Lord Minious rifled through sheets of data on the bench in the Heqadquarters. Looking up and sorting through the data on all Sith controlled planets, he began calculating which fleets would be stationed where.
Suddenly, an alarm began blaring through the Headquarters, jotling Lord Minious out of his calculations.
Spinning around in his chair, Minious pressed a button, sending a desperate sounding Shadow's voice booming through the near-empty room.
"Lord Minious! We have been invaded! The Chiss have brought three fleets to Bastion, overwhelming our defences, we need help urgently, send a fleet, please!"
With that the comunication broke off.
Minious stood up, bolting to the Council Chambers.
((OOC: Shadow, if you want, you and Eenari can now write a lead up part, of how you get to this stage, perhaps from when you land on the planet to when the Chiss arrive. Please remember everyone, save the comments for the Comments thread.))
Lord Divious
((OOC: so are we waiting for shadow to post? or can we go ahead.?))
Darth Acheron
((OOC: Well, it would be good to learn the lead up events before we continue, but if he doesn't post by tomorrow, we can just ocntinue.))
Emperor Shadow
(Ah, sorry gentlemen, I'm here)
Shadow was quickly inputting data into an encrypted file in the station. His apprentice was busy destroying data cards and they were preparing to fall back to Beta Station. He was given authority by the planet's governor to manage any military affairs while on planet; he had thought he would not need that power since he was simply giving his apprentice a lesson in the Forece that required seperation from other Force-users. The Chiss were fierce and two Sith alone would not be enough to prevent a full-scale assault.
He finished and had given orders to the ground forces and defense stations around the planet. Forces were mobilizing on and around the planet, but without Commander Minious' fleet, they would be dead before the sun set on Bastion possibly for the last time while it was under Sith holding.
He quickly inputted a subspace code into his communicator, the Force was not strong enough this far away, and got Minious on the line. He was screaming over the sounds of raining laser-fire into the input.
Minious would need to be there soon, but he had a long way to go. He had a plan, but first he and Enari had to reach Beta Station alive.
Lord Divious
The boom over the speakers were deafening. Even though the communication array connectors were in a seperate room, it sounded as if they were right beside Him. Divious jumped out of his concentrated meditation. A distorted Shadow's voice was screaming across the connection for help. The Chiss were gaining ground and it was no longer safe for Shadow and Eenari, without the help of the sith and their fleet.
Divious quickley got ready and grabbed all of his things, he would have to be ready if he was needed for this mission. He enclosed his comlink and shoved it into his belt alond with several other miscilanious items. Finally he grabbed his lightsaber and clipped it to its holster.
He raced out of his room where he saw Commander Minious running.
"My lord! What has happened?" he shouted to the other Sith.
"The chiss are Advancing." he replied with a loud voice. " Shadow and his apprentice need backup and fast."
" May I be of assistance?" Divious questioned entering the Council Chambers.
Darth Acheron
Minious hastily bowed, as the Council looked up from an issue they had been discussing.
"I apologise for my abruptness, my Lords and Ladies, but Bastion is falling, with the High Prophets life and that of an Apprentice's at risk. I must take a fleet to aid him. Perhaps Lanik can follow up in a mop-up operation a few hours after I leave, but I must go now," Minious said out of breath.
Empress Chick nodded quickly, "yes, of course, go, go now, before anyone else is killed."
* * *
Lord Minious and Darth Divious climbed into a shuttle, which sped into the high atmosphere and into the Eliminator, Minious' Super Star Destroyer.
"If anyone else is going to come, they;d better do so now," Darth minious said, looking out at the fading planet.
Darth Lanik
Lanik stood on the bridge of his Super Star Destroyer the Doom. He had just received a call from Lord Minious and was on his way to Bastion.
Emperor Shadow
Shadow an Enari took Shadow Trap to Beta Station's fortified Tower Three. There they would await the Sith Fleet and in the meantime deal instructions to the Bastion Defense Network. So far, all was going fairly badly. The Chiss had broken through nine defense grids and they would soon be defenseless. Shadow had to talk with the Chiss Commander and he had to find a way to do it fast.
Darth Acrimonus
Darth Acrimonus' shuttle arced gracefully toward the Eliminator. Hastily moving his hands across the controls, he hailed the Super Star Destroyer.
"This is Darth Acrimonus, I've heard what is happening at Bastion and wish to volunteer to assist in anyway possible."
There was a moment of silence as the comm officer relayed the message to his superiors, and then the unmistakeable voice of Commander Minious boomed over the comm.
"You have clearence to land," Minious said hastily, "But make it quick, we have to leave now."
"Of course, my Lord," Acrimonus replied, then deactivated his comm unit.
After landing his shuttle, Acrimonus made his way to the command deck and report to Commander Minious.
Darth Acheron
The lurching of the ship's deck told Darth Minious that the ship was launching into Hyperspcace, and the tell tale star-streaked image in the forward view port confgirmed this thought.
Hearing the click of boots, Darth Minious turned to see Darth Acrimonous standing to attention, saluting smartly.
"You got here just in time, one more minute and you would have been stuck for a ride," Minious said, "At ease."
Turning he walked to a command console, typing in a quick few figures.
Five names came up in Basic, Huttese and Dathomirian: Torturer, Archurus, Torakan, Spartan, and Inferno, the five Empire Class Star Destroyers Darth Minious hads under his control.
"Which of these five do you wish to command into battle, Divious, and which of the five do you wish to command, Acrimonous?" DEarth Minious said, addressing the two Sith standing before him.
"Once we arrive at Bastion, your personal shuttles will take you to your ships, and they will be yours to command."
Botyh Divious and Acrimonous looked thoughtful as they tried to decide which ones they would choose.
Lord Divious
Divious quickley examined the 5 ships. The Decision was quick.
"I'll Take the Sparten" Divious said. He accessed the log files and typed in his take of the Sparten and the uses. HE finished and let Darth Acriminous do his duties.
"I'll meet you two at the command ship to Bastion" With thad Divious strode out of the room to the hangebay.
Emperor Shadow
The constant sound of booming fury was becoming constant as Shadow was sitting on a raised platform in the center of the Control Station. He was beginning to calculate a strategy that would destroy one of the advancing Chiss vessels and help give them an upper-hand until the fleet arrived.
Meanwhile, he had given Enari a team of Special Commandos that had been trained by the Sith Military and they were currently making their way to the Chiss Command Center to establish who the Chiss in command was.
Shadow took his communicator out and requested a subspace line to see how long the Fleet would be. It would be a long day, of that he was sure.
Darth Acrimonus
"I shall assume command of the Torakan," Acrimonus stated.
Acrimonus waited as Divious declared his intention to take command of the Spartan, and then as the steps were taken to transfer the Star Destroyer to his command.
When Divious had finished, Acrimonus moved to the console and made the necessary changes to shift command of the vessel to himself.
"May the Dark Side be with us all," Acrimonus said, saluting Commander Minious again, before he followed Divious to the hangerbay.
Darth Acheron
A few hours later, Darth Minious heard the loud klaxen alarms that announced their revesion to real-space. Nodding to a nearby officer, Darth Minious indicated his intent to drop the ship out of Hyperspace a bit late so as to catch the Chiss by surprise.
As the other Star Destroyers reverted to real-space, Darth Minious nodded again, and they too dropped out into the living hell.
Looking around, Darth Minious was amazed. Two Chiss capital shipd had been destroyed, but many more remained, more then Darth Minious cared to try and count.
"Now," he ordered, and he watched as the two shuttles took Acrimonous and Divious to the Toraken and Spartan respectively.
He sighed in relief, as he saw the shuttles, which were each accompanied by four Sith Fighters, make it to the hangars of their ships with little trouble.
"High Prophet Shadow, Apprentice Eenari, come in. Do you read me? Repeating, High Prophet Shadow, Apoprentice Eenari, do you read me, this is Lord Minious."
Emperor Shadow
The Commander's message was bursting from overhead like a long forgotten ballad.
"Commander, so nice of you to join us. We still have viewer capability."
The communication between the two continued on a massive screen to the left of the platform.
"Commander, we are holding off Chiss advancement on-planet. Our long-range scans have been taken out and I do not know how many ships wait for you in orbit. On planet, the Chiss have an incredible holding and I suspect they had inside help. My apprentice is leading a task force to the Chiss front lines to learn the name of their commander so I can open a dialog and hopefully resolve this mess."
Shadow paced the long wall, a haunting chill followed him and in the faces of those whose lives were currently hanging in the balance, he sensed fear... of him and the Chiss.
"Commander, I have some ideas you may find useful. If we are forced to evacuate, I'm sure you will be interested."
Apollyon
The alarm for war was ringing inside Apollyon's ears.
He was thinking about the on-coming battle.
He could only imagine the hundreds of clawcraft that were being torn to shreds outside the durasteel hull of the super stardestroyer. He was anxous to join in.
Twin ion engines sreamed all around him as he ran into the hanger bay. With that, he jumped inside his advanced tie fighter and waited to be deployed...
Darth Acheron
"I'm glad to heasr your still alive Shadow, we shall bring aid to you." Turning, Darth Minious barked an order to the Captain, "Deploy the TIEs and shuttles, quick!"
With a lurch, the hangars on all of the Destroyers opened, spewing forth waves of TIE Fighters, all in neat formation, and themselves spewing green energy, literally rrpiing through the Clawcraft.
While the TIEs attacked viciously, two hundred shuttles flew swiftly to the planet, hoping to launch their soldiers into the front line of the battle.
"We are sending a shuttle for you, Shadow, get on board and make it back here, now," Darth Minious said, as he watched the TIEs come around for a second sweep.
"Come on Lanik," he muttered, his knuckles a pale white as they gripped the rail, "Where are you?"
Emperor Shadow
"Thank you, Commander. I won't leave without Enari. He's getting closer to the Chiss and I will take the Shadow Trap and retrieve them, then I will join you aboard your flag ship."
Shadow raised his cowl over his head and smiled to the Commander.
"Lord Minious, do we know the name of the Chiss commander? Why are they here? How many Bastionions are lost?"
Darth Acheron
Darth Minious sighed, his hands moving rapidly over a keypad.
"It appears they are led by one Char'atik'lan, with the core name of Ratikla, he appears to be one of their best strategists since Thrawn, if not the best. They are here because of a foolish error made by the Expansionary fleet a few months ago. It seems that Revenous ordered them into the Unknown Region in a hope of expanding our reach. The Chiss did not take to our intrusion, and battered us back. Now, they are here to bring the fight to us, as they are now able to fight back, under the Chiss customs. The losses have been catastrophic, all but three of our Golam Defense stations have been destroyed, with only one still left operational. Large sectors of the planet have been viciously bombarded. So far the death toll is in the billions."
The silence that followed punctuated Darth Minious' explanation, proving how shocking this weas to all around him.
Emperor Shadow
"Brilliant strategists, quite interesting. It must run in Chiss families."
Shadow began walking the length of the bridge.
"Commander, it will take some time to secure Enari and his team. If you would be so kind as to divert two fighters as an escort and distraction, we shall be with you within the hour. I'll be waiting in Hanger Four with my ship and shall leave in five minutes. May the Force be with you. Shadow out."
Darth Acheron
"You heard the man, divert two Sith Fighters to help him," Minious ordered, turning, and pressing a button, he spoke again, "TIE Fighters, this is Commander Minious, the Chiss have far greater numbers then our own, so concentrate on taking apart the fightrers one by one. Take one Chiss Clawcraft for every squadron of us, as they have sheilds and you don't. The Star Destroyer will try and keep their capital ships off your backs."
The resultant clicks told Minious the message had been well received.
Looking out the viewport, he saw a capital ship looming in at the last functional Golam station, firing with all its guns.
"Weaponry, target that Destroyer, now, before it breaks through the last defences," Minious said, pointing at the offender.
Lances of green light blazed out at the ship, striking heavily along its sheilds, raking down, and through to the engines.
The cvontinued fire from the SSD's lasers eventually broke through the powerful sheilds, and fires began to blossom along the rtuptured surface of the Destroyer.
Lisping sideways, it began a turnaboutl, heading towards them, firing its lasers in a last, desperate attempt.
Minious' eyes widened as he saw there was no way for them to avoid the incoming ship.
Switching frequencies once again, he said, "All ships, concentrate fire on that Destroyer, quickly! Before it destroys us!" He screamed, spittle flying from his lips.
All TIE fighters broke off from dogfights, and all Star Destroyes did an about face, all guns aimed at the wounded beast.
"Fire!" Minious commanded, and sheilded his eyes against the enormous bursts of green lasers lancing into the craft, piercing through deck after deck, each level merely disintegrating as the lasers struck and super-heated the atmosphere inside the ship.
Eventually, the engines were struck by several concussion missiles fired from the Star Destroyer Toraken, the one under Acrimonous' control.
The lumbering beast slowed to a stop, the grinding of the engines making it seem all the more life like, as it took fire from all angles.
Finally, it could stand no more, and let out one more howl in defiance as it exploded into a sun, as fire blossomed out of the craft, the bridge and crew, disintegrated in a second.
Darth Minious sighed in relief, "Thank you Acrimonous, now everyone, back to work," he said, and the TIEs returned to fight the Clawcraft.
Emperor Shadow
Shadow's ship flew from the hanger far swifter than many of the ships on planet... still left on planet, that is. Two Sith Fighters fell into place behind the Trap and he made his way to the planet's surface where he let his ship hover above the land.
The ship swiftly arced over objects and smoldering debris as they drew closer to the Chiss front. Shadow was possibly going to have to sacrafice the fighters, but so was war.
He had sent orders to Enari to get beyond Chiss shields in order for his beacon to register on the ship's computer. Shadow ordered one fighter ahead to take care of an incoming claw craft.
Time was something Shadow did not have. Enari was waiting and the Commander was expecting him. He allowed the Force to guide him and he ordered the ship on standby as he took the explorer craft in the ships hold to retrieve Enari.
When he reached the ground, half of Enari's team was gone and the other half wounded. Enari himself was uninjured and looking defeated.
"Enari, come on!"
Shadow began using the Force to lift the commandos to the explorer craft, and they were in the air again before the blazing Chiss laser fire lit the spot they were just sitting in.
Shadow felt one of his fighters pilots life slip away and the other covered the explorer as it made it's way back to the Trap.
"Comander, this is Shadow. We're on our way. Requesting landing instructions."
He switched frequencies and commed his other fighter.
"You are free to rejoin your squadron, we'll be fine from here."
And with that, they were blazing upwards towards the massive Sith fleet and the dangerous Chiss forces.
Darth Acheron
As shuttles landed on the ground, troopers spewed ut, all armed with blaster rifles and vibroswords, and covered in Sith armour.
They were a terrifying sight to behold as they tore into the ranks of the Chiss, yelling Sith war cries as they went, hacking and chopping into the blue skinned aliens allaround them.
Managing to beat back a line of the Chiss, the troopers had set up in a make shift base, where they had received further orders from their Commander to secure the HQ, for if the Chiss managed to take it, all would be lost, as they would be able to deactivate the sheilds surrounding the planet and allow more Chiss to land.
Marching forward in lines of twenty, they armed their blasters and sighted along them, watching the defenders of the base fight for their lives against the vastly superior Chiss.
Ordering his men forward, the Lieutenant in charge fired twice, taking down a Chiss, and wounding another. Arming a grendade and firing it cause the deaths of two more.
Still, the Chiss out ranked them, and turned to face this new threat, as a quarter of the Chiss pressed forward against the defenders.
Roaring lodly, the Lieutenant fired, cutting down the charging Chiss as he and his men fired rapidly, his men falling under the heavy fire they got in retribution.
Looking around the Lieutenant saw his men fall to the ground, dead or seriously wounded, and realised they could not win.
Arming his last detonators, he charged forwards, throwing them as he went, carving huge chunks out of the Chiss line.
A stray bolt hit his chest, but he kept running, firing until his pack was depleted. Slapping in another, he set it on automatic, and kept his finger pressed down, as more and more bolts hit him, in his legs, arms, and chest.
His last pack gone, he drew his vibro blade, slicing at any alien who got to close, roaring in defiance as he felt his life slipping away, as he felt the injuries finally taking their toll.
Watching through half-blurred eyes, he saw the Chiss overcome the defenders and swarm into the base, and he knew they had failed, they had lost Bastion.
A last breath of air flew out of his lips as another bolt hit his face, charring away the armour and revealing the man inside, unable to see, hear or think, Lieutenant Jon Basartyr slipped into the realm of the dead.
Emperor Shadow
Shadow was furious. Why didn't he have more warning to their invasion? Someone had betrayed him. Shadow was making his way to the bridge where he would meet Commander Minious. Hussled officers were avoiding him like death itself in the bustiling corridors of the Super Star Destroyer.
A swish of opening door and cloak billowing out, Shadow stepped onto the bridge, Enari had taken his team to a medical ward. Shadow stepped behind the Commander and sent out his presence in the Force.
"It is bloody down there, my Lord. By all guesses, the Chiss will overtake the planet in six hours and move on the orbital defenences by evening. Please tell me we have help coming."
Shadow stood beside the Commander and watched countless engagements of Chiss and Sith. It would certainly be a long battle indeed.
Darth Acheron
Commander Minious was silent for a long moment, as a transmission came through from the planet, scarred with static.
"Fall back," he said, when the message ended.
"What?" Shadow said, starting forward, "And leave all those good men to die out there?"
"They will be dieing for the Empire, now do as I say," Minious said to the Captain, "Fall back. Collect the TIEs, and fall back. The Chiss have control of the planet, we will need to win it back, but right now, we need to regroup with Lanik's taskforce, and re-plan our attack."
Emperor Shadow
"Have you a use for me, Commander? Or would you prefer I retire to quarters?"
Shadow was listening to ball reports with great calm and admired the way the Commander's staff kept order and control under these conditions. It was a tribute to his leadership and Shadow started out at an approaching Chiss contingent of claw craft swooping over the hull.
Darth Acheron
"All forward lasers fire," ordered Commander Minious, as the craft opened fire on them.
Turning to Shadow, he grimaced, "Yes, retire to your quarters, it will make this job a lot easier without the dark presence of another to cloud my senses."
Emperor Shadow
"I understand. Best of luck, Commander."
As he began to exit the bridge, he turned and walked back to the Commander.
"Lord Minious, I would like to start an investigation. I think a traitor allowed the Chiss through system defences and slip through without triggering an alarm hours in advance."
Darth Acheron
"Understood, denied though." Minious said, his hands clasped behind his back.
"We need to regroup, and begin planning a counter-attack, we may be able to use that meeting to our advantage to fork out the spy, which is why I need you to keep a tight lip about our thoughts on the involvement with a spy. Once we re-group though, you may begin the investigation.
Turning away, Minious talked over the comm, "Alright fleet, on my mark, we jump to Hyperspace, and head for Dantooine, a nearby base. Alright, one, two three, mark."
In the blink of an eye, every Sith ship left the doomed planet, leaving thousands of Sith Troopers behind to fight on on their own.
Lord Divious
((OOC: holy crap! i havent really had time to read everything! whats happened?))
Emperor Shadow
Shadow had long since left the bridge and was overlooking the calm world of Dantooine. The Sith heavy fortifications of the world had made this in some ways far safer than Bastion had ever been. The Chiss would be unable to reach them this far into their territory, and if they could, Shadow would quickly lose faith in the defenses of the Empire. A signal at the door alterted Shadow of a visitor. His meditation would be put on hold.
"You may enter, Captain. But you really ought to be on the bridge where you are needed."
"The Commander is brilliant enough without me." It was a statement more than a question.
"I suppose he is."
"Do you like your accomidations?"
"A bit grand for my taste but they are wonderful. Captain, perhaps you can do something for me."
"Anything for the Church, High Prophet, I am a great admirer of the Prophets."
"How humbling," Shadow said barely noticing, "I require a list of every man, woman and child on Bastion at the time of the attack. Can you secure this for me?"
"For what reason?"
"To ensure one of the Church's priests were not on the surface." This was a lie but it was all Shadow could do without breaking Minious' directive.
"Yes, of course. I shall work on having that list sent to your data pad."
"Thank you, Captain. I sense the Commander is distraught, perhaps you should report to him." His hand firmly waving in the air, Shadow resumed meditating.
"Perhaps I should report to the Commander," he said as he exited.
Lord Divious
((OOC: i hope this is okay, its kinda short but im gonna try to get back in this.))
The Battle so far had been gruesome. Millions of men slautered at the hands of the chiss. Divious stood on the bridge of the sparten as he grabbed his comlink.
"Lord Minious?" Divious said
"Yes, Divious?" A crackled voice replied.
"What use do yo have for me right now?"
Apollyon
"Get alongside that one!" Apollyon shouted as one of the clawcraft spinned around blasting with all four laser tipped cannons, ripping through four of his own wingmates. With only one of his ties remaining, he shouted once more into the intercom, "Get on my wing, Black-2! Let's take out as many of these damn clawcraft as we can!" Black-2 quickly followed suit barrel rolling behind Apollyon's right wing, almost in suicide-formation.
Without any warning a double blast left Apollyon's right wing almost completely decimated. With his tie sparking and tottering on its axis, Apollyon was reduced to a balancing act of keeping his tie from ripping itself apart.
Darth Acrimonus
(Sorry I missed the first battle. Seeing as a retreat was ordered, I figured it easier to just pick things up from Dantooine.)
Darth Acrimonus stood at the viewport in his quarters on the Torakan, staring at Dantooine below. The Chiss fleet had been far stronger than expected, leaving Commander Minious' no choice but retreat. To do anything else would've resulted in the needless deaths of loyal troops
Images of the battle flashed through Acrimonus' mind. The pride he'd felt when the gunners on the Torakan had successfully disabled the Chiss Destroyer from making a suicide run. The dazzling display of pyrotechnics as the capital ships exchanged fire.
A number of his pilots had died in space, and Acrimonus had no idea of the fate of the troops who had landed from his vessel, but overall the damage to the Torakan and casualties of her crew had been minimal.
For now, the battle was over, and Acrimonus had no idea when they'd be making a second attempt at retaking Bastion. All he had now was to supervise any repairs to the Torakan required, and await a call from one of the other Sith to debrief on the events that had transpired, and discuss new strategies for their second attempt.
Darth Acheron
((Apollyon, all ships are onboard the Destroyers, and were taken with us when we jumped for Dantooine, unless you stayed behind))
The Commander sighed deeply, looking at the results of the battle as they flashed by on the screens.
One of the Imperial Destroyers, the Dark Force had been incapacitated in the battle, and had been unable to jump to lightspeed, leaving it trapped amongst a blood-thirsty enemy.
Minious tallied the ship and crew as MIA, as they were either dead or captured. A whole ship. Destroyed without even a chance to fight back.
The ships that had made it here were in bad condition.
The Sting of Death, another of the Imperial class Destroyers, had lost all its aft sheilds, and only had twelve functionable turbolasers. Half its engines were off-line, so it lisped to the side as it flew.
The Inferno was almost unrecognisable. Its engines still functioned perfectly, but another direct shot would have ripped it apart. Its hull was charred beyond recognition, and none of its turbolasers were operational. It had no sheilds left, and so was not prepared to continue the fight. It would be heading back to the Empire for repairs as soon as the relief Fleet, led by Lanik, arrived.
And so the list went on, ship after ship, all with losses, even Minious command ship, the Eliminator had no atmosphere in the bottem fifty decks, and had ten turbolaser batteries off-line.
"Lord Minious?" CVame a crackled message over the comm.
"At the moment, nothing, we are going to sit tight and await Lanik's arrival. Any ships in need of urgent repairs can send shuttles down to Dantooine to get supplies, but other then that, I need you and Acrimonous to report to me here. Together with Shadow and his Apprentice, we should be able to come up with a good plan."
Emperor Shadow
Shadow was pouring over names and checking and cross-checking with a secure database at the Church the status of many of the Imperial names. People do not betray him and live long afterword. If he could find some corrolation between a person and their events prior to the invasion, he could prove who this was and be back to training Enari before too long.
Whoever this was was clever, they had forced Lord Minious to give up a vital location in the Empire's holding and gave them a strategic upper-hand in further engagements.
Whatever happened next would happen quickly and be mortality decisive. Shadow sat on the floor to meditate and the lights slowly died in his new chambers on the scarred mass that was the flagship of the fleet.
Darth Acheron
Turning on the comm to all ships in the fleet, Lord Minious cleared his throat, "After a few hours of caluctlating total damage, I have decided that everyone is to go planet-side, so as to set up a meeting for the Sith, and the Captains and Admirals of the ships with their men. Head for the nearest shuttle men."
(Sorry, not very long)
Darth Acrimonus
Commander Minious' orders came over the comm, snapping Acrimonus' mind to attention. As soon as they were complete Acrimonus ordered his shuttle be prepped, then headed to the Torakan's bridge.
"Darth Acrimonus," the captain said, saluting, "I was just about to comply with Commander Minious' orders and have the crew sent planet side."
The captain stood waiting Acrimonus' reply, as if expecting the young Acolyte to question, or even disobey, Minious' command.
"Very good, Captain," Acrimonus replied finally, "Minious is first and formost the Commander of this fleet and I've no desire to disobey him. I simply wished to request an inventory of all available resources onboard that can be spared to assist in the repair of the other vessels."
"Yes, of course," the captain said, signalling an officer to comply with the request, "It should only take a moment."
The officer returned promptly, handing Acrimonus a datapad detailing the information requested.
"Thank you, Captain, you may continue to over see the crews departure."
The captain saluted again, which Acrimonus returned before turning on his heel and heading to the hanger bay.
Darth Acheron
Minious' shuttle flew swiftly planet-side, not only transporting him, but thirty other men and women of the Empire.
As he landed, and disembarked, the shuttle flew off again, to trasnport another load down to the surface.
Making his way to the agreed meeting spot for the Sith, minious stood, and waited.
Emperor Shadow
Shadow's ship twisted its way down from the Commander's flag ship. He and Enari stepped off of the landing platform, their eyes adjusting to the light. Purposefully, Shadow strode with Enari in stride toward the Commander.
"My Lord," was all Shadow said.
Apollyon
It had hardly been more than a day since Apollyon had entered the battle. He was still in shock over losing all his wingmates. It had gone by so fast... He couldn't help but think of them as his tie fell into the upper atmosphere of Bastion. 'All those men... How could this happen?'
His thoughts were quickly interupted by the buzzing of the onboard computer. He was closer to the ground than he had thought. He quickly pressed the ejecter and braced for ejection. Nothing happened. The computer began buzzing once more, "Error. Port ejecter disabled." Apollyon could hardly believe his ears. "Disabled? Who could have done this!?" He didn't have time to wonder, however. He quickly grabbed his blaster and sent a few volleys through the cockpit window. 'I hope I time this right." He muttered under his breath.
The glass quickly shreded as he dove through the newly made opening. This was make or break time. Missing the blasts from the Chiss Clawcraft and diving from the pieces of his own Tie, he flew to the ground of Bastion. Deploying his parachute, he landed softly on the Bastion soil.
Darth Acheron
Minious stood at attention, and nodded to Shadow.
"I'm glad you could make it, High Prophet, now, we just await the arrival of Prophet Divious, and Darth Acrimonous, and that blasted Lanik, where is he?" Minious said, looking into the sky, in a futile hope that Lanik's fleet would suddenly appear.
Emperor Shadow
"Then wait we shall. Do you have a reception area established?"
Shadow too looked up and stretched out his mind. He raised his cowl and stood off to the side from the Commander.
Lord Divious
Divious was flying his own personal shuttle to the planests surface of dantoine. A Meeting was called by the Commander. He would not be tardy.
The recent battles were not looking good. The Sith Army was forced to retreat from Bastion.
He landed his shuttle near the meeting area. He opened the cockpit and hopped out. With a wave of his hand he opened the door ot the meeting area where he saw the Commander and the High Prophet Shadow.
"Commander Minious, Master Shadow" Divious said as he nodded to them.
Emperor Shadow
Shadow's eyes glowed bright. He had sensed Prophet Divious approaching and had risen to give him a traitional Church greeting.
"We are glad you can be here, Prophet Divious. Have you had any communication with Grand Admiril Lanik? I am worried about a Chiss ambush of his fleet."
Lord Divious
Divious returned the greeting. It was always good to see a member of the church.
"Im sorry to Say i have not" Divious responded with worry. "I assume you have not either?"
Shadow Shook his head. The silence was shared by all. Each Thinking of the different things that could be happening.
Darth Acheron
Minious gripped the handrail in front of him, "I don't know what has happened either," he admitted, "Unfotunately, we may have to give up hope of Lanik ever arriving."
Darth Acrimonus
"Commander Minious, High Prophet Shadow, Prophet Divious," Acrimonus said, announcing his arrival, nodding in respect to each Sith in turn. "Forgive my lateness, but I had a list of available resources compiled."
Acrimonus handed the data pad to Minious. It was obvious that things looked grim, with no sign of Grand Admiral Lanik's fleet. No amount of available material was going to compensate for those missing vessels.
Unsure of what else to do, Acrimonus stood in silence with his fellow Sith, awaiting either Minious' or Shadow's assessment of the situation.
Darth Acheron
Still looking at the door, as if hoping, beyond hope, that a soldier would rush in and announce Lanik's arrival.
"We're doomed," Darth Minious said softly.
Emperor Shadow
"The Sith do not know what doom is, Commander. Out of anyone here I would expect you to begin marshalling the troops for a second engagement."
Shadow summoned an aid to fetch him his data pad from his ship.
Darth Acrimonus
"I must agree with the High Prophet," Acrimonus said, "I don't presume to have greater tactical knowledge than you, Commander Minious, but I honestly believe we still have a chance. History has shown us that we still have a chance. If a rag-tag group of Rebels and their self proclaimed Jedi Master could overthrow Palpatine, surely four Sith and the capital ships we can repair would be enough to resist the Chiss invasion."
Acrimonus paused to gauge whether his words had any effect. As far as he could tell Commander Minious' still appeared to be carrying the weight of the fleet on his shoulders.
"We could try hit and run tactics," Acrimonus suggested, "Striking at them at random points to test where their defences are weakest. At least we could find a way to recover our soldiers, taking down as many Chiss as possible on the way."
Darth Acheron
Darth Minious nodded, straightning up, "Of course, I merely meant that without Lanik's help, it may be hard to reclaim the planet. We may need to draw on other help, perhaps Lady Saber and her fleet are nearby, or possibly the Dathomirian Vengeance, I just hope nothing serious has met up with Admiral Lanik."
Darth Acheron
((Since after reviewing the NEC, and discovering Dantooine is right next door to Bastion, I'm going to have us retreat further.))
Minious sat discussing the battle, and working out logistics with the Sith, when the alarms began to ring.
Getting to his feet, Minious grimaced, that siren meant the Chiss had entered the system.
"All men to the ships, lets move, now!" He ordered, swiftly ordering the men about.
Shuttles began flying to and fro from the ships, with the fighters creating a defensive perimeter.
Finally, the Sith were aboard the Eliminator, and the ships jumped to Hyperspace, bound for Rhen Var, where they would be safe from the attackers.
Darth Acrimonus
Darth Acrimonus paced uneasily aboard the Star Destoryers bridge as it leapt into hyperspace, and to the safety of Rhen Var. He knew Commander Minious was doing the right thing, giving them time to regroup, but it still felt like running away. Still felt like abandoning those who had descended to Bastions surface.
Stop this, he ordered himself, Your anxieties help no one.
He stretched out his mind, using the Force to expand his perceptions, allowing him to sense the entire captial ships crew working efficiently. Until they reached Rhen Var, Acrimonus knew he'd be of little help, but sitting idly by would only serve to enhance his anxiety. Instead, he put the time to personal use, sinking into a deep meditation until needed by his fellow Sith.
Darth Acheron
Commander Minious sat on the bridge, deep in thought as the Comm Officer tried again and again to call in Empress Saber, in an effort to get reinforcements sent to their location.
"Captain, take command. I want to be alerted an hour before we arrive at Rhen Var," Minious said, finally leaving his seet to return to his chambers for a long meditation.
Darth Acrimonus
Acrimonus' mind flailed in the Force. Deep in meditation, he had allowed himself to drift with the currents in the Force as it swept through him, reaching out into the infinity of space. But something had alerted his senses, something terribly wrong, and now he fought to keep his mind where it was and discover the source of what he felt. Despite his best efforts, Acrimonus failed to hold his ground, and his mind was again swept away.
Acrimonus' eyes snapped open, his body instinctivly leaping to its feet and drawing his lightsaber before he realised he was alone in his quarters. His thoughts were erratic, the bad feeling leaving him uneasy, unsure who to seek.
Out of the window, the barren icy wasteland of Rhen Var hung, the Sith fleet safely orbiting while waiting reinforcements. That thought caused Acrimonus to break out in a cold sweat. What if no one was coming to help them?
He paced his quarters, unsure of what he should do. Surely, Prophets Divious or Shadow would have a far clearer view of what he had sensed, as Acrimonus had never been particularly gifted at precognition. But the bad feeling seemed to be urgent, happening even as he paced uselessly with indescision.
I'll let the Commander decide, Acrimonus decided finally.Walking to the comm. station built into the wall, he punched in the code for the hanger bay. A technician responded, to which Acrimonus replied "Have my shuttle prepped."
"Yes, sir!" The technician replied instantly.
Acrimonus then dialed up his ships bridge. "Captain, have word sent to the Eliminator that I am coming aboard imediatly."
Without waiting for the Captain to respond, Acrimonus drew his robe about himself set out to make the trip across to Commander Minious' ship.
Darth Acheron
(Since we're on different ships, thats going to be pretty hard, )
Darth Acrimonus
(I do own a shuttle, y'know )
Darth Acheron
(You just seem to imply finding me on your ship, thats all.)
Lord Divious
(OOC: So whats happened we are reatreating to Rhen Var? Im just trying to figure out a way to get back into the story)
Darth Acheron
(We're on our way to Rhen Var, Acrtimonous is there, and we are about to arrive. From there we are going to launch a counter-attack, IF Lanik ever gets here, or we will do it on our own.)
Darth Acrimonus
The flight was only brief, Minious' vessel having taken an orbit near by when entering the system. Acrimonus didn't know what to expect. While he wasn't showing up unannounced, he knew the Commander had only just arrived in the system and may not want to be disturbed by Acrimonus' potentially trivial feeling.
Acrimonus was shown into Minious' private chamber. The Commander sat inside, the room dimly lit, making him look ominous. He said nothing as Acrimonus moved into the room, bowing before him, gathering his thoughts.
"I'm sorry to disturb you Commander," Acrimonus began, "I know you're only just arrived-"
"You can skip your apology," Minious said, "What troubles you?"
Minious' voice did not carry any great hints of concern, but it also lacked any signs of impatience or disappointment, for which Acrimonus was greatful. The Commander would hear him out, and then make the descision he felt best.
Acrimonus outlined the dark feeling he'd experienced, admitting he lacked the trained forsight of either of the Prophets involved in this mission. The Commander sat in thoughtful silence the entire time, taking on board what had been said and its relevance to the mission.
"Ultimately," Acrimonus concluded, "I decided to come straight to you, to see if you believed there was any validity to what I feel. I cannot say for certain what it is, but I do feel time is running out."
Acrimonus watched as Minious' continued to ponder his words, waiting for the Commander to announce his conclusion.
)
)