The Old Sith Wars (IC)

[EliteCommander]

(OOC)

Xan-Rhu-Tor looked out into the forest from the Kira fortress with a sigh. It was a strong, defensible position, but they had been besieged for days. The Naddists had backed off for a moment, but he knew that another wave was right around the corner, and they grew weaker by the hour. The dark side presence on the planet had been steadily weakening the Jedi, and a few of them were simply unable to fight. Still, it was not hopeless; the Republic was on its way with reinforcements, so all they needed to do was hold out just a bit longer.

Xan turned around and looked over the Jedi preparing themselves for battle. He was not the highest ranking Jedi on Onderon, but since Master Jeth had been captured by the enemy and anyone higher than him was too weakened by the dark side to fight, he was the Jedi with the most responsibilities that was present. Morale had been falling for every day they had been under siege, especially among the Padawans, so Xan felt that he should say something before the battle to remind them of their role here on Onderon. Since the beast riders were preparing in a different part of the fortress, Xan was able to speak to the Jedi alone.

Xan thought for a few moments on what he was going to say, then stepped up in front of the rest of the Jedi to get their attention. He took a deep breath, then began. “Like many of you, I have heard talk of how some believe we are going to be overwhelmed; that we will die defending this fortress from the dark side. Indeed, this is a potential fate we all agreed to accept as Jedi, but it is not our only fate, our only purpose. The roles of the Jedi are many. In peace, we are the upholders of law, the protectors of the people. We uphold our code and our way of life for the betterment of the galaxy as a whole. In war, we are the guardians of the Republic, protectors of democracy and the enemies of tyranny. We fight against the dark forces of the galaxy so that all may live free. Where we stand today, in battle…” Xan said with a pause. “…we are symbols. We are not the soldiers on this battlefield, no, it is the valiant beast riders, who have been fighting the dark forces of this planet for ages, that are the soldiers. As Jedi, we are symbols they may rally around. We represent the hope that peace may yet return to Onderon, that the dark forces that have plagued this planet for so long will be destroyed. So my advice to all of you is that you not lose sight of who you are as Jedi, and what you represent. The Republic will arrive to aid us soon, but in the meantime, we must stand strong in the face of our enemy, we must fulfill our role as Jedi.”

[RainTheifAustin]

Volisk stood before a large of Naddist, several fallen Jedi stood by their sides. The crowd filled with rage, hatred, and anxiety. They gripped their weapons tightly, blade wielders in the front of the group, blaster and slug-throwers in the back. The group was massive, they prepared their final assult, they had a force that wuld surely devastate the Onderonian forces. Volisk raised his saber and activated the blade, the dimly lit tunnel shined with a crimson light now, and he began to speak. "For Freedon Nadd!"
The crowd raised there weapons and let out a war cry, the roar echoed through the tunnel, and the crowd followed behind Volisk as he charged form the tunnel, they erupted onto the surface and charged the fort, the mass of people ready for comabt, the ranged soldiers unleashed hellfire upon the fort and it's forces. The mass began to split and stike at the fortress guards. They rampaged along the walls as the Beast Riders and Jedi flooded out and began to return the fight.

[Darkshadowmark]

"Today is a good day for death...may Freedon Nadd burn to dust in his grave..."

He stood on top of one of the guard towers of the fortress, watching the cultists gather in force to hammer the fortress once again, to invade it as water invades rock, to bring down the last remnants of the army of Iziz. It was a losing battle, one that he should be far from...but they had done some serious damage to his left arm. Four blaster shots to his arm. No permanent damage, but it was sore as a Wookie's arm after being broken by Czerka slavers...he clasped his hands together and closed his eyes, letting the force wash over him and empower him. The sounds of the cultist war drums in the distance silenced themselves as he recited the Code of the Sith in the ancient language known only to the highest Lords of the Sith.

Nwûl tash.
Dzwol shâsotkun.
Shâsotjontû châtsatul nu tyûk.
Tyûkjontû châtsatul nu midwan.
Midwanjontû châtsatul nu asha.
Ashajontû kotswinot itsu nuyak.
Wonoksh Qyâsik nun.

He leaped off of the tower and fell towards the ground and used the force to soften his landing. He felt his body become leaner, faster, deadlier, as the force made him sprint at high speeds and off of the wall as the cultists attacked the fortress. He rocketed forward and, in midair, lashed out with the force and enveloped one of the enemy soldiers with it and threw him back into a tree to be impaled and killed. He landed, rolled, and continued sprinting, Asmenys iv tave Kojafonas in his hand and activated. He dashed past a tree and sliced it in two, knocking it over and onto a group of cultists, slowing them down enough for him to use his free hand to lob frag grenades into the leaves and decimate them. Blood and chunks flew into the air, showering those around them in their comrade's life forces. He deactivated Asmenys iv tave Kojafonas and took aim with his assault rifle, firing three times and destroying the brains of more followers of the dead Sith Lord. Noticing what he was doing, several tried to flank him, but were only met with his saber being activated once again.

He cared not for his own life as he rushed at them, using the force to make him faster once again, though growing weaker by the second. He pushed two away and threw his saber at another then used the force with both hands to lift the last into the air and slam him into the ground, a nearby tree, then into the air so that gravity would do the work for him. The two that he had pushed away were just recovering as he did this, but they would get no time to find him as Trandoshan slugs went through their skulls and made them crumple and fall over.

He was able to take a moment of reprieve and used the force to snap Asmenys iv tave Kojafonas back to his hand and let his body recover from the use of force powers. He used a tree as cover as the rest of the forces were distracted and he took a deep breath before diving back into battle.

[Ellri]

Tellin Dar had come to Onderon on a mission. Nothing would stop her from fulfilling that goal. Not the indigenous brutes, not these weaklings claiming to be using the dark side, and certainly not the hated Jedi. There was a comfortable hum to the world, for the dark side permeated everything. She could not help but smile at how much power was at her disposal. Her targets would not know what hit them.

She had landed far outside the city of Iziz, hiding her ship far off the beaten path in the wilderness. Weaklings claimed that nobody could safely land anywhere but at the starports of Iziz, but Tellin knew better. Only the weak relied on walls for this so-called safety. Sure, on her second day on Onderon, one of the native beasts, a Drexl, had tried to make a meal out of her, but the question of beast vs. lightsaber had only one possible result. While not the best she had tasted, its flesh was perfectly edible.

What really made her laugh at the Onderonians was their wanton security around their city. The soldiers tasked with guarding the walls were so busy watching the skies that they did not notice her at all. Until her lightsaber cut them in half after she leapt straight up to them. They were so stunned to see an intruder that they did not even manage to sound the alarm. Tellin paused only to take in their pathetic visages before continuing into Iziz itself.

She slid the lightsaber back into its wrist sheath, then jumped down to street level. There were no people about, so nobody noticed her entry. She pulled her hood deep over her head, concealing her features from any observers, then marched down the street. It did not take long to come out into more populated sectors, but none dared try to stop her purposeful march through the city, so she did not have to kill any more, be it with her lightsaber or the force.

[Magmas]

As soon as the shields were lowered, Kai flew her ship out of the hanger of the Republic cruiser, Virtue, which was currently on its way to Onderon. Her sleek starfighter pulled ahead of the Republic forces as she moved towards the planet. She had been tasked with securing the drop zone for the main force before aiding the Jedi.

Kai believed the job to be a bit trivial for someone of her talent, but she was sworn, as a Mandalorian, to do as she's told... and the pay wasn't bad either. The drop zone was in Kira forrest, just out of view from the fortress, and, according to her scanners, the city was empty but sometimes, scanners lie. She landed outside the city and hopped out of the cockpit. Kai donned her trademark mask, which hissed as it connected to her face. Her ragged cloak flowed slightly in the breeze. She drew her blade, just in case though she didn't expect it to be of use. She activated the comm.
Kai here. If you're planning to come down here and kick some Naddist ass, I suggest hurrying up. The mask gave her voice a metallic taint. She smiled and sat on the wing of her Davaab-type and waited for the Republic forces to come down.

[Rtron]

Vrantin smiled beneath his mask as he viewed the force user, possibly another Sith, cut down the guards of Iziz. "Rablaaz my friend, and here I was thinking that there wasn't going to be any excitement for us." He commented as he watched the woman's unstopped progress through the city. The wookiee grinned and responded in the wookiee language, as he didn't know any other form of language. Vrantin chuckled. "I suppose you're right. Best to challenge her now, before she causes much more problems." The two of them had been set on guard duty with the rest, to make sure the Republic didn't make a surprise attack on the capital while they were crushing the last vestige of resistance against the Naddist forces. Not an order he relished, but he supposed there was a small chance something interesting might happen. Clearly, it had. He and Rablaaz watched as the woman cut down the guards after leaping upon the walls. They followed her progress a bit, waiting for a good opportunity to jump down in front of her. They found one shortly.

A few feet in front of her was a low building that a normal human would be able to drop down. A wookiee even more easily. The dropped down in front of the hooded woman. Their weapons pointed at her. Vrantin with his Mandalorian heavy blaster pistol, and Rablaaz with his Bowcaster. "Now, that wasn't very nice. Cutting down the guards like that. You had no idea if they would have let you through." Vrantin chided. Rablaaz growled in agreement. Vrantin's lightsabers were hidden by his robes, while Rablaaz's Ryyk blade, which Rablaaz had hand constructed himself and was resistant to lightsabers as when he and Vrantin sparred he didn't want to risk it being sliced in half, was clearly displayed at his hip. "Now, why don't you put your lightsaber where we can see it, preferably on the ground, and any other nasty surprises and weapons you have for us." Vrantin requested, doubting she would agree to that. But hey, when he killed her, no one could say he didn't give her a chance.

Rablaaz growled something. "My friend says that you should take your hood down to. He would like to be able to see your eyes. No funny business, you see." Vrantin translated. Then he switched to Wookiee himself, as it was doubtful the woman knew the language, and a short discussion between the two ensued. "I don't trust her to do anything we say, so what shall we do? Kill her?" Vrantin asked. "No, I say we should capture her, and bring her before Volisk for judgement." Rablaaz responded. "Why? It'll just increase her chances of escape." Vrantin queried. "We'll find out both why she came her so secretly, and maybe we'll gain more of his trust." Vrantin chuckled. "And why would we need more of his trust?" "Slay him before he slays us. Or, and this is more preferable, make an alliance with him to help eliminate each others enemies." Vrantin shrugged. "I'll agree to that." He said in Basic once more.

The entire time the two had been conversing, their eyes had never left the woman, and their weapons had never wavered from their aim on her. "Hurry up and put the lightsaber down would you? I'd rather make this as quick as possible." Vrantin ordered her. Again, not that he thought this would work, but it was worth a shot.

[EliteCommander]

Xan looked out over the battlefield, watching the Jedi and Beast Rider infantry hold off against the Naddist forces. He was waiting for the right moment to call in the next wave of defenders, the fearsome Drexl ridden by the Beast Riders. Once the Naddists came in range of the riflemen on the walls, he would signal the Drexl to fly in and trap as many of the cultists as possible between the guns of the fortress and the beasts' teeth. After a few minutes, Xan saw that the Naddists were nearly close enough, so he used his datapad to signal the Beast Riders, then turned his attention to his Padawan beside him.

"Ready yourself, Omwot, now is the time we must fight." Xan said taking his lightsabers from his belt. He was uncomfortable with bringing his Padawan into such a large battle, but the situation was desperate, and every Jedi would be needed if they hoped to succeed. Xan jumped down from the walls of the fortress, using the force to soften the fall. Just as he touched the ground, the Drexl mounted Beast Riders flew overhead, their mounts letting out deafening roars that would intimidate all but the toughest of foes. Some landed in the mass of Naddist troops with their fearsome Krayt Dragon sized beasts, while others showered down heavy blaster fire from above. Xan activated both of his sabers, then focused himself into combat, ready to charge the line of cultist troops.

[cqbexpt]

Tactus dawned his Modified republic armor and walked out of the armory followed by a cadre of other merc's. All of them where on the Republic's pay roll now. Depending on who you asked this was enough to fight there war for them. It certainly was for Tactus. They all made there way to one of the nearest hangers on the ship from where they where and began boarding shuttles along side republic troops. Just to make sure they did not mistake him for one of there own Tactus had painted his armor green and put robes over it.

The Republic had finally arrived. The shuttles shot out of the hangers at a breakneck speed towards the planet. The shuttle was filled with chater. Most where talking about how they were going to spend there credits after the battle. A few where saying it was nice to get back into the fight. Even fewer still where talking about how it was good to fight for the republic again. Then over the comms a female pilot was heard " Twenty seconds till surface. Enjoy your stay." Immediately after that there was a loud noise heard. The horrifying sound of metal breaking. They had been hit. The ship was staying bottom down but they where gonna land hard.

The ship hit the ground like a photon torpedo would hit a starship. The whole front end broke off and let in day light. Most everyone was fine but the impact did knock everyone over. Then they saw the daylight. They all began shuffling towards it like beggars to money. It was finally a fair fight.

Tactus ran out of the shuttle just as he heard the combined roars of both armies as they began charging. Tactus saw a small hill to his right and dashed for it. Blaster fire from both sides flying past him. Then large mortar rounds began detonating all around him. One of the shots landed rather close and threw him into a river. His ears where still ringing but he did not want to die. So he rolled out of the river into a small ditch. There he pulled himself up and brought out his weapon. He also put it on fully automatic mode and ran towards the nearest tree. He had a good sight on a group of 11 naddits. He was about to charge when someone put there hand on his shoulder. He was less then a second away from pulling the trigger when he turned to find it was a human merc who had followed him off the ship. " See those guys down there....Try not to get shot." The merc noded and followed him as he moved down the hill towards the naddists who where fireing heavy Blasters down at the other Republic fighters. Tactus jumped off of the small hill behind them and began spraying at the two on the heavy guns. Then he turned and kicked a naddist in the chest. This put him on the floor then he fired into him.

Then two naddists charged at him with vibro-swords. He fired at one hitting him in the knee. This sent him to the ground. Then he turned towards the other Naddist and fired at him. He managed to block one of his shot by sheer luck while the other 7 hit him in diffrent parts of the body. Then Tactus ran over to the other Naddist who he had shot in the knee and picked up the enemy's sword and stabbed it into his chest. Then he pulled out his grenade launcher attachment and fixed it to the end of his weapon and fired at a group of four naddists who where still grabbing there weapons. The photon grenade blew most of the enemies apart sending bits and pieces every which way. He went through in his head how many there where around still while he removed the attachment. There should be atleast two more. So he turned and there was a Naddist mid swing going at him. But Tactus reacted as fast as he could force pushing the naddist away. It sent him flying ten feet from him. Tactus then joged over too the Naddist and executed him. Then he looked around. He then saw the human killing off the last Naddist. This battle was going to be fun.

[EliteCommander]

Just as he was about to charge, Xan saw something that gave him more hope than he had felt in days: Republic dropships descending from the sky. They had been holding out for long enough; now was the time to strike back. Xan felt a sudden vigor come over him, like the dark side presence that had been eating away at his strength for days was immediately gone, replaced by the peace of the light. He charged forward, letting the force flow over him, letting it guide his movements. Using force speed, he dashed into the front line of the Naddists, cutting through two war droids and a soldier in mere seconds. His reaction times were sped up along with his body, making him a truly fearsome force in close range.

Xan quickly focused his attention toward the nearest threat he perceived, a Human dark side force adept wielding an orange lightsaber. He rushed toward the cultist at an astounding speed, but the Human evidently was able to sense Xan approaching, as he quickly unleashed a storm of force lightning at the Tiss'shar Jedi. Xan raised his saber nearly as fast as the lightning he was being attacked with and channeled the electric energy into the blade, all while maintaining his charge. Once he was close enough, Xan struck with his other saber, forcing the cultist to defend, ending his electrical attack. Xan attacked with a flurry of four more strikes that the Naddist could scarcely keep up with. Xan's strength and speed far outmatched the cultists' so in a last ditch effort to gain the advantage, the Human attempted to force jump over and behind Xan. Unfortunately for the cultist, however, Xan rapidly spun around and slashed his saber across the Human's legs, severing both of them at the knee. Xan would have offered mercy to the man, but with the battle raging around him and the cultist still attempting to reach for a weapon, he had no choice but to execute him.

During the fight, the Jedi and Beast riders had pushed the Naddists back slightly, so Xan quickly darted his eyes across the battlefield to analyze the situation. The Republic troops had not even joined in the fight yet, but they were suddenly able to push the dark side forces back. Allied forces were taking advantage of every single opening the Naddists were giving them, while the enemy's lines were falling apart. Xan recognized what was going on, he could feel the power of the force in the air. Someone on one of the Republic ships was using battle meditation to aid them, which had effectively turned the tide of the battle. Glancing back at the fortress, Xan could see more allies running out of the gates to join in the fight. Among them was someone who Xan recognized: Ulric Qel-Droma, a powerful Jedi who had been unable to fight for a while due to the dark side power that had weakened him. With him and the other Jedi rejoining the fight, their chances of retaking Iziz improved considerably.

Looking back toward the battle, Xan suddenly felt something...familiar amid the chaos. It was a presence that could not ignore, a presence he knew he needed to face.

[Ellri]

Tellin was not surprised that she had been observed. After all, she had not tried to hide her presence. Still, she kept moving forwards. She could not care less about whether these Naddists won, for they were weak compared to the might of the Sith Empire, but it would not do at all for the Jedi to be able to speak of an overwhelming victory. The galaxy would need to see how wrong the Jedi truly are. When the strange Sith and its Wookiee slave jumped down in front of her, she did not even raise an eyebrow. Tellin had felt their presence for a while, even if she had not pinpointed the direction it came from.

The two pointed weapons at her, a Wookiee bowcaster and a heavy blaster. After they tried to order her to put down her weapons, they seemed to argue for a while in some bestial tongue. Tellin considered her options. She could try to kill them, but that might not succeed and surrender was not an option. Thus she did the only sensible thing.

With careful and slow movements, she lifted her hands so as to not seem threatening. Then when they were in position, she drew heavily upon the force and pushed the weapons out to the sides, ripping them out of the hands of those holding them. One of them chose to not let go, so he got pulled off his feet, while the other was more sensible.

"You are not Jedi and neither are you as weak as most people here. Leave me be and I will not kill you. Yet."

With that, she shot past them, using the force to run down the street, taking several sharp turns to discourage pursuit. After a bit, she slowed down and took in her bearings again. Her sprint had taken her closer to the target. It was a small facility, barely distinguishable from the other structures of the city. The chief discrepancy, not visible from ground level, was an array of antennae utilized by republic forces for coordination, as well as listening in on and decrypting Naddist communications. That they had managed to conceal and operate it even with the Naddists in control of the city revealed just how unsuited the Naddists were to ruling this world.

Tellin had studied the schematics intimately prior to arriving upon Onderon, so she knew well just how it was defended. The setup was well-designed, but far from perfect. The building itself was merely a shell around the inner, and shielded, core. From the shield generator designs, she had learned that only large quantities of high-yield explosives or orbital bombardment would be likely to break through the shields. Neither of which any force on Onderon currently had access to.

The shield was a dual-phase array, part ray shield, part particle shield. Schematics showed it being powered by an internal reactor, so even disabling the entire Iziz power grid would not lower it. Unfortunately for the agents operating this facility, it had a flaw. There was a single, unshielded entrance. Well hidden to be sure, but not well enough. It was used mainly for resupply, but never shielded. Even better, it had no automated defenses, no surveillance. Not even a single guard. Typical of republic agents, overconfident to the last moment.

"Fools." she muttered, even as she approached the hidden corridor leading to the door. The passage was narrow, but empty. At the corridor's end, which was near the center of the facility control room, was a single durasteel blast door. With a nudge of the force, Tellin flicked the internal high-power switch on her lightsaber, then buried the active blade into the durasteel door. Cutting through the door was virtually effortless, so even if any within were watching, they would not have time to realize what was happening, let alone raise the alarm.

Once finished cutting, Tellin held the durasteel plate aloft using the force even as she reset her lightsaber to its normal power. She palmed a panel just on the inside, activating a minor containment field so that her prey would not be able to flee. Just to be safe, fried the control panel before dropping the slab of durasteel onto the floor.

The thundering boom of its landing caused every single technician in the room, Tellin estimated it to be somewhere between forty and sixty, to stop whatever they were doing and look her way. A few visibly cringed, so she knew that they at least knew just what she was.

"You have been judged guilty of willingly serving the Jedi. The sentence for that is death. You may scream if you wish, it will not change anything."

Tellin Dar laid havoc all around her, be it with lightsaber, force lightning or merely crushing their throats with the force. Not one person in the room escaped her fury. Even so, the slaughter took some time to complete. The few that had personal blasters did not last long. Only the leader did she spare, if only to make him see the utter failure of his mission on Onderon.

When all others were dead, she turned her attention to him. He looked up at her with horror and misery in his eyes. "What are you? Why are you doing this?"

She smiled at him. It had been a while since she had come across any brave enough to ask her. "I am Sith. I do this because I must and because I can."
Tellin then buried her lightsaber in his right eye, killing him. He might have been brave, but he was still a pathetic weakling serving the hated Jedi.

Her next step was to ensure the destruction of the facility. The Republic could not be allowed to retake it, and since the Naddists had failed to find it themselves, they did not deserve to get it. She had no high-yield explosives, so she would have to make do with what was available. The central power generator. Not even the best-built power generator would last long if safety systems were disabled and cooling systems destroyed. The reactor was on a lower level, but she made easy work of sabotaging it nonetheless. Once that was done, she ran out of the facility, not entirely certain how long it would take to overload. Or for that matter how large the blast radius would be. Not being there when it blows was always a good idea.