[Looking Home Campaign] Antenora Team 1

The coordinates of the Pacre Datship rebellious leaderships has been found. A small well fortified compound in the mountains is where the previously imprisoned and contained Ognerate Emperor, along with his Glyph Priest, fled to. Now it is operating as the highest level command center for their rebellion on Antenora.

Your team’s mission is to assault the compound from the south. Inside find the Ognerate Emperor. He is the unifying voice of this foolish rebellion. Your team must either capture him, or bring his body in for confirmation of death. His foolish attempts at restoring the Ognerate Empire and his own power must be ended at all costs.

OOC:
Clusters of Ice will be awarded for this runon.
Please utilize the shared GoogleDoc to plan and prepare yours posts.
Teams are randomly assigned as people signup to participate.
You can edit a post until the next person has posted.
Only people who make at least 2 posts will be given participation credit.
Runon begins at 12:01 AM on the 12th

Darkness had fallen on the skies of Antenora. Towering mountain ranges reached towards the twin moons illuminating the night sky. Togruta Scientist Dr. Elincia Rei gazed up at the blanket of stars sweeping across the backdrop in a moment of admiration. It had been almost a decade since she set foot on the surface of Antenora.

To her left stood a Zabrak she was unfamiliar with, a new addition to Scholae Palatinae’s Dark Jedi contingent, Protector Arthadonis Kalderis. With training more suited to scouting and slicing, his steps along the path of the Obelisk Assassin were in their early stages. In front were the power of the team, the wide, muscular frame of Sith Warrior Flelm, a powerful marauder armed with lightsaber and heavy blaster, and the slightly smaller Sith Sorcerer Lucyeth, recently knighted.

Elincia herself carried unconventional weaponary, a small supply of volatile chemicals and neurotoxins used to create explosives and poison gas grenades in the field, along with a blaster pistol given to her by Koryn in her last field outing. While more familiar with the theory than practice of such a weapon, the scientist was capable of point it at something and pulling the trigger. Her lightsaber slept soundly inside her coat, the remnants of a darker past.

The mountain path was harsh, rocky and unforgiving, unsuitable for any vehicle, barely suitable for life, forcing the team to walk on foot to their destination. While well fortified and defended, the night and the uneven terrain provided the team with significant cover, especially for those well trained in the arts of stealth and subterfuge. As the highest ranking Dark Jedi, Flelm took leadership of the group through the treacherous landscape towards the Ogenrate Emperor’s new compound.

“Approximately 20 minutes further walk north,” Elincia informed from behind, almost tripping over a rock with her eyes on her datapad. “The terrain will get steeper as we go and the compound is very well defended. However, members of this tribe were last seen using spear and bow. It is unlikely that they’re well trained in the use of the weapons they’ve inherited.”

“We should assume they are. I don’t want to be unprepared if they start firing blasters at us.” Flelm replied. The next several minutes of the trek were uneventful, the only thing of note being the clearing of Lucyeth’s throat. As the march brought the team over a crest, their calm demeanour was shattered when Flelm and Lucyeth dropped to the ground suddenly, the others following suit. Arthadonis and Elincia crawled up to Flelm to find out what was going on, he signalled to them that there was movement ahead and Arthadonis inched up to the peak of the crest to analyse what was there. Before them lay a small clearing in the terrain with large rocks surrounding it on all sides. Standing near the centre were 3 sentries bearing the mark of the Pacre Datship tribe, all wielding bows.

“We can’t go around them, the terrain is too unpredictable and it could take hours.” Elincia whispered.

“Alright, we’ll have to take them down. Lucyeth, move around to the east and Arthadonis to the west, flank them. Elincia have your blaster ready but don’t fire unless you need to, I want this to stay a stealth operation.” Flelm’s orders were followed without a sound as Lucyeth and Arthadonis proceeded to their positions. Once each member of the team was ready, Flelm gave the order to attack and the battle began.

Lucyeth, Arthadonis and Flelm all launched out of the rocks at blinding speed, lightsabers igniting and trained on their prey. Elincia had her blaster aimed at the nearest Antenoran ready to fire a lethal shot if needed, however it would prove unnecessary as the 3 saber wielding Sith dispatched their respective targets. Flelm brought his blade down to cut the sentry vertically in half, a quick death. Arthadonis’s saber reached out and skewered the throat of his victim preventing any cries for help as the Antenoran slowly dropped to the ground. Lucyeth first sliced through the bow and hand of his prey and before the sentry could utter a sound in response, Lucyeth’s blade took its head from its shoulders. Quick, clean, and most importantly, quiet.

As the team regrouped at the centre of the clearing above their fallen enemies, Arthadonis took a moment so check for any advanced weapons or communication devices. Finding none they disposed of the remains and continued toward their destination.

A double burst of static on Flelm’s commlink broke the silence as the group traipsed through the rocky terrain. Holding his hand in a fist to freeze the squad, he called out, “Elicina, with me. Arth and Lucyeth, stand guard.” He crouched in the shadow of a large rock formation, and keyed, “Divto Leader here, go ahead.”

The familiar voice of Acclivis Draco’s leader came back across the speaker, “Divto Leader, this is Divto Cavalry. We’re en route to your location from the southeast. Ten minutes out.”

Flelm whispered to Elicina, “That’s obviously Kell Dante, but who would he have with him?” Getting no ideas from Elicina, he shrugged and replied, “Affirmative Divto Cav. We’ll head to high ground and signal you in with a light.” Another double burst of white noise signaled Kell’s acknowledgement of the change in plans. Swinging his finger in a circular motion above his head, he caught Lucyeth’s and Arthadonis’ attention, and quickly explained the reinforcements coming their way.

“We’re headed to high ground. This formation behind us should be perfect,” he ordered, thumbing behind him at the boulder curiously leading up to a thirty meter long shelf. “Stay prone when we get to the top, you don’t want your profile to be caught by any unfriendlies. Let’s move out.” The Dark Jedi quickly put his words into action, scrambling quietly up the rocks. Elicina, noticing a strange texture and slight warmth when she began the climb, shook her head, resolving to bring it up to Flelm when they were in a safer position.

Reaching the top of the small plateau without event, the four infiltrators began watching the ridges to the southeast, Arthadonis tasked with waving a light back and forth every fifteen seconds. As they waited for the reinforcements to arrive, Elicina crawled over to Flelm, and murmured, “I have a bad feeling about this. I don’t think these are rocks.”

Flelm stared back at her with a quizzical look for just a second before extending his senses out through the Force. Just then, the byerua they were perched on began to clamber to its feet, and bellowed out in surprise at the weight of the humanoids on its back. Suddenly on top of a lurching titan tortoise, Flelm held on tight and yelled out, “Plan B!”

Lucyeth gazed upon the sight with shock as the gargantuan tortoise rose up higher into the sky.

“Plan B?” asked Lucyeth as he was sure everyone of Divto squad was thinking.

“Everyone start doing some damage before it hurls us off its back!” yelled Flelm, and everyone moved in a frantic frenzy. Lucyeth, Arthadonis and Flelm slashed with their lightsabers while Eli and Tarsus were using blasters. The team moved toward the neck joint that met the shell and attacked the back of the neck. Blaster bolts flew into the back of the head of the large creature as well with the team on the a full offensive strike.

“Sithspit. We are not doing nearly enough damage. The large creature did not show any signs of weakening and Flelm thought of other ideas.

“Eli you need to make a weapon that can be used against this thing!” Demanded Flelm with a tone of urgency.

“I can make neurotoxins, explosives or anything that my chemicals can grant me,” replied Elincia.

“Doesn't matter which one. Just what you think will be best to deal with this thing,” Flelm stated as he pulled out his commlink from his waist belt.

“Divto leader to Divto Cav what is your location?” asked Flelm into the receiver.
”Divto Cav to Divto Leader. I am closing on your position. Things getting hot and heavy?” asked Dante.

“We have a rather small issue with a turtle right now,” replied Flelm.

“I see you are all starting without me already. I can shoot it down or pick you up,” said Dante.

“We can check and advise how to proceed when you pick us up,” replied Flelm.

“Received, coming in close,” said Dante.The 30th Airlift Squadron tore through the sky like butter as the support ships hovered over the titan tortoise to pick up the squad. Kell Dante greeted the rest of the squad as the squadron circled around the large tortoise. Tarsus was stationed on heavy repeater with his large fingers on the trigger. The loud concussion of his heavy repeater drowned out the nearby noises. The large Obelisk shook like a hydraulic jackhammer as he continued to fire.

“Good thing I brought the airlift squadron. Although I think the Antenorans will know we are here now,” said Dante.

“With that giant thing, I don’t think it matters anymore,” replied Flelm.

“I brought some reinforcements if needed as you requested. I have three legions to work with so I figured I can pull a few necessary for our task,” said Kell Dante as the squad looked upon troopers of the 32th legion.

“Ehh we might need all the resources we can get,” replied Flelm as both the troopers and the rest of Divto squad looked toward the two for the next objective.

The members of Divto squad had to either deal with the titan tortoise or simply move on with their mission and ignore it. The tactic of stealth was no longer a viable option as the enemy would surely know something was out of place.

As the others were talking, Tarsus stood by the door of the ship they were on. The large Obelisk was in a deep thought, thinking of what to do. He very well knew they had lost the element of surprise, but perhaps they can get it back.

My mother always told me I wasn't very wise.... All well!

Tarsus stood up tall as his head barely touched the roof. He walked toward the rest of the group he was with.

"It is no secret that we’ve lost the element of surprise," Tarsus said loudly. “ Well, everything that is lost can be found."

“Umm... What are you trying to get at?" Flem asked, a bit worried.

”We get the element of surprise and stealth back!" Tarsus shouted with excitement.

“How do you think we will do that?" Elincia asked, curious what the Obelisk had to say.

” Easy! A distraction! See.... To regain stealth, you need something.... Big that will cause attention elsewhere." Tarsus quickly took an explosive device from Elicina. “ I'll do the distraction!"

The large Obelisk opened the main door and dove out. He used the Force to help guide him closer to the Objective. What Tarsus was going to do was foolish, but perhaps smart. The Obelisk was going to walk right in the entrance, and make a good show. The show must have some fireworks. What is a celebration without explosives?

About an hour later, Tarsus walked right into the entrance. He had ripped his shirt off and hid the explosives in the woods nearby.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" He yelled out as Tarsus was quick to be surrounded by guards and all. " Now, now.... No need to play rough."

“Who are you!?" One asked annoyingly.

"A man," Tarsus replied.

"No Sithspit! Your name!" Another yelled at Tarsus.

“Hmmm.... Name, name.... I don't know, what's yours?"

A guard moaned in frustration. “ My name is Shut the hell up!"

Tarsus looked at the guard. "An interesting-" Before he could finish, a huge explosion filled the air. Some how, the giant Tortoise got into the fuel dump as Tarsus distracted everyone. A huge roar of fire, and the load roar of the tortoise in pain filled the air around.

The Antenorans ran to the fire to try and help out with the disaster. They were so caught up with the fire that only five enemy opposition elements remained at the front. It left the main entrance more or less an open door.

"Come on!" One of the guards yelled as he pushed Tarsus forward. Tarsus complied, but he suddenly started to run back out. The guards chased after him, threatening to kill Tarsus. Little did they know that Tarsus was leading them into an ambush. The troopers from the ship were awaiting for a signal, and Tarsus was about to give them one.

The rage of explosions, fire and blasters battled over the tumult of roars, screams and shouts as Tarsus’ distraction led the Antenorans into battle with Scholae forces. Tarsus sprinted from a messy chain of untrained blaster fire that was abruptly ended by a well timed explosive charge. The commotion overloaded the senses and the excitement of battle filled the minds of the men on both sides. Kell Dante and Nestor Drake joined the battle, the reinforcements quickly dispatching what remained of the force in pursuit of Tarsus.

“More Antenorans coming!” Lucyeth yelled, noticing reinforcements joining the melee, the explosion and obvious hostile attack force taking priority over the fire.

“Archers!” Came a shout on the edge of hearing, before a volley of arrows was launched from the roof of the compound.

“Move forward!” Dante shouted, battering away the arrows reflexively with a giant wave of telekinetic force.

“Where the hell’s Elincia!” Arthadonis questioned, looking for his intended partner in stealth. But Elincia was gone.

*2 minutes earlier*

In the commotion her infiltration through the front door via the application of Force illusions went completely undetected. She dropped her cloak inside the compound for ease of movement but was almost immediately confronted by three armed guards, a security force of blade and blaster. “Halt! This is a restricted area!"

“There’s no need to wave your big swords at such little girl,” she said sweetly, smiling as they holstered their weapons, obviously not seeing her as a threat. “I was just looking to speak to the Ogenrate Emperor.”

“The Emperor has no business with you little girl. Clear off!”

Elincia added a swagger to her walk as she approached them, almost unbalanced as the sound of Tarsus’s explosives shook the building. “Oh, but there are so many things I could do for you. I don’t see any other women here… maybe we could come to an agreement.” She said, rubbing up against the patrol leader. “Why don’t you just tell me where he is?” Her personality and tactics changed considerably when she didn’t need to hide her appearance.

“If only to get you out of my sight,” he responded. “The Emperor rules from the top floor at the front of the compound.”

“I’ll come back to see you later,” Elincia said with a smile and a wink before making her way towards the Emperor. 30 seconds later, her thermal detonator exploded from within the guard’s pocket, obliterating his team.

Back outside the compound, there was only ever going to be one winner between the Antenoran forces and the Dark Jedi of Scholae Palatinae backed up by their legions. After a short and decisive victory, all the supporters of the Ogenrate Emperor were either wounded, dead, or had fled the battlefield.

For a second, the raging fire was the only sound breaking the silence of the Antenoran mountainside before a deafening explosion tore through the wall of the complex. Dust and rubble covered the front wall of the complex. When all settled, Elincia stood in the gaping hole that was left in the wall, directly underneath the Emperor’s command centre.

As the quick battle was over, Tarsus stood in the middle of the entrance. His chest moved up and down heavily. The Obelisk's body was dripping with blood and other gore. The tall warrior lost his weapon, so he charged straight forward like the brute he was. Tarsus would use his strength to rip his enemies apart from limb to limb. His cold, grey eyes added fear to the enemy. Even as huge he was, Tarsus moved quickly. The Obelisk knew Broken Gate and Dillion well. That was his fighting style, with some dirty hits here and there. The thing Tarsus loved was ripping a limp or two apart. Sometimes, he'll grab one's skull and crush it with his hands. As most his size moved slow, Tarsus was just as quick as anyone. The enemy see their friends’ arm pulled off, or their head and soon back off. No prisoners were spared from Tarsus. All who kneeled in submission quickly died. He cared not or prisoners. They only add a burden and ate the food he loves. The brute was unforgiving in combat.

Now, the fight was over, but Tarsus still had its fire burning. He staring at the ground, trying to calm. Once he was in a rage, everyone was his enemy. All other noises were zoned out. Tarsus' heart was pounding fast and loud. All that was in mind was to fight and kill.

"Tarsus... are you okay?" Arthadonis asked, but Tarsus didn't hear. "Tarsus?" He asked again.

Suddenly, reality kicked in as Tarsus came back to who he really was. "Huh?"

Arthadonis studied Tarsus. "Are you okay? You... kinda... well, yeah."

Tarsus quickly nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine!"

Tarsus looked at his hand and saw the blood. It was enough to fill a blood bank. He enjoyed the color, but he hated the feeling of it. It was sticky, and he hated the smell. It was also warm, but it quickly turned cold... Much like Tarsus' heart. His heart is warm and kind at first, then cold and cruel in battle.

Is it worth killing a man? Is it really? Especially how inhumane I kill a man... is it? These guys were young... and had so much to live for.... Perhaps they did deserve to die..... Just... Perhaps... Just perhaps.... to live another day.... in a life that's just so grey.... We all die... for a piece of the pie... the pie of life... For all that seems so delight... But only for our souls take flight... today I die... for a slice of pie... only to say goodbye.

As Tarsus went out of his state of thought, he began to walk into the building. He looked around and studied the architecture. Others came in after him, and they continued on their mission.

As the dust settled, the palace guards wearily approached the new entryway that had been blasted into the command centre. Clumsily aiming the blasters supplied to them, they searched for any sign of who or what caused the damage but found nothing. Just as their nerves were calming, a blaster bolt appeared out of nowhere and pierced clean through the chest of one of the guards. He was dead before he hit the ground, causing the remaining Antenoran royal guard to fire instinctively at the source of the attack. Bolt after bolt flew only to impact the wall as the blasters ran through their clips with the guards ceasing firing only after expending all of their ammo. They began reloading as they visually scanned the area before another of them suddenly dropped to the ground.

Again they began firing deftly at the source of the blaster bolt, one of the guards could only make out the faintest shadow of movement at the point where the bolt originated but it disappeared long before he could train his blaster on it. One by one the guards fell to the invisible assassin, all perishing without ever seeing who had dealt the killing blow. In moments all of the royal guards were dead and once again silence fell on the command centre. Before the Ogenerate emperor could stand up from his throne in an attempt to escape, an impossibly beautiful Twi’lek appeared in front of him with her blaster held point blank against his head.

“Please don’t.” Was the only sound the Ogenerate emperor made before one final blaster bolt was heard echoing throughout the hall.

---

Divito squad made their way across the large hall that greeted them after entering the complex.

“We’ll find Elincia later, right now our priority is capturing the emperor.”

“You’re right Brandon, she can handle herself. Let’s proceed toward-“ Before Dante could finish, an arrow flew past his head leaving a neat slice on his cheek. He turned to see more Antenoran guards stampeding toward from from deeper within the complex firing a mix of bows and blasters at the strike team.

“Sithspit! How many of these cursed Antenorans are in here!” Flelm yelled as he quickly pulled up his lightsaber blade to deflect a blaster bolt. The rest of the squad instantly pulled their weapons into defensive stances before launching their counter-attack.

“At least these blasters are easier to track than the arrows, and easier to deflect.” Arthadonis commented as he sent a bolt back on a fatal trajectory to its sender. The Antenorans were no match against the merciless force users and their defeat was concreted when a thermal detonated landed near a group of them and shredded several Antenorans to pieces. The guards turned to see where the detonator had come from, only to see Elincia behind them with her blaster aimed squarely at them. Seeing that they were trapped, the few remaining guards that were still alive dropped their weapons and surrendered, pleading for mercy.

“Eli where were you?” Brandon asked.

“I saw another way in, I knew you guys would reach the entrance fast so I decided to flank them.”

“You should have let us know, we’re meant to be coordinating our-“

“I'm here now and my plan worked, I'm sorry if you’re upset but it doesn't matter any more does it.” Elincia said, cutting into Arthadonis’ complaint.

“I suppose.” Was his only response.

“Let’s move, we don’t have time to debate the rules and protocol of an operation.” Dante said as he began toward the command centre. The others agreed and joined him leaving only Arthadonis staring at Eli for a few moments before catching up to the group.

The team continued through the corridor towards the command center while Elincia ran to catch up.

“Judging by the amount of resistance we just took care of, the command centre should be less guarded than it was,” said Dante, preaching to the members of the squad.

“Wait up! That was part of my plan,” yelled Elincia, trying desperately to get everyone’s attention.

“What do you mean?” asked Lucyeth, with the others looking intently as well.

“The battle gave me a diversion to enter the command centre and I was able to take care of the emperor with no problems,” explained Elincia.

“That was your plan then,” said Arthadonis while he got an intense gaze from Elincia, who was clearly irritated.

“I guess all that is left is to secure the command centre,” said Flelm to end all the confusion,

The divto squad reached the command centre with light resistance from what was left in the complex. Each member fanned out to ensure that the command centre was all clear but all stopped at one end of the room to simply stare. The wall had a gaping hole that was still crumbling and smoldered from its recent destruction. Elincia was on a computer uploading some data for possible intel when everyone turned towards her.

“Good plan,” said Elincia looking confidently at her fellow dark Jedi.

The plan worked out in the end with the Ognerate Emperor out of the picture and the resistance in chaos. The team gathered anything useful within the command centre before Dante lifted his comlink to his face.

“This is Divto Squad, target eliminated and command centre secured,” said Dante before a brief moment of static. Everyone took a moment to take a break before awaiting the extraction.

The ease of infiltrating the heart of the enemy complex was something that Dante feared the younger members of the team would remember in future missions. The lack of higher level tech and weapons that this enemy force had access and skill with was extremely limited. Hopefully, the noobs wouldn’t carry this with them, but he shook off the feeling and turned ihs attention back to the mission as they moved into the inner area of the base.

Suddenly, a number of warriors dropped down upon them from a hidden compartment in the ceiling. Clad in all black, these men were chosen for their combat skills and utter dedication to their cause. All of them were fully prepared to lay down their lives for their people, and this was their opportunity to either defeat their hated enemies or become martyrs. Either way, they would fulfill their purpose.

Lightsabers ignited and blasters were pulled as steel was met with energy as the small group quickly laid waste to the squad of guards who were trying to protect their leaders and secrets. Severed arms legs, and heads soon littered the ground, but the enemy forces continued to fight on until no one was left to face the Dark Jedi.

Amongst the members of Scholae, none had sustained any serious injuries, but the enemy had managed to draw blood finally as a couple of the troopers from the Imperial Scholae Guard had been cut down by the attackers.

“Get them out of here. They need immediate evacuation if they’re going to survive,” said Elincia to the rest of the troopers who had accompanied them. “We’ll finish this…”

The armored soldiers looked over at Dante for confirmation, and the Field Marshal nodded in agreement. “Evacuate… We’ll catch a ride later after this is finished.”

Quickly gathering up the wounded, the remaining troopers headed for the exit as the Dark Jedi looked ahead towards the end of their mission.

Coming in hot, the MAAT designated for the extraction was coated in a special alloy that interfered with the ability for sensors to locate it. This was perfect for the mission of tonight as the craft made its way along the terrain to the rendezvous point. The pilot broke radio silence with “Divto squad… This is Shadow Flight… We are inbound to your position… ETA is five minutes.”

The leader of Acclivis Draco replied with “Roger that… We’ll put out the landing signals in three minutes and secure the LZ. Divto Out…”

“Acknowledged” was the simple response from the pilot of Shadow Flight as the stealthy transport designed for special operations continued its approach to the landing zone.

Quickly, the members of Divto Squad moved out from the interior of the command center and headed to the rendezvous point just outside the building. Securing the area wasn’t hard as the group of Dark Jedi had efficiently wiped away any resistance within the immediate area. The biggest threat to them would be long range snipers or heavy weapons that could strike from a distance.

Exactly on cue, the ship arrived. Flaring as it came in for a landing, the door gunners were at the ready as the doors opened, and the pilots awaited their cargo. Dante stood as the ship hovered above the ground and grunted “Let’s move out!” as he looked around the terrain surrounding the command center. “This just seems too easy” the Field Marshal commented as the unit hopped aboard the transport.

“Sometimes, it just can be easy, can’t it?” said Elincia as the MAAT lifted off and headed back towards friendly forces.