Log:New Alderaan: Battle of Yvonne Forest

Aryn's brother tries to take the estate!

OOC Date: February 20, 2021
Location: New Alderaan
Participants: Ban Iskender, Bors Thul, Chani Tahn, Kirioth Kora, Aryn Cortess

The snowy forest of New Alderaan was normally a peaceful place when it wasn't filled with the sounds of battle and blaster fire; which is the case today. Well, tonight, rather. It's dark out, and the attack came at night. A mercenary company of soldiers moved to scale the walls along the Cole perimeter only to find the normally vacant lookouts present. What was supposed to be a quick infiltration turned into a full scale slugging match of blaster fire.

Kier commits to the attack, and a hole is blown through the wall and interior flooded with with close quarters combat. Aryn's father was on the wall when it went up, and with the uncertainty of the battle still in the air, a frantic call was sent to Aryn for help.

Help arrives in the form of a team of champions. A landing zone was marked by flares, large enough for their vessels. Aryn's vessel lands, the ramp coming down, and its pilot rushing out to a haunting view. The western lands, in particular the forest where the wall was obstructed by the tall trees, a fire rose up from the explosions and the sound of blaster fire can be heard and seen with bright flashes of blue and red.

Alderaan soldiers in blue cloaks have begun to set up barricades to protect the estate, and the Duchess, Marian Cortess has already been evacuated. All that remains is finding the Duke, Jace Cole.. and maybe Kier Cole, the culprit behind this mad attack.

<<"Comm check, can everyone hear me?">> Aryn asks, her voice neutral sounding and calm despite the view.

<<"My Princess, Thul stands with Cortess and Cole.">> Bors's voice rings over comms even as Black Seven's engines are cooling and he is moving at a dead run towards the battle - flying in armor rather than his flight suit, uncomfortable at best. Being out and drawing his rifle off his back felt delightfully freeing.

"Should get this thing modified." squinting harder at his monocle. A HUD would be nice. Certainly. Ah well.

<<"Systems stand ready, HUD reading - I am your arm!">> not that the lady needed him directly - more than capable of handling herself, but even in the face of darkness, in the face of the enemy. Propriety.

<<Yes, Highness. Deploying to the conflict, now,>> Ban Iskender replies, descending the ramp with glowing sword in hand. <<Lady Winter, if the ship's sensors are able to detect any source of enemy comminications that might denote a command position, I would be in your debt to report such.>> The request for a focused scan is made even as the young nobleman strides into the desperate skirmish.

<"I can hear you, Princess,"> Chani speaks aloud, but it's the mic pickup around her neck that translates it, attached as it is to the corded bead slipped over her ear and inside of it. One of the last craft to land, Chani is just now joining the barricades and the blue cloaked soldiers setting them up. She's dressed in the Princess' loaned armor: protective plates covering critical anatomical areas over a thicker jumpsuit paired with gloves and boots. She wears no helmet with the ensemble, but her dark hair is swept back and bundled up into a tail that's pinned against itself, leaving nothing hanging in the way. Her breath mists as humid heat from her lungs meets the frigid air outside, and Chani's gaze sweeps over the area.

The soles of her boots crunch in the snow. Her dusky skin is starting to suffuse a deeper red as heat rises to the cooling skin of her cheeks. In her right hand, she holds the cylindrical object that is her stunsaber. It is not yet activated, though her thumb hovers near the switch that will turn it on. It's chaos in the estate. Sterile light from the grounds mixes with the warm glow of fire licking at the night air, and long shadows are cast. Chani can't see her own. <"I'll join you."> She searches the field for the blue lightasber wielded by the blonde noble, intent on being drawn to it's pale luminescence in the dark.

Peaceful snowy forest? There is a draw to a certain person. That would be one Roth Kora. Who was currently blending in with the scenery. White armor did that. The blast had drawn her from her quiet reflecting a distance away and to here now. She notices that there are ships and others arriving. There's a green lightsaber that comes out from that group though and well...there is a moment of sword envy. As one is to have when they don't have those fancy things. Her helmets HUD kicks in as she starts to scan for what enemies might be immediate threats. She didn't mind shedding blood for an unknown reason. Right place and all of that.

When Lord Ban's lightsaber came to life, so too did Aryn's. Their distinct presence stands out in the night snowscape with a horizon of tall pine and orange firelight in the distance. "One and all, follow me to the outer wall and let us see this menace put down. Mother willing, my Father is still in one piece out there."

<<"This is Winter Celchu. I will be hacking into the comm network, now. If I manage to get through their encrypted channel, I will broadcast it. Winter, out.">>

The trek into the forest seemed to take forever. What with wading through the snow to close the distance, it was both tiring and chilly (for those who didn't have environmental capabilities with their armor.) The devastation they arrived to was a battle of utter chaos. Fire burned along the lengthy rooftops of the ramparts, and close quarters fighting consumed much of the clearing. Where there was a hole in the wall, mercenary soldiers poured in to add numbers to the blue cloaked Cole guardsmen who were in 1 of 2 places:

- A contingent held a fall back position with barricades and ample cover, taking pot shots when able, and drawing back wounded. - The rest fought in the opening of the forest itself, right in front of the wall's breach

Jace Cole is no where to be seen at the moment, but his men stick to his tactics. When the champions (That's US) arrive, Aryn wastes little time moving into the fray and chaos of bodies, avoiding the blue cloaked armored warriors for the more superior outfitted mercenaries they fought. "Push them back!" Yelled one soldier. Another echoed, "Hold the line! Do not let them by!"

In the immediate area, some twenty (20) mercenaries fight with Alderaanian soldiers, and are in range for (OUR) attacks.

Environmentally controlled armor. Check. The ability to slog through deep snow with the ease of a Talz on his morning jog? Unfortunately lacking. Bors still runs as best as he can as his externals engage,

<"Fie! Fie and away with thee miscreants! Haunt not these hills nor walls lest thou seek to meet the halls of Ancestors!"> Mother. Father. Please let them see the light. The afterthought before his blaster rifle opens up, singing a pair of bolts that churn snow and turn it to freezing vapor after flash boiling it.

Blinking into his AR system to give point suggestions for ground forces as he seeks to close to the enemy or cover, whichever he can get to first.

Ban Iskender's advance is brisk as the chill air, green blade raised to the enemy en masse in a brief salute, before his steps hasten to a sprint and the swordsman lays into the attacking troops. Deflecting a bolt fired off in haste as he closes, the dragoon thrusts through one armored foe, the energy blade cutting clear of the corpse even as it falls to the ground to menace another. That trooper backpedals out of range at first, but is struck down by Ban's lunging thrust sent in pursuit. The sword is recovered quickly a his balance shifts back onto a guard, anticipating counterattack.

Her face may be cold, but the rest of her body is warm in the thermal suit beneath the outer shell of her armor. Her cheeks will forget the sensation soon enough. Approaching the fray on the heels of a green and blue lightsaber, Chani's white beam seems all the more eerie when the near-silent snap-hiss fills the air and its own illuminatino is cast on already snowy ground. Red lances of death pierce through the night towards both sides. Chani is hit by none of them. The infilitrating mercenaries flood towards the grounds, allowing the small Naboo woman to intercept by simply moving in front of one of them. When the armored figure raises a blaster rifle in her direction, she's quick to almost quite literally bat it to the side, though the following riposte strikes nothing but air as the mercenary jerks backwards away from her.

Roth's not one to stay under the snow for a long time. Which is probably why there is the sound of a jet pack before a Mandalorian goes slicing and dicing towards the mercs that were storming the castle. She lands with a bit of a clank and looks between two of the mercs before missing one with a quick jab of her dagger, and a slice. The sword gets them though and gives them a bit of a wake up call. She braces herself for the retaliation though. Because that always came back to bite her.

Aryn cuts into the lines, impaling a man with one smooth action. Upon withdrawing her weapon, she swings elegantly but misses her intended target. She recovers by springing forward and impaling them, too. Orienting herself to stay close with the team that has entered this fray, Aryn extends her perception of the situation and moves with a bit more focus and precognition about her surroundings. When a pair go take to wrestling, she halts and watches them go down slugging, then side-steps to avoid a blaster bolt intended for her! A second later, Aryn ducks, another bolt pocking up the snow behind her!

The fight itself is still chaos, with a lot of screaming and blaster fire. Another distant explosion marks the destruction of another section of wall, and more Mercenaries begin to wade through the mess, rifles in hand. The 'fall back' position begins to reorient to fire on those newcomers from a distance.

Jace Cole's voice crackles over comms then. <<"Got a real problem here, men. Each time we thwart them, they make a new hole. Move back into the forest and make use of the trees. Pick them apart. I'll join you once we get ourselves unburied here..">>

In the immediate vicinity, sixteen (16) mercs are still fighting, and in range for us to engage. Two (2) of those sixteen are still injured.

Ban Iskender parries a brace of blasts with swift motions of hand and hips, turning to meet the anticipated shots and riposting into a horizontal backhanded cut across the breastplate of one trooper. turning back into a forehand cut that strikes down a second. Jace Cole is answered in the midst of the melee, << I daresay the foe shall run out of fodder ere you run out of wall, my lord.>>

A momentary burning before nerves are fused and Qutha finds himself awash in a sea of what looks like video static. But infinitely darker. Sound muffled and then his leg is screaming. Head lifting as he clambers to a kneeling posture, putting weight on his uninjured limb and shaking his head to clear the snow away from the face-plate visor.

<<"I yet still draw breath, My Princess.">> pained tone coming through while he attempts to fire again, a contrail path of snow churned by heat passage before splatting into a bank and another going wide. The aftermath of his shots forcing a shake of his head, "Our Princess's broken arm old man. Well done." another shake of his head, but this one self-chiding.

Beneath the ink sky, scattered with its distant, twinkling diamonds, the roar of fire is joined by the roar of combat. Soldiers and mercenaries yell at one another, exchaning deadly blaster fire. The snow is riddled with melted divots carved out by shots missing their mark, and the distant barricades of the estate are scored black as they provide cover for the numerous blue-cloaked defenders serving as the back line for the forward force. That force continues to fight towards the gap in the wall. Her bubble of perception extended, Chani advances with them. She jerks to the left, right leg extended and left knee bending, allowing a blaster bolt to dig a deep hole into the snow behind her rather than through her. She snaps her stunsaber up next, but misses the next one that zips by.

Exhaling hard enough to trigger another huff of misted breath in front of her face, Chani straightens and continues her advance, following the blue and green lightsabers that address the mercenaries pouring in through the breach in the outer wall. <"Lord Thul is hit."> Her voice is quick and succinct across their network. It is filled with no small measure of regret. Again, her body responds to some perceived threat, with her stunsaber snapping up in front of her and angled forward so that the blaster bolt meant to hit her careens right down into the ground. She steps over it. Again, Chani's blade darts out into the darkness, and again she misses capturing another with the thrumming beam. "By Shiraya," Chani frowns as she says it, unable to contain the grating annoyance that poisons her serenity for a moment. She's not helping anyone right now. She's not so much as stunned a single foe.

Oh boy. Roth knows when she's approaching the deep end and this is becoming treading water real fast for her. She cuts down one of the mercs though and continues on to the next, but doesn't put down another for the moment. She grimaces under that Mandalorian helm and await the certain backlash from things. She could retreat for sure, but that wasn't much in her vocabulary these days really. She just goes with the flow of the fight for now.

Aryn twists in place and smacks a blaster bolt intended for Roth BACK to its origin, injuring some poor sharpshooter who was not aware of the lightsaber's functionality. He cries out in anguish after being hit, and Aryn begins to fall back to follow Jace's command. Questioning him in the midst of a battle would not be tolerated, and it certainly would look bad in front of the troops which he commanded. Burying her worry, Aryn moves back into the forest to join with her kinsmen to repel the assault.

The forest is a lot different than the opening. Here, thick tree trunks provide all manner of cover AND concealment, and while the snow proves a hazard for those retreating to form a new line, so too does it obstruct those pursuing. Taking advantage of the slower targets, Alderaanian marksmen begin to pick apart the pursuers. Six (6) fall immediately, cut down by combined fire. That leaves seven (7) originally from the opening, and now their reinforcements join them (some twenty-two (22) men.) This makes for a total of twenty-nine (29) foes.

Aryn puts her back to a large tree trunk and holds her lightsaber in a manner that's vertical, and near her face. Its solemn hum and blue hue cast a light over her and the snow around her, but she waits to ambush as the 29 Mercs draw closer. Turning her head in one direction, she listens, while the light from her weapon emphasizes the presence of a dark scar over her one eye.

<<"Patching in hacked comms:">> Static. <<"--have the on the run, Lord Kier. They retreat to the forest.">> -- <<"Pursue and wipe out the guard. If we are to take this land, we need to kill every loyal member. I have sent another platoon to reinforce you now. More are landing in the savannah to begin staging a command point.">>

Aryn's voice cuts over the comms. <<"Ban, we cannot afford to break away from the estate. Let us first help father.-- Lord Thul, can you make it to me? I can patch you up..">>

<<"Aye, My Princess.">> Bors grunts into comms as he begins the long slog through the snow, pushing off with the injured limb and pulling himself along by the other. "Need to get back to the range." shaking his head while he mutters to himself. Keeping low and as quick as he can in all of the snowy washout chaos of the evening.

"Need to get a sword. People expect a blaster. No one recalls a blaster. But come at one with a sword... that's memorable." shaking his head, Lord Thul laughs, "I know I have a sword." he lifts his arm and aims by where his eye spots one of the foemen. "Father guide my hand." The firing stud is pressed, singeing the armor of an aggressor and turning him about where he stands.

"There you go, old man! Make the Princess proud!" thumping against a cresting bank of windblown snow like a dune made of ice, near Aryn's position.

<<"My Lady, forgive me. I am here but I haven't so grand a gift as you deserve for the turn of your jawline alone, much less the warmth your presence brings.">> Flirting? Aim high, Bors. Aim high.

The only effective defenses a blaster-armed trooper has against a lightsaber are distance, or agility. Bogged down as they are in the snow, Kier's hired guns have neither, and Ban cuts down three in swift succession. <<Agreed, my Lady. The defense shall hold,>> he answers Aryn. Any annoyance at the thought of Kier the Disinherited escaping again is kept out of his voice.

A brief flicker of static in Chani's ear gives way to an unknown voices speaking in it. The enemy battle plan is laid out before her: pursue the guard, wipe out those that have retreated into the forest at the best of Jace Cole. Chani can do nothing but continue forward, tailing the Princess Cortess and Lord Iskender as Alderaanian nobles and their hired soldiers and mercenaries continue trying to slaughter one another. "Such violence for power.." It makes her stomach turn more than the heaped over bodies in the snow. The past months have made them more of a commonality than not. This is nothing compared to Point Besh. Chani risks a glance over to the advancing Lord Thul. The man is talking to himself, but Chani can't hear him. The cacophony of combat is too loud. And there are other things to be concerned about right now.

Roth's feeling the luck running out from the last few trips. Or well...she got shot to hell and back when Karys died so the last excursion to help the BHG. She's going to get bacta tanked in the end. Or worse. So she decides that after she is shot that she's going to stab, then dive for cover. It might not work, but she's going to start playing the long game since some folks have lightsabers and she doesn't need to be completely wreckless.

Ban Iskender is to the fore of Aryn's champions, and is forced to go fully on the defensive as a barrage of bolts descend upon him and those nearby. His green half cape is burned in places, but the flashing lightsaber turns aside a of the bolts fired at him, the swordsman's guard extended to deflect two of the bolts threatening his fellows, but alas a third is beyond his reach. No quips or banter from the gentleman, he is wholly focused upon his work.

Aryn steps out, covering Bors for his run to her point by cutting down three foe in quick succession. Little did she know, he'd be hit again once arriving further complicating her task of healing him. She deactivates her weapon and comes to his aid, pulling her satchel out to tend to his wounds. "Come now, my Lord.. let us get you back to fighting shape."

<<"This is Commander Alde. I am reinforcing your position in the forest. Sounds like you all need some help.">>

Jace Cole's comm cuts in then, chuckling at the last thing Ban had said, <<"True about the wall, but it is not the wall I am trying to preserve. It is the men! Hahaha!">> His comms cut out with the sound of moving rocks and some cheering.

The fight is full force in the forest as Kiko Alde trudges through the snow to join the allied front with fresh troops. She holds a pistol in hand before finding cover, and prepares to join the attack.

While he'd managed to get to where Aryn could help him, return fire was still oncoming and everything slips into perceived slow motion. She is nearing him and he sees the barrel pointed their way and shifts his position to put his injured self forward while the Princess moves to see to him.

"MOTHER... FFFFFFFF-" the same leg.

THE SAME DAMNED LEG

"-FFFFUNDRAISING THIS WEEKEND FOR VETERAN INJURIES." head rolling back and around while he deals with that particular sack of agony, Bors forces himself into a short laugh. This is perfectly fine! Mother and Father! This is FINE.

"My Princess! My thanks to you!" Because that didn't actually hurt! Nope. But one important factor - the monocle is still in his eye. The scoundrels have yet to force that loose!

<<Your arrival is most welcome, and not a whit too soon, Commander,>> Ban returns with a tight smile at Kiko's arrival. A brief look is spared aside to Chani, toward whom the soldier gives a small nod upon finding her still hale. "Once more into the fray, mistress?"

It's the lightsabers that have done it, Chani thinks. Their advancing party has attracted the ire of most of the mercenaries of the attacking force, and what transpires is a storm of blaster rifle fire that well rivals the snow storm that's covered most of the estate and forest. Chani reacts purely out of instinct, stunsaber deflecting an attack meant for her, and stunsaber attempting to move into the way of the next that she knows is coming. It never reaches her, though, and a good thing, because she'd never have been fast enough to intercept it. Lord Iskender's green blade is a blur of activity, knocking away the shots meant to fell his compatriots. "Thank you, Lord Iskender." Chani's quick to duck into cover near the Princess.

She pants once she's in cover behind the tree, the trunk of which is more than ample to hide her slender, short form behind. She watches the blonde begin to tend to Lord Thul, then glances back towards where the Mandalorian that was fighting with them. "Princess, I think we lost one!" Her shout comes over the continued symphony of blaster fire. Chunks of the tree trunk are being torn out and left aflame on the opposite side of where she shelters the hail of laser fire. She's half a mind to attempt to pull her over to them through the Force, but Lord Iskender's question attracts her attention. "I'll follow your lead, my Lord."

It's the last blaster bolt that Roth takes that kicks off the adrenaline that is needed to power through. The woman doesn't pop back out for the moment. She stays in cover as she drops her gloved hand down to her side and pulls it back to show a bright slash of crimson blood againt her white gloves and then there is a trail that dots the snow below her slowly. "Well, this is unfortunate. You've still got people that need murdered, Roth." she mutters to herself. She slides a bit down the hiding spot she'd found and she tries to center herself before things start back up.

<<"I would not miss this fight, Captain,">> Responds Kiko, who steps out to blast a mercenary twice in the chest, then aim for another though prompting a miss. Her fresh troops open up from the woodlands with experienced aim. The majority of the platoon are shot down, picked off from their wading through the snow and left to bleed out in broken, charred heaps! "MOVE FORWARD!" Kiko calls out, "FIND THE DUKE!"

Aryn sticks Bors with an injection gun, THIS ONE has a needle. The injection is pure Kolto, intended to numb his wound and enhance its healing. A bacta patch is slapped over it to help in the mending and closing, but Aryn's attention looks up as Chani makes it to their spot.

Looking for the downed Mando, Aryn follows Chani's gaze and is rewarded by incoming fire. Aryn falls backward into the snow, caught off guard by the shot, and subsequently the other intended for Chani. "Look out!" Screams Aryn, unable to help in that exact moment!

With two mercenaries left (and comically unaware the rest of their company has been shot down), the rest of the vicinity is relatively clear. One is hit by a bolt THEY fired, and another is picked off by one of Alde's men. The injured merc drops his weapon and surrenders! Thus, making the area completely clear, for now.

Soldiers are going to Jace's aid at the wall to pluck the rocks and debris from their cave in to help he, and the soldiers with him, out.

<<"Captain Iskender, there's an encrypted channel hailing you, sir. Patching them through now.">> Winter says.

<<"Captain, we have a platoon of Dragoons ready to deploy. Shall we regroup and await your arrival, sir?">>

Aryn trudges out to look for Roth, and hopefully, see to the woman's wounds!

"Again, my thanks, My Princess." no slouch, Bors is following her movements, to provide cover or bodyshield as needed. Even if it hits the same leg. Again. NO such misfortune at least as he limps after, tension easing with the numbing from Aryn's work.

"Devils has the one in winter camo gone?" carbine still up, charge checked, as he makes his best to hustle. Raising it to sweep through his scope, using the night optics and feeds to his HUD until,

<<"My Princess - she looks like she's been supping on ignited tibanna, marking on systems!">> sending data via his hud to others. <<"I'll do as I can to help move her as needed, direct me and my will is yours, your grace.">>

Ban Iskender turns aside one last blaster bolt, choosing not to deactivate his sword as he answers by over comms, <<Dragoons, stand ready. We may soon have need to reconnoiter an enemy command post, in force. Have a steed prepared for my arrival.>> A salute to Chani, and a short bow of the head and shoulders to Aryn/Bors/Sleepy Roth.

Once again, Chani owes her health to the Lord Iskender. Her distraction in the direction of the Mandalorian and her head turned towards Ban himself leaves her poorly positioned to try and deflect the incoming fire meant for her. The Alderaanian Lord is on the defense, however, and spares her a second time in almost as many minutes. There's no words to properly convey her gratitude, but she provides it all the same. "I believe you've had to save me as often as you've had to fight the enemy, Lord Iskender." Chani's brevity is only slightly impacted by a measure of shame on her part. With the battle won for the moment, she moves with Aryn to try and cover her against any would-be surprises while the noble goes to tend to another one of their party.

Roth listens for the moment and then realizes that her part here for the moment is done. The vibrodagger gets sheathed and then the sword is settled back into its hold at her hip just below her Beskad. The bloody hand reaches up to remove the helmet and she takes a moment to breathe cold air into her lungs once it is off. She then gets to her feet and with a bit of a pained grunt and she shakes the long fall of white hair out. Roth was basically built in winter camo. She turns her head in the direction of other voices and raises a gauntled hand to the group, "My blades were not much help I fear and I'm getting blood on all of your beautiful snow to boot." she manages to chuckle at that as she starts to walk stiffly across the distance.