Ask [Skako] Bring In The Droids!

[Maryenne Vennen]

Maryenne could only describe the scene that followed as chaos. Blaster bolts flew to all directions, while screams were heard. She tried to make some difference, but were the battle droids of the Resistance that saved the day. Thanks to their firepower, the group was able to move toward the skiff. Then, the vehicle started to move.

In a matter of time, the skiff approached the city. From inside, Maryenne was able to notice that several transports were picking droids out of platforms and going into space. It was obvious that Minoa was preparing her invasion force. The Gatalentan still couldn’t believe that the Foreman really continued with the idea, she was really crazy.

“Here is Tambor to every member of the Resistance in the city, the time has come. Prepare for Operation Marching on Tower 66.” Olyn’s voice made Maryenne wake up from her reverie. The fact that the Skakoans seemed to be prepared for this event didn’t surprise her as much as the fact that they were terrible in giving names to their operations.

Makari was the first to jump when the skiff stopped, being followed by the Skakoans and Maryenne. Florian was the last to leave the vehicle, still screaming that they were going to death. Inside the Skakoan towers, chaos was everywhere. Droid was fighting droid, while the Resistance was fighting Minoa’s followers.

@Fine Dining Set

 

[Makari de Nolay]

As they began their operation, Makari saw the hordes of civilians, Skakoans, cowering in fear at the gunfire. He took to the streets to provide a rallying call, raising his fist triumphantly.

"People of Skako," he started, enthusiastically; "You have nothing to fear! I am Senator Makari de Nolay of Alsakan, and I am here on a mission to libera-" he was stopped dead in his tracks by a hail of blaster fire, forcing him into cover. Having exposed himself for no discernible reason, he took several stun blasts to his body, forcing him to the ground, slumped.

"Medic! We need a medic-droid!" Olyn flagged over a droid. "A terrible miscalculation on his part - in none of the preparatory work for Operation Marching on Tower 66 did we anticipate a senator to try to give a rousing speech." He nodded his head, before pounding his fist into the pavement. "Dammit! We should have known! We should have been prepared!"

Weakly, Makari coughed, as droids came to his aid to patch any damage to his pressure suit and help set broken bones. Makari looked over to Maryenne. "I...I can't move my legs." He tried to wiggle them, step up, raise himself. "I'm stuck. I can't fight on like this."

Olyn looked over to the pair of senators. He weighed the options - trying to carry Makari forward could only damage him further. And Olyn had a war to win that required decisive action. "The mission must continue without you, Senator de Nolay. Find some cover."

A droid-medic waited with him as the droid-army and Skakoan resistance prepared for their confrontation in the Techno-Legion headquarters. "Maryenne. Don't risk your life. We could still escape, still fly back to our worlds or to neutral space and contact our planets. Don't die for this world."

"Senator Maryenne. We have to keep moving. It's the only way to save your world, and ours."

The Senator of Gatalenta was left with a choice: risk escape with the Senator of Alsakan, or take charge of the future with the Skakoans?
Rallying Call roll: 1/20

@LouJoVi

 

[Maryenne Vennen]

Maryenne became cold with fear when she saw Makari rush through the streets while making a rallying speech. “Come back here, de Nolay! We aren’t in the middle of a Senate session for you to make a speech!” she screamed, while taking cover with the Skakoans. They also seemed surprised by the careless actions of the Senator, looking at him as if the man had gone mad.

His actions ended with an obvious result, Makari was hit by several shots. If she wasn’t concerned for the other's life, Maryenne would have face palmed. For some reason, the man reminded her so much of her brother. Joscelyn would without any doubt do something stupid like it.

When she was faced with the choice of fleeing with Makari or helping the Skakoans liberate their planet, Maryenne didn’t know what she should do. Her fellow Senator was right, this wasn’t their fight. However, the Skakoans needed their help. She couldn’t simply abandon them to their fate. She tried to think about what her grandmother would do in her place.

In the end, it was pretty obvious the decision that Annelyn would take.

The Gatalentan turned to her protocol droid. “Florian, you are going to take Senator de Nolay and leave to a neutral system. Contact Gatalenta and tell them about what happened.” then she turned to look at Olyn. “I’ll continue helping the Skakoans. How I could want to create a new alliance in the Core, while fleeing at the first danger?”

She looked at her fellow Senator. “Florian will take care of you. If everything goes well, we will soon see each other again.” after saying that, Maryenne advanced with the Skakoans. She would free this planet, so they could bring freedom to the Core together.

@Fine Dining Set

 

[Makari de Nolay]

Makari, in turn, had to weigh his options. Leave with the cowardly protocol droid into a heavily armed ship, without use of his legs, or remain still? He figured, at least with the latter, he wouldn't put himself more at risk of death. Florian did not seem equipped for the task.

"Perhaps I will stick with Olyn's idea. I'll stay back, with the civilians. You go on ahead." With a groan, Makari pulled himself up towards a seat, whereafter a droid lifted him. He was carried into a nearby office room that a crew of droids would patrol and protect - realizing his adventuring days might finally be behind him. This was not a job to take lightly, as his foolish endeavor had demonstrated.

Ollyn continued with the Senator of Gatalenta and the complement of resistance fighters and their droids. "We're taking heavy losses all across the movement. The Legion was ready to crackdown. They must have infiltrated deeper into our network than we had hoped." A droid ambush pinned them down, briefly, before a Skakoan engineer detonated an EMP to clear out the room. They moved on.

It continues this way through the winding towers of Skako. Resistance meets droids, expends droids, or ammunition, or their own lives and bodies, to press on. Slowly, what was close to a veritable army is whittled down to a group of six - all else licking their wounds, tending to wounded, or lost to the battlefield. Ollyn, Senator Gatlenta, and a mixed assortment of droid and engineer companions return to the corporate board chamber.

Olyn flashes his navigator. "Ahead is where Foreman Minoa's war table meets. We'll catch her now and end this." He nods, pleased that his tracker has been so effective up to this point.

Ahead lies a dark, ominous board room. Battle damage knocked out the lights, leaving only shadows and the occasional light of an explosion outside to light the way ahead. Ollyn steeled his nerves, checking his ammunition and his comrades once more. "Are you ready, Senator?"

Olyn tracking roll: 18/20

@LouJoVi

 

[Maryenne Vennen]

”Stay safe.” Maryenne said, while placing a hand at his shoulder. Since her pressurization suit didn’t allow her smile to be seen, the Gatalentan thought that it could give some reassurement to Makari. “Florian will stay here keeping you company.” she turned to look at the protocol droid, who continued complaining about their deaths. “Good luck.” she said, after looking at the man one last time.

He would need luck to deal with Florian.

The Gatalentan heard Olyn explain their situation. It seemed that they would need to cut off the head of the serpent if they wanted to finish this civil war before they ended up being crushed. “We should take Minoa at once. If she is the head behind the Legion, by removing her we would end this senseless violence.”

The group would think about her words while they crossed the city. They would suffer constant ambushes, leaving some of the group’s members behind due to wounds or because they were killed. By this point, Maryenne had surpassed the horror of war and had become pissed with Minoa. Very, very pissed.

By the point that they reached Minoa’s war room, Maryenne had blood on her eyes. “Yes.” she said simply, before grabbing all the grenades that a B1 droid had so carefully collected during their walk. The droid complained with a ‘hey’, but she ignored him. Tired of the megalomaniacal Foreman, the Senator told pacifism to go to hell and threw grenade after grenade inside the room as fast as she could. Obviously, she did it after activating them.

The Skakoans and droids watched the scene with astonishment.

Soon, the dark room in front of them was illuminated by what probably was the most powerful explosion that they ever saw and the entire tower shook because of it.

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[Makari de Nolay]

As the barrage of detonators flew into the room, the Foreman of Skako could not have predicted the turn of events she was about to face. Her plans of galactic conquest, vanquished in a single, explosive moment. A barrage of concussive force accompanied blinding light and deafening sound - the result of tons of kinetic force detonating at one moment.

Olyn dove for cover as the explosions tore apart the room, and the shockwave force ripped to shreds the B1 droid. In the aftermath of the explosion, a gaping hole was left in the skyscraper - a smoldering crater and the burnt remains of Foreman Minoa's torso.

Olyn looked in horror and awe at Senator Vennen. "What have you done! We were going to bring her to trial, have her serve a sentence! And you...you've killed her! A head of state!" He shook his head, terribly, as he considered the next path. "That...is something we will have to leave to further discussion. With Foreman Minoa deposed...we still need to stop the invasion fleet. Help me find the control tower."

@LouJoVi

 

[Maryenne Vennen]

”I’m sorry?” Maryenne said simply, she had acted without thinking and ended up killing Minoa. However, the Skakoans could have warned her early that they wanted to catch the Foreman alive. If it had been the case, she would have never throw bombs inside the room.

She thought that they were going to bring Minoa down at any cost.

This slip from her would need to be addressed later, because now they needed to stop the invading force that the Foreman had dispatched. She rushed after the Skakoans, moving through more halls of the citadel. With Minoa’s death, the rebels were winning against what remained for her supporters.

After some time, they found the control room. The guards that were protecting the entrance had been relocated to another area, seeking to fight the rebellion. Once inside, Olyn would rush to stop the invasion. Now everything was in his hands.

@Fine Dining Set