Log:Resistance/First Order: Attack on Blackrock Station

Resistance/First Order: Attack on Blackrock Station

OOC Date: January 26, 2019
Location: Blackrock Station
Participants: The Resistance: Leia Organa, Syrus Volo, Sapphira Yavok, Merek Black, Chewbacca, Rey, and Tess Ul'Datha; First Order: Kylo Ren, Oran Arcantael, Ravelyn, Lioria Thrace, Hadrix Rol, Artemis, Saanvi, and Drath

                                 STAR 
                                 WARS 

                        Attack on Blackrock Station 

        The FIRST ORDER had learned the location of the RESISTANCE'S secret base. 
        All hope seemed lost as hundreds of TIE Fighters filled the sky. 
        The brave heroes of BLACK SQUADRON faced the threat with intrepid determination, 
        but time was up for the rebels' new base. A number of fighters 
        formed up in the hangar with LEIA ORGANA to fight off the dastardly Order.... 

All is chaos. Explosions rock the base and everywhere through the mouth of the hangar can be seen the ongoing fight out in space, bright emeraldine and crimson lasers piercing the blackness with a thousand brilliant arrows. Klaxon alarms ring, sirens blare, warning lights flash, and in the midst of the mayhem, unfamiliar and unfriendly vessels push their way into the hangar's containment, setting down under a smattering of fire from the few soldiers already gathered to hold the area while the rest of the fledgling Resistance flees the base.

Landing ramps drop to the floor, and white armored troops charge out to do battle with the defenders, but one of the ships reveals not white but black armor on the troopers inside, the mysterious and elite Vanguard troops sighted here and there across the galaxy.

The Resistance's objective was clear: hold the hangar for as long as possible while the others escaped. The First Order's was equally clear: destroy everyone and everything.

It is from the ship that the Vanguard troopers that Ravelyn makes an appearance, also wearing dark armor, though of a different design than the troopers that disembark into the hangar. A weapon is held discreetly in one hand as a lengthy gait carries the Knight down the ramp and to the hangar floor, helmeted head turning to survey the chaos unfolding, to take stock of those present, those fighting, those fleeing, and it's toward the latter that a number of troopers are directed toward, letting them give chase first.

"We don't fall here..." Leia stands among the gathered brave defenders who have stayed to protect the escaping vessels, civilian and military, trying despirately to flee the oncoming slaughter that is sure to follow the First Orders arrival.

She is bathed in white robes, but the hood hangs back on her shoulders and her brown hair is tied into a long braid that hangs nearly to her waist. Her gaze is steadfast, but calm, and there's a serenity about her presence that betrays the fear everyone still on Blackrock at this moment should be feeling. "Black squadron has given us a window, small though it might be, and now it's our turn..." She's been in communication with the captains and the pilots, but when it became clear that the fight was coming whether they were ready or not, she set to getting the defenses prepared.

There aren't enough, but there never is.

"Our turn to show the First Order that they can blanket this galaxy in fear, but we are not afraid." She holds out her hand and her lightsaber leaps off her belt, twists in the air, and slaps into her palm, "As soon as the last of the civilian shuttles have left the hanger, break contact.. Make your way to every available ship and fall back to our secondary regroup point." The proximity warning alarms blare as the shuttles settle into the hanger and the first volley of Resistance fire errupts.

The blade hisses to life, bathing her an icy blue glow and the General turns towards the lowering ramps of the shuttles with a slow, calmimg breath. She may be leading from the front, but she's doing it without fear. Motioning with her lightsaber (because it's easier to see her amidst the green/red lance of blaster fire to various groups to get them to more advantagious positions for holding the line.

Amidst the furor, another black-clad figure strides down from the landing craft, one familiar to those amongst the Resistance, his chrome-plated mask a sight that none of them cherish. Kylo Ren stalks onto the landing field, and as he glances across the hangar towards the glow of blue light, his own lightsaber is slid with a rough hand from his belt, snarling into life and hovering at his heel like an angry dog. "Spread out. Secure the hangar," his vocoded voice instructs, standing there staring off towards that waving blue line.

Striding down off the ship after Ravelyn is a man of gracefully correct posture and unremarkable height, shadowed in dark robes that mark him as one of the dogs of war Kylo has sourced from around the galaxy. This is Oran, moving purposefully away from the ship and forward, taking a quick scan of the room before extending a gloved hand towards a one of the waiting Resistance Army figures. It's a gesture that... doesn't result in anything, sort of awkward like when you wave at someone who wasn't waving at you, but he seems undeterred. "Fear?" Echoing Leia's words, the man's Coruscanti voice sounds darkly amused. "The innocent have nothing to fear."

Klaxons are sounding, explosions are popping off all over the place. It's your standard Star Wars third act fare. Moving with a handful of Resistance soldiers is Syrus Volo, the blade of his stunsaber already ignited, and his black and grey robes catching the sweep of the spinning lights.

Coming to a stop next to Leia, the Kiffar gives her a solid nod and says, "I stand with you, Master." The hilt of his training blade is gripped tightly.

And there's always that one annoying person in crimson armor that's got to mess up an all black tie affair! Lioria tends to throw off the all black color coordination with the modified Imperial Royal Guard armor that she wears, but it's rarely off her form when dealing with anything First Order or Knights of Ren side. She's without R0-LY today as well. When the boarding ramp is lowered, the woman stalks off with the rest. She gives a look over the troopers that are already giving chase. There's no words from the helmed figure, she fans out like Kylo instructed and starts selecting where to focus.

Descending the ramp, in the point position for the Stormtroopers, Hadrix bears a repeater cannon, the stock pressed into his shoulder and both fists wrapped around the pistol grips. Heat shimmer warps the air at the mouth of the barrel as he engages the shot-primer, the weapon humming like an angered insect hive. Off his shoulder, his Seeker droid begins recording field data, keeping close to mount onto the man's armor should the need arise. At the orders of the Supreme Leader, sighting for his first target.

Exiting the boarding craft slightly behind Hadrix, Drath takes up the 3 o'clock position to the man's right. His F-11D Blaster Rifle is held at a roughly 45 degree angle, ensuring maximum coverage from the front of the formation as the squad takes the field. There are no vocalizations coming from within the trooper's helmet audible from the outside, only the white armor of one of the numerous Stormtroopers invading the hangar in ready formation for the coming conflict. Onl,y this one happens to be next to the guy with the repeater cannon.

Chewbacca stands on the front lines of the defense forces as Leia makes her speech. He roars in solidarity at her words, regardless of whether the other defenders shout, or cheer after her speech. His bowcaster is held at the ready and the wookie prepares for the oncoming assault. And then it begins.

Alarms and such are jarring. They didn't leave Sapphira much time to get her stuff together and get thee to a rally point. Instead of pulling on her trooper gear, which, to be fair, she probably isn't even entirely sure how to put on, she opts for the second skin that is her shadowsuit, balaklava pulled over her bright red hair and pale features. She doesn't rush in and line up with many of the other troopers, but instead slides in via a side access door, moving along the panels of the hanger on the periphery, stepping in and out of grounded ships, lifts, crates of parts, and the rogue engine that's parked here or there. She moves to stay in the shadows, to stay off to the side, and to get off a shot that will seemingly come from nowhere. In a breath, the DL-18 is palmed. And then, hopefully seemingly from nowhere, a few shots blaze red to take out a trooper (or two).

Merek had taken his time to put on all the plates of his armor, while he has a kama which is shifted about it as well, and places on the helmet while he brings up the HUD. He follows then with Leia while she does her speaking and draws a lightsaber, while he looks to the side speaking into his voice changer, "I am with you, General. We will stand for all the civilians to escape, whatever it costs," he says.

The man takes a look towards those coming, and moves to a formation with the others, while he charges that crimson pack in his pistol, lifting it up. He seems to be waiting to shoot, more likely trying to find what the best path to take is. He also uses some natural cover while he does wait for it, not that it will do a lot with them taking positions all around.

Saanvi unboards after Oran, Hadrix, Artemis, and Drath. As the teams spread out and engage she follows one of the countless teams looking to reclaim land the Resistance would hold, but she remains in the rear for now. Remaining in a position ready to support and clear vantage in order to best identify hazards or those in need of the support she is here to provide. According to armband over her right armored arm that'd be medic.

Waiting is the worst part of riding a troop transport. It's not a fear that grips the soul and agitates it with a restless disquietude, it's the realization that fate dictates the path of lethal ordinance and there would be no chance to struggle when Death's maw comes to envelop those within. It's for having the opportunity to fight against the fatal will of her assailants that when the landing ramp drops that Artemis exults in a rush of elation rather than feeling the tremors of panic.

Artemis is void of bloodlust and is instead transfixed by her HUD readout and the positions of those in her squad. Hidden behind the dark, plastoid visor of her ashen armor with its crimson stripes along the flank, she is somewhat disconnected from her reality as evidenced by her dispassionate expression: purpose limited to that of an anonymous weapon. To kill those with an opposing ideology over and over and ensure the survival of her squadmates is her mission. To this end, she raises the barrel of her rifle to the horizon line and shoulders the stock firmly between the armored plates protecting the pale canvas of her skin. Footfalls deliberately placed and swift, the trooper is taken down the ramp in the wake of the others in a presaged formation that has her a few meters to Drath's side.

It's on the heels of some of those not fit for Vanguard white clad troopers that Ravelyn stalks, allowing them to fire on the fleeing Resistance for a time. Then a gloved hand lifts to target a man that is nearly out, nearly to a ship, but it's not meant to be. The man is yanked back by an unseen force and thrown across the hangar where he collides with the side of one of the First Order ship, and though the collision isn't heard over the clamor of the klaxons and the fighting already taking place, there is a splatter of blood to decorate the exterior of the vessel that suggests he did not survive his unexpected flight.

Leia can feel it.

She knew he was in the system, she could sense the presence of the Supreme Leader as if he were standing right in front of her. Now that he is, now that she can see him suited up for war, her heart sinks just a little... but not her resolve. Syrus beside her draws her attention and she looks to her student with a nod, "The soldiers need your protection right now far more than I do." She says with a warm smile she doesn't feel. The hanger is cold, the smell of death is already palpable.

"I'll be okay." She isn't sure if that's true, but she sure sounds like she is.

Then she's moving with a surprising amount of agility through the battlefield. Her lightsaber whirls around her hand in a fanning motion that sends blaster bolts flying in harmless directions away from her person, but she never once brings it to bare upon any of the First Order. Which hardly means she's less a threat; all around her is flying debrie, tools or fallen blaster rifles that whip about her person like a whirlwind and flies outward at targets with destructive precision.

A blaster pistol shoots out from near her right shoulder and smacks a stormtrooper hard enough to crack his armor plating as she advances upon the snarling red glow of her Sons lightsaber. Whether drawn by intention or just destiny, she's on a crash course with Kylo Ren.

Kylo can feel it too, and as the glow of the blue saber starts to head his way, he takes a few steps in that direction, then stands there waiting, his stance defiant, the lightsaber held at his side while blaster bolts sail around him, some coming closer than can be comfortable but none producing any movement from the man in black. They just zip past while he stands there like a statue, and when she finally breaks out into a clear line of sight, his processed voice speaks out in an artificially loud tone. "I knew you would be here." The mask is expressionless. "I have to stop you. You can still surrender." The voice is expressionless, almost artificially so. "Put the lightsaber down. Or I'll hurt you."

Oran Arcantael, of the Kylo school of just walk your black-clad self into the battle and leave tactics like 'take cover' to other people, continues to fan out through the hangar as directed, heedless of the blaster bolts flying around. Targets, targets... the man scans until his attention alights on a wookiee, and /that/, it seems, is what he's chosen. The gloved fist is up again, clenched, pulling forward and then back, a gesture that will pitch his tall, hirsute adversary into the side of the hangar none so gently. As though in conversation, he remarks over the sound of the blaster fire, "You know, we really ought to have given Kashyyyk to Trandosha?"

"I will do what I can," Syrus assures his Master, knowing all too well that it's not much. Dropping out of his long, flowing robe, Syrus readies himself once again.

As Oran attacks Chewbacca, the Kiffar leaps into action, moving quickly toward the Knight, lightsaber falling to his side. "Vassal obligations are the least of your worries right now, my friends," he remarks, sending a wave of Force toward the man. It's wide and succeeds in only knocking over a few crates. "Calm, Syrus. Calm," the big man remarks to himself.

So. Much. Chaos. Lioria's crimson figure moves through the sea of white and black amongst the First Order and the Knights and there's the snap hiss when her lightsaber is ignited. Spoiler Alert: It ain't red like most of them would guess. The violet hue of the blade gives an eerie glow as the form takes a swing at one of the Resistance fighters. But lucky for them she's about two seconds too slow and they don't get skewered.

Hadrix's head bobs briefly, information being relayed over comms. His attention focuses on those moving to the skirmish line, and moreso on a known traitor to the cause. His steps halt as he braces himself, thrusting the blaster cannon forward and unleashing a torrent of plasma bolts at Merek, filling the air around the man like a hailstorm in hell.

Drath continues the slow advance through the hangar, keeping in step with his squad mates as the group of black-clad Stormtroopers continues onward. Suddenly, after an almost imperceptible nod of his head, he turns on the hell of his foot and opens fire in Merek's direction along with Hadrix, the Stormtrooper focusing his fire with the one in front.

Chewbacca roars as the telekinetic blast rips into him. Yeah that hurt. It takes a lot to hurt a wookie but the Force, Chewie has learned, isn't just a punch in the gut. He falls over, snarling as he grabs at his side. Standing he rights his bowcaster and fires on one of the approaching First Order soldiers.

Sapphira's bright green eyes scan from the small slit in the balakava as more troopers file out from the invading ships. She remains hidden, remains off to the side and hopefully out of much of the fire. That doesn't mean she isn't dishing her own fire out, though, and as another trooper (Drath, unknown to her) enters the fray ... well, the fray fires back. Two more shots are squeezed off, this time in Drath's direction.

Merek looks to the front while blaster fire comes around upon him. He takes both his hands to his pistol while he weaves through it, and shifts upon his hip while he brings up his weapon. He then notices that Oran is there, and he takes a shot at him while he moves to between them, "Hey, I have this guy, flank'm if you must but I ain't letting you get hurt," he exclaims with that voice changer also.

The man shifts his weapon to take a shot at Artemis also, while he looks to Oran with that helmet on him, not showing anything that would give any emotions to the man. "You and me, friend, let's see what you Knights have!" He watches then as Drath is hit to the floors, then he motions to Artemis and Hadrix a bit towards him, "COME ON, CAN'T HIT ME!? DO BETTER, VANGUARD!" Absolute mad man.

Saanvi hunkers down low in the vain hop of not getting shot en route to Drath who the most recent round of blaster fire, her medic's pack unslung from her back in a motion that suggests she's had to run and unpack simulataniously rather a lot with this crowd. Seeing that he is hit she tries to secure whatever modest cover there is for her patient but only if there is such to be had. Otherwise she begins tending his wound right there in the open firefight. The man with the deathwish is ignored in favor of Drath.

From Artemis, there are no calls intended to intimidate the enemy or reaffirm her loyalty to the First Order's cause. She and her fellow Vanguard are here because they believed and that required no vocal reinforcement. As a silent phantasm would accost the guilty with household objects, the trooper's rifle is the manifestation of her will and instinct drives her motions. It's this same bestial notion that susses out Merek's lethal intent a fraction of a second before his blaster bolt careens towards her. With violence, her weight shifts abruptly and the bolt screams past her with impotent rage.

A sharp intake of air presages Artemis' squeeze of the trigger as she returns the man's goading with exactly what he is looking for. From the power pack energy is greedily swallowed by a bank of capacitors in the rear of the rifle and allowed to fester and squirm as a fusion-like reaction feeds on itself in a plasma borne ouroboros. When it reaches its crescendo, an ephemeral phoenix is birthed and crashes hard in to the defector's torso. Heat vents out of the perforations along the trooper's barrel in tandem with her exhalation.

"No, I will not evacuate! Not while they're here... Not while He's here!" Rey is tugging at the sleeve of her robes, Artoo trying desperately to keep her from advancing out into the hanger or just encouraging her to head towards one of the waiting shuttles to escape. "You go, go on.. I'll be there shortly okay?"

With her Lightsaber in hand, Rey rushes out into the hanger, furiously pumping her arms for momentum. A quick survey of the situation and she goes where she'll be needed most; assisting with evacuations, but more precisely, defending the non combatants who are boarding shuttles. A distressed expression on her face, she alternates gazing at the combat unfolding around her and deflecting blaster bolts back at assailants.

Ravelyn's progress through the hangar has slowed as a minimal amount of caution is applied to the situation, and some small degree of effort is taken to be in cover when there is easy cover to be found. Which affords a perfect view of Sapphira. That terrible, invisible power suddenly grips the woman none too gently, lifting her up and flinging her as though she weighed little more than the rag-doll as she topples through the air. It's not until she's collided with some sort of machinery in the hangar that the vise grip lets go so that the she can topple to the ground.

"You've already hurt me." Leia's response does not lack emotion, artificial or otherwise. Even if she tried to hide it from him, Kylo could no doubt feel it. She is also very determined and wearing the uncanny willpower for which she is so known. Her expression is troubled, her brow furrowed into a deep vally between her eyes.

She does not drop the lightsaber, but she does lower it. The long glowing blade points downward out at her side towards the deck plates. "I can't let you kill any more people than you already have." She takes in a slow breath as the battle rages around the little clearing, surrounded by chaos on all sides, staring off against her son.

With the pricking in the Force that tells him she's arrived, Kylo's masked head turns away from Leia towards where Rey has entered the hangar, staring blankly across the space between them at the second blue glow. "It's too late," he replies to the woman in front of him, shaking his head as the battle rages around them, turning back to face Leia. "The Resistance is /finished./ I'll hunt you to the ends of the galaxy. They will die on the run, hiding in holes on backwaters like this. It's over." Immobile as stone otherwise, he points a gloved finger off in Rey's direction. "If you love her, give this up, before you're both destroyed. Have you learned /nothing?/"

Oran is being yelled at. Some kind of dim, buzzy noise... someone speaking to him with familiarity? Ah. Yes. He knows that voice. Merek. Oran evades the bolt sent his way with a simple, casual step to the side, then remarks in a dry tone, "Do you know what we do to traitors?" Even before the words are out of his mouth, angry fire from Artemis is lashing out like the punishment of a vengeful goddess, finding its mark in Merek, and Oran raises his brows. "That. That is what we do to traitors."

Though the man isn't dead, he seems to feel that Merek's close enough to it to make the point, and turns his attention to more pressing matters, namely, Syrus just tried to throw unfriendly objects at him. He returns the favor by hurling a few crates and part of an engine back in a gesture like he's throwing dice, accompanied by a scoff. "You /dare/?"

Dodging the objects pretty easily, Syrus readies himself for the rest of the brunt of the assault. As Oran's wall of pressure cascades over him, Syrus holds his footing. A grunt crescendos to a scream and falls to a breathy whimper one of his lungs collapses. Falling to a knee, the man spits a mouthful of bright, scarlet red blood out onto the hangar floor. His hand releases the grip on his stunsaber and the blade *hisses* away, the hilt landing with a clatter.

Still stunned, the man presses his hands against his chest, an attempt to stem the tide of pain coursing through his body as a result of his foolish attempt to resist.

"I-I dare..." the man pants out a response, one hand falling to the floor in an attempt to keep his large frame from topling over. "I...dare," he repeats, limpy lifting his other arm and sending a chunk of duracrete towards the man.

What's Lio doing? The crimson figure has decided to stop swinging with the lightsaber for the moment and her arm snakes out. Fingers extending and flexing until there's a bright flash of light. Then there's the searing pain of Force Lightning coursing through some poor Resistance troopers body. It's harsh, but it gets the job done. And the figure moves on like they are on a mission...because what do you know...

He's in the field, there's explosions, the reek of expended tibanna, blood, and screaming. Hadrix is alive again. Not just a strike op, escort, or asset retrieval - a full on assault. He was on autopilot before, and just hadn't realized it until just now. Blaster fire whips past him and Nintey-One goes down, and then Ten-Fifteen.

The assailant attacking the Funny One is battered by the knights, and the mouthy terrorist has decided to demand attention, which Ten-Fifteen has added to his own tender interests. The venting barrels on his T-21 begin screaming steam in addition to heat shimmer as he continues to fire, tearing up the ground and crates all around him. He's silent, for now. Tight control, keeping his blood lust in check. The objective, the Supreme Leader...

Drath continues his advance, and was in the process of firing another round, just as a blaster bolt careens into his shoulder out of the chaos of the battle erupting around them. Thrown off balance from the plasma burn and pain erupting through his shoulder, it's only a half second later that a second one slams into the right side of his helmet just past his visor, sending his rifle to clatter down to the floor in the process. The smell of burning flesh fills the air as a muffled scream from inside the helmet is drowned out by the sounds of blaster fire and klaxons in the air.

Hitting the metal floor of the hangar, Drath's rifle is abandoned next to him as his gloved hand reaches up to attempt in some irrational urge to simply brush the pain away. His armo never makes it, owing to that sizzling blaster wound in the shoulder plate of his armor. Shortly after the attempt the trooper loses consciousness from the pain, splipping into the darkness of his mind, and away from the hell outside.

Sapphira goes flying. Her stomach feels like it's left somewhere down there, in that lovely position of cover, where someone shooting blaster bolts would've had a hard time getting to her. But this wasn't a blaster that did this. While she feels constrained and constricted as she's thrown through the air she doesn't feel /pain./ Not yet. It's all rather ethereal, watching the battle rage on below for a few seconds, even as she flies and then falls back behind the Resistance line.

All that crashes to an end when Sapphira comes crashing down, tumbling into large piles of crates and tools and engine parts. No, tumble is the wrong word. Tumble implies that she rolls or bounces upon the landing. Sapphira doesn't do that. Instead there's a sickening sound of metal slicing home into organ and flesh like a sheath. Crates and boxes and tools topple around her, revealing the scene for those around her. The black-clad figure is impaled on some sort of pipe, likely the type used in the engineering of ships to move coolant from one part of the ship to another. It goes in at the right flank of her back and breaks out from the right upper quadrant of her abdomen, darkened and slickened with blood and bile. It's a short pipe though, only extending beyond her body by about two inches. That's something, right?

She didn't scream. Her gun is still in her hand. Shock has set in almost immeidately. She breathes, coughs, breathes, coughs again, gurgling up bubble-less blood from her GI tract. She coughs again, and it spews out from the mouth of the balaklava in a pink spray. She may struggle a little, try to push herself off the impaled pipe, but slowly shock and pain take over and conciousness starts to waver. It's probably for the best she's still on the pipe like she is ... it's probably the only thing keeping her from bleeding out.

Chewbacca continues his attack, his warcry audible above the sounds of battle around him. The wookie may have served as a smuggler for some time, but in his heart he never stopped being a warrior. He pushes offensively, trying to encourage others around him to do the same. Chewbacca does not intend on retreating today.

Merek seems to be dealing with the fact that Oran knows who he is, while he then looks to notice that Artemis took a clean shot. Then he seems to be lifting his pistol to shoot, only to notice that his armor seems to be shot through, front to back. He seems to be noticing it as he takes two shots to distract the foe and keep them focused upon him. The weapon's then in hand towards his side, while he steps back a bit, blood flowing from the armor and towards the kama where it finds purchase upon the floors.

He looks then to the skies while he thinks on all that brought him to this place, and another shot as he moves seems to hit beside him, as he then is on his knees, not noticing it as he looks then around him. He swallows as he tries his best to keep on mission. More than a few troopers seem to be focused upon him, but it means that all the shots he takes, means that people will be able and escape from the base. He lifts up his hand towards Oran as though that has all that need be said in it, then he watches as next thing he knows, his hand isn't quite there. That is because a bolt had taken it clean off with some of the wrist as well. He comlinks, "Make sure that the people escape, sorry General," using all of his willpower to keep on enough to speak. Then he feels the places he was shot, the sheer force having not registered until now, and he shouts as he fades onto the floor, his blood pooling about him.

Saanvi does what she can to stabilize Drath though he is definitely not rejoining the fight from the amount of blood on the gloves she peels off and chucks. She'd stopped the bleeding and bound the wounds, there was little else to be done for her fallen comrade until he could be ushered to a surgical suite. A quick sweeping glance is cast around for evidence for more patients before she unholsters her weapon, powers it on. Her gaze sweeps again-this time for a target. She spots Merek and with careful aim and fires.

The right flank of the Vanguard column formation falls but Artemis appears to ignore this fact with a cold-blooded apathy worthy of inclusion in Resistance propoganda. Her steady, subtly hunched steps, devised to eliminate weapon bob, take her askew her fallen comrade to continue pressing the First Order's agenda on the offensive alongside the honed tip of the squad's phalanx: Hadrix.

The dichotomy of Artemis' professional partnership with the other trooper is not apparent behind the anonymizing plastoid composite that shields her body. Where he is a drinker of blood and a reveller in chaos, she is cold iron and that authoritative focus has her reflexively lurching to avoid Merek's final volley at her. Unfortuantely, the vocally defiant man is removed from the battlefield before she can strike the fatal shot.

Sweeping the barrel of her weapon in a wide arc to the opposite side of Hadrix, Artemis finds her next target: Syrus' towering physique but her shot is blundering and finds purchase on nothing but fractured duracrete. Her curse is reserved for the comms alone.

It isn't that Rey doesn't feel Kylo, she can actually see him standing there across the hanger, it's that she's not rising to the unvoiced challenge apparent in his presence every time they're in the same room. She also sees Leia and cannot keep the worry from fluiding into her, worry that she'll try to fight Kylo and she'll lose her like she lost Han... She'll watch someone else she cares about die right in front of her.

Her icy blue blade continues to whirl defiantly against attacks aimmed at the boarding non coms, but her attention keeps shifting over to the pair of mother and son. She looks in that direction when Kylo points in her's and though she cannot hear what he's saying, she knows that if she doesn't do something... Leia will.

And she cannot let Leia attack Kylo.

SO she moves, lips set into a pensive line across her face, towards the pair. Swatting her blade as if it's guided by something other than her intentions, she throws blaster bolts away from her or just letting them sail harmlessly if they don't pose any threat.

She slides into the clearing with her hand extended out towards Kylo, waves of Force energy radiating outward from her palm. It isn't ground shaking, but it knocks the Supreme Leader back. Only a step... "Leia no.. I've got Kylo, get everyone out of here.."

Ravelyn continues to move with only a small degree of caution, relying on other senses to try and evade injury, bringing the Knight closer to Oran, which puts Syrus in view. The gloved hand that had previously been so lethal raises again to lash out, but this time very little happens. There's a snarl of irritation that translates into an ugly sound through the vocoder, head turning to look at the Knight to the side. "Everyone dares today." Everyone dares, just not always successfully.

Leia isn't sure she can do it.

She does not believe she can bring her blade up to strike her son and it shows. No matter what he's done or who he's become, he's still her son. It beats deep into her heart, into her core, and it shows in her face. The strain to keep tears from welling, both sadness and anger, at the figure that is Kylo Ren in his battle armor. Horror personified, the armored face of her own father so vivid now as she gaze upon his grandson.

She grinds her teeth as he speaks, tries to sort out her emotions into something calm, but the dam breaks when he motions towards Rey across the hanger. Her fist clinches the lightsaber with a ferver that she was unaware of and a rush of fury that she can only barely comprehend. She's lost a husband to this monster, she's lost a child to who he has become... she will not lose her daughter.

With a sudden flash of white robes fluttering out all around her in purposeful movement, Leia Organa lashes out at the figure of Kylo Ren with her lightsaber. It hisses through the air, burning ozone as it passes and slams harmlessly against the deck plate when Rey pushes the Supreme Leader back and away from the path of her saber.

She's shocked at first, horrified when she sees Rey coming to meet Kylo's challenge... but she understands. She understands like she understood Luke going to fight Vader... and with a clipped nod that isn't nearly as controlled as she hoped for, she turns away from the pair of Rey and Kylo and rushes back towards the ships. "It's time to GO!"

She shouts, motioning at the resistance soldiers towards the remaining transports, "Retreat to the ships!" Blackrock is lost.

The war isn't.

As the push of the Force knocks him back a step, Kylo's foot slides back further behind him, catching and steadying himself, his hood slipping backward off of his helmet. His masked face follows the downward swing of Leia's lightsaber, lingering down at the deckplate as she turns to run, and when his gaze lifts, it's still the empty gaze of the creature in a mask, the monster that hunts them, but something has been changed by that.

And without a word, he lunges forward, dragging his ragged lightsaber upward in a withering arc that lashes out at the younger woman, his dark robes hugging tightly to his body, and there is fury behind that first sweep.

Still kneeling on the floor, Syrus calls his stunsaber back into his hand. A flick of the switch and the blade snaps back to life. Artemis fires at him, the Kiffar slaps the bolt out of the way. Struggling back to his feet, he's then accosted by a wall of Force from Ravelyn. The Kiffar resists, his steadies stance only sliding back a few inches. He limps forward, saber hefting as he stares at Oran.

Panting, the man says, "Your...your Order will fall. As so many have..." Wheeze. "Have before it." He stops, lurching forward a bit as he retches a pool of scarlet onto the floor. It stains his teeth that now are bared, clenched harshly together within a toothy frown.

Then there's that feeling. That sick, twisted feeling as the tendrils wrap around his throat. His saber drops once more to the floor and his hands lift to his throat. Still the Kiffar is defiant, doing his best to limp towards the Coruscanti man. Syrus's mouth flies open in a scream, but nothing can be heard. His hand lifts, throwing a hand in Oran's direction in a last-ditch effort to fight him off. But it's to no avail.

His knees buckles and his arms fall limply to his side, the man floating there unconcious until Oran releases him to slump onto the hangar floor.

Lioria's in the hangar and helping one of the storm trooper groups take on Resistance fire. The violet hued lightsaber slashes up in an arc, but it misses it's intended target due to the call for retreat. There's a bit of a celebration that starts among the group and she clenches her fist at them, "We still have work to do here. Get to it." the vocoded voice states flatly and in that emotionless tone everyone is so use to hearing now.

The yelling man goes down, and he is given fire orders. His temper is flaring, and his rage is growing. Aim is off, and now the enemy is fleeing. Mixing into their own ranks, but he sees one target, a large one, and possibly one of the old enemies of wars long gone.

Stepping forward, leaning into the rise, Hadrix opens fire. Blood leaking out of the corners of his mouth as he chews his cheeks and tongue to maintain silence. Finger still pressing the firing stud, the barrel of the repeating blaster starting to glow red, Hadrix walks fire towards the Wookie. Does he intend to earn himself a name? Fame? No. He has a duty. But being the faceless stormtrooper to shoot Chewbacca? Well. Bonus.

Chewbacca attempts to cover the retreat but more powerful forces decide otherwise. Even a wookie has limits! The warrior is aware of the pain more than he feels it. He grins... as much as a wookie can as he falls to the ground incapacitated. He is unable to fight and doesn't care. What matters is that Leia and the others escape and that the war continues... he roars... "Woeieowl rwarrl rwoarl rwarrl wrall!"

Per Leia's permission, as the great Princess and War General walks through the collapsing line, no doubt orchestrating the very strategic relocation to the evac ships, she pauses by a bloody, impaled woman in black, features still covered. An order is given, and a retreating trooper stops. If Sapphira were awake right now she would be positively /honored/ to be dislodged from her new piercing by the GREAT Leia Organa. For now thougj, the only sound Sapphira makes is a mindless cry of pain. But both the trooper and the general haul the specoperative with them to the escaping ships. Perhaps she shall live to snek another day.

Merek is assisted by one of the troopers of the Resistance to escape on the shuttle, carried upon shoulder also. The man receives a bit of care enough that he can be placed into the transport as well.

Saanvi lowers her weapons and scurries to the next patient, keeping her weapon in hand until she's knelt besides the next friendly casualty. Then the weapon's powered off and holstered and she gets down to work!

Artemis leaves Knight Arcantael to his bluster as he lords his victory over the practitioner of the light. The few potshots she takes at the fleeing Resistance members are ineffectual at best and a waste of ammo at worst. Within a handful of shrill shrieks from her weapon, she halts and drops the barrel of her weapon to face the ground. Stance relaxing, the trooper pivots on the ball of her foot and pads towards her fallen comrade.

Ravelyn steps up to Oran's side as he goes on with his suffocate the Jedi for awhile plan, leaning down to snap up the weapon that was dropped by Syrus. "It would be a lot easier to not take prisoners, just end it here," suggests the Knight, looking down at the man. "Or are you looking to keep a pet?" The resistance is in full retreat now, but Ravelyn isn't chasing them, leaving that to the troopers. Brief attention is given to the fight between Kylo and Rey, but that fight is probably well above the knights pay-grade, and opts not to meddle in it just now.

Tess Ul'Datha would have been down in the hanger holding the line, but she was given very specific orders: Destroy the Core.

Whatever happens, no matter what, make sure the First Order does not get their hands on the endless wealth of information contained within that datacore. It would be the end of the Resistance. Every cell, every ship, every world that bares any lasting resolve against their rule...

Tess, in her Mandalorian armor rather than that crap the Resistance gave her, makes her way through the corridors at the center of Blackrock. Her sniper rifle slung across her shoulders and her F-11D rifle up in position as she runs in a combat ready position. "Alright, Connix.. where the kriff am I going?" The seeker droid hovers over her right shoulder, scanning the corridors, feeding tactical data to her HUD from a remote access link to the cameras observing the combat in the Hanger.

"You're almost there. We're holding a shuttle for you as long as we can, but you need to hurry." Comes the reply from Connix.

"Copy that, I'm oscar mike." And she is, truding purposefully towards her destination.

Oran observes for a moment to be sure that troopers are securing his new best friend, the unconscious Syrus, then answers Ravelyn with a simple, "I have questions." No time to elaborate, as Kylo has orders, and orders are to be carried out. "ADVANCE!" the Knight yells over the sounds of the lightsaber fight way above his pay grade, over the sounds of the fading conflict, and then he stalks forth. "We find their data, and then we burn the rats out from every hole in this bloody galaxy!"

Lio is sweeping up some remaining Res from the hangar and that's when she hears Oran. Welp. She's already in here. Guess that's a good thing. "We've got other things to attend to. Just try to keep yourselves from getting shot." she pats one of the troopers in her group on the shoulder. Then there's a moment taken to look at Oran and the others incoming.

The wookiee goes down, Hadrix can't quite believe it either. Head tipping to the side as he listens to comms, he leaves Kylo to his business... Again - looks important, and Oran said not to get between the Supreme Leader and his goals. Sound advice still.

When Ren barks his orders, Hadrix moves forward at a quick clip to point posture - as ever putting himself in front of the Knights and the soldiers of the Vanguard. The spearhead. The attention grabber. Headed for the center as ordered, to secure the sought after data. His Seeker floats at his shoulder, data spike and other computer interaction equipment cycling through as the little droid does a form of 'weapons check'.

Saanvi rises after tending to another casualty, gloves peeled off and weapon freed again from it's holster she trots to catch up with the others.

Artemis' ears perk behind the plastoid shell and instinctively she turns to peer at the ominously familiar voice. The urgency behind the command is not lost on the trooper as she promptly snaps in to motion with a lurch of coiled muscle to slip in to Hadrix's wake. The trooper runs like a line-backer in her plate armor, rifle cradled in her arms much like a Hutt ball. A hand leaves the weapon just long enough to twirl in the air: regroup!

Rey is fighting defensively, swinging her saber to deflect Kylo's angrily growling weapon or just ducking beneath it as he herds her towards the ramp of the Falcon. "No you don't! This is insane... it doesn't have to be like this.." There's a hint of desperation as she tries to sway him, but she knows better than to think she will.

Then there's just nowhere else to go besides aboard the ship.

One of the various remaining Resistance soldiers... several of them actually.. and two guarding the several.. have drug Chewie's massive wounded form up into the Falcon's waiting welcoming embrace. Artoo already has the ship online, ready to bug out as soon as Rey is onboard.

Her foot falls upon the ramp and she stretches out her hand towards the black clad menace of Kylo Ren hot on her heels. It doesn't have the same vigor as her first and only sends up bits of particle, but it proves enough to let her get up onto the ramp as the falcon starts to rise with her still holding fast to the hydrolic lifting arm.

Rey stares down at Kylo as the ship starts to rise and the ramp lifts, ready to rocket out of the hanger.

"Alright," is all the reply Ravelyn has time for before turning to stride after the troopers already on the way to find this data core. "Faster! Faster! Before they can can do anything irritating!" barks the Knight out to any of the troopers that have the misfortune of being nearby.

Kylo stares back through the mask up at Rey as the ramp closes, not for the first time, and when the airlocks seal, his lightsaber retreats back into its handle, the chunk of weathered black metal hung back on his belt as he turns towards the departing Stormtroopers sent deeper into the base. He doesn't move to follow them. Instead the helmet is pulled off with a whirring of actuators and servos, bringing his pale face out into the light, a gloved hand smearing sweat back into his hairline as he sucks in a deep breath, the helmet dropping to the ground with a heavy clank. Seeing that the white-armored troops have secured a prisoner, he diverts in that direction as the fight in the hangar itself drops off.

Sgt Ul'Datha, there's no time... the First Order have cleared the hanger. They're on their way to you now... we can't hold. Connix says with no small amount of sadness in her voice.

Hard copy, Connix. I'll find my own way off this rock. Get the kriff out of here. Tess swings her F-11 down on its tactical sling and brings out Addell. You ready for this? She says to the sniper rifle, glancing up at Dha'werd, You know what you gotta do, I'll hold them as long as I can... move. The droid hovers for a second, then whirls around and starts flying at full seeker droid fashion towards the datacore at the center of the station.

Tess pops her neck and brings her rifle up into the curve of her shoulder. Adjusts the sights with a dial on the side and takes up a position near a set of potted plants that line the prominade. "scrotch gimn.. ovsloth brispgui jool je... olf owd scrotch oomnu spenk swyirl.. elpstirstuld stuthsliyelp spidu jool uetchoo.." The weapon barks angrily from her covered position, a wicked line of red energy crashing against the first First Order soldier sees. "jool joomn.. jool imnsulp.."

Oran Arcantael lets Hadrix take point as the group surges forth, falling into the familiar pattern of Vanguard, Knights, all forces go. He barely blinks when a shot rings out, taking a quick moment to assess the situation in the hallway before a hand shoots out to seize the Mandalorian-armored foe and slam her into her own cover. It smarts. "Stop her!" he calls out. "She's trying to interfere with the data core, and save these rats their havens!"

It's not likely that Drath could get back in the fight at this point, nor that he'd be unconscious for /too/ long unless sedated. Considering the injury, it's going to become necessary at some point. It's as the group starts out of the hangar that Drath comes to, followed by a muffled cry of pain that doesn't carry over the commlinks due to a fried transmitter. Left hand gripping vainly at the hangar floor next to him, he blindly manages to flip over in an attempt to evacuate himself to the shuttle, only to be grabbed by a few trailing troopers and pulled back towards the transport for evacuation.

Lioria comes around the corner without the lightsaber ignited and there's no stutter in her step as she raise one hand, fingers flexing out and Force Lightning bursting forth. She's just aiming for the person shooting! She doesn't really care how it goes from there as long as it helps.

He is charging forward, Gripper tweeps and grabs for its owner as Tess pops up. There is a blaster bolt, and then Hadrix is spinning on one leg. He slams into a wall and then is on the ground. The plating over his leg is melting, and the flesh beneath. A heavy shot coring a hole in to sear flesh and heat bone. His ability to remain silent is momentarily forgotten as rage takes him, his externals bursting static and gutteral noises as he rolls to a prone firing position, pulling the priming bolt back on the rifle, Oran's warning cuts into his thoughts, and he notices the droid - it's just like his. It's a long shot, but he opens up, spraying angry fire at the hull of the mechanoid.

Saanvi had looked about ready to assist the wounded Hadrix but with the priority forcefully reiterated she lifts her weapon and fires after the retreating figures, giving chase as best she can with her weapon held up ready to fire again if need be.

The shrill shriek of an all too familiar weapon sends Artemis off course and careening in to a piece of fallen duracrete for cover. Crunch! Dust flits up in an agitated flurry in protest as her plastoid composite covered shoulder slams viciously in to its face. The woman grunts emphatically, to the point that the complaint manages to overcome the insulating effect of her helmet.

Artemis recovers quickly enough and props up her rifle against the piece of duracrete, hunching in to the weapon as close as she can manage to absorb the impending recoil. Squeezing the trigger, her bolt clips a wall as it travels down the hallway painting a conical scorch mark in Vanguard ashen black.

"I... hate... Jedi..." Tess grunts after collecting herself back behind her cover following the unceremonious collision with said potted plant. "Don't worry, I'll be here waiting for you!" She shouts over her shoulder, but she's eyeing the ammo count on the side of her rifle.

"Dha'werd, we're down to the wire here, buddy... It's time for Plan B."

"Come on Addell, we got one more in us.." Her cybernetic hand grabs hold of the potted plant above her helmet and hoists herself in a spin that brings the rifle down with a heavy CLINK against the edge of her cover. It's all for nothing, though. It was actually the worst possible thing she could have done.

The cover might have saved her, it could have given her some protection. Instead, when Lioria extends her hand and sends out lancing white lightning down the corridor it hits, not a pot, but a Mandalorian. A mandalorian who doesn't even realize she's already dead.

Her head jerks suddenly, shaking violently as the electricity hits her cybernetic heart like... well like a bolt of lightning. The sniper goes down to a knee beneath the electricution, her rifle clatters to the deckplate nearby, but out of hand...

Her head jerks again... reflexively, spasmically, painfully.

There's a sharp cough, like someone sucking in breath that wont come... fighting to catch the air that was knocked out of her lungs. It isn't working... and it hurts to try. Darkness seems so much less painful.

Tess grabs at the potted plant and tries to stand up and yanks off her helmet with blood gurgling out of her open mouth. She's completely unaware of where she is, that she's right in the line of fire, and stumbles a few steps back towards her rifle like she very well make try to take it up and fire again...

It doesn't happen like that. She only makes it there and collapses ontop of the rifle. Which she craddles against her chest with her right arm, since her left arm is completely fired... hanging limp and broken at her side.

Each time she tries to breath it's like a fish on the bank, sucking air that isn't helping, and only hurts her more for trying...

Her eyes roll off to one side and then the other... sunken in her skull and dulling rapidly as the life fades...

In that moment, from the direction of the datacore, Dha'werd yelps in what amounts to droid pain and dips and settles down upon the control panel. His uplink is broken, he's broken, but he's got one last trick.

The room flashes a bright white and the explosion rolls out through the open doorway like a river of flames. The droid was programmed to self destruct upon being terminated, and he does, but damn if Hadrix' trick shot didn't make things so much worse. Hitting a coolant line along the side of the wall.

The flash draws the mandalorian's attention and she tries to crane her head to see it... when she does, she grins.. and sucks in a deep breath that draws in her chest like a deflating balloon... it hisses out and leaves her staring lifelessly as the flames engulf her.

The explosion rocks the base, and chunks of debris are flung out at the Vanguard, flame roiling out in a hot jet to peter out just before reaching them. The data core is blown to a billion tiny pieces, but who knows how much of that is recoverable with dedicated technicians? Time will tell. As the flames die back, the last line of defense, Tess Ul'Datha, New Republic veteran, Mandalorian, Resistance sniper, is gone, her last objective complete.