Open Flashpoint Kashyyyk Force vs. Forces

[Ruzaan Kai]

Ruzaan Kai startled awake from a very bad dream into an even worse nightmare. An enormous sound- like that of a high-speed vehicle crash- registered on his senses, followed by a surge of warning through the Force; turbrolasers from orbit had slammed into the Jedi temple on Kashyyyk, turning what had been a peaceful nap into a living hell. Fighting through his grogginess, the Togruta rolled out of his bed on instinct alone as the wall adjacent to his bed crumbled; crushing the bed he'd been asleep on just a moment earlier and raining smaller chunks of debris down on top of him.

Bad. Bad. Bad. Ruzaan had hoped to continue his training on Kashyyyk for a few weeks, but he'd only been here a couple days before trouble found him again; this time, in the form of an invasion force courtesy of the Hapan Consortium. Somewhere close by, another turbrolaser impacted somewhere in or around the temple. The Togruta scrabbled for his lightsaber, feeling a small measure of comfort as his hand found the familiar weight of his weapon, before he stumbled out into what was left of the hallway. He was bleeding from a cut on his forehead and his body was protesting several other bumps and bruises from the falling debris, but as far as he could tell he'd managed to escape serious injury.

Smoke, fire, and chaos greeted him; looking up through a smoldering hole in the ceiling, Ruzaan could see a massive fleet battle underway, as well as the sight of a pair of dropships making their way towards the temple. It didn't take a genius to guess that they weren't filled with friendly Wookiee firefighters, and so Ruzaan began stumbling his way towards where he hoped other surviving Jedi might be...

@Sreeya

 

[Knight-Bot]

The young Padawan would not have to look far to find an ally. . Knight-Bot, the Jedi Order's most advanced lightsaber combat droid, had disembarked from his posting protecting the Kashyyyk shield generator. He had directed the Temple's droid force there to provide techncial repairs and support, if needed, and he had elected to guard them. However, the Wookiees themselves had sent their own forces to protect the shield generator as well, meaning Knight-Bot was free to return back to the Temple when he received the alert that it was being attacked.

The first being he'd encountered was a young Togruta. Order databanks identified him as Ruzaan Kai. Having been designed as advanced training for Knights and Masters, the Jedi training droid had not yet had the pleasure of sparring with young Kai but nevertheless, he was a droid of the Order and that meant stepping in where needed.

"GREETING: Hello, young Padawan, IDENTIFICATION: Ruzaan Kai - I am known as Knight-Bot and I serve the Jedi. SUGGESTION: Perhaps it would be best if we stuck together during this assault, given your combat abilities are likely subpar to middling." Knight-Bot said in an exuberantly mechanical voice, perhaps not realizing how intimidating his sudden appearance might be to the young Jedi or how blunt his words were.

@Sreeya @SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

OOC Clarification: The intent is for this to be a PvE-style thread :)

Try as he might, Ruzaan couldn't shake the ringing sound in his montrals, nor the sense of imbalance that came with it; sensory overload from the concussive impact of large-caliber turbrolasers. The overall sensation felt like he was walking through static, and as he wobbled his way across the debris-strewn floor. In the distance he could see a couple ignited lightsabers battling back against a hailstorm of red blasterfire, but the usual sounds of combat were very muted... as was the Knight-Bot's salutation. The Togruta didn't even realize that the hulking droid had hailed him; just that it was approaching.

If not for the Jedi Order symbol emblazoned on the droid's chest, Ruzaan might have thought it a threat; but thanks to some forward-thinking by whomever had designed it, the Togruta guessed that it probably wasn't trying to kill him... which was good, because at the moment the Padawan was in no shape to fight.

"Who...?" Ruzaan began taking unbalanced steps towards the droid, struggling to form sentences as he did so. He was a senior Padawan on the cusp of Knighthood, but in the moment- disoriented, devoid of his spatial awareness, and lacking control of his fine motor skills- he knew that he needed help. "Where...?" Even his voice sounded quiet to himself. Large gray eyes searched Knight-bot's expressionless face for answers. "What?" In addition to the Padawan's fragmented questions, Knight-bot's auditory receptors would register blasterfire approaching their location, as well as a wounded cry for help echoing from a nearby room in the same direction as the oncoming attackers...

@Fantasy Liver

 

[Vako Yizok]

The battle in space had gotten very hot very fast. Too much for someone like Vako to ever want to hang around and handle. He was not an incredibly efficient space pilot, and he certainly was no great spacer pirate. What he was an opportunist, and where there was money to be made, he was ready to make it.

There were evacuations going on in many of the Wookiee cities, and swift battlelines were drawn up. Though the warriors were out to fight, many of the young and weaker were not prepared for such a thing.

That was where Vako's world would cross paths with a new Jedi on the ground perhaps. His

freighter flew escort of his mighty bulk transport, the Atherwing. The free worlds would pay good money for the evacuation of refugees, and he was in the mood for charity.

Down came the large freighter, with rusty old markings and an out of date identity reading. It was clearly not affiliated in anyway with the Consortium above.

They landed just behind the wookiee lines as the attack began.

"We're here to help!" Vako yelled, flying out of the now open cargo hold. Some of his crew came out as well. They were armed brigands if ever anyone had seen them. "Fan out! Protect the refugees!"

Vako yelled and held up his blaster, hovering just off the ground. He saw the lightsaber ignited at the forefront. This was not his first Jedi.

"Are you the one in charge!?" He asked as the first ripples of blaster fire went off in the distance. "We need to get as many of the refugees out of here before they gain air superiority!"

The Atherwing had it's cargo bay doors open. Food, water, and medical stores ready to take on until the cargobay was full.

@Fantasy Liver @SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Knight-Bot]

"Oh dear. Are you deaf?" Knight-Bot asked Ruzaan inquisitively, genuinely curious. He repeated the question after adjusting his volume to be on the maximum setting. He cursed himself for his stupidity. Knight-Bot was used to lightsaber duels in enclosed spaces with willing Jedi participants in acoustically favorable training rooms. He should have known that his normal volume wouldn't be sufficient in a large pitched battle like this one. Such a mistake was most unbecoming of a droid, particularly one who served the Order.

He could only curse himself for a few brief nanoseconds, as a Balosar Jedi Padawan, suddenly crashed into view. She was running backwards, deflecting blaster bolt after blaster bolt from some unseen enemy. But there were simply too many coming her way and one eventually hit her shoulder and then her upper thigh and finally her head. Her enemies were finally revealed as three Sith troopers came into view of Ruzaan and Knight-Bot, rifles at the ready.

"There's another one!" one of the troopers shouted, pointing his gun at the Togruta Padawan before him, evidently disregarding Knight-Bot as a combatant.

"THREAT: Enemies of the order, prepare for death." Knight-Bot ordered, as he got to one knee and braced for impact. His wrist mounted repulsor cannon roared to life and slammed the trio into a wall. As the now-very confused Sith collided with the wall, Knight-Bot activated his own lightsaber and descended upon them. Whether joined by Ruzaan or not, would go to town on the troopers to ensure they did not spill another drop of precious Jedi blood.

As the Sith fell, more armed men ran into view, certainly too many for Knight-Bot to handle on his own. But he'd give it his best shot certainly. Better to face termination here trying to protect the Jedi Order than failing his primary duty. Knight-Bot spun his lightsaber around and prepared to attack. Only there were no targets to attack? No, these gunmen running through the Temple corridors weren't dressed like Sith troopers and, in fact, seemed to firing upon the troopers in question. They were dressed like pirates and common street trash and evidently were under the command of a Toydarian.

"Refugees? CORRECTION: These are no mere refugees, my avian friend. These are Jedi, the proud protectors of the galaxy and the universe's most skilled warriors!" Knight-Bot corrected Vako proudly, his programmer's bias bleeding through his words painfully.

OOC: Works for me.

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

"No, I'm Ruzaan" replied the Togruta to Knight-Bot's question, once the droid turned up its volume. He wasn't deaf, was he? No, there was still the ringing in his ears; but to anyone within earshot, his voice was somewhat louder than what the space between him and Knight-bot called for, even accounting for the sounds of battle. The Togruta was indeed surrering from short-term hearing damage from the initial turbrolaser impacts.

Then movement caught his eye; a fellow Jedi Padawan was fleeing from the Hapan forces. Before Ruzaan could even try to help her, she fell unmoving on the ground. Kiral. The name died on his lips along with his fellow Jedi; he hadn't known her well, but all the same her death hit home. Raw grief welled up inside him and he ignited his lightsaber as the soldiers turned their attention towards him, but he needn't have worried; Knight-Bot quickly dealt with the first soldiers they'd encountered. A good thing, too- his sense of balance was getting better, but Ruzaan didn't trust himself to deflect many blaster bolts in his current shape.

Then a motley crew arrived, led by a Toydarian. Ruzaan could make out no uniformity or identifying markings, but they weren't hostile. In this chaotic context, that was good enough for him. The Togruta was still working on putting together complete sentences, but he did at least understand the tactical situation enough to know that a strategic withdrawal was the best course of aciton. "Hangar?" he wondered aloud; if the Hapan forces were smart, they would seek to cut off the most likely point of exit first.

@Fantasy Liver @Morse

 

[Vako Yizok]

Though the situation was now more obvious to him than it had been whilst they flew through the chaos that was overtaking the planet, Vako felt in a moment as though he was a fool. He led his crew down here with the intention of fighting and doing what he had suggested. And instead had flown them right up to some sort of Jedi fortress.

The Jedi did not need to be saved... they were the ones that did the saving!

He rolled his eyes and groaned. He was not intentionally standing side by side with the Jedi again in a battle... and yet here he was again.

"I.... we...... ah." Vako started, and then took a whole pause.

He looked at his crew, happy that the most unruly among them only spoke Hutteese. And then he looked back at the Jedi. He loosened his grip on his blaster, already having gotten the group a bit overly involved, looked around, and then back to the droid.

"Well... we're here either way. We can do battle with you. I would opt to have our ship move off to somewhere useful. Is there a village they can help with evacuation efforts nearby while we make a stand here in your fortress?"

@SlagathorTheUnknown @Fantasy Liver

 

[Knight-Bot]

"CLARIFICATION: There are numerous noncombatant support staff and younglings in this Temple that need evacuating. If you are looking to perform a civic duty, you may assist with that evacuation effort" Knight-Bot said, turning towards Ruzaan and defaulting to the Padawan's judgement when it came to directing relief efforts. After all, Knight-Bot was only a droid and, while he could give out tactical advice and administer swift saber strikes towards Sith invaders, he was more comfortable taking orders than giving them. It was his programming.

@SlagathorTheUnknown @Morse

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

With each passing minute, Ruzaan was gaining more control over his facilities; a good thing, too, as the sounds of fighting intensified. "Hangar" he repeated, with more confidence this time. The ringing in his montrals was beginning to subside, and his steps were more confident, too. "This way." He was getting dangerously close to stringing together a full sentence. "I think."

The Togruta began moving down a hallway, one half of his double-bladed lightsaber casting a pale blue light in his wake. Ahead they would be able to see a heavy volume of blasterfire as a pitched battle took place in the main atrium of the temple. With the hangar on the other side of the atrium, the eclectic party had two options ahead of them.

Ruzaan glanced back at Knight-Bot and Vako as they neared the atrium. "Fast, or safe?" he asked; they could take a longer route to circumvent the combat, but at the expense of speed.

@Fantasy Liver @Morse

 

[Knight-Bot]

"SUGGESTION: Judging from the artillery and manpower currently being expended by the Sith, I think speed is the optimal priority" Knight-Bot answered Ruzaan as they neared the atrium, preparing to follow the Togruta whatever the young Jedi decided.

As he waited for a formal decision, Knight-Bot ran a preliminary check on his systems. His visual processing was running at a suboptimal 98.03 %. Whether that was due to taking a hard hit or simple wear and tear was anyone's guess.

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

"Fast" Ruzaan said, pushing aside the alternate route he'd been thinking of now that a decision had been made. The Togruta ignited the other half of his double-bladed lightsaber, taking a moment to center himself- a move that helped to clear the pounding in his montrals as he called on the Force to soothe his disorientation. He probably should've done that before, but better late than never.

Grey eyes fixed Knight-Bot, and if he was still with them, the Toydarian. "Ready?" No slurring in his speech, now; just firm determination. The Togruta saw the Hapan front line advancing from left to right in front of their hallway, tallying about a score of soldiers (20), and charged forward. Even with the help of a few spirited defenders to their right in the atrium, the three of them would have to take full advantage of the element of surprise against so many foes.

@Fantasy Liver @Morse