At Hero's End (Pt.2)

[Aliclair Austjor]

The scene before her was brutal and Aliclair's heart hurt to just watch from the sidelines. But there was nothing she could do but gather this information. To keep digging deeper and deeper in this cybernetic world. While she wasn't a hacker herself, she knew someone who taught her a thing or two during her time with the GA. From time to time, she'd glance at the cameras. This process was a long, tedious one but patience was her best friend. Ali had to be careful not to trigger any security breaches. Her disguise may be a high ranked soldier, but even he had his limitations. Grabbing a sort of drive to begin extracting what she could, she let out a small exhale before plugging it into the port. As the data began to extract from the computers into something she could deliver to the Jedi, she stood and stretched out her body, growling softly. But even with her limitations, there was plenty she could do from up here. But, it would probably give her position away. So she would need to find an escape route.

Every ship had schematics. So she began to look for those and once she did, she read over it a few times, then grabbed a holo-machine, copying the schematics from the computer to the handheld, placed it aside for now. She then took a moment to get up, and lock the door. At least with this, it'll buy her time if she was caught. The room wasn't big, or small. Just enough for a small. Every room had vents so she could crawl through there. But if she could do this in stealth, she wouldn't need to go through all that trouble. The prisoner let out a small growl; this would get complicated. It reached a point of just saying screw it and just free-ball it. If she could get away without raising an alarm. Or if not. Whichever came first. No one can plan these things in enemy territory.

She looked at the data chip as it beeped, indicating a copy of all the information provided through these systems were now in her grip. And she pulled it out, tying a string on it then looping it over her neck, hiding it in her shirt. Ali sat back in the chair and began to weigh her options. But, quickly; the Sith waited for no one. She took a moment to watch the cameras once more, watching the siege bring war and hellfire to the place the GA resided in. She glared then decided if they wished to rain fire, then she'd bring fire to their doorstep. She wiped all activity she'd done on the comms and picked up her handheld, looking at the schematics to check where their weapon arsenal was. Then the main engines to the Harbinger. Ali decided it was best to stay in this room a while longer and look over the map layout of the large Warship, leaning back and crossing her legs. Taking this High Ranked Officer outfit to it's max, and taking time to memorize. She’d rested enough but it made no sense to up and rush a ship full of soldiers; she would need to have faith in the Force that her comrades would reach the city in time and halt the Sith in their tracks. This assault from inside the belly of the beast need planning, timing. And that wasn't in her favor at the moment.

[OOC: not a huge edit but fixed nonetheless! Hopefully... I apologize for not leaving any opening for the siths]

[Jacobi Wylcott]

---AHTO CITY - MAIN COMMUNICATIONS TOWER

Screaming downward and into the fray the leathery wings of Kraujas Ntima burst from the clouds with wrath given form. Streaking into range of the comms tower the massive hydra struck as a lightning bolt. Slamming into the tower and grasping around it with claws. The tower was a massive thing and even it trembled to the wake of the horrid monster. Darth Tormentous leapt from the back of his mount and fell from height down to the viewing platform - the Dark Side aiding his long descent. Flooring cracked to his fall and he rose to his full height, fists clenched and hood drawn up with one glowing yellow eye to pierce forward into the doom of those that lay before it.

The hyrda took off dropping down to street level with a thunderous roar. The fleeing citizenry fled from its maw but many could not manage this and twin jaws snapped lives away, claws lashed out unmercifully and its long tail swept aside many others. Even its massive feet crushed the Selkath into the pavement without heed to their presence.

Small amounts of blaster fire returned upon the hydra’s hide, scorch marks and burning craters remained but they could not penetrate the monster’s hardened scales - yet Kraujas Ntima did not suffer these assaults and retaliated in kind, eviscerating those so bold. The slaughter was a glorious sacrifice to the Dark Side of the Force.

Doors stood open before Tormentous. How had anyone have suspected an assault to come to Ahto City and who would have anticipated such an aerial strike. When he entered and blasters drawn - his rage was put on display. Blaster fire hastily came for him yet these Selkath were untrained compared to soldiers and their aim was off as well as their resolve. Entering straight away he was already close to one and punched the Selkath hard, the alien filth staggered but did not fall backwards - caught by the wrist. Tormentous contorted the arm, likely breaking it but purpose was made and the Selkath was yanked into being a meat shield.

One grazing shot, another and another, finally shots punched their once terrified and now dead brother. Tormentous marched into the room and threw the body as a doll into another defender. In an instant his grip landed upon the leather bound hilt of the Jidai Maras and the Dark Side cried out in glee as the connection was made. In one wave his sword tore the air apart and smacked blasts aside, two back into their senders, curling the sword back around to his side he strode without fear, a final shot came at him yet his free hand casually backhanded the shot and through the Force the energy was deflected into the right breast of the defender, not a kill shot but enough to put a civilian down.

And so the Darth moved into the tower, fighting his way towards the control room.

---AHTO CITY - CITY SQUARE

Two barges sailed inward over the city, fire scattered over their heavy armor as Alliance starfighters shot the vessel yet caused them no harm. Though about this time the Ahto Defense Force had begun to rally and actual AA fire had begun to strafe the skies - blasting fighters from existence in fiery clouds. Perhaps even a few A-wings would also see some unfriendly fire for the skies were so dense with activity.

But it was in this moment the Sith found their first setback. The heaviest cannonry turned and spat fire into the skies at these incoming barges. One was shot low - by chance - by the Force’s will - found a vulnerable spot and a rippling detonation broke the engine housing asunder. Black smoke billowed out in a long trail. The ship lurched to the side and lost its bearing. The heavy nose blowing through a commercial tower as if it was nothing. Scatterings fell to the streets bathing them in broken glass and debris. It seemed the building offered the barge little, its nose hardly scratched - in truth the vessel thus lost any control it may have held and gravity did the rest.

The barge fell from grace and into the commercial hub of the city. Ploughing deep into the artificial earth of Ahto City causing damage untold. A half mile trench of chaos and destruction was left in its wake. Fires and screams echoed its passing.

While the other barge reached its destination and slammed into the ground hard. Already maglocks were slamming free, releasing contents. Other transports came down in the square. Large troop haulers. While the Selkath had hardly the time to gather themselves, the opposing fire from this point was there - yet minimal. Disgorged, the Sith Soldiers came forth in their numbers while other transports delivered the dreadful Sith Warriors led by mighty Lords of the Sith. Finally, shuttles came in and began to deliver the true nightmares - the Massassi hordes.

Delivered to Ahto the Massassai came forth, led by Warchief Khar’andaka Vinduuth’a - poisoned by the Dark Side of the Force the natural abnormality of growth a Massassi normally received - he had been given its curse to a deeper degree. More massive and filled with rage, he carried a horrid looking mace with the head of eight blades. The weapon was as large as a man yet Khar’andaka carried it as a child carried a toy.

Barking orders, the Massassi began to swiftly fan out - screams followed in their wake.

---MANAAN, ORBIT

The Y-wings delivered punishing salvos of warheads against the orbital station - that along with the combined might of the ion cannons of the Harbinger brought the shields down hard. Blue lightning played over the station as the ions did their work and without power the station was unable to maintain its anchor in orbit. With the tractor beams pulling hard the orbital station’s orbit began to disintegrate. It was yet a ways off before the fall became terminal but the effort was clear - the mass of the station was being pulled by the tractor beams and arrested by Manaan’s gravitational pull. Soon Ahto City would be impacted by a severe enough attack to cripple their command structure and turn the entire city into utter chaos.

Efforts of the Alliance A-wings were scattered and desperate. There weren’t nearly enough of them to fend off the intercepting Razorfighters and with their intense combat the A-wings weren’t permitted to chase down and handle the Sith Y-wings which granted the bombers unfettered access to due their work.

Once the Y-wings brought the shields down on the station they ceased their runs as it was no longer needed. They turned their attention to the CR90 Corvettes. One was making a quick escape and was making all speed for the outer reaches of Manaan. Four of the Y-wings tore off after the ship, dumping torpedoes and ion cannons into its aft section while the rest of the squadron hit the CR90 that was sticking around and trying unsuccessfully to hold back the twin Corsair Battleships that were now pulling alongside the Corvette and delivering point blank broadsides.

It seemed that the situation in orbit was cleaning up nicely though taking longer than expected.

Aboard the Harbinger within the bridge a deck security officer - in charge of ship wide security - was not as distracted by the massive deployment of assets to the surface of Ahto City and he had been keeping his eyes on the ancient warship. The situation in the terminal room below decks. An unauthorized access to top secret information. Why there had been no security breach was a quandary he would resolve later - right now he needed to resolve the issue.

Classified data streamed to a foreign device and then schematics pulled on the old warship. He was curious mostly at this part. As the warship’s schematics would be intact, but there was so much that had been altered over the 1,000’s of years this ship had sailed the stars that the schematics were absolutely incomplete. Things that were once on them were no longer and things that now existed were not updated to the schematics at all. Why someone wanted those old out of date documents was beyond him but he couldn’t question it - only resolve it.

The young officer rose up to his feet and sent a message through his console to the updates on the Lord Admiral’s chair console. He would know something was going on but that it was also being taken care of. The officer hastily moved to the security office at the rear of the bridge and pointed at three men. “You three, with me. We’re going to check something out.”

Together the four of them moved to the turbolift and began to descend into the bowels of the ship.

[Silas Karn]

With so much direct pressure being placed upon Manaan’s fleet and its orbital defenses the arrival of a pair of indistinct Sith ships was drowned out. Taking projected paths away from the skirmishes enroute to Ahto also played to their favor as the Sovereign took point. Opening a com-channel back to the Infiltrator the High Priest called out to Nil, “It will take time to track down the correct individual to lead me to my prize. I’m sure Silvanius has her own mission to facilitate. However, once I have secured our host for this endeavor I will require the assets you have aboard your vessel. Coordinate with Silvanius such that a swift deployment of our payload is possible.”

With hardly any pause the skilled assassin replied, "As your task carry the Dark Lord’s will I’m sure a collaboration between mission parameters is already built into our positions but as always my lord I will ensure your success.” Nil’s voice bled with a patronizing tone that only cycles of accompanying Silas could allow. “Well then as discussed before lets make for the docks. However, once you detect my ship arriving within range, break off for Silvanius’s tasks. I will notify you of my ready-status on this channel once I have selected a host.” With that the pair ceased communications as their ships breached the atmosphere of Manaan.

Despite the advantage of the chaos surrounding the Sith invasion and the strained defensive resources for the Selkath the pair of vessels were met with sparse turret and platform ordinance. Yet, with the Sovereign’s acclaimed piloting the K-Wing managed successfully guide the Infiltrator away from the bulk of the hostile fire and make it to their parting. Diving down as the Infiltrator passed overhead the priest closed the remaining distance to the primary commercial docking port. Laying down heavy fire on the few vessels that yet remained Silas knifed into the port making a rapid landing. Holding the Irus’s Mirtis by its sheath the Sovereign leapt out of the fighter and called immediately upon the near-peerless connection to the Force. Reaching out through the Force the Sovereign plied his unmatched mastery of sense toward narrowing down his prey. The necessary insight of his chosen target would be vital to his success.

[Kita_Ikari]

Silvanius had wished her master had riden with her and the priest. But of course he had his own flair to entering the battlefield. She already knew what to do. Help assist her master.

She overheard Silas as he mentioned her using the ship and grumbled. "Well, i sure hope you allow me to use the infiltrator. Especially if I'm to reach my masters location." She crossed her arms as she turned her direction to the window. She saw the priest new vessel as he began flying a black K-wing out of the Harbinger, Nil following from behind as they began decending to the planets surface.

She watched as the ships took off for battle, disappearing into view of the planet's atmosphere as they drew closer to begin their attack upon Ahto City. Meanwhile, the droid Nil had followed behind the priest vessel all the way to the commercial dock.

~~~~~

Once there, Silvanius awaited for the supplies to be unloaded as she impatiently waited for her free reign to take the infiliator with her out onto the battle field. She had wanted to get into the heat of battle straight away, yet she was being held back instead. But obviously her master had a important task for the priest as well. He never did dawdle when it came to giving each of the sith a task.

She overheard her masters large dragon screech of terror rupture through the sky. Its destruction mass, and so many lives at once created a tremor in the force she could not ignore. She felt the darkside of the force wrap around her like a thick blanket in that moment, the darkness growing stronger from the lives lost. She frowned at the thought of this. There were innocent lives lost in the fray of war, but she needed to carry out her masters orders to keep herself alive and to carry out her private mission for helping and looking out for Jacobi.

She swiftly turned her head as she stood outside the ship near the ramp, impatiently pacing as she crossed her arms in irritation. She had thought about throwing out some sarcastic comments out of her impatience, but instead decided to help to quicken the process by moving whatever Nil had pointed out would be dropped off at the dock.

She had overheard the conversation earlier between Nil and the Priest. Once she was done helping get the supplies off the infiltrator, Silvanius made her way back inside to the ship and prepared herself for take off once Silas had finished his duties.

[Professor Mors]

“Stang!”, Sa’ato growled with contempt as a lucky bolt connected with the Mudhorn’s auxiliary wing and crackled viciously out across its durasteel plating. The lasers on the security probes were not particularly powerful, but given enough time and abuse, they could still down his patrol craft. Already, a score of blackened blast-marks dotted the Pursuer’s exterior, and what’s more, the professor had underestimated the figures of his opposition. In fact, some two dozen 1500’s were hot on the Neti’s tail, and they had no intention of letting him skip out for damaging the port. Worse still, they knew the city far better than he did.

Forced to navigate on the fly, the academic had to allot most of his attention to hastily weaving through foreign high-rises and avoiding a steady stream of electrical towers. The droids, lacking this weakness, were quick to close the gap, their speed unfettered for obstacles their programming had removed in advance. One of the closer probes, much the Sa’ato’s continued agitation, drew near to the Mudhorn’s starboard hull, and attached itself with an unceremonious thunk. The professor winced and spat another curse in an alien tongue as his ship's interior shuddered, with golden sparks sputtering out of one of the hud consoles in turn.

If the retired teacher didn’t do something fast, the mechanical saboteur might end up snagging a power line feeding the weapons: or worse, the engines. It would not be so simple to dispatch his uninvited passenger however. He couldn’t blast it off, and if Sa’ato attempted to catch the droid on some loading crane or other apparatus, it might simply disembark and stick to the patrol craft after the danger had passed. No, if there was any hope of ridding himself of the pest, the wandering scholar would have to crush it completely. But how to go about it? The Force, entropy, or perhaps a mix of both provided the answer.

Some hundred meters ahead, Sa’ato caught sight of a storage silo, probably meant for kelp and other edible algae that grew in the planet’s shallows. Unlike many of the other buildings however, the outer wall of the storage complex was composed of raw duracrete, rather than alloy. The trick would be timing a sharp turn just parallel enough to catch the droid without dooming the Neti’s vessel in the process. And, as with his daredevil landing, the professor called on the Force to enhance his instincts, his eyes all but closing while he allowed his emotions to guide his sinuous fingers along the Mudhorn’s controls.

The professor diverted power from one engine to the other on feeling alone, his senses barely registering the lurch of the chassis as he reversed thrust and brought the Pursuer careening alongside the unforgiving silo. Aided by the power of the Force, the plan went off without a hitch. The reeling droid could only offer a warbled bleep in surprise before the g-forces of the patrol craft flattened it seamlessly against the unforgiving mix of stone and artificial sediment. What remained on the Mudhorn was little more than a metallic smear of oil and circuitry, like a bug crudely splattered across the viewport of a speeder.

That was one down, but eleven of the fierce automatons still remained. Sa’ato would remain trapped in the air for the time being, though that did not mean he could focus all his attention on his dogged foes. “Mudhorn to Crimson Command-”, the Neti hoarsely called over the comms, doing his utmost to hide his duress, “Ground forces have been deployed- awaiting new orders-”. Though the professor was not one to seek glory, he could not allow this predicament with the probes to lessen his status in the eyes of his masters, lest they cut him off from the archives as punishment. So he would wait for his next assignment: wait, and hope it led him closer to his allies.

[Zechs Merquise]

A few days before it turned into a bad day to be in Ahto City…

Feeling queazy as if weather (Yes. Weather.) had gotten to him, Zechs leaned on the cold metallic table and found himself entrance by the glowing bottles. His coat draped over the chair behind him with his emergency use only sword. The room was cramped for his tastes with too much chatter from the holonet for him to hear much clearly and without turning his head sideways to get it out of the way of his ears. “So… you eat it?” What Zechs could only describe as a luminous goo dripped from his spoon.

The Selkath pulled back almost appearing insulted. Gills flustered. “It is the newest craze this side of Naboo. Specially processed. Guaranteed to clear you out daily. Only takes a dash in your preferred meal. It is the bargain of the eon.”

“Are they sure it’s safe for… inhaling much less consumption?”

It raised its version of a hand and covered its version of a chest in some attempt to replicate human vanity. A faint hint of musk wafting forth to insult his nostrils. The bitterness from the sea hiding beneath. “On the honor of the ancestors!”

“Ancestors?” Zechs leaned back from the table. His legs became restless as they soon had found themselves steady under him. The unease of the transition from space to floating land over. His curiosity engaged once more as if an armada had just entered his orbit and declared total war on his senses and sensibilities.

The Selkath jiggled. “Oh, yes. We’ve used since early days. Darkness comes but as the crop endures so do we. As it thrives, so do we. Would not sell if was gooey death stick.”

“Ancestors be praised for that.”

“Always.” The Selkath nudged a fresh bottle of the kolto goo closer to him and pointed to the slashed price frames by the glow. “Do we have deal?”

Zechs pushed away from the table and grabbed his coat and sword. “Ancestors or not, I think it prudent to wait for a peer reviewed paper and other less personal test subjects.” The Kolto Cleanse Diet was not for him. Not yet.

The Selkath shrugged and slipped the bottle back into line with the others. “Lock in price today for a year. Next week, expected to double.”

“So be it.”

Zechs rose and left the eccentric shop tucked behind a spa. Ahto City was a bustling fluid mess in his space loving eyes. The gentle spires and smooth aesthetic was something far more easy on the eyes than the sharp contrast of Etti IV, but the flow might as well have been ever shifting for as alien and illogical it was to him it might as well have been the sea. The smell too. The humidity. Had he mentioned the smell? Both were borderline oppressive to someone who tried to touch down as little as possible.

The base. That’s what he needed to get back to, relax, and later on with his duty of his not that formal review of the local defenses and forces. Until then and for a little after, he could see the sights he could stomach without honor guards and avoid the associated extra foot traffic. So he set off on foot through the colorful alien crowds, bustling shops, and smells to the safe confines of Alliance jurisdiction and cool filtered air unburdened by rampant moisture. A quick nap sounded great.

It got him thinking about home. His current home not too removed from the daily chaos of the Alliance. The ranch. And his jedi neighbor that he admired most, who had recently quacked off, and now was a host. A host of what he didn’t know. It just rhymed. But the jedi was a good person. Good with ducks, aliens, and peoples. It didn’t matter how many times he stumbled or how many battles went sideways, he persisted. A good man was hard to keep down. No matter how dark the moment, he always seemed to find a way forward. A good man who tried. What more could be asked of fallible beings?

Zechs admired good men willing to put down the blade and only pick it up for the right reasons. With such good men, good would always triumph, because even without good’s opposition, evil lived in a hall of mirrors where every ally was a threat in wait. But evil had an opposition. And they were many. Only some could be called good men. Only a few called themselves Jedi, but they were enough.

***
After it turned into a bad day to be in Ahto City… And far from it onboard the MC90 Mon Remonda.

A surprise attack. Scattered defenders. Startled masses succumbing to chaos. Ugliness falling from the sky. Disorder disrupted by military order. It was easy to imagine, because he knew them. He was them.

As soon as the first siren blazed, Zechs knew exactly what would happen. The good people of the Alliance military would burst into action bolstered by routine, drills, and the unshakable urge to help. To do good. The innocent would be ushered as best they could towards safety despite what it’d cost their protectors. The good people of the Alliance stepping up for their neighbors. The people always came first. There’d be others to raid the armory, mount the defenses, and do the whole defend Ahto City thing.

Zechs. Zechs rushed through getting dressed on the Alliance warship heading their way. He then took the short run from his temporary quarters to the hanger and outfitted himself for ground combat. Armor. A blaster. His sword. Gadgets. Medical droid checking supplies. Other droids in a mix on standby and prepping the shuttle for a contested descent and unrelated company. It wasn’t his ideal scenario versus magical beings of the dark arts, but a shuttle wasn’t what he was going to dash into the skies to combat… Not that mystical laser swords could do much against a laser cannon. A nice barrage tended to clear out an area.

Still, too much sithness awaited them. By the time they arrived, hopefully they’d have a better overview of the situation. Details were currently sparse. Sparser the ones that had reached him. Vague word of an attack by troublesome youths in dark robes and archaic warships. The former was trouble enough. The latter was simply rude. So soon he’d head to command deck, as an observer mostly as this was not his command, and hope whoever was in actual command of the force had a better plan than “not get people killed.”

Until then, the local defenders would do what they could. They might not have had the largest force or the most advanced tech at their disposal, but they made up for it in more important ways. He had been in Ahto City only days before for his usual mix of duties. Inspections. A general fact finding mission about the local populace, militia, and Alliance folk to get a feel for the situation. And, to the shock of those who knew him best, a speech or two. Sometimes too many. Sometimes on a personal level like a fresh recruit who had yet to decide his path that reminded him of that Jedi neighbor of his. Or the cranky officer who had long abandoned dreams of glory for the mundane rituals of the workweek and the relief of the weekend.

What they lacked in some areas they made up for it in heart. Others were too easily content with the amount of space between them and the Empire. Others too easily separated themselves from the locals they were sworn to serve and protect. Not the defenders of Ahto City. Not the local militia. History was alive all around them. Scars of violence etched into the depths. Hope in the very air. History. The future. It was up to them.

They were good men (and women and others). They’d hold out till help arrives in. The full might of the Galactic Alliance was answering their call. A noble fleet dressed for battle with teeth bared. A fleet riding in on a vortex as colorful and dynamic as the life it rushed to protect. A force unrivaled in spirit by their noble cause.

As Zechs walked down the ramp of his shuttle, he paused. His hand rested on the hilt of his sword. The weaving vortex of hyperspace danced across the hanger’s energy barrier, casting an eerie glow onto all within. It had started off as a bad day for the Alliance. It had to end a worse one for the Sith.

It had to.