Star Wars: Shattered Galaxy

[UnusualStranger]

"SHUT THE HELL UP AND MOVE!" Marcus shouted, and got to following his own advice and began running towards the still oddly labeled exit. Course, the things were meant to keep working in the event of a disaster, so he guessed that made sense. However, it seemed the things were everything but coordinated, meaning they could still get the hell out of here. Leveling his beam cutter, he leveled it at the creatures, pausing for just a moment to make sure he was ready for the recoil of the now weapon.

Just like a plasma cutter, just bigger and meaner. You bastards are going to be very nicely sliced.

Angling the weapon so if it did go through them, it would destroy their exit, he pulled the trigger lightly to not fire it too long, and the beam lanced out, neatly slicing the creatures. However, Marcus didn't need to feel the heat in order to know that the weapon was running very hot with just that quick burst.

"C'mon! We are moving up or digging graves here! To the surface, and let our ride know we need to get out of here!" Marcus shouted, knowing there was no way they could level down enough fire to stave off anything like this. Thinking that the weapon should be saved for a much larger horde in front of him, he swung the weapon to his side, and instead drew out his blaster pistols, and started firing in the crowd to at least start killing something.

 

[CounterAttack]

With the fresh wave of the abominations heading straight for the group, Rec calmly lined up a sniper shot and put one of the creatures out of the fight - mostly. Since the pack was undoubtedly going to close the distance sooner rather than later, and there would be little time to put a second one down, the hunter dropped the rifle and drew his pistol, snapping off a couple of shots from out of cover before ducking back in.

Marcus's actions with the beam cutter had thinned the ranks of the things, but there were still plenty more of them. "Where's a pair of vibroblades when you need them," he muttered, more to himself than Joseph who was huddled nearby. Rec had been forced to land on Coruscant without his paired blades, since they were built into the gauntlets of his armour and he had had to trade it for the armoured enviro-suit. Surely the blades would help to even the odds a little.

Then a fresh idea hit him as he put down a weakened creature with two shots to the head. The lightsaber he had taken from the Jedi Wing. Just holding the weapon had given Rec a sense of power; surely that power could be focused into the death of the monsters attacking the group. The telling downside was that he had no training with, or knowledge of how to use, the fabled weapon; a lightsaber could cut through almost anything, and Rec could easily lose an arm or leg if he accidentally misused it.

 

[Smagmuck_]

"Don't have to ask me twice." Joseph shot off. He ran and dove just behind Marcus, rolled and came up to his knees, immediately shouldering the rifle. He caught something in his peripheral vision and swung his head to look.

On the wall, skittering across it, was one of the creatures, attempting to flank the group. He went to aim and shoot but Marcus was in his way. Joseph swore, and turned to Rec.

"Rec!" Joseph shouted. "4 o'clock high! 4 o'clock high!" He refocused and dropped two more creatures with adrenaline fueled accuracy.

 

[blaze96]

Prenlarr took out his own beam cutter. He knew he would have to be extremely careful with his rounds, so he mainly waited for a group while he kept up with the others.

"Let's just hope the pilots can get to us in time." Prenlarr said as he saw a small group and lined up the shot. Luckily what he couldn't do with a blaster he could do to some extent with the tool in his hands.

 

[UnusualStranger]

Turning his own unfocused attention towards the target that Joseph had been screaming about, he noted the target and let fly with a few blaster shots, knocking it off the wall. It likely wasn't dead, but it wasn't going to get to them quicker than the others to hold them up. Slamming his fist onto the emergency button to open up some stairs to lead upward, which thankfully appeared to be for the most part intact.

"COME ON! We gotta get to the surface, and to the depths with these things! Prelarr, we are sealing this with our beam cutters! MOVE MOVE MOVE MOVE!" Marcus shouted, going up the stairs some looking over all the walls and roof. Spotting none of the things crawling about, he turned to watch on the doorway which he hoped everyone would hurry through.

Gotta cause a bit of a collapse, or seal the door shut. Otherwise, we will need to outrun these things, which we won't like this. Gotta cause a bit of damage on our own, and hope that it doesn't bite us in the ass later.

"Hey, can anyone raise the pilots? I got nothing on my end, and would like to have them hovering above us when we get topside!"

 

[PrinceOfShapeir]

In orbit, on the bridge of the Aullanger, all hell was breaking loose.

"Captain, we have a tight-beam transmission link with the Hawkbat, we are transmitting to them the coordinates to the weapons fire we've detected. They're on their way."

"Sir!"

The Captain turned his head. Ahead, space shimmered and then a death-black ship appeared with a flicker of pseudomotion, about rivalling the Aullanger in size.

"Unknown warship has just jumped in. Sir, design is similar to a new entry on Fleet Net - designation Retribution-class Sith Battlecruiser."

"Oh, damn. Helm, fastest course out of the gravity well, calculate a jump to interstellar space. Get us the hell out of here!"

As the Aullanger began it's descent into the gravity well, the Sith battlecruiser began disgorging craft - fighters and shuttles.

Against all odds, the Jedi hopefuls fought their way through the feral mutant hordes and made it to the surface to see the Hawkbat incoming - only for missiles to punch through the shuttle, reducing the once magnificent craft to flaming debris. As the fire faded, they could see a pair of small Sith fightercraft, escorting a larger shuttle. All bore the same sinister, death-black design of their larger warships.

Their comms switched on.

"This is the Retribution." A crisp, military voice came through. "You will be overrun by the feral mutants, sooner or later. You have a choice. Board the shuttle that's coming down...or be left to die. It's your choice."

 

[UnusualStranger]

Marcus didn't bother to pause as he initially saw their shuttle began coming in, only for it to be blown out of the sky. Marcus then quickened his pace, heading towards one of the buildings he had noted on the way in. Like the Jedi Temple, it appeared for the most part intact, and well enough held together that the walls wouldn't come crashing down around them.

"This is the Retribution. You will be overrun by the feral mutants, sooner or later. You have a choice. Board the shuttle that's coming down...or be left to die. It's your choice."

Go bathe with some banthas, you sick excuses for Sith. Marcus thought as he grabbed his beam cutter once more to carve his way into the structure. With the quick cuts, as he strapped the tool-now-weapon in place, he heard a quick beeping, informing him that he would need to replace the crystal in place inside the beam weapon if he planned on using it again any time soon.

"Come on! You go with them, you might as well hope that they kill you quickly." Marcus said simply over the comms, looking around inside the building, finding it in some poor shape inside, but it seemed sturdy enough for the moment. And relatively clear of the monsters who obviously were either running from the incoming ships and explosions, or the Force was with him. Regardless, no time to let his guard down.

I'll survive this like I've survived all the other times, Sith, Jedi, Fleets, and monsters be damned. Mar Kiarus Krang will not go without a fight, and isn't going to go fly with people who purposefully try to kill him.

 

[blaze96]

Prenlarr agreed with Marcus, but he couldn't help but point out the problems with this line of thought even as he himself followed it.

"So what is your plan? It probably isn't likely that there is still a working ship in a working space port, and even if there was how will we avoid getting shot down. I mean, it is rather clear they have air supremacy. So if you have a plan, now would be the time so that we can actually help."

The more he thought about it the worse this idea seemed, even though it was their only real option. There was really little to no chance of escape, if anything that ship contained sith that would capture or kill them if the locals didn't. Even if they could get off the ground they would probably be killed soon after take off without activating some kind of automated planetary defenses. Which that was assuming they even still worked.

 

[UnusualStranger]

"Then we don't go to the space port. While this planet may be dead, it isn't without it's leftover equipment, especially personal, or left behind company equipment. And then we could maybe even find some automated defenses to...commandeer." Marcus replied, doing yet another check of the building he had gone into, starting to go over in his head the best way out of the area and into cover.

It wasn't the first time he had been shot at while salvaging, and it wouldn't be the last time either. In fact....

"If we can hold down for a bit, maybe they won't hold air superiority for long. Come on! You can go be a Sith plaything, but I would rather keep my skin where it is."

 

[blaze96]

"I'm not arguing whether your way is the way we should go. I'm just wondering if you have a more concrete plan or if we are just playing this by ear and hoping everything falls into place." Prenlarr said as he followed Marcus.

"I'll help in any way I can but this day seems to be getting worse and worse. Luckily if other buildings are like the jedi temple I may be able to get us into a defense system for the planet and at least distract them somewhat."

 

[Smagmuck_]

Joseph's survival instincts kicked in. They were out gunned, out manned, and they were surely going to die. He quickly surveyed the building, looking for any structural weaknesses to use to their advantages in case the Sith decided to use ground troops. He used his view finder to look for a good vantage point to post a sniper to keep anything else pinned or take out any vehicles. His brain worked at top speed formulating plans, contingencies, variables. What if they brought in heavy air support? What if the mutants broke through a back wall? What if some of the group decided to give up. All of these flew through his head.

"Alright," He started. "We have two options, we either all get captured, and have some form of weird needle of shoved down what passes for our urethra." He visibly flinched. "Or, I'll create a diversion, and leave it up to Marcus to make sure you all get out of here alive and hope for the best. The choice is yours, but I'd rather make sure you all get out alive for the good of the galaxy than have us all end up strapped to a wall."

What the hell am I doing?!

 

[UnusualStranger]

"Hoping things fall into place is the best thing we got at the moment. Besides, I am more than willing to bet your skills could lock down a lot of these places behind us. Won't stop the bastards I'm sure, but it will slow them down, which is all we need till we find something more stable." Marcus said back, keeping his moderate pace going, making sure to check out each area as they continued to run.

It was at that point he heard Joseph start talking, and almost wanted to smack the helmet right off the human.
"Don't go playing hero-boy on me. We split up, we will be easy pickings for both the Sith and the monsters. We keep our asses moving, we keep to the buildings, and we shut down any doors we pass through, and turn on any defenses we find. Maybe we will get lucky and find a private docking area. If we can, we will not only be secure, but maybe have a way off this goddamned rock that isn't filled with unpleasant torture." Marcus continued chatting, letting off a few blasts on a lone creature that had been digging at something which Marcus didn't care to look at.

Alright, good. We are inside at least, which means we won't get picked off or simply overwhelmed by the damn things in the open. Just gotta start cutting things down to stop em if we have to.

"PRENLARR! How much energy you got left in your cutter? I need a chance to change mine." Marcus asked, keeping his blaster moving about to make sure nothing would jump out without getting a few blaster bolts.

 

[CounterAttack]

None of the scenarios presented by the Sith, Knaake or Marcus were particularly appealing to Rec. Nor was the situation at hand: he knew how to kill things like krayt dragons and other large game, not run from waves of mindless mutants through a long-since-ruined cityscape. Since the group was all too literally on the run, his sniper rifle was borderline useless; Rec had had to make do with his pistol, putting blaster shots through heads or eye sockets, and violently disposing of the few fiends that got too close for comfort. Again, he wished for his paired blades, or the ability to effectively use the lightsaber in his possession.

"You say we might get lucky, Marcus... I am inclined to believe that the odds are somewhat against us. But you are correct in saying that splitting up will weaken us," he chipped in. "I think we need to find something that can help us to either hide or make an escape." Defending a fortified location could only last for so long. The Sith could turn the creatures into their frontline forces, and send in their own troops when the group had dealt with all of the mutants in the area. By then they would be severely weakened, Rec could tell that much.

 

[blaze96]

"Alright so running it is then. I'll do what I can to cause as many doors to go into full lockdown as possible as we go. As for beam cutter, I have plenty left, only fired it once so far. Once it became clear we would need to cut through a door or wall I saved it." Prenlarr said, he had switched to his own blaster pistol but was only accurate enough for center of mass shots.

 

[UnusualStranger]

"Odds are always against you on the surface of a bad planet Rec. Since we are still breathing, I would assume we are not doing half bad. Yeah, we need a place to hide, which is why we are in this building. Hoping we can find a place a little more closed in." Marcus said, keeping his steady pace, and his eyes moving.

"Good, Prenlarr. Carving my way in here kind of used up mine, so if we can get a bit of breathing room, I would like to have it handy to cut our way out of anything." Marcus said, keeping his thoughts running.

"Alright people, see anything that tells us what we are in? I can't think of any particular structures that would be near a Jedi Temple except maybe military checkpoints or something."

 

[Smagmuck_]

"So we do what?" Joseph asked. "Run until we get ourselves captured? This planets been dead for fifty years! There may not be a working space port! All you're going on is some blast assumption of yours. And on top of that, they have air superiority, so you find a ship, get it airborne and then what? You get caught in a tractor beam. And everyone gets captured." He ranted. "Are you willing to screw everyone over on an assumption? Are you? All I'm asking is that you let me buy you some time, I'm not asking to pull some heroics, I'm asking to create confusion so you can hole up is some pseudo-bunker until help eventually arrives."

 

[UnusualStranger]

Marcus began to chuckle darkly, despite himself.
"Soldier boy, I'm pretty sure ships last longer than fifty years. And if we do go to fly, we won't take off into the enemy ship." Marcus said simply, glancing about to see if he could find anything else worthwhile.

"And you would be pulling some heroics. Run off and do...what? Get ran over by the monsters? Grabbed by the Sith? For us to go hole up in a position with little ammo, combat supplies, and no idea how many we are facing? We need to keep moving, and out of plain sight. I'm being goddamned Sith-damned, rahkghoul-piss, bantha-crap, optimistic. If you want to go clamor for the ending and thirst a death thinking yourself a hero, stand in a doorway and fight and die, or run out to the Sith and get captured and your skin peeled away. Otherwise, don't let anything other than useful information get past your mouth, like where a ship is, where the monsters are coming in, or an idea of where to go to get the hell out of here. I don't need your stupid-soldier-trained ass getting us killed, or leading more of them towards us. Offer something that doesn't involve splitting up or standing around to fight, and maybe it will be appreciated." Marcus snapped, obviously not happy upon not noting anything in particular in the room as he continued his search, noting more rubble blocking a window which he was somewhat thankful for.

I swear, I did NOT sign up for this garbage. Was just going to be a quick grab of Jedi artifacts, and a go. Now we got Sith breathing down our necks, monsters running around, and people thinking they have a better idea than the next guy. Just wish there was something USEFUL near this forsaken place. There has to be, a Jedi Starfighter or something.

Somewhat annoyed now, he was glaring about the next room, noting that there were oddly no windows or any noticeable openings in the room regardless. Perhaps storage or something. Annoyed with the lack of things, he turned his attention to the next door, bringing his blaster to bear again.

 

[PrinceOfShapeir]

With a flicker of pseudomotion, the gray dagger of KSD Aullanger returned from hyperspace, lashing out with waves of blue, red, and green energy that caused the Retribution's shields to glow a pale white before collapsing, blasting chunks of black armor from the great warship. The Retribution began to roll under the barrage, retaliating with it's own weapons.

The group's comms crackled.

"This is Captain Ibram Kell of the KSD Aullanger. We've informed Admiral Cath of the situation, and the fleet is inbound. Just hold on down there. We'll keep these Sith occupied as long as we can. Admiral Cath estimates arrival in twenty minutes time."

The Aullanger's hangers slid open and began disgorging hundreds or thousands of spheres that each swarmed into battle. Several dozen of the spherical craft headed for the planet's surface.

In response, Retribution began disgorging it's own bird-like fighters, in far lesser numbers. Battle was joined in earnest.

 

[UnusualStranger]

Marcus started to chuckle as he heard what he had suspected and hoped would occur. The help had arrived, and now they just needed to keep moving. At least for a while longer. As long as Prenlarr kept sealing the doors behind the group, which he was quite certain annoyed the creatures to no end as some of them would slam their fists into the doors attempting to force them open. And while the place was a wreck, the doors were not simply going to give way.

"HAH! See? Not dead and stuck yet. Come on, we need to keep moving yet. The monsters are not going to give up, and I imagine the Sith are not going to simply let an opportunity like this simply pass them by. Rec, you happen to see anything more...human like following us? I would like to know if we got actual Sith warriors or something coming for us." Marcus said, in much better spirits now that he knew what was going on wasn't just delaying death in some form or another.

Force be with us. We might just pull out of this yet. Just gotta play our cards right, and we might get off this forsaken rock, and I can stop leading these untrained people around here....well, Prenlarr knows what is going on at least, and Rec at least tries to keep us rolling. Maybe he will know what to do after this mess.

With thoughts of the mess soon going to be behind him one way or another, Marcus stepped into a room which he didn't enjoy the look of. Lots of places for things to hide.

"Sealing this door off. Would be better if we just decided to go another way." Marcus said, stepping back out, having the door seal in front of him.

 

[Smagmuck_]

Joseph lurched out at Marcus, rage in his eyes. He grabbed him, spun him around and punched him clean across the jaw. Knocking Marcus to the floor, where upon Knaake jumped on him and began mercilessly bounding Marcus' faceplate in, until the visor cracked, and inevitably shattering, exposing Marcus to the Nerve Agents. Joseph didn't stop there, he unsheathed his VibroBlade and slit Marcus's jugular, blood sprayed against the wall. Joseph went on to stab through the shattered visor several more times while the group gawked at the sheer brutality of the sight. Everything began to fade to white as Joseph let his rage flow through his veins.

Outside of his mind however, and to the rest of the group, the only sign of Josephs' mental distress was a simple eye twitch and eerie silence coming from him. He stood there, his finger hovering over the trigger mechanism; eager to shoot at something to unleash his inner rage. He whispered to himself.

"I'm going to fucking kill him..."