Log:Jedi: Phylos Ambush
The Jedi set up an ambush to free villagers from Sith captivity on Phylos.
OOC Date: April 10, 2023
Location: Phylos
Participants: Rey, Poe Dameron, Juria, Qutha Buvu Pah, Lira'una, Narsai Ordo, Yuun, Zev
Phylos is a lush and vibrant planet located in the same star system as Ophos, where the Jedi had previously rescued six Force sensitive captives. It is a world of diverse and stunning landscapes, with vast stretches of habitable regions that include grasslands, mountains, forests, and deserts.
Despite its natural beauty and abundance, Phylos has a very low population, with only scattered tribes of settlers who have made this planet their home. These settlers migrated to Phylos long ago to escape the corruption and strife of the Core Worlds, seeking a simpler and more peaceful way of life.
As a result, the inhabitants of Phylos have developed a unique culture that is deeply connected to the land and the natural world. They live off the land, tending to crops and raising livestock, and have limited technology compared to other planets in the galaxy. Instead, they rely on their ingenuity and resourcefulness to survive and thrive.
The people of Phylos are friendly and hospitable to outsiders, but they are also fiercely protective of their way of life and their planet. Visitors are welcome, but they must respect the customs and traditions of the settlers, and tread lightly on the delicate balance of the planet's ecosystems.
A world of relative peace and harmony, it's recently become targeted by the Sith, for slavery and resources.
The Jedi group had traveled to the planet of Phylos to return prisoners rescued from a Sith holding facility. While there, they'd participated in the local village's customs. Enjoying a great hunt, a grand feast, and the hospitality of the locals. The Chief of the tribe had asked the Jedi to help him, help him defeat the Sith who were harassing his people. For 3 days the Jedi observed the Sith mining outpost, and found them finally sending out a detachment of troops to a unknown location. They followed them here, to this remote forest village...
A Sith Empire detachment of troopers holds a group of helpless villagers hostage. The atmosphere is tense as the Sith troopers surround the hostages with four AT-ST walkers, ready to fire at any moment. The villagers are afraid and uncertain of what their fate might be. A single AT-AT stands menacingly on the main dirt road out of the village, making any attempt at escape nearly impossible. The troopers are ruthless, and the hostages are aware that their lives hang in the balance. The Sith Empire detachment is there to extract information from the villagers and are willing to use any means necessary to achieve their goals.
Rey had sent out the distress call to the others on the planet, telling them where they were located, and the basics of what to expect upon their arrival. Her small speeder is resting behind a tree, covered in natural camoflauge. She holds her saber hilt in her left hand, her metal hand, and her eyes are peering around the tree toward the troopers in Red and Black down within the village. She watches as they start to move a large group of civilians toward the AT-AT loading lift... Their comms echo around the forest, the sounds of the villagers asking questions that get no answers can be heard, along with the ambient sounds of the forest all around...
They're running out of time...
The Ghost is a remarkable recon craft, outfitted perfectly to remain unseen save for the naked eye. It's that very same ship which makes a low approach, rushing over the sea of tree tops and breaking the supersonic barrier. His voice crackles in over the encrypted Jedi comms. <<"Blue, this is Black Leader. I heard your call, and I brought some friends. Stand by, it's gonna get loud.">>
Poe Dameron is rooted in the control cabin of the Ghost, a massive Wookiee beside him trying to keep up. When Chewie growls and points at a screen, Poe ignores it initially, "Yeah, yeah.. what?" The two share a look, the Wookiee obviously annoyed. "Walkers.. well this changes some things."
Inside the Ghost where those who have come with him to answer the call wait, the intercom crackles and Poe's voice follow. "Soooo uh, they have walkers. We're gonna try to draw their fire in the ensuing chaos. You'll have to drop out, and see to the hostages on the ground. It will take some time to contend with all the armor in the area, but it's okay. Chewie doesn't miss often.." The Wookiee yells in the background. "I SAID.. OFTEN, take it easy, pal.-- Anyway, thirty seconds out. Get ready for a hot drop."
Seated in the copilot seat of the Ghost, a remarkable recon craft(!), is Juria Nexum. Her hood be down, her hair be out, and it be up in a neat little ponytail. She looks like she belongs on a ship like this, rather than in a Jedi onclave, what with her second-skin bodysuit and flight vest. Oh and her big grin as she watches Poe -Frekin- Dameron fly! Seriously, this is like Life Day! Only instead of lame wooden toys, she's getting to watch one of the best pilots in the galaxy do Piloting stuff.
"So do you ever just... like wing it? Ya know, no plan.. flying by the seat of your pants.. hope for the best? Or is it always well planned and orechestrated?" She peers down, leaning forward in her seat to look out the foreward viewport.
"Oh hey, there they are up ahead-" Pointing at the village. "-Huh. They still use AT-STs.. I watched a whole documentary on the GSWs war machines on Holonet discovery.. Did you know the bipedal version was created specifically for urban activities and it is considered the most tactically inappropriate use in modern military history that they fielded them in a forest?"
She shakes her head. "Hey! You think you can do like... a really close fly over and I'll jump out? I reaaally want to pilot one of those." Pushing up, she's head for the loading ramp. "Of course you can, I trust you."
"Oh bother..."
The droid that accompanied him had grown accustomed to when it was being addressed by now and Oh-Bee just shook their head while looking up at Qutha's murmuring. The main ramp was already lowering and the orchardist was sizing up the big walker being used to ferry the captives.
"Dear oh dear." The zelosian's expression is grim and the carved wooden hilt of his saber is held loosely in his right hand, "R'member, Lira... Fear nothin', for all's as Th'Force wills it." not looking away from the walker or the troopers, his left hand gripping a support, mouth flattening out.
"Dependin' on how high we's droppin' from... Y'may need t'hold on, miss." blowing out a breath and then taking in a much more measured one.
Heights and high flying acrobatic fun! Or, it would have been, if there had been a net. Or literally /any/ way to break her fall from a height like this. As it was, Lira'una, the lavender-skinned Twi'lek of only eighteen, stood in the hold of the Ghost within arm's reach of Qutha. Her robes whipped around her legs as the ships maw parted, the interior suddenly exposed to the little gusts and vortexes from the outside world.
Lavender fingers curled around an anchor point on the bulkhead, Lira stared down at the ground below. It was absolutely vertigo inspiring from this height, but the Padawan's bright blue eyes were alight excitement rather than fear. What was happening to those people below was /horrible/ , but for a thrill-seeking circus girl that rarely made it higher than a trapeze, /this/ was pod racing.
"I'll be okay, Qutha." She raised her voice over the wind, looking at the green-hued man beside her and unable to hide the thrill she was riding. "I've got this! Just grab me if you think we're too high." She grinned. "It's fine. I promise. I'm used to it." She was a circus aerialist, after all. Or, at least, she used to be.
And then she pushed her robe back to pull -- not her stunsaber, but rather a lengthy stun baton off of her belt, holding it in her free hand.
A mission like this, a rescue, wasn't exactly unknown to her. That didn't, however, make it any less tense!
Having recieved the call and arrived on scene, the woman in the 'not-quite-Jedi' robes moved up behind Rey, her own hands empty for the moment as she frowns.
What a way to spend a birthday!
"What do you think? If we can get to that walker quick enough, I can disable it. But those troopers will still need to be dealt with."
Yuun to say the least had a rocky flying life, but towards the end he's gotten better so as he sits back with the others, Yuun watches from his seat how Poe and Chewie work as a team.
Yuun head the distress call and he always come to those calls. He looks towards the others back here with him, he looks to Lira as she speaks, he then looks to the others, "Trust in the Force and trust in one another." he says loud enough to be heard. He looks down, he's not done too many hot drops or well actually he has, they weren't his favorite but with helping the Resistance and New Republic you don't really get used to them.
Zev was aboard the Ghost, riding along quietly as he listens to the briefing, thinking about how he can help. "I can try to get to the troopers." Zev offers to Narsai after she suggests that she can disable the walker. The Lepi had been lurking towards the back, pondering the objective they had been given, "I mean I'm not going to be much use against the walker but I can help with the soldiers. We've got this." Speed is key with this. He has to be ready to move as soon as the group goes.
The Ghost arrives in dramatic fashion, catching the Sith regiment off-guard. They are not used to ships being active on this quiet world, beyond their own. When the Ghost sweeps in over-head, the Trooper commanders start barking out orders. The AT-walkers start to come to life, their mechanical limbs revving up as they all frantically try to move in to position to aim up high enough to blast at the freighter in the sky!
Meanwhile the villagers begin to scramble, some of them taking the opportunity to run for cover, while others bum-rush the Troopers to try and get them by surprise! Any opportunity to keep them from being taken hostage by the Sith...
"Well, that certainly is one approach." Rey says as she glances to Narsai. "So much for capturing the walkers quietly... Come on."
Rey leaves her speederbike behind now, raising her comm unit up. "Ben. Galen. The Ghost is here. We're making our strike now. Let us know how your team fairs when you have updates." She says as she stays low and starts to run through the foliage, keeping her head down.
The Red Armored Sith Troopers are now aiming upward at the Ghost and opening fire with their blaster rifles, buying time for their heavier gunned ground vehicles to get in to position to fire up at the Ghost too!
Riding with Poe Dameron was akin to embracing chaos. For a man who rants and raves about having a plan, he often shoots from the hip and hopes for the best. Rather than admitting this to Juria, though, he comments, "No plan survives contact with the enemy, kid." Kid is said endearingly, because he calls everyone kid. Even his wife; she loves it. (Not really).
"JESS.. NEED YOU ON THE GUN!" Poe screams down the corridor, all the while listening to Juria's nomenclature of the walkers and their specific deployment requirements. "Seems like they never read the manual then, huh!-- Hang on, this is gonna get bumpy..." Poe's flying low, so low the proximity alert begins to beep and it grows louder. The loud noise is not something the older Wookiee intends to tolerate and he starts screaming about, Poe answers, "BECAUSE IF I FLY ANY HIGHER THEY'LL SEE US!" Two legendary pilots butting heads, this was how the Gods intended it.
Jess is heard running along the metal gangplank, then taking the ladder down. She only offers, "ON IT!" Then disappears to one of the gunnery stations. Two double-heavy cannons come online, spooling up and drawing energy as they angle down for a targeting vector. "Chewie, you ready?"
Poe gets a short answer back, and then Poe runs his hands along a row of switches, initiating all the inertia dampeners at once. When his hand sets upon the top of the throttle switch that transitions the ship from ramrocket jets to repulsors. This is supposed to happen at gradual speeds, but Poe's sudden entry sees the ship transition from super-sonic to near sudden stop, and he uses the bulk of the large VCX-100 to create drag in the air. The effort to pull the lever alone required Poe to growl and scream, and everything in the cockpit not secured in a drawer (such as Chewies' snacks and drinks) goes airborne.
The Ghost is above the main AT-AT, with sight picture of the AT-STs. "JESS, TAKE THE BIG ONE!" Poe screams, having to stand up to slap the release for their ramp to lower. Jedi and allies dropping from the Ghost have a few spools of old rope to kick off the ramp, then they can fast rope to the ground or upon a set of armor. However they choose to do it, the window to disembark the Ghost is limited.
Jessika Pava, who has taken up residence in the ventral cannons, begins to fire on the AT-AT, smacking the side of its hunch-back like chassis with high-explosive yield double heavy cannon fire. The sound it makes in atmosphere is akin to crackling thunder each time it discharges, and green laser lances light up the skies above as it pelts and eviscerates the side of the armor. Sparks and flashes of fire erupt as a result, and search lights from the Ghost activate to add to the chaos.
Poe makes it back to his seat and starts to laugh. "HEY CHEWIE...check this out..." Poe reaches for the tractor beam emitter and cycles a target into the scope. It's one of the chicken walkers. They both start to laugh as Poe flips the switch to claim the craft. "Hey little guy... we need to borrow you a second..." Poe's gesture to Chewie is to 'go up', so the Wookiee increases the ventral repulsor output and they both start laughing.
"EEeeeeeeEEe..." Juria is squeeling as she pops out of the co-pilots seat and heads towards the back of the ship, "He called me kid!" Said to nobody at all as she flips her hood up on the way towards the boarding ramp that has a very short period where they'll get a deployment in a, relatively, safe drop. I mean there's AT-STs and soldiers and one big ol horse shaped military craft over there that definitely doesn't belong in a forest, but what does she know right? She's hardly a military expert after watching some holovids.
It is because of this over exuberance and generally lacking level of tactical wherewithal that Juria runs towards the end of the ramp, grabs hold of the dangling drop rope, twists around in mid-air, and slides down it towards the top of one of the AT-STs. She hits the top a little too hard, knees bending a little too much, and straightens a little too fast.
Then the danged thing starts moving! Her arms wave in air trying to keep her balance, tumbles back onto her back, and slides off the side, but manages to grab hold of the little twisty knobby thingy on the top like it's a bipedal submarine. <<"I'm fine! My plan did not survive contact with the enemy!">>
Tiny Corellian feet sway side to side right in the little view-port before the pilots inside. One hand comes off to wave at them, pointing at the window, then up, "I'M COMING INSIDE WE'LL TALK IN A SECOND..." Then at her ears, "I CAN'T HEAR YOU IT'S TOO LOUD OUT HERE, BE RIGHT IN!"
The barest of inclinations of his head and he is letting himself sink even deeper than normal into the eddies and swirls of the energies surrounding. Grip tightening on the support when the ship angles around. Lips moving silently for a full breath before, "I'm one wit' th'Force... N'the Force is wit' me..." repeating the mantra in an almost sleepy daze.
Letting go of the support and simply walking down the ramp, left hand motioning to Lira and reaching out with the Force to quite simply lift her from her feet and bring her with. Arms held out as they fall, passage to the ground heart stoppingly rapid and quite likely not the intended plan.
Forced to absorb the shock of landing by falling to a three point kneel, lightsaber igniting with a whispering hum and he is striding towards the troopers, trusting Juria and Poe to handle the walkers. "Keep close, Padawan." said to Lira before he addresses the troopers,
"Throw down arms, git gone, we needn' git in a scrap here." Qutha's pace shifting as his stance does, holding his saber high, wrist bent to point its tip towards the troops.
Blue eyes watch Qutha, Lira's lekku writhing against her back. What was he saying? She'd have to make a point of asking him about that lat--
That's when the Ghost /lurches/ to a stop, Lira'una's booted feet come completely off of the floor, threatening to send her sideways -- not /out/ the gaping boarding ramp, but /inwards/ in the general direction of the cockpit. Fortunately, she'd been holding on to that bulkhead anchor point, and righting herself is just a matter of inertia going back to null again.
"Woo!" she squeals, grinning. "Somebody can drive!" Had she not Poe? Did she not know who Poe was? Maybe she just didn't know Poe was flying? Who knows! Whatever the case, Qutha is beckoning her forward and--
And a raving mad lunatic RACES past her. It takes the Twi'lek a moment for her to realize it was, in fact, Juria. Also, her initial assessment had been correct. Well, if you can't beat them, join them!
Lira takes a few quick steps to her new Master before she's /floating/ , which is an /entirely/ new feeling. And then she's /falling/ , which is not a new feeling at all. At least it wasn't a /complete/ free fall. She hadn't taken her eyes off of the ground that was racing up towards them, and when she landed, she tucked and rolled like.. you might have guessed.. a professional acrobat.
It takes the girl only a moment of scanning her surroundings to assess that she was /not/ in a good place by herself, and so it's to Qutha's side that she lunges, getting back to her feet easily and popping that stun baton she was holding to life, extending it to its fullest reach. She might not have had a saber to swing, but she was still staring them down. All five feet of her.
Into the frey suddenly leaps Narsai, the woman wearing the red tunic and black outer robe looked a far cry from a Mandalorian at the moment (which might be the point rather than inviting the Sith to look at their homeworld and clan a little too closely), but she'd lost none of that Mando'ade affinity for violence as she landed with a heavy slash that cut down one of the men bringing his weapon up on a villager.
The next trooper turns, his aim shifting from helpless hostage to the new threat only to find his vision pitched skywards and inverted as his head is removed from his shoulders.
The last trooper? He's smart enough to simply dive out of the way of the singing purple plasma rather than attempt a shot at the new violent intervention. After all, Narsai was born a Mandalorian, no matter what she might be dressed up as now!
Yuun feels the shift of the Ghost as it streaks to get them into a decent place to jump. Hot drops are dangerous and tricky. The Jedi Knight watches each person and once he comes towards the ramp, Yuun sees where he wants to go spotting an AT-ST, he too drops.
Bringing his arms close and crosses his arms over his chest, he drops and free falls and after a moment.
After a moment he spreads his arms and legs and guides himself towards one of the closer AT-STs and he tucks and flips down landing on the center of the Chicken Walker, sliding a little but not going over it. His lightsaber is in his hand, he begins to undo the latch on the top of the AT-ST quickly so that he can drop in and take out the crew.
The Lepi looks down from the ship, the last one at the ramp, before he jumps out of the ship, letting the ground come up at him. He realizes, however, he's off target, and he's starting to rotate. He starts trying to spin himself around, only to realize that he he's falling too fast.
He reaches out with his hand towards the rope, trying to grab hold of it, it's just out of his range, as he stretches out his fingers. Finally, he uses the force just enough to pull the rope towards him and grabs hold of it, wrapping his legs around it and letting himself slide down the rest of it to the ground proper, letting the rope go and then turning around to pull his stunsaber from his robes.
With the Jedi pouring out of the belly of the Ghost, the Sith Troopers on the ground are quick to aim their blasters and fire off shots! The forest comes alive with the sounds of heated combat now, and Narsai gets a surprise sweep upon one of the red armored soldiers taking out their frustration on a binded villager!
Screams come from the majority of the village people though, who scatter for their thatched roofed homes. A child is crying in the center of the madness, clutching a small stuffed animal close to his chest as he watches the chaos, the location of his parents unknown.
"Get them in the transport!" One of the Stormtrooper commanders says to the bound-up villagers who were already loaded on to the AT-AT lift!
Inside the AT-AT the commander at the controls of the vehicle speaks in to his comms. "Base. We have a Rebel ship come to arms against us. Please send air support on the double."
"Copy that, Scout Group Seven. TIE Fighters are launching now..."
Back outside, the chaos continues, with whats left of the AT-STs trying to get in to position to fire on the Ghost, while the AT-AT walker is loaded up with villagers, and the lift is sent upward, its hydraulic motors raising the platform up toward the massive vehicle's underbelly!
The troopers at the foot of the AT-AT turn to take cover behind its massive legs, as they start firing at the Jedi!
From behind the bushes, Rey leaps up, her blaster drawn, she takes shots at the AT-AT covered Troopers!
The Ghost is in a precarious spot, and sensors begin to alert the two pilots (Chewie and Poe) that something is amiss. Chewie is the first to begin yelling about it, and Poe, still toying with the AT-ST they lifted off the ground with the tractor beam, loses his amusement and releases the walker to hit the ground below and explode (at a safe distance).
<<"THAT DIDN'T TAKE LONG.. Blue, we got company.. ALOT of company. Be back soon!">>
The Ghost is in the process of gaining altitude when the scream of TIEs pass overhead. Since the Ghost was not on their sensors, they had to do a flyby to determine what to shoot at. Jess helps them with that when she opens up with the cannons, firing into the air and missing. The sky is decorated with the green contrails of the cannon shots.
The Ghost, forced into a hasty exit, is led through the transition of VTOL repulsors to ramrocket engines, and the ship nearly falls out of the sky because of it. Trees break, cracking as they cradle the ship, but Poe is quick to shove the thruster lever back, gathering as much power to the engines as possible. The crew aboard the Ghost can hear the roar from the engine room, it's clearly protesting.
"I KNOW.. I KNOW!" Poe says over the screaming Chewie, who claims the engines weren't ready yet. "We don't have time.. get the shields up!"
With significant struggle, the two smugglers get the Ghost back into the air and manage to trigger the shields into play. Four TIEs trail the recon freighter, and Poe stays low to scramble their sensors.
Oh, the whole clearing is lit up with blaster fire aimed at Jedi tumbling out of the Ghost and amongst them is one Juria Nexum! Who sways and bobs on the side of an AT-ST! It would have been a great deal easier to dodge them if she'd just landed on the ground. She did not do that though, she wanted to be a Corellian jumping on the covered AT-ST wagon instead. So when they aim skyward, she's not, but a swaying target on the view port of one.
Like Maverick, the old Corellian holovid program staring Gib Melson.
Gotta know when to hold'em... know when to fo- PRKOH!
A blaster-bolt hits her right betwixt the shoulder blades. Damn near going straight through her back, definitely ruining that dope flight vest, and absolutely dislodging her grip on the side of the bipedal, poorly fielded, AT-ST.
She doesn't even scamper to regain her grip. Her hand just loses sensation and slides, because Juria is fighting to stay conscious. She has, never in her life, felt something that hurt that bad. Save, perhaps, hitting the ground. That, turns out, hurts pretty dang bad too. She doesn't bounce... people don't bounce. She hits the ground with a hard THUD.. and curls up, putting her left hand up over the side of her face to protect it, since the right one is just hanging there against her side at a super weird angle that she inwardly does not appreciate at all...
Protect your face. That's what they say in all the Holovids she watches. Protect your face and your head. Because AT-STs can step on tiny little Corellian Jedi Counsilors who thought they could do cool stunts. She should have watched the making and saw that was all Stunt men, though.
"I'm one wit' Th'Force n'The Force is wit' me..."
His walk is steady and his expression peaceful and emerald coloured eyes half-lidded. Approaching the troopers that Narsai cleaves through like a scythe. Saber snapping to his side in a swivel of his wrist, feet twisting him in a half-circle that sees a momentary flinch cross Qutha's features.
"Do not fear, Lira. Remember, yer one wit' Th'Force n'The Force is wit' ye..." doing his best to project his voice to her, reaching out through the force for its guidance. Calm descends on him and his steps are guided by unseen powers, head turning to a trooper nearing, blaster raised and a look that is something like sadness washes across his expression.
A twist on the ball of one foot carries Qutha around, saber wheeling and removing a hand and half of a trooper's forearm with it and he is continuing forward, "I'm one wit' Th'Force n'The Force is wit' me..." free hand pushing the already falling soldier out of his way and a quick thrust of his blade is dodged by the next, taking stutter steps back. A crossing sweep in following takes them at the shoulder, limb dropping away and the injured Sith soldier drops, clutching the stump.
Blaster bolts were flying everywhere, and to Lira, this was suddenly starting to feel very much like the /middle of everything/ . Not only that.. /actual/ battles were /loud/ ! Way louder than they are on holovids!
Lavender lekku twitched nervously against her back, curling like snakes seeking shelter into the hood that had been tossed back to give her better visibility. She wasn't used to doing all this from inside a cavern, yet. Actually, she wasn't used to doing /any/ of this at all.
Qutha's command for a bunch of Stormtroopers to lay down their weapons -- backed up with what appeared, to Lira, to be more than enough artillery to stop anything other than a small army -- was met with what the entirely untrained Padawan could have guessed. More blaster fire. And she couldn't even see the future.
"Does that /ever/ work?!" The young acrobat's voice was raised in an incredulous shout as she stuck right by his side, their inexorable march forward carrying them even deeper into the thick of it.
Don't fear. Don't fear. Don't fear. Don't--"AAIIGGH!"
It was not a bee sting. It was something closer to a red-hot cast iron skillet being slammed into her side. It was momentarily blinding, and even with her robe taking the initial impact, the force of it momentarily takes her to a knee. /Sithspit/ ! Fark! All the OTHER WORDS!
"I... ugh!!" Lira clenches her teeth, forcing herself forward with Qutha because, let's face it, getting left behind was /not/ an option. Even as her Master's blade start's carving through Stormtroopers, the younger Twi'lek fights through the pain and spins the length of her baton, swinging it down at an armored trooper and... not being /nearly/ as effective as severing a limb, but she'd at least made solid contact with her first swing, the second whiffing past.
Oh no you don't!
Narsai spots the lift going upwards, leaping towards the prisoners being spirited away and their captors. Beskar-forged hilt of her saber gripped defensively, she prepares to visit a little intervention on the crew attempting the abductions.
Not a fan of tyrants, Ms. Ordo was.
Checking the hatch, Yuun kneels down upon the top of the AT-ST and and as he tries to open it, he feels that it's locked, which, ok hoping that it wasn't was going through his mind. He sighs and he moves to the edge balancing and being careful, he looks at the legs and holds out his right hand focusing on the force. Immersing himself in the Force, feeling it flow through him, warming him.
He slowly pulls his hand out to his side and he feel the resistance of the joint but still he continues to pull. Straining and he hears something pop, then ping and pong and he quickly feels the AT-ST wobble and not wanting to be up here any more, he jumps off in the opposite direction of the AT-ST.
It would seem that the troopers have little intention of surrendering, so Zev rushes in with his stunsaber. He finds himself near one of the closest stormtroopers, and wheels around with a slash to the chest of the trooper, sending the jolt through him and dropping him to a knee. A blaster bolt singes through the sleeve of his robes and catches his fur, and he yelps in surprise, finishing swipe going wide as he jumps back.
In the distance the sound of TIE Fighter engines can be heard. Screaming through the air, the Sith Imperial TIEs grow larger in the distance. Crimson hued, the hexagonal wings turn as the Ghost takes to the skies! Green energy lances pepper the air, hissing, sizzling toward the freighter as they go in to hot pursuit!
Down on the ground, Narsai is up on the Lift with the attention of the three remaining troopers guarding it. They unload a barrage of shots her way, but the skillful Mandalorian Jedi avoids damage!
One of the troopers is blasted square in the dome by Rey's pistol, sending a shower of sparks in all directions, dropping the trooper to the ground, as Rey runs from the bushes toward the walker's feet, a blaster bolt sizzling past her in her wake!
A frantic mother arrives to gather her child up off the ground, and a Trooper Sergeant clutches her from behind. He pulls her around to use her, and the kid, as Human shields, with his own pistol coming up he fires toward Qutha and Lira!
The remaining AT-ST walkers start clomping around on the ground, turning to guard the AT-AT as it raises its lift up in to its belly, still carrying a good 10 of the villagers inside it, along with Narsai herself!
The madness continues. The Sith Troopers are all taking up a flanking position on the AT-AT walker as it starts to turn, the entire earth shaking as its heavy feet pull its body around, to turn it back in the oppposite direction upon the forest pathway floor!
The Ghost's engines can be heard from the ground as the craft moves low along the tree lines, TIEs chasing it and firing at random intervals. Much to their chagrin, Poe and Chewie prove a far more cohesive team than they acted, and the old rebel craft moves evasively, sustaining only one cannon hit that's absorbed by the shields.
The hit is enough to rock the craft and occupants inside, and Jessika's voice is heard over comms. "I can't see a rekking thing down here, Poe. Bring us up so I can help!" Chewie gives Poe a look, and Poe just happens to see it. "Wha...WHAT?-- No, I'm not going higher just cause she asked! We're being SHOT AT!"
The Ghost comes into sensor range, gaining altitude quick. That's when he uses the drag to force the TIEs to fly by. Jessika's cannon rotates, the sound of the targeting computer in her gunnery chamber beeping like some old arcade game. "Got you!" She said, splitting a TIE in half with a salvo of heavy cannon fire.
Another TIE is destroyed when Poe 'eyeballs' a shot after locking his second pair of double heavies to the front. The blast is instant, shredding shields and combusting the pilot chamber, and he dips the Ghost beneath the slagged craft, shoving the afterburner lever forward which put he and Chewie back against their seats. "DID YOU SEE THAT?!" He asked Chewie, clearly amped by that shot.
They come about thanks to Chewie's influence over the stick, and begin another approach toward the Jedi and their walkers. "Jess, take care of the TIEs.. we're gonna help the others."
"I hear you, Poe." She calls back, her hand twisting one of the nobs on her targeting computer to make a minute adjustment.
The ground all around Juria is lit up with blaster fire, leaving long trenches in the dirt near her as she fishes her lightsaber, with the dangling beads hanging from the hilt, out of her flight vests inner sheath. With the weapon in hand, she rolls over her shoulder, swinging the unlit blade out and ignites it in a cross slash. Lighting it as it passes.
Her stands reverses, right arm hanging at her side, she brings it down in a cross slash. Both miss, but that's not what's important. She got off her Corellian behind and attacked. Through the pain and the obvious possibility of dying. Facing an enemy much larger than her.
The blaster fire was constant -- just like the pain from the blaster burn that Lira was still fighting through. Was this what war was? Was it always this /impossible/ to know what was going on?!
One noise, however, cuts through the rest. One noise reaches Lira'una's ears even through the blaster fire, the stomping, long-legged tanks, the whining engines from the TIE fighters... a child. A child screaming. A mother responding. There was nothing like it. She could still hear her own sisters's scream in her mind. Still hear her mother's frantic answer.
/Ten years/. It was ten years since that day, and Lira was back there again, wheeling on the duo just as the Stormtrooper Sergeant swoops in and wraps the mother up, using both of them as human shields.
"NO!!"
Lira didn't even know what she was doing. She'd had a handful of lessons. She'd barely scratched the surface of what the Force even was, much less how to /use/ it for anything practical. But that didn't matter. Out of pure instinct, her lavender hand stretched out of her robe towards the Sergeant and she /willed/ her thoughts into reality, manifesting them into an invisible hand that yanked the Sergeant's gun from his grip.
And for just a split second, even Lira was surprised. But only a split second.
"THERE!" She was screaming at Qutha, her hand still pointing at the trio, and tucking herself in against him, hoping he would rush them -- would work with her to help them.
"Once... Twice, maybe." admitting the desperate hope of his attempt to call surrender from the troopers. Grimace forming when she calls out in pain. "Not long now, Lira. Hold on." voice rising only enough to be heard, eyes moving to where Juria leaps up to go after one of the walkers, and then to the figure holding the mother and child hostage,
Lira's excitement taken for what it is, feeling her moving close, by her presence in the force rather than proximity. Nodding when their weapon goes winging from their fingers and his head lowering with a growing frown. One thrust, two - forced to watch the path of his saber to avoid striking mother and child. The troopers movements keeping him clear and a third time, backpedaling and dragging his hostages with him.
"Trying..." lips a hard line, Qutha brings his saber up to a defensive posture, eyes closing now. "I'm one wit Th'Force, n'The Force is wit' me... I'm one wit Th'Force, n'The Force is wit' me." he'd risen too close to the surface and needed to descend again. Almost too still, a sitting duck in the midst of the firefight.
A streak of red-hair, swirling robes and flashing violet violence amidst the prisoners of the Sith as they're pulled into the AT-AT by the lift.
Erupting from the bound figures her saber swings in a rising sweep, her form narrow to avoid catching civillians as she strikes her first target before spinning around with an overhead strike to hit the second.
That trooper? By skill or bravery surges forwards, discarding his weapon to seize the wrist of the Ordo woman and halt the blow. He was strong, trained but...Narsai wasn't one to fight in brute force.
The saber was simply dropped from that hand, caught with her other as she pivoted on the ball of her other foot and shifted her stance to throw the man across the ignited saber. Gravity and plasma made swift work as Narsai twist and brought her weapon up, now headed for the control section.
Yuun calm amongs the raging fight around them, having landed and rolled away from the AT-ST he was atop of. He quickly gets to his feet and having been shot at once and now twice, he was able to evade the shots. He looks around seeing that other AT-ST's clomping around and moving to guard the AT-AT, Yuun takes another calming breath, he trusts in the other Jedi though keeping his awareness open just in case someone needs help. He reaches out with his feelings within the Force to the rear most AT-ST. Feeling teh warmth of the Force flow through him and feeling the life of all the living things around him as he connects with the AT-ST. He's not ever done this before until today. Still his ally is the Force and a Strong ally it is. Having heard that from Master Yoda's holocron a lot. He pulls hard, straining as he feels the resistance of the AT-ST, as he closes his eyes he continues to concentrate as he continues to pull until he feels the AT-ST drop, not wehre he wanted but still it drops and he gasps.
The trooper that Zev had hit earlier was still down, and after getting stung by the first blast, Zev catches another one across the leg, wincing from the pain, he brings his saber back around across the back of the trooper's head, knocking him out with the strike, the stunsaber making a loud THUNK against Stromtrooper helmet before the energy discharges.
Zev takes a moment to look down at the unconscious trooper before quickly surveying the battlefield to see where he's needed. Still a few troopers, but there's also a lot of civilians who need aid too.
With the AT-AT fully turned around on the pathway now, it starts to slam its feet forward again, smashing them down in to the soft earth nearly in the same tracks it left upon its arrival hours earlier. Now it is heading back toward base, with the meager remains of its troopers left defending its feet... but does the AT-AT even care about them? It's goal is to get the prisoners back to base, and its so heavily armed and armored, surely nothing can stop it anyway!
On the ground, the Alpha AT-ST slams in to the foliage beside the pathway. Its cockpit is literally kicked aside by the corner of the AT-AT's forward left foot, causing it to roll back in to the tall grass and shrubs.
The AT-ST Beta lines up a blaster bolt barrage on Rey who's rushing through those same bushes, though she zigs at just the right time, moving rapidly, leaving a cloud of fiery debris flying up in all directions. She charges past the AT-ST, lowering her blaster after taking another few shots at the troopers on a strafing run!
The troopers all jump and jog backwards, firing their weapons at the Jedi as the Sith try to flee the village, leaving behind a wake of destruction in their path.
Villagers are peering out of their homes now, some of them rushing back out with clumps of primitive weapons to hand out to their people. Some move toward Zev, Qutha and Lira to check on them. The mother and child? They turn to rush toward one of the homes for cover, a grateful look given to the Jedi from the mother, though no words...
The stomping sound of the AT-AT echoes through the forest, along with the sound of those infamous TIE Fighter engines high in the sky above! The TIEs are in hot pursuit of the Ghost!
The Ghost is on its way back to the vicinity of the ground battle, TIEs trading punches back and forth, but not really landing a hit on the Ghost. Jess turns her turrets and fires a volley of cannon shots that shred another TIE, dropping them out of the sky, and while one flees the scene, Poe takes a shot to kill them and misses. "It's okay," Poe laments, "They know how close they came to dying."
Chewie just answers with a huff.
The Jedi on the ground will hear the Ghost returning, the vessel spinning in place to set down and open its ramp. If the time to bug out was now, Poe was there for them. Hardpoints along the exterior hull open and deploy flare launchers, sending off a series of flares in the airspace above to make a target lock impossible.
Poe's voice is over the encrypted net, <<"Time to go ladies and gents. They'll be back with more TIEs.">>
The sergeant gone, the troops fleeing and the walkers moving out, Qutha breathes, mouth turned down and one hand lifting to reach out for the AT-AT, fighting all the old instincts that argue that he cannot reach out and crush durasteel armor and superstructure. A sheen of moisture on his brow that does not quite look like sweat as the flora humanoid attempts, with no luck, to bend metal with his mind.
"Oh bother..."
Looking up when Poe's voice is on comms and turning his gaze on Lira, "Best git back..." turning abruptly to approach where the ghost is coming in, "Well done Lira, we'll gitcha fixed up proper, promise." Lightsaber closing down, the whispering humm of the blue blade shrinking down.
"Reckon we's gonna have a bit mor'va hunt. Tell you what." Tail yew whut
If Lira was being honest with herself, she could feel it. The anger. She'd felt it directed inwards plenty of times, getting mad at herself for not being perfect. But this was different. She watched Qutha swing at the Sergeant, trying to be careful of the mother and daughter in his grasp, and she /wanted/ her Master to hit him -- wanted to watch him hit the ground. Not just because she wanted to save the family. That was /definitely/ true.
But also because she wanted him to pay.
And as Lira's grip tightened on her baton, she knew she would be able to /make/ him pay. Pay for hurting these people. Pay for hurting that child. Pay for her sister. All of it.
But then he's running. Fleeing. Weaponless. She takes a half step towards him, desperate to chase after him, but she stops and looks after the mother and child, also starting to flee. They were more important. They needed to be safe...
The Twi'lek exchanges a look with the mother. Nothing more than a fleeting glance. But it was enough. They were safe. They would be okay.
Remembering Qutha and the rest of the battle was almost an afterthought, then, a breath blown past her lips. His lightsaber was off. When did that happen?
She runs back to the Ghost alongside him, quiet and steadying herself. She closed down her stun baton, hooking it back onto her belt as she ran, and then moved that hand to hold her side, still sticking close to Qutha. Just a little longer. Then rest.
The hiss of that door opening behind the pilots must be like something out of a nightmare. They were free, they had victory in the form of prisoners in their grasp and the ring of protection on the ground to cover their escape.
So when there sudden bathing of violet light filled the air behind them? It was a moment of utter panic.
Through the viewing port the first flash of a deflected bolt might actually be seen before Narsai extends a hand and sweeps upwards, ripping the pair of pilots from their seats and slamming them into the ceiling, the floor and then casting the pair aside.
A sigh of relief and the woman sweeps a gloved hand up, brushing a stray crimson lock out of her eyes and back behind her ear.
<<AT-AT secure,>> her voice will come out of the comlink as she moved to the controls. <<Civillians are ready to go home.>>
Yuun clips his lightsaber back onto his belt after deactivating the weapon, having not needed it due to the impressive work everyone has done. He looks up into the sky as he hears the sound of the Ghost is coming back. He does hear Narsai and he smiles, <<Alright bring'em home, we're loading up to head home.>> he says into the comms. He quickly turns and runs to the Ghost, "Coming." he calls out to Poe. He runs up the landing ramp to the Ghost.
The scene is chaotic, but the retreat is evident to Zev, as he takes a moment to look down at the trooper he had taken down with the stun saber. He quickly looks to any of the citizens still near where he had dropped the trooper, and motions for them to run and get somewhere safe, as he moves to do the same, planting his feet and making a massive jump back across, landing just behind Qutha and Lira, as they head for the Ghost, "I'm right behind you, don't worry!"
The AT-ST lines up for another shot on Rey within the shrubs. But before its cannons can prime, and blast at her. She reaches out with the Force, and just tosses the armored walker across the grassy field toward the trees, where it crashes in amongst the underbrush!
She turns then, and her saber ignites! She aims it at the last standing Sergeant, and his three remaining troopers.
"Surrender." Rey commands them, her golden glowing lightsaber pointed at the Sergeant. He hears the AT-AT come to a stop, he knows his pilots aboard it have been taken out, and he calls the surrender on his remaining troops...
Their guns are set down, they step back and out of the way.
The villagers above the AT-AT are lowered back down from the lift, and the AT-AT is left abandoned.
"Bind them. We'll leave them for their friends to find, Rey tells the villagers who all gladly move to bind up the last standing Sith Troopers.
There-after, the Jedi make their way toward where the Ghost is, and once safely aboard, Rey speaks to the others.
"We can't leave them undefended. We have to strike that base before they can retaliate for this... We have to make them leave this world, once and for all."
