Open Sullust Springing Lieutenant Aran

[Izel Thral]

"One problem at a time!" Izel replied to Nara and Rosanna as they made their way towards the fortress. "We need to reach the wall before we think about scaling it!" As if to punctuate her point the Sith defenders finally made themselves known, both with a heavy repeater opening fire and some unseen Force user hurling boulders in their direction. Thankfully they were working independently, their assault was clearly uncoordinated. Reaching out with both hands Izel called upon the Force, grunting with effort as she redirected the incoming rocks into the path of the laser fire, intercepting most of it and allowing her allies to take cover.

Before she could unleash a counterattack however a new sensation came over her that made her visibly recoil. A presence strong in the dark side was approaching. Stronger than all of the corruption permeating the entire planet, if that was even possible. The ground began to shake, being torn asunder before her very feet, lava rushing up from the earth, the skies growing dark and tumultuous. Was this the work of a single Force sensitive? No... Surely there had to be a group, ten or more powerful masters of the dark side working in tandem. Right?

Lightning crashed down from above, seemingly targeting her, and the Vratix was just barely able to leap aside in time to avoid it. Scrambling to take cover behind a large rock she slowly crept up to peer at the ramparts. It almost pained her to stare directly at the creature, but she could just make it out. A figure in black standing on the battlements, perfectly still. That thing was the source of all this darkness.

"The Eternal..." She whispered with horrid realization. It had to be. It was the only explanation that made sense. For one brief moment the corruption pierced her mental defenses, and all the fear within her welled up. She felt like a child lost in the dark, terrified. She had to get away!

She growled and shook her head, forcing herself back into a rational state. No, she would not be turned away like a coward. This... Was good. This was very good. They had a chance, here and now, to cut off the snake's head. They just had to have the courage to seize it. Izel raised her comlink to her mouth again. "Fighters!" She called urgently to their aerial forces. "Force sensitive pilots, focus all fire on that source of corruption that just emerged! Non Force sensitives, follow their lead! The Eternal is on the field! Repeat, the Eternal is on the field! Take them down!"

She turned to her allies. When she spoke there was no fear in her voice, only savage determination. She hadn't expected it when she landed, but this was the most important moment of her life. The rest of her course as a Jedi would be determined here. Today. "This way!" She shouted to them, and summoning the Force once more she began to push the massive rock forward, staying behind it for cover. It would be slow going, but this makeshift siege engine provided the best defense.

@Catbert @Charndley @LeonDrandell @Isen @Fantasy Liver @darkrei9n @Eccles @Wit @The Gatekeeper

 

[SenatorRosannaSnowel]

Senator Rossana was about to suggest something else to Nara when all of a sudden her blood ran cold. The good will she had tried to keep a hold on dissipated, and all that remained was fear-fear of death, fear of that... THING! Rossana couldn’t help it, she peeked around the rock, nearly hugging it as she tried to remain safe, her eyes widened at the sight of the figure, one lone monster-the source of all this chaos. It was one thing to read about it in the Senatorial Reports, but this was another. Soon the young woman felt herself consumed by fear. And that’s before the lightning hauled down from above and the lava spilled out of the earth. Noticing the barricade of sorts @Izel Thral had found, the red headed woman lurched towards her fellow team member and hid beside her. Slowly, Rossana tried to muster up something besides fear, yet nothing happened, her anger at failing, at putting herself in such danger, at trying to be a good person it boiled over into some insane form of determination with the aid of The Eternal’s immense presence.

“What’s the plan? The previous one has clearly been upturned, I may be a Senator but I’m no fool, I’ve read the reports-this thing, it needs to die! It has to die! We have to kill it! No matter what happens to use we gotta kill that monster!” The Senator had a gleam of rage in her eyes, and her hands eagerly tapped against her lightsabers. The red one, that she had stolen, called to her, to use it to cause pain and suffering-and if she didn’t get her bearings soon, she may try to stupidly attack the Eternal. The Senator knew whatever she was gonna do, she needed to wait for orders from Izel, @Nykoria Tallis or one of the other Jedi-after all she was just a Senator, she had no real authority in this area.

 

[Drow Venn]

"No worries, Isen. Hang low by the fortress if you can and eject if you need." Drow commed over to Isen, figuring that the Sith were hardly likely to throw lightning at their own base. Ordinarily, he'd be a bit annoyed that the channel was being flooded with unnecessary talk but given that the younger Padawan admitted that he was inexperienced in such matters, Drow would let it slide. It looked like it was up to the two of them to provide air support and given how crazy things were escalating, air support would be of paramount importance right now. After, he'd successfully knocked out the turrets at the top of the fortress and started climbing, Drow started to look for the next way to help out his fellow Jedi.

Truthfully, he was a bit overwhelmed as to where to start. The problem with a target-rich environment was that sometimes there were too many targets. Some of the defenders were returning fire at the Jedi so he could lend a hand there. But he also wasn't sure if enemy fighters were still going to be scrambled so he could try and knock out the enemy ships before they had a chance to take off. Or he could try and bombard the fortress more.

Fortunately, a decision was soon made for him as a monumental Dark Side presence suddenly revealed itself and began turning the very planet itself against the Jedi.

"Force sensitive pilots, focus all fire on that source of corruption that just emerged! Non Force sensitives, follow their lead! The Eternal is on the field! Repeat, the Eternal is on the field! Take them down!" Izel radioed over. Drow nodded grimly and started to nosedive backdown towards the fortress. While he'd been climbing the skies to avoid laserfire, the lightning that had just been conjured was threatening to knock him out of the air so it was more prudent to get lower. He trusted in his instincts and the Force to avoid the deadly bolts and shriek his Y-Wing downwards back towards the fortress. He sent four more torpedoes down towards the top ramparts, hoping that he could either kill the Eternal with the blasts or at least knock it out of the fight. Then, he'd pull up quickly avoid crashing into the fortress.

 

[Hannibal Grayza]

All things considered, assaulted a decently defended Sith fortress was a pretty terrible idea. Good thing they weren't really assaulting it, at least. Or at least Hannibal hoped that's not what any of the others were trying to actually do. The young Jedi was just trying to be distracting. Judging by the sudden appearance of the Eternal, it was working.

He automatically reacted to the overwhelmingly Dark presence, closing off into an icy fortress as he prepared to fight. The Force was with him, warning him of danger before he could see it, bounding away from cracking ground. A trail of ion and the black malice of the Eternal twisted together into a weapon from the sky, a flash of lightning that met the bright silver of his lightsaber, some oomph from the Force splitting the attack and glassing the ashen sand around him. It was a good thing he was wearing a suit and kept moving, 'cause lightning had an uncomfortable tendency to superheat the air it passed through and he didn't want to keep trying his luck stopping those bolts without the time and concentration to do something about the caster. Stupid space wizards, should've made a bigger bomb.

"Know her? Don't think so, but I figure we're about to get real intimate," he replied to Max over the comms.

Hannibal popped up somewhere a short distance behind Max, slowing to a walk as the other Master made his greetings. "Surrender. Choose to live," Hannibal added to Max's offer with a frosty calm, though he didn't really expect either of them to actually do it, and he was facing @Nobody when he said it. The crazy lady had already made her choice.

But the offer was there regardless. The young Jedi's weapon rose and pointed horizontally in the direction of of the two Sith, standing left side-face, right hand close to his body and near his midsection- and his belt. The Light flowed into and through him, and he was ready to fight. Though he'd come to support his friends and to aid in the distraction, this was more the sort of thing he was going for. How nice of the Sith to walk out and meet him.

@Nefieslab @DarkSaber @Dread

 

[Nykoria Tallis]

Spoiler: Enemy attacks & Included defenses

Quickly making his way over to the repeater, Preef flipped some switches and grabbed the repeater with both hands. "Never killed a Jedi before," he mused as the repeater's powerpack started charging and Preef got a running Zeltron (@Catbert) and a human (@Charndley) in his sights. They were approaching the wall together, clearly occupied by looking for weaknesses in the defenses and seemingly less concerned with their own safety while doing so. Without warning, Preef pulled the trigger and held it down, sending a flurry of repeater bolts down at the Zeltron first and surprising himself at how well he managed to keep his aim steady on the moving figure.

She spotted the Rodian grab hold of a repeater and begin firing at the Jedi as they ran towards the wall, and decided to aid his efforts. She reached out to ground below them, grabbing boulders and raising them a dozen or so feet into the air before sending them flying towards the approaching Jedi. One, two, three, half a dozen medium sized boulders went flying to slam into the approaching force. Between the Rodian's blaster fire and her assault they would be forced to either open themselves up to attack or take cover behind another outcropping. Either way, they were not getting to the wall.

As if to punctuate her point the Sith defenders finally made themselves known, both with a heavy repeater opening fire and some unseen Force user hurling boulders in their direction. Thankfully they were working independently, their assault was clearly uncoordinated. Reaching out with both hands Izel called upon the Force, grunting with effort as she redirected the incoming rocks into the path of the laser fire, intercepting most of it and allowing her allies to take cover.

The Eternal emerged onto the ramparts of the fortress and stood resolute. There was no sign of fear within it, and the mask betrayed nothing. It watched the Jedi approach, crouching behind mounds of rocks like the rats they were or even standing out in the open.

Utter fools, it thought, rage burning and swelling within it as they dared to come before its walls.

The rage of the Eternal would be felt by every being in and outside the base. An oppressive darkness that foretold of the death it brought.

The power of the mask could not be undone. The Eternal didn't have to move a muscle as the ground began to shake beneath the Jedi attackers. Cracks and fissures began to open in the dirt and lava began to seep from the cracks. Cover was robbed from the attackers as they made for the base, and those who remained in place would be consumed by fire, meeting a slow, screaming death that only fed the Eternal. New rivers of lava cut off the path of the assault and they would be forced to find a new route.

But finding a fresh route would be no easy task. It became unclear where genuine clouds in the sky began and clouds of ash and smoke ended. The only betrayal that there were real clouds above was the cracks of lightning and thunder.

Flashes of white lightning lanced down at the ground whenever the Jedi tried to move. Others tore across the sky, threatening to rip the Y-Wing (@Fantasy Liver) from the sky.

Any who managed to make it through the lava and lightning would be weakened and forced to face down against the Eternal itself.

Nothing awaits you here but death. So come and die, the Eternal said, its voice was carried and amplified by the voice, easily heard by every fighter in the area. There was no fear, no concern, only perfect confidence. They would come and they would fail.

More fuel for the fires. A mouth twisted up behind the mask into a hideous smile. Yes, this would work out nicely after all.

The moment Nykoria saw the first muzzle flash on the ramparts (@Eccles), she rapidly changed direction of her approach. The saber-staff leapt from her belt into the left hand, both blades igniting with azure glow. Alas, even the Jedi Master's lightning-fast reflexes weren't enough—the first repeater bolt grazed the skin of her right arm, evoking a grunt of annoyance from the masked Jedi. Kori's subsequent kata would ensure that none of the subsequent barrage of rocks (@Wit) would penetrate her defenses. Although it wouldn't have been possible without Izel's (@Reyn) help.

Now that Nykoria knew enemy's position, she wouldn't let the kriffard get a drop on her again. But then... then the Jedi had to retreat, escaping the new rivers of lava forming between her and the fortress. Bolts of white lightning followed in her wake and proved that tactical retreat was the right choice. She did turn around from time to time to make sure that there was no repeater fire; the azure blade flashed from time to time in an instinctive kata. Hopefully, she'd be out of the effective range of the repeater at that rate.

Nykoria felt the cause of this Hell on Sullust (@The Gatekeeper) in more ways than one. As a sentient, she sensed the oppressive presence. As a Jedi, she felt the cold that could make Sullust feel like Hoth. The Eternal. As brave and reckless as Kori was, her heart still froze with fear; only the Jedi training kept pushing the woman forward, away from danger and towards her friends. Even at the distance, the Zeltron sensed the ocean of burning rage and power. Tempting in a way, yet so otherworldly that Kori instinctively walled it off. But the Sith's anger, even in such diluted form, was slowly breaking the shackles of Nykoria's fear. It wasn't always bad to be able to feel the surrounding emotions.

With the initial wave fear nearly gone, the Zeltron could now think properly. As the highest-ranking Jedi nearby, it was her duty to keep everyone alive. There was no way the three Jedi could make it to the Dark Lord across the field, under fire, and then hope to defeat that monstrosity. With Hannibal and Max, it could work. But for now, the best Nykoria could hope for was to keep the Eternal's focus on her, and away from Talak.

Izel had a different opinion. She had called in an air-strike and... was mounting an attack?! The Vratix pushing a giant rock towards a fortress that housed a being that could call earthquake and thunder. Nykoria and Izel had worked together for years; Kori even shared in the Jedi Knight's ambition to put an end to the Eternal there and then. But it took seeing the Dark Lord's power first-hand for it to dawn on Kori: "We can't beat it. Not like that." Izel and Nara (@Charndley) would find themselves hearing the Master's thoughts. The two Jedi who had been by Nykoria's side since the beginning of her Knighthood.

The realization of her past foolishness gave the Jedi Master the confidence that had almost been sapped from her by the Dark Lord. "Izel, save your strength. We'll need it for later. You're acting like on Ontotho. Think of your Pada... Watch out, lightning!" With the Eternal playing with lava and thunder, the Jedi still had to be quick on their feet, even at a greater distance from the fortress. "Our job is to buy Talak as much time as possible, not to throw lives away." That applied to the Vratix and to the Padawan she had just sent for an aerial attack.

It was time to plan farther ahead than Talak had, so Nykoria spoke through her comlink on the secure channel: "Tallis here. Retreat from the facility after the strafing run. Everyone who has a ship, get it off the ground and maintain safe distance. We'll need aerial cover once Talak is ready for extraction."

The decision was by no means "giving up" though; the pesky Jedi remained and could resume the assault at any time. Yet with the prison defenses bolstered by the Eternal (and the other way around), the remaining Jedi couldn't do much either. Nykoria would call it "an awkward stalemate".

 

[Nobody]

You groan internally as a Jedi steps in front of the Sith Lord. He's a few meters away; quite suddenly, another appears, one you recognize. In the same arrogant manner, and, in the exact same tone of voice and maintaining that incredibly annoying look on his face, gives you an offer to surrender. Your mind flashes back to Ryloth and your anger begins to boil; hasn't even been ten seconds and he's pissing you off. The other is just like him; hell, maybe after today they wouldn't be so giddy.

Perhaps the Jedi way would be to reject their anger, hate--but not the Sith. As the Eternal's darkness fills the vicinity, you unleash your dark aura in fury. As the Jedi raised his saber, you step to the side of the woman and go for your own weapon with your right hand, your left hand reaching out as pure energy flows from your fingertips. A short yet powerful burst of lightning; even with the Eternal nearby, it will still use a good amount of stamina. Better save the rest for the saber fight.

It arcs through the air towards the man's (@Hannibal Grayza) stomach, glowing white yet crackling blue as it screams in agony. It screams to be free, to escape the vacuum of air and find a warm body to transfer its agony into. By the time the lightning would strike the man, your hand is on your saber hanging in your cloak, ready to ignite at a moments notice--or else available were you in need of blocking some sort of force strike.

It was a mistake to come here; the Sith were seething at their defeat and you are no exception. They would fail if not die miserable deaths in the heart of darkness, spending eternity wishing they had not been so foolish.

@Mr. Teatime @Nefieslab @Dread ​

 

[Wiley Winnz]

THEME​

The tram ride was brief enough. Just a minute or so of standing still in a vehicle he didn't have control over. Wiley waited by the door with camera in hand. The moment they came to the drop off point the Marauder wasted no time in running towards the starfighters. There was a growing sense of conflict behind him towards the surface where he had been and above.

Hopping in the open cockpit, he affixed the recorder to the inside of the cockpit and provide a first person point of view for the recording. An eager grin came over the man's face, soon covered by the flight helmet and the return of his ensemble. The rest of the controls on the modified interceptor came to life and levitated until it was several meters off the deck. Not bothering to put hands on it immediatly the A-9 floated towards the exit of the hangar lazily. "Alright, let's see who's out here." All systems looked good. A series of fighters shot out ahead of him.


The sky quickly came into view and the grin on Wiley's face widen. "Oh this is gonna make one hell of a course." Reaching forward the man gunned the engines to max acceleration. Reports of ships attacking turrets, additional contacts and status updates from the planet and surrounding space to match. But the X-wing (@Isen Ramm ) visible in the storm wracked sky as what mainly drew the Marauder's attention. If he hadn't been forced into the seat of his ship by the g forces, Wiley would be bouncing up and down. "Come on come on." He knew it was not normal. But the air was literally charged and he was going to make the most of it.

@Isen @Fantasy Liver @Reyn

 

[Tycho Berand]

Whatever plans Tycho had were now abandoned as the ground beneath his feet began to shake and the air itself began to ionize. The outcropping he was hiding behind began to sink as lava rose to replace it. This was definitely not natural. Unnatural fear seemed to fill him as he stepped back from the now dangerous bit of cover which he squashed. He was right to be fearful but he couldn't afford to let it control him. One hand moved to the pouch where his holocamera sat, this would be more then enough for his plans out here. The small drone hovered close to him and he pressed one of the controls mounted on his wrist. The drone rose to take in the full battle that was about to take place.

Seeing repeater fire focusing on one of the Jedi he unslung his own rifle and took aim at the power pack of the repeater. He could shoot the operator but that would leave the repeater in the equation. Better to deal with it in a more permanent manner. He let out a breath as he gently squeezed the trigger and felt rifle push recoil. If he was lucky the power pack would explode. A boulder seemed to fly towards him and he dove out of the way. Things were definitely getting far more ridiculous then he was expecting. He keyed his communicator. "BA-10 fire up the Shooting Star. I may need an earlier then planned extraction. Inform Castle as well. I may die here." He let off a unaimed shots with his pistol at the ramparts, not intending on hitting anything but trying to keep heads down.

Making sure to avoid the new seemingly random lava flows Tycho made his way to his fellow senator, placing a hand on her shoulder to grab her attention. "Madam Senator, I highly recommend you make a retreat. It is becoming very difficult to ensure your safety." As if to emphasize his point he let off more blaster fire towards the ramparts. As he did so he heard the Jedi in charge of this operation telling them to retreat to which he shook his head. They currently controlled the skies, drop as many torpedos and bombs as they had and try to kill the Eternal, this might be their only opportunity. But it was her show and he knew better then to undermine her. The last thing the battlefield needed was the Jedi side butting heads.

@Catbert @Charndley @LeonDrandell @Isen @Fantasy Liver @darkrei9n @Eccles @Wit @The Gatekeeper

 

[The Eternal]

The Eternal could sense it all. Its power transcended the battlefield and it could see everything that happened before it. The thoughts and intentions of the warriors, the death that clung to the air, and the delicious power that it represented.

It knew what they planned. It knew what they wanted. They thought they could end it all here and now. That killing it would somehow alleviate their fears and terrors.

A twisted voice would ring out inside the pilot's (@Fantasy Liver) head that was virtually crippling.

Jedi: preaching peace and bombing your enemies into submission. Driven by fear, the voice "said." It was accompanied by a mind-splitting pain as the Eternal rifled through the man's thoughts. Jedi claimed no emotion, but they were all driven by fear. That fear had led them into the Clone Wars and caused the fall of the Order once. Now again. All as it should be.

The torpedos fired but rather than follow the path to the Eternal, the interference and a burst from the Force would cause them to fire far wide and while they would strike the base they failed to reach even close to the Eternal on the ramparts. It did, however, force the Eternal to alter its focus from further cracking the surface of the planet.

But the pilot would have a problem all his own to deal with. Trained pilots were intimately familiar with the concept of "time to die." It was the amount of time a pilot had to readjust his positioning before slamming into a fiery death on the ground. In a nose dive preparing to target the ground, the Jedi's time to die was low, and his true enemy was now the ground as he attempted to recover from the mental assault.

 

[Talak Rand]

Talak made his way to yet another side room as he closed the door behind him. He could sense Trys was close and his saber plunged into the ground. He wasn't interested in taking stairs or turbolifts. They were far too exposed.

He landed in a crouch and both sabers swung out in a brilliant display of white and blue. It was the expert precision of an assassin... a Sith. It was all instinct as the sabers flashed through flesh and blood, leaving nothing but scorched death in the wake of the blades.

He sprung back to his feet to see nothing but dead prison guards and silence apart from the hum of his sabers before they flashed out.

He remembered this place. He'd never been to Sullust before, but this prison was no different than the one in the Unknown Region. It had the same supernatural stench to it. Pain, suffering, and death of the worst sort. A darkness that could simply invade into the mind and poison the psyche.

I'm so sorry, Trys... he whispered under his breath, pain wracking his chest as he knew what she had to have gone through. He blamed himself, of course.

But he couldn't think on that. He needed to find her. Now. And nothing would stand in his way.

 

[Crix Aran]

Vents sucked.

There - he'd thought it and the thought was out in the Galaxy now. If the Force wanted to punish him for badmouthing the same system that had allowed him to actually enter the place then that was whatever. He was going to go out cursing the fact that vents both existed in his size and were hot as balls. Thankfully they weren't as hot at other places on Sullust but they were bad enough that he was sweating like a Nexu about to have a bath.

Or something.

His metaphors were running low because all he could do was focus on crawling through the vent faster and the ever expanding pool of dread in the pit of his stomach. Crix didn't know much about the Force aside from that it was the feeling in his gut that gave him vague feelings. If the ever present dread that wrapped itself around his insides was getting bigger...?

That meant he was getting closer to his mom.

It hurt just to think that and suddenly all he wanted to do was go back to bad-mouthing vents in his mind but he couldn't. The coping mechanism he'd been using wasn't working anymore and he was beginning to feel the surge of panic as it rose up inside of him. His mother was here - hidden below in a place that had housed that... that... Monster from before.

And his mom was super important and a certified badass - so of course they'd likely brought her to that Thing.

He thrust his vibroblade out ahead of himself, cutting into the fan as it turned. Cutting each blade of the fan close to the base meant he minimized the amount of jagged edges and he squeezed past it with only a little bit of scratching along his back. Pushing himself faster, he arrived at the end of the vent - the incredibly long vent that had angled steeply downward. Checking out the vent, he could see that it narrowed into a much smaller pipe that was constantly blowing air at him.

End of the line then.

Taking a deep breath through his rebreather, he cut through the bottom of the vent with his vibroknife. When he was about half way through making the third cut the bottom of the vent could no long support his weight and he fell... about two feet before hitting the ground actually - apparently it was a wall-mounted vent, who knew?

He was in a small, box-like, room devoid of any one living other than himself. But the room was rather cramped with the machine he shared it with; the machine the vent had narrowed into. Looking it over, Crix swallowed thickly as he read the label.

Detention level life support.

Down this far, oxygen would be at a premium and it would need to be pulled down to this level from bigger, better, air purifiers located closer to the ground level, if not on the ground level itself. A small cabinet to the side of the machine held a cache of rebreathers in case of an emergency, like an imbalance in the C02 levels.

C02 levels that were managed by the machine in front of him.

Out came the multi-tool to go alongside his knife. Carefully collecting a pair of rebreathers, he made quick incisions into the others to make them non-functional before getting to work on the machine itself. C02 in the atmosphere down on the detention level was currently around 800ppm and that was good - time to see if he could pump it up to 5000ppm.

He'd feel bad about causing oxygen deprivation and toxicity but they'd kidnapped his mom - who was definitely getting one of the rebreather asap as soon as he started the gas' rise in concentration. It would be a steady rise so he should be able to find her, slip on the rebreather and start the escape before it got to levels dangerous for her.

Fingers crossed anyway - had to carefully break the machine first.

@Phoenix @Dread

 

[Zarine Bashere]

The Eternal's arrival changed the flow of the battle, if it could be called that. Zarine no longer had to worry about the intruders trying to sneak in to rescue the ranger. So she turned her eyes to the other conflict, the one between the Councilor and a couple of Jedi. The advantage of the high vantage point was a greater visibility to the ongoing conflicts and not being forced to react to a limited view of the field.

So now she had an opportunity to do more, to do better. She launched herself into the air and landed with Force assisted grace on the ground below, closer to the fighting Councilor than the Jedi she had been attacking before. She could see them clearly, a masked Sith, the Councilor, and the two Jedi they faced. She started moving towards them, drawing in the Force as she went.

She came to a stop around ten or so meters behind the two Sith, and began manipulating the Force. A stream of lave from a nearby fissure started flowing out under her guidance, and with the surety born of trust in her beliefs she threw it towards the Jedi. The stream flew through the air, like an act of lava bending from that one series on SpaceFlix whose name she couldn't remember. It wouldn't be a surprise attack, she hadn't really been hiding her presence, rather relying on her not making much of a blip with the emergence of the Eternal. But it wasn't supposed to be a surprise attack, at least not for the Jedi.

For if Vyrassu was still focused on the Jedi then at the last moment Zarine would make another gesture with one of her hands and the stream of lava would split in two. If not then the flow would continue on towards the Jedi, but if the opportunity was there then she would change her attack. One stream flowed on towards the Jedi under its own momentum, splattering to the ground and continuing to flow towards them. But the second moved still under Zarine's guidance, aimed straight for the back of Darth Vyrassu's head. Hoping, in that split second, to catch her by surprise. With her focus on the Jedi, Vyrassu would hopefully be unaware of the attack till it hit her, burning through her head even as she began comprehending what had happened. For why would she worry about a comrade attacking the Jedi, why would she worry about betrayal when the Eternal themselves had joined the fray.

And no thoughts of betrayal were present in Zarine's mind, for this was no betrayal. The Sith were supposed to represent something. Order, strength, not just in the Force but also of mind, and the discipline to do what was needed. Vyrassu did not represent that, for she had long since given into insanity. It was time to set her free, and Zarine would do that. For Vyrassu, and for the Sith.

@Mr. Teatime @Nefieslab @Dread @DarkSaber

 

[Isen Ramm]

The Jedi were disorganized. There was no clear plan. To Isen, just a Padawan, this was shaping up to be a bloodbath in the Sith's favor. Isen got three different sets of orders literally within seconds.

"No worries, Isen. Hang low by the fortress if you can and eject if you need," Drow told him as he was getting prepared to go in hard and fast. Here, Isen was told by a Jedi Knight, his superior, to basically provide perimeter air support. Fair enough, a decent enough plan considering the new, immense dark presence that emerged brought in a spiderweb of lightning designed to knock down enemy starfighters. Isen, a dutiful soldier veered his starfighter to the right to do exactly that.

But, no sooner did those orders come in did Izel Thral, his master, give another command. "Force sensitive pilots, focus all fire on that source of corruption that just emerged! Non Force sensitives, follow their lead! The Eternal is on the field! Repeat, the Eternal is on the field! Take them down!" Once again, Isen did as he was told, and pushed left on the stick try to navigate the electronic minefield The Eternal had set in the sky for allied fighters like him.

But wait! Now, a Jedi Master had given a command. "Tallis here. Retreat from the facility after the strafing run. Everyone who has a ship, get it off the ground and maintain safe distance. We'll need aerial cover once Talak is ready for extraction," Master Tallis commanded. Isen could only smirk and hope for the best. This was a cluster, no question. He was but a Padawan, and if he was fortunate to make it home, maybe one day, decades from now, he would be teaching younglings and Padawans about command and use this as an example of the importance of planning.

For now, it was one strafing run and then a full retreat until called back for extraction or air support. Isen tried to stay low in case he needed to eject, and well, strafing runs are better at low altitude. There were multiple bodies on the ramparts that sent out the energies of the Dark Side, and Isen thought that would be as good a target as any. Unfortunately, that plan would have to be modified. A ripple in the Force told Isen he was being stalked, and there was the Interceptor (flown by @Darasuum ), coming and coming in hot. Isen put his X-Wing into full speed directly at the tall ramparts. The Interceptor was gaining on him quickly. Isen figured whoever this was would be a much more skilled pilot than he was, so as Isen passed over the rampart, he dove down, out of view, and cut hard left and the back, nearly clipping the bottom of his starfighter on the rock citadel. A chancy move for someone as inexperienced at piloting as Isen was, but the hope would be that when the pilot chasing him would lose him as he dove behind the wall, and as Isen popped back up hard and to the left, with any luck, he would turn in right behind the Interceptor. Then he would be the cat in the cat and mouse game.

@Fantasy Liver @Reyn @Catbert

 

[Darth Vyrassu]

The Darth moved to avoid the rocks and lava and lightning like everyone else, undisturbed by the need to do so. As she continued to move even afterwards she sensed the intent to attack her from another Sith (@Wit ). Not betrayal, but the intent to harm. She dodged the attack by the Sith. The council members senses were sharp; she was deeply connected to the Force and her power was great.

She kept her distance so she could be in a position where she could view the Sith woman (@Wit ) and the two Jedi (@Nefieslab) (@Mr. Teatime). As one of the Jedi popped up to greet her, she smiled madly and answered with her own, "HELLO!" then reached out with the Force. Both the Sith woman (@Wit) and the Jedi (@Nefieslab ) would feel the Darth's Force wrap around their necks. She left the second Jedi (@Mr. Teatime) to the Sith (@DarkSaber) that stepped in front of him, for now.

Though unlike the Darth's of the past that lifted multiple targets up off the ground with Force Choke, Vyrassu instead sought to slam both the Sith woman and Jedi onto the ground violently with her power. To both choke and daze, instead of simply holding them up in the air. The marauder was FAR weaker than Vyrassu, so the slam would crack her skull and knock her out.

 

[Wiley Winnz]

THEME​

Wiley's expression was one of predatory curiousity. The X-wing moved, this way and that. The Marauder jerked to one side as a streak of lightening shot close to the two of them before he banked back to remain on approach. His hand got close to enabling the thrust de-limter but the X-wing was already slower than his interceptor. The hand gripped the controls tight once again. Each milisecond passed as the cross hairs began getting closer.

If anything, the Sith was projecting his presence outward. He wanted the pilot in the ship ahead of him to fly faster. It was no fun if they weren't going all out. It's icon circled on the display but not quite locking on still. Wiley didn't really know about the extensive details of what was going on in front of the fortress. But what he did know was that his quarry was trying to pull a fast one. A part of him hoped this jedi could pull it off. But poor flying was going to get what it deserved.

There was no time for the targeting computer to fully lock on and ignored it entirely, choosing to preemptively fire. The light laser cannon working in tandem open fire if for nothing else than to begin harassing its shields. The heavy cannon fired spaced out shots. Both starfighters flying directly over the chaotic battlefield with just enough clearance to not strike the fortress or the terrain. But that didn't mean maybe some stray shots wouldn't impact here and there.

Wiley's measuring's were maybe a little bit luckier, though he'd argue more skillful, than the padawan he was chasing after. The man hit the thrust de-limiter. No doubt this maneuver would send the lava and rock just meters below him in altitude into a screaming whirlwind as the two starfighters had already passed out of sight. Maybe those on the ground would have maybe noticed the malicious intent emanating from the marauder as his starfighter came after the Jedi starfighter. He wasn't even the least bit sorry.

@Isen @Fantasy Liver @Reyn @Dread @Nefieslab @Wit @Mr. Teatime @DarkSaber

 

[Drow Venn]

"Gaaah!" Drow screamed as his mind was violated by the Eternal. Intimate thoughts, solitary memories and sad recollections were all surfacing as the Eternal plumbed the depths of the Ishi Tib Jedi's mind. Drow punched his own head, trying to get the Eternal out of there. It didn't kick the infernal creature out of his head but it did help tether him to reality, along with the desperate beeps that were coming from R2-500.

Fortunately, the torpedoes he sent hurtling towards the Eternal seemed to do the trick and the mental assault ceased. Drow didn't have time to see where the torpedoes went because the meaning behind his astromech's beeps suddenly clicked. He was about to crash!

His piloting instincts took over (or possibly the Force) and he gripped the stick and pulled up as fast as he could. For once, the Y-Wing's slow speed was actually an advantage because a more speedy fighter would have exploded already. He was able to pull up in time to avoid dying but not quite enough to avoid damage entirely - the bottom of the Y-WIng grazed the roof of the fortress which made an ugly scraping sound and caused his fighter to resemble a skipping stone as it bounced once off the roof of the fortress. Fortunately, there weren't any real essential system on the underside of a Y-Wing so the damage was mostly to the paint job.

"You all right there R2?" Drow asked his faithful droid. Unfortunately, the droid couldn't really answer at the moment because a bolt of lightning struck him, shutting down the poor robot. Drow winced and spared a glance back and saw that the torpedoes hadn't killed the Eternal but had caused damage to the roof of the fortress at least. At least breaking the Eternal's concentration provided a temporary reprieve for those approaching the fortress. Drow then heard Master Tallis' orders for the Jedi pilots to retreat. He obeyed, gunning the engines forward to put as much distance from the fortress as he could until the lightning was no longer an issue. His retreat was a reluctant one but having fought in wars before and deferring judgement to those Jedi with more wisdom than he, Drow knew the value of obeying orders. He hoped the Padawan Isen had already managed to get away but with no astromech support and dodging lightning bolts on his way out, all Drow could do at the moment was hope.

"Drow here. Retreating now. Disabled turrets. Fortress roof damaged." Drow told the other Jedi succinctly over his commlink. In such a stressful situation as this, radio chatter was best kept to only the pertinent information.

 

[Preef Callo]

Preef was pretty sure he landed a hit on the Zeltron before some boulders flying low across the surface obstructed his view. Usually he'd be more reserved about that, but he felt a weird childish excitement he hadn't allowed himself to feel since back when his parents were still alive. The excitement grew wilder and his mind was so focused on landing more hits, seeing more blood and simply doing pain and dealing death that it preoccupied him completely. He was unaware of the Eternal showing up on the balcony near him, but it was his presence and his Dark Side aura that was definitely warping Preef's brain.

More," the rodian hissed as he frantically swiveled the repeater from left to right, looking for another target to- a bolt hit the shielding of the repeater post (@darkrei9n). The design of the fortress had definitely placed the importance of shielding the power packs of repeaters before shielding the individual gunners and the shot, while ambitious considering the target size, the distance and the many distractions the shooter faced on the ground failed to hit its mark.

Preef quickly found the culprit and watched him dive away from a low-flying boulder, giving the rodian a golden opportunity. Holding down the trigger, Preef aimed to suppress the man where he lay, making it impossible for him to get back up to his feet or head to cover for if he tried he'd most definitely get hit. Effectively trapping the human amidst lava streams, far away from rocky cover.


@Catbert @darkrei9n

 

[Izel Thral]

Kori's (@Catbert ) words stung Izel, especially those referring to her responsibility to her apprentice. Frantically the Vratix looked between her friend and the fortress in the distance. "But they're right there!" She cried desperately, referring to the Eternal itself, the mastermind behind all the misery they had witnessed. Not taking this chance felt like a betrayal to all those that had already died. "We can do this!" She pleaded, only to have another bolt of lightning from the sky nearly roast her. Recovering from the blast Izel had to begrudgingly admit Kori had a point. Unless the circumstances changed they had little chance of actually doing any damage to their opponent.

She looked up and watched as Drow came in for his attack run, hoping he could do at least some damage to the Eternal. But something seemed to go wrong at the last moment. At first it appeared the Y-Wing was right on target to blast the Dark Lord into oblivion, then it suddenly veered away, the torpedoes impacting on another section of the fortress and the bomber barely avoiding being destroyed. Most likely some trick of the Force.

At this point Izel had no choice but to stop her advance, releasing her concentration and allowing the massive boulder in front of her to cease it's movement. But she had no intentions of giving up just yet. There was still damage they could do from here. And Kori was right, they needed to keep the Eternal's attention on them. Seeing the repeater gunner (@Eccles ) was still harassing their allies Izel made a move to try and take him out. Using the Force to lift another smaller rock she made a fist, breaking it apart into hundreds of tiny razor sharp shards, not much larger than bullets. She then pressed her palm forward, sending the storm of jagged stones directly towards the Rodian gunner's position, hoping at least a few of them would be able to make their mark and injure him, or at least suppress him long enough for her ally (@darkrei9n ) to make a run for cover.

After launching her attack on the fortress ramparts she turned her attention to the starfighters flying low in the sky. She saw Isen's X-Wing (@Isen ) struggling to keep ahead, and the Sith Interceptor (@Darasuum ) gaining on it. She could sense his deadly intent, and worried for her Padawan. She was well aware piloting was not his greatest strength. Raising her comlink to her mouth once more she spoke to him. "Isen, if you can bring that tail in this direction I might be able to give you some help." She offered, although really at the moment all she could do was hope he didn't get shot down. Glancing over her shoulder at Kori she spoke with frustrated resignation. "I hope you know what you're doing..." She didn't like sitting here but at least there were still things she could do from range. Hopefully it would be enough to make a difference.

 

[SenatorRosannaSnowel]

The rage seething form Rossana only dissipated when she was fully distracted, looking up to the sky with hatred, she saw the ships retreating, glancing to the side she could see a pair of Sith attacking two Jedi... and another Sith? But just as she made to move to go do something rash about it, she felt a hand on her shoulder, she released the grip on her saber hilt and reattached it to her belt. Turning her head, a calmness returned to her as she looked upon who seeked her attention, the Sector Ranger from earlier she noted before his distorted voice range out over the battlefield; "Madam Senator, I highly recommend you make a retreat. It is becoming very difficult to ensure your safety." (@Tycho Berand )

The red haired woman only pondered it for a minute before she politely answered him, “Thanks for that sir, but there’s really no where to go-the ships are scattered above us, the lava makes a lame escape nigh impossible as does the lightning. I believe the force intends on us doing SOMETHING today-something of great value to the Republic. If the force wills it so we die like this, who am I to temp a fate I have no chance of changing.” She smiled through her mask, “However if the force DOES Will a safe way to leave to appear I will gladly take the opportunity, but until then I recommend we either take out as much of those silly repeaters as we can or we go aid those two Jedi and the Sith who are cornered by the Sith and the Dark Consular.”

Deciding whilst she awaits the sector ranger’s response to be helpful to the Jedi the Senator peeked out from behind the rock and reached out both hands, taking a deep breath she paused and felt the force flow through her, every person (and monster) on the battlefield, all the people working the repeaters, the plums of lava, and more importantly the lightning. Waiting until a bolt was about to come near her the red headed human swung her arms in an archway towards a repeater cannon, (NPC Controlled) as fast as she redirected that bolt she did the same to another, this time targeting another repeater (NPC) to the left of the other one. Darting back around the rock, she slumped against it for an moment, gathering her breath-redirecting two measly bolts of lightning made her feel so strong and powerful during the act of it, but now she was drained, giving herself a few moments of recovery until she stood up again.

 

[Hannibal Grayza]

Beneath his face-covering helmet, the young Jedi grinned. This one reacted more or less as expected, fury rising within @Nobody in response to Hannibal's offer of surrender. What the Jedi hadn't expected was another Sith showing up and chucking lava at the back of the crazy lady's head. It didn't seem like it was going to go well, but that didn't matter. It presented opportunity.

The lava stream launched by @Zarine Bashere that was headed toward him just before the lightning was fired was certainly no sneak attack for the Jedi, but it was coming from behind the Sith. It also was only carried by its own momentum for the moment, control give up to guide the attack on the crazy lady. An extra spicy gift from the random guest fighter, but the Jedi Master didn't need more lava. So he decided to regift it. Hopefully the new recipient would be surprised.

As the masked Sith fired lightning from his fingers Hannibal's saber guard dropped to protect his stomach while keeping the tip where it was, the crackling energy grounding harmlessly on the weapon's magnetic field. At the same time the fingers of his right hand clenched, twisted, and opened again while moving right. Through a use of telekinesis he grasped the lava stream and gave it a sudden explosive force, forming a large and sudden shotgun blast of molten pebbles from mere feet behind @Nobody directed at his back right side not unlike a particularly unfriendly frag grenade going off. A shame he was busy chucking lightning and worrying about his lightsaber.

"That wasn't the signal! You were supposed to wait for the signal, Val!" he shouted toward Zarine, figuring Max would pick up what he was doing if he wasn't too busy at the moment. The more chaos between the Sith, the more distracted they were and the more split their attention, the better this was likely to go.

@Dread @DarkSaber @Nefieslab @Wit