Invasion: Dark Fire Brigade And Dark Avatar Circle

Consul Duga Arkarso rubbed sleep from his eyes and growled as the comm unit on his wall beeped. He thought he'd left express instructions not to be bothered in the middle of the night, but somehow those instructions always seemed to get lost or ignored. Duga rolled out of bed and punched the audio-only button on the side of the unit - no need for the masses to see him with bed-head. "What?"

"Sorry to disturb you, sir. This is Lieutenant Vreek in the operations centre. We've had reports from the Home Guard that Admiral Lanar's ships have made another appearance at the edge of the system. This time they had their flagship with them." Duga's ears had perked up at the mention of Admiral Lanar, and his expression had turned grave at the mention of the flagship.

"Very well. Assemble the Summit on Karufr immediately, and notify me if any more of his ships cross our border. Duga out." With a sigh, Duga went to the refresher to run cold water over his face. So much for a few hours more sleep.

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The assembled Taldryan Summit met in the strategic planning room of the Clan Hall. The three Quaestors were there, flanked on either side by their Aediles and Envoys. They all sat around a large rectangular table, with each party on one side. Duga sat alone at the head of the table, with a large holographic display behind him. On it were formations and statistics of the Taldryan fleet, plus a holo of a stoic-looking Human man with a shaved head and neatly-trimmed goatee.

"The sentient you see on the screen behind me is a former Imperal Admiral named Lanar. After the death of the Emperor, Lanar took his fleet and disappeared into the Unknown Regions, intending to carve out a territory of his own. Nobody has heard from him since then... until a few weeks ago, when he started sending his warships across Taldryan's borders." The image on the screen changed to show a readout of known ships in Lanar's fleet. Of great concern was the Imperial-class Star Destroyer that seemed to be its flagship.

Frowns went around the table. Dark Jedi Master Alanna, Envoy of House Ektrosis, was the first to speak. "Why weren't we notified of this earlier?"

"Until now, Lanar hasn't been seen as a threat," Duga said. "I believe Erinyes was actually the first Clan member to know about this - she was able to provide positive IDs on the original scans." All eyes went to Erinyes, who nodded. "As it stands right now," Duga continued, "Lanar's forces appear to be similar in size to ours, and it looks like he's intent on using them. The most recent incursion was led by his flagship, an Imperial II-class Star Destroyer named Lanar's Fist."

"Egomaniac, is he?" Battlelord Taku "Crix" Matsuki Taldrya, Quaestor of Archanis, spoke up.

"Yeah, Crix, almost as bad as you are," Dark Adept Erinyes replied with a grin. She was leader of House Dinaari, and picked up where Duga had left off. "From what I discovered on my initial reconnaissance mission, Lanar has the Star Destroyer, a second Victory-class Star Destroyer named Lanar's Wrath, and a handful of smaller capital ships including Lancer frigates, strike cruisers and a pair of escort carriers. His fighter complement is significantly smaller than ours, but those Lancer will do a lot to even the odds. On his home base, which the Dark Hall has temporarily named Elyssia, he has a command base and a small shipyard. All of this is protected by a large minefield."

"It used to be protected by a minefield," Duga corrected. "As of now, I'm officially sick of dealing with Lanar. Sending his flagship in was a show of force - he wants to try to intimidate us with threat of conflict." Duga grinned. "Fortunately, we don't intimidate easily. Twelve hours from now, we'll launch an attack on his forces where they're massing at Elyssia. We'll be dividing up into three main battle groups, two space and one ground."

"I wouldn't mind knowing how the command structure will work," Templar Chaosrain, Ektrosis Quaestor, said from the other side of the table.

"The overall operation will be under my command," Duga said. "The regular military forces will be subordinate to the Summit. Crix and the Archanis Summit will command the naval forces. Erinyes and the Dinaari Summit will be in charge of the space assault forces. Chaos, you and the Ektrosis Summit will command the ground assault."

"Of course, I'd prefer you all say in the rear where it's safe, but I know you won't." Duga rolled his eyes at the chuckles around the table. "Individual missions will be given to each Battle-Team. We launch in twelve hours."

Dark Adept Erinyes strode into the briefing room where the assembled members of Dark Fire Brigade and Dark Avatar Circle waited. They were all shifting slightly in their chairs. For some, it was the anxiety of meeting their first battle - for others, it was anticipation of their next one. The room fell silent as the Dinaari Quaestor stepped up to the podium.

"Dark Fire and Dark Avatar, your objective for this mission is to capture Admiral Lanar's flagship, the Imperial Star Destroyer Lanar's Hand." Erinyes pressed a button on her console, and a holoprojector showed images of the objective and the team's equipment. "Needless to say, this thing is going to be a huge thorn in our side in this operation, and we need it out of commission immediately."

"Each Battle-Team will be supported by 150 battle droids, 4 officers and 2 droideka, effectively commanded by the Battle-Team Leaders for this mission. Both teams will deploy to the Star Destroyer in our Vibre-class assault carriers and assault shuttles," Erinyes continued, pointing to several key items on the display. "Your main objective will be the bridge and the engine room, where the reactor controls and auxiliary command systems are. The primary threat that you'll run into on this mission is the size of the ship itself - once the boarding alarms go off, their troopers will be able to find you fairly quickly. Also, watch out for the Echani commandos. We don't know how, but Admiral Lanar has gotten his hands on some old Echani mental discipline techniques. Any of you below the rank of Guardian will find your mind-affecting powers won't work. As such, you might just have to take control of the ship the old-fashioned way. Take prisoners if you like, but don't feel any obligation to do so."

Finally, Erinyes punched another button on the console, and the projection faded. "That's it, everyone. You have one hour to get ready before we drop out of hyperspace. Everyone has to be ready to deploy by then. I'd wish you good luck, but you're Taldryan Dark Jedi... we all know you're not going to need it." With those final words of encouragement, Erinyes turned and stepped out of the briefing room's door, leaving the Battle-Team to plan their next moves.

This thread is ONLY for the use of members of Dark Fire Brigade, Dark Avatar Circle or the Taldryan Summit, and only for in-character contribution to the run-on. Other posts will be deleted.

Michael was checking the plan again. Loading 300 toasters onto transporters, flying to the stardestroyer, trying to board the ship and diing by the attempt to fight an entire division of stormtroopers with a hand full of battle droids. Sure the Clone Wars would have had a different end if such a plan would have succeded once in history. But he had to agree that this was a typical Taldryan battle plan, where the tactical details were reduced on: 'We pwn' ... . Well, he hoped the Taldryan navy would at least take out fighter defenses and weapon systems of the ISD before they got sent there. Trying to board a ship with almost null speed 50 meters away of a turbolaser cannon operated by a greenhorn gunner searching for the fire button wasn't Michael's favorite passage into the other world.

Michael's hair started to get grey, well it had started some time ago, but meanwhile started to get visible even from distance. Michael turned his head around to check the other members of the Dark Fire Brigade sitting behind him. The faces of most of the Journeymen showed their expectation for fame and glory after returning from this mission. Well, this was Michael's second term as Battleteam leader of the brigade. He quited on a hill of copses of Journeymen with a different expression burned into their faces for eternety.

When Michael's view turned back to the podium, Dark Jedi Knight Jaysen had moved there to brief his Battleteam members for the upcomming mission. Michael would wait till Jaysen is done for his own briefing.

Sensing Michael's hesitations at the plan and knowing that his tactical mind had to be burning at the seeming simplicity and suicide that lay before them a small smile crossed Jaysen's face as he reached the podium. These were the missions that Jaysen longed for. Hard charging. Balls to the wall. Damn the percentages. This was a Taldryan mission, and this is what Jaysen loved.

Standing before the combined teams he knew this was going to be a slogfest. Outside of Michael and himself none of the other members were above the rank of Guardian, and none of them had experienced real combat up to this point. "Nothing like being pushed out of the nest to see if you can fly", Jaysen mumbled under his breath. This was going to be a true test to see if these new members were worthy of wearing the Taldryan crest with honor.

"Members of Dark Fire and Dark Avatar, we have received our missions and it is now time to prove ourselves worthy as warriors of this exalted clan. Your long hours of training and sacrifice will now find their fruition in the blood of our enemies. Take heed of what lies ahead, and know that at the end you will find your glory.

"Dark Adept Erinyes has given us a brief overview of what we are to accomplish. Once the path has been cleared for our ships to make the assault we will land together, eliminate any resistance that we find and establish a beachhead to continue our assault. At that point I will take Dark Avatar and our remained forces and head towards the Engine room. Dark Jedi Knight Michael will lead his team to the bridge.

"The plan at this point will be to attempt a takeover of the ship and use their own weapons against them. If that is not possible we will merely disable the ship and remove it from the battle. Our last resort will be to sabotage the ship and remove it from existence. Those deicisions will be made on the fly, so stay alert to what orders are being handed down and be prepared to improvise when necessary." A brief wave through the Force brought the reaction he was looking for from Michael's direction. While they were both loyal fighters in Taldryan they went about their business very differently. Michael had always been the more strategic and tactically minded of the two; wishing to have a good plan and then execute it flawlessly. On the other hand, Jaysen enjoyed rushing into things and playing it by ear. This battle required both and he knew he needed Michael's skills if this were to play out correctly.

"Dark Avatar, you have one hour to make any preparations you need before we take off. Meet in the hangar bay and be ready to have some fun. Dismissed." With a wry smile on his face he turned the podium over to Michael, so Dark Fire could receive it's much more detailed briefing. As Michael rose he just shook his head as the two leaders locked eyes. In his heart he knew this was going to be interesting.

"Well, bridge wasn't my favorite target, nevertheless, when the Dark Avatar Circle attempts to break a passage through the engines room with brute furce, they may catch enough attraction so we might be able to solve our task on a more elegant way.

When you go to the quartermaster for your equipment, get yourself black standart uniforms. There is a slight chance we can organize some Stormtrooper uniforms on the Stardestroyer itself, for those of you that don't look like clones or humans. If not, you have to join Dark Jedi Knight Jayson's assault on the engines room. The battle droids will join the Dark Avatar circle as well, exept of a few teams of five droids which will be sent randomly into other directions to cause some irritations.

We shouldn't meet controls till we try to enter the bridge itself. With some luck Jayson catched enough attraction so we can sneak through, otherwise we have to break through that final line of defense. When we reach the bridge, we are taking out the few guards there close the shots and disable the lifts to the bridge tower. Besides the guards the officers and crewmen on the brige shouldn't have weapons, so it should be possible to control the brige for the required amount of time.

Well, if you have questions fell free to ask me onboard of the shuttle.

May the force be with you.

Dismissed."

Michael vanished quickly into direction of his cabin to prepare some last things before they would start.

Xerxes walked with his fellow journeymen out of the briefing room. He could feel the excitement rush through his body and noticed that he was not the only one who was anxious for the mission to begin. As he strolled to the armory the newly appointed Guardian wondered how he would fare against the infamous stormtroopers of the Empire. He had ran into them before but not since he had joined the Dark Brotherhood and he was looking for a little payback.

He pushed those thoughts aside as he entered the armory. He retrieved the standard black uniform that Arkarso had specified along with a Blastech DL-44, some spare powercells, and a Krath war blade. He slid the powercells into one of the many pouches on his belt and strapped the war blade on his back as he left the armory.

Xerxes mentally checked off the uniform and weapons in his head and moved his hand to find the reassuring weight of his training saber hidden within his cloak. Whatever lay surprises laid before Dark Fire Brigade, Xerxes was going to be ready for them.

Some minutes passed till Michael left his cabin again, or at least what was supposed to be Michael when he had entered the cabin. Michael's beard was gone, the hair was shorter, and he was wearing a grey uniform of the Imperial navy. Basically that was th uniform Michael was wearing many years ago, before his career had taken an unglorious end; Michael had just removed his old rank bar, cause a rank at that level would catch more attraction then wanted. He was wearing a rank emblem of a Lieutenant Commander now. High enough to prevent getting ordered around from officers they would meet on the way to the bridge, low enough to prevent appearing suspicious. Michael had stored his old rank emblem somewhere in his uniform and the lightsaber in his boots.

When Michael met the other members of the battleteam again he was a bit surprised. Sure they were wearing black uniforms, but somehow that wasn't exactly what Michael had in mind.

"Well the idea behind wearing black uniforms isn't carmoflage. Well, Imperial fleet troopers usually wear black standart uniforms and they are usually equipped with weapons, different to navy officers, as my uniform indicates it, who are usually unarmed. Pretty simple, if we look like Imperial Remnants they won't shout on us on sight and if Jaysen makes enough trouble near the engines room, they won't have things to do then controlling us. This way we should get pretty close to the bridge before we get identified. Dark Jedi assesories won't help too much there. Lightsabers can be hidden below your uniforms or within your boots. Every battle we can avoid brings us faster to the bridge and increases our chances to complete the mission objectives. So the remnants have the think, we are Remnants. So those of your that don't match the visual appearance on an Imperial fleet troopers should correct clothing before we start to the mission."

Michael moved along the corridor to check the progress of the Jaysen's battleteam.

Jaysen's comm chirped on his wrist. "Voice only. Go ahead, Michael."

"Jaysen, since you rushed out so quickly I thought I'd catch you up on what the plan is. You'll have your Battle Droids plus one hundred of mine and the Droidekas to cause as much chaos and havok as you can. I'll send the rest of my droids in random directions to cause as much confusion as we can. My team will attempt to sneak onto the bridge and take it with as little damage as possible.

"We're relying on you to draw as much attention as you can away from the bridge, so have fun." With some humor Michael added, "I'm sure that won't be too mcuh of a problem for you. If we run into some problems and have to make a more direct attack I'll let you know. See you in the hangar soon."

As the conversation ended Jaysen found himself standing outside of his room. Dark brooding was making its way through Jaysen at this point, which was very unusual for someone who loved the fight so much. He would have to keep a close eye on his young warriors. This was no time for coddling them, but he also knew how much each of them was worth to the mission.

Entering his room he quickly gathered up the essentials that went with him on every mission plus some extras that would probably come in handy. His saber already attached to his hip Jaysen made his way over to his desk and retrieved the bryar pistol that had been his since joining Taldryan. While the younger members would probably prefer the comfort that a blaster rifle provided Jaysen enjoyed the versatility and style this little pistol gave. He quickly grabbed the combat vest hanging in the closet and tossed in some extra power cells for the pistol and a couple energy shields.

As he left the room and headed towards the hangar Jaysen could feel the familiar and comforting sense of adreneline coursing through his veins. Battle would soon be at hand, and battle was always where Jaysen felt most at home.

Entering the hangar with about thirty minutes remaining he waited for the rest of the team and took this time to meditate and prepare.

Xerxes sighed as he heard Michael explain the details of his plan. No Krath War Blade then. Xerxes always enjoyed an open confrontation but this would challenge him in an area he was not as strong. The Guardian walked back to the Quartermaster and relinquished the blade. He tucked his training sabre into his boot as Michael suggested. It wouldn't do much good in a fight but it might scare off some of the less than courageous. With that he headed off towards the hangar.

Michael sorted his thoughts on the way to the hangar, he was visualising main and alternative routes to the bridge again. Time was pretty much a limited resource in this mission and checking a map would reduce this resource unnessesary. Fortunatly the path to the bridge wasn't that difficult.

Well, they had some time left till the mission would start and Michael tried to stay relaxed. He was forcing his mind not to calculate through all kind of scenarios and variants. It was a sort of obsession searching structures in all kind of random elements. Maybe one of the reasons he had made career under the command of Admiral Zaarin. In battle and other moments of high concentration his thoughts were usually clear and free of analysing meaningless objects.

Michael finally reached the hangar where most of members of both battleteams were already waiting.

Illian smiled as he made his way to the hanger to meet with Michael Arkarso and the rest of Dark Fire Brigade. He had been sure to done his Envoy robes, customized slightly to incorporate Illian’s own dark-aristocratic style. In one hand he held a case containing his beloved Nightsinger rifle Silence, and his DX-2 Tenloss Disruptor was holstered safely on his leg. He had tied his white hair back with a black silk ribbon, and overall looked almost respectable. Except for the dried blood that covered his right arm, from spiked gauntlet to elbow. None of it was his of course; all of it belonging to whatever victim had become Illian’s latest play-thing before the briefing was called.

Striding up to the Battle Team leader, he bowed slightly to acknowledge Michael’s superior rank and boarded the transport. Sitting calmly near the hatchway he waited for the rest of the Journeymen to enter, his broken mind wondering randomly who death had chosen to leave Dinaari this day.

Xerxes greeted Michael as he entered the hangar and quickly boarded the shuttle to find Illian sitting there his right forearm splattered with blood. Xerxes gave the Envoy a nod of acknowledgement. "Congratulations on your promotion." the Guardian offered to his new envoy. "Thanks." Illian returned his green eyes glowing which Xerxes could only guess was his pride beaming through. Xerxes sat down and checked his DL-44 and reholstering it before losing himself in thought.

Michael had slowly returned into the role of an Imperial officer. He found himself saluting instead of bowing a few times. He was kind of surprised seeing Illian here. The usual paranoia every Jedi develops on the path to the dark side was wispering Michael to keep an the member of the house summit.

After greeting Illian, Xerxes and other members of both battleteams that had reached the hangar, Michael continued overviewing the crew in the hangar storing equipment in the designated shuttles and Dark Jedi and shuttle crew taking their seats.

Illian wasn't really wearing something similar to an Imperial uniform, well, Michael was thinking, he could help Jaysen taking the engine rooms. Jaysen would need any help he would get and an additional company of Dark Troopers if he thought on taking the engine rooms brute force. He would need to talk to Illian and Jaysen on this topic.

Michael approached Illian once everyone was boarded and ready, weapons stored and war-gear checked and re-checked.

“Greetings Envoy. We have a battle plan ready, and since you will be joining us I have assigned you to Sergeant Jaysen’s team, who will be attempting to take the engine rooms. You would have been an asset to either team, but my group requires imperial uniforms which,” he said looking dubiously at the crimson stain running from elbow to finger-tips on the mad Hunter, “you don’t really have. Any questions?” For a moment there was silence, and Michael began to think Illian wasn’t listening. As he was about to repeat himself the Obelisk spoke.

“I heard you Sergeant. Point me to the enemy and I will do my part. I have one or two tricks up my sleeve as well. Take these gauntlets for instance. Should you give the order, or I deem it necessary, I can remove one and become… well I call it a force-avatar, but whatever it is I’m sure the remnant wont be disappointed.” The green eyes of the Dark Jedi sociopath lit up as he spoke, and both Michael and Xerxes sitting nearby felt a slight wave of unease come over them.

“Good. Once we capture the ship Jaysen, you and I will decide the next tactical move. Does the Summit have anything particular plans for Lanar’s Hand?” The knight asked Illian. His only reply was a non-committal shrug.

“There will be battles raging everywhere. I’m sure the ‘Hand’s firepower will be appreciated somewhere. Turbo batteries and laser cannons don’t concern me. Just get me aboard that ship and watch as the blood flows.” Michael stared hard at Illian as the Hunter’s face twisted into a psychotic grin.

“Very well,” he said as he turned and walked to the front of the transport. “All equipment loaded and secured. Jaysen, all clear with you?” The other battle-team leader’s voice came in clear through the communicator.

“All clear Michael. Let’s get this show moving.” There was a lurch as the shuttles launched, taking the Dinaari assault force towards their formidable target: the capital ship of Lanar’s fleet.

Michael quickly took a mobile holoprojector from a crewmember, jumped into shuttle himself and placed the projector in front of his battleteam comrades. Few of the battleteam members looked a bit irritated on Michael shaking a bit through the lift off while going through the holographical setting of the small device.

"Well, I just want to go through the plan one time again in detail before we reached the target. Needs a few seconds till the map is loaded. ... When we have reached the Stardestroyer, Jaysen's team, including our envoy and the toasters, will jump out of the shuttles and surely take the longest and most complicated way to the engines room to create as much additional destruction as they are able too. We will sneak out as soon as they have cleared the first room, to prevent someone reporting to the bridge about people in Imperial uniforms fighting with instead of against the droids. The first part of the way isn't a problem. The two lifts here are no problem."

Michael pointed on the ISD map that was loaded meanwhile and displayed from the holoprojector.

"The corridors we need to pass to get through the lifts shouldn't be a problem as well. No secured areas, if we don't do anything suspicious noone will care for us. That will change, if we get close to the bridge area itself. Sure with the uniforms alone we won't get far there. This area here will be well guarded."

The Dark Jedi Knight pointed on another part of the map.

"At least there should be some guards. With the uniforms we should at least be able to surprise them. If we are good and take them out fast we should have a few moments till they realize what's going on. If we manage it to the bridge within this timeframe, we have good chances taking the bridge, cause most of the personnel on the bride is unarmed. If we are too slow, we have to force a way there. ..."

Michael voice returned to the sarcastic tone he usually used: "Well this will get really funny then."

Xerxes sat in the shuttle as Michael went over the battle plan once more. The constrictive uniform was very uncomfortable and the Guardian wished he had his flowing robes. The small explosion that rocked the ship told Xerxes that the shuttle was almost to the hangar. As Dark Fire Brigade prepared to slip out after the confusion, Dark Avatar Circle began to prepare for battle.

Michael was giving orders to their remaining 50 battle droids before joining the rest of the battle team.

"I know what you're all thinking but lets just go over the battle plan one more time. We'll start by..." Michael began as Xerxes thoughts drifted to the thoughts of the coming battle.

Clan RO comp is now closed. Any posts made after this point will cause the RO to be disqualified.