Log:Sith Empire: The Feint
Under cover of an all-out assault on the Citadel, a small group of Councilors enact their plan to take down the Citadel's shields.
OOC Date: November 17, 2021
Location: Coruscant
Participants: Sith Empire: Imani, Tamsin Cas, Tarq Najjic as Self/GM, Xavier Harcourt
[ Tarq Najjic (T)]
In orbit, the heavy turbolaser batteries of the Harbinger and the Sith armada fire several broadsides towards the Citadel. The plasma torches through Coruscant's atmosphere until it hits a carefully-chosen section of the Citadel, whose shields flare blue, visibly wavering under the continuing assault.
From aboard the freighter Fool's Errand, those shields' wobble is visible through the transparisteel canopy dead ahead. Tarq Najjic sits in the pilot's chair, properly strapped in for once. In the cargo hold near the large loading ramp is a ripped-out TIE Fighter's power core and drive emitters in cargo netting. A trio of techs are tied to a column, looking uncomfortable, watched over by two Sith stormtroopers in red, looking impassive and menacing as ever.
"Come on, come on, come on." The Kuati at the helm sets the ship weaving back and forth, but it's still bucking from blasts and shrapnel. "Know you are hurt. Give Tarq Najjic a second. Single moment. Just one," he pleads with the Citadel shields.
[ Tamsin Cas (Cas)]
Tamsin, rather than remaining in the rear of the freighter, has positioned herself at one of the backup stations in the cockpit. She was not seated, though, but had anchored herself there by gripping the restraints she should have been wearing. She stood, leaning some of her weight against the chair, so that she could keep a weather eye on the exterior through the canopy, free hand loose at her side. She paid close attention to Tarq'd movements, keeping a weather eye and ear out in case she needed to Force-fully divert anything physical which might be coming their way, on the off chance that Tarq could not avoid it.
[ Xavier Harcourt (Xav)]
Xavier is doing his pre-action prep. Whatever is going on outside, whatever the mission is; it all starts off the same. Some meditate. Some double check their weaponry. Some read over the target and objectives.
Xavier smokes.
Strapped in a seat behind Tarq, the older man has been a bit more quiet than usual. He's already missed one mission by being laid up in the infirmary and wherever he's been since then has been equally -- or more -- unpleasant judging by the permanent scowl painted under his beard.
If there is any tension in him, it doesn't really show. Only a puff of smoke from the nostrils as he watches the pilot do his thing.
[ Imani (I)]
Imani is armoed and armed, and all items have been checked and double checked to make sure they're present. She's strapped into her seat and has nothing but time to enjoy th wild ride they're currently going on. Is it wise? Probably not, but it's more exciting than staying home. Or on base. Maybe not as exciting as staying on Nar Shaddaa, but it's at least cleaner here.
[ Tarq Najjic (T)]
Another salvo, and the local Citadel shields waver, then flicker off for a few seconds. "Brace for impact!" Tarq shouts. He gooses the throttle, slewing the ship one hundred and eighty degrees with the maneuvering thrusters. There is a heavy crunch, and the aft of the ship rises up about forty five degrees as the intertial compensators let out an electronic squeal - one that cuts off abruptly as the lights turn off. The red emergency lights come on with cheery little blue dots on the ground guiding passengers to the ramp in the back.
The ramp did not lower properly, but it is unlatched and forming an uneven slope down in front of the ship. It will never close again, and the ship may never fly: both hydraulic columns are broken, and a stream of red gas is leaking from the engine. Tarq walks out from the cockpit with a slight limp. "Everybody out! Draw attention. Be flashy, but be /safe/. Defend ion bomb. Is our only way out."
Once down the ramp, you can finally see what ship collided with: a deck gun, now split in half. There are sandbags arrayed in defense positions, but there only a few stormtroopers. To the right, just outside the shield, is a catwalk leading to one of the engineering sections, visible because its walls are blown out and the ground scorched black. Tarq points. "Look familiar, Tamsin?" This really is the same section of the Citadel damaged by the explosion from the last time they went inside - the explosion where everything changed.
In the back of the bay, three black humanoid shapes emplaced in the wall start drawing power, their eyes turning red. There is a control console next to each of them. There is also a door to a freight turbolift, currently closed. Alarm klaxons start blaring.
[ Tamsin Cas (Cas)]
As soon as Tarq spoke, a wave of apprehension washed over Tamsin. She trusted Tarq, yes, but that did not mean that she tristed him not to do something bold and reckless. She crouched down, half hugging the seat she should have been sitting in, using it to brace herself as she ship dove down for impact. The impact threw her into the side of the chair, the impact sure to leave a bruise along the front of her. But that was not a problem for now, as Tamsin returned to her feet. Instead, she moved to fall into line with Tarq, drawing her lightsaber and allowing it to ignite in her hand. When she spoke, in reply, it was almost soto voce, as she leaned into Tarq before stepping away, "If we find the helm, it's coming back with me." This was not the first time Tamsin had been here since that day, it would not be the last. The search continued.
As soon as Tamsin was sure the ramp was clear, she leapt down, keen eyes catching sight of the red lights which approximated eyes and she darted forward, moving for immediate engagement. This was supposed to a distraction, yes? She struck with her saber, aiming for the first of the three pairs of what would be eyes, carving her way through the figure, before she turned to engage the second, finding herself no quite close enough to strike, as her saber passed and hit only air, but at least it put her in the center of attention.
[ Xavier Harcourt (Xav)]
Erratic flying is one thing, but there comes a threshold where erratic turns into dangerous turns into improvised landing. The glowing dot of Xavier's cigarette dims at about the 'dangerous' level; the stick plucked from his lips and tossed to the ground fast enough for him to mutter: "Najjic" then bracing for impact.
A confusing crunch of bending metal and collapsing engines is the soundtrack to their arrival; Xavier's quick reaction bracing him enough to spare a small concussion but not the large bruise he can feel already forming on his left bicep
The little blue lights leading to what could laughably be referred to as the 'emergency exit' highlight Xavier's face from below. "Next time, I'm flying us."
The buckle holding him to his seat releases with a click and he rises, casually following the others to the back of their now useless transport. His combat sword emerges from beneath the robes; the hood drawn up just as he gets to the oddly-opened ramp. "Time to go to work."
Meandering down the ramp, Xavier reaches a hand out to grab a Private by the throat; lifting the faceless Stormtrooper in the air then casually tossing them to the side as if he were littering on Naboo's lovely streets.
[ Imani (I)]
Imani braces for impact as the ship goes down, and not having a preternatural sense of how things are going to go or the best thing to do to prevent injury, she's a little more jostled than the others are. Not bad, but you know, it smarts. Once they're still she immediately unfastens the straps and stands, head turning to look over at Tamsin for a moment. "The helmet was destroyed, along with most everything down there where he was." How she knows it, or if she knows it at all, if that isn't just a guess, it's hard to say with her face hidden inside the helmet. At least not without a little forcey intervention, but without it, hard to say. She doesn't offer any more and instead turns to quickly scramble off the ship, getting a lay of the land for once before rushing in to attack.
[ Tarq Najjic (T)]
As the Sith Councilors leave through the broken ramp, the techs are at work inside the ship righting the improvised explosive, the two stormtroopers the backstop in case something gets past the front line. That's not happening yet, but as yet, the enemy doesn't realize what they're trying to do.
Tarq slices through a trooper in passing while jumping down the side of the ramp. He presses a finger to his ear. "Attack on relay has begun. Buying time." He smirks. "For the Empire," he says wryly. But the smile is wiped off his face as he looks past where Tamsin is leading the attack forward. "What - are /those/?"
The three units in their charging booths next to the industrial turbolift are glowing brighter and more steadily. All black metal, with blaster rifles at their sides, these dark troopers are simultaneously lumbering and mechanically precise, their motions not smooth but disjointed. On the walls next to them, the first unit's charge can be seen as green, and it steps out of the wall. The second unit is mostly charged, but not there yet. The third is only at half. Two of them, in other words, might yet be prevented from joining the battle.
The stormtrooper Xavier casually waves his hand at goes flying backwards and bounces off a support pillar, shooting back at him from the prone position. The stormtrooper before the dark troopers that Tamsin strikes down falls instantly, the others ducking back before her swings.
[ Tamsin Cas (Cas)]
Tamsin, as her two opponents turned away, one only to find himself in an even worse position as he ran right into the business end of Tarq's lightsaber, found her attention drawn away by the sight of movement in the shadows and those red eyes. Tamsin had not before seem such things, droids of some kind, perhaps? If they needed to be powered, but she did not bother to ask what they were, she simply moved, trying to span the distance so that she could get to the power systems. It was not quite like the power up system they had encountered in that old estate on Muunilinst, but the idea of it was the same, and Tamsin got to work, completely ignoring the fact that she was likely putting herself directly in harm's way, as she did not divide her attention by trying to defend herself. She simply to to work, her voice still as calm as ever on the comms, "Nasty system here, I think I...yes." The lights on the second figure dimmed and winked out, "But the system is adapting. I might be a minute." Just another walk in the park, right you guys?
[ Xavier Harcourt (Xav)]
Onto solid ground, Xavier sidesteps out of the way of a shot fired in his direction; the logical answer to being thrown into a support beam, clearly. Sword still pointed down at his side, Xavier reaches into the thin air and grabs that same Stormtrooper who must have only barely squeaked by in their training. The white-armoured figure struggles; legs kicking in the air as a hand claws at the unseen noose tightening around his neck.
"Hmm?" Tarq's question doesn't break Xavier's concentration but it does divert it towards the first of three nasty-looking droids. "Those are... new?" Tamsin is already moving to stop the other to, so Xavier does what any good teammater would do" he runs interferance. "Catch."
Another fling and the hapless Stormtrooper is thrown into the black mech; causing a lot more damage to the sentient and maybe -- maybe scuffing the droids armour.
[ Tarq Najjic (T)]
'Why me?!' So might CT-9156 think as she gets picked up, again, by Xavier, choked, then slammed into the heavy droid. Training and rage carries through, though, and leaning against the dark trooper for balance, she shoots at Xavier again - and it's close. Very close.
That is her last shot, as the Dark Trooper notices an impediment in its travel and slams a fist into it, then turning, squaring up and facing Tamsin at the adjacent control panel. A fist hits her. The next one gouges a hole in the hole. The third swing hits her, too - and these hits are /hard/.
The stormtroopers are scattered, but they recognize the cavalry being cut off at the pass, opening fire on Tamsin, but all their shots going astray.
The third control panel power reading goes up to 85%. Preliminary decoupling can be heard from inside its nook.
Tarq slashes through one of remaining stormtroopers that comes closer to the ramp to see what's inside the ship. He seems content to stay the last line of defense for their cargo. "Oof." He's watching the trooper attacking.
[ Tamsin Cas (Cas)]
Tamsin knew it was coming, how could it not be. She was literally standing //right there// beside some sort of trooper she had never encountered before. Not attacking it, not defending against it, not trying to avoid it. Simply standing there as it if were some set decoration in the play of her life. Until shots started being fired at her, and she ducked with prescient awareness, with her back turned. She could not avoid the blows of the dark trooper through, and she bit back a cry with each blow. But she would not be Tamsin if she did not Tamsin, and as she felt where the strikes were coming from, she twisted her body, slowing the force of the dark trooper's blows to push (punch?) her away from the second panel and towards the third. It took every ounce of her will and concentration to keep focused, to stay on her feet, and to get her hands on the controls as she fought the quickly adapting system. "Not today."
[ Xavier Harcourt (Xav)]
That... sort of worked? His quarry gets one final hail mary that Xavier has the class to at least act like he needed to dodge before they are punched by the Dark Trooper droid. One enemy down. Sadly, he didn't succeed in drawing its attention and Tamsin is set upon by mechanical fists of fury.
"Oh, damn it all. Really?" At this point, Xavier is just holding his sword for funsies for all the good it's doing him. Quickening his pace, the dark-haired man twines his fingers around the insivible threads of the Force; finding wires, gears, and gizmos of the droid's internals; yanking his arm back in a single, violent snapping motion.
The droid staggers backwards off balance; away from Tamsin as sparks fly from every seam and crease of it's intimidating form. A twist of his wrist then forces the Dark Trooper droid to spin around ungracefully to face Xavier who is half-sneering at it. "I'm the one you're fighting. Do you understand?"
[ Tarq Najjic (T)]
The dark trooper's programming is as unknown to the Sith Council as the droids themselves are, but engaging the foe who is hurting you the most is a move as old as war itself. The head twists forty-five degrees to look right at Xavier, then its steps turn away from the Firrereo slicing the system. Its first step is slow. So is its second. Then it pauses. Jets engage beneath its feet and from the back of its torso. Its flight is slow at first, but it only gains momentum with time, as the jets disengage at the apex of its flight, right arm pulling back. As it lands it puts all that force behind its punch, and though its next two don't connect, it is putting consistent pressure out. Its arms cannot be stopped, only avoided.
The third console's power display inches up. 85... 87... 90... before the display itself turns off as Tamsin's fingers fly over the keys, and with it the third dark trooper's red, menacing eyes. Seals loudly re-engage to keep the trooper from simply sliding out and falling over.
Tarq looks at the two stormtroopers, tilts his head to the side and raises his eyebrows. One shoots at Tamsin but misses widely; so too does the one that chooses Tarq as a target. The Kuati just throws his lightsaber at the dark trooper, the greatest threat in the room - even if it's not actually alive. The blades scythes into the trooper's torso, but cuts out a few inches in. "Well /that/ is not good." In case anyone missed the moment: "Has something around core. Saber shorted." The saber arrives back in Tarq's hand, and he flicks it again - it comes on, undamaged. There's that, at least.
There is a loud clank, and then the sound of the industrial turbolift engaging, and the constant whirring sound of the powerful engines that drive it. The door to it is still closed, but whatever it's bringing is heavy.
[ Tamsin Cas (Cas)]
With the two other unknown and definate threats deactivated, Tamsin turned, to see the one active unknown threat rocketing towards Xavier. Don't make her use the frowny face, you guys. Tamsin, raising her saber, took off at a run, clearing the distance between herself and the trooper, still ignoring the two stormtroopers she could identify who were firing at her and her cab buddy, coming up behind the dark trooper, as she brought her weapon to bear, though not so soon that she risked getting decapitated by Tarq, as his saber flew across the distance. There was a squeal of of blade on metal, as she struck, two blows glancing off of its armor, before her saber found some purchase and she carved a swath through it. "Tarq, what is that noise?"
[ Xavier Harcourt (Xav)]
The droid understands. Clearly.
Successfully drawing the Dark Trooper's aggro, Xavier's feet space apart; quickly getting into a ready stance for the volley. What he gets, instead, is a slow, inorganic approach. Servos whirring and clunking as the large droid takes a couple steps up then stops.
There is stillness then a pang of white-hot warning; every nerve ending in Xavier's brain switching on at once. Yet he is still too slow to avoid the first swing. A fist made of pure, solid metal connects with his upper arm and in a one-to-one fight, the meat and bone do not stand a chance.
A cry of genuine pain tears from Xavier's throat in answer to his humerous shattering; his instincts moving him inches from the next two swings in attempt to prevent that from happening again.
Tarq's lightsaber connects from a distance but deactivates on inpact. "That's.... alarming..." Xavier observes, one eye squinting in pain and his left arm tucked against his body. There's not much left he can do to the droid except annoy it, so Xavier's attention turns to the nearest Stormtrooper; taking three swings in rapid succession. One finds that annoying weakspot between the codpiece and the thigh.
It's a good thing Xavier is right handed.
[ Tarq Najjic (T)]
The dark trooper continues with its present prey for one more swing, which misses as Xavier vacates the area to engage in swordplay against someone whose armor is not completely proof against his blade. It turns to Tamsin then, another swing passing through where she was but is no longer, and a rocket-powered kick missing too. A rocket on the front of the leg engages to prevent it from flying too far, and land it back underneath the relentless battle droid.
The two stormtroopers might actually make it. The hope is palpable. After all, they're largely forgotten - unless Xavier scythes into one of them. They open fire at their adversary, but miss. One is beheaded by Tarq as he moves around the edge of the battle. "Relay has fallen. Planting charges. So - should - we." He looks back at the freighter, speaking into the comms. <"Arm it, trooper."> Almost there!
It's easy to forget how loud the lift was until it suddenly stops with a clang. Then the door splits down the middle. Striding through the gap is a twenty-five foot behemoth. It may be the more junior of the Imperial walker family, but the AT-ST is actually better at dealing with infantry targets, and mobile enough to avoid most heavy weaponry. Its guns adjust slightly downward as it plods, and those guns aren't aimed at the Sith Council.
They're aimed at the ramp to the ship.
[ Tamsin Cas (Cas)]
Now this was just getting her back up. If it were possible to see Tamsin's face beneath her mask, it might be possible to imagine just a little bit of Falleen green burnishing the gold of her skin. Thankfully, no one //could// see her face, as Tamsin struck hard at the trooper, adjusting her aim to try to find its weak points. Once, twice, and the behemoth fell. "This needs to come back with us. A live one." So one of the two she disabled.
When the lift doors open, answering her question without words, there was almost a moment of, 'Come on!' as Tamsin turned to look at the thing towering a full story above her. One enemy down, another to go, right? That was the Sith way. Tamsin pushed away from the downed trooper, moving to try to aim a strike at the walker's legs. She did not quite make it.
[ Xavier Harcourt (Xav)]
Xavier is engaged in a two-on-one dance with the pair of remaining Stormtroopers. Merry bop of sword strikes and rifle fire accented with the fluttering of robes as he weaves between the ionized bolts of burning plasma.
The entrance of the AT-ST is impossible to miss. Xavier looks over his shoulder to the new foe's arrival against the backdrop of the Dark Trooper being felled. And what would be a moment of triumph quickly turns sour. "You're kidding me."
Relying on his senses to keep track of the two Stormtroopers still very much in his radius, Xavier twists at the waist and throws his left arm up. With a teeth-baring yell of pain from the fractured bone being flexed by muscle, Xavier gathers the pain into his core and unleashes it full-force into the AT-ST's cannons; shoving them temporarily yet violently off target.
[ Tarq Najjic (T)]
The dark trooper's arm falls off from Tamsin's repeated, inward slashes, and one of them gets far enough to hit a power coupling already damaged by Xavier's mind. With a bright electrical discharge, the only dark trooper to make it out of the dock goes still, its eyes go dark, and without the input from its gyroscopes, simply falls over towards the side that still has an arm. It hits the deck with a crash.
The progress of the AT-ST towards the crashed ship and its payload is inexorable and swifter than it seems like it should be - deceptive, on account of its sheer scale. Tamsin's lightsaber strike against its leg leaves a bright red line across it, but it doesn't seem to have taken any real harm. The turret adjusts as it walks, recentering its aim on the ramp, where the two red Sith stormtroopers are firing uselessly at it. Their shots land, but you can't even tell. This armor is impervious to mere rifles. The troopers keep firing, though, staring death in the face.
The turret swivels to the left as Xavier Forces it away, and the shots that would have killed the soldiers hits the already-ruined and leaking drive of the freighter. The red gas leaking ignites and now it sprays flame up and out of the ship. The side-turret rotates upward, and with a 'pong-pong,' 'pong-pong', it launches antipersonnel grenades into the air, scattering them around its feet and where it is soon to be walking.
[ Tamsin Cas (Cas)]
Tamsin, who seemed to be trying to perform some sort of new age dance, as she tried to avoid the antipersonnel grenades (spoiler--she was a terrible dancer), still, somehow managed not to take the brunt of the attacks, as her boots crunched down on pieces of shrapnel. Never let it be said that wearing heels into combat was not a good thing, okay? Still, there was simply no way Tamsin could reach the weapons platform of the walker, no matter how miniature it was in scale, and she flipped her saber around, the weapon darting from her, as Tamsin aimed with her mind and not with her hand, the crimson blade spinning upward as it sliced through the walker's front weapons turrets, before it spun back down to settle back into her palm.
[ Xavier Harcourt (Xav)]
One success is answered two-fold. The grenades are scattered about the area and Xavier is, once again, given a slow-motion pause to truly reflect upon his life choices. Was the Jedi Order really all /that/ bad?
Yes. Yes, it was.
Xavier spits out a curse that sounds more like a hiss with syllabels and tries to tuck-roll behind a support beam; shrapnel ripping into his robes and peppering his back as the old man is just too slow to avoid the explosion. "Najjic! Got a timeframe?!"
Now leaning onto the beam more for his own support than anything else, Xavier wraps his invisible grasp around the grenade-spewing turret; trying to yank it free of the coupling. Stained beads of sweat gather at his forehead as he struggles against the connections; loosening it but not quite succeeding.
[ Tarq Najjic (T)]
Tarq, surprisingly to some, is also a terrible dancer. Usually he might be better at avoiding grenades than that, but not this time. Fragments cut into his side and the already-sprained leg. The already-dark robes grow darker still from bleeding. "Soon," he answers Xavier. That is unsatisfying and imprecise. He broadcasts to the techs, <"If it's armed, blow it!">
The AT-ST's primary guns are sliced off while still adjusting from the pressure of Xavier's push, Tamsin's lightsaber arcing through it and returning. The grenades scatter among the Council, leaving none unscathed, though Tarq and Xavier take the worst of it. The side-turret swivels back to the front, but the entire body twists to the right so the pilot and copilot can stare down at the three adepts.
Then with a flash of blue light spilling down the ramp of the crashed freighter, all the metal surfaces and electronics in the area have throw sparks, blue shimmers spreading across every exposed surface, radiating beyond where they can see.
The blue light of the external shield preventing their egress vanishes.
"Follow Tarq Najjic!" he calls as he limps toward the crater familiar to he and Tamsin. The Sith troopers and three techs come running after. The guns in this section are disabled for now. Tarq slides down the ladder, saying "Augh!" as he lands on his sprained, now bleeding, leg. But then he hobbles over to pulls up on a fallen durasteel wall. "Sebek's entrance - is /our/ exit. Come on." He raises his hand, but the durasteel budges only slightly. Xavier's efforts add a bit but not much. But when Tamsin raises her hand and all three of them work together, the wall lifts into the air. He ushers the techs and troopers through, and drops in himself.
Only when everyone is inside does the wall settle back to the ground.
"We got - relay, by the way." Tarq takes a deep breath. "Tamsin, think Xavier and Tarq Najjic need help before going all the way."
For the Empire.
