Onslaught of the Empire

[Skyeborne]

"So disappointed," said Krosis, "to see that the son of Vol offers so little challenge. To see that the man who pursued me for an entire year, using his cunning and guile to tear apart the fruits of my efforts, has not once used that intelligence to its fullest potential in his moment of greatest need. To think that your mother wants to replace me with a worm such as you is simply inconceivable..."

"What?" said Khyber, confused.

"Why do you think I attacked your temple in the first place, hmm? And why do you think that attack lacked my usual subtlety? I have trained under your mother since before you were a seed in her womb, and after your father betrayed you both she appointed me as her apprentice. I served her faithfully for decades, until I discovered that she was planning to replace me with a sniveling little runt on Corellia."

"You truly are mad. My mother died twenty-two years ago, in Corellian space."

"True," said Krosis, laughing, "but even death trembles against the power of the Dark Side! The Sith are not so limited that we see it with as much finality as the rest of the galaxy. But you will never know this glory. Your father's tainted Arkanian blood has doomed you this day, and forever."

"Farewell, Khyber." the Sith said, raising his lightsaber for the killing stroke.

"My father was a Corellian," Khyber said, almost at a whisper. He remembered finding Strife's dead body, a lightsaber burn through his back as he lay on the bed in his temple quarters. He remembered weeping, tears for the man who had taught and cared for him for two decades. And Khyber remembered taking up his father's lightsaber, slaying in righteous fury those left at the temple who were killing and capturing his fellow students. "And he was a Jedi."

The rage boiled up from the deepest parts of Khyber, a sea of anger and fury he had kept locked away for most of the last year to maintain his peaceful composure. Now he released it, shouting at the Sith with a voice that boomed like the thunder above them. A wave of force energy accompanied the shout, hurling Krosis across the room and against the far wall.  

[Darth Fury]

Dixie tossed the rifle to her feet, putting her hands in the air and taking a couple of steps back. The airspeeder then swiveled to its side, parking next to the branch. A hatch began to open, and the Mandalorian smiled.

She took three steps forward, then launched herself at the airspeeder, faster than human. Landing near the top, she grabbed a handle at the top of the hatch and slid inside before it was even halfway open. Her knife buried itself in the neck of the first Republic trooper on the other side, and she ripped it out again with a thick, wet sound. Before the second could react, Dixie thrust it into his belly, just below his armor. Grabbing the pistol from his hip, she spun and shot the pilot and co-pilot, then dragged their bodies to the back.

"Glad they left it on park for me," Dixie said, getting into the pilot's chair. "You boys just sit comfy back there, I'll get us back in no time..."  

[Skyeborne]

Krosis picked himself off of the stone floor just in time to intercept Khyber's next onslaught. The young Jedi had blurred across the chamber floor, raining blow after blow upon his Sith adversary. Krosis struggled for a moment, then began turning aside the brunt of each impact, redirecting the energy of Khyber's attacks. Slowly the smile returned to his lips.

Frustrated, Khyber shouted again, pushing Krosis across the room once more. This time however, the Sith flipped backwards through the air, his feet landing on the wall. He pushed off, and almost flew back to Khyber. His lightsaber swooped through the air, leaving a blazing trail behind it as it clashed again with the saber-cane.

"The power of your fury is impressive," said Krosis, sweating with the effort required to block and parry this latest onslaught. "But you are not Sith. I have trained my entire life against rage, against pain, and against loss..."

After a few more minutes of fighting, Khyber's attacks began to slow. The young Jedi fought on, however, refusing to quit after his body was well past the point of exhaustion. But Krosis was done fighting, disarming Khyber once again and forcing him to the floor. He placed the tip of his saber just underneath Khyber's chin, and prepared to thrust forward.

"I am done talking. Tell both of your fathers that I send them the warmest regards..."  

[Sayla-girl]

Things had not gone well for Qaina as she sought to escape the fighting. In the dark and the rain, she had been discovered by Imperial Skirmishers and pinned down by a boulder, the Imperials mistaking her for a Republic Trooper.

"Try saving a few cred and it comes back to bite you." The Huntress grumbled, her back to the stone as orange bolts cascaded around her position. In her hands was the power pack from D'an's blaster. The woman was attempting to jawa-rig an explosive charge out of it, but it was proving difficult in the rain. She halted her work and then poked the muzzle of her blaster over the edge of the rock, firing in the direction the last bunch of energy bolts had come from. That done to keep them on her toes, the woman returned to her makeshift grenade, finding the task complicated by the dark and her own rain slicked hands.
 

[Des Voh]

The armoured shuttle climbed higher, twice it nearly took a lightning bolt full on, the later merely grazed the hull, doing little more than blackening the side of the shuttle. Shifting towards the wayward side of the mountain, the storm died down and it climbed higher and faster and within moments they raised above the peak, the partially ruined structure beneath, a half dozen massive spires raising dozens of metres above, the lightning rods. One on the far side of the facility took a bolt, the energy reverberating down its length and a generator down below sparked and for a few moments the whole structure lit up.
"Sir, there appears to be a cavity carved into the rock just beneath the ruins, it appears to be a hangar, and still intact from what we can see."
"Good, move swiftly." Caisar responded, he was reaching out to monitor the younger Jedi as he faced his nemesis, he could feel the tension tightening within the man's heart. Taking a deep breath, he readied himself for what he knew would come soon, his first Sith confrontation. He wondered if they were anything like the archives and old texts painted them in person. Beside him, Tek Su unclipped the guard on his blaster's holster and stepped into the rear cabin. Caisar watched as the pilot pulled them into the rocken cavity, half a natural cavern, the rest reinforced and dug out. It was large enough to house at least a larger-sizer light freighter, or several shuttles. He felt it would be a relief not to have to charge into the facility from uptop in the storm, dropping down from the back of the shuttle.

Affixing the comm into his ear, Caisar focused on Khyber's life force, linked to him in the Force. It was a technique lesser to that of Force Meld, simply an extension of Caisar's extended application of telepathy and his Sense, only grant him him a rudimentary understanding of the other's state and whereabouts, and it left up much to ones own cleverness. Khyber faced his foe at the center of the structure, he knew this, and he knew that he would have to find his way through very quickly. He crossed into the rear cabin to see the unit ready and waiting. He nodded to Tek Su and the Sargent.
"I will be moving deep into the facility, very quickly, I must find Brother Strife with haste. Please spread out and root out any that may be here supporting him."
"Yes sir, we know our duty in this manner. " The CO responded.
"I will help you." Tek Su announced, drawing the heavy blaster from his belt.
"I would caution you against hasty action around the Sith, Lieutenant." Caisar advised the rodian, who only nodded gravely.
As the craft settled down in the earthen-made hangar, they looked forward of the cabin down the ramp that the hatch traveled down under the forward cabin, which hissed open to a lowered ramp. Caisar was quick, the first one out, his lightsaber already in his right hand as his boots touched down on the worn stone tiles of the structure. The rodian lieutenant fast behind and the troopers then filed out, blasters ready and sweeping the hangar as the Jedi dashed towards a hallway on the far end.

The lighting in the structure was little more than auxiliary pathway lamps in most areas, while some Caisar rushed through were sparking or fully lit, dripping water was a constant echo in the corridors. He raced through towards the center of the complex, using his intuition and Force senses to guide him true. Sure enough, he soon heard echoing voices passing through the corridors.

"You truly are mad. My mother died twenty-two years ago, in Corellian space." said a familiar voice as Caisar approached the chamber.

"True," said another voice he did not know. The sith undoubtedly, who then laughed, "but even death trembles against the power of the Dark Side! The Sith are not so limited that we see it with as much finality as the rest of the galaxy. But you will never know this glory. Your father's tainted Arkanian blood has doomed you this day, and forever."

The voice held such malice and spite towards Khyber. He watched ahead as his fellow Jedi lost his calm, the saber-cane's blade lashing out against the Sith's red blade, the screaming that issues from the Jedi's throat, the anger he felt being in such close proximity. Caisar steeled himself as he ran, reaching the entry to the chamber, he stopped for a moment, watching the transaction take place before he dropped his facade and let himself be felt within the Force by the two warriors as he lashed forward with his body by the neigh unnatural speed granted to him by the Force and sent ahead a massive wave of unwithstandable force at the Sith, his lightsaber flicking to life in his grip, the dark orange blade weaving in a figure before coming to a balanced, level guard as Caisar moved to stand beside his fellow Jedi. The signature guard and signature hilt of a well-trained and thorough practitioner of Makaski, the true style of refined lightsaber combat.

"This ends here, Sith." He said, his voice echoing within the vaulted, dome-like chamber.  

[ElladanKenet]

It was some time later when Nightwind was finally done with Black Hawk. She returned to the bridge later in the evening, now ready for an update concerning the status of her mission. Striding onto the ship, she approached Theron and Phelan. "Officers, report. Have any smugglers responded to the mission?"

"None yet, Lady Nightwind," the Captain responded as he approached the Sith and gave a shallow bow. "It has only been a few hours though. Surely one will be interested within a day or two."

"Every day spent here is a day being wasted. Double the offer to 30,000 credits."

"As you wish, Lady." 30,000 credits was an enourmous amount, even for just a simple mission. For that many credits, she could almost afford to simply borrow an Imperial shuttle for her own uses. "Oh, we also received a missive from the Cobra."

The Cobra of course was Lord Cinn's flagship. Frowning, the woman scowled. "Concerning what?"

"An invitation from Lord Cinn to Regalia Station. He is demonstrating a new superweapon he has funded for the Imperial Fleet."

A superweapon? Now Nightwind was interested. But as usual, anything Cinn did, even if for the good of the empire, did not bode well for her. Surely he would use this as a chance to brag about himself and ingratiate himself to superiors. And what did Nightwind have to show for her efforts? Nothing really, save a new apprentice. "And I suppose I'm expected."

"The guest list is quite extensive. It is likely the entire upper brass and most of the other Sith Lords would be in attendance..."

Meaning for her to turn down and not show up would be an affront to the Empire and a slap to the face of her own efforts. Not to mention if her mother ever found out she turned down such a social event.... oh, she'd be furious. "Fine. I'll head out to this station. When I get back, I expect to have a smuggler."

The captain nodded, watching Nightwind turn and walk off, heading to find Nova.  

[ultrafirebird]

Later in the evening, the two had arrived at the majestic temple of the Jedi. It was breathtaking every time she set her eyesight upon it. It felt so ancient when compared to the all of the high tech machinery around it. Her mast had walked quietly up the large steps, but Dashara ran ahead. A little too quick.

"Remember, we continue meditating tomorrow, and the day after we pick back where we were with training! Get some rest young one!" he shouted.

The young woman stopped for a moment and turned to her mentor and smiled warmly. "But of course master, I shall get plenty of rest indeed, " she said with a straight response before running inside the temple. She kept on dashing other occupants in the temple and went to the accommodation sector.

There were many rooms, but hers was on the fourth room to the right; in which she nearly slipped into when she barely had control over her footing. She had plans, but it wasn't for sleeping. It was to get ready a secret night life.  

[Miss-Pandemica]

Nova was practicing with her vibrostaff in one of the training rooms. She had been in there for several hours practicing her skills at dodging and parrying beam attack. By the time she took a break it was easy to see that she still had a lot to work on. Her clothes were riddled with little holes and burn marks while underneath her skin was covered in red welts.

She left the room feeling to return to her quarters to clean up. Pealing off her training clothes she quickly showered off the sweat from her body, changed into fresh set of robes and sat down at the foot of her bed to meditate.  

[Darth Fury]

Dixie turned off the headlights to hide the airspeeder in the darkness of the forest, using the instruments to guide herself through the branches. Sporadic blaster-fire echoed through the trees, and she pulled up a holo-display on the dash showing the surrounding terrain and hotspots where Republic and local military forces were engaging the Sith. She placed a marker on one of the closer ones, and moved off on a circular approach.

A squad of Republic grunts was pinned down behind a rotting tree limb the size of a bus. Two dozen Sith kept them under a constant stream of fire using a few light repeating blasters and the cover of the surrounding trees. Or at least, they did until Dixie showed up. She swooped in behind one of the entrenched Sith positions, lighting it up with the cannons before they ever knew she was there. The mandalorian continued firing along the Sith line, killing or scattering everyone in her path. The Republic troops recovered quickly, taking out whatever Sith she missed.

"Thanks for the help," said one of the Republic soldiers over the comm.

"Anytime," she responded. "There's a group of Sith staked out in an abandoned mine in quadrant XJ-35. You should be able to get the drop on them if you approach over the hill instead of up the valley. Grab those repeating blasters and move out."

As soon as the Republic forces left, Dixie landed the airspeeder and carefully picked over the fallen Sith and Republic troops. She collected blasters, armor pieces, communicators, rebreathers; basically anything of value that could be quickly recovered. Dixie moved quickly, making a pile in the back of the airspeeder. After she finished she climbed back into the pilot's seat, strapping in and heading for the next hotspot...  

[Cale Darksun]

Once inside the turbolift with Danika, Cinn crossed his arms and growled, staring at the doors as the transit system carried them up decks.
"These impotent fools. They question my plans and speak out of ignorance. I have seen all that the Jedi can muster, and it is nothing. I do not need to be reminded of that feeble cabal by some lesser being blind to the Force."

 

[Darkened Angel]

Danika sensed Cinn's anger. " Perhaps it's because they haven't seen the might of the Sith firsthand, Master. " she said in a soft tone. " Unlike one such as myself, who fought a rather futile battle against such might and had to see the power up close, with no choice but to admit its superiority. " She gave a brief sigh, as if it was hard to get her mind off it. " Your demonstration should remove all doubt of the Sith's power, Master. If they still question your judgement afterwards, then they're more foolish than I was on Thule. "

Danika tried to force herself to get it off her mind again. It seemed like she was being tortured from within. She wouldn't be able to hide her emotions from Cinn if she tried. She was too broken and feeling the despair of impending doom for the Republic by the display of power she's already seen, and knowing something was about to be displayed for others to witness only implied it was far worse than she thought. She cursed her Zeltron empathy.  

[ElladanKenet]

It was only a few moments later when Nightwind was rapping on Nova's door again. Opening up, she steps into the room, eyeing her apprentice. 'Well? Have you completed the task I set out for you?"  

[Nelowulf]

Lieutenant Warren McJump
Location: Minos Cluster - Travnin system
Personal Location: Bridge of the Indefatigable
Accompanying ships: 2 Wayfarers.

Knight-errant Jian Yakamura
Location: Minos Cluster
Personal Location: Travnin, Minos Cluster
Accompanying People: None
Current Attire: http://fong-saiyuk.deviantart.com/art/Wudang-Swordsman-285257811

"I cannot agree to this. They will see right through all of this," Jian stated outright, the three people from the meeting strolling through the hallway. Warren lead the group by half a step, a smirk across his face. Jian walked with his hands behind his back, clearly in a dissenting mood. And Gundark, trying to keep up with the plan at hand, a bit confused as he should have been in his own right. "The plan is reckless, bold, and highly risky. We are walking straight in there without backup and any force at all."

"Which will play to our advantage. The Sith will expect a force against them. Even if they are more clever, they'll only expect a covert force to breach them."

"You assume much. There will be plenty of sith lords, all of whom can probably sense something amiss," Jian countered.

"This is why I didn't want to tell you."

"You're going in there, with only concealed weapons, to one of the most fortified stations in the sector, filled to the brim with the largest names of the Sith fleet, to rescue a women, with no exit plan... You're insane."

"And that's why nobody would expect it. It's worked before, and it'll work again."

"It's worked before? With a sith? But they haven't been around..."

"Not on sith. Just pirates. Pretty much the same thing," Warren said as he stopped outside his chambers. Jian narrowed his eyes with a sigh. The battle was totally uphill at this point.

"The Gundark has a question," the big burly man behind him said, raising his hand. "Does the Jedi have an alternative plan?"

Jian admitted to himself he did not. His plans came up short, no way out. And as Warren had already pointed out, covert ops and battlefleet tactics had been expected. The Jedi hadn't even suggested those before the Lepi had already seen it, expected it, and countered it. This plan hadn't even occurred to him since it was crazy. So many exploited flaws, so complicated. Jian shook his head.

"Don't worry, it's simple. Detonate the weapon, save the girl, drink heavily. Escape optional," The lepi said reassuringly. "Just trust me. I've got a plan."  

[Miss-Pandemica]

Nova looked up at the Lady Nightwind and bowed her head before standing. “Yes, milady, everything is ready just as you asked. Will we be departing soon?”  

[ultrafirebird]

Dashara went to her small room that consisted of a small chrome drawer that was intact to the wall, a bed with a blanket and a pillow that was also held by the wall but had the assistance of two strong metal cords, and a few other small, homely touches she added to make it more pleasent.

The young padawan dove into her top drawer and sfted through her undergarments until she found what she was looking for. A small leathery bag that was old and worn. She pulled it out and opened the bag to count her republic credits. From the looks of it,Dashara had 5,000 credits saved up. It took her a, year and three months to save it up. Her master had no clue of its existance; nore its specific use, and she intended to keep it that way.

"And now the hard part," she thought to herself as she closed the drawer and prepared herself for a "little bending" of an aunthority's set of rules.