Ask Event Bacta 'Gainst the Wall

Emryc Thorne · Aug 5, 2022

The ISC had prided itself in the defense and protection of its civilians. When its governors were in trouble on Ruusan, the Secretary of Defense was promptly on his way with an offensive fleet and troopers were deployed. However, no one expected the aftermath of the Killik attacks and how they would expand to several different corners of the galaxy. The Core was under attack and the chaos had even arrived at Thyferra’s doorstep. Thyferra was the crown jewel of the ISC, its most critical and strategic planet with resources that supplied the entire galaxy.

He could have been far from this planet and away in safety. However, it meant more to be a leader in times of strife and that meant being present. And so, the President of the ISC himself would be there where Jedi, Sith and other forces alike were gathering. All of them would see a sudden influx of ISC troops comprised of over five thousand droids and two thousand organic soldiers. This was the initial wave with more en route.

The droids were a medley of combat and demolition droids flanked by numerous NB series to make up the bulk of the army force. All of them were outfitted with standard weaponry. The troopers were composed of snipers, launcher support and armored tanks. The massive forces would march forth and join the Jedi, Sith and others gathered there and prepared to defend the planet to their dying breath.

Bringing up the rear in an armored vehicle was Emryc Thorne himself. While it was risky for him to be visible, his people would know he was present. Screaming civilians or residents would see their President there in the flesh, right in the thick of it and right alongside them. While for the first time he felt a sense of unease, none of it reflected on his face. His bearing was iron, his demeanor rigid and calm, the icy silver gaze trained forward as he took direct command of his forces.

For now, he was in contact with Gyxik, “What’s your position?” He asked curtly before switching to communicating with one of the Generals, “Deploy two divisions to the primary bacta plants at once.”

OOC: ISC Army Reference Guide

The Gatekeeper · Aug 5, 2022

A few minutes after all of Thyferra’s would-be saviors arrived and exited their ships, they would be met by a small delegation of Vratix. Despite their more alien physiology, it would still be evident to all that there was an air of intense anxiety surrounding them.

Thanks to each of you for coming, The Vratix in the center said, clearly the diplomat in the delegation. The several Vratix that flanked him were holding blaster rifles, clearly a group of guards. Thyferra has never been in more grave danger. Please, come with us. The Cadir wishes to meet you.

Before the group could get even a couple steps further, the deafening sound of raid alarms would begin sounding from all directions. A few seconds later, there would be the sound of static on one of the guard Vratix’s radios before a voice came over, hurried and frightened. The same message would play on all of the radios of the ISC troops as well.

They’ve already breached the interior! Gyxik said, the panic he was experiencing quite evident. Joiners! We don’t know who is compromised. I’m heading to the safe room, but please, please hurry!

Static again as once again the radio fell silent.

By the nine, we must rescue the Cadir. Please, come with m--

That was all the Vratix was able to get out before one of the guards behind him shot a hole straight through his head, sending blood and viscera spraying onto anyone who had been at the front of the group.

In the same moment, the other guards dropped their weapons and simply pointed at the large group gathered. An unholy, otherworldly noise screeched out of their mouths as they pointed, a signal to all others that the Saviors were enemies and must be destroyed.

The sound would hit their ears and it would be like chewing glass, though moreover, it echoed inside their minds like nothing they'd experienced before. Those of weaker constitution might even double over from the pain, thinking their skull was about to crack down the middle.

Above their heads, a Thyferrian freighter would fly past, dropping large life pods that plummeted to the ground and into the building with massive metallic thuds. At first, it might seem that these were accompanying troops to the large ISC force that was just beginning to arrive. That.. couldn't have been further from the truth, however.

From inside the pods streamed dozens of insect-like creatures, gnashing their spike-mouthed jaws and clacking the massive pincers on their back end.

From beneath the ground, thousands more would erupt from burrows and begin engaging with the ISC troops.

The creatures would begin swarming the Saviors, their numbers so overwhelming they were outnumbered two to one. It was strange, though. The assassin-Killiks simply circled around the group with menace, like something specific was holding them back from just tearing straight through and enjoying their meal. Or maybe something was just trying to waste their time.

Hard to say.

The freighter itself would crash into the Cadir's building, creating a large hole in the upper floors. More creatures streamed from its insides and into the building. The sound of blasters firing and the screams of those torn to shreds echoed from the fiery gaping wound the ship had created.

At least it seemed there were still some left inside that were not Joined and would put up an attempt to defend their Cadir. For how long they could last, that was unclear.

--

Far above all of this, though, was @Charlotte Le'Anna - who would notice that seemingly out of nowhere, her ship's sensors would start absolutely freaking the fuck out. There were ships inbound to Thyferra, dozens of them. Ships that had the same signatures as those from Ruusan.

The Hapan Queen was the only bastion of defense between those ships and the planet below, and her time to show her true mettle would be coming soon enough.

--

And far below in the tunnels of Thyferra sat Nirn Saron, a sickly grin spreading across her face. The events unfolding on the surface played in front of her eyeless face like watching a holomovie, her children's point of view the best seats in the house.

She watched as those that made it inside the Cadir's building ripped and tore into the Vratix inside. How their blood and innards were strewn across the walls like an artist doing his first splatter painting. It was glorious.

She also saw the Saviors in all of their glory. The force sensitive ones were her main priority. To Join them to the Hive would increase the power of the Killik overmind exponentially. Just like she had, when Nirn had been taken by Killiks so many years ago.

In another life, Nirn had been a Chiss Skywalker, leading her people through the dangers of hyperspace in the outer-rim. But that was before she'd been kidnapped by the Killiks after her old ship had crash landed on a remote world containing a hive.

The Joining had taken her eyes, her marvelous crimson eyes that everyone had said were so mesmerizing. But the Killiks had given her something red in return, flaying her formerly blue skin away and leaving only the crimson beauty beneath it.

The newest presence on the planet, that of Emryc Throne, made Nirn lick her lips seductively as if she had just laid eyes on the most delicious meal she'd ever seen.

Standing from her throne, Nirn began to walk, silent footsteps padding along the stone floors of the tunnel as she began to make her way to the surface.

Hi guys! A couple of things to note going forward:

(1) Now that the initial 48 hours are up, the thread is now CLOSED to any further joiners pun intended.
(2) Please, please, please either underline all your main actions, or summarize them in a [ spoiler ] at the bottom of your post (or both!). I would really appreciate it so I don't accidentally overlook anything anyone does!
(3) New DM posts will be up roughly every 48 hours. If you make any significant edits to your post after posting (changing actions, etc.), please tag me and let me know on Discord in the #bacta-against-the-wall chat. Additionally, please refrain from making any major edits within one hour of the round deadline.
(4) Only one post per round per character going forward, please.
(5) Just to reiterate from Joining of Minds - like in PvP, you can only make attempts, not hits, when attacking NPCs

Thank you! I look forward to DMing for y'all :3

@Altaris @Apollyon @AutoFox @Darasuum @Evan @Faded
@Forsythe Crowholde @LilyNion @Phoenix @Scoobert
@SlagathorTheUnknown @Sreeya @Tom @Valen Pelora @Wit

Arla · Aug 5, 2022

More and more people gathered in the defense of the galaxy's bacta. Some people she knew, many she didn't, some were Imperial and many were not. To Arla, it was a fascinating gathering if nothing else. What she didn't know, however, was what would have been most fascinating of all to her. Of all the places in the galaxy to be so close to her father, she'd never have conceived it to be here, and even now the thought didn't cross her mind. So close and yet so far.

Instead, her mind was shifting over entirely to the situation they were in. Not only was she at the back of the group, but she wasn't even really looking at the delegates. She was watching for signs of ambush, but what she hadn't but should have expected was the ambush coming from within the allied ranks.

When blaster fire erupted, she ducked low out of instinct, looking for the source. But things only got worse for the young Nightsister. It turned out that part-Sephi hearing she had that would help her detect ambushes didn't like the screeching and it pierced even further than the ear drums.

She buckled over for a moment, her hands slamming up over her ears as she tried to shut it out. She pushed back, her mind shoving against the toxin in her mind. It took several seconds for her to reacclimatize and, wincing through the pain, start to focus on fighting off... well, she didn't even really know who. It wasn't exactly easy to differentiate enemies from friends and with the pounding in her head and ears she wasn't exactly thinking clearly. The only saving grace was that she was at the rear of the group and therefore the furthest from the screechers.

Pods dropped from above having obviously determined what was going on and sending reinforceme... oh naw. She was not about this. These things were so small how was she even going to wipe them all out. She fought the very real urge to run the other direction, but she was absolutely nothing if she wasn't stubborn.

The faster you kill them, the faster they shut the kriff up, she thought to herself, leaping up onto the top of a parked speeder so as to keep allies out of the line of fire and sending an arrow from her energy bow aimed to slam straight down the gullet of one of the screamers.

How do you eat a Nydak? One bite at a time, she thought to herself. Killing a single one of the screamers may not have been much, but it was what she could do in this second. And this was going to be a "living second to second" situation.

Arla takes a couple seconds to recover from #screamo and then jumps up on a speeder to get a clear shot and tries to shoot one of the Joined Screamers in the face

X3R · Aug 6, 2022

X3R, perhaps uniquely among the Sith forces that had been assembled, did not stagger under the sonic assault of the Joiners. His audio receptors protested under the load, certainly, but the hulking machine was able to attenuate them quickly, blocking out the high frequency sound within microseconds.

Killiks, it might have surprised those present to learn, were part of X3R's threat recognition database. The ancient Tionese who had built the droid had not often encountered the insectoid species, and indeed, such meetings had been peaceful, as often as not. However, the droidwrights of Xim the Despot were nothing if not thorough, and thus it was that as the chitinous hordes formed up as if waiting for a signal, one towering figure stepped forward to meet them with supreme apparent confidence. Not that emotion was easy to ascribe to the immobile, durasteel features of X3R.

"DO NOT ALLOW THEM TO CLOSE!"

The war-robot's voice boomed over the screech of the Joiners, and not heeding his own advice, he thudded forward, toward the massive insects as they began their charge. His chest-cannon spoke twice, and as melee settled in, massive, servo-driven arms and hands reached out to grapple one of the creatures, intending to wrench apart its snapping mandibles and break them with main force.

X3R goes forth, fires his chest-mounted heavy blaster at the bugs twice, then tries to grapple one, intending to break its mandibles.

Darth Draugr · Aug 6, 2022

Welcoming the arrival of the Vratix, Draugr come to stand near the front. As the comms boomed with the voice of Gyxik, the Vratix to the center began to speak, until he was gunned down. Blood spewed out and onto Draugr's robes. Instinct alone his eyes and mouth both shut before anything could enter his body. As soon as he had opened his eyes again, the Vratix he had gone to speak to before was lying on the ground with a hole through the head.

"You sacks of sh-"

Before he could properly attack, the screeches came from their voices, at first unexpected and painful. The sound had felt like his eardrums would burst. His teeth gritted as he let out a small grunt of pain. Being closest to the screams was taking a toll, better that it was him at the point taking the brunt of the blast for the sake of his warriors behind him. If there was anything he would teach them here, it was leadership. He had to act fast. Their voices were their source, the voice is only the vocal chords combined with the air you breathe out. If they couldn't breath they couldn't scream.

Fighting the pain of the ringing screams, the Zabraki Sith would coil the force around the throats of the two guards in front of him and immediately tightening as hard as he could. The vice grip he had around their throat was used at full force, strong enough for the larynx and esophagus to collapse on a normal combatant. Though he was taking a shot here hoping it would buy time for others to end the screeches.

Draugr is attempting to cut off the air flow in the throats of the Vratix guards, at the same attempting to collapse the inner portions of the throat aiming to kill them where they stood. At the very least buy time for others to kill them themselves. Smile.

@Logan

Ruzaan Kai · Aug 6, 2022

"Sup?" echoed Ruzaan incredulously, untangling himself from hugging Clove in order to turn and face the newest arrival he recognized. He wasn't very good at keeping up an affronted façade for long, though, almost immediately breaking into a huge smile. "Arctus!" His hand slipped into Clove's, and he joyously pulled her over to embrace their dear friend. (@LilyNion @Forsythe Crowholde)

Their reunion was almost enough to distract him from the fact that not everyone there was friendly. Although apparently allied by the strange new threats popping up across the galaxy, Ruzaan was 90% certain that one of the brooding fellows that Zak cheerfully introduced himself to was a Sith he'd seen on Felucia. He'd worked with Sith in the past, but his guard would still be up.

Reluctantly, Ruzaan let go of his friends and tried to return his focus to the mission. A delegation was approaching from the Cadir's building, and Ruzaan didn't even get the leader's name before things went sideways. A bloody hole appeared in the leader's head, and an awful screaming sound assaulted his senses.

The younger Togruta stumbled, clutching at his head; his sensitive montrals and his mind overwhelmed by the screeching. It took all of his willpower not to curl up into a fetal position and rock back and forth, but the Zabrak wasn't the only one who had grown since Felucia. Gritting his teeth against the psychic and auditory assault, the Togruta reached out with the Force. Focusing on one of the screamers who wasn't currently engaged, he attempted to yank them sideways and off the platform so that they could scream all the way down to the ground.

Regardless of the effectiveness of his maneuver, the soon-to-be-Knight ignited his lightsaber. They were outnumbered 2-to-1; just as well that his lightsaber had two lethal blades.

@Logan

Ruz clutches his head
Ruz tries yeeting one of the screamers off of the platform
Ruz ignites his lightsaber

Hauron Solus · Aug 6, 2022

Hauron felt a bit better about his request being denied for Tor’la Akaan’ade forces reinforcing Thyferra. The Mandalorian forces would have probably made tensions worse and the fallout of placing hundreds of hailfire tanks might have made coordination with other groups more difficult and Hauron did not feel like a general or commander of military forces. The arrival of thousands of ISC troops and accompanied droids were taken in by the Mandalorian’s recording Heads Up Display. What’s more, the President himself had come to the planet, though that fact gave the young Mikkian pause. He was not sure how much help the different politicians could do and were actually more of a liability since they were at risk of being turned into ‘joiners’ with sensitive information.

The Solus did not have any significant amount of time to contemplate the variety of individuals or the implications of their presence. The wailing sound of raid sirens made the warrior tense slightly and begin looking up and around for signs of an attack. The somewhat familiar voice of the Cadir Gyxik recentered the Mandalorian’s attention on the delegates as it came through from one of their nearby radios.

The words of warning made Hauron’s blood run cold and a chill shot through his spin. He did not know a great deal of the Killiks but he knew to a degree what they were capable of. But how could he tell who was a joiner and who wasn’t? He had not given it too much thought since there did not seem to be much in the way of telling. Maybe that had just made him naive but if he couldn’t figure out who was under the hive’s influence there was not much point in letting the paranoia consume him. All he could trust were those that had recently arrived. Everyone else was suspect.

The next horrifying moment he caught on his recorder. The Vratix delegate’s head was given a new hole and those in the front row ahead of Hauron were in the splash zone. All the Mandalorian could do was look on in surprise at first and see the unnerving response of the dead delegate’s guards let out a piercing shriek.

Both of Hauron’s hands were holding his flame projector but his shoulders rose as if to try and cover his ears in vain. The loud noise entered his helmet and made his compressed head tendrils shake and twitch while his legs took a step back, trying to instinctually get away from the noise. His body slightly bent forward as all the muscles in his body tried to ward off the cacophony.

Letting go of the forward handle on his flame projector, Hauron reached over to his right gauntlet where the flight controls of his jetpack were located. Activating the back mounted device the badger shot into the air and tried to get clear of the practically blinding noise.

Slightly recovering, Hauron managed to turn enough in the air to witness a new ship arrive on the seen. More reinforcements for the saviors of Thyffera, no, he would get a sinking feeling in his gut as the trajectory of the ship and the placement of the pods on the ground ended violently and in manner that was far from friendly. Their compliment of insect monsters made it even more clear what was unfolding.

Kicked up dirt and turned over earth gave way to a subterranean threat. The dangers from beneath the surface were one of many that made the Mandalorian overwhelmed momentarily as he took in the horrors. This was what the Killiks did. They were unfathomable, voracious and attacking from all sides. Above, below and even among those that thought they were with friends.

Hauron froze, his jetpack keeping him hovered a dozen or so meters in the air above it all. <“Holy shit.”> Was all he could manage to eek out as he stared. This was unlike anything he could have thought of. It was not until the freighter crashed into the Cadir’s building that caused Hauron’s attention to change from the horde of insects, jerking out of his temporary paralysis. His head, encased in his armored helmet, looked down at the other saviors and then back up at the building as thoughts race through his head and how to deal with the situation.

Several thoughts ran through his head and he tried to be decisive. But the Mandalorian was not as experienced in combat or making tactical calls as some. The forces brought by the Sith and the ISC were not going to be helped by Hauron making a strafing attack between them and the Killiks if he used his flame thrower. They were coming from underneath them. He could do the same though for the Saviors. But they seemed like they were capable individuals as he had felt earlier. Plus Hauron did not want to accidentally burn any of them and make things worse.

The last idea that came to mind, and maybe the most ludicrous, was to fly directly towards where the freighter had crashed and made a hole in the building. They were here for the Cadir and he was the objective of this mission. Hauron had the benefit of a jetpack and hoped that the other un-joined would meet him at the building where the VIP was located. Increasing his altitude to avoid any possible ranged attacks from blasters, the badger made up his mind and sped towards the large makeshift hole. He intended to arrive and see what kind of dangers might be pouring out of the freighter by hovering several meters away from the opening along side the building, flame projector at the ready to burn any enemy bugs that he could see.

Hauron flies up with his jetpack 12+ meters to get away from the screaming joiner Vratix before taking in the horrors around him. After the freighter crashes into the building where Cadir Gyxik he flies towards it trying to head off any Killiks that are already inside and close to them before it's too late.

@Logan

Zakrym La · Aug 8, 2022

The first thing Zak noticed was the firm grip of Draugr as they shook hands, he knew that the Sith likely hated him for his allegiance to the Jedi Order but from what he could tell, the Sith had set that grudge aside, for now. The sounds of fighters and transports swooping overhead to deliver soldiers to battle positions made Zak feel a little more at ease. He couldn't help but think that this mission might not be so difficult, maybe the Killiks hadn't made a drastic impact on the planet yet. As if to confirm that, a small column of Vratix guards made their way to the now joined party.

The leader of the Vratix guard moved forward and began to explain the situation to the strike team before a message would play on the transceivers of the guards and several nearby soldiers. The panicked voice of Gyxik desperately explained the situation, Joiners had breached the interior of a secured facility and that he was falling back to a safe room of some sort. The leader of the Vratix guard made to rally the join strike team of Jedi, Sith, and warriors before,

Blam

A splash of exoskeleton and fried brain matter splashed across Zak's face and blurred his vision as some of cooked matter got into his eyes. The Togrutan Jedi paws furiously at his eyes to clear them and so he was completely unaware of and unprepared for what happened next.

"What the kri-" He shouted before the Vratix pointed and began to scream in an unholy and unnatural manner.

Zak's montrals acted as an internal echo chamber as the screams of men, killiks, and Joiners all mixed together into one terrible chorus of pain, death, and sheer aggression. Zak felt several of the Sith around him draw upon the Force, twisting it to suit their needs and demands. This only served to expand upon his confused state and blind panic, his hand shot from his eyes to grasp his montrals, his voice joined in on the tormenting choir, he screamed.

"BY THE FORCE MAKE IT STOP!" He screamed as he clutched at his montrals in a vain attempt to still them.

What happened next was born of pure instinct, blinding fear, and self preservation. Zak's lightsaber jerked itself free of his belt, in the direction the Vratix had come from, and it's blue blade activated to carve a deadly path through any that were unfortunate enough to be in it's path. In this moment, Zak could not truly discern who was friend, who was foe, the only thing he could focus on was silencing the screams that had caught him completely off-guard and absolutely disoriented him.

Zak shakes Draugr's hand and is happy they aren't going to be fighting. Vratix guards show up as ISC forces land, making Zak feel hopeful. The message comes over the comms, before Zak can really react, bug brains splatter across his face and some get into his eyes, blinding him. Before he can clear his vision and orient himself, the screaming and sounds of battle start, catching him further off-guard, allowing for essentially sensory overload as his montrals just amplify everything he is hearing. This causes him to go into an absolute panic and blindly force throw his lightsaber towards the Joiner guards that are screaming, in effort to cleave them down and get the noise to stop.

@Logan

Charlotte Le'Anna · Aug 8, 2022

The bridge hummed with the sounds of carefully calculated activity. Her people had a reputation for vanity and opulence. What the galaxy often forgot was that her kingdom did not exist by accident. Hapan vanity was matched only by their ruthlessness and might. Their armies were not comparable in size but certainly a match in galactic skill. Of course, the true crown jewel of the Hapes Consortium was not their wealth or beautiful Queen but their navy. A perfectly crafted and gorgeous machine. One that whirred above Thyferra. A metaphor for all Hapes...stunning and equally dangerous.

The coms on the bridge crackled. The intercepted communication to the ISC streaming into the Ascension. So it had begun. That communication was met with a tightening in her chest. A warning from the Darkness as the bridge jumped with activity. Sensors throughout the vessel lost equilibrium. The voice of her vice-admiral cutting through the din. “Fleet wide, your highness.” Charlotte scowled. “Incoming from Ruusan.” An approaching fleet should not have set her entire fleet's equipment in disarray. “Prepare to receive our guests.” The little intelligence they received from the surface indicated the battle had begun. The ISC thankfully was protecting their own in force. The President himself at the forefront of the battle. “Tell President Thorne and the ISC forces below we have incoming from Ruusan. We will hold the skies as long as we can.” (@Sreeya) She had committed to this course of action. Charlotte was not particularly honorable, but her fleet was all that stood between whatever came and the armies below. Opportunity she reminded herself.

The fleet quickly positioned itself. Her commands ringing out quickly. Fighters and bombers readied to launch. The Nova-class carriers moving in front to shield the larger batteries of the Battle Dragons. The Queen Mother took a deep breath. There was no turning back. She had made her choice...

Charlotte messages the ground forces below and prepares the fleet to engage the incoming ships.

@Logan

The Storyteller · Aug 8, 2022

Fleet Admiral Altronis had hoped this day would never come. The galaxy had been at war for years now, but until recently it hadn't touched the ISC in the way that it had many other worlds. Those days had ended.

As battle commander of the third fleet of the Three-Fold Fleets that was berthed at Thyferra, it was his responsibility to see the defense of the planet from the coming invasion.

The Command Force was at the rear, with the Admiral on the bridge of the TL-1, which was truly a sight to behold. In many ways it had become a symbol of the power and prestige that the ISC had gained over the last decade. Next to the Command Force were the Interdiction and Planet Pacification Forces, altogether making up the Reserve Force. The Reserve would make up the final line of defense for the planet.

And sprawled out over the kilometers of open space in front and beside those groups were the remnants of the fleet. He had split the Heavy Fleet into Heavy Alpha and Heavy Beta and they sat slightly ahead of the reserve force to the right and left respectively. The Light Force had likewise been split into Light Alpha, Light Beta, Light Gamma, and Light Delta and flew just ahead of their Heavy Fleet partners. Heavy Alpha was supported by Light Alpha and Light Gamma while Heavy Beta was supported by Light Beta and Light Delta.

For all groups, fighters and bombers had been launched with half of the fighters serving as a front screen, a quarter in reserve near the ships they launched from and a quarter in reserve where the bombers were at the ready. Whatever may come their way, he could only hope they were ready.

Arctus Friers · Aug 8, 2022

Ruzaan was the first to react upon recognizing Arctus. He smiled brightly at the young Togruta (@SlagathorTheUnknown), waving him over and gratefully accepting his fellow Padawan's hug. While the crisis on Thyferra was far from the former smuggler's idea for a reunion with his best friends, he was still glad that they were both alive and hale.

"Long time no see, Ruz," he told Ruzaan apologetically, his gaze then shifting towards Clove (@LilyNion). "You as well, Clove."

He had so many things he wanted to say. So many questions to ask. A secret or two to admit. Ruzaan was on his way to Knighthood – just a few steps more, according to what Arctus had heard. Clove herself had been promoted to Knight, but events made her take the Barash Vow. He wanted to talk to them about everything. But this was not the right place nor the right time, even further cemented by the fact that they were about to work with the Sith-looking Forcies on this mission to protect the Cadir Gyxik, and to make sure that the Killiks won't mess up with Thyferra's bacta supplies.

The Padawan knew that he had to focus; that he had to be serious this time. He offered the gathered black-clad gang a curt nod, extending it to the two armored individuals (a Mando and a mercenary, perhaps?). He cast both Clove and Ruzaan a quick grin, keeping a joke about reunions to himself as a small Vratix delegation approached their ragtag group. Arctus opted to listen first, then eventually drawing his blasters when a Joiner blasted one of the Vratix guard's head.

All hell further broke loose after that one action.

Then came the wailing.

Arctus gasped as the sound reached his ears, feeling as if it was tearing not just his eardrums apart but more so his mind. It echoed inside his skull, unholy screeching metaphorically gouging deep marks in his brain. He fell on one knee, hands clutching his blasters tightly as he gritted his teeth in agony caused by that horrific screaming.

Foolish boy! This isn't the most terrible thing you've ever heard!

Fighting through the pain, Arctus rose back to his feet, gaze blurred with tears spotting a freighter crashing on a building where the Cadir was supposed to be. The sound of a jetpack activating caught his attention, and he followed the Mandalorian (@Darasuum) with his gaze. The Padawan almost didn't notice the pods falling from the sky, but the sound of insects chittering increasing in volume grounded him, reminding him of the severity of the danger their group were facing.

"Someone give Mando a hand! Can't have 'em get to the Cadir!" he shouted, leaving the killing of the screamers to those who were quick to recover from their assault. Arctus gazed warily at the smaller assassin-killiks, almost wondering why they weren't attacking yet.

He was not going to wait for them to move, though.

Aiming at the killer bugs before him, Arctus fired a shot each aimed at a chittering killik, the red bolts intended to blow up the damned insect.

• Arctus staggers and falls on one knee in agony from the Eldritch Scream™
• He soon recovers when he reminds himself that the Eldritch Scream™ isn't the most horrible sound he's heard.
• He urges anyone in the group to help Hauron keep the Cadir safe.
• He attempts to shoot one of the assassin-killiks

@Logan

Clove Vanhoop · Aug 8, 2022

After hugging Ruz, Clove shook Draugr's(@Scoobert) hand firmly, secretly feeling somewhat relieved that he didn't seem to recognize her. While she wasn't ashamed of knowing Sith, because some of them were among her closest friends, it was a relief to not have to explain anything to her Jedi friends just before entering a warzone. "Thank you for letting us help, we appreciate it a lot."

Then, Clove's eyes shifted to the girl with the red hair(@Wit). A girl not much taller than herself. She took a curious step closer, her hand extended to her as well. "Hey. I'm Clove, nice to meet you." She gave a faint smile. "I really like your armor; did you make it?" She could only hope that the girl appreciated her effort in making small talk; if they had to fight alongside each other, it would be nice to know who everyone was. Or at least some people anyway.

She had just finished chit-chatting with the red-headed Tiefling when she noticed another person she knew well. Arctus!(@Forsythe Crowholde) "Arctus! I'm so glad to see you!" Clove laughed and waved her arm in the air. She hadn't seen him in a long time, partly because she had vanished and partly because he had vanished as well. Before she could say anything else, Ruz(@SlagathorTheUnknown) grabbed her hand and dragged her over to Arctus, throwing them into a group hug. For the first time in months, Clove sighed softly and reveled in the warmth of her friends before lowering her arms and breaking the embrace. There would be so much catching up to do, as well as some explaining to the man as to why she looked like hell, but for now she was more than happy she could fight alongside her friends.

Soon after, Emryc Thorne(@Sreeya) and, judging by the appearance, a large number of ISC soldiers showed up as another surprise on the battlefield. The man was going to fight alongside them. Suddenly blushing, Clove batted her long eyelashes at the man. The president. Right next to the Sith and the Jedi. Oh, my Force. He was so close to her that she could see him so clearly. She took a closer look, tilting her head to the right and squinting just a little. Though she had already purchased the figurine and seen the calendar, when she got a better look, she realized that Altair had done a much better job of rocking the man's training program. She kept her eyes on the path in front of them while mentally telling herself that Emryc wasn't actually that hot compared to Altair, but that didn't stop her cheeks from flushing even when she was just in his presence.

Fortunately, she was quickly distracted from the president, though the reason was far less than perfect. The Vratix approached them, alarms started to sound and the Vratix who spoke was shot dead by his own men, falling to the ground with a burning hole in his head. Everything happened so quickly. There was no time to react in shock because the most horrifying sound screeched through the half-ears Annfyn's the moment the creature's body hit the floor. Whereas the girl's sensitive large ears were normally a blessing, they were now a curse; each sound was amplified as if pins and needles scraped through her ears, reaching for her brain and mind. While she gritted her teeth, she reached for her scalp with her free hand, her nails digging into the skin.

Clove's hand, which had previously lingered on her hilt, reached for the E-11 blaster instead. She clipped it free and clung to it for dear life while fighting back groans of pain. The pain caused her to see dots dancing in her vision, but she at least managed to open her eyes. She had to fight through it and regain her composure, while also finding high ground to avoid shooting her allies. While taking deep breaths in an effort to calm herself down, she looked around the field and discovered a girl(@Phoenix) hopping onto the speeders and firing an energy bow. And everyone else followed suit. Well. That would undoubtedly spark a large-scale attack. No reason to hold back now. Clove needed a few more seconds to composure herself and get over the very worst of her pain before she clumsily climbed up a speeder near the half-Sephi and directed the E-11 blaster's bolt at one of the screamers. "We'll cover your backs!" She yelled to anyone nearby who could hear her.

tag @Logan + everyone else

Clove hangs out with her friends and meets Alia and Sithies. Then she freaks out due to the screams and scratches her skin. She recovers enough to somewhat move again. She follows after Arla, gets on a speeder for high ground and shoots at a screamer while declaring the back line will cover people's back.

Claudias Tannaras · Aug 8, 2022

Apart from a few incredulous glances from one man in some impressive looking armor (@Altaris) and another in commons who carried a saber and spoke to the assembled Jedi as friends (@Forsythe Crowholde) the defenders didn't really pay the Brentaalan any heed. He blinked a few times, glancing around, the lack of attention not to surprising considering the circumstances. He stood out from the crowd as easily being the most ordinary looking amongst them-- be it the beskar clad warrior talking with the Jedi and his bird, or the demonic looking Sith lord just a few feet from him, the short, middle aged human was an extra-ordinary person surrounded by extraordinary people.

He might've been unique if he were the only politician there, but none other than the president (@Sreeya) had soon arrived on the scene, taking direct command of his forces. It was a commanding group, one surely qualified to deal with the threat. As the Xeno captain began speaking, the sheer gravity of the situation seemed to fade-- right before the alien's brains were sprayed across his otherwise white clothes.

As the guards surrounding them began to scream, Claudias himself let out a pained wail, pressing his free hand against his temple as he gripped the handle of his cane. The Brentaalan's legs felt like jelly beneath him, and it was all he could do that he would simply take a knee rather than collapse in a heap. When it no longer felt like his brain was going to split in two, he would look up, and what little color was in his face drained as he saw that they were all but surrounded, horrific creatures descending upon them.

It was chaos. He saw a saber flying around at the guards, saw as two pointy eared girls (@Phoenix @LilyNion) made their way to high ground and began firing on their attackers, who... weren't attacking. The mandalorian he'd seen earlier was flying towards the building where a freighter had crashed.

Reaching down, he drew the DL-44 from his holster, slowly standing to his feet and flicking the safety off. Closest to him he watched as a massive droid (@AutoFox) began manhandling a nearby insect. While his hand was shaky, and he hadn't practiced his shooting in years, the insect was close (Five or six meters,) and it's mouth was gaping open. The Brentaalan let shots ring from his blaster, hoping to soften up the beast that the automaton was fighting.

@Logan (highlighted the important bits)

Alia · Aug 8, 2022

Alia wasn't sure how she felt about working with Jedi, or Mandalorians. Some Sith rulebook somewhere probably detailed the correct protocol around killing any Jedi on sight and hanging their bodies by their entrails as a warning to others. But the problem with that was that Alia wasn't really much of a reader, outside of her coursework and her monthly subscriptions to things like Bun-R-Us, she didn't really wander into the world of words all that much.

But when the little elf-girl introduced herself, all polite and sweet, Alia couldn't really find any reason to not respond in kind. She was polite, she complimented her armor, and she expected her to be competent enough to have made it on her own. And most important of all, she was shorter than her. Shorter! That clinched it. "I'm Alia," she replied with a smile, taking her offered hand and shaking it enthusiastically, "nice to meet you too! I love your hand cape thingies!" She reached out to grab the fabric of Clove's sleeves, appreciating the feel of it between her fingers.

Before she could say much more the former Jedi was pulled away by the arrival of even more Jedi and Alia, feeling a little less flustered and not attempted to scratch her way through her lightsaber hilt in frustration, observed the motley crew that was begining to gather.

She began making her way towards Arla, which was when the Vratix arrived, and all hell broke loose. She almost dropped her lightsaber when the screeching began, but that was one bit of her training she had paid attention to, lose the blade, lose your life. So she held on, her grip tightening around the hilt till her knuckles turned white, while her other hand flew to cover one ear, her tail shooting up to do its best to give the same treatment to her other ear as she fell to a knee.

It took her a few moments to gather her wits about herself, and she slowly let her hand and tail drop down as she carefully got back to her feet, staring at the bugs that poured out of the pods that dropped from the sky. She was slower to react than the others, and by the time she started moving Arla and Clove had jumped into position, pulling ranged weapons to attack the bugs from their speeder perches. She couldn't do that, lacking any such weaponry of her own, but she could help them.

She jogged up and moved past them, standing a few feet ahead of the two and somewhere between them, her blade springing to life. "You shoot," she shouted over her shoulder to Arla, before turning the other way to address Clove as well, "and I'll make sure they don't get too close." Satisfied with her plan, she nodded to herself as she returned her attention back to the bugs, ready to cut them down if any came too close.

"Jedi and Sith fighting together, how bee-zarre!"

@Logan @Phoenix @LilyNion

After recovering from the screech Alia moves to take a defensive position between and ahead of Arla and Clove, her lightsaber lit and ready to fend off any bugs that get too close. She then cracks a awesome pun.

Veer Altaris · Aug 8, 2022

Veer allowed his gaze to wander the assembled group for a few moments more, inspecting his temporary comrades-in-arms a bit further. Besides the random appearance of a man straight out of the nursing home, the majority of those assembled looked as if they could hold their own well enough - and it was the smallest bit of relief that Veer was surrounded by people who actually knew what the fuck they were doing. Even better was the arrival of the President himself and an army with him.

The Axxilan took a step or two backwards, deliberately positioning himself towards the back of the group - fingers squeezing idly around the handle of his longblaster. He was expecting an ambush. Something to burst out of the ground without a single bit of warning.

He wasn’t expecting a betrayal from within.

Almost instinctively, Veer bent at the knees and ducked forward - his body moving purely upon the sound of blaster fire going off unexpected. His eyes snapped around the group before fixating onto the guard who had betrayed them. Just as the Axxilan lifted his rifle to level the bastard, the others began to scream - and Veer couldn’t help the way that he buckled forward at once - pain splitting through his head and penetrating right past the aural dampening systems built into his helmet.

Even with the pain ringing in his ears, the Axxilan didn’t miss the arrival of additional Kilik’s - bursting forth from the ground and arriving from pods that dropped from the sky. Fucking wonderful.

A growl rolled up the Axxilan’s throat as he steadied himself once more - gaze snapping back onto the screamers. Without a moment of delay, Veer leveled the sniper barrel upon the Screamer and pulled back the trigger - attempting to put a yellow plasma bolt right through the guard’s skull.

Veer doubled over from the scream, then fires a shot at the Screamer.

Thayd Karkoza · Aug 8, 2022

Thayd's immediate reaction to this infernal shrieking was to cover his ears and attempt to block out all sound. He'd only felt the sharpest edge of it for a second before he managed to muffle the noise but it had been terrible, like a thing to saw the ground in half and rend the sky asunder. The next moment passed in near silence for Thayd as he kept his hands pressed to the sides of his head and watched the Vratix delegate up front collapse into his own gore while the Sith who'd been there to meet him stood freshly blast-painted with viscera. A number of lighstabers burst to life around Thayd, blaster bolts streaked past him, bug pods rained from the heavens, jet packs were a'thrustin', people climbing up onto passenger vehicles, and in the midst of all this Thayd saw the bird that had come with him, calmly hopping along the ground. It scooped up a tendril of innards in its beak, scarfed it down, cackled with laughter, and took flight. Inspired by this sight, Thayd came to his senses.

It had only been a moment. He lowered his hands. The screaming was painful to his ears, but he'd collected himself and had enough discipline to push to gather his focus and act. In the next moment he'd drawn his lightsaber into his right hand and ignited the blade in a flash of green, though he wasn't quite ready to plunge with it through the ranks of Joined vratix guards and killiks that were swarming into a perimeter around the would-be saviors.

He came closer to the front of the group, where Draugr (@Scoobert ) and his men had been when this sudden attack was unleashed. Thayd had seen the screaming guards drop their weapons, and as shots streamed in on these screamers from numerous sources, Thayd held out his left hand and used the force to summon one of these discarded blasters into his grasp. As long as nothing would interfere with his attempt to recover one of these weapons, he would then use it to provide covering fire for Zakrym La (@Apollyon ) as he attempted to tear a bloody path through the Vratix guards with his lightsaber. They needed to punch through the enemy ranks right here and now and make it to the Cadir's building, and the Togruta looked to be doing a pretty good job of it.

-------

Elsewhere, Thayd's bird had taken flight and was following Hauron Solus (@Darasuum ) as he jetpacked his way through the air toward the gaping hole in the building created by the wrecked Thyferrian freighter.

@Logan

Thayd recovers from the screaming -- ignites lightsaber -- attempts to Force pull a Vratix guard's discarded blaster into his free hand and use it to fire into other Vratix guards to cover Zakrym La. -- Thayd's bird is following Hauron in the air, toward the Cadir's building.

The Gatekeeper · Aug 8, 2022

On the Surface

At first glance it may have seemed like the screeching of the Joined was only used to draw attention to potential threats. Of course though, like most things, it served more than a single purpose. It was also a form of swift threat assessment.

The more a being was affected, the less likely it would resist the Joining and the less likely it could overpower the swarm should it choose to fight.

As such, the attention of the assassin-killiks was immediately drawn to the hulking form of X3R. The droid’s chest cannon found purchase in its attack, the two heavy blaster shots that erupted from the droid’s chassis blasting headlong into one of the bugs and causing it to keel over instantly.

As he started to grapple another bug and attempt to rip its mandibles apart, X3R would suddenly find the creature's entire face explode in front of him. Claudias' blaster shot had found its mark despite the aging ambassador's shaky hand.

Unfortunately for X3R, the assassin-killik's had a built in counter measure to such wanton carnage. Since the blaster shot had caused the bug to explode, X3R would get splashed with a gush of the bug’s dark, viscous and heavily acidic blood. It would immediately start bubbling and slowly burning away at the droid's face and chassis - most notable, his photoreceptors.

A group of four killiks would begin to swarm the droid, snapping at him with the large pincers on their hind end. While they were most deadly slicing into organic material, X3R’s metallic bits wouldn’t be able to hold up against the onslaught forever.

Arctus would find his blaster shots landing effectively, blowing a hole straight through the killik he'd aimed at. Of course, this drew the attention of several other nearby bugs, which turned and raced toward the bearded-Jedi with unsettling and uncanny speed. Circling around him in a triangle formation, the assassin-killiks would one-by-one take swipes at him with their pincers, looking to tear the Jedi into pieces so they could devour him.

Arla, intelligent in her use of range, would see her arrow rocket through the air and embed itself straight into the gaping mouth hole of the Vratix joiner and pierce through the other side - killing it instantly. Suddenly, she would feel the speeder she was on top of start to rumble before something pushes up on it from beneath with enough strength to send the speeder into the air before it would land nearby on its side.

From the large hole in the ground where the speeder used to be emerged a hulking killik, much larger and more menacing than its snippy-snap brethren. Whipping its eyeless head towards Arla the hulk-killik would belch the neon blue liquid it held in the sack on its torso straight at her. While she wouldn't know exactly what that liquid was, Arla's knowledge of hunting and predators would tell her that she should avoid touching it pretty much at any cost.

Clove's blaster shot would strike one of the killiks in a soft spot in its chitin armor, hobbling it enough to render it no longer a threat. The rumbling ground nearby would be very noticeable to her, though the speeder she currently stood on was safe from being flipped over. Clove would see the hulking bug now bearing down on Arla, though she would have her own problems to deal with.

One of the assassin-killiks would ram its head into the side of the speeder, looking to knock Clove off balance and onto the ground. Another would begin climbing up the hood of the speeder, looking to take a swipe at Clove's legs with its pincers.

And of course, Alia would see both of these things happening simultaneously since she was in between. Who would she help?

Each of Thayd's, Draugr's, Ruz's and Zakrym's attacks would land quite easily. As the Sith choked off the breath from the screeching Vratix, the ungodly noise would finally cease. Given that they were currently being choked out, the Joined targeted by Ruz offered little resistance to the Jedi's tactful yeeting and the one targeted by Zakrym would find itself impaled by a lightsaber, as well as Thayd's blaster shots finding purchase.

As the Vratix targeted by Ruz was tossed through the air, the group of warriors would see it flailing about through the air before it was caught in the jaws of a massive flying beast. Anyone with knowledge of Arkanian Dragons might recognize it as one, or at least, that it used to be one.

The Killiks had worked their magic on the semi-sentient dragon and turned it into an unholy amalgamation of bug and beast who knew only that its mere existence was perpetual agony and that it must do what the Hivemind tells it to do.

Faster than the flying Hauron, the dragkillik would land in the opening the Mandalorian was looking to enter, effectively blocking his path - at least for now. Opening its massive maw, it would unleash torrent of fire straight toward Hauron, hot enough to melt his armor to his bones.

Emryc and his ISC forces would continue in their advance, though the killik resistance only seemed to grow thicker for them and impede their progress.

Whether it was through intuition or through the Force, Emryc would know that the tactics he was seeing from these killiks were not what one would expect from a fighting force looking to kill him. No, it almost seemed like the bugs were willingly throwing themselves in front of his vehicles and soldiers to simply slow them down.

Almost as if something, or someone, wanted to catch up with him purposefully.

In Space

In stark contrast to the carnage unfolding below, the swirling void of space was entirely uneventful. As Altronis and Charlotte stared from the viewports of their ships, they would see little else than what had been in front of them this entire time: nothing at all.

That was, of course, until the Killik Shardships dropped from hyperspace.

They dropped in four groups, each containing eight Shardships. Dartships poured out of them like locusts. Three thousand of them would start setting up formations in front of the Shardship groups, some forming defensive formations while others firing immediately at any enemy forces that were remotely close.

An additional one thousand Dartships would hang back around the Shardships as counter measures against any enemy ships that broke through the fighters in front.

As things started to heat up in earnest, A transmission would come across both the Hapan and ISC comms, its source the Admiral of a nearby Core Defense Fleet. “This is Admiral Nielson of the Adamant, in comand of a section of the Core Defense Fleet. We are en route to your location to provide aide.

The battle for Thyferra, and perhaps the entire galaxy, had truly begun.

32 Shardships
4000 Dartships

@Altaris @Apollyon @AutoFox @Darasuum @Evan @Faded
@Forsythe Crowholde @LilyNion @Phoenix @Scoobert
@SlagathorTheUnknown @Sreeya @Tom @Valen Pelora @Wit

Arla · Aug 8, 2022

Arla received an immediate hit of dopamine as she saw one of the screamers go down with his brains blasted out the back of his head. She was reaching for her bow grip to pull back another when she felt the ground and speeder under her rumble. Things became unstable and she leapt into the air before she could fire another shot.

She landed adeptly back on the ground and her jaw dropped open ever so slightly as she saw the creature in front of her. It almost reminded her of a Nydak in its own way, but more armored and - hopefully - correspondingly slower. Nydaks were unbelievably fast and aggressive.

What the kriff, she thought to herself, somewhere in the back of her mind she noted that they were all coming from underground. But where underground? The kind of question that needed answering after she wasn't about to be eaten.

She darted to the side as the thing spewed out what she could only assume was some sort of acid or maybe a toxin. Either way, she knew to avoid it, and as she moved she sent another arrow out, hoping to land the shot inside the creature's open... mouth? Spewing hole? It was really hard to say to be honest, but her hope was that the arrow might create a burn inside that would cause the acid to start seeping into its own body. At least she could hope.

She would continue to run and evade, her Force-assisted reflexes always keeping her just ahead of being struck by the blue and... well, hopefully she could find an opening or even close with the creature. She thought she'd seen footage of one of the Sith leaping on the back of one of these creatures on Ruusan. Seemed viable for him?

Jumps off the speeder just before its upended. Dodges the acid(?) and tries to fire an arrow into the creature's throat to create a weak point for the acid to burn into the monster's own body.

The Storyteller · Aug 8, 2022

I want full status reports on all our ships on my display in thirty seconds. Open channel to the FWA ships in vicinity. Pull up a full system scan. If there are any enemy ships in the sector, I want to know, Altronis issued orders without hesitation, but with a calmness that spoke to his years of experience. Despite his externally cold demeanor, there was no question that he understood the gravity of the situation. He had seen what came out of hyperspace at Ruusan. He had studied the enemy ships and tactics extensively - or at least as much as he had footage and sensor data available - and he knew that they would be coming. And when they did, thousands of his men and women were going to die.

As if on cue he heard: Admiral, we have enemy ships dropping out of hyperspace in sectors 2.10 to 4.17. His eyes swept to the area identified and for the briefest moment his breath caught. This was the enemy fleet. But despite the overwhelming opposition, the Admiral's face never changed.

Sir, I have FWA vessel Ascension on the line, said Ensign Plesto. The Admiral gave a nod and a quick response. Put me through, he said. Even as he spoke, his eyes were running over the combat data of the vessels in the vicinity and their combat readiness.

FWA Ascension this is Fleet Admiral Altronis, ISC Third Fleet command, he said, having no idea what sort of commanding officer on the other vessel he was identifying. All he knew was that they were going to have to get real friendly real quick.

I assume you've seen our new friends coming out of hyperspace, he said. His eyes began to scan over the contents of the Hapan fleet. Hapans. Don't usually see them coming out to play, he thought to himself. But he was never one for politics. They were hulls and they were guns, and right now that was the only thing he cared about. In fact, after this that would be the only thing he cared about, too.

Enemy ships began to disperse, and he quickly took gauge of where and how the enemy had arrayed itself. They had the superiority in fighters, but the ISC had 36 dedicated anti-fighter craft that their opponent lacked. By his estimation, both shared approximately the same firepower on their capital ships.

One of the ship's security troops brought him a pistol that he strapped around his waist. A precaution he never thought he'd have to take until he'd started hearing disturbing reports. He trusted his crew completely, but these days things were apparently not all they seemed.

Ascension this battle's going to come down to fighter and bomber superiority. We have bombers, they don't. Force them to come to us and remove as many of their fighters as we can. I've heard impressive things about your starfighters. I hope they're everything I've heard, he said.

He received a notification about another incoming ISC transmission, and he felt a slight wave of relief at the message. Of course the Core Fleet would be nearby. Their additional ships may well turn the course of this battle.

Glad to hear that Admiral Nielson, he said sincerely. We've got no lack of targets out here. We'll be glad to see your arrival. Arrive ready to fight. Enemy ships in sectors 2.10 to 4.17. We're forwarding you our scan reports now, he said. The more information they had the sooner they could get guns on target when they arrived. Or at least that's what Altronis hoped.

Meanwhile he issued orders and the fleet began to move. More of the fighters moved to the front and the Command Force began to move forward. The Light Forces tightened formation to create overlapping fields of fire and the "Corellian Gunships" in particular prepared to wipe up the enemy fighters as they approached. The Admiral knew he had the advantage of the defense, and he would force the enemy to come to him.

@Logan the Admiral reaches out to Charlotte (@Valen Pelora) on the comlink. He straps on a pistol just in case. He responds to the Core Defense admiral by sending enemy ship positions ahead of time. Last paragraph is just a straight description of ship movements and I've updated the positions on the map.

Zakrym La · Aug 8, 2022

The screams fell silent as the Vratix guards had been cut down through a disjointed assault coming from Thayd, Draugr, Ruz, and himself. With the stunning assault silenced, Zak's montrals stopped acting as an echo chamber that magnified their sonic and psychic attack, he was freed. The Togruta Knight shook his head and blinked rapidly to clear both his head and eyes as he stood to his feet. With an afterthought, the blade of his lightsaber dislodged itself from the chest of the Joined guard it had been buried in and the weapon's hilt soared back into his hand.

Zak was able to take in the chaos for the first time, the battlefield reeked of the dark side. He could feel the ever-growing stains of fear, pain, and death with each life that was snuffed out. But none of that truly mattered right now he had to focus on saving as many lives as he could, saving the Bacta, and stopping the Killiks here. This was a thought that was accented by a dark shadow that quickly passed over him, Zak's head snapped up to watch in horror as an amalgamation of dragon and beetle landed before the opening his Mandalorian ally had intended on flying into.

"We have to clear the path!" Zak called out to Force Sensitives around him as he pointed up to the dragkillik, it's mouth opening to spew death upon the Mandalorian. "Together, through the Force, we can bring it down!" He continued shouting. "Grip and drag down!"

With that, Zak would focus his gaze upon the tortured form of the dragon, his hand reached out towards the creature as he called upon the Force to snake invisible and impossibly tight coils around the beast's neck. His eyes narrowed in focus and small beads of sweat began to form on his brow, even with aid and hopefully the protection of his allies, Zak knew this was no simple feat. He inhaled sharply between clenched teeth before he shouted "NOW!" His outstretched hand gripped at the nothingness before him and then he jerked his hand downward in a smooth motion. With any luck, he would receive aid in the effort and the dragon would tumble from it's perch, allowing for the Mandalorian to either open fire on the beast or pass through the hole it guarded unharried and unharmed.

Zak reorients himself and recalls lightsaber to his hand. He notices the dragon and calls out for a unified force pull with some of his allies, trusting that the rest of the group will protect them. Focuses, grips, and rips the creature's neck downwards on a command. Hopefully creating an opening for Hauron to attack or get by the Dragkillik to aid the Vratix in the compound.

@Logan

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