Haunting Chorus: The Battle for Coruscant

[Green Ranger]

Krakana nearly smiled, though she would not allow herself such guilty pleasures in a tense situation as this. A unestimatable number of black-hulled fleets were converging on the bridge of the Precedence as she stood at the very transparisteel window, daring them to approach closer. Then, with a sudden hand gesture, the crew went to work. Suddenly, the barrage stopped, at least for a moment, as the guns of the Precedence and any other capital vessel facing the same attack tactics went silent. The transparent shields of the vssels suddenly were almost visible as numerous cooling vents were opened, exposing massive heatsinks along the hull of the Sith warships. Suddenly cooled and regenerating, and empowered by almost the entire reactor output of the warships re-energized and fortified the shields on the vessels, placing a deadly wall of energy between the black ships and their quarry. Those who could not react in time would run into the shields - shields designed to protect not only against small, fast moving energy bolts, but larger, slower moving solid objects, such as asteroids. And, when it came down to it all, a starfighter had little in difference to an asteroid relatively slow moving, in space-terms, metallic, and of similar mass. Fighter-sized shield generators could be ignored as their power output paled in comparison to a Sith Destroyer, and contact would cause the excess shield energy to be drawn into the warships' own defensive network. Unshielded and without any protection, the vessels would be easily sliced up by the shield network with brutal efficiency.

Krakana mentally made note of the irony of the situation. Only months ago, she had spoken to high command on updating the shield network on larger capital vessels to keep up with recent developments, using a shield netwrok that clung to the very hull, rather than the projected bubbles currently used. It seemed it was this very outdated technology that would be the equalizer in this battle.

But still, she did not smile. There was a battle to be fought, and her attention was required in places other than the recesses of her own mind. And so she looked back to the battle and awaited the manifestation of her tactics.

 

[Will]

Ren heard the request to land come from the Sith scout ship. ''Do not let them land. They are no Sith.'' Ren had sensed Kylina's change as she flew in. She flicked her wrists, and the two robed figures jerked to life. Their gunmetal expressionless faces turned to her. She moved her hands, and the two withdrew long handled lightsabres from their arms. They ignited them, and, moving her arms, they jumped up onto the circling ship. She moved her fingers, and they ignited their blades, cutting into the hull plating of the small vessel. She sent a force message to Lukor.

Tell the General that we have a ship containing a rogue Sith here, trying to take out ion cannons. I am taking care of them.

As she fought the ships, huge bolts of energy spewed forth around her. She called to her troops.
''Form defensive parties! protect the installation! Snipers! pick off any you see!'' She had argued for specilist sniper teams to be placed on rooftops surrounding each cannon, and now the fruits were shown.

 

[Kit]

It was as the Sith Admiral took pleasure from having survived the ships of Omega cell, that the larger, possibly, largest problem she would have to face of all came quite literally to the fore.

The formation having broken apart as each individual ship followed the orders of it's own respective commander, Omega cells ships had flown ahead.

The threat of the Behemoth was still very much real, and while it was true that it had suffered, indeed the formidable forward shielding was currently down to, and holding at around 60%. The secondary reactor facility was working at around 40% to maintain the shields at that level alone.

But that was of little importance. What mattered was where the Behemoth was headed. And what followed next.

The Behemoth was on a direct impact course towards the Sith flagship. And suddenly, it's fire ceased. The Behemoth's shielding immediately began to climb once more, the secondary reactor no longer struggling against a heavy bombardment. The shields hit 70% as the Sith ship's shields became suddenly visible. Clearly, they had boosted them to incredible levels.

These shields would quite happily eat away at fighter's firepower, even asteroid hits at this level. But as the numerous ships of Omega cell flew past, they were bound to take a beating. And there was more where Omega cell came from.

Fire everything. Every last laser, torpedo, anything!

At his command, the Behemoth bristled with energy. It's shields continued to climb, and the secondary reactor doubled it's output to keep up with the strain. The primary reactor was running at eighty percent, and now so was the secondary.

All along the gigantic ship, laser fire erupted filling the space between the two flagshps with red fire, all streaming from the Behemoth towards the enemy, as first hundreds, then upwards of fifteen hundred turbolaser's opened fire. Then to top it all off, the ordnance launched once more, the various torpedoes streaking across the vacuum on a direct course to impact the Sith Flagship, which had finally been identified as Precedence.

Impact was coming, and coming fast. Rogal only had to hope that the guns of almost the entirety of his fleet would wear down Precedence's shields to the point of collapse. Then, the deathblow could be delivered.

 

[Wildcard]

When he heard a vague hissing sound, Jyris turned in his seat and cursed at the sight of a pair of lightsaber blades cutting through the hull of the ship. Quickly, he hit the reverse thrusters and backed away from Ren's puppets as rapidly as he could. When he was fairly high up, he sighed and glanced over at Kylina.

"Alright, I won't kill Ren, but by the Force, I'm taking out those damn puppets of her's!"

Jyris flipped a couple of switches, and a rotating blaster turret appeared on the underside of the Kutless. A slight smirk crossed his face. The caliber of the weapon was enough to cause damage to fighters, so he figured that even if the puppets were to block the bolts with their lightsabers, they would still be scorched by the fringes of the blasts. Jyris aimed very carefully, since he didn't want to worry about shooting again, and he fired off four quick shots, two at each of the puppets.

 

[Cyril Khan]

The charge was less successful than anticipated, but it had caused a great advantage. The Sith Flagship had ended it’s bombardment on the Behemoth to increase shielding. The move was both wise and foolish. The act failed to cause any extensive damage to the Omega Cell ships, and the shields took a grand beating from the small, yet very powerful, Omega Cell warships. One ship alone was inadequate for damaging a large capital ship, but in such great numbers, notably the large group that charged the flagship, the smaller ships were devastating.

The assumed intent of the shielding was to defend against attack and collision. However, the shields had been taken into account. It was common knowledge that large warships had shielding capable of sustaining asteroids. In the fact that the Omega Cell ships managed to pull up in time, the shields of the flagship were avoided on collision. Shields were the most feared thing of collision, and each Omega Cell crew had been trained to insure that their ship eschewed such contact.

Now came for the second attack. Each Omega Cell ship curved around to take the large ships from the rear. Still using group tactics the ships charged with weapons blazing. Proton torpedoes flew directly at the engines of each targeted ship. Turbolasers fired their powerful loads onto the stern of the ship in grand amounts. Each Omega Cell ship had their reactors on sixty percent. The remainder now activated to restore shields and maintain the bombarding. The Hotspur, along with the two heavy cruisers accompanying it, had secondary reactors. These alternate sources of energy remained off until called for. The intent was to seem much weaker than they really were; the Omega Cell ships were, in reality, equipped with the best items the hulls could hold. The Hotspur, itself, had its weaker reactor running to seem a weaker foe. However, the smaller reactor still delivered enough power to do tremendous power. The activation of the second reactor would be done for a killing blow, or for a surprise barrage of magnificent energy; such a point of time was not yet present. The capitol ship on the smaller reactor was doing well enough.

* * *​

​

The Rage Squadron maneuvered swiftly to combat the incoming fighters. The large number of Force users created a powerful parameter around the dropships. And Sith fighter that attempted to bomb the troopships would find themselves being a target and, soon after, a kill of a member of the Order. Fighters were a vain source of firepower in taking down the transport vessels. Even if they survived the Rage Squadron parameter, they would have to take down the powerful shields the ships possessed. In the heat of the surrounding battle, more power was diverted to the engines. The Order of Rage was doing their job well enough in defending, and the biggest concern was to get to the surface as soon as possible. Impact to atmosphere would be in under a minute.

 

[Will]

Ren flicked her fingers, and the puppets slammed their sabres into the oncoming bolts, deflecting them away. With an inhuman looking twitch of her little fingers, the chests of the two puppets opened. Grapple lines fired, clamping onto the ship, and burrowing in. The puppets latched on, and Ren moved them to the weapon turret which was still cooling from firing the bolts.

The smoking puppets climbed down, heedless of the fact that their robes were on fire, and that the metal they were formed of was blackened with soot, and peppered with fused debris. They both began smashing at the gun with their sabres, cutting through thick, armoured power lines.

 

[Wildcard]

Jyris cursed as he noticed the puppets hanging on to the side of the ship, and although the ship's shields protected the hull from further damage - for the moment - the underside turret would soon be destroyed. Sighing to himself, Jyris cut power to the turret and diverted the power to his shields. He turned to Kylina with a slight grin as he opened the boarding hatch quickly.

"I'll pay you back for the damage done to your ship. In the meantime, you might want to get at Ren. Do you think that you're okay to jump from this height, or do you want to risk it?"

The ship was hovering about five meters above the surface of the planet, and Jyris was facing the ion turret. He hoped that Kylina would be able to withstand a jump of that height, especially since he had a job to do, and he would be hard-pressed to do it with Ren's puppets clinging to the ship like a pair of hungry mynocks. However, he doubted that she could control her puppets and fight Kylina at the same time.

 

[Will]

Ren saw the hatch open. ''She'll be coming out soon'' She muttered, smiling. Se cut the gun away, and the puppets jumped to a steering vane. They hit it with the sabres, decalibrating it. That was all that needed to be done. She let the hooks release, and the puppets dropped, hitting the ground, and running to her. She waited, ready for her confrontation. Her holocron crackled, as if senseing what was to be learned would soon be used.

She motioned for the heavy weapons teams to open fire on the ship. Huge bolts of energy roared upwards to the small craft, the hellish red bolts screaming for blood.

 

[Emma Lou]

Kylina stood, but tumbled to the right when the ship was hit by a bolt of energy. “Jyris, if my ship get destroyed you better hope you are already dead. I will contact you through the Force if I need you to get me. Be there when I call!”

She smiled, not bothering to say goodbye, then went to the hatch. Thoughts about how she shouldn’t even be in this fight welled up inside of her and she quickly tuned them out. She wasn’t in a fight between the Sith and the crazy people attacking, she was fighting her inner self and she was going to win.

She closed her eyes and jumped. The jump was only about five feet, but she still used the Force to land gracefully. She hit the ground and stood up slowly. Her dark cloak was billowing behind her and she stared Ren straight in the eyes.

“No puppets!” she yelled at Ren, “I want a fight between you and I!” She took a step forward and her green lightsaber snap-hissed to life.

 

[Will]

Ren laughed. ''I'd have it no other way.'' The puppets dropped, the lightsabres they held flying to Ren. They recognised he fingerprints, and screamed into life. She spun them, ready to take down the little heretic. He whole body visibly crackled with energy. A voice not entirely her own came forth from her lips ''I shall break you!'' It yelled, and Ren charged.

 

[The Agriculturist]

The powerful bolts ripped through the armor of one of the menacing turbo laser complexes the sith had installed. The main generator was hit, causing the entire Cannon to collapse, ending its threat. The same instance repeated itself throughout Coruscant, Just as Rhine had planned. Soon, the Sith's Turbo laser defenses would not be able to stop the republic fleet from landing.

 

[Emma Lou]

Kylina suppressed the urge to turn and run away when she realized that she couldn’t get back on the ship. She had to help Jyris so he could take out the canons. She didn’t move as Ren rushed at her. She raised her lightsaber and did a somersault landing behind Ren. She had a moment of surprise on her side and she took a chance to attack the Sith. She brought her lightsaber down to the right as to slash across her back.

“You will never break me!"

 

[Wildcard]

Jryis grinned as the puppets dropped from the hull of the ship, and he immediately powered up the weaponry. "Perfect," he muttered to himself, then squeezed the trigger. However, all that was heard was a vague crackling sound, and no blaster bolt came from the ship. Cursing, Jyris' fingers flew over the controls, trying to locate the problem. When he did, he smacked his forehead with his hand.

When the puppets had cut off the lower turret, they had also done some damage to the weapon systems. In short, everything except for the missiles and the top turret were all but useless. In that instant, he noticed something that made his blood run cold.

A squadron of Sith fighters were flying towards the ship. Instantly, Jyris threw up the shields, and the bolts splattered harmlessly against the blue film surrounding the light freighter. However, Jyris knew that they would have to be taken out before he could attack the ion cannon. He quickly keyed into the remote control on top of the turret, and he began to fire at the Sith fighters as Kylina and Ren dueled below him.

 

[Dexington]

The dropships had finally come full circle, and Skyu made the command for his own and a few others to move forward. He hoped that the battle had not progressed enough so that he would be shot down. An empty dropship went ahead first with a recording fed back to Skyu's dropship so that he could feel safe. Once he saw a small, yet clear opening, the dropships went in for landing on Coruscant.

He cut off his own signal of the force, as he was to only one strong to it, so that nothing would be suspicious. He figured that they would definately not be noticed now, especially with a huge battle on the Sith's hands and some chaos going on at ground level.

He focused in on the man on the surface once again.

"Re-enforcements en route."

 

[Will]

Without looking, Ren blocked the attack. She turn and spun, pressing her lightsabre to Kylina's. As the entered the bladelock, Ren pushed her mind barbs into Kylina's mind, unleashing the full extent of the force upon her. She kept pushing physically and mentally, speaking into her mind.

I taught you everything you know. I can predict your next attack. I have read every scrap of information on you. I know your past, present and future. Do not treat this fight lightly

 

[Emma Lou]

Kylina backed up several steps. She dropped her lightsaber and unleashed lightning at Ren. Her mind was searing, but she was able to hold her ground and raise her lightsaber again. She opened her mind to Jyris and urged him to hurry. She knew she couldn’t win and she didn’t want to subject herself to much more either.

"You taught me nothing. My other masters did!"

 

[Lavi]

A G-shaped ship blazed across the Coruscanti landscape alone. Its ID designation reads the Unseen Gauntlet, and it just so happens that it comes across the damaged Kutlass. The ship is not marked as a Sith vessel, which would obviously cause suspicion, but the pilot hopes that such scenarios would not be of importance. At the moment, anyway.

The “G-Wing” circled the spectacle like a shark. Both turrets are trained on what seemed like the Kutlass itself, but then again, the true aim could be to catch the Sith pilots off-guard.

“Whomever is in charge of the Kutlass, do you require assistance?” the pilot tight-beamed to the comm system.

((Sorry if I mispelled Kutlass throughout the post. I think that is the name of the ship. It’s supposed to be Kyline and Jryis’s ship.))

 

[Will]

Ren absorbed the pitiful light show into her palm. A little trick Rogal Natharn had taught her. She converted it into mind spikes, driving ever deeper, ripping away bits of memories as they went. Her mental voice took on a mocking tone.

Yes... they taught you so well! Why, i'm quaking at your power! She lauged, stepping closer and closer to Kylina. Her lightsabres were still in her hands, for she knew not to trust anyone whom might be tricking.

 

[Emma Lou]

((Its Kutless, but Jyris always misspells it so I dont blame anyone for misspelling it.))

Kylina knew she wasn't ready to face Ren so she sent another message to Jyris, Hurry up! Come down so I can get in and we can get out of here!

She looked at Ren and advanced. She kept her lightsaber at the ready and she was ready for anything Ren was going to throw her way. She couldn't attack well, but she could defend herself and hopefully weaken Ren.

 

[Wildcard]

Jryis trained his turret to fire on the first of the Sith fighters that swooped towards the Kutless (happy?), his eyes flickering slightly as he watched it fly closer and closer towards the ship. Just as he could see the blasters of the Sith fighter powering up, Jyris pulled the trigger on the top turret. The blaster bolts hardly did any damage, considering how little power was behind them, but fortunately the Sith pilot over-compensated for the damage, and went careening into a nearby building. As Jyris saw the ship explode, he let out a sigh of relief, then turned his attention to the remaining fighters - just as they fired on his ship.

The young pilot was thrown from his seat by the impact of the blaster bolts, but he managed to climb to his feet again as they began to swing around for another assault. Cursing, Jyris turned the turret to face them, and squeezed the trigger - only to find that nothing happened. Swearing by anything and everything he could, Jyris watched as the Sith fighters fired on him again. Quickly, he glanced at his shields. They were more than halfway gone, and one more shot would drop them. Jyris began sweating as he tried to figure a way out of his situation, just as the Sith fighters began turning.

Suddenly, as if sent by the Force, Jyris heard the most wonderful voice he had ever heard in his life.

"...do you require assistance?"

Jyris practically yelled into the comm channel, "YES! Please hold off those Sith fighters while I get the weapons on this damn thing running, if you could."

With that, Jyris left the ship on auto-pilot and scrambled to the control panel of the ship. He kicked it off and immediately noticed that a few wires were severed. Smirking to himself, he began to fuse the wires together using his blaster on low power.