Cradle of Fire

[Dread]

...
​

Once again Silas' eyes roamed over a glowing terminal screen, going over the specs of the plan. To put it simply, it was a campaign of terror. As he stared, it still looked good. Plus, it felt good in his gut. Satisfied with it, Silas leaned back in his chair and turned his thoughts to their destination.

Sriluur was an arid world covered in deserts, volcanoes and acidic seas. As a place to live, it had a few perks that made up for it's unappealing climate. It was an important world along the Sisar Run hyperlane, which connected the Outer Rim territories, making it a nexus for numerous local trade routes and a popular destination for traders. Another attention grabber was Sriluur's moon which supported life, known as Ruul. Unlike the planet that it orbited, Ruul was a world of lush tropical gardens. A beauty to behold.

However, as useful and beautiful as Sriluur and it's moon was, the part about the planet that had caught the Sith's attention was that it harbored the Imperial Knights main base of operations. Information on the Imperial Knights had been continuously leaked to the Sith through multiple sources. The Sith had waited for the perfect time to strike a crippling blow.

That time was now.

As his ships first buzzer went off, Silas rose, walked over and touched a trinket on a table that stirred memories of his lover. She was leading troops in the battle for Saleucami. He was worried about her, but he forced himself to push his thoughts about her aside before heading for the command deck.

In a few minutes, his large fleet would leave orbit and head out into space. When well cleared from the planet, they'd make the hyperspace jump.

His fleet consisted of a large amount of Chiss warships; five Chimera-class Battlecruisers, eight Tengu-class Cruisers, six Ferox-class Frigates, and eight Drake-class Corvettes. Leading the fleet was Silas' flagship, the Wraith, a Chimera-class Battlecruiser.

Time ticked away quickly. The second buzzer sounded, and precisely sixty seconds later the heavy hand of the ship's acceleration pushed the Darth back in his seat.

Sriluur, Sriluur system, Si'Klaata Cluster, Outer Rim______________________________________​

Commander Leonard sat at the helm. The displays reflected blue and green on his buttercream skin. His short brown hair stood up on end; he was focused on timing everything correctly. The last thing he wanted to do was displease a Sith Lord with a questionable grip on reality.

"Lord Animus," He didn't break his deep blue eyes from the instruments. "We're about to come out of hyperspace."

Silas took his seat at command and pulled the hood of his Sith cloak away from his emerald eyes. His displays sprung to life around him.

"Ehnn...I want max power to the screens and all weapons online. Hold for my command," Silas snapped the orders out, his eyes flicking to one screen to the next, checking, analyzing.

Silas' entire fleet was closed up and at battle stations as they came out of hyperspace above Sriluur. And with desired perfect timing the warships began to charge their turbolasers. They had their coordinates and orders. Then, before the Imperial Knights could organize their defenses and without any offer to surrender, they opened fire on Silas' command.

On the tactical display lances of plasma angled out from the warships tubolaser batteries and spiraled across space. The blasts descended on the planet as the stars peaked through the thinning crimson sky, beginning the bombardment of Sith's Folly, an obviously ill-chosen name for the Knights' base.

After the bombardment started Silas flicked a switch, opening a channel to the planet below.

"This is the Chiss Ascendancy flagship, Wraith. Calling all Imperial Knights and those who have aided them. In the name of the New Sith Imperium and the Chiss Ascendancy, I, Darth Animus, have come to mete out justice for your crimes against the Imperium."

Silas cut off communication after his short message, then took a cigar out of his breast pocket, licked his lips and put it in his mouth. He lit a match and held it to the tip, never taking his eyes off the screens. Taking a drag, the tip of the cigar glowed angry red, the tobacco crackling ever so softly. The smoke drifted out of his nostrils for a moment, and then he exhaled a cloud with a smile that darkened his features. He could already sense the death and destruction.

 

[DeathToll]

This cradle, set into the sands of change, this cradle of life burned at the torches of the enemies' guns; insatiable was this deed. The fires of emotion rained down upon this growing life, yet a teeming brand of honor and duty in its infancy twice born. Punished were they. Doomed by the morality and justice chosen for life, for survitude. This was their cradle, their surrogate mother ...their grave.

How could this be? None could believe it, yet none in questioned it. Who could have betrayed them? Were they not safe here, led by secrecy? Why did those who called themselves brother and sister give us this final kiss, the deepest of wounds? There was no question in their eyes and in their hearts, for these souls ALL stood loyal men and women of the greatest kind; as history would echo their deeds for a millenia to come.

The Sith's Folly shook with impounding damage, breaking and calling out to those that had shown it to be their safe-haven; yet now in this hailing storm of weapon's might. Soldiers scrambled, right and left, Imperial Knights sprinted to the call. It was too late. Countless had died in the innitial attack, even before those vile words came overhead.

"This is the Chiss Ascendancy flagship, Wraith. Calling all Imperial Knights and those who have aided them. In the name of the New Sith Imperium and the Chiss Ascendancy, I, Darth Animus, have come to mete out justice for your crimes against the Imperium."​

Crashing bursts and flaming parts blasted through the corridors inside this stationary vessel. Few attended the dead. Not now. Not to soil their memory. All who at first survived were righteous warriors of the most hardened sustenance. Knights in armor, caught by surprise, flew from the errupting explosions within. Defenses were attempted, return fire was innitiated; but all of it was futile. It was their last stand. One such Knight knew what had to be done. One such Knight was not alone in his last moments, but this one Knight had reached their communications center just as the devil's voice hailed all around them.

"Hey!! Soldier! Get on that comms NOW!"

The soldier at the terminal had already opened the spread transmission.

"Yessir!!! ...Calling all Imperial Knights! We've been attacked! This is Imperial Knight Jourard Vehaas, station: 'Sith's Folly'! We've been attacked! Repeat We've been attacked!!!"

The soldier turned to another man, armored, and standing at another station. The soldier, unable to understand the word 'hesitate', charged the man and knocked him out of the way to take over the terminal. He pointed back to the others and they all opened comms. This soldier knew. He knew.

"Transmission!!! The 'Sith's Folly' has been compromised!!! The 'Sith's Folly' has been compromised!!!"

The massive ship itself began to sink into the shifting sands of its welcoming embrace, turning the tail upside as if to show in resemblance to a tombstone. Yet inside, they scrambled. Some turrets fired back, the guns of the ship exploding from the intake of damage too fast before they could get off any real return. And others tried to reestablish any hopes of shields. Many scrambled to the docks. So many died, yet ALL stood their ground before the end. ALL showed their commitment, their duty, and their honor.

 

[Dread]

Now that the Sith's Folly was destroyed, it was time to mop up Sriluur.

"Implement phase two," Silas ordered.

On the main screen Silas could see his warships breaking the planets lower atmosphere and splitting into subformations, moving into positions to bombard the rest of the planet. Silas ordered the fighters of the fleet to head out on patrol to make sure that all ships that attempted to escape the destruction were stopped. Once the fighters were cleared out, Silas' fleet began to jam transmissions.

While his ships bombarded the planet, Silas sat back in his seat and watched the carnage.

Smoke billowed from the cities as blasts of plasma disintegrated buildings both large and small. Explosions flung debris into the air, muffling screams of terror. Ruul was the last to be destroyed. Stripped of it's beauty and left as a wasteland of death. A symbol of what happened to those who dare challenge the might of the Sith and Chiss.

The Sith Lord and his fleet of Chiss spared none.

In the end______________________________________​

"Take us out," Silas said, already gripping his chair arms, preparing himself for the jump to hyperspace. "Make the jump into hyperspace as soon as we are clear."

Light flashed as the Wraith turned, neither up nor down, left or right, but into the vast barrens of hyperspace.

"Set course for Csilla," Silas watched the blur of space on the main display. "Send out a transmission when we're closer to Sith Space -- tell them it is done."

"Yes, my lord," Leonard replied swiftly. His heart thumped at his chest dangerously. The palms of his hands sweated. He couldn't believe what he had just done; he was still in shock. It was the first time he had ever precipitated in anything so ruthless.

 

[DeathToll]

"They're blocking our transmissions, sir!!"

The man screamed across the room, unable to hear his own voice in all the choas.

"Did they get out?!?"

The soldier tried all he could, but the other man could not hear him; his ears running with blood from the in-hall explosions.

"What?!?"

The soldier tried again, but before he could finish...

"Goddammit I said did they get ..............."

The sounds of fighters began to fill the air about the few surviving Imperial Knights, the communications center engulfed in a collapsing explosion. A last attempt at escape was being organized in one of the tilted hangers, now on the underside. The lean of the utterly recked ship as it sank had caused a temporary locker of safety. It was there that one of their fighters had been rigged to blow. A sizemic charge was set aboard, and the pilot waved them off. His name was Imperial Knight Methus Rian. His heroic sacrifice would go down in history.

As he took off, the Empire swarmed him immediately and in perfect unity; without hesitation, they were unyielding. Methus managed to gain an altitude unlike any other Imperial Knight fighter thus far. The Empire's overseeing ship was already moving on. The Imperial fighters opened fire and blasted the Imperial Knight from the sky, causing a radiance like none had expected. The fighter sucked in the very sounds of this realm, before shredding all matter in its wake; taking out a huge portion of Imperial fighters in the sky, yet a fraction to their whole numbers. It was just enough. About a dozen fighters were left in the hanger, these Imperial Knights waiting for the signal to take off. And there it was. With the chance given by his suicide, there was enough of an opening that these fighters cleared their escape to space above. Capable of making a short jump to nearby systems, those fighters scattered across the sky just as the Sith's Folly fully collapsed into peices; a broken end to all those left behind. No others made it out alive....