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[Wodan]

A single Resurgent-Class Star Destroyer exited hyperspace high above the planet of Ringo Vinda. A moment later came its small escort fleet, a pair of cruisers and six destroyers and corvettes, littered the space around the main ship. Upon its bridge stood Wodan, his scars and missing eye open for all to see around him, today was a day for fear and terror, the scar would help him achieve this. His right hand was fidgeting with the shard around his neck as the glowing orb of Ringo Vinda drew slowly closer to the small fleet.

“Have they responded?” He called back towards the assembled staff behind him. The comms officer popped his head up. “Nothing yet sir.” “Either preparing the red carpet or a blaster. I wonder which one.” He said to himself. A black military uniform hung from his shoulders as the ships began to fan out around the Resurgent. “Let Cyutadakyr know I am ready to see her.” He called out once again. Wodan had in the wisdom of being bed bound for a few days decided it was time to bring in an accomplice to his grand plans, an apprentice who could help share some of the workload of what was to come. Cyutadakyr has been picked up from the Acolyte ranks due to her ambition and her desire to delve deep into the Darkness that is the Sith.

He was unsure if the pair would work, but this was a chance to test the waters before she was let onto anything more specific on his plans.

 

[Nevizkas]

The terrible power of the imperial fleet was on full display, as even a fraction of the resources the empire wielded came into full view above yet another wayward world. Cyutadakyr sat quietly in her quarters dwelling on the challenge ahead as the Star Destroyer exited hyperspace. It was important that she made a good impression as the watchful eye of the Champion Wōđanaz could not only make or break her career, but the man could also prove to be quite a powerful ally in a kill-or-be-killed galaxy.

Word soon reached the young pureblood that the latter had summoned her to the bridge. Adorned in the appropriate light armor, she quickly arrived on the scene. Tipping her head in respect to Wodan, she was likely as eager if not more than he was to get started.

"You requested to see me? Sir." the pleasantries grit through her teeth as she forced herself to maintain an adequate level of decorum. Once she had proven herself both capable and useful, she might be more ready to relax such things but until then she would remain professional.

She could only hope that the plan would call for some kind of creative problem solving, or looser rules of engagement. Something fun, and unrestricted would make her day, although unfortunately it never seemed to work out that way. She could be an assassin or a bulldozer, it didn't matter to her.

For now, she was at his disposal.

@Braden

 

[Wodan]

Wodan felt her enter the bridge, a small wave of Darkness flowing off the Sith Pureblood as she walked towards him. He turned to face her, his hand dropping from the shard as she approached. “Acolyte, yes I did. We have arrived at Ringo Vidar.” He said motioning over his shoulder at the quickly advancing glowing orb.

“Still radio silence Sir.” The Captain called. A frown appeared across Wodan’s scared visage. “Acolyte, how do you fare in a cockpit?” He asked, stepping past Cyutadakyr and towards the assembled officers near the rear of the bridge. “I expect we will be receiving company soon. Deploy the fleet, I doubt we will get much further in this conversation without a few turbolasers thrown about.” The officers nodded, gave a salute and then dispersed to their respective areas on the bridge.

@Xorism

 

[Nevizkas]

The bridge was actively humming along as the officers and staff completed their work, dutifully obeying Wodan's orders for the task ahead. Cyu stood silently, listening intently as the man spoke to her, nodding gently. The planet was foreign to her and she would care not for it more than necessary.

Flying wasn't her specialty but passable in a pinch when it was called upon. She'd do as ordered but flying into combat in a starfighter wasn't the first option she'd pick, as it tended to be quite far away from the fun. "My training is adequate, but that is no substitute for actual combat."

Of course, before any ground fighting could be successful the Sith must secure the space above the battlefield. The mighty assembled fleet would likely make short work of anything the planet could muster but she wasn't about to admit to Wodan that she wasn't the best pick.

Regardless of where he stationed her for the battle, she would pursue the target with full efficiency and determination. Anything less was a failure and she would not allow herself to be one. Waiting quietly again whilst Wodan spoke with the other officers, she turned to follow him at a short distance.

"In that case, with your order, let us begin the conversation on our terms, and soon they will have no choice but to surrender."

@Braden

 

[Wodan]

“Good.” He began turning to face the Sith Pureblood. “Go find yourself a fighter, you will have command over one fighter wing. It's your chance to prove yourself in combat and as a leader.” Wodan wasn’t a pilot himself, he could pretty much just put a ship into drive and go in a straight line that was it. Having an Apprentice that could fill that gap in his arsenal was beneficial to say the least, plus giving the young woman some experience commanding men even if she failed to be his apprentice, would only help the Empire in the long run. “Unless you have any questions? Dismissed.” He said before turning away from the woman and heading back to the viewing platform at the front of the ship.

“Anything yet Captain?” “No Sir.” “I don’t like this. Spread the fleet out further, I don’t want to be caught clustered up just encase.” The Captain agreed and signalled for the fleet to disperse, within a few moments of the command a large blue pulse appeared before them, crashing into the corvette closest to the Star Destroyer. Little pulses of blue lightning ran across its hull as the Ion Shot disabled the ships systems. Alarms began to flare across the ship as the battle began, a thick smile across Wodan’s lips.

@Xorism

 

[Nevizkas]

The pureblood naturally got the one assignment she didn't want, but at the same time, she wouldn't pass up the opportunity to impress a superior. Nodding to his command, she turned to leave Wodan once she was dismissed to make her way down towards the hangar.

It had become a buzzing hive of activity as the many droids, pilots and support workers were busy working to complete the last minute touches before the war machines launched. Cyu looked on as a commander, dressed in a flight suit approached her with a face of frustration laced with impetuous fire. "Acolyte Cyutadakyr, I take it? The bridge informed me of your assignment with my fighter wing. Per orders, you will have command, but if you endanger my pilots recklessly, I'll shoot you down myself - you got that?"

Cyu grinned, nodding to the commanders not so veiled threat. "Good, take the TIE in the 6th bay and start her up. We'll meet up at the first way point and from there it's all you." The commander didn't exactly have high hopes for the pureblood, but would keep an eye on her for the time being. Cyu slinked her way over to the assigned fighter, taking the offered flight suit and slipped it on in a hurry before jumping up into the cockpit.

The fighter was fairly modern and would allow her to properly test her abilities in combat. As the HUD booted up and connected to the comm system giving her a decent idea of what she was working with. Forty-eight fighters, of which most were like hers but two were Starblades built for advanced recon and six Impetus interceptors for tasks that TIEs were unsuited for.

After a brief automated deployment sequence, the controls were released to Cyu as she shot out of the Star Destroyer. The commander initially issued a series of orders, ensuring that the wing would form up together before finally releasing command to Cyu.

"Dagger one to command, we're in position." The HUD showed enemy elements ahead as the enemy's fighter screen deployed likewise. "Moving to engage." The pureblood couldn't turn back now, the maelstrom of battle was about to commence and there was little other choice but victory.

@Braden

 

[Wodan]

A moment of panic was replaced by the calm and calculated training the Imperial Navy had installed in its officers and enlisted men, as the downed Corvette began to drift away from the battle line. From both the Orbital Shipyards and the nearby moon a concoction of various ships spilled out to face the Imperial Forces. Although nothing would match up to the Resurgent Class, but they had the numbers, corvettes and frigates dozens of fighters looked to engage Wodan’s fleet.

“We are heading directly for the shipyards, cut right through them. Have our support ships cover our rear.” Wodan replied, the flashes of green from the main turbolaser battery illuminated the scared face. An explosion off to his front right signalled the first kill of the engagement, one nil to the Imperials.

@Xorism

 

[Nevizkas]

In the brief moments before combat erupted between the starfighters Cyu began to really settle into its seat. There was a certain thrill to throwing yourself into a particularly dangerous situation, traveling ridiculously fast at over 100 MGLT where both sides would be rapidly closing the distance. There hadn't been time for significant training in advanced combat maneuvers and tactics, Cyu would have to rely on the basics that she had already been aware of and the remaining would be simply relying on the force to guide her.

The Sith may not have had the numbers, but they certainly had the edge when it came to technology. Cyu knew that if they could force the enemy to break their formations, the more nimble TIEs would be able to pick them apart in rapid succession.

"Dagger formation, Starbades will take perch positions out of range of the enemy and provide real-time sensor intel. On my mark, TIEs will break formation and scatter in pairs to draw enemy fighters after them. Impetus will then move in to pick off the stragglers tailing you. Once we have evened the playing field a bit, return to formations and systematically wipe them out with brute force."

Cyu knew that their fighters would struggle to keep up with the TIEs, but the interceptors were even faster and much more adept at quickly taking down the distracted fighters. If the plan went as expected, the enemy starfighters would lose their numerical advantage and then quickly find themselves on the back foot. From there, they would only have to push until they fled the field.

"Mark."

The formation broke up as ordered into pairs and as expected, the enemy did the same to chase them. Outnumbered the TIEs would rely on their excellent capabilities to avoid fire as their interceptors began their bloody work. From the bridge of his star destroyer, Wodan would see the enemy starfighter numbers dwindling at a far greater rate than their losses.

@Braden

 

[Wodan]

“Sir, we are through the main line.” “Good, continue at full, I want to see the whites of their eyes in that station.” He replied, his fangs visible for all to see, this was a hunt something his people had spent perfecting for tens of thousands of years back on Firrerre.

From their rear two smaller corvette’s began to concentrate their fire upon the relatively under defended engine section. The ship rocked slightly as one of the deflector shields began to buckle under the weight of heavy fire on that section. As quickly as a ship of this size could move, the nose of the ship began to flare up and to the right, with every percent of the the rising angle, gave more and more of the ships massive battery of Turbolasers vision of the corvettes.

It became a race as the Resurgent tried to flip backwards as quickly as the corvette’s dived to get under the ship. Luckily for the Sith even though there was little defence around the engine bay there was enough to keep the corvettes shields warm enough that one full blast of the heavy turbolasers ripped through the shields of the first corvette. The second followed relatively soon after.

“Sir, Acolyte Cyutadakyr and her wing are pushing back the enemy fighters.” “Good, have them meet up with us once they are done.”

@Xorism

 

[Nevizkas]

The combat was lightning-fast and bloodthirsty as streams of fighters banked in all directions, dogfighting in third-dimensional space. The diversional tactics worked like a treat at first, until the enemy started to wisen up to the deception. Unfortunately for them, it came too late to save many of their forces, the Sith having cleaved a significant portion off the field in quick succession.

The TIEs regrouped back into their formations much faster than the enemy could, as they wouldn't have anticipated such a movement. With coordinated, large-scale attacks the enemy fighters continued to deplete until their numbers dropped so low it was clear that the empire would win the fight. Not wanting to lose every abled-bodied fighter, the enemy commander issued the order for their withdrawal, pulling their screen away and back toward the planet.

Cyu couldn't help but grin at their initial success, of course, they would have preferred to completely annihilate the enemy task force but to do so right now would have been too much risk for much less gain. That being said the enemy didn't have a lot of options, they could either regroup and try again to meet certain death, they could try to hide on the planet and be destroyed from orbit or they could flee and cede the planet regardless.

Any of these options sat right with Cyu as she reported their wing's success. "Dagger one to Command, the enemy fighter screen has been pushed back. We are in a position to escort bombers should they be deployed, otherwise awaiting further orders."

@Braden

 

[Wodan]

“Dagger One, your wing are to secure a perimeter around the main administrative complex of the orbital dockyards. Once secured you have been requested to return to the ship.”

Another pair of small ships had been wiped from the battlefield, the losses the planetary defences had sustained was great, though Wodan would have preferred not to lose any himself. The ship which took the Ion blast had been swarmed and all hands were lost in the following explosion. He had only been given a small detachment and he doubted he would get any more reinforcements if he wanted to try another planet after this one.

But it seemed at least for now the Space Battle had been won, Wodan didn’t doubt that given enough time to regroup they would be back at them, but the Firrerrian didn’t plan to give them enough time for that. The Resurgent Star Destroyer was powering forward towards the main Orbital Shipyard, Wodan would make them submit and stand down the military before they could strike back.

“Captain you have the Ship.” He called as he strode out of the bridge and into the elevator which would take him to the hangar to meet with Cyutadakyr on her return.

@Xorism

 

[Nevizkas]

Cyutadakyr helped finish off the last of the straggling fighters before their new orders came in. "Dagger one to Command - understood." By now the TIEs had properly regrouped and were ready to be directed to their new patrol zones. Cyu instructed each section to complete a damage control assessment and assigned the strongest ones to the sectors closest to enemy positions.

As they reached their positions, she'd open a com with the commander who had been with her this whole time and with a slant of superiority. "Dagger one is yours." Taking no time for a response, she cut communication and turned back toward the Star Destroyer.

The task had been performed admirably, with minimal losses on their part but one never quite knew how a Sith superior might respond. Still, Cyu would approach with confidence after having succeeded in the task that he had set, landing comfortably inside the hangar and spotting Wodan as she pulled herself out of the cockpit.

Taking the helmet off and placing it down in the seat, she slid down the side of the TIE and dipped her head to him. "Sir."

@Braden

 

[Wodan]

Wodan reached the hanger a few minutes before Cyutadakyr returned in her TIE Fighter. The Champion stood near the Upsilon Shuttle which was to ferry the pair along with a few guardsmen to the station. The woman strode across to him with confidence of a job well done, from the information that had been passed to him as he waited she had done just that.

“You did well Cyutadakyr, how was command?” He asked, some people hated taking command, he had at first. Well his first command had been nothing short of a disaster, his life and career pulled from that wet muddy hole by Altaris, a lifetime ago on Atravis. But he had soon grown into it over time, but others never did, preferring the life of a solo operative.

Once he had an answer from the Sith Pureblood he would go onto explain the next stage of their mission. “Hopefully with their noses bloodied and a fair bit of fight kicked out of them. We can continue the rest of this operation at the negotiating table. But, they still yet might try to take us out once we are away from the ship. Are you prepared?”

@Xorism

 

[Nevizkas]

Cyutadakyr couldn't help but raise a smirk as Wodan asked his question. Truth be told, she hadn't planned to enjoy it as much as she had, given the relative hands-off aspect of its combat. At best her victims had died instantly, vaporized or drained of life by contact with the void and at worst they would survive and escape to live another day.

"Our superiority was never in doubt,... I enjoyed the exercise more than I thought but test me, it did not."

It was always preferable to have your enemy within your grasp, to overpower and dominate with your strength. But commanding was don't without its own perks, there was a different kind of joy in being the puppet master above the pawns with their lives entirely at your mercy.

"In that case, might we impress upon them that they have no choice but to capitulate? We can sit here all day but their city cannot - and once we have them at the table, we can take hostages to ensure their compliance remains."

In either case, she was ready to follow him.

@Braden

 

[Wodan]

Wodan frowned slightly at her reply, it was less a test of skill, but of her personality and ability to lead. He wondered if the Sith Pureblood had an ego problem which needed to be beaten back a bit. “That will of course be our intent, but we can’t push them too much otherwise they will have no choice but to resist. And with everything that is going on in the galaxy right now, we can't afford to lose more men than needed.” He replied.

With that they were done and ready to make way onto the orbital shipyard. Wodan stepped onto the Upsilon Shuttle with Cyutadakyr and a squad of elite troopers in tow, the Firrerrian chose to stand the entire time not taking a seat as the ship moved out into the vast emptiness of space. It was flanked by four fighters as it made its way across the short gap between the Star Destroyer and the Hanger. Weapons were trained on them the entire time, but the weapons stayed silent, the giant turbolasers pointed back at them probably having much to do with it.

The Shuttle, came to a soft land inside the sealed hanger bay, there was frantic movement around the shuttle as damaged fighters were being rushed around. Countless angry eyes were pointed in the direction of the Sith’s transport. “Shall we?”

@Xorism

 

[Nevizkas]

Of course Cyutadakyr had an ego problem, it was literally in her blood. She'd struggle to hide a smirk about his remark on not losing too many men. Still, no matter her personal preferences or opinions on the matter it was his operation and she would abide by his commands.

The pureblood boarded with Wodan and spent a good portion of their trip admiring the elite troopers that accompanied them. Whether it was the armor, the way they stood or just the idea of watching them in action she wasn't sure. Soon after they arrived in the hangar and Wodan addressed her once more, nodding, she followed him out of the shuttle and toward their little welcoming party.

A little part of her hoped that their enemy would get antsy and try to pull some funny business or perhaps say something incredibly insulting that would allow the Sith to start slicing but it didn't come. A quiet delegation stood behind a man and a women, clearly representing the civilian and military aspects.

With the strongest reluctance, the delegation welcomed them aboard during the little parley. Cyu remained quiet for now, watching and waiting to see what role she might play.

@Braden

 

[Wodan]

Wodan stopped out of the shuttle, Cyu and the escort followed behind. They were greeted by a mixture of angry stares and snarling faces from the masses around them, but the delegation ahead of them at least attempted some form of decorum as the pair of Sith approached. The man bowed his head a little, the woman dressed in the planets military uniform stared straight into his single eye.

A smile crept across his lips at the defiance, this world would be a gem for him, if he could secure such loyalty and their abundance of resources. “Greetings, I am Wodan Asa-Lidar of the Sith Empire, I come to discuss terms.”

@Xorism

 

[Nevizkas]

The group never lost focus on the pair of Sith in front of them, eyeing them nervously as if they were expecting some kind of trick or last-second attack. When none came, the lead delegate pushed their hand forward to wave them to sit at the table that had been placed for the meeting.

"Welcome to Ringo Vinda, Wodan Asa-Lidar. We hope we've been hospitable hosts on your visit thus far?" The Admiral spoke first, with a fiery undertone coursing through her speech. The Governor was more politically savvy and seemed to be the one that had pushed for the meeting in the first place in what Cyu would guess was likely unpopular with the military.

"Yes, terms. I can't say that I enjoy the less than equal footing of making business under threat of gunpoint, much less after one's position is somewhat diminished. I suspect you already have something in mind, how about we start there? I'm Governor Titus and this is Admiral Yulone and we hope to come to some kind of mutually beneficial arrangement, don't we Admiral?"

Hell, it even seemed like the pair would start a fight themselves. Cyu decided to keep quiet and let Wodan do the talking, offering bits and pieces if called upon.

@Braden