Thalassia: The Cradle of Slavery

Thalassia

Astrographical Information

Region: Outer Rim

Sector: Meram Sector

System: Thalassian System

Orbital Position: 3

Moons: 2

Grid Coordinates: P-15

Physical Information

Class: Terrestrial

Atmosphere: Type 1 Breathable

Primary Terrain: farms, forests, small towns

Points of Interest: Thalassian Slavers headquarters

Societal Information

Indigenous Species: Thalassians

Immigrated Species: many (slaves)

Primary Language(s): Galactic Basic

Faction Affiliation: neutral

Defense Rating: Level 3

JediRP Canon History: Thalassia is the home of the Thalassian Slavers. It has a small population of about 7 million, and is mostly used to house slaves after their capture and before they are sold to the Hutts or other criminal elements. The slavers are some of the best in the business, and no one in the sector is safe from them. The New Republic and CoreSec combined forces to launch an attack on the slavers. They were successful, winning freedom for the people, but during the battle, Jedi Padawan Sandy Sarna was captured by the slavers, sparking a search for her by her master, Jedi Knight Adenna Alluyen, and Tobias Vos.

((Summary compiled by Amidala Skywalker. Thank you!))

((As there is almost no canon information on the planet, much of what I have here is "fanon."))

Thalassia is a small Outer Rim planet with no significant natural resource besides the raw materials needed in some textile production. The planet's population is a mere seven million beings, mostly humans, centered around the capital of Thalis. Thalis is a moderately technological city of two million beings and serves as the only spaceport to ship off the planets only two exports: kautoon for the textiles and slaves for other planets. The rest of the population lives in small towns or large farms for the growth of kautoon.

The planet is most known for being the headquarters of the Thalassian Slavers, a slaving ring that is known to raid ships and even entire colonies for slaves and valuables. This group holds no legal power on Thalassia, but it controls the government through bribes or fear. When not raiding other planets or prowling the space lanes, they roam the planet looking for suitable beings to add to their stock of slaves. They can take anyone at any time for any reason and nobody can stop them. Those that try are publicly killed along with their family.

The Thalassian Slavers maintain a headquarters of sorts in a ten story building near the center of Thalis. The building is protected by dozens of guards on the outside, and more on the inside. It is mostly used as a holding center for their slave stock with business offices on the bottom floor for guests desiring to purchase the slaves. Their leader is a human named Zoret Sardoin who spends most of his time on the top level of their headquarters in his luxurious suite and office. The slavers have hundreds of members within Thalis, and hundreds elsewhere throughout the planet and off planet on raids.

Most of their business is done off world to groups like the Hutts, but they do make sales to individuals for use in whatever the buyer desires. Slaves are brought from all over and join with those taken from Thalassia before being sold. Some slaves are kept on Thalassia to work in the kautoon fields, but most are shipped off world. While their headquarters holds most of their stock, there are smaller dens scattered around the city and some of the larger towns that serve as way stations or private stock culled from the main lots for various reasons.

High in orbit of the planet, a task force reverted from hyperspace in a choreographed sequence. Most of the group was composed of small troop transports, but fighters and a small number of bombers provided escort. Almost all of the ships were blazoned with the insignia of CoreSec.

On one of the shuttles serving as a troop transport, Adenna was in such a mixture of eagerness and nervousness that she was almost giddy. It was the first time she had seen home in a year and a half, and she was coming at last with what she dearly hoped was a force that would destroy the slaver organization and free her planet from the grip of terror.

There were others with her, namely the various people she had helped unite and recruit for this mission. There was her hapless Padawan who was probably excited just to be on such an adventure. Then there was the former Sith who she was hoping would never turn back to those ways. A Corellian Senator who had strange allies of his own was also here, as was a Jedi Master whose exploits she felt she should know more of. Lastly there was a CoreSec lieutenant who felt it was worth working a little outside the lines to do what was right. They were a motley crew from all over, but hopefully they would finish the job of ending the rule of these slavers once and for all.

Sandy sat silently aboard the great troop-transport gazing at her datapad, her knees shook ever so slightly, for her soul echoed the fright that prevailed within her mind. She had never been on a true mission before, and now here they were, off to kill slavers, far outnumbered and surrounded by untrustworthy allies. This was not her idea of a perfect first mission. But she wasn't complaining, she was glad to be out of the temple, and at least she would die somewhat free. A small smile flicked across her face, she was ready for whatever came, though a part of her envied the mando's armour. It would be nice to soak up a few blaster bolts, instead of having them drill through her thin pale skin. Though she doubted they made combat armour for 14 year olds.

She let her sharp green eyes flicker closed and dropped into a troubled bit of meditation. It wasn't very long, but she was able to go through the moves she had learned with her sabre. Her yellow training sabre flashed within her mind's eye. Slash, parry, block, slash again, huge sweeping arc meant to take off the head of a slaver. She blinked and jumped out of her meditation, the thought of killing someone, even one so evil as to take the life of another and sell it into slavery, was slightly disturbing to her young mind.

Her green eyes focused upon Onderin Starlisk, the great and renowned Jedi Master of old. He had, no doubt, killed more people than Sandy had ever seen before. He leaned forward and rested her chin upon her clenched fist, how could he carry himself so well with that many deaths upon his conscience? Was the age old saying that ”˜The first one was the hardest' true? She really didn't know, but she knew she would have to take a life here, and that it would haunt her for an eternity.

Like a vast wave of pebbles striking water the CoreSec Sector Security Fleet flickered into being. Pseudo-motion pushing everything from Fighters to Pickets and System Security Corvettes turned troop transports into the space above Thalassia. Whilst a formidable force unto itself. The strongest assembled since the mass disarmament of the Republic and Imperial Armed Services the pirates themselves were fairly well armed.

Following standard tactics of course CoreSec after careful recon, utilising the Antarian Rangers had come up with a battle plan and reasonable force parameters.

Turning to the Commander of the Task Force. A veteran of one of the two great power's fleets and a remnant of the real Fleet Action Officers. Turning to the Commander Jazce nodded.

"Thank You again Sir for assisting with this mission."

The older man sighed,

"Leife. Were it not for your pull with Coruscant I would never have agreed to going so far out of our jurisdiction. Regardless about how I feel about the situation. But remember. It is your tush on the line. This goes wrong. I'm going to have you executed... Painfully."

Jacze grinned at that. If this went wrong they would all be dead.

"Roger that. I'm going to confer with my colleagues and get the Strike Team under-way. Good luck Chief."

His only reply a sour grunt followed by barked commands to the Command crew Jazce turned away and headed over to Adenna, Sandy and whoever else so happened to be standing around at the time.

"Alrighty chaps here we go. The main Battle Group will engage the pirates. They will cause enough confusion for our Strike Team to filter down to the surface and hit the Pirate HQ. Task Force Anvil consisting of the CoreSec Black-Hats will form a perimeter and keep out any baddies. Strike Force Hammer consisting of the Antarian Rangers, Mandalorians and our various friends will strike into the HQ and eliminate the Pirate headshed. Hopefully that will cause enough confusion for our boys to roll back the Pirates and mop them. Sound good?"

The Ossus Fallen exited hyperspace above the planet of Thalassia, and Terra's jet-black eyes grew wide as the sensors began to pick up a massive fleet of ships, consisting of a conglomeration of the smallest ships that were still in service since the demilitarization. Immediately she sent the ship into a dizzying array of maneuvers towards the slaver planet. No doubt they would pick up the ship's sensor package, which ought to identify The Ossus Fallen under its original transponder belonging to the Sith Central Command under the former Dark Lord, Dagon. She sent a com to Delta. From beneath the mask, she began to utter all manner of curses at what the sensors now picked up as a CorSec fleet, mixed with an array of unidentifiable ships, as she began to speed towards the planetary surface. She checked the shield array and found them to be at full power.

She toggled weapons to full power as one of the Krath droids signaled a group of pirate vessels rising from the Thalis atmosphere. It was a small fleet, mostly consisting of uglies and older craft. She ordered one of the Krath gunners to staff the rear ion cannon and took immediate control over the three forward laser batteries. The sensors identified the incoming slaver craft as a group Y-TIE's, dispatched from the bays of one of the corevette's known as The SkullBreaker. With a swift yank on the control rod, Terra sent The Ossus Fallen into a tight spin, squeezing the trigger at the same time. Golden-red fire laced from the cannons, lighting up the darkness of space. The blast smashed into the lead ugly, the circular pattern overwhelming the forward shields and punching a series of holes through the cockpit window, spacing the pilot and his gunner. The Ossus Fallen danced under Terra's control as the ugly's began to return fire, most of their shots going wide, but one or two peppered the forward shield. As she flipped the armored shuttle into another spin, letting the rear ion-cannon blast another ugly to a standstill, she toggled the comlink on a widecast, trying her best to impersonate one of her Sith Brethren.

”œEnjoy yourselves boys and girls... Good luck, yah Corsec f****ers.”

They were here. Even in a state of deep meditation the tug of real space was unmistakable. Tobias waited until he was summoned. But he doubted anyone knew he was in this tiny maintenance closet. Wishing to get away from the other, he slept and meditated. Sleep. It was like a long lost thought to him. The dreams he saw were unsettling. Adenna and Sandy being gunned down. All because of the crossfire that CoreSec started. And the Jedi Master was nowhere to be found. The dream ended with a building falling straight for him. After that, it was defiantly time to meditate.

His connection with the Light Side still needed work. And would no doubt be a key factor in this mission of mercy. They had been in space for mere moments before once again, another ship showed up. Reaching out he found a single life form inside the vessel. They were indeed troubled. It screamed out of range, and towards the planet.

Sadly this broom closet was not big enough to practice Kinitite. That was one of his greatest accomplishments to learn that. He sighed, collected his new jacket, rubbed his hair, still getting used to the shortness, and went to seek out Adenna.

Onderin was aboard one of the larger ships in the task force, though it was well smaller than a capital ship. He was sitting in a lounge area, his legs crossed and his hands on his knees. As soon as the ship reverted from hyperspace, he stretched out with his feelings, creating a sphere of awareness many orders of magnitude larger than most Jedi used. He focused himself on the task, and soon he had formed a mental picture of the battle, feeling everyone involved. The resolve of the CoreSec forces as they steeled themselves for battle. The alarm of the slavers as they scrambled to get a response together. The wide-eyed uncertainty and innocence of Alluyen's apprentice as she faced combat for the first time.

Then the Jedi Master drew on all his years of combat experience and stretched his perception of time, digging deeper into the Force. The immediate future became clear to him, the minds of his allies and enemies laid bare as he read their motives, their strategies, their prejudices and predilections.

Finally he sculpted them. He sent waves of encouragement and peace through the minds of the allied Jedi/CoreSec/Mandalorian/Antarian forces, and he sowed confusion and discord among the pirates, slowing their response. He looked ahead and saw what they were planning to do, how they wished to formulate a defense, and he planted those images into the minds of the allied commanders, giving them precious foresight so that they could win this battle even before it started.

This was Battle Meditation, a way Onderin Starlisk could make a significant difference and never require him to draw his lightsaber.

Slavers were a generally cowardly lot. They appeared tough, but their targets consisted primarily of civilian ships and undefended colonies. They were not prepared to fight off squadrons of top of the line starfighters piloted by well trained professional pilots and supported by picket ships whose main intention was to ward off pirates and raiders. Their space forces were slow to respond, but when they did, it didn't take long to rout them.

With the help of Master Starlisk's battle meditation, the CoreSec's ships managed to overwhelm the poorly prepared slavers and destroy many of their forces. Calls for surrender were offered, but few were accepted. Most of the slavers fled rather than surrender and few of them escaped the faster fighters that were chasing them. There was no response from the slavers on the planet.

Even before the space fight was completely wrapped up, the situation was deemed clear enough for the landing craft to begin their descent. The various ships split up as they got closer to the city and the inhabited area of the planet so they could land at their individual targets. The goal was to take out all of the known slaver outposts before they could organize resistance or take captives then seek out the remaining ones they didn't know about.

Several of the craft made their way for the main headquarters building ready to unleash dozens of soldiers and law enforcement officers upon the slavers inside. Among them were Adenna, Sandy, Vos, Lieutenant Leife, and Senator Ardell.

Adenna waited with the same eagerness and nervousness that she had been experiencing for the last couple of hours. Unlike her first time in combat, though, there was not the sickening cacophony of deaths by the thousands surrounding her and she was not truly afraid. She had far more training than she had on the Death Star.

Sandy, though, did not. Adenna knew she had always dreamed of glory and flashing lightsabers without truly knowing what came with it. She had tried to tell and show the girl that it was not quite what the holos and games portrayed, but she wasn't sure how much of her warnings made it through. Either way Sandy, armed with a training lightsaber turned to maximum that could block blaster shots and deaden limbs, would see death firsthand even if Adenna hoped she would not actually kill anyone. If she had her way, she would have left the girl in orbit, but this would be a valuable experience for the girl to see if she was ready to continue her training as a Jedi.

Vos, though, she was not as worried about. He would be fine killing and fighting here. With his own Sith lightsaber restored to him, he would be a major threat for the slavers. She wasn't completely sure he was able to fight without falling back onto the dark side, but this would serve as probably the best test she could arrange. If he passed, it would go a long way to solidifying her trust in his conversion. If he failed, she would have to turn him over to Master Starlisk after the battle to see if the Jedi Masters could determine the sincerity of his conversion. She dearly hoped he didn't turn on them because then she would have to try to kill him and she didn't want to do that at all.

She was surprised that the senator would be along for the fighting. Not that she would question it, but the last thing she wanted was for a senator to be killed on a mission she pushed for and started. It would prove most embarrassing for the Jedi Order and do harm to Thalassia's future status if the Corellians he represented decided to blame the planet for his death. She would focus some of her attention on making sure he made it out in one piece.

Lt. Leife gave some last minute information to which she nodded in agreement. "The fighting there will be the hardest so that is where we need our best forces. Cut off the head and the body will have a much harder time resisting."

"Vos," she said when he joined the rest of them near the landing ramp, "I want you to watch out for Sandy. I will still be keeping an eye on her, but I have other responsibilities. It will be yours to ensure her safety." There would, of course, be several other CoreSec officers and Rangers coming with them who would undoubtedly help, even if they didn't seem thrilled that a young teen was coming along. Still, Adenna wanted a Force user to watch out for her directly and thought it would be a good test to see if Vos could control his urges to wade in and kill people if he had to watch out for someone. Jedi often had to watch out for others, something the Sith never really cared much for.

She looked over at Sandy and smiled, "You wanted some action, now you will get some. Just remember what you were taught and keep alert. Hopefully you won't see much actual fighting, but if you do, follow what the others do and say. Trust the Force."

The shuttle shook a little as they touched down. Bombers had already hit the area and the shuttles had gunners to provide covering fire for them as they charged down the ramps and secured the perimeter. Adenna, with her orange lightsaber lit, joined the initial charge as they headed toward the entrance of the building itself.

Terra's blackened armor absorbed the star's light as it filtered through the jungle canopy, helping her to wrap the shadows about her, as she did to her cowl. In her hands, she held her slugthrowing sniper rifle, running swiftly through the underbrush, stooped in stealth. In the distance, her helmet picked up air alarms and various explosions coming from the city of Thalis. CorSec sure was trying their best to vape the slavers, to which she smiled broadly beneath her mask. She had no love of slavers. Her boots made little sound as they danced over broken logs and treetrunks. There was a solid crunching before her and she reslung her anti-material rifle and her gloved hands flicked to her vibroblades, withdrawing one of them with her flesh-made hand in a swift motion, while she left her arm of Sith-metal outstretched. The rifle felt heavy upon her armored back

Terra's eyes narrowed as two heavily armed slavers, lugging an anti-air battery moved into the clearing before her, at the outskirts of the city itself. She dove into a roll, bringing the blackened blade through the groin of one of trandoshans and up through to his throat, splitting him down the centre. With her Sith-metal hand, she grabbed hold of the human slavers gaunt face and activated the electrical pulser, sending his body into convulsions before she decapitated him with a swift ejection of her arm's inlaid vibroblade. She rolled to her feet and dropped the head to the blood-dampened grass before turning her attention to the anti-aircraft battery the two had been transporting. It was armed with strands of 30mm shells, prepped and inlaid with explosives. Dangerous to personal craft and fighters. It would not do for CorSec to run into such a wall of fire.

Her pure black eyes picked up movement at the edge of the clearing, and her hands moved to the triggering mechanism for the AA gun as a squad of heavily armed slavers emerged from the city street, along with a mech. Her tongue played across her blood-reddened teeth as she swiveled the weapon towards the mech and depressed the trigger. The bolts laced through the mech's armor if it were nothing more than bantha-leather, and the explosives inside the rounds sprayed the rest of the squad with liquefied metal as the mech exploded, decapitating the squad's leader and sending fragments through several others. She sprayed the area with another heavy dosage of lead, slaying the rest of the squad in explosions of gore.

Glancing skyward, she emptied the rounds into the flights of rising uglies, causing at least one clutch to implode in a brilliant burst of flame, which sent the rest of the flight into a frantic flurry. She replaced her vibroblade in its sheath on her back and wrapped the cowl around herself as she scurried into the cityscape. Moving down sidestreets, she avoided most of the slaver foot-traffic, before she found what she was hoping to find: one of the small aircraft control towers, which was located nearby the central command structures, which housed the main slaver leaders. The tower itself rose nearly five stories above the skyline, rivaled only by the command structure. As she peered out at the doorway, she could see a flurry of slaver activity inside the main area, as well as two mechs and seven slavers armed with scatterguns and heavy weapons.

She pressed her back against the stonemade wall of the several-family dwelling and began to think about how to deal properly with the guards. A small smile lit her face beneath her mask and she began preparations. She slowly withdrew her portable ascension launcher and aimed it at the lead slaver's head, a large Togorian with an impressive mane of yellow hair. With the other hand, she fingered her thermal detonator, slowly depressing the access code. She depressed the trigger of the launcher and observed the harpoon enter the Togorian's skull through one of his yellow eyes. She attached the weapon to one of the drainage pipes and commanded it to real in its prey at a high speed. She quickly scaled the wall behind her, dropping the thermal detonator behind her

As the Togorian's corpse rocketed away from his comrades, they pursued it around the corner to where the launcher was stationed. The two mechs took lead, but paused in automated confusion as they witnessed the secured launcher. All but one of the slavers crowded around body in confusion, and the last around the corner was the only witness to the grenade rolling about their feet. His cry of horror was cut short as the thermal detonator wiped out the entire group, vaporizing the mechs and slavers, along with one of the families that occupied the nearby building in an enormous blast of thermal brilliance.

Terra leapt off the building as it began to collapse, the detonator having wiped out the structural support. She relied on her Echani grace to give her a good landing, but even during the roll, she could feel pain shoot across her body, having gained quite a few bruises from the cobblestoned street. She came up out of the roll at the control-tower's entrance, her hands scooping her flechette pistols from there holsters. With a kick, the front doorway gave way, and as her cowl swirled about her black-armored body, her gloved fingers depressed the triggers, sending forth a wave of flechette pellets, which expanded into a swarming cloud of flechette missiles. The swarm of sharpened metal chewed through the lightly armored technicians and slavers, decimating flesh, cutting through bone, and detaching limbs.

Terra glanced around the now lifeless entrance area and reloaded her pistols as she moved swiftly through, retrieving another ascension launcher from one of the dead technicians, before making her way to the entrance stairwell to the tower itself. She met no one on her run up the flight of stairs, but she kept one of her vibroblades and one pistol out in the off-chance of an ambush. With a smile, she delivered a kick to the undeserving door, which flew open, revealing a lone technician, holding a DL-44, his back against one of the medium-sized windows. She dove to the side as he unleashed a flurry of poorly aimed lasers, running past navicomputers as he tried to track her. All he accomplished was destroying at least a million credits worth of equipment before she brought her blade up through his forearm, taking off the offending appendage. He screamed in pain before Terra brought a sidekick up to his throat, ending his cry, sending him through the transpisteel pane, and plummeting to the unforgiving cobblestones below.

She glanced out the broken, bloodstained pane and saw an unobstructed view of the command structure. She ran quickly to the doorway and piled the broken equipment in front of it, which would stop even a Wookiee from breaking though. Terra then began to scout out the viewpoints of the structure, identifying landmarks and landing positions. She gripped the launcher in hand and sent the cable flying to a smaller building's rooftop below. An escape route. Terra sighed and settled amongst the laser-blackened wreckage about her, pulling the cowl about herself. She slowly loaded the slugthrower rifle with a box-magazine containing seven rounds and stacked a pile of the magazines beside herself, retrieved from her bandoleer. She sighted in on the towers, the scope identifying it as 2200 meters away, and began to get a view for the tower's angles and entrances. With a maniacal smile, she flipped the safety to the off position and placed a finger on the trigger. She was ranked as one of Black Sun's best active snipers and this was a perfect snipers nest.

In her scope lay a young woman holding a lit lightsaber aloft, just stepping out of the landed shuttle, of a curious orange color. A Jedi. A small sneer crawled across Terra's pale face, but she did not fully depress the trigger, remembering how fast a Jedi's reflexes were in her battles against force users. A thought traced through her mind and she ran the scope forward a bit towards the entrance, where she spotted heavy troopers, preparing to fire through firing slots with missile launchers and at least two active E-webs beginning to weave a web of death for the shuttle's disembarking troopers. The covering fire from the shuttle was enough to keep down the Slavers outside the entrance, but those safe behind the firing slits were ready to take down the strike team.

She laid the crosshairs across one of the gunner's exposed helmets and squeezed the trigger. A roar shook dust from the ceiling as the weapon discharged, and through her scope she witnessed the man's body practically disintegrate, along with part of the flooring behind him. Immediately another slaver took his place. A smile flickered across her face before she swiveled back to the Jedi girl with the orange blade. Hopefully, the Jedi would notice the warning and that she had overwatch out there in the cityscape. If she was a wise Jedi she'd retreat or take cover from the incoming barrage. She flicked the scope back to the boarding ramp and began to wait for the next person to disembark, her finger ready to depress the trigger in a heartbeat, calculating if she would fire if the next one were to be a Jedi. She'd let one go past. Perhaps not another. Jedi were never fun.

The ground battle would be far more formidable than the relatively short burst of fighting within the realm of space combat. This fighting would claim the lives of many, friends, enemies, Mandalorians, police officers, children, and, with a gulp of fright, jedi. Sandy glanced down to the dark corrugated steel deck and watched her knees bounce with the terrible energy of anticipation and fright. She had to press through, even if she was contained and guarded over by Vos and a few begrudging agents, she had to prove herself. She glanced over to her seated master, then let her gaze wander across the others within the shuttle. Strong and able men, going to their deaths without a second thought. She had a strange protective urge for these men, and she knew she would do her best to ensure that everyone would make it out alive.

But as the boarding ramp lowered, she realized that the chances of a casualty-less battle was an impossibility. Almost as soon as the ramp lowered, the true force of the slaver garrison was revealed. It was pure economics, if there was a threat to your material wealth, many would fight to the death than see their living be crushed by an illegal police activity. The slavers assembled quite the defense, even utilizing slaves with collars to fight with them. E-Webs and rockets opened up upon the shuttle craft with reckless abandon. In an instant they lost quite a few good men. As she set one black boot upon the soil of the cursed planet, she felt her heart give way in fear. The withering fire was inconsistent, and at times wildly inaccurate, but it still did the job.

Sandy thumbed the activation switch upon her golden blade and fell into the force's embrace. Her fear lessoned significantly and gave her power to sprint along with the rest of her team, Vos and the rest. The explosions were deafening, and she had to scream to even be heard, ”œWhat is the plan of action? Do we attempt a flank? Go for their back door?”

Jazce dressed into his old modified Stormtrooper battlesuit. After he'd given his spiel to Adenna and the others he'd moved off to check with the Company Commander of his own Unit and the Toprawan Ranger's Captain. It was standing with them that he witnessed the mad headlong descent. Whilst the CoreSec Security Squadrons were rolling up the Slaver's cobbled together uglies Jazce was still wary of the amount of resistance. Moving up behind the sensors station he watched the battle unfold as they descended. Noting everything. As he'd spent most of the hyperspace trip going over any and all information they had of the ground their troops would be covering he knew the basics fairly well. It was just any modifications the Slavers had made he wouldn't know.

But even as the CoreSec Officer studied the sensor data incoming he noted an oddity. A single ship, not part of the fleet had appeared from hyperspace and engaged the Slavers. From the intel they were getting it appeared to be some kind of modified Imperial Shuttle... But so heavily armed? A Delta maybe? Who in the force is it? More importantly what are they doing here helping us?

Even as her watched the shuttle descended somewhere below them into the mayhem of Thalassia's surface. He would just have to send a team out to find it later. He didn't like oddities. Frowning he began checking his equipment one last time as the troop transports began moving forward. Everything seemed to be running so smoothly yet why was his skin crawling? Shaking his head clear he braced as they hit atmosphere. And turned to study the new readings from the surface. It was unmitigated chaos down there. Flurries of AA fire rising to meet the descending shuttles.

Interrupted by fighter/bombers strafing their hides. For the most part they were right on course, getting eyes on the HQ compound Jazce scanned the area and frowned at what appeared to be the tail end of a thermal blast somewhere on the fringes of where the fighting would be once they landed. Another oddity? The mystery helper? Unknown. Regardless Jazce didn't like it. He wanted this mystery solved. Turning to the two Officer's standing next to him relaying last second orders to their troops Jazce indicated the sensors,

"Kel. You and your chaps be careful. Their is something else going on down there. We caught the tail end of an explosion in the Golf gridsquare. Wasn't us. Might have been Slaver's being fratricidal or just plain old suicidal but I somehow doubt it. Send a Section to check it out once the fighting dims down. Make sure they have fighter support."

Nodding one final time to his right hand man he moved off, the other man, an Antarian Ranger Captain by way of Tomas Sairdonga,

"Captain Sairdonga though I left on less than friendly terms you came to help. I appreciate that... And I want to make things right with Home. But this is not the time and place. I just wanted you to know my thoughts. We hit dirt. The Antarian Ranger's do what we do best."

"Complete and utter mayhem Lieutenant, and so you are aware you never truly left home Ranger. Not in the hearts and minds of your brethren."

Turning away the CoreSec LT strode over to the ramp, it would be another thirty seconds yet before they hit dirt but he couldn't stay talking to that old Ranger. It would cloud his mind when he needed it clearest. Counting down the seconds he nodded to the Gunnery Captain of the ship, his gunner's would be vital to ensuring the safety of the rapidly disembarking CoreSec and Co. Putting on his Modified Scout Helmet he HUDed up with his 2iC and the Ranger Captain. Bringing his comms to life and rifle around he did one final checked then set it to action.

"Time to make some memories."

He muttered to himself, bracing as the five seconds call came out and a thump echoed through the ship even as the the entire thing began vibrating as the heavy guns went into overdrive, destroying anything Slaver as the gangway thumped down. With a surge the former Stormtrooper rushed forward, coming onto the ramp and diving off it to the right, catching a glimpse through his HUD of a small transport exploding in flame and shrapnel. Ten good men and women gone.

Landing with a roll he came up and dived for cover, shucking up against the remains of a building as the roar of battle overtook him. Somewhere in the back of his helmet a comm report came in from the Sector Commander that the Fleet was pushing the Slaver's back and had increased its strafing tempo, but on the ground all was chaos as the Slaver's brought out the hardware in an all out counter to stop CoreSec gaining any purchase or breathing space. Even then reports started flooding in of teams hitting dirt and pushing back. The perimeter was being formed.

Popping his head up he quickly surveyed the situation around him, the Rangers and the Jedi had all descended and the Platoon of Black Hats was part of the way through, half embedded into the ground the other half still diving off their shuttles under E-Web fire. Pulling his head back down he got on the comm,

"All units push forward, clear the ships get into the ruins."

As he clipped off his sentence some rogue fire came his way ducking back down he hissed. Too close. The Slaver's had them well pinned. Not that it stopped the Ranger's who like a well oiled machine slid forward, hoeing into the Slaver position. Three thumps behind him indicated reinforcements, turning to loop a trio of Toprawan Rangers. Grimly nodded to him, the lead slapping him on the shoulder.

He grinned at the old signal come back to haunt him. Time to fire and move.

Terra smiled as she saw the rest of the troops begin to disembark the landing craft. Through her scope, she observed a bulkily armored man roll from the shuttlecraft, wearing what seemed to be modified scout-plates, with a heavily camouflaged pattern. This was no CorSec flunky, but a commander. She kept him in the scope, tracking him until he ducked against a partially destroyed building. She focused back her scope and observed the scene as a whole. The strike teams were pushing into the slavers, who were giving ground. They were doing well for CorSec agents. Too well. She focused back to where the commander (Jazce) was hiding back in the ruins, she observed a flurry of movement.

An overlarge Togorian was rushing through the ruins, disrupter rifle in one furry hand, and a bloodcovered vibro-ax in the other, unseen by the groups of soldiers, utilizing the ruin's mazelike structure. Even worse, he was followed by six B-2 battle droids. Through the scope, she saw the commander glance above the ruins and then duck back down as one of the E-Webs trained in on him and the man behind him. She sighed as she witnessed the Togorian leap out of the ruins above the two soldiers, about to bring his axe to bear with a roar of fury and bloodlust. There was a terrible roar from her rifle as Terra's finger twitched, and the Togorian's body splintered into dissected flesh and shattered bone, the vaporized mess landing on the two rangers like a chunky rain. She dialed back and placed another round into the lead B-2, sending it flying backwards into its allies in a spray of lubricant and liquefied metal.

She emptied the rest of the box magazine into the droids, directly into the central processors of the armored B-2s, wasting them nicely. She dialed back her scope as she reloaded the anti-material rifle, and began to survey the scene. The slavers had to have come from somewhere to be able to flank the rangers. A flicker of movement drew her attention to a series of hatches hidden within the ruins, through which dozens of heavily armed slavers were pouring out, supported by Nekk Battle dogs. She swore under her breathe and dialed back the scope, to which her curses increased. From the east side of the city came ranks of mechanized infantry. She scoped in and opened up her comlink, which would crackle through to Jazce, Onderin's, and Adenna's comlinks, in a voice none of them recognized, dark and terrible.

”œThis is Overwatch! You have a group of Slavers and Nekks incoming from the west side of the ruins, behind your positions. From the east side of the city, outside your perimeter and closing fast, I count eight Canderous-class assault tanks, each supported by... Two AT-PTs, and two AT-AAs. They'll make swift work of your fighter screen and your perimeter... Recommending an atmospheric bombardment at these coordinates.”

Tros felt more comfortable now than he ever had in a long while. Spending his time in disguise of the Corellian Senator was driving him. To be back with a weapon in hand and his vod made him a happier Mandalorian. As the group made their way in following after the jetiise and Corsec, as the Mandalorians held a different part in this mission. They would fight and help free these slaves, but they wanted to make certain that skira was bralov as well as keeping Tros safe. What happened beyond that, Hallas and crew could care less. Tros made sure that all of his weapons were loaded, as he glanced over at Hallas. They, being the Mandalorians, were in a small Corellian shuttle, minus that it was covered in ranov'la beskar with a few of the Mandalorian's aliik covered the outside.

Looking over at Hallas again, the alor'ad of the group, held up his hand as someone began to play a signal. On the other side of the transmission was a woman's voice, but rather a dark and mysterious one. They only picked up the transmission through a preemptive slice into their tomad comm systems. The very next thing he heard was Hallas speaking up.

"Whoever this woman is, she has the right idea. Keiark and Frinyk, open up our back doors and lets hit that area with some guided missiles. We already know that our jetiise tomad won't do so."

With that, the door to the back door opened and the two Mandalorians stepped out the take aim as the pilot put them down. One wore a blue beskar'gam and a shielded buy'ce. The other with black and silver beskar'gam and a shortened t-shaped buy'ce. Quickly taking aim, they fired off their missiles in hopes that it would do some damage. Once they were away, the rest pilled out, Tros along with them, and made their way towards the staging area. Hopefully, they would get to see skira today!

”œAs you wish.”

Jazce swore as suddenly he and the lead Ranger were covered in blood and pieces of a Togorian, his other reason for swearing however was the crack that he assumed had killed the Togorian followed by several more cracks that struck in at close range, this time however he kept his head down. Jazce was a man who knew his rifles and that was an extremely powerful shot. But no light blast? Slugthrower? Who on earth used slugthrowers these days? Unless... They were trying to kill lightsaber wielders? Perhaps.

”œThis is Overwatch! You have a group of Slavers and Nekks incoming from the west side of the ruins, behind your positions. From the east side of the city, outside your perimeter and closing fast, I count eight Canderous-class assault tanks, each supported by... Two AT-PTs, and two AT-AAs. They'll make swift work of your fighter screen and your perimeter... Recommending an atmospheric bombardment at these coordinates.”

((If this is too long, read the summary at the end that describes what is going on with the overall battle.))

Adenna had expected the battle to be loud, but not this loud. On the Death Star, it was a bunch of quiet stalking around punctuated by a few moments of intense firefighting. This was just a constant hurricane of blaster fire, screams, and explosions.

She drowned out the noise from distracting her as best as possible and focused on the task at hand. Despite the initial sweep by both bombers and the transport gunners, there was plenty of fight left in the slavers. Though some had been killed even before the first Hammer boots hit the ground, more began emerging from the building's interior to take up defensive positions. This was going to be more difficult than she had thought it would be.

Leaving the rest of the battlefield to those far more capable of handling them, Adenna focused on the slavers that were defending the HQ building itself. The initial allied charge had been blunted with casualties, she needed to get it back moving forward again. Bolts began flying her way and towards those agents near her, so she began batting them back. Some she could only force down into the ground or up into the sky, but she was able to get a few back the way they came.

The slavers began opening up with E-webs sending a steady stream of fire at the attackers. That wouldn't do at all. She saw a bunch of windows explode outward directed at one of the nests, but that was not all of them. She and a few of those with her took cover behind one of the shuttles to avoid the withering fire. Not all of the CoreSec officers managed to make it to safety.

Now that she was not forced to block fire, Adenna could now focus on using the Force. She knew some Jedi and Sith could just reach out, grab a dozen men, and throw them hundreds of meters or crush them like ants, but she was not that powerful. Plus, it seemed like a wasteful use of Force energy when she could simply turn the E-webs against their users. She focused on one of the blazing tripods and used the Force to crush its barrel. It took just a split second before the gun discharged a blaster bolt that could not go anywhere. The result was a quick pop that was quickly lost among the rest of the fight but that saw the nest and its four slavers ripped to pieces or charred or both.

It was the first people Adenna was sure she killed. That thought didn't really seem to phase her as she was too focused on the task at hand to consider it. Instead, she looked over at Sandy who seemed to be holding her own for the moment despite being covered in blood. Poor girl, she thought. She should never have been exposed to this, but that is the harsh reality of being a Jedi. She felt bad at doing this to her, but it couldn't be helped. Sooner or later, Sandy would be exposed to violence and destruction if she were to continue along the path of a Jedi. Adenna would be there after this battle to help soothe any trauma the girl had, but that was all she could do.

Adenna repeated her Force attack with any other big guns she saw in the slaver's lines, but that didn't end their threat. She could sense plenty of life in the building and feared most would be slavers arming up and readying for fighting inside. The allied forces had been bloodied, but they weren't out of the fight just yet.

Without their big guns and with much of their armor destroyed or cut off, the slavers had apparently been ordered to withdraw into the building. Some were cut down by the allied forces as they tried to dive through windows or into the front entrance, but at least two dozen made it in to join whatever other slavers were inside. Now was the time to press them before they could solidify their defenses inside.

Adenna rose up from behind cover to join a few others as they cautiously advanced while exchanging fire from the slavers in the windows. They hadn't gotten far when one of the officers near her pointed up. When Adenna did, her heart dropped.

On the tenth floor, several people, obviously slaves by their poor clothing and lack of weapons, had been gathered up next to several open windows. Adenna had worried about this, but there was almost nothing they could do right now. She knew that the slaves inside would be used as hostages and hoped to storm the place before any concerted effort could be made to round up more civilians or execute the slaves inside. She wondered what the slavers were planning.

She didn't have to wait long. With a shriek of terror that pierced her heart, the first of the slaves, a human woman fell from the top floor and landed on the ruined ramparts below with a sickening thud. Next was a male human who was only slightly quieter as he was pushed out the window.

Adenna's terror quickly turned to righteous anger. She was unable to save the woman, but she did manage to react in time to grab the man through the Force and slow his fall somewhat. He still landed hard and may have died anyway, but she was able to catch the third and fourth victims and help them to land safely. Even that didn't do much as they were both quickly shot by the slavers hiding behind the windows on the first floor.

She had better luck with the fifth victim, a young boy. Instead of simply slowing down his fall, she pulled him away from the building even as he fell so that he landed behind CoreSec lines mostly intact. Another two were saved that way, but then the slavers wised up to the tactic and simply began shooting their victims in the head before letting their bodies fall to the ground.

Tears fell down Adenna's face as the bodies began to tumble down. In all, fifteen were pushed out the window, only two were saved. Every one was a failure on her part to protect the innocent.

The slavers had no intention of killing all their hostages, though. All around the building, curtains and blinds parted and slaves were forced out in front of the windows so the allied forces could see the captives. These weren't executed, but simply kept as a warning not to simply level the building with all the slavers inside.

These were monsters and they didn't deserve mercy. With a purposeful twist, Adenna adjusted her lightsaber from its normal stun setting to one that was lethal. In this battle, she wouldn't spare any of these monsters who would kill innocents in such a manner. She wouldn't go out of her way to slaughter them, but neither would she go out of her way to preserve their lives. Part of her could feel Master Starlisk's influence through the battle meditation and she welcomed it. She would count on his presence to keep her in check in this battle.

They had no choice but to breach the building. If they waited, the hostages were doomed anyway. This could not devolve into a standoff, not with beings who would so callously kill the slaves. Sooner or later, they would have to either breach and risk the lives of those in there or wait until all of the slaves were dead and simply blow the building up. Adenna was here to save the lives of the innocent, not to simply kill the slavers.

Even if she was alone, she would enter the building. She didn't much care if the others would follow, she didn't command them. With grim purpose, she came out from her cover and used Force enhanced speed to charge towards one of the windows. Blaster bolts flew at her from all over. Some she batted away, others she simply dodged or ignored. The CoreSec officers returned fire and silenced some of the windows.

At last, with a tremendous leap, she dove into one of the windows, rolled, and came up on her feet ready to fight. The slaver using the window as cover saw her heading towards him and backed away. His first two shots landed behind her, the next was deflected by her orange lightsaber. Without any hesitation, Adenna lunged forward and slashed the man in half. It was her first close range and personal kill, but she didn't care. All that consumed her mind right now was the need to clear out more of the slavers so the CoreSec officers could enter without being exposed to more fire.

((Summary:

The slavers began throwing off slave hostages from the top floor. Fifteen were thrown, only two were saved with the Force. There are several slaves behind held in various windows to discourage bombardment.

In Space: The Slavers space forces were mostly caught by surprise and offered some resistance. Most of their forces have been destroyed, disabled, or fled. There are a few smaller groups of fighters or shuttles still on the surface that can be used, but there is no true threat remaining in space.

Around the City: The armor has been slowed or neutralized, but the turbolaser strikes from orbit caused collateral damage as well. There are still surviving armor units out there, so if you want to continue to address them, cool. If you want to focus elsewhere, they will be dealt with by NPC's.

At the HQ The slavers have withdrawn into the building and have defensive positions both along windows and inside at strategic points. Adenna charged into one of the windows and will begin taking out slavers from the inside. If anyone wants to join her, you can either deal with the attackers on your own or indicate that she has cleared out an area where they can more safely enter. As for the rest of the battle, you guys seem to be handling that quite well, have fun and kudos on the creativity and not just mass slaughtering everyone.))

Terra's pure-black eyes flickered open beneath her mask, pain coursing through her chest, her HUD filling her vision. She gasped in a ragged breath and then winced. From the feel of her chest, at least four of her ribs were bruised, and the burns on her back throbbed with pain. She struggled to her knees and was overcome by a fit of violent coughing, each one raking her body with wave after wave of pain. It was tough, but nothing compared to her tortures at the hands of the Sith. Her eyes flicked across the scene around her, small fires alight upon the ruined rooftop sending off columns of black smoke to join the others that obscured the skyline. The city was on fire, the battles against the slavers having claimed more than its share of innocent lives. So was the way of war.

Her body was wracked by another coughing fit, and the metallic taste of blood played across her tongue. Terra shook her head and examined her armored body. The plates were intact, as was the cowl, which turned out to be flame resistant. Her grenades were smashed, but that was the only casualty among her weapons. She tossed the grenades off the side of the building, and then froze as they exploded on the cobblestones below. The building began to sway unsteadily, and Terra grabbed her rifle and leapt from the side, and glancing down, she was about to land right behins a squad of slavers. In that brief instant, she recognized one Togorian, an Iridonian, and two Trandoshans.

She pulled the trigger of the anti-material rifle as she began to descend, the bullet flying from the barrel and impacting into the back of the Togorian. The bullet split his armor as if it was nothing more than butter, before removing his upper torso from his lower half, and then the high-caliber slug exited through his front plate in an array of gore. The slug ended its course by blowing the right leg from the Iridonian, causing him to collapse. The two Trandoshans turned in their tracks, faster than Terra would have liked, spotting her. As she dropped the rifle, the larger of the Trandoshans pulled out a wicked vibroblade and started to rush her. The younger, smaller Trando decided to run for his life down the empty street. Terra sent her Sith-metal hand up and caught the vibrating blade as it descended, while her other hand drove her own blade through the lizard's gut. She savored the moment before ripping her blade clean.

Her eyes moved to the fleeing Trandoshan and she snapped the Togorian's blaster carbine from his detached half and took careful aim, whilst sheathing her blade. Enjoying herself, she brought her other hand up, and took the lizard's leg off with a shot, before drilling a bolt through the back of his cowardly skull. Terra watched the body fall in satisfaction before turning to the screaming Iridonian. She brought her booted foot down on his throat, crushing his larynx, as she spoke, her words dripping with malice.

”œSlaver scum... You will not receive an honorable death... But shall die slowly before burning in hell...”

The battle up in space had been won almost as soon as it started, and Onderin was satisfied that his technique had made a substantial difference. But there was a much larger battle going on below, and the allied forces could use their space superiority to their advantage, as they had been in helping neutralize the armor from up here. The Jedi Master maintained his Battle Meditation, continuing to lend his coordination to the allied forces, but as he did so, he asked the pilot to bring the ship down in one of the allied-held areas as close as possible to slaver HQ. It was time for him to join the battle on the ground.

Minutes later, the ship was sitting down, and Onderin relinquished his Battle Meditation and exited via the boarding ramp, his own lightsaber in his hand and Master Trevelian's on his belt until he could find a way to return it to the other man. He started toward the HQ at a Force-enhanced jog, stretching out with his senses to try and get a feel for the situation inside. He could sense the presence of Jedi Alluyen already fighting within the building, but there were a number of slavers and their slaves inside. It would take a scalpel to clear the building, and that meant Jedi.

His danger sense pinged and Onderin threw himself to the side as a sniper bolt burned through the air where he had been. One of the slavers inside the building had spotted him, which meant he would have to speed up a bit. Drawing on the Force, he covered the remaining distance in one sprint, another sniper blast whizzing past about halfway through the run. Rather than choosing a window, the Jedi Master lit his lightsaber and, making sure the other side was clear, started cutting a hole in the nearest wall of the building. Soon the cut was completed and he used the Force to shove the plug inside, then leapt through, careful not to singe himself on the hot metal.

Through the Force, he signaled to Jedi Alluyen that he had made it inside, then he headed through the nearest doorway into a room with two slavers, a window, and a hostage. They were ready for him, but when they opened fire, Onderin caught their bolts on his viridian blade. He was a master of Form V and had seen a lot of battlefields, so this was his strength. He sent both of the bolts back into one of the attackers, who dropped, then spun past another bolt and brought his lightsaber down on the other attacker. "Stay down," he told the slave. "Rescue's arrived."

Locking himself out from the Jedi Meditation was taking more from Vos than he wanted. But he needed to remain hidden. Then, without warning, the probing sensation that was nagging at his brain...was gone. Tobias smiled from underneath the boarding ramp. The battle was going extremly well. The initial slavers were dead, or bleeding somewhere. Looking around there were only a few firefights going on. A few were shooting at Sandy, but she was holding her own. No need to interfere. But he was still obligated to watch out for her. Adenna had rushed onwards to some place that was out of their reach for the moment.

Tobias stood tall, his merc clothes blowing in the wind. Then one of the CoreSec lacky's yelped out. "TAAAAAAAAANK!!!"

Vos looked to his left, and almost fainted. But then he rememebered he was a badass. Two AT-AA's and Two AT-PT's along with some sort of tank... Anyway, it was dangerous, and it needed to be dealt with. And he still needed to watch out for the little one. If he was alone, it would be different.

Vos broke right, random blaster bolts flew by him. Then the mech units opened up. The shuttle was instantly vaporized. Out of the corner of his eye he saw one of the officers burning alive. There was no way to help him now. He saw another's leg's blown right off. With a Force-Enabled dead sprint-he rushed towards Sandy, throwing off the occassional Push towards the enemy.

"Sandy, we need to find some cover. Follow me....NOW." He said, as he came up on her and pressed forward. Then ran into an alley way just beyond the line of sight from the mech units.

Sandy spun upon the toe of her boot and batted another bolt from the air when she heard the cry of Vos. Who was this man to order her around so? Yet several weeks ago he had pledged himself true and fully to a dark lord. And now with several weeks of training he was to order a girl of fourteen about? She had waited overlong and had served the light faithfully from her earliest years. And now to be usurped after so little time in her master's eyes spoke truly for itself. Sandy looked long and hard at the man, dressed in casual clothes. She called him craven, far too frightened to strut about in the raiment of the Jedi.

While her mind wandered in piteous envy, the Mechs and Assault Vehicles came upon their positions. The man, Vos' warning was heeded, yet Sandy understood too late. When her pirouette completed, there in all its authority stood a Canderous Assault Tank. Her piercing green eyes widened in horror as she scrambled to escape its wrath. Sandy dove towards a clouded window as the gunner fired. The shell exploded where her small boots had just vacated. Nonetheless, the gunner did not miss. An antipersonnel round was not meant to strike the target directly. Nay, they were more effective upon a miss. Shrapnel launched forth from the exploding round and found true its mark. The young girl felt the nip of cold steel fragments.

The concussive blast augmented her jump and sent her flying, far past her intended speed, and her small frame shattered the window with bone crushing force. She landed in a heap amongst a group of heavily armed slavers. She trembled and attempted to push herself up from the ground. Blood leaked wet and sticky from her chest, where shrapnel had pierced and shredded. She coughed and then screamed in anguish as a Great Togorian Lord placed his boot upon her back and pressed. She, with what little strength remained, spun the sabre in her grasp. Yellow hued was the blade as it crashed against his mighty leg. A normal sabre would have cleanly separated the Lord from his leg, but she had no such thing. The training sabre burned the Lord, yet did no permanent injury. All that came was a laugh from the great lord, and a swift and vengeful kick to the young girl's temple. And the young padawan fell into the bliss of dreamless unconsciousness.

The Togorian Slavers were a subdivision within the Slavers of Thalassia. Yet no less was their power, for even as the power of the others waned, their power, augmented by their fury, waxed to full. Their mighty lord, Gurthank the Terrible, let a smile pass across his evil face. He picked up the padawan by her hair and looked her over. Small, lithe, valuable. He tossed the limp body to his companion, Uhalû the Quick-to-Anger, a Gamorrean of evil mind and spirit. ”œHer wounds are not mortal, take her to the Golden Ark, we can yet escape this onslaught.”

Movement on the battlefield always went quick, and Mandalorians were no strangers to such battlefields. But this one was different to Tros' eyes. They held back, and waited for Corsec and the jetiise to make first contact before they themselves entered in. There was a purpose in it, skira. Even as Tros held his blaster riffle at the ready, he took a moment to observe the battlefield, or rather, the backside of the battle as the Mandalorians entered from a different way then the rest of the group. His thoughts were interupted by a singal shout from Hallas.

"Nari!"

On command, Frinyk stepped forward and placed an explosive on the wall of a building. A second later, the wall erupted and fell apart before them. Entering the building one by one, blaster fire began to make a full ruckus within and away from the sight of the jetiise. Tros was the last to enter the building, as Hallas made it clear that they wanted to keep him alive at all costs. As he lifted his blaster riffle, he took down only a single enemy before the immediate firefight was done. As a quick check was made for any others, Hallas spoke up to the group.

"Mar'eyir lenedat!"

Tros knew this would all be over soon enough for their part. Hopefully, none of the jetiise would catch on to what they were doing. He had deceived them thus far, so he saw no reasons as to why they should pick up on it now. And it wasn't like they would be able to pick them up and their intentions from simply being in the same area. As far as Tros understood, a jetii had to concentrate on find a single motive. And war gave too many others to focus on besides for what an ally could be doing, even ones as dangerous as Mandalorians.

------ Kel (CoreSec Commander) ------

His immediate actions upon hitting the ground had been to set up a small Forward Command Post, now the Commander of all CoreSec Force's on the ground, now closeted in a small, half destroyed building with some Comd & Sig equipment buzzing the man swore heavily as reports of Heavy Tanks supported by AP and AA Mechs moving in started rocketing. If they were allowed free rein it could roll back the entire Assault which would lead to massive casualties amongst the CoreSec forces.

Unluckily for the Slavers when Jazce had begun organising the Black Hats he'd done it in a severely militaristic fashion and having received Leife's updated battlespace map he had a fair idea of what to do. Tapping one of his Sigs on the shoulder he grabbed the Battlegroup Comms and raised Overwatch.

"Overwatch this is Sunray. Be advised several Fire Missions incoming from Ground Teams, Over."

"Sunray this is Overwatch roger over."

"Overwatch, Sunray roger out."

With that he switched to the Sig holding Company Comms,

"All Callsigns this is Sunray, you are comms clear for Firemission requests to Overwatch. Burn that Armour to shreds. Out."

A grim smile appeared on his face as a seconds later he heard the tremendous detonations of turbolasers striking targets. His men knew what to do, those tanks and the escorts would be toasted metal within five minutes. Then the CoreSec ground teams could continue pushing back the Slavers.

------- Tomas (Antarian Ranger Captain) -------

Tomas lay on the second floor of yet another half destroyed building, next to a pair of his Snipers, the rest of his brick somewhere behind him, designating window targets, so far they'd manage to shoot several Slaver's trying to hide behind their Slaves. But then he saw something that almost took his breath away. One of the Jedi, the one leading this Operation he thought, charged straight into the building without Support. Years ago the primary mandate of his Organisation had been to Support the Jedi... Time to do that again.

"You two, stay here provide cover."

Leife had commandeered one of his teams, another two had been rendered ineffective due to casualties. Those would gather at this location to provide protection and begin a Casualty Collection Point. This Coalition badly needed one from what he'd seen of CoreSec's losses. Regardless he had six teams ready to enter the HQ structure and begin a room to room clearance of the entire building. It would be a Slaver turkey shoot if he had his way. Getting on the Comm he snapped out instructions,

"1,2,4 provide cover for 6, 8 and 9. Enter and begin clearing that building. When 6, 8 and 9 make a hole 1, 2 and 4 break in. Snipers continue covering, 3 and 5 form up on this loc and start stabilising casualties."

And with that he signalled his own team to follow him in leading the charge. Briefly pausing as turbolaser fire began raining down somewhere in the distance. Making his way downstairs they skipped through the ruins into the calm before the storm, that final barricade before the mad rush to the HQ. Nodding one last time to his people he waited for that slap on his shoulder, even as the tempo of fire outside increased as Ranger's covered their mates charge he rushed forward, the structure looming before him with laser fire criss-crossing between it and the rest of the battleground. For a few seconds all he heard was his pounding footsteps, the heavy thump of his hear and the harsh rasp of his breath under his helmet before after an eternity or close to he thumped against the side of the structure. Behind him three identical thumps. If only the rest of his troops could be so lucky.

Another tell-tale slap and he moved to the door, checking the mechanism. Signalling his brick he got a stun grenade ready. One man moved around and at a nod levelled a solid shot straight into the locking mechanism followed by a boot to open up the door even as he dove to the side to avoid any return fire, pelting the grenade around the corner he waited listening to the scramble inside followed by a whump and howls, rifle up he charged into the room, gunning down the two disorientated Slaver's in his sector, shots from around the room indicated his brick was doing the same.

"DOOR, ON ME"

Came the call from one his troops, keeping his arcs the Ranger piled up against the next door, wincing slightly as he saw the E-Web set-up to drill anyone trying to charge through that door en-mass, this time third in line he waited for the call even as they set to breach the next room he got on the comm breezing through a number of reports of breach,

"Jedi Alluyen this is Captain Sairdonga, we have breached the ground floor in multiple locations, working our way to your position."

With that he tapped the shoulder of the number two. Time to go again.

-------- Jazce Leife --------

Jazce grunted as he tore the vibro-dagger out of the throat of the now dying rodain, even as he pulled it clear he flung it at a charging Togorian who even though he now had a vibro-dagger sticking out of his chest continued to charge, swearing the CoreSec Lieutenant flung himself backwards, his hand snapping to his pistol holstered at his hip coming up he snapped off a trio of shots, the first one going wide, the second low and slight right catching the Togorian in the hip, swinging him partway around just in time to catch the third shot in the side of the head instead of the front, flinging the giant creature to crash into the wall, plowing straight through the crumbled duracrete into the street.

Not stopping to think he swung around pistol up. Unloading another round into a Gamorrean that was trying to rip of one his Ranger's to pieces, that man had up until now played quite the game of escape and evade but was running out of options, his rifle a few meters away separated from him when the ambush opened up, two shots to the head closed that case. The Slaver collapsing, his head still partially there.

"Come on. Grenade that hole and lets grab the other two!"

Jazce said, indicating the trapdoor. Holstering the pistol he picked up his own rifle, and raced up the stairs onto the half destroyed second floor, from here they could see the first two members of the team were still where they had left them. Pinned down by a sniper. Somewhere behind him a muffled thump from the grenade indicated the ending of the threat from that trapdoor. Resistance had been much heavier than expected. Whilst the they knew it would be a fight they hadn't anticipated trapdoors filled with Slaver's popping out. They had made flanking these Sniper positions difficult. Gunning down the spotter and his mate hiding upstairs Jazce got a bead on the Snipers.

"Three marks, located tower, fourth floor. Antigo Apartments third floor, second window from the right and another tower, eighth floor. That one has an E-Web with him. You take Antigo and small tower I got big tower and E-Web. On three."

Six seconds later all three snipers lay dead. Disintegrating in expanding clouds of bone, blood and brain. High Powered laser rifles did that. He'd also targeted the E-Web's generator. It had detonated taking part of the tower with it. Looking around he noted an AT-PT manoeuvring through the streets towards them. Nodding to his wing the Former Ranger and his still Rangering compadre leaped from the second floor, rolling as they hit the ground and pelting to the other side of the street where they met up with the other pair. It was time to keep moving to the Mystery Helper who judging by the amount of dead Slaver's they'd spotted on the roof over the last clock of the fight was either still alive or had been very busy earlier.

Stacking up Jazce led the way down the street, indicated one man get his Sixty-Six ready. Somewhere in the distance he noted turbolaser fire striking ground. It sounded like Overwatch was finally getting pointed at things it could shoot. Taking his mind back to the present the four Ranger's found firing positions on both sides of the street down towards where the AT-PT should be coming from. Biding their time. They could hear it. The whir and thud of large metallic feet. Before it appeared though its escort did. Slaver's rushed around the corner into the the cross-fire Jazce had laid out for them, his man with the Sixty-Six keeping his weapon ready.

The Slaver's charged and ferociously, some getting as close as ten meters away before either falling or going to cover yet for naught even as the Mech rounded the corner the call came and with a roar the rocket launcher went off. Its small projectile. Ideal for destroying lightly armoured targets plunged forward straight into the cabin of the Mech. The detonation tearing the vehicle to pieces and signalling the retreat of the Slavers. Even as they fell back however it happened. A small lithe figure wearing familiar armour stepped out and killed a Slaver hiding behind some garbage disposal containers less then ten meters in front of them.

He recognised the frame. It was the same person as had fallen from the tower. Their Mystery Helper. The person they had launched this impromptu rescue mission to find. Not that it appeared they needed rescuing. Though it was rather charred. Upon sighting this small, yet rather dark and ominous creature his HUD's data packing went off the chart. It seemed they had quite the catch here. Anti-Matter Rifle, VIbro-blade attached to army. Professional? Surely. Merc? Unlikely. Not many Mercs were THIS professional.

"Three. Four. Secure the street. Two cover rear. We have our Mystery."

Staring straight into the Golden T Jazce felt a slight shiver run up his spine. There was something about all of this. An absence almost. He'd work it out later. Shaking his head he indicated the battle behind them. But what did one say in this situation...? Even as Three and Four pushed down the street to better cover positions and Two moved to another position behind him he approached the figure.

"I'd love to chat but I can virtually feel the Sniper's lining up to have a shot at the title. We need to move to safety. Are you willing to come with us?"

Risky move as he didn't know who or what or why or anything but this really wasn't the place to have that discussion and judging by the string of corpse's he'd seen he didn't want to try a battlefield arrest right now when he had Slaver's on his tail.

HQ Building

Adenna dimly registered the infiltrations into the building by others, but she did not let herself become distracted. The pain and suffering from the mounting wounded were filling air with a tension that set her Force sensitive senses on edge. Those who died set off their own wave of pain through the Force that joined the sour taste of fear and terror experienced by all in the city as the battle waged on.

Her focus, though, was on the task in front of her. There were slaves stored in the tower, she wanted to get to them before further harm came to them. The officers and rangers would do well to keep the slavers distracted, but it was her goal to save the slaves. She had allowed too many to die already and would not fail the rest. With her jaw set in a fierce look that was not at all like her, she decided that if the slaves were killed, all of the slavers in this building would suffer the same fate even if she had to run her lightsaber across their bellies herself to do it.

With the Force, she could sense roughly what was going on outside. Sensations of pain, surprise, and death allowed her to track the progress of the nearby battle and how far her allies had breached into the building. Even as they moved swiftly from room to room destroying resistance and doing their best to save any slave hostages along the way, she knew that they were too slow.

As swift as she could, she charged down the interior hallways of the building trying to get to the turbolifts she knew had to be somewhere. A few slavers saw her and tried to shoot her, but one or two men were rarely a threat to a Jedi Knight with a lightsaber. She continued her charge, blocking the blaster bolts they shot at her then cutting them down without pausing. She wasn't always successful, though. When some of her hair got in her face, she quickly brushed it aside and felt wetness. When she pulled back her hand, her fingertips were red. She didn't feel any life threatening warnings from the Force so she ignored it in her haste. As long as the blood didn't get in her way, she didn't care.

Through the haze of battle, she got a comm message directed at her informing her of multiple allied breaches. It was good to know that she had been reading the Force correctly and that they were indeed coming.

She was finally forced to slow down was when she encountered an E-web position mounted inside a larger hallway protecting the main turbolifts. They seemed to be focused on another hallway, but the hum of a lightsaber and the sound of boots all but sprinting down on them quickly drew their attention elsewhere. Four of them opened fire with hand weapons while the other two struggled to get the E-web in position.

Adenna's danger sense went through the roof even as she began to block blaster bolts. Blocking four shooters at once was not pushing her limits too much, especially since they came from the same area, but that E-web would cut her down lightsaber or not and she didn't have the time to focus on disabling it as she had the ones outside.

She deflected a shot from the four back at them and hit the man squarely in the chest, but the other three kept shooting. Just as the E-web was in position to fire at her, a fury of expertly placed blaster bolts from another hallway ripped through both machine and man. In two seconds, Adenna went from facing five remaining men to facing zero.

Antarian rangers stormed into the hallway with guns at the ready to make sure the slavers were dead. She saw one of them was an officer, but she couldn't remember his name at this moment, not with all that was going through it. The way to the turbolifts was now clear, even if the entirety of the bottom floor wasn't. She could feel many other small conflicts raging on this floor and believed it would only be a matter of time before it was entirely overrun.

Blood ran down her right cheek from shrapnel and down onto the light armor she was wearing but she ignored it. Her eyes were ablaze with adrenaline and the Force from the heat of the battle. "Captain," she said, "I am glad you are here. We need to leave the work on this floor to the others and get up to the holding cells where the slaves are being held before they are all murdered."

* * * * *

Slaver Advance, Thalis City

Even as slaver reinforcements escorting their remaining armor advanced on Jazce's location and were beaten back, they were being attacked from the rear. Men who looked to be far more at place watching over a hovertrain station or helping a stranded feline stuck in a tree were swooping in to strike at the slaver column's rear. Most wore simple tan uniforms with a dark yellow sash that befitted a regular policeman while others wore more military style fatigues. All had a simple red band on their arms of one sort or another, mostly made of ripped strips of cloth. They were hardly expert soldiers and their weapons were mostly light rifles, carbines, or pistols, but they were doing their best.

They had nothing that could take on the armor, but they were determined to at least stop the slaver infantry escorting them and slow the armor's advance. They launched a simple ambush and opened fire on the infantry, but it cost them. The armor was quick to unleash withering assaults that shredded the walls and cover these men were using as cover.

Seeing that remaining would only get them killed, those who had not already fled in terror began to withdraw. They had killed a number of infantry and needed to get out. As they did, glowing fire began to rain down from the sky. From orbit, the turbolaser fire was deadly not just to the slaver armor, but also to anything nearby. Buildings were stuck and erupted in balls of flame and molten metal. Several of the ambushers were consumed in the attack even as they tried to flee.

Officers screamed into comms, but there was nothing they could do but continue to run from the area. Their comms simply weren't capable of reaching space, so they had to call someone who could. The delay cost them dozens of men.

At last, a comm came from a building near the capitol that served as the main police station, such as it was. A panicked and clearly stressed voice sent out an open comm signal towards the fleet in orbit, "This is the Thalis Liberation Movement to the orbiting CoreSec fleet, please cease your bombardment of the city. We have men there and there are extensive civilian casualties."

* * * * *

Outside the Slaver HQ Building

Even as they breached the slaver's HQ, there was a commotion outside, behind the CoreSec landing point. Men wearing tan uniforms and yellow sashes cautiously but swiftly worked their way from a side street towards the open courtyard in front of the slaver HQ where the shuttles had landed. As soon as they spotted the CoreSec agents, they took cover and opened fire on them. Their weapons were hardly military grade, but even a small blaster pistol could kill. CoreSec agents were quick to respond as they took cover and began returning fire.

In less than a minute, more men wearing tan uniforms and yellow sashes joined the fray from the road on the other side of the first group. These men wore red armbands in addition to their uniforms and, upon seeing what was happening, opened fire on the other group. They went through the back alley behind the building and away from where the CoreSec forces were set up and rushed into the original group's flank with guns blazing. It didn't take long before a general melee broke out with blaster fire spraying everywhere.

((Summary:

In the HQ Building: Allied forces have breached the building in multiple places and are driving back the slavers. There were a few slaves on this floor, some of which were saved, others were killed in the firefight. Allied casualties inside are fairly light as they are far better trained in this style of fighting than the slavers themselves.

Adenna has met up with Captain Tomas at the turbolifts. Starlisk is also in the building, as are many others. Ardell and the Mandalorians are also inside.

Outside the HQ Building: The fight from the building itself has died down considerably now that CoreSec forces breached the first floor. There are still sporadic sniper battles going on between the slavers on the upper floors, but it is not as intense as it was.

Behind CoreSec's forces is a different story. Two groups of local Thalassian policemen are currently engaged in an all out battle with each other with one group also fighting CoreSec forces.

With all of this distraction, the group of Togorian slavers that have taken Sandy are withdrawing swiftly.

Around the City: Another group of Thalassian police mixed with militia ambushed the slaver's armor column with moderate effect. They managed to take out a good number of infantry, but were unable to harm the armor itself. Turbolaser blasts from orbit devastated the armor, but also the buildings on either side of the street. Many of the police were caught up in the strike and were killed.

Leife has met up with Terra at the front of the slaver advance, three blocks away from the police ambush mentioned above. Slaver forces there have been heavily crippled due to their efforts, but are not all destroyed.))

Tobias took a breath, closed his eyes then looked to his right. No Sandy. His left, No Sandy. Panic started to kick in, as he peaked around the corner. No Sandy. Where had she gone?! He examined the battlefield. The security officers lay dead, some had their entrails scattered across the field. The armor was patrolling the wreckage. But something was off... The young Jedi was right behind him. The young one must have been caught in the volley of rounds. But her remains would have been seen scattered through the field.

A AT-PT scrolled the field to Vos's position. He poked his head back behind the building. Silently, he cursed. He reached for his lightsaber and ignited it. He then proceded to cut a hole into the wall of the building. Deactivating it, he felt the rumble of the PT closing in. Jumping in, a bead of sweat trickled down his face. LEtting himself go to the Force, he felt Sandy was alive. Close, but moving away with haste. There were several...Darker signatures with her.

A startling revelation struck the Kiffar's mind. Slavers.

Breaking into a dead run straight towards her signature. Using the Force to plow through building windows it was a quick run. He made sure his aerobics was precise. It was taking a lot out. But failure was not acceptable. As he ran over obstacles, and through alley ways. Dodging slaves and civilians alike. He jumped over some of the dead.. The Slavers who held Sandy were in the next room. He looked through the , silently he said a prayer....

And after the storm,

I run and run as the rains come

And I look up, I look up,

on my knees and out of luck,

I look up....

Tobias looked up, took a breath. He felt only one major signature. A leader, or Sandy? He wasn't sure. But he had to act. He opened a door, and there stood a man. ((Gurthank))

With Rage of a Thousand Suns and the Cold Grasp of Death...Tobias spoke a few words.

"The girl, is mine. Tell me where you took her."

Terra's jet-black eyes glanced upwards as jade fire exploded out of the cloud-cover and began to impact the ground not three blocks away. She smiled behind her mask as the fire obliterated the nearby buildings and armor, sending flaming rockets of debris flying in all directions. She let her eyes slowly fall to the standing rangers, who were pointing their weapons in her direction. She cocked her head to the side slowly looking them over, as the body of the Trandoshan slowly twitched upon the crimson-stained blade that jutted from her gloved wrist. She flexed her wrist and the body dissected itself falling into two pieces at her black-booted feet. She scanned the troopers with her HUD as she settled her eyes upon their leader, who seemed to be staring intently into her golden T-visor. Within her maddened mind, a memory of the Sith's corruption, slowly surfaced, for an instant overwhelming her vision.

An ebon-cloaked man, the demon of blood, writing upon her flesh in the ink of her own spirit, commanding her to attack allies, forsake friends, extinguish life. Crimson stains upon a pale body, blood upon scarred hands, seeping from tattered skin, from mouth and eyes. Marking her of the Sith... Forever...

Her eyes snapped open as the Ranger approached her, and her HUD pulled up a file from the Black Sun databanks. Her organization had encountered this particular man before, during their brazen assault upon the Galactic Gunshop. He had done well there, and the report spoke highly of him, earning him a small modicum of respect from Terra. She smiled softly as she observed the rest of the squad moving into firing positions, but she was not stupid enough to attack a group she had worked to save. She took a small step forward to great him as he spoke, his voice gruff, but more kind than she expected.

"I'd love to chat but I can virtually feel the Sniper's lining up to have a shot at the title. We need to move to safety. Are you willing to come with us?"

Terra stepped under an overhanging roof as the man spoke, and leaned against the permacrete wall, the anti-material rifle firmly gripped in one hand, resting on her armored shoulder. She took a small step forward, keeping her eyes on the rest of the man's squad and placed a black-gloved hand to her visor. She swiftly depressed a coded sequence inside her HUD, and there was a small sound of decompressing air before the helmet loosened on her head. Leaning the heavy anti-material rifle against the permacrete wall, she grasped the helmet with both hands and eased it off her head.

As the force-mask came free, she could feel a fine breeze sweeping down the street, coming off the jungle, bearing the acrid smell of a city ablaze, charring the bodies of the dead. She felt the breeze catch a small droplet of sweat upon her pale skin and send it flinging onto the dusty cobblestones at her booted feet. As the helmet cleared her face, the Ranger would see the outline of the face of a young girl, seventeen standard years old, with a trace of Echani features, concealed by the darkened cowl. The wind caught the blackened cloth and moved it from Terra's face, her long plait of silvered-blonde hair streaming behind her as the wind blew harder, fully revealing her features. They were those of Terra, the butcher of Naboo, the slayer of Cloud City, loyal servant to the blood demon Ason Antilles, enforcer of Lord Ar-Pharazon, and those of a girl long-haunted by the demon installed within her soul.

The beams of filtered light played across the black tattoo of the Ouroboros, the ancient symbol of the Sith Shadows, the deadly enforcers of the long-dead Dark-Lords of Korriban, revealing it in its full beauty, painfully etched into the alabaster skin, covering the right side of her face. In contrast, the crimson writing on her left side, drawn and sealed in the blood of the Jedi master, Scorp Ession, told in the ancient Sith of her tortures at the hands of her masters. Blood dripped slowly down from her pale lips, a byproduct of her earlier injuries, which seemed to add another level of terror to her complexion. Terra's jet-black eyes reflected the street before her, and she smiled, her crimson-stained teeth sparkling slightly in the light. She spoke slowly and terribly, holding her helmet at her side, her other hand resting carefully on one of her flechette pistols.

”œI am willing... I shall keep to the rooftops, and draw the sniper's attention. Let me lead the way, the blood of slavers will run in the gutters... And in its wake shall come freedom, like a ghost upon the wings of the dead...”

Tros could feel his blood pumping through his body with each step the group took. It was like being back in the Outer Rim making the hunt, minus this time around he didn't have his beskar'gam with him. It was a shame that he still had to hide his true identity, but Tros agreed with Hallas on the over arching objective. As of such, he would have to go through this mission without.

"Ke'pare."

At the word, Tros pulled his riffle closer to the ready and watched as Keiark worked on placing a charge on a weak spot in the floor. Once it was ready, the Madalorians would drop a few levels a begin their search for what they came for. They also carried a side plan, one that would help sell that they were on the side of the jetiise. A single hand was lifted from Hallas as Keiark was done with the charge. Once he received the signal, he blew it creating a hole within the floor. The drop according to Frinyk would be about three levels down. They knew this through Frinyk slicing abilities, whom now uploaded the layout, along with every comm channel in use and linked it with everyone else's HUD. One by one, each Mando jumped through the hole, landing with ease with weapons at the ready.

As Tros went last, he landed and took a moment to look around the room, which wasn't much of one. Rather, they landed in a corridor. Standing up, he followed the rest of the group with Keiark at the lead. As they came to a door with should lead to their objective, the group slowed down. Upon the door opening, a single shot was fired and landed in Keiark's chest. The rest quickly raised their weapons and fired back, bringing down the slavers that were before them. Entering thew room, the group went about their tasks to complete the mission before them. Tros made it a point to drag in Keirak, as he was only really a point man for the job, and they didn't want to risk harming him at the moment. Pulling off the Mandalorian's chest piece, he began to observe how badly Keirak had been hurt. It was then that he was suddenly aware of Hallas standing over him.

"Liser kaysh'vencuyanir?"

Tros looked at the T-shape visor of Keirak before he answered. Without changing any bit of his expression or voice, he spoke calmly.

"Nayc."

A simple pat from Hallas on Tros' shoulder was enough for him to understand what he was supposed to do next. Standing up, he swung his riffle around to his back and placed his left hand upon his chest.

"Mando'ad draar digur, ner vod."

Keirak simply nodded his head once, and Tros walked back towards the rest of the group. At this point everyone else was now forming up on Frinyk, as they already placed their side plan into action to help convince their jetiise tomad of their allegiance. After a moment passed, Frinyk turned his head, and from his voice, Tros could only assume that the man had completed his task with happiness.

"Bralov!"

With that, the rest began to make their way back towards the top to rejoin the others in the fight. Hopefully, nothing of what just transpired would be picked up on by any of the jetiise.

------ Kel (CoreSec Commander) ------

Kel snarled in frustration as new reports came in, this time of local Security Force's both attacking the Slavers, which was good, attacking CoreSec which was bad and attacking eachother... Which to be honest he could care less about right now, he had more than enough fight on his plate. But the problem they had identified with the Orbital Bombardment was definitely a concern,

"Overwatch this is Sunray, cease all Orbital Bombardment. Bring the Swift Justice down to just out of effective range for those AAs and commence pinpoint strikes on the AAs only. I say again pinpoint strikes on the AAs only. Ground will mark the targets. Acknowledge over."

"Sunray, Overwatch. Acknowledged. Ceasing Indirect fire support, switching to to Direct Fire Support on marked AA targets only over."

"Overwatch, Sunray roger out."

Tapping his Company Signaller he requested a Company wide channel,

"All units this is Sunray, be advised Orbital strikes going offline. We will have pinpoint surgical strikes for marked AA targets, once your sector is clear fighters will commence runs on the Slavers. Also IRT these brown shirts, Red bands you are to liaise with and form into your Orbat. Yellows are shoot on sight. Out."

Turning away as the Signaller responded to numerous requests and queries Kel inspected the progress of his people. According to the battlespace map his forces had cleared the immediate surrounds out to a click and had formed a solid perimeter, with rather ugly casualties. It was just a matter of waiting for the Rangers and the Jedi to cut the heads off the Snake and weather out the storm.. But that Armour would be problematic. Getting back on the Task Force comm,

"Overwatch, Sunray. Requesting Anti-Armour weaponry on the ground over."

"Roger. Its on the way. Three mikes, primary LZ out"

Good, in a matter of minutes his troops would have the weaponry required to defeat that Armour. In this urban environment the initiative belonged to the mobile Section and Platoon tactics of CoreSec rather than the heavy tanks of the Slavers.

------- Tomas (Antarian Ranger Captain) -------

They'd cleared four rooms by the time they encountered Adenna. So far thankfully they'd only taken minor injuries, a few cuts and bruises, nothing that even graded a Prior Three injury but as they blew the door in and charged the room, gunning down the E-Web Tomas knew they were about to go from the thick of the front to behind enemy lines without the stealth part.

"Roger that ma'am. That turbolift will take us straight there. Squad on me. Two, Three tear off that door. Four help me with this E-Web."

Working quickly the small team secured the turbolift, jury-rigged the door inside as additional cover and set the E-Web up behind it for extra firepower. They would go in guns blazing. The turbolift had the potential to be a choke-point, he didn't want to be in that kind of a death-trap if he could help it.

"Ma'am so as you are aware the general breach plan is to pop grenades off then clear the room, this will be different. We're going to open up, throw in some stun grenades, stay down behind our door then when the grenades go boom pop up and lay down heavy fire. Then from there slow and steady clearance of the facility. Unless of course you have your own way you prefer to work."

-------- Jazce Leife --------

Jazce swore mentally as the figure took off her helmet. He hadn't known what to expect, but in such a ruthless killer one never expected a... Seventeen? Year old with such Angelic features. Even sweat covered as she was. Was there Echani in that? He'd thought they'd all died out during the Mandalorian Wars. Obviously not. But what was worse than that. When she took off her mask. He felt her. Almost as if he were some kind of... Radar. Not the groping kind either.

Something about her. She intrigued him. She scared him. That was saying something considering how he was. Not her, herself. Something about her. It just sent a shiver up his spine, it felt... Dark. Even without her charred armour, powerful rifle and gore covered arms he'd have known she was something else. But this was entirely knew. That Force thing perhaps? I'm never going anywhere ever gain without my Power Armour.

Jazce simply watched her turn and climb up onto the roofs, he would ensure he spoke to her later. This girl would not escape him. He would hunt her down to the ends of the galaxy if he had too. Signalling a regroup he turned as his men closed in around him.

"Is this a good idea One? That girl gives me the heebeegeebees. Looks like an Angel of Death, I've seen Rangers that scare me less. Hell Two scares me less."

"Eat me Four."

Creeps me out too Four. But there is something about her... I need to know.

Just then two things happened at once, his battlemap got updated and the Echani Angel of Death... Which he would call her for wont of her actual name commed in,

”œThe slaver advance has been stalled. I see one Sith amongst the ruins, being pursued by AT-PTs. Fighting in the area has slowed significantly. I'll be intervening.”

Sandy could feel the throbbing of despair within her soul as she felt herself be carried farther and farther into the great Slaver Stronghold. Not to mention the vice-like grip that this Gamorrean was carrying her in. Uhalû, she believed his name was. She kept her body limp, and relaxed, as to not alert him that she had awoken. Yet below her limp and lifeless demeanor, her mind raced in a fury. She was in a fell mood, and her spirit burned with the inner flame of injustice. Her body appeared broken and bleeding, yet she had a secret ally. The Force.

She let her thoughts began to focus upon the force, letting it swell through her, hitherto she had not experienced the force while in great physical pain. Now she was forced to it, as the force circulated through her body, she became aware how damaged she truly was. Shrapnel had entered along the entirety of her back and some had exited her chest and abdomen. She could sense that some organs were lacerated. She would not die of it of course. For now she focused on the healing arts that her master, Adenna had shown her.

Adenna”¦her master, her one stable friend, the one constant authority in her life. She reached out in the force to try and find her but it was to no avail. The fates had brought them apart. And Sandy Senya: the fair, innocent child, did not look forward to her sordid fate.

_____________________________________________________________

Gurthank held his axe Rihurdόd at the ready as he stood a few metres from the doorway. This Man, Tobias Vos, was approaching quickly. Gurthank's hand stroked the great axe's blade, scratched and pitted, with the blood of countless mortals staining the dark surface. The blade called for more blood, screamed for wrath, for it was a fateful blade, made in the ancient days. For Rihurdόd was a blade forged while the galaxy was still young. Resistant to anything that could harm it, Lightsabres to blaster bolts. Whoever wielded them would fall before the blades' lust for blood.

The man spoke, his voice filled with the coming agony for the one that he had lost. The girl, soft and fair, a daughter perhaps? "The girl, is mine. Tell me where you took her."

A great laugh bellowed from Gurthank's wicked mouth, and his words were drenched in distain.

”œYou hearken back to the old days, of bliss and cheerful laughter, the girl is gone, and shall never be seen again. Ye have been cursed, for she shall catch a fair price, and as she is unspoilt, the price will rise ever higher. She is valuable, so come, shall we dare to fight? A world in fire, chains, and fear shall ye find ere these gates are closed.”

Onderin kept his sphere of awareness large even now that his Battle Meditation had ended, always trying to keep a mental picture of how the battle was going as a whole so that he could plan his part of it with maximum efficiency. Although he was used to coordinating fleets instead of individual movements, military tactics had become the foundation upon which he had built his reality, and there was a wide array of principles and judgment that applied to any situation, just as lightsaber combat principles could also apply to anything from vibroblades to fist fights.

The Jedi Master moved to the next room, already aware of his opponents' location before he crossed that threshold. His viridian blade was in position before the first shot was fired. The skirmish would have been won before it started, but one of the slavers got an idea. "Freeze or I'll kill her," one of them shouted, holding a blaster against the head of a human female slave who looked positively terrified with just a flicker of hope in her eyes.

The Force was with Onderin Starlisk, and he focused on the slaver's mind. "That's not a good idea," he said.

"What was I thinking?" the slaver said. "Die, Jedi!" He then opened fire on the Corellian Jedi, who swiftly brought his glowing blade back around to swat aside another couple bolts before skewering the man.

"Th-thank you, Jedi!" the slave said, though she eyed the slaver's corpse with the eyes of someone who had never before seen such a death.

Onderin nodded. "It's almost over." He then proceeded to the next room, quickly starting to make his way toward Jedi Alluyen and the allied forces that were forming around her.