard; he had ordered his ships to get out of range, and then it all seemed to slip away. He distantly remembered his command ship, the Vengeance, suffering a direct hit. The next thing he remembered was waking up on the bridge to find that they had once again escaped the clutches of the Yuuzhan Vong, but had subsequently led them right to Antei.

Taldryan, Tarentum, Naga Sadow. The three of them were locked in a battle with each other for reasons Aabs didn't think existed. He knew one thing, and that was that he wasn't about to go get in the middle of it.

Yet in a matter of minutes, he would be caught in the middle of it. Of a much larger battle, with an alien force that seemed as if it was unstoppable. It all seemed as if this would truly be the end.

No. Aabsdu still had things to do. Not just with his life, but with Clan Plagueis. He was not going to die here, nor was the clan he protected and served.

"Prepare for attack."

~~~~~

Jusadih System

The conquest of Nintura had taken longer than Gravenor Phin would have liked. Aerun had taken but two days to completely conquer, and yet this new planet, Nintura, had been able to resist them for two and a half days now. It was getting irritating.

Still, he was winning. They all knew it, there was no denying it. The only thing that mattered was how long the locals would continue to resist them. Better yet, how long it would take him to completely rid the galaxy of them. At least, the ones not needed to terraform the planet.

His men promised him they would be ready to move on to Shintera within a day, and he made sure to punish them if it turned out any differently. Meanwhile, his two Jeedai captives continued to suffer the embrace of pain. Having endured it for three straight days now, he doubted just how much of their mind was left. Their lightsabers had been destroyed, cast away with the rest of the rubble that once was the cities of Nintura. All was going well. Slow, but well.

Yet, deep inside his Miid Ro'ik, the Merciless, three Dark Jedi of Clan Plagueis, Jaden, Galaphile, and Anochiir, slipped through the ship, sensing the dim light of their two companions, and slowly getting closer to their rescue. When they had arrived at Nintura, the battle had already begun, and they had first landed on the planet surface to help set up an initial resistance force in order to slow the Vong down. Now, three days later, they were finally behind enemy lines, and ready to complete their mission.

Jagan Roda

14-08-2007 17:12:10

Sparks flew past the head of Jagan, crackling and leaping from wire to wire. He carefully connected the last few wires in place, welding shut the gaping hole in the ships auto-defence network. The Aedile listened carefully to the humming of the machine, clicking and whirring back into function. Grabbing his bag, Jagan kicked open the vent that he came in through and crawled his way back up to the engine room.

The Jedi wiped away the beads of sweat running down his forehead and left the engine room, entering the main corridor of the Vengeance. It had been a few hours since they arrived in the Antei system, fleeing from the Yuuzhan Vong. It had been nearly a week since the beginning of the war though and Jagan had yet to see battle, his thirst for blood getting ever greater.

Suddenly the alarm began to ring throughout the ship yet again and a smile stretched across Jagan’s face. He ran down the corridor, discarding his outer tunic as he headed towards the bridge. Within less than a minute Jagan was at the command deck where he was met by Consul Aabsdu.

There was a distinct look of stress upon his face as he turned to meet the Aedile, sensing his presence.

“Dark Jedi Knight Jagan reporting for duty sir!” spoke Jagan.

“6 Minutes…” replied the Consul. That was all he spoke and it was all that was needed to communicate with Jagan.

“Aye, Captain” Jagan turned to leave the room but then stopped and looked back towards his Consul, forgetting his previously formal tone in front of his friend.

“I know the threat that we are fighting against Aabs, and alas I know their strength”. He paused for a second. “If it were to end that way, I just want to say, well…it’s been a pleasure…sir”

Aabsdu nodded towards Jagan, and with that the Aedile left. He beckoned over one of the bridge’s crew.

“Open the hangar and prepare Jagan’s fighter”

“Yes, Sir!” replied the crew member, returning to his post and following his orders.

Shirai

16-08-2007 20:31:12

Galaphile dared to breath as he, Jaden and Anochiir evaded another Yuuzhan Vong warrior patroling the hallways by dipping into the shadows. Purely by luck and skill that they all remained undetected. Galaphile was not foolish enough to believe that this would remain so for long. Things never seem to go the way he wanted it too especially in the life of a Jedi.

The warrior walked past them oblivious to the fact that the very creatures he now hunted were mere feet away from him. As the Vong disappeared behind a corner and his steps were non-existent, Anochiir gave the order and they proceeded to the spots where Dismal and Scorpius through the Force.


They met no other opposition as they continued to the chambers that held the Plagueian Jedi. Galaphile found this odd, luck can only get you so far before it blows up in your face. But he was not going to jinx anything by thinking about it. The they found them. Held together in their entrapments with only crudely made bonds to keep them prisoner. Anochiir quickly dispatched the thing connected to Dismal which was clearly causing him so much pain. Galaphile snarled in anger as he saw Dismal's condition. Seemed half dead as he fell into his arms after the Krath Archpriest cut his bonds.

Jaden had already freed Scorpius and had him holstered on top of his shoulder.

"This was far to easy," Jaden said suddenly looking at the tunnel the came through.

"I figured the same, thing," replied Anochiir. "Unlikely we slipped past them all without confrontation, but why there was no resistance is troubling. But at the moment it is a distraction, we need to get these two to med bay quickly. Scorpius is fairing better as far as I can tell through the Force but we need to hurry."

Galaphile through Dismal over his shoulder, who replied with a desolate moan, furthering his unrelenting loathing for the Vong. How he wanted to kill the bastards that did this to his friend. He would soon get a chance, for at that moment a voice filled with such coldness it made Galaphile shiver.

[The Jeedai are here. To save their pathetic kin. Go to them so that the Gods will be pleased have new additions to their sacrifice.]

The Plagueian trio ignited their lightsabers immediately, all thought of leaving undetected was banished. They would have to fight for their lives now. The pounding of boots echoed in their heads, like battle drums. Galaphile gently laid Dismal down on the floor, and Jaden mimicked in motion with Scorpius.

"Lets kill these disgusting beasts that dared fight with Plagueis and think they would get away with it!" Galaphile bellowed has he ran into the tunnel where three Vong warriors blocked the path. Oblivious to the warning from Anochiir, Galaphile let the beast inside him come loose. No restraints this time, he was out for the total destruction. The beast that had been created long ago by Elder Jonaleth, roared in agreement and let itself home to all of Galaphile's functions. Stronger and faster then before, Galaphile charged towards his opponents that would prove to be the most dangerous battle of his life.

Kal

21-08-2007 00:48:56

Kal walked through the halls of the Ambition, oblivious to the crew rushing around him, to the hallways he'd pass through where blood stained even the cielings with a thick spatter of gore. The smells entering his nostrils were strange, and familiar. Kaliidrad had been used to combat, but to the scent of ionized air from blaster bolts, the stench of ozone wedded to cauterized flesh that was left behind by a lightsaber. He was used to the scents of the modern warzone. However... it was not these that dominated the passageways. These smells were uncommon, strange to him in this day and age, and yet... they tugged at him as an old memory, with waves of nostalgia. For these were Darth Vorrac's memories, from before lightsabers and blasters, when such reeking of blood, of death, of gangrenous wounds was common. Now... it was almost as if the two feelings were one.

"So this is what it comes to," he said to himself, his yellow-green eyes blank of emotion, his face as if carved out of stone. "These foes bring us to our knees."

You've always known it to be so, my son, the other's voice entered his mind, but this time, no probing fingers of ice pried at his mental defenses. From the day this began, you knew it would be so.

Walking at his steady pace through the many passages, Kal stretched out his senses to feel around him. There was fear, indeed, fear abundant. Despair crept through the halls of the ship, agony and humiliation as sickening brides to the already horrid abyss of defeat. This was a Brotherhood vessel, a ship of the Final Way. Those who had never known defeat, who had fancied themselves invincible. The two Vorracs, those that shared the feet that walked steadily, now saw what their Final Way had bred. So long had these Dark Jedi of six Clans been without true danger, without external conflict, that they'd decided to seek it out. They had decided to create personal vendettas, rivalries, grudges. In the time of need, when all should have united, they had gone to war with each other. The Final Way had bred a sick, obese, stagnant thing out of the Brotherhood.

"And now they have come, as we knew they someday would," Kal did not finish the sentence, he did not need to.

Those such a diseased obscenity as your Brotherhood could not hope to face. The sentence was finished for him.

The Vong had attacked, had ripped into the Brotherhood. They'd torn it to shreds, ripped it apart. Now, so weak, if any Clan hoped to survive, if any Dark Jedi hoped to survive to be powerful, the time for infighting was over. At least for the moment, the six Clans would need to struggle to survive, and they would need to struggle together. The Yuuzhan Vong had ripped apart years of stagnation and sickness, leaving a bare creature to rebuild itself. A fresh start. Reaching his destination, Kal felt the irony of the truth as he entered the empty room. The most deadly enemy the Brotherhood of Dark Jedi had ever faced had given them exactly what they needed. Crushing defeat. For, once brought to their knees, the Brotherhood would have no choices but to die, or to strengthen enough to stand.

Dark Jedi did not lay down and die. The decision was clear, for them. Just as it was for the young Knight.

Entering the room, with it's sterilized grey walls and not a window, viewscreen, or camera in sight, Kal knew that this was what he'd looked for. From the empty racks on the walls, it had been an armory, or a supply room. Either way, it did not matter. Emptiness was ideal for a meditation chamber.

"Now..." the Knight said, his face and eyes filling with grim acceptance, his sentence again unfinished.

...you do what you must. the Vorracs had ceased the struggle, the battle for control. Both knew their destinies.

Kal locked the room's door, looking around before settling to his knees and closing his eyes. He had nothing to stir him anymore, nothing to make him worry. He'd heard from Bri, from his children. They were on Naboo, one of the few worlds the Vong had chosen not to ravage. They were safe. His brother... well, his brother was in Jusadih, seeking his own fate. He had no vision of what this might be, but he knew Anochiir now faced whatever path he was meant for. Now... he had to take his destiny as it was. Settling into calm, serene meditation, he became aware of himself, of himselves.

Kaliidrad Mortashka Vorrac felt his own energy. He grasped the Dark Side, but there were emotions there that few saw in a Sith. The Knight's darkness was balanced with the love for his family, the emotions that stemmed not from the Dark Side, the emotions that flooded clearly from the light. Yet, these emotions made him unpredictable, and often they fed him in a way that the darkness never could. Then... there was the other, also within his mind.

Darth Ahvedrius Vorrac's soul crept within the recesses of Kal's mind. His essence was black, tainted to the core, a stain far darker than any within Kal. He had murdered many, strangers, foes, friends, his very kin. He had bent people to his will, made men his pets, women his playthings. He had done everything he could to sin, to drop deeper into the shadows. Yet... it was as if the dark, pulsating thing were hurt. Here and there, one could sense burns of a sort, not of the flesh, but of the soul. The ancient Sith's soul and essence had been immense and powerful, but he had foolishly channeled huge amounts of power through his host at one time. He did not realize the danger of this. It weakened him, wounded him. It had nearly destroyed him.

Within the young Knight's body, within his soul, it began. The barriers, the borders between the two, had faded. The intermingling of light and darkness above crept into the abyss even as the vileness within him reached diseased tendrils of power to it. The time for a fight had ended. Kaliidrad Mortashka Vorrac had never been strong enough, capable enough. He had been weak. Darth Ahvedrius Vorrac had been arrogant, cruel, and narcissistic. For all of his power, he'd never seen that the strength of all the Force meant nothing when one was a fool in wielding it. He, too, had been weak, not of power or skill, but of soul. Now, the two blended, merged. Every drop of their essences intertwined, became merged as one, intertwined. Their weaknesses were one. Then, they began to burn. The twin souls, the cocoon of dual conciousnesses burned and smoked away, dying into nothingness. As they faded, it was done, and a new, strong prescence arose. Kaliidrad Mortashka Vorrac no longer existed as he had, and with him into nothingness went his progenitor. Now... only one name truly fit the soul. He was not one, or the other, or even both. He was simply Vorrac.

"From the ashes of battle..." he began slowly, "...from the end of the ancient, and the young..." he took a deep breath, lifted his head, opened permanently golden-yellow eyes.

"I am born."

Standing, the Knight walked from the room. He would bear the name Kaliidrad Mortashka Vorrac. This one, in passing, had left his base essence within the newcomer. Still lingered feelings for Brijha, Typhaes, Teritus, Marcus. Powerful feelings even. The name was that of the body, and would be carried on. No longer did Kal exist, or the other, and never again would they. The Brotherhood was weakened, fleeing into the shadows to hide and regroup. It was a time of change for all, and this was exemplified as the young Knight, young now in soul as well as replica body, walked the halls for the first time, yet for the hundredth. Standing before a window and looking out of it, Kal watched as Plagueis' last ships fled together, unpursued by the enemy, undetermined to fight their brothers for the first time in ages. There would be no more battle for Vorrac in this war. There had never been any to begin with. Walking to his next destination, the Knight entered the room, took a bed, and slept. He had no more reason to be awake.

Anochiir

22-08-2007 22:22:23

Anochiir moved quickly, dropping Dismal to the ground and rushing to Galahile’s side. Unhindered by restraints, Galaphile thought the Archpriest was attacking him causing Anochiir to slide to a half just out of the Knight’s range.

“Dammit, Galaphile! I’m trying to help!” the Isradia shouted.

Galaphile seemed to barely hear the Archpriest, but stil turned to face the Vong, who were now advancing on them. Moving almost as one, Galaphile and Anochiir moved fluidly. Complementing each others brutality, they moved rapidly dispatching the two Vong that had seen them.

Retrieving Dismal from where he had been dropped, Anochiir looked around quickly. They had to make their way back to the shuttle. Leading the group down one corridor, he came face to face with a Vong. Moving quickly, he threw Dismal to Galaphile, who caught him. Leaping into the air, Anochiir grapped the Vong by the head and twisted around, flinging the Vong down the corridor.

“GO!” the Archpriest screamed at the other two who quickly departed. Drawing the spear from his back, he stared down the Vong, who had just flown down the hall. He simply needed to buy the two Knights some time. Looking once over his shoulder, he lowered the visor to his armor and prepared himself for a fight.

The Vong grinned viciously, swing his weapon at the Archpriest who augmented his muscles and moved with inhuman deadliness down the hallway. Unseen to the Archpriest was the Vong thud bug being thrown and hitting his armor dead center, flinging him backwards. Flipping in the air, Anochiir touched his armor where the bug had hit him. Not feeling any damage, Anochiir charged down the hall again, narrowly dodging the Vong’s amphistaff which had meant to take off Anochiir’s head.

Leaping into the air, Anochiir hit the Vong’s chest full force with his feet. Knocking the his opponent to the ground, Anochiir snarled, “This is my home.”

With that said, he plunged his spear through the Vong’s head, into the floor underneath him. Pulling his spear from the corpse’s head, he turned and went down the way his companions went. He moved quickly and came across a few more dead Vong before he made it to the escape shuttle.

Inputting the launch codes and checking on Dismal and Scorpius, he moved to the cockpit of the now packed shuttle, “Ready to go home, boys?”

Receiving a nod from both Jagan and Galaphile, he eased the ship from the place they had left it and shot forward towards the Hell’s Iris. Once on board, he instructed Dismal and Scorpius to be taken to the medical center aboard the corvette.

Making his way towards the bridge, he ordered a course be set for one of the only places left to his clan, “Set our course to Kapsina. Let’s go home...”

Arcadian

25-08-2007 12:37:39

Arcadian stepped out of his Tie Interceptor and nearly fell over, he was exhausted, but he could not sleep. A week. One god damn week, that was all it had taken for the living breathing creature that called itself a Brotherhood to be reduced to it’s knee’s. The Jedi Hunter stepped across the hangar bay; vaguely recalling a battle with a Vong here not long ago that had nearly cost him his life. He walked briskly, betraying none of the exhaustion that had seeped into his bones. He recalled the message that Grand Master Sarin had sent out, not quite 24 hours ago, as the Clan’s battled in the space above Antei. And they called themselves a Brotherhood. Arcadian found it pathetic, he had thought of the Dark Jedi Brotherhood as a home, a safe haven, and a new life, and in a time when the entire Brotherhood should have been banding together against a new foe, what were they doing? They were killing each other, as they had done for years upon years. The time had come, the so-called Final Way, the Brotherhood would fall and be destroyed, or they would stand and survive, but live differently, perhaps not thinking themselves as invincible as before. Arcadian doubted they would use the Anteian system any longer however; the Vong seemed to have…taken over.

The Jedi Hunter marched through the halls of the Ambition, he knew that he could help no longer; he had done everything he possibly could for Plagueis, for his home, for his family. At that thought however his mind wandered, hardly a week before this war had started, Arcadian had located his sister, still alive even though he had thought her dead for several years now, he had sent her a holo-letter of himself, and he had desperately hoped she would reply. But then the Vong had come, Arcadian had no idea if she had sent a return letter, if she had, he expected it would be waiting for him back at Alpha Base, the headquarters of the House Satal Keto Quaestor, and of Satal Victus, the Battleteam he commanded. Arcadian reached the chambers he was using while on the Ambition and collapsed on his bed, still in his robes. Arcadian sighed, it seemed as though the Vong assault had stopped, he didn’t care why or how, all he wanted was for this war to be over, and to go home. The Jedi Hunter rolled over and let sleep engulf him. It was only a matter of time now.

Aabsdu

26-08-2007 12:06:49

Earlier that day, while retreating from Antei...

The fleet of Clan Plagueis was running, and running fast. After getting the order to retreat to the Jusadih System, they had turned and fled watching behind them as the Vong swarmed around Antei, the once center of the Dark Jedi Brotherhood that was no more.

"The enemy doesn't appear to be following up too quickly," Aalos Fier said, standing next to Consul Dupar. Small fleets and broken off to attack the fleeing Jeedai, but it looked as if they would be able to escape without too much damage... further damage.

"Incoming!"

Aabsdu looked around the viewport as the command bridge of the Vengeance turned hectic. The fleet of Clan Plagueis, at least what was left, was taking evasive action as a small Vong fleet attacked them, attempting to destroy the enemy before it could slip through their grasp. Yet it was too much. They were getting away, but the Vong were just too strong. Slowly, one by one, Plagueis was broken.

The fighters were the first to go. Six TIE Defenders were blown to pieces while ten Interceptors suffered the same fate. Then the entire viewscreen was filled with a huge flash, almost as if the Vengeance itself had taken a final blow. When the smoke finally cleared, though, Aabsdu looked on in horror as he watched the floating remains of the Atrum Pars drift through space as Plagueis continued to retreat. His Proconsul, Robert Daragon, had just returned to his command ship as they prepared to flee. Aabs searched through the Force for his companion, and yet felt nothing but death. He pushed the thought away.

"We can't hold out much longer," one technician said. Aabsdu could tell that the Vong were holding back, though. As if willing to let him leave. The Consul watched as his clan scattered, all attempted to get out of Antei, and back to Jusadih.

~~~~~

Jusadih System
Shintera


Nintura had been obliterated. Not a single city was left standing as it had been left behind, set to be terraformed at a later date. Aerun had suffered the same fate, although for it 24% of the terraforming process had already been completed. Including the new seat of power, Si'Tilk, grown right over the remains of the once Diadem Fortress. Things were taking longer than planned for, and they had suffered minor loses, but still things went well.

Now here, at Shintera, things continued to work in the Vong's favor. They had met no resistence, and after only three hours of bombardment as landed on the planet surface. Shintera would be their's within twelve hours.

[Lord Phin, a message from Shimrra,] one of the warriors on the bridge of the Merciless said to him. He turned and linked the conversation to his own mind, without a touch of technology in the process.

[Lord Jamaane, how may I serve?]

[In a few ways," Shimrra replied, "For you have failed in your mission.]

Gravenor flinched at this, but did not speak.

[You were to conquer that puny system quickly, and yet it has been a week by these infidels' time, and still you are only halfway. Are you not strong enough to finish them?]

[My Lord, the mission will be compl...]

[It matters not. Jusadih is of no importance to us, for it is weak, and there are bigger things out there right now. You are to cease all attacks immediately and travel to the Antei System. Supreme Commander Mel is close to conquering the system, and requires reinforcements. After you have done so, return to me, and we will decide how to handle your failure with Jusadih.]

Before Gravenor could rebutt, Shimrra had cut the feed, and the Commander was left with no other choice but to turn and leave.