Star Wars: Shattered Galaxy

[Smagmuck_]

"Men! You heard her! Cover her!" The Sergeant said. Immediately, the PURK troopers made a formation, two men in a half crouch in front of the Jedi, one covering her flank, and one on either side, forming a box around her. Knaake knew his odds of surviving this was minimal. But he looked on the bright side, he lasted longer then he would have as a slave. Knaake was one of the two troopers on point defense. If he took a hit from a normal blaster, there'd be severe bruising, maybe a broken rib or two, and a few days in the infirmary. But if he took a hit from a light-saber like the Jedi's. He'd be shipped out in two pieces.

Knaake kept his blaster in a readied position. He checked his corners, there was only one other person there. But he hoped he'd flee before things got really ugly.

I should be off duty now...

 

[socialtangent]

Plasma cutters making their way through the hull. There wasn't much time for Kass to make his escape. Hopefully the Jedi and the squad of troopers would be enough to keep whoever was breaking in at bay long enough for the Screaming Mynock to break away and run. Kass and Horatio made their way past the soon-to-be-dead "heroes" and took off as fast as they could towards the docking bay. Kass attempted to contact the Mynock again and managed to get a weak signal.

"Jett? Prepare the Mynock for immediate takeoff! I'll explain later, but the Sith are here and we need to split, now".

"Uh...looking forward to that explanation, Captain. Prepping for a quick takeoff. Aft engines report some minor damage, but it shouldn't be a problem".

 

[CounterAttack]

Despite the corridors of people swarming to escape the hallways in blind panic, Rec maintained a calm attitude, focused on tailing the PURK trooper who had shown an unusual connection to the Force. All of a sudden he sped up, away from the game hunter: he must have received some sort of call over the comlink Rec assumed Joseph had in his helmet. Then as Rec followed his quarry around a corner, a new Force signature hit his receptive mind, much more powerful than that of Joseph... the aura was accompanied by a low humming noise, which Rec had heard as a child in stories passed down to him from his father. The hum of an active lightsaber.

Was it possible that there was a Jedi on Graveyard Station? Rec immediately thought it immensely unlikely, though no-one else he had ever 'seen' displayed such power. Nonetheless, he got closer to the Jedi, advancing down the hallway to more or less eavesdrop on the conversation.

"If you insist on being involved, cover me and try not to shoot me in the back."

"Men! You heard her! Cover her!"

Something had come up; it would explain the reason for the alarm and the panicking. Rec turned his attention to the empty hallway ahead of the group, his hands moving through the routine motions of unshipping his sniper rifle, flicking the safety off and bringing the weapon up to aim. Walls did not impede Rec's Force-assisted sight: he used this to his advantage, picking out a distinct clump of auras behind what he knew to be one of the doors. His mind recoiled at the slightest touch of theirs. They meant business; presumably they were here to kill the Jedi woman.

In preparation for the combat to come, Rec trained his rifle a short distance to the side of the group of hostile Force-signatures, finger on the trigger for when they broke through and stormed the hallway. The first to enter and show open hostility would receive a shot through the head.

 

[blaze96]

As soon as the ships dropped out and the hull was breached Prenlarr immediately abandoned his toolbox. He knew the halls of this place like the back of his hand and could navigate the areas that weren't full of people without getting himself killed.

Why would anyone attack this station. We have no funds to speak of, and the territory isn't valuable to any nation. Unless this is just an eradication there is no reason to attack.

His designated safe area was actually the repair bay, it happened to store enough shuttles for the workers there so if need be they could at least escape to a near by planet. He ran to the nearest terminal and checked for the breach. One good thing was that he could track it by following black areas on the power grid, battle tended to cause difficulties for the systems on a ship. Luckily the break wasn't on his floor.

I need to get moving though, won't be long until whoever it is reaches this level. He immediately ran back to the repair bay to find it in complete chaos. There were those who had already taken pods to escape and others who were trying to remotely maintain the systems required to at least keep them functional and in the fight. He decided to join those who were doing so, something in the back of his mind told him fleeing was not the best idea.

He reached a terminal and began to monitor the systems, since he couldn't actually fix any systems, he would simply have to reroute the functions through other ship systems if it were possible. Prenlarr currently focused on rerouting communications for security and flight control to separate secure channels, doing his best to make sure communications inside the ship were not being watched.

 

[UnusualStranger]

Marcus was at a complete loss of what he should do. He didn't really have a ship, and really doubted anyone would come out here looking for any kind of escape pod. However....he did see the Jedi hand something off to the Duros, and that meant that is where he should go. Pulling out his Model 434 blaster pistol, Marcus decided to get the Duros going, who seemed either shell shocked, or had no idea where to go.

"I don't know who you are, but I'm pretty sure I heard the lady with the lightsaber to tell you to get moving, so lets GO!" Marcus said, grabbing her shoulder to start pulling Rana in the right direction, and away from the breach that he knew was coming, and towards the docks where they would either find escape pods, a ship, or nothing.

Sith? Those fools are going to die to their own damn blasters if they really are Sith! Rancor breath, we gotta move now, before we are left behind and turn into bait for these guys!

Almost too impatiently, Marcus began to do a quick jog to the docking bays, hoping that there would either be an easy to grab ship, or some escape pods left over. While he would like the Duros to stick around so he could get an idea of what even brought this up, he would rather make sure he survived first, and the Duros being extra.

 

[ultrachicken]

Rana tossed her credits to free up a hand for the holocron. She grasped it with intense vigor the moment it landed in her hands, as she somehow knew that this would be the deciding factor in her fate. The purpose of the cube eluded her, as the exotic object was like nothing she had seen before.

"Run, Rana, I'll find you when I can. If you insist on being involved, cover me and try not to shoot me in the back," Vasera ordered.

Fat chance. I'm not about to go up against Sith armed with a knife.

When the Duros began planning her escape route, she realized that she had no idea where to go. She had never been called upon to use the escape pods before, and had never expected to. When the nautolan grabbed her by the shoulder and gave her direction, she was grateful.

"Lead the way already!" Rana blurted, frustrated and confused. She hoped that the soldiers could hold their ground until she and her new companion reached the pods.

 

[Smagmuck_]

Joseph aimed down his sights, if anything was going to attempt to kill him he'd get the first shot off. As the group moved towards the objective. The Sergeant told everyone to break off and prepare an ambush for the Sith.

Fat chance that'd do good.

But, orders were orders. He went to pull two Thermal Detonators from his belt. There were none. Someone pulling refugee duty didn't need that much fire power. He spooted a loose fitting panel, he'd have to improvise. He pulled the panel loose, grabbed a couple of loose wires and made a primitive shield to block any deflected blaster bolts. He shot a control panel and the lights died. He keyed his night vision and waited.

 

[UnusualStranger]

"Follow along! And don't lag behind, this station was already overcrowded, so we need to get to a ship or pod NOW!" Marcus shouted, and began running to the docking area, hoping now more than before that there were some left.

Great, now I got someone depending on me. Just great. There better either be a ship or some pods left.

Finally arriving at the turbolift, Marcus couldn't help but give out a frustrated growl as power went out in the area causing a rise in panic of everyone who proceeded to open the doors to find a way down to the docks and out. Obviously whoever was boarding wasn't too concerned with the station being online, or with power, or anything probably. They were probably there to just kill.

"...Well, we either try our hands at the docks, or head to engineering and see if they got something there. How you feel about all these people?" Marcus asked the Duros. "I get the feeling we should go to engineering and see if we can find a somewhat broken shuttle, or an escape pod for the crew. Lets go."

With that, Marcus turned in the dark to start making his way towards the engineering area, quite sure there was something there he could take to get off this soon to be deathtrap.

 

[PrinceOfShapeir]

Vasera flattened against the wall on the other side of the cut. It slowly turned into a ring, then the sheet of metal blew inward, followed by black-armored soldiers hefting blasters. The first one through took a blaster bolt to the chest, dropping him to the floor, and the second was decapitated with a quick stroke of a lightsaber. The Kuati troopers moved forward at the breach. Vasera nodded, then turned the corner, her lightsaber dancing and deflecting bolts while two of the troopers sprayed fire over her shoulders. In only a short few seconds, the shuttle's airlock was clear except for smoking bodies.

"That's not the end of it..."

She looked around the shuttle. Under the smoke and the burns, the interior was fleshy, like raw muscle. A band of muscle like a sphincter formed a door, and...

The sphincter slid open, two figures in black combat armor and heavy cloaks stepped through, gripping lightsabers.

"Vasera Delphan. At last we meet."

Vasera gripped her lightsaber tightly. "Come get me." She took off at a sprint, away from the Kuati troops. She looked over her shoulder and shouted, "Run! They're more than you can handle!"

 

[ultrachicken]

"What? Why would we go looking for a somewhat broken shuttle?" Rana shouted angrily, sprinting after the nautolan at top speed. Upon mention that some shuttles might be located in the engineering bay, some members of the crowd began to head in what she presumed was that direction. More competition.

Thunderous booms shook the ground, seemingly emitted from the docking bay. "They" must be in the ship. Rana's pace quickened even further at this thought.

"How big are these pods?" she shouted, winded, at the nautolan.

 

[UnusualStranger]

Marcus sighed as the Duros was already shouting out everything. He needed her to kindly shut the hell up before she ended up getting them both killed.

"LOOK YOU. Listen very carefully. Right now, getting to the docks would be like a space slug of a HUTT trying to run a marathon. Too many people, not enough ships, not enough space, and THAT is where our attackers will likely look for people either attempting to flee, or looking to stop people, or just take all their stuff." Marcus said, stopping to grab the Duros by the shoulders.

"And next, I largely wanted to go look for a somewhat broken shuttle because if we needed to, we could pose as space junk if we needed to, and NOT EVERYONE WILL BE RUNNING FOR THEM. WHICH YOU KIND OF HAPPILY RUINED." Marcus growled much more unhappily. He really didn't have to save her, but...it was probably the only constant he had right now. Perhaps would be useful.

"The pods will be big enough to comfortably fit six or so people at least. So we just need to get on a damned pod in the least and get the hell out of here. Clear?!?" Without waiting for an answer, Marcus began walking again with his blaster away and his short vibroblade in hand. Much faster than his blaster with the few people lingering about. Especially with it being somewhat dark.

Goddamned people. Rancor sized brains, reflexes of a Hutt, and the docility of bait.

 

[Smagmuck_]

"Tactical Retreat!" The Sergeant yelled. "Form up behind the Lance Corporal and back up!" Knaake went into a half crouch and began to back up. He set his blaster to automatic, and let off a quick burst of fire. The Sergeant formed up behind him and rested his blaster carbine on Knaake's shoulder, and fired. Knaake's ears began to ring and his night vision sensors peaked and nearly shut down. He fired again, and it was deflected back, it hit one of the men to people behind him. It had impacted in the matte black under suit, wounding the trooper. Who screamed out in agony.

Fuck, fuck, fuck. This is going bad.

Knaake passed the shield to the Sergeant, telling him he'd help evac the wounded trooper. He scurried to the back of the group and picked up the incapacitated trooper. The blaster bolt had hit him in the gap between the shin and thigh. They limped away from the hostile entities. Adrenaline began to surge through Knaake's veins. He and the wounded trooper rounded a corner. Just as they rounded the corner, they heard screams of terror and agony. Knaake didn't bother looking back. He feared the worse.

 

[blaze96]

Prenlarr noticed the lights on his level quickly flick out. With the forces on station in retreat it was clear the only way to truly help now was to try and ease the evacuation from his terminal. He quickly got power back to the floors with pods still on them and used emergency lights to lead people to where pods were. He avoided sending them to crew only areas as much as possible, yet something in his mind told him that he should make the repair bay accessible.

His fingers quickly moved over the keyboard as he rerouted the power necessary to lead some small amount of people to the repair bay and make it clear that power was still in the bay itself. Focusing on the communications at this point was a useless endeavor as no amount of coordination would particularly save them.

I will need to think about getting off this station soon, most of the other engineers have already taken pods out. I'll try and save as many as possible but I won't take any unnecessary risks.

Hopefully someone would follow the signals.

 

[PrinceOfShapeir]

The two Darksiders stepped over the corpses of dead Kuati troopers, beginning their pursuit of Versera. One of them opened a comlink. "My Lady, Vesera Delphan is onboard this station, along with a number of Sensitives. I believe we have found what she was searching for."

"Excellent." A crisp, feminine voice came through the link. "Standby, the Retribution will emerge from hyperspace momentarily."

A few hundred kilometers out from the Graveyard station, space seemed to distort as strange warships appeared in the system from Hyperspace. The largest and clearly the main warship looked to be roughly two kilometers in length. It was black, nearly impossible to see against the black of space, except for the flowing red lines on the ship, like it was charging a weapon. The red flared out at the rear, forming the engine block, then narrowed in the middle before coming together under the prow, where it was like a great red eye stared out from under the ship, straight at the station. The ships flanking it were smaller, but of similar design. What could be made out, the ships were clearly of inhuman origin, covered in strange lines and angles, like they were conceived by madmen.

The sense of dread that had fallen over the station became worse, the Force seeming to recoil in horror at the ships or their occupants.

And then they fired, red bolts striking across space to slice into the fleeing refugees, turning mighty transports into scrap metal in seconds. The massive battleship turned to target an escort ship with the 'eye', the pitiful escort no larger than a light cruiser.

Then a massive beam of energy lanced across space and struck the cruiser along it's midline before slicing downwards, cutting the cruiser open like a loaf of bread. There was no blast, just the cruiser going dark and the two pieces slowly drifting away from each other, the glow of molten metal slowly fading. No one was still alive on that wreck.

 

[socialtangent]

Jett's voice came in over the commlink. It was edged with something Kass never heard in his normally stoic copilot: Panic.

"Captain! We got ships! Big ones! By the Core, it's a battle fleet! We're milking scragged, sir! We're-"

The signal was suddenly overwhelmed by a horrendously static-filled explosion that barely muffled a terrified scream. Then silence.

Get away from the wall.

It was his instinct again. Kass didn't hesitate to drop into a roll, putting himself as far from the nearby wall as possible and Horatio just behind him. As he did, a massive explosion rocked the station. The swan song of the Screaming Mynock. Horatio was sent sprawling, but not before a pipeline on the wall next to him spontaneously ruptured, engulfing the poor man in boiling hot plasma. He had no time to scream; He was incinerated instantly.

Kass scrambled to his feet and took off, not caring to look behind him. He was heading back the way he came, but at this point, there was no other option. The Screaming Mynock was gone, he was sure of it. His crew dead. The ship he called home for over a decade destroyed in an instant. About the only thing Kass could do at this point was extract some vengeance on the first "Sith" he came across. He brandished his blaster and took off for the main section once again, hell-bent on killing any Sith that got in his way. If he was going to die, he might as well die fighting.

 

[Smagmuck_]

"Fuck! Put me down! Put me down!" The wounded trooper said. Knaake let him down gently against a wall. The wounded trooper pulled their helmet off and let it clattered to the deck. Knaake pulled a Med-Kit from his pack, and looked at the wound. The skin had been burnt to a deep black and had chipped and charred. There was no blood, as the blaster bolt's high heat had cauterized the capillaries and veins. The stench was unbearable. He went to apply an ointment when he was stopped.

"Don't bother." The Trooper said. "I'd only slow you down." He pulled two Thermal Detonators from his duty belt and handed Knaake his PBT Carbine. Knaake knew what was going on and he was right. He was going to be slowed down if he carried his wounded comrade. Knaake slung the extra blaster and was handed the spare ammunition.

Knaake stood up, before he left, the wounded PURK trooper handed him his Holo-Tags. Knaake looked him in the face, saluted him and then ran down the hallway following the Jedi Knight. He didn't want to leave him behind. But he had to. He turned around the corner and as soon as he did he heard two tremendous explosions from the Troopers Thermal Detonators. He stopped, and contemplated going back. He quickly decided against it and kept running.

 

[ultrachicken]

Rana had just about had enough of this nautolan. He was rude, he was a know-it-all, and he didn't seem like he actually knew what he was doing. Then, the warships showed up. A fleet of massive behemoths unlike anything she had ever seen before, almost invisible against the bleak blackness of space. She strode after her companion quickly.

"You want to find a broken ship to pose as rubble? Do you have the brain of a womp rat? A BROKEN SHIP WILL NOT CARRY US THROUGH SPACE SAFELY! Hey, here's an idea; why don't we throw ourselves on top of a live grenade to pose as corpses? They won't see that coming!" she hissed angrily, yet quietly.

Signals flared in bright, red light, directing people towards pods. Rana realized that there were no signs directing civilians towards pods that had been taken. This meant that the signs were leading only to available pods. Finally, a break.

"Look, you know the layout of this ship far better than I do - at least, I hope so. You know which escape pods that these signs point to that would be the least likely to have tons of people swarming them. So lead the way," she asked, the fury rinsed out of her voice completely, thanks to the good fortune she had just stumbled into, "And let me borrow a weapon. If one of the blaster happy peedunkies who are giving us so much trouble pops out from around the next corner, you're going to want someone to back you up, and right now I've got nothing but a knife and this cube."

 

[UnusualStranger]

Marcus couldn't help but shake his head at the Duros as they continued running. He guessed at the moment he didn't have much choice but to use the damned pods, and not a ship. It was not how he wanted to go, but it is what he needed to do now.

"Look, I don't know about you, but I didn't exactly have time to think of a fantastic plan along the lines of...." Marcus was cut off as explosions seemed to rock the station as the huge fleet outside seemed to rip apart everything it could look at. Chances were a ship exploding in the bays.

"Look, we'll go this way, to the repair bays. Hopefully someone is still in charge of these Sith-cursed signs or else we WILL be taking a broken piece of junk out of here. You know how to handle a heavy blaster?" Marcus rattled off, clearly annoyed with his more vocal and sarcastic companion. However, she at least realized she needed a weapon, and handed her his blaster without a second thought. "Just don't hit me. Its a goddamned heavy blaster for a reason."

Finally arriving at the "CREW ONLY" sign for the engineering door, and it opened without issue, leading himself and the others who had gone along following the signs to the repair bay inside. The place was particularly messy, as the run down station no doubt would be in the first place, but the battle didn't seem to do it any favors. There appeared to be a few shuttles that people were now avoiding, with the fleet outside having made it apparently they were all too happy to shoot things down, and to Marcus's surprise some crew that seemed to be actually trying to do something about the chaos going on in the station. Ordinarily, he would take the time to grab something, but survival seemed much more important than any credits or tools he could gather.

Thank the stars that there are some people who seem to still give a damn about everyone else.

"Thanks for helping us find a way out of there. I think its about time for you to get out of here as well. Bit of a problem outside the station now, and I would rather not see someone who helped me out get vaporized in the process." Marcus said to one of the particular fellows on a terminal, a Nimbanel.

 

[blaze96]

"As a crew member of the ship it is, I guess was now, my job to help. You are right however, security is in retreat and escape by ship would be impossible at this point. It is time for us all to leave." Prenlarr grabbed a couple of tool boxes left by some of the engineers as they had fled and climbed into the escape pod. He spoke loud enough so that the man who had talked to him could still hear him.

"Tell me, did any others that aren't in the repair bay follow the lights to open escape pods?"

Please let him have seen at least a few others make it to safety. If nothing else, let that plan have worked.

 

[UnusualStranger]

Marcus decided to follow suit with this particular nimbanel, grabbing some tools himself before climbing into the pod. It was going to make it a little more crowded, but any amount of supplies would be helpful where they might end up.

"I saw some people splitting up to find them, yeah. I guess once those ships showed up, everyone figured that the lights that turned on and off would be the right way. I'm going to guess that was mostly you." Marcus said, taking a seat with the few tools he grabbed.

"Any idea what hit the station? I saw some ships, but nothing that really told me....well, anything other than they don't give a damn what they blow to bits. Most call me Marcus, since it might be nice to introduce each other."

Come to think of it, I don't even know the name of the Duros, and I handed her my blaster! Well..it has been quite a day. Least she didn't get the chance to lose it.