[HSP] The Wrath of Zhan

[HSP] The Wrath of Zhan
Welcome to the Wrath of Zhan run-on. This run-on follows the events outlined in the opening fiction to the Wrath of Zhan found here. This run-on will run the length of the Wrath of Zhan event, Starting on December 1st, and ending on December 31st. There are no signups or teams for this run-on. It is open to all current House Scholae Palatinae members.

Participation in this run-on will earn you points toward the winning the parent competition. Grading for the run-on will be based upon the normal fiction rubric, along side points for either being a contributing participator in the runon. Posts that disrupt the flow of the story, distract for personal plot lines, or go off on unrelated tangents will be docked points. Posts that actively push the story along and show an effort will increase your chances of placing. Clusters of Ice will also be awarded based upon the awarding guideline.

Rules

• Minimum of 250 Words
• No Maximum Word Count
• Minimum of two (2) posts to count as participation
• Members can reserve a post
• No editing once another person posts
• Must have at least one (1) member post before you can post again

Helpful Hints

• Check out other people’s character sheets to help write them in your posts
• Remember Star Wars Realism Counts. No out of universe swearing!
• It always helps to have at least one other person proofread before posting
• Reserving posts helps prevent people from posting before you get yours in
• Be courteous to your fellow housemates, and don’t reserve a spot then not post.
• Additional information on the NPCs of the Scions can be found on the wiki page here

Fias Zhan and the Scions of Cocytus were successful in the first stage of their plan. The Imperial Palace is now held securely in their control. At the same time, it is chaos on the streets of Ohmen. The green mist of the fear toxin has worked its way through large portions of the city. This extra level of fear from the civilians makes the streets even more dangerous than they were. The Scions who are not working to hold the palace, are hulking monsters twisted by Sith Alchemy. They are roaming the streets of Ohmen causing as much mayhem as possible to distract the brave soldiers of the Scholae Palatinae.

Zhan, now calling himself Emperor, has issued his final ultimatum to the members of Scholae Palatinae. Kneel or die. Before Zhan can be removed from the throne, his lieutenants must be stopped. Lady Il-Kayd and Bernard Leo both have been spotted in the area nearest the Palace.

It is your task to fight your way through the chaos of the streets of Ohmen, and successfully kill both Lady Il-Kayd and Bernard Leo. It is only then can the forces of Scholae Palatinae make its final push into the palace. Good luck. The fate of the Empire is in your hands.

Delak awoke near a pile of rubble from a portion of the
building that had exploded near him while he and Dante were heading towards the
star port to continue their search for Zhan. The hover transport they had been
riding in was in the corner of another building currently on fire. Warning
klaxons were blaring in the distance. The attack had come from nowhere, it was
as if a ship had broken up in the atmosphere and crashed all around them.
“That’s right!” Delak yelled in his mind, "Where is Dante."
Dante had been in the car with him and now he didn’t see him anywhere. He began
looking around swaying as he stood up on his unsteady human leg while the
mechanical one thrust him upright. He began to make moves towards the building
that now housed the flaming vehicle. Delak could sense Dante still in the car
but couldn’t see anything from his vantage point yet so he walked closer. Delak
put his concentration into the force and began to lift the rubble off of the
vehicle and then pulled the car out of the building. Dante was still there and
had managed to shroud himself in a personal shield which protected him from the
damage but didn’t allow him much movement to get free.

“Dante, are you alright?” Delak questioned him.

“Yes and thanks for the help getting out of there. Do you know what happened?”
Dante inquired.

“I haven’t heard from anyone yet and I found myself amongst the rubble. That
pile over there looks like a starship hull, but that can’t be can it?”

Dante looked over the wreckage and knew that it was as Delak had said. It was
the wreckage of a very old freighter. From the looks it had been blown apart
not from the outside but from within.

“We need to see what’s going on Delak. beep beep beep” Dante was interrupted by
his comm unit.

The message played out that the palace was under attack and that Zhan had taken
control of their empire. It played out that all available house members to
attempt to take back the palace. The message was from the emperor himself and
then it suddenly ended.

“Well it seems we have our answer on what happened.” Delak stated.

“Yes it seems that way. See if you can contact your apprentices and then we
will make our moves.”

Delak tapped him comm to contact Rayna and Upsideumop but it was no use their
signals were being jammed at the source. He knew he had left them training with
their sabers in one of the palace training grounds. Hopefully they were
alright.

“Dante, no luck on the comms they are all blocked. Let see if we can get in
touch with anyone else.”

A faint explosion was heard in the distance shaking Arthadonis from his Bacta infused sleep. Another louder explosion woke him completely becoming fully aware of his surroundings. He took momentary inventory of his injuries which had now mostly healed before prematurely ending the rejuvenation cycle and stepping out of the healing tank. Another larger and closer explosion knocked several vials to the floor breaking on impact and Arthadonis quickly made for the locker housing his belongings. Grabbing first for his commlink, he attempted to contact someone to find out what was going on.

“This is Arthadonis Kalderis to anyone on this channel, what the hell is going on? I can hear explosions nearby.”
Hearing on static, he turned back to the locker and equipped his robes and lightsaber before rushing to the exit of the medical building. Once outside he used the force to launch himself onto the roof of the medical facility and frantically looked around unable to believe what he saw. Flames and smoke filled the sky all over the city, high above him he could make out weapon fire presumably from the fleet in orbit and toward the east he saw a sickly green fog slowly spreading through the streets.

“What happened?” He said out loud trying to focus his mind and formulate a theory.

“It must be the attack Zhan promised.” The familiar form of Malen appeared next to him also surveying the carnage. “We need to find someone from the house and get an idea what our next move is.” The force ghost said staring off toward the green mist. “What is that?”

“I have no idea, but let’s not find out. Our first move should be to make toward the palace, if this is an attack Zhan will be after the throne and chances are we’ll find some of the others along the way.”

“Agreed, lead on.” Malen replied retreating back into Arthadonis’s mind as the Kaleesh began running toward the Imperial palace half the city away.

Two kilometers above Ohmen, Judecca
Bantha-class assault shuttle Cerberus II
Lower Hull

A massive transparisteel window on the center forward hatch gave the pair of Dark Jedi onboard an unimpeded view of the city of Ohmen, Judecca below. As they approached watching from the lower hull of the Assault Carrier, small plumes of smoke became visible as they rose from the smoldering hulls of broken ships on the ground below in a circle surrounding the city, each highlighting a failure of the enemy to make impact. All of these paled in comparison to the massive pillar of thick black smoke that swallowed the Imperial Palace whole as it rose from the assaulted city. In a city carved from stone, the burning of so much fuel was a sign of just how deadly each of the attacking ships had been. Thankfully the Fleet stayed mostly in tact.

As they got even closer from their descent, the smoke made it impossible to really take a proper survey of the damage from the air, yet provided excellent cover from the enemy occupying the streets below. Evant Taelyan could feel the conflict in the streets below as they approached, as well as varied emotions from the other soldiers onboard their shuttle for the mission. In the left and right forward hatches, an entire platoon of scouts prepared themselves for departure to begin their survey of the damage. They would be collecting information vital to efforts in the coming hours or if it came to it days.

“Well, you did say very,” Evant said, finally breaking the silence that had endured since the two departed the Warspite mere moments earlier.

“I lost communications with forces on the surface half an hour ago. I’m not sure I can properly articulate just how very,” Koryn responded, shaking his head and concentrating on the city as they approached. His eyes rapidly scanned everything before they reached the ground.

“I’m not sure you need to my friend,” Evant responded while he too scanned the city with his eyes and the Force.

Using the pillar of smoke as cover for the approach, the massive shuttle kicked on the repulsorlift generators and came to a hover a few meters above the ground in the shadow of the massive stone wall surrounding the city proper. The three forward hatches lowered to allow departure, as the Dark Jedi jumped first, igniting their ligthsabers and surveying the landing zone for danger. The platoon of scouts jumped out next, as each hit the ground they tucked in and ran into the nearby buildings and disappeared to carry out their orders.

As the last of the scouts disappeared into a nearby factory building, and the Assault Carrier took off following the Black Road towards safety, the Dark Jedi were left alone in silence. Typically a busy and bustling industrial center just outside the protective walls of the city, it now lay empty and silent owing to the activity going on inside the walls. Sounds of screams, explosions and blaster fire could be heard in the distance. It felt like war, in their home.

“The grand entrance just isn’t the same without my adoring fans rushing to greet me,” Evant spoke as he straightened his robes and disengaged his lightsaber and slowly walked down the vacant main concourse of the industrial sector of the city.

“You don’t have fans Evant,” Koryn said with a sigh of exasperation, not so much at Evant but just at the feeling of helplessness that hung in the air.

“Well, I see you, I’d say that puts one-hundred percent of those in my presence, as fans,” Evant said with a smile, he too felt the dread but fought it back with typical humor.

“One-hundred percent of those in attendance are about to go about their own way and leave you to whatever it is you’re doing here unless you feel like revealing your master plan finally. If you recall, you’re the one who picked this landing zone,” Koryn responded, trying to focus on the matter at hand. To find some small goal that he could achieve in the short run that didn’t seem so insurmountable.

“Oh, of course I’ll do you one better and show you,” Evant said, stopping in his tracks momentarily to watch green dense fog seep through the smallest of cracks in a nearby storage facility. Harmless amounts dissipating into the air around them but in obvious deadly amounts inside. The sounds of screams echoed around them again. Impossible to tell where they were coming from. It was as if the city itself was screaming.

“Well show me quicker, and let’s get off the streets,” Koryn said as Evant nodded in agreement and picked up his pace to a jog towards the edge of the street.

Briskly they walked a short while until coming to an abrupt stop. High above their heads a horrible magenta glow of an unrecognizable figure sat above the name of the establishment, the Giddy Lucksprite. With a quick knock at the door in a particularly odd pattern, and a few moments of confused silence in wait, the door slid open allowing the two inside.

As the two Dark Jedi slipped into the building the door slid closed behind them, followed by a heavier blast door. It quickly became apparent that this wasn’t an average cantina. Inside lights slowly began to flicker to life revealing chairs on tables, an empty stage to the far left, a host of empty tables to the far right. Directly opposite above a slight incline was the bar. Horrendously lit with a tacky choice of gaudy colors it was almost painful to look at. Then a short burly human emerged from behind with a wide smile crossing his face revealing crooked and yellowing teeth.

“Evant!” the man yelled out, obviously excited to see him as he raised his arms in excitement, sounding very relieved to see him.

“Pleasure as always Gorlin,” Evant responded as he approached the bar, Koryn following apprehensively.

“I take it you’re here for business not pleasure,” the man responded followed by a grating chuckle.

“When was I ever here for anything but business Gorlin? Besides, I sure hope to find pleasure in what lies ahead anyways, it means I get my way,” Evant responded trying to control his frustration through fantasies of killing his enemies, “but not the type you can offer anyways.”

“Right you are, so who’s your friend?” Gorlin asked, nodding at Koryn.

“Oh, introductions of course, so much on my mind, this is my good friend Koryn Thraagus,” Evant responded, introducing his Dark Jedi partner.

“Great to uh, meet you,” Koryn responded, confused yet curious what this had to do with the plan.

“Great indeed, any friend of Evant is a friend of mine. I’m Gorlin Sturm, proprietor of this wonderful establishment known as the Giddy Lucksprite, and quite grateful for the backing of the wonderful Empire,” Gorlin responded, a huge smile on his face and an attitude like a child.

“So, we don’t have a lot of time with the Imperial Palace under attack and enemies of the Empire roaming the streets so I’ll have to try and bring him back after we wrap up this whole incursion thing we have going on,” Evant stated sternly, trying to keep the man focused on the task at hand.

Gorlin understood and nodded, his smile replaced by a look of determination, “I figured something bad was going on, kept the place sealed up tight and planned to wait the whole thing out. That is until I heard you knocking. So what do you need my friends?”

Lucyeth looked over his shoulder as he ran to make sure Zagro was still there. Explosions were still going off and the entire city has already plunged into complete chaos. The pair had only a few more kilometers to meet up with Dante. The cover fire had helped but these Scions were everywhere and continued to appear in droves. They were nearing the defensive perimeter when a nearby blast knocked Lucyeth off his feet. The concussion rang in his ears as he looked up from the rubble covered ground he laid.

“Don’t worry I got you” yelled Zagro as he pulled Lucyeth onto his feet with Delak providing support. They set the battle team leader onto a large piece of what was once a wall.

“You Good?” inquired Delak with uncertainty.

“I am fine, but I’ll tell you, I didn’t expect this” replied Lucyeth with a huff as he staggered on his feet.
“Nobody did, we were caught off guard,” replied Dante with anger in his tone as he entered into the conversation.

“Have you heard from anyone?” asked Dante, hoping to see others from the house.

“Negative, everyone was spread out on respective patrols and all I heard was Arthadonis on the comm channel before it was jammed,”

“Same here, have not heard any word from the Emperor either but we must get to the palace and rally any other Dark Jedi that were caught in the explosions,” Lucyeth nodded his head with agreement.

We all looked at each other waiting for a usual competition to see who will get the most kills but this became personal and it was now no time for games. Everyone knew that the palace was part of that explosion and we would meet heavy resistance however, we had to take it back to help others that are still within and to secure the symbol that the Empire is here to stay. They were all thinking the same.
For the Empire! The group said in unison before they moved towards the heart of the ensuing battle.

Frak! After this is over, I hope Zhan rots!

Shadow Nighthunter and Brandon Tarsus had turned to follow Lucyeth and Zagro only to be knocked down by an explosion. Tarsus had quickly got back up as did Shadow, and both found themselves surrounded by Scion men. What was worse was the gas was slowly approaching.

“Tarsus, you ready to prove to me that I taught you well?” the assassin asked as she re-ignited her saber and began to deflect blaster bolts.

“Nah, I’m ready to show you that I taught myself even better, darling,” the Obelisk joked as he began firing with his blaster pistol. “Don’t worry; I’ll try not to put you to shame too much.”

Shadow shook her head. “I regret the day I took you as my apprentice.”

Apprentice…Aquarius!

Shadow had suddenly remembered her returning apprentice, the Krath having gone on her own before Shadow had met up with Tarsus. The Sith worried only a bit for her, knowing well that Aquarius was smart and resourceful. She only hoped that the Krath hadn’t slacked off on her training after she had temporarily left the House.

“I need to find Aquarius!”

Tarsus nodded as he dropped a few Scion attackers. “Right! Any idea where she might be?”

Sure…a jewelry store…boy how she loves shiny things.

“I have a hunch,” Shadow said before she quickly reached out into the Force, trying to sense any indication of where Aquarius might be. She smiled the minute she found her. “Like I thought…she’s trapped at a jewelry store.”

“How far?”

“Not too far, actually…” Shadow looked down a street filled with the approaching toxin. “She’s somewhere in there.”

“In there?!” Tarsus looked at the Ranger. “How the hell we gonna get her?”

“Well…” The Sith barely dodged an oncoming attack with a vibroblade, and took out her attacker with ease with her saber in his gut and a dagger in his throat. “I have an idea.”

“Just tell me the plan, darling, so we can hurry up and get her!” Tarsus demanded before diving for some cover and began shooting again.

“No time for explanations! Just trust me and stop calling me that!”

The ranger looked into the sky and whistled, also reaching out in the Force for aide. Only seconds later did the shadow of her Arkanian dragon envelope her. The Sith smiled with pride.

“Oh, not the giant lizard,” Tarsus groaned.

“Shut up, and keep them busy! Give them a good show like you always do!”
Through their bond in the Force, Shadow commanded her dragon to lower himself before mounting him. “You ready, Thurkear?”

The dragon let out a roar and both rider and beast rose into the sky. Shadow guided him towards the location of her apprentice, which they arrived at in seconds. Through the Force, she commanded Thurkear to hover above the street. Flapping his mighty wings, the beast created a breeze strong enough to blow the gas away and clear the area around the store.

The perks of having a dragon…

Delak
watched as Thurkear spread his mighty wings and used the gust from its wings to
move the gas down the street. Delak watched as Brandon took down the street
following Shadow as she went looking for her apprentice. Within seconds they
were gone.

“Well do we wait for them or move forward?” Lucyeth inquired.

“We need to move forward to the palace they will catch up with us,” Dante
ordered.

The group took off towards the direction of the palace. Scions were attacking left
and right as they approached. Delak swung his blade in wide arcs deflecting
blaster fire back and forth towards the oncoming foe. He could sense someone
trying to sneak up on the group from the rooftops and motioned for Lucyeth to
keep eyes open on top of them. He quickly put his saber on his belt and took
out his blaster and took aim to the rooftop. A scion popped his head over the
edge and quickly lost it from his shoulders.

“Nice shot.” Delak exclaimed.

“Cheers”

The current group of aggressors was defeated swiftly with Dante getting the
last kill pouring all of his rage into the skull of the attacking enemy. His
saber fileted it like an exotic Nabooian Fish. When he was finished there was
barely anything left that could be identified. The blood rage subsided and
Dante began running towards the palace while everyone else followed suit. Delak
knew that his apprentices were trapped somewhere in the palace and he was in
quite a hurry to make sure they were alright.

Memorial Square, Ohmen, Judecca

“The Palace,” whispered Xantros, as the sound of explosions came to the ears of people, who were present on the Memorial Square.

“Sithspawn!” shouted Kor Vaal just a second later.

Both Dark Jedi looked at each other. While Kor Vaal raised his eyebrows in a silent question, Xantros nodded in response. They both agreed that the Quaestor of the Imperial House required their immediate assistance, as his life was probably at serious risk. The Krath Archpriest immediately took the initiative, as there was no time to waste.

“Soldiers, we are afraid that the life of the Emperor is at risk. We do not know, if he survived the attack on the Palace. We need to find it out. Me and Kor Vaal will go to the Palace and check what the situation is look like,” spoke Xantros to the members of Scholae Military.

“What with us?” asked one of the soldiers, whom Xantros recognized as Corporal Xon Dhar, the squad leader of the soldiers present on the Memorial Square.

“Your task is to protect the civilians on the Memorial Square. Make sure that their lives are not in danger. Do your best to limit the casualties and prevent the breakout of panic. These bastards may be willing to kill innocent people or to take them as hostages, in order to cause greater chaos in Ohmen. Remember that the Emperor is our leader and protector, the embodiment of law and order, but it is far more important to protect the citizens. The Emperor will definitely understand it and appreciated your selfless dedication,” answered Xantros and showed the people on the Memorial Square with his hands.

His words were aimed to ignite stronger loyalty among the citizens of the Empire. He wanted to show that the Emperor took care of his people and was ready to sacrifice his own life, in order to make sure that they were safe. Though people did not cheer, as the situation was extremely dangerous and uncomfortable, he could see satisfaction on their faces. His words definitely comforted them and it seemed that they were going to follow the orders of the soldiers, who represented the authority of the Emperor.

“Now, we can go,” Xantros spoke to Kor Vaal.

Both members of the Krath Order moved in the direction of the Imperial Palace hoping that Xen’Mordin Vismorsus was still alive.

Ohmen, Judecca
Giddy Lucksprite
Cantina Bar

“They’re desperate for time, stalling as they try to gain control of the palace computer systems. All those turbolaser emplacements and turrets protecting the Imperial Palace couldn’t stop the relentless nature of their attack, but they will sure as frak stop us from getting up there. Not to mention they prevent us from achieving air superiority over Ohmen,” Evant responded to Gorlin, who had just inquired as to why the Scions had saturated the city in chemical gas.

“Well I’m sure glad to see you fellas in any case, that gas I spotted this morning must be doing something bad. Sparklemint here came running into the Lucksprite moments after I did scared and frantic before she spotted me and passed out, not my usual welcome from such a great employee. When she came to after a few moments I had to restrain her to protect her from herself and strapped her to that chair. Didn’t think twice before I sealed the place up tight after that. It’s insanity out there.” Gorlin sighed, a look mixed of fear and concern on his face.

Evant turned to face the lithe twi’lek female he failed to notice earlier tied to a chair, curiously he approached and placed his hands on either side of her face pulling open her eyelids. He watched as her pupils rapidly darted around. He could feel her entire body trembling against the restraints that held her to the chair. Sweat ran down the pale pink skin of her face in drops. Through the Force he could tell she was growing more fearful and full of dread by the moment in his presence. Her heart beginning to race even faster and her breathing now rapid and shallow.

“This isn’t natural Koryn,” Evant said, a rare moment of empathy hung on each word as he tried to make sense of it.

“You don’t know this girl Evant, maybe she’s always like this,” Koryn stated, in a bit of disbelief still that the Scions had even gotten as far as they did, and not wanting to give them more credit than they were due.

“No, I know Sparklemint. She wouldn’t be so afraid of me,” Evant answered without realizing the implications of his answer.

“Of course you know Sparklemint, why wouldn’t you,” Koryn replied, not even slightly in disbelief.

Evant focused on the young Twi’lek’s mind next. He gave his full concentration to instill a sense of morale and hope on her. The Force poured into her, pushing back the fear that was all consuming in her mind. Then, for a moment, her heart pace slowed. Her body became still and calm in the chair. Her eyes focused on Evant’s mere inches from her face.

Shaking his head in disappointment, Evant stepped back away from the girl and closed his own eyes to feel the Force flow through himself and regain his composure after calling on battle meditation for a moment. Quickly she began to shake again, rapidly humming under her breath as if to block out the fearful thoughts that clouded her mind. After just a brief reprieve from which considerable mental fortitude was used to attain, she was once again broken.

“What just happened?” Gorlin asked, confused at the rapid changes in mood of his employee, ignorant to either of the men’s skills in the Force.

“All I can say is, she is scared. Beyond scared to a point where she can barely operate. I will kill every last person who ever had anything to do with the Scions for what they’ve done today,” Evant replied, his mind racing with his next options on how best to strike. Trying to push back his emotions to make logical smart decisions.

“Yeah that’s kind of been the plan the whole time, kill Scions,” Koryn replied, recognizing the emotional state of his partner and wanting to keep him from the edge.

“Well it’s time to start seeing those plans through then,” Evant responded, his eyes mindlessly glancing towards the back of the bar, his mind racing through a million scenarios.

“Just tell me what you need, I’m at your disposal my friends,” Gorlin replied angrily, still confused and with no ideas himself but a willingness befitting of any great citizen of the Empire.

“The Scions have control of and hold positions within the city that we’ve spent years perfecting in attempt of impenetrable defenses, now all that is being used against us. I think step one will be to take away some of that defensive capability,” Evant stated, more to himself than anyone in particular as he worked out details in his head.

“It wouldn’t hurt. Maybe we should try and reconnect with the other Scholae Palatinae members in the city and make a push for the Imperial Palace. Who knows what’s going on in the city? With the communications jamming in place, they might be making progress as we speak,” Koryn responded, partly eager to find out just how everyone else was doing with how bad things seemed to be on the ground when he last checked.

“No, I picked this location for our insertion because of an entrance to a little known path deep into the heart of the mountain below the Imperial Palace that comes out in the cellar of a villa I own in the upper tiers of the city. I intend to get up there and set off an electromagnetic pulse that should cripple the power generator deep in the heart of the mountain connected to the Imperial Palace,” Evant proclaimed, having worked that out as the best possible plan to put more of this conflict in their favor while minimizing damage to his home.

“Why do you have a magnetic-pulse weapon powerful enough to disable power to the entire city in a villa you own?” Koryn asked accusingly.

“No time to explain. We cripple their power supply and they will need to start making some hard choices on keeping their weapons online to attack us during the assault, or keeping the shield generators online to prevent us from making our own coordinated attacks from the air. Plus it just might clear up this communication jamming situation we have that’s keeping us all disorganized,” Evant answered, eager to get going.

“I’m good with that plan, why it’s even an option as a plan has me a bit concerned. But I’ll trust you on this one,” Koryn replied.

The remaining squad of Delak, Dante, Lucyeth and Zagro reached the Memorial Square after the hard won approach from the jewelry store. How Shadow and Tarsus had made out in rescuing Aquarius was unknown. Something led Zagro to believe they would be safe. Having a large dragon-beast had that calming effect.

Upon reaching the Memorial Square the foursome was relieved to see familiar Stormtroopers in defensive positions manning anti-infantry guns and installing barricades. This was an odd tactic for Imperial forces to be taking during a domestic disturbance.

“Soldiers…what is the situation here? Why have you not moved to secure the palace?” asked Dante as the senior leader.

“Sir, we were ordered by Lord Xantros to hold this position and defend the populace. Xantros and Knight Vaal have gone to the palace to seek the Emperor” answered a sergeant.

“Damn. Of course those heroic bastards would charge right in to find the Quaestor. Dante, I suggest we hold up and wait for survivors. Our comms are jammed we need more information” offered Lucyeth.

Delak nodded in agreement and went to offer assistance to a squad of soldiers setting up an artillery piece. “If you can give me five minutes I can override the jammer. I cannot guarantee to shut it down, but I can get a message out to all Imperial forces. They will not respond but they will know we are here and know what intel we have collected” Fenn proposed to the group.

In the distance a dragon could be seen circling. “Stand down the anti-air turrets. Imperials arriving” ordered Dante.

Shadow ran out of the building with Aquarius and some civilians following. She had found them hiding in the basement, Aquarius having made sure everyone was safely inside before the gas reached the store. The basement was meant for storage and emergency situations, and the owner had made sure to install a life support system. The Sith couldn’t help but commend the owner for being prepared, and her apprentice for having helped out.

“You think they’ll be alright?” Aquarius asked as the two of them met up with Tarsus.

“Yes…they’re safer there than out here. Thanks to you of course.”

Her apprentice smiled with pride, her green eyes lit with satisfaction from her master’s praise. “So, what now?”

Shadow looked at Tarsus. “We head for the palace. Fight our way there and hopefully meet up with the others. If lucky, we’ll run into Lucyeth and the others on the way.”

“Sounds good,” Tarsus said as he checked his gun. “Can your oversized reptile clear us a path?”

“Yes, Tarsus, he can. He might get tired, but I can always let him eat you for him to regain his strength.”

“Ha, ha, ha.”

The Sith ignored the Obelisk’s sarcasm and returned her attention to Aquarius. “Ready?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Aquarius said as she quickly hid her hand behind her back.

“Let me guess…you stole some rings.”

Aquarius grinned. “Nah.”

Shadow shook her head.

I was stuck with a barbaric Obelisk, now I’m stuck with a jewel thief…what’s next?

Shadow looked towards the area where she and Tarsus had been before the rescue, noticing the gas starting to move in again since Thurkear had left with Tarsus. “Let’s go!”

Swiftly, both master and apprentice ran down the street while the gas threatened to prevent them from escaping its grasp. However, the gas wasn’t all they had to worry about when suddenly a monstrous beast charged out of nowhere the minute they reached a clear space.

“Aquarius! Find Lucyeth and the others! I’ll catch up to you whenever I can!”

The Krath nodded before taking off towards where she hoped the others were, leaving Shadow to face the enraged beast.

“I haven’t got all day!” Shadow exclaimed as she ignited her saber, quickly diving out of the way as the beast tried to ram her. She quickly got to her feet and charged at the monster, hoping both Tarsus and Aquarius would be alright.

Outer Orbit

Mean while in the orbits of the planet, the rookie Landon Cruise was outfitted in his TIE Fighter while battling Scion ships moving towards the planet.

“Awesome, just awesome. My first real battle and they put me in this rust bucket. Looks like the jokes on me, but I’ll show them the force will allow me to still destroy some Scions even in this pathetic ship.” Stated Landon Cruise to himself.

“Hey Cruise, you have yet to earn your stripes and fly with the big boys. We all started out in the rust buckets. It’s the truly great pilots and who can fly those, destroy everything, and survive” Flelm replied from the cockpit of his TIE Defender

All of a sudden a transmission comes through

“You guys done playing around up there, or can you give us some air power down here on the ground?” Stated Delak

“Well it seems like you guys have more action down there. These Scions aren’t a big challenge in the Air. If this is the best Zhan has got, he won’t hold the planet long.” Replied Landon Cruise

“Not so easy Cruise, we are Sith first before pilots. We do have Lightsabers for a reason Cruise. We won’t be ending this battle in these ships” Replied Flelm

“Ah yes, I know and this will be my first battle splitting some Scion heads open baby! All I know is the Cantina better be open after we finish this fight. That Palace will not fall” Replied Landon Cruise

The two Sith direct their ships towards the surface of the Palace…

The Royal Palace

“The last of the transports just touched down sir,” A scion managed to spurt out breathing deeply. Zhan gave the wide-eyed scion a look over. Still just a boy. A boy who would have to be a man by the end of the day.

“Good. Send word to Kelac. Phase Two is go,” Zhan replied. The boy saluted and ran off, still shocked by the reality of war. Another chunk of the ceiling fell to the ground. Several other Scions quickly moved into use the debris as part of their fortifications in the entrance hall. Zhan strummed his fingers, humming a little tune.

“The toxin is doing its job it seems. Still no unified response from this great Imperial Army,” Lady Il-Kayd said. Zhan smiled.

“The rest of the hulk berzerkers are planetside now. Kelac will put them to good use. The longer they run around in circles the more we will sink our roots in,” Zhan said. His datapad beeped.

“Like that for example. We now have full control of the palace’s defense systems. Even with this hideous decor, this place was built as a true defensible fortress,” Zhan continued. A few taps on his datapad brought down the reinforced door and window guards. Turrets around the palace popped out of the ground, spinning around, looking, searching for something to shoot at.

Bernard Leo came running into the throne room, giddy as a schoolgirl.

“They do have some wonderful toys here. For example, did you know about the deep undocumented sublevels?” He asked as he got close to Zhan. Zhan stood up from the throne.

“You found the lift?” He asked. Bernard nodded.

“Regrettably its locked down. System is outside of the main palace defenses. But he most definitely retreated down there.” Bernard responded. Zhan gritted his teeth.

“He isn’t going anywhere then. We will make him watch as we tear apart this pitiful band of Dark Jedi. Break his spirit. Bernard, go play in the city. There are plenty of toys for you to enjoy out there. My Lady Il-Kayd, I don’t want anyone getting even close to the perimeter. You know what to go do.” Zhan commanded. His blood was pumping hard, adrenaline spiking his energy. He was winning, and the last of the cards were falling into place.

As Delak spoke into the headset detailing what had happened on the ground he
received nothing in return but static. It was as he feared previously, he could
send a message but no one could respond. Using a frequency scrambler he hoped
to allow house forces to get the message while keeping their position a secret
from Scion forces. He also hoped to get some response from ground forces so
that they could meet up somewhere and join forces to retake the palace. Dante
was having all of the imperial forces running weapons checks to make sure they
were prepared to storm the palace. Delak could feel the wind whipping around
him as they proceeded to make their arms ready. As he turned around he could
see that it was Thurkear making the wind kick up around him. Thurkear carrier
Brandon and Aquarius on his back while Shadow was clearly absent.

“Where is Shadow?” Delak inquired.

“We took off to try and make our way back here, Shadow will catch us up. Just
following our orders.” Aquarius said quickly with some new rings on that Delak
had never noticed before.

Delak shook his head at the sight of the apprentice wearing these new rings.
Some had jewels that seemed to be big enough to power a lightsaber.

“Very well help make ready the preparations for our push forward. Load up for
the battle to come.” Delak commanded.

Both Brandon and Aquarius complied as Delak went back to checking his saber and
his blaster rifle. How good it felt to once again hold a blaster rifle. It had been
so long since he left the Hammer’s Fist as a stormtrooper for the empire. Now
here he was getting ready for one of those good old battles that seemed too big
to be won but on many occasions he and Angelo had overcome the obstacles. They
had thwarted so many enemies plans. Now here he was about to do the same thing
with his son Kell. “Oh what a fun day this will be.” Delak thought silently as
he checked the power cell on his blaster.

“Delak, are you ready for this?” Dante asked.

“Kell, just tell me when.”

The assembled team awaited word from Shadow. It was odd having her dragon-beast present without her. No one was truly sure if the thing could be controlled or to be on guard.

Delak had utilized the makeshift communications relay and reached the TIE fighter cadre in orbit. The transmission was garbled and brief, but the battle for air superiority was going well.

“The message has gone out.” stated Lucyeth.

More and more stormtroopers were staggering to the Memorial Square and taking up positions. Clearly the semblance of public order and protection could not be maintained with the monsters unleashed by the Scions. Everyone was vulnerable and survival was key.

Zagro was busy keeping the relay line open. He had not received any transmission besides the brief contact with the space forces Delak had established. The fleet would need time to mop up in orbit and could not dare risk turning a blind eye to star-ward threats. Zhan had more assets at play coming. Securing the palace must be an early stage of his plan.

“Lucyeth, Dante, we need help here and fast. Standard protocol once communication with the palace is lost all Imperial forces go on high alert and ready for mobilization. I have no contact with the other Battleteams, but the Kraken Regiment will be ready to depart from Antenora within two hours,” offered Fenn.

“Zag, the Emperor may not have two hours…” began Tarsus.

“And we do not have the forces to storm the palace. If we keep wasting our forces on abortive raids our time is up, “ replied Fenn, “If we can marshal a real fighting force on the ground along with air superiority we can retake Ohmen City and the planet. If we can raise the Kraken Regiment and give them a landing zone close by we have a crack at this thing.”

“As the commander of the regiment, I concur. What good is holding Antenora if we lose Judecca? Antenora does not have the capability to offer us a launching pad to retake Judecca. If we fail here we are done.” Came Lucyeth’s response.

The team hunkered down and attempted to raise Shadow. They anxiously awaited any comms they could get through from the fleet or the scattered yet reforming Scholae Palatinae survivors. The wait would not last long.

The faint sound of blaster fire could be heard in the distance getting louder by the minute while the eerie green mist continued to work its way across the streets of the city.

“That damned gas is going to cut us off from the palace if we don’t hurry. We need something that can get us there fast.” Arthadonis said panting heavily from the exertion of running for the last 20 minutes. Before the force ghost Malen could give a suggestion, a blaster bolt flew past the pair narrowly missing Arthadonis’s head.

“Blast!” He shouted grabbing and igniting his lightsaber just in time to deflect what would have been an otherwise lethal shot originating from a group of several Scion troopers across the large courtyard. “These guys know how to use those rifles, we’re done if we try to fight them in the open like this.” He exclaimed still panting heavily. Looking around frantically for an option, Malen noticed the small opening between building nearby.

“Head for that alleyway, if they follow us down there we’ll have the upper hand!” Malen shouted pointing to the narrow alleyway to their left. Arthadonis deflected and dodged several more bolts waiting for an opening to sprint for safety however several more troopers ran into view and began firing on him forcing his hand.

Realizing that his hand was forced, he focused his mind and used his force illusion skill to create several false images that began running in several directions as he made for the alley. They wouldn’t last long but it would hopefully be long enough.

The Scion forces were momentarily confused, firing at each of the illusions before after only a few seconds refocusing their fire on Arthadonis himself ignoring the now distorting and dissipating images. Those few seconds were long enough though as Arthadonis had made it to the passageway.

“That was too close.” Malen said kneeling down to Arthadonis who had collapsed from the effort. “We need to keep moving, they’ll be on us soon.” He pleaded looking back to where they’d entered the narrow passage for any signs of pursuit. The Kaleesh slowly nodded, with effort he got back to his feet and continued toward the palace praying that he’d run into friendlier faces soon. Unfortunately he found his prayer to be unanswered.

The two Krath moved in the direction of the palace with a steady tempo. They hoped that the citizens gathered on the Memorial Square would be safe under the protection of the well-trained Stormtroopers. However, the two Dark Jedi were aware that rescuing the Quaestor and reclaiming the Imperial Palace had the top priority, despite what Xantros spoke to the crowds at the Memorial Square. Otherwise, the Empire might fall, if Fias Zhan established his rule over Judecca and other planets of the Cocytus system. Members of House Scholae Palatinae had to act quickly, but also wisely, if they wished to be successful in their mission. The forces of the Scions of Cocytus were definitely prepared for the retaliation attack, which might be launched by the Dark Jedi.

“We need to be careful,” spoke Xantros calmly to his companion.

“They should fear us,” replied Kor Vaal trying to subdue his anger and desire to kill the enemies of the Empire.

“Yes, we shall make them fear us. However, we need to be careful, so that we do not suffer unnecessary casualties. We shall determine what the situation at the Palace exactly is and try to come up with a plan to save the Emperor. It means that we will probably need to wait for the other members of the House and any reinforcements that they can bring with them. I hope to deal with these pests, before it is too late,” explained Xantros.

“And if it is too late?” asked the Dark Jedi Knight.

“Then, they shall suffer,” answered the Krath Archpriest and grinned evilly. “However, we need to reach the surroundings of the palace first, so that we can observe the movements of the forces of the Scions of Cocytus and see what can be done. Since the situation on the Memorial Square, we have not encountered any hostile forces, but I do not expect to be so lucky for a long time.”

Shadow was looking down from the rooftop of a building, watching everyone below with Thurkear only aware of her presence. Her fight with the monster hadn’t taken long, and she had barely vacated the area on time before the gas could overtake her. So far, it seemed luck was on her side.

“So, what have I missed?” the Sith asked while the others looked up at her in surprise. “Am I late to the party?”

Tarsus greeted her with smile while Aquarius bowed her head in respect. The others had expressions of relief and annoyance. Shadow bowed her head in acknowledgement towards them, knowing time was of the essence.

“Took you long enough,” Zagro remarked.

“Was there a set time?” the assassin asked sarcastically as she jumped down and approached the group. “I wasn’t aware we had a schedule.”

“Time’s running out, Shad,” Tarsus said warningly, the Obelisk unsure if his friend was taking the situation seriously. "We need to keep moving.”

“Agreed. I apologize for the delay I’m glad to see both you and Aquarius found them. Wouldn’t want you two getting lost.”

She then returned her attention to the others. "So, what’s your plan exactly, and how can Thurkear and I be of service?” she asked as Thurkear lowered himself onto the rooftop she had just been on, the Arkanian beast awaiting commands from the ranger while he kept a watchful eye on everyone else. One sudden, threatening move towards Shadow, and the beast wouldn’t hesitate roasting them.

Shadow could feel her winged-companion’s discomfort.

Calm yourself, Thurkear. They won’t harm me. Save it for the enemy.

Ohmen, Judecca
Villa of Evant Taelyan
Oubliette

“It’s nice to see you’re keeping busy Dr. Arroyo,” Evant Taelyan announced as he stepped off the ladder that came down through a hatch in the ceiling of the dungeon-like laboratory. He came down alone, Koryn having stayed above to watch for company and provide cover.

“Well you do a good job of providing me an endless list of tasks my Lord,” the doctor smiled looking up from her notes at a small desk in the corner and standing up. She was quite a bit shorter than Evant with fiery red hair that was a tangled mess and brilliant green eyes set against porcelain white skin.

“You’ve kept up with what’s going on in the city above?” Evant asked, curious to find her working as if it was just any other day.

“I figure you have everything under control up there, so why bother myself with it. There was a bit more turbulence than usual finding its ways to the walls of the lab but nothing to give me cause for concern,” she responded professionally, not sure what the point of asking was.

“Of course, well the Imperial Palace has come under attack and is currently occupied by hostiles. I’ve come to take drastic measure to ensure their removal. I need to activate the DSE5.”

“We’ve only just finished efficacy trials. With the introduction of the Dark Side artifacts you delivered a few months ago who knows what impact it might have if set off in the city as currently configured,” the doctor responded very unconvincingly, almost as if it was her job to state the risks but in reality she wanted nothing more than permission to do it. Her endless curiosities strived to be satiated.

Evant could sense it, and smiled, “I understand the risks Dr. Arroyo. It’s a calculated risk I’m willing to take. I intend to take down power to the Imperial Palace, levels the playing field of war that spread out in the streets above. Maybe even save the Emperor. We have officers and soldiers out there whose lives will be saved if we keep our own Palace from defending itself during the coming assault.”

“Say no more my Lord,” the doctor smiled and walked across the room to a piece of equipment that filled up an entire corner of the room. Evant followed curiously looking over her shoulder as she engaged a terminal.

The DSE5 had wires running out of it everywhere surrounding a massive core like center. It already hummed with life but with the press of a few buttons it immediately became erratic. Evant could sense the Dark Side energy flowing deep within it. His mind flashed back to warnings from Dante not to tamper with such energies. He wondered how he would be judged by his friend in the coming days as a consequence of his actions.

“It’s primed and ready my Lord, on your mark,” the doctor turned and looked at Evant, “We should leave the lab before I push the red button.”

The two quickly climbed the ladder up through the hatch in the ceiling and emerged in the cellar of the villa above. Koryn came walking down the stairs at the sound of the hatch opening to greet them.

“Nothing happened,” Koryn commented.

“I’ve been advised it’s best to leave the lab before setting it off, and I’m not inclined to argue with the good doctor,” Evant responded, wasted no time and sealing the hatch behind him, “Do it.”

It lasted only a fraction of a second, a free-field energy pulse wave erupted from the DSE5 and found its way to the power generators hundreds of meters below them immediately. The electromagnetic shock overstressed and destroyed many of the supporting computer systems and distribution networks within the power generation facilities. Yet power was still on.

What followed the initial pulse was a massive geomagnetic storm that bombarded the main power generating equipment for the city for the next thirty seconds. The coils and cores in every major transformer in Ohmen’s power grid began to heat up and overload, erupting in brilliant explosions that started a chain reaction throughout the city. One by one, every piece of equipment that relied on the main power grid would go out.

“It’s done then, let’s hope it’s enough to gain an edge, it was a costly decision,” Evant stated somberly as he thought of all the droids and other equipment far below and out of sight that kept the city going on a daily basis being destroyed.

“It worked, exactly as intended. A sustained directional disturbance that targeted a specific site!” the doctor squealed out with joy, pacing now rapidly and beginning to mumble implications to herself as Evant turned to Koryn.

“Koryn, I have no idea what implications this has long term, but for now with the power out to the shield generators and the anti-aircraft weaponry powerless in the Imperial Palace, we can achieve air superiority ahead of the coming assault. They can’t use our defense against us anymore,” Evant explained, thinking about where the main forces of Scholae Palatinae might be now.

“I know I’ll feel better without our turrets firing on me as I walk through the main palace doors. I just hope once we get rid of the Scions, we can fix whatever it is you just did and call this place home again,” Koryn responded, pulling out his blaster pistol and taking a serious look, “Well, let’s get going shall we?”

The lights went out abruptly. No one noticed at first, as the Imperius sun was still on the horizon and only slowly giving way to the cold nighttime.

“Why is it so quiet? There has not been a sortie our way in hours.” Commented Brandon Tarsus.

There were perhaps a full company of soldiers at this point defending the Memorial Square. More and more were streaming in as it became clear the populace could not be saved and this was the only area that was holding out against pockets of Scions and the terrible beasts that were attacking the Imperials.

“I don’t know, we haven’t been able to get anyone on the line from the surface. Two garbled transmissions came in from orbit. The fleet has defensive positions taken up on station. Imperial ground forces across the system are being mobilized and garrisons stood up. Bottom line is without the Emperor’s command the Fleet is being cautious. They will not order an attack until we are certain of Zhan’s resources.” Stated Dante.

“The other communication?” Asked Lucyeth.

The Dark Jedi took turns manning the makeshift communications relay. Zagro Fenn, the master slicer, was able to sporadically get messages out but could hardly get incoming contact.

“It is your lucky day Lucyeth, Zagro. Elements of Kraken Regiment are on their way to meet us. Good thing the soldiers are protecting this landing zone.” Offered Dante.

The Imperial Winter Palace began to groan it seemed. It started as a low drum but then panicked screams and frantic orders could be heard. Scions could be seen pulling back in small numbers to the palace.

Shadow’s dragon speed off, wings ablaze after some of the scion soldiers. “Damn, come back here!” Screamed Shadow.

In the distance the beast fluttered about and took small arms fire from fleeing enemies. Yet no anti-air turrets fired. Odd thought the assorted Dark Jedi.

As the dragon languished back towards the square the notion hit them. “Are the turrets down? They are automated they wouldn’t be able NOT to hit that thing,” mused Lucyeth.

“Elements of the Kraken Regiment? Dante, we need to find out how many soldiers that entails and how they are landing because if this is what I think it is we may need a plan fast.” Retorted Zagro Fenn.

In the sky above, the first few shuttles could be seen coming down. With sensors down, no one could tell friend or foe.

Delak
watched as Thurkear headed towards the enemy troops and awaited the beasts
final moments, but the moment never came. Delak overheard some of the troops
clamoring about the turrets being down.

“Dante, are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“If you are thinking about that time on Rishi when we had to go crazy on those
pirates?” Dante replied.

“No not that time, good time though. “Delak said with a smile. “ That time we
snuck into that republic prison to break Rayna out after she had allowed
herself to be arrested for undercover work.”

“Oh. Oooh. Yea let’s rock and roll. Shadow and Lucyeth you guys have point
here. Me and Delak are going to work on a little recon.” Dante finished.

“Will do Dante. Do save some scions for us.” Shadow stated.

“Do you think we would really take all the fun for ourselves?” Dante smirked at
Delak.

“Of course.” Shadow nodded.

Dante nodded at Delak and the duo took off towards the direction of the palace.
They knew from the looks of the outside of the palace that most of the scion
guard had withdrawn inside the palace due to the power outage. Not knowing how
long this advantage would last they headed as fast as possible keeping to the
shadows of the setting sun.

A few minutes later both arrived at the palace. It was as they expected
everyone had pulled back inside the palace sealing the place as tight as they
could. Delak noticed an open window three stories up. He gestured to Dante
towards the window. There were several ledges sticking out from the side of the
building which they used to leap up to the open window. They peered in and
could see where the troop movements in the room were. The electronics normally
used to close the windows this high up were taken out by whatever happened
before so the force was with them. They crawled in the window and crept along
the ridge in the wall until they reached one of the house banners which they
grabbed onto and slid down silently to the ground. They hid behind a broken
piece of pillar that had fallen down when a piece of the ship had crashed into
the roof of the palace. In the immediate entrance to the room there were at
least eight scions standing about. The two moved behind a pillar near the entry
to the main hall and looked further in at all of the chaos that happened when
the attack began. Statues of the emperor were destroyed and laying on the
ground. The scions had posted five men in this room with two at either side
guarding side doors and three at the base of the stairs. At the top of the
stairs there were another five or six scions but there was one main difference
with this group, Delak knew from the most recent intelligence reports that the
man standing in the front of the group was one of Zhan’s main lackeys. It was
Bernard Leo. But what was he up to? He was throwing his arms wildly about
yelling orders for men to head into the main hall to prepare to head out and
attack the Scholae forces. The scions headed to the main hall to begin their
preparations while the remaining forces protect the inside of the palace.

“Dante how can we pass up this opportunity? Bernard is right there. I could
take him out right now and take care of part of our problem right now.” Delak
said quietly.

“I don’t know, do you think the odds are even?”

“Two of us at least twenty of them? Seems fair to me. No more than usual but we
can take him out quietly can’t we?” Delak replied.

“Well I took one of these blaster silencers off of one of our soldiers outside
just in case something might come up. I know you are still a good shot, I watch
you in the practice range.” Dante suggested.

“Well give it here and we will take a look. We have to be ready to move though
he is alone right now but won’t be for long.” Delak said as he took the
silencer and attached it to his E-11 Blaster rifle. He took aim down the sights
of the weapon and put Bernard’s head right in the scope. He took a long slow
breath and watched for any movement from around him trying to make sure they weren’t
being noticed yet. He let out a slow breath and softly squeezed the trigger and
watched as a burn hole blackened around the eye socket of his target. Bernard
slumped over and fell prostrate on the floor behind the banister. Delak hit his
mark and now they had to make sure they weren’t discovered. They had to move
quickly.

The Royal Palace

There was an immediate beeping, alerting Zhan to the sudden death of Bernard Leo. With a press of a button he alerted all his forces inside the building. Those inside the Main hall itself had already be made aware of intruders when Bernard fell to the floor. Within 30 seconds the all near by Scion Forces were converging on the Main Hall. Zhan’s own guards stepped forward to protect him, in case anyone made it through the doors to the Throne Room.

“It has to be only a few of them at most. They can’t get an army in here without us noticing. They have no way out. Take them out,” Zhan commanded.

Within the main hall Delak and Dante quickly realized how completely screwed they were. Dozens of Scion forces now flooded into the room. Canisters of tear gas were lobbed through the room filling it. Dante and Delak secured their helmets to ensure it wouldn’t ruin their chances of escape. Adrenaline pumping in their veins they tried the closest doorway. Before they could reach it, it swung open, with even more Scion forces coming in. Delak and Dante opened fire, having no choice but to fight their way out.

“Do not kill them. I want to do that personally,” Came a voice from across the hall. Delak turned and saw Bernard Leo standing up. His eye socket sparked.

“How?” Delak froze. He had seen Bernard fall dead. His hesitation was his downfall. One of the Scions hit him directly in the chest with a stun bolt. Delak felt the energy course through his body, rendering himself useless. He saw Dante cornered, and then threw down several grenades. A giant hole blasted into the wall behind him. Dante dove out, unable to help his friend. There were now two Palatinaeans stuck inside the palace.

Bernard Leo walked over to the lump on the floor that was Delak. He patted his chest, each tap ringing out with a metallic sound.

“Your shot took out my eye. Knocked me down for a second, but this handy defibrillator gives me a nice zap of life incase things go bad.” Bernard smiled a sadistic grin. He pulled out a gun, not a blaster but a slugthrower. He very calmly shot Delak in the knee.

“You see blasters are quick. But metal shrapnel, now that is a pain that can last a good long while.”

Outside the palace Dante was frantically running away from the Scion forces. They had poured out of holes and flooded the grounds with a tremendous speed. The window had been left open for a reason. Now it was just a matter of following Dante, so they could kill a large portion of their enemies. Dante, severely outgunned had no choice but to lead them there. At least together they stood a chance of pushing the Scions back.

Several blocks over Kelac Lesha was fiddling with a strange looking device. His own datapad beeped signalling the movement of Scions around the city. Lady Il-Kayd strolled up behind him.

“Tired of how slow its going Lesha?” She asked. Kelac nodded.

“We have footage of a freaking Arkanian Dragon using its wings to blow the gas away. Need a more… Absolute approach,” He replied. He stopped fiddling with the controls on the device. The lights of the machine went on, fixed from the EMP pulse. He smiled and pressed the activation button before grabbing hold of a handrail. A pulse of energy shot into the air. Air from around the city was pulled toward the beam as it shot into the sky. The fear toxin was quickly being pulled from around the city into the beam.

The air moving into the beam felt like a tornado. All members of the Scholae Palatinae Military, and House members froze where they stood. They braced themselves against the gale. Dante dove into the fortified position with his fellow Palatinaeans.

Then the beam exploded in the sky, thick green clouds forming overhead. Even more shots bore down on their position, but the members of Scholae Palatinae were too focused on the sky to notice. Green drops of fear now rained down on them. Soaking their clothing, their armor, their skin.

Delak
screamed in agony as Bernard shot the slug into his right knee. The brutality
of metal slugs was unbearable. After getting shot the scions dragged Delak into
one of the upper towers and threw him into the room with two other cloaked
figures. He felt his back pop as they threw him up against the wall of the
makeshift cell.

“Sithspit that hurt, but I think they popped something back into place when I hit
the wall.” Delak joked around as he tried to see who it was who was with him in
the room. The cloaked figures pulled back their hoods and Delak was relieved to
see his two apprentices standing before him. Rayna stood before him in all her
dark beauty and Upsideumop stood there glaring with those deep eyes with the
scar across his left one, he appeared to be always staring deep into your soul
with that stare.

“It’s nice to see you both in one piece. I have been worried about you since
the attack. I thought I had taken Bernard out but it appears I miscalculated.
It will not happen twice.”

“We were wondering what happened out there. These scions dropped right in on us
while we were practicing our saber forms. They caught us so off guard that we didn’t
have a chance to get to our sabers. The one time we put them down for practice
someone attacks the palace.” Rayna said.

“Yea Delak I can’t believe they caught me with my pants down. That won’t happen
again. We have to figure out how to get out of here. But you appear to be hurt.
They didn’t shoot you with a blaster they shot you with a slug thrower?” Upside
said.

“Yea the bastard shot me with a slug, but did you notice which leg it was?” Delak
questioned.

Upside and Rayna shook their heads in confusion. They didn’t know what Delak
was going on about.

“Rayna even you my wife? Do you who knows me best not see what I am talking
about?” Delak asked again.

“Your leg. Your right leg!” She exclaimed.

Upside still looked confused by what she was talking about. Delak motioned for
Rayna to keep her voice down.

“I can’t believe they shot you in your leg!” She said to throw off the guards.

“Good save. Upside I can see you are still confused by my comments. You see my
left arm and its mechanical right? I lost it a long time ago. During my time
with the Hammer’s Fist stormtrooper unit however I lost something else.” Delak
stated while tapping his right leg. “You see they shot me in my leg but the
screaming and the pain was all an act. You don’t live as long as I do without a
little playacting. This leg is the mechanical implant that I received when I was
shot by friendly fire by Kell’s father Angelo. It’s a very long story and one I’m
sure he would have loved to tell around the cantina. Right now though we need
to escape.” Delak explained. He reached out with the force to detect how many
scion guards were around. As he probed with tendrils of the force he could
touch each one of them and could sense at least six guards in the upper level
where they currently were. Two guards were immediately outside the door while
the other four guarded the only entrance to the level, the elevator.

“Well there are six of them total. Two on the door four on the elevator. At
least I don’t leave home without a backup plan.”

Delak reached down to where his leg had been shot and ripped the pant leg off
of his suit revealing the damaged leg. The slug was embedded just behind his
knee wedged in a gear in his legs’ motivator. He pulled it out and the gear
started to gyrate as normal again. He stretched his leg and bent it back and
forth to make sure it still worked properly. With that fixed he felt to the
back of his leg to a latch that he had installed for emergencies such as this.
Opening the latch revealed a smaller but just as effective lightsaber that he
had claimed off of a dead jedi that he had slain. He held the blade in his hand
and reached out to it feeling its power through the force. The jedi had been
good but not good enough. He showed his apprentices the weapon.

“This is what they didn’t expect.” Delak said.

The two apprentices nodded in approval. Delak explained what they must do next
to the apprentices and advised them of the course of action once they were out
of the cell.

Delak walked to the door and peered through the window and could see the two
scions just standing there. He whispered to the one guard something under his
breath. The guard turned and walked closer to the window because he couldn’t hear
what Delak had said. As he got closer he probed inside the scions mind, sensing
how weak his mind was Delak took control of him and put the uncontrollable urge
inside of him to shoot his partner and unlock the door.

The scion drew his blaster and shot his compatriot in the chest and before any
of the other guards knew what was going on the door was unlocked. Delak knew the
lightsaber was enough to open the door but this was so much more satisfying. As
the guard walked into the room he grabbed the guards head and quickly snapped
his neck. Quickly he turned to the hallway since the other guards had already
taken position to stop any escape attempt. Delak tossed Rayna the guards’
blaster and called out with his power to the other guards’ blaster and brought
it into his open hand. He tossed the other blaster to Upside.

“Ready for some action?” Delak said.

Both apprentices nodded in agreement. They walked into the hall following Delak
with the jedi lightsaber in hand. He ignited the saber with a quick snap hiss.
The blade hummed to light and he extended the purple blade to fit his size
since it came from a smaller person. The scions clearly weren’t expecting an
escape attempt let alone one with an armed dark jedi. They began shooting at
the trio and Delak began deflecting blasts which hit the walls to the sides of
his apprentices as they shot back at the guards taking out the first two with
straight shots. Delak deflected a few more blasts and then through all the
power of the force took his off hand and shot bolts of lightning energy toward
the remaining two guards. The shock hit both of the men and he watched as they
began to smoke from the electrocution treatment he was providing them. He
smiled as the men fell to the floor with the smell of burnt flesh hitting the
air. Now there was only one thing left to do. Escape. They were on the top
floor of the palace tower. The elevator was the obvious way out and Delak knew
that every floor would have guards and he really didn’t want to get captured
again. Therefore the choice was clear. The window at the end of the hall was
the escape route. Delak ran to the end of the hall slicing the glass out of the
window as he jumped through onto the roof while his apprentices followed. They
looked out over the city and could see the fear cloud dropping out of the sky
over top of where their comrades were. Delak knew that this was bad there had
to be something he could do, but what.

Outer Orbits

Due to Cruise desire to kill as many Scions as possible, he delayed a bit before attempting to land near the Palace. This would prove almost fatal for the young Guardian who’s arrogance at his own skill could have cost his life.

“These Dang Scions are everywhere and I don’t see any House members in site” said Cruise

Descending upon the Palace Cruise witness the destruction the Warship had caused through the crash into the Palace.

“What the heck happened he…” Cruise said as he start receiving hard fire to his ship.

::Cruise immediately ejects as his ship spirals towards the Palace.::
::Seconds after landing his ship luckily crashes through a door outside causing a loud explosion, but a slight opening through the door::

“Well this is my chance to get in. Last I had Comm members were making their way towards the lower levels towards Xen” Stated Cruise

::As Cruise runs jumping through the doors opening he is immediately thrown by the force into a wall across the hall. As he starts to turn he has a lightsaber at his neck::

“Dude, what the heck, it’s me.” A startled Cruise says towards a nice and charred Upside from the blast of the ship.

“Come down Upside, he is one of our Pilots” Delak quickly called out

“Yeah, come down. Freaking Obelisk are always quick on the draw” State Cruise

“Good thing we are quick to calm one another down Cruise. You ready to fight with the big boys. No more fly time down here. Follow our lead Sith.” Delak announced loudly while pounding his chest in excitement of the actions to come.

“Alright Delak, let’s do this. I’m sure I’ll prove to help. You know the Sith are Masters at power, time to show you I’m not all Pilot!” said Cruise.

“Well then stop talking and lets get down to Xen. It’s going to be one heck of a fight to reach him. I’m just glad there are 4 of us now to do the damage.” Stated Delak

The green rain poured down. Toxin of fear drenched the populace and the streets in thick and glowing moisture. The growing Imperial force took cover initially unsure of what this new enemy stratagem would be.

Echoes of terrified laughter and screams rang throughout the outskirts of the Memorial Square. It became apparent that this was the feared gas that had already decimated the populace of Ohmen City. The power was still not fully on for the palace, though, and the Scions decision to utilize their efforts to respawn their toxins instead of seeing to their positions’ defenses could be fatal.

Dante had returned from the odd and uncharacteristic assault he had lead with Delak. Roughly a dozen Dark Jedi were present, as were a few hundred remaining Imperial forces of Ohmen City and the emergent Kraken Regiment. “The Palace is teeming with Scions, yet hope is not lost. They do not have our Emperor, he is still in hiding.”

As the tactical commander, Battleteam Leader Lucyeth stepped forward. “Dante, my Antenorans have arrived and are ready. Upgrading their armor in the last campaigns to full Stormtrooper kit was timely. The toxins will not pierce their armor. The Fleet is still holding positions and we cannot establish full contact. The time is now.”

All eyes were on Lucyeth, and Fenn stepped forward. “He is right. Let us lead our Acclivis Draco and Kraken forces on the Palace now. With the defenses out for the short time left, we can perhaps dislodge the Scions, find the Emperor, and eradicate the Scions!”

“So be it. The shuttles will be our mobile spearhead. All weapons at this square will be aimed to provide cover. We take the palace now. We have Dark Jedi inside there, we need to get them back immediately.” Dante spoke, and the Imperials and the Antenorans listened.

Lucyeth stood before Kraken Regiment with his Sergeant Zagro Fenn alongside him. He looked towards everyone in front of him and with Dante nowhere to be found last heading towards the palace, he had to make a decision.

“Men we have come this far to secure our home but it is once again in danger of loss from our grasp by people who do not share our true value of what is the Empire. You are called here today to fight alongside your brothers and sisters of the Judeccan forces to retake what we are on the verge of losing. I am not asking you to help the Royal House and our Emperor, but pleing to strengthen our numbers of dark Jedi to fight as a unified force and get rid of these so called Scions,” yelled Lucyeth to the soldiers that stood before him. He then turned toward his Sergeant who nodded in agreement.

“The Kraken Regiment will provide the strength that we need to assault the palace,” stated Zagro to his friend before he wiped his brow.

“You know we will not be able to simply walk up the main steps and challenge Zhan, we still have not heard from Dante or Delak, for we know they could be dead. Regardless we must recapture and secure the remaining forces that are trapped within the palace walls” Stated Lucyeth with a hint of curiosity as he knew Zagro was thinking the same thing.

“ I see, we could split up the forces and create a two front war, forcing Zhan and his forces to come out and fight in the open rather than dug in the palace hall,” suggested Zagro Fenn.

“Ah both good options but we should discuss how we should split up the various troops we have, those heavy trooper squads and medics will be crucial. We have to talk to the others as well and see what they think,” Said Lucyeth before Zagro and himself went over a battle plan with the other dark Jedi and a fresh regiment of troops eager to get involved.

Delak
watched as a rusty TIE fighter was hit by AA fire and began to turn into a ball
of fire. It was sailing past the palace at great speed still though. There was
another explosion from the fighter and the cockpit lid blew open and there was
a pilot ejection seat which emerged through the flames. Delak watched and tried
to see who it was but couldn’t tell. The pilot was going to miss the palace
roof and he knew it so he reached out and tried to slow his decent and direct
him towards the palace. It was an enormous strain on him but he got him close
enough to grab him and pull him up all the way to the roof where they sat. The
pilot quickly pulled off his flight helmet to reveal that it was one of Scholaes’
newest recruits Landon Cruise. He threw the helmet to the ground and quickly
made sure he was still in one piece.

“Well that sure is one way to make an entrance isn’t it Cruise?” Delak joked.

“Well is would’ve been more messy had you not been there to somewhat catch me.
Thought you were some big bad Dark Jedi Knight?” He joked back.

“You just wait till we don’t have an enemy ruining our house. Let’s figure out
some way to get down from here. We can’t go back inside because there are too
many forces around us so what shall we do?”

Delak and the group looked around and toward the other end of the palace they
could see the top of the closest mountain almost calling out to them. They
decided it was time to try it out at least. The group of four made way quick as
they could to the other end of the palace and judged the distance from the roof
to the rock face. It didn’t seem like it was too far so Delak sent Rayna and
Upside first. They jumped with all their might with a little nudge from their
master they made the distance. Cruise attempted the jump and made it fine by
himself. Delak took one look at the palace and then made his jump to the
mountain. He caught himself on the ledge and pulled fast to not lose his
balance. Delak knew that there was a house somewhere up in these mountains
where there was radio gear and maybe weapons and some way to fight back or
coordinate an attack using short wave transmission. He didn’t know how the rest
of the house was dealing with the fact that they had been rained upon by the
fear toxin. Delak only hoped he could find Archangel and the supposed anti
toxin to help everyone out below.

The minute Shadow realized that the toxin was raining down on everyone, she had quickly found cover along with Tarsus and Aquarius. Worry for her scaly companion had set in, for the vortex had caused Thurkear to plummet to the surface hard somewhere not too far. Yet, she knew that she couldn’t go help the beast. Getting to the Emperor was more important, along with killing any scions that stood in their way.

A plan began to formulate in the assassin’s mind as she saw the other Dark Jedi go their own way while scions still pressed on with their attack. She looked at the palace, and decided that she and her companions wouldn’t follow the others quite yet. They’d do what they could to keep the remaining scions from going after them.

“Tarsus, I need you to be bait,” Shadow finally said.

“Bait? Why me?” Tarsus looked at his former master puzzled and somewhat annoyed. “Why not the young lady here?”

“Because you’re a bigger target and fast,” Shadow answered before Aquarius could protest. “No offense, but I think the bad guys would have more fun trying to shoot a tall guy like you instead of shorter, and more nimble people like Aquarius and I.”

Aquarius chuckled as Tarsus glared at his master, the Obelisk unamused. “Fine! What do you want me to do?”

“We need to keep some of these scion freaks from going after the others. I know you’ll hate me for this, and I promise you can get your sweet revenge later, but I need you to distract however many as you can. Get them to shoot at you. Aquarius and I will handle the rest. If we can get their numbers to dwindle to nothing, then we make our way towards the palace. Perhaps we can put on a show for Zhan and the others.”

“I doubt trickery will amuse him,” the Obelisk remarked. “But whatever, let’s just get this done. I better not die because of your plan.”

“I’ve never let you down before, and I don’t plan to let you down now. Just keep your head low and try to stay under some cover.”

She then looked over at an eager Aquarius, the apprentice ready to receive orders. “Ready to play a little game with the enemy?”
The Krath nodded and grinned. “Yes I am.”

“Good. Just stay close to me. Tarsus, you wait for my signal.”

The Obelisk nodded and winked. “Just take care of yourself, darlin’.”

Shadow rolled her eyes as she made her way towards a cluster of buildings not too far from where they left Tarsus. Both master and apprentice kept their heads down to avoid getting the toxic rain on their faces as they quickly reached the buildings of choice. With a little help from Shadow, Aquarius leaped for a ledge on one of the buildings and clambered up the rest of the way to the top with Shadow then coming after her.

“What now?” Aquarius inquired.

“I sensed some Scions coming down the street leading to here. I’m gonna signal Tarsus to run at the right moment in front of them, and to lead them passed here. I’m going to go to that shop four buildings to the right while you stay here. When they pass me, I’ll ambush them. As soon as you see me down on the ground, I want you to use your pistol and take out as many as you can while Tarsus and I take out the rest. That way, we distract them on all sides and make it easy for us to eliminate. This will probably attract more Scions, but it is what it is. We’ve got to keep them busy. Understand?”

Aquarius nodded as she took her blaster pistol out of her holster and gripped it tightly. “Gotcha.”

Sure that her apprentice knew what to do, Shadow quickly jumped from the roof to another until she reached the building of her desire. She saw Tarsus hiding behind a corner of a building across from her. She pointed to where she wanted him to run, which was to an alley almost perpendicular to where she was. The Obelisk confirmed that he understood with a thumbs-up.

This better work.

Closing her eyes, she sensed for the scions she had felt earlier, and smiled when they were approaching quickly. She raised her hand, and the minute the first few soldiers came out of their street, she brought her hand down as she opened her eyes. As expected, Tarsus ran in front of them, firing with his weapon as they began pursuing and firing at him. She was worried that the Obelisk wouldn’t bring them by her, but the man knew her well enough to know what to do. When the middle part of the attacking group came by, she unsheathed her dagger and jumped down on one of the men with her dagger driven deep into his skull. The firing of Aquarius’ blaster pistol was then heard, only to be joined by Tarsus’ rifle and the sound of Shadow’s saber coming to life. Panic and confusion took hold of the soldiers as they fell for the trap, and it took only a few minutes to kill them all.

“I’m so glad I volunteered to be bait,” Tarsus said as he winced in pain, holding his hand to his shoulder.

“Oh good grief, you managed to get hurt.” Shadow sighed and looked back at Aquarius of whom she motioned to come down. “We’ll get this taken cared of quick. I sense more coming our way.”

“I’ll be alright, Shad,” Tarsus protested. “No need to worry about me.”

“Hush.” Shadow looked at Aquarius as her apprentice reached them. “Time you test your healing skills.”

The Krath nodded and put her hand over Tarsus’ wound as she closed her eyes and concentrated. Tarsus grimaced in pain at first, only to relax as Shadow’s apprentice did what she could to heal the wound. Considering what she knew and what little experience she had, she did well enough that Shadow only had little healing to do herself.

“Thanks, you two,” Tarsus as Shadow finished.

Both master and apprentice smiled, Aquarius feeling proud of herself. However, there was no time for celebrating accomplishments as the sound of running feet was heard quickly approaching them. Now, they’d have to fight to survive.

“Get ready, folks, cause this is gonna be one heck of a fight,” Shadow said as the three prepared to face the onslaught of scions.

The Memorial Square remained oddly silent. There were some blasts and explosions illustrating a violent firefight off in the distance near the market place and some activity adjacent to the palace. Apparently, something was happening in the mountains. High above, Imperial forces could be seen getting in formation and setting up picket forces at key locations. Yet, the ground forces remained where they had remained.

At this time all the forces still in the city loyal to the Emperor were assembled, more of less. A few Dark Jedi were unaccounted for but in time they would be accounted for, more or less.

Time had come. A decisive strike was needed to retake the palace and dislodge the Scions. The initial assault had stalled; the Imperial forces were still mustered. The deadly gas had mixed results, the populace was decimated but the soldiery was intact.

Lucyeth received the message telepathically. “Mortar squad in place along with heavy weapons platoon. Delak and company have been contacted as well, they are near our position seeking a weapons and comms cache nearby in the mountains hoping to contact Archangel and Dr. Rei to find the toxin antidote.”

The Acclivis Draco leader nodded to himself and responded in kind. “Zagro, we need all our forces on this mission. It is bad enough Shadow and her folks are still separated. Okay. Shadow and her team are leading a diversion in the market district to our left and Delak and that group is picking up stragglers and attempting to get the antitoxin and leading the enemy to the north. This is perfect the Scions will not know where the attack will come.”

Stormtroopers were all formed up along with various Dark Jedi. The medics were imbedded with the formations with a few remaining at base camp as a triage ward. Memorial Square was already thinned somewhat, with the mortarmen and heavy artillery forces in position above the palace along with a sniper platoon.

“Sergeant Fenn, shuttles are inbound from the far north to drop Kraken Regiment troops on the roof. The Stormtroopers are ready to move directly to the palace. I need those snipers and mortars to cover their advance. Once your Antenorans land on that roof and start taking the palace from the top down all hell will break loose inside but will allow our battering ram to walk right up to the door. We are synched up. Shuttles will arrive in 5 minutes and that is the time for our boys to charge the position.” Lucyeth sent to his second-in-command.

And with that, mortars and sniper fire started to rain down around the palace, striking at different areas around the perimeter to keep the Scions bottled inside with their heads down, not knowing where the assault would come from yet not damaging the roof or the approach to the main entryway.

The shuttle arrived overhead and started to discharge screaming Antenorans. Down below, Imperial forces ran headlong to the damaged entryway and took cover behind the crashed aircraft debris. They were taking lots of casualties but were gaining ground.

“We are in. Kraken Regiment is on the roof. Shuttles are no in position to run medevac missions and add limited close air support. Snipers have overwatch to hold the roof and mortarmen will stay in place to respond to any counterattack. It is up to our forces on the ground and the roof to synch up and take out the Scions. Hopefully the emperor is still alive.” Zagro responded with pride.

The final assault had begun.

Arthadonis knelt at the edge of the rooftop, watching from above as Shadow, Aquarius and Brandon cut down the Scion troops.

“They’re quite competent.” Malen said carefully examining the movements and skills each of the dark Jedi exhibited. “They’ll be fine on their own, we need to stick to our plan and get inside the palace. The rest of the palatinaeans will likely keep the bulk of the Scion forces busy when they launch their assault.”
Arthadonis stood and looked toward the palace as the last Scion fell below.

“We should join them or at least let them know what we plan to do, we stand a better chance working together.” He said surveying a large group of approaching enemy reinforcements.

“No, if you want the power I promised you can’t rely on them to help you. Besides, we both know you work best alone and imagine the prestige you will accumulate if you kill this Fias Zhan.” Malen reminded him. Arthadonis looked at Malen with an expression of confusion and hilarity.

“Are you insane? Fias Zhan is probably as powerful as Emperor Mordin, I wouldn’t stand a chance.” He exclaimed almost laughing at the prospect.

“Not in direct combat no, but as I’ve told you your best weapon is your ability to remain unseen. Hit him unprepared while his attention is focused on our main force and all the power in the galaxy won’t save him.”
Arthadonis looked down thinking for a moment before nodding slightly.

“Alright.” He said reluctantly. He was about to make for the palace when an explosion rocked the ground followed shortly by several more. Below him the legion of Scion forces stopped, unsure whether to retreat or press their attack. More explosions echoed through the streets, above the palace, shuttles began landing and allied troops poured out firing on any Scion forces they encountered.

“Damn they’ve started already. We need to get inside now, Zhan’s troops will be focusing on ours. We should be able to slip past them and get to Zhan.” Malen half shouted over the booming of the mortars.

Arthadonis paused for a moment before he took off in the direction of the palace. Some of the mortars managed to punch holes in the exterior walls giving him easy access, making it up to one of the breaches was easy. Once inside, he immediately began sensing for anyone nearby. He detected a large Scion force fighting at the main entrance and more scattering throughout the palace in an attempt to cover every route from the main entrance to the throne room. High above him he felt the drop ship troops trickling down through the palace working their way toward the same place. Everyone was converging on the throne room but Arthadonis had to get there first.

“Perfect.” Arthadonis whispered to himself as he began making his way toward Zhan.

Dante remained at the Memorial Square command center, watching impatiently his monitors as the Imperial forces swiftly breached the palace. As the senior Dark Jedi on the scene he wished to be leading the assault, yet he could not let go of the stronghold that remained to the loyal forces of the Emperor. A few more minutes and that would change.

The entirety of the Kraken Regiment had taken the roof, and had trickled down several levels of the palace. Heavy resistance has encountered, as Force sensitive Scions were locking down this area and were giving ground only dearly. The assault on the palace entrance was a different story. The remnant of the organic Imperial forces from Ohmen City pouring into the palace, pushing the Scions backward.

The further the Imperial forces pressed into the palace, the more stiff the resistance became. Lucyeth led the assault on the ground, “Zagro, we need the heavy mortar team inside with the snipers. If a counterattack is pending we are doomed anyhow with our forces spent inside the palace. The Kraken is getting mauled upstairs by Zhan’s Force sensitive soldiers. We need to push. Now.”

The telekinesis came in loud and clear, as the sergeant had come to the same conclusions. “Snipers, mortarmen, change of position. We jump to the roof.”

Down below the dead were piling up for both sides. Blaster bolts and frag grenades were coming from all directions. The palace, so strongly constructed, was starting to look like a ragged construction site or a ruined monument.

“My men are in position sir, no sign of Zhan yet but we cannot puncture into the throne room or the audience chamber. The remaining Scions are fully entrenched. How goes it below?” asked Fenn.

Lucyeth stopped directing the arranged firepower to answer. “Zag, we are almost through. The medics are busy with our wounded. We are getting hammered, but the Scions are about to give. They are not surrendering, I think they know its victory or death. Lower levels should be secured in 15 minutes all forces are in position. We are going all out once we have taken the main stairwell.”

The Imperial forces from all directions leapt forward guns blazing. Snipers from above protected them via overwatch as best possible. The Scions were falling back from the staggering firepower. “Zag, make that 10 minutes. If Zhan is here or not, the palace is ours within the hour. Cover us, we are coming up. Don’t blast us on the way up.” Lucyeth smiled.

Delak
and his band of Dark Jedi found their way through the mountain pass into the
outskirts of Ohmen where the secret research lab had been hidden and where the
cure to the fear toxin was being made. Archangel and Dr Rei must be hard at
work or they had better be. The entrance to the cave was covered in a cloak but
Delak had been made fully aware of the code to disable it. He quickly punched
in a couple of keys hidden behind a rock which caused the cloak to go down and
reveal the entrance. The automated blaster turrets quickly trained on the group
but were shut down almost instantly.

“Delak! Get your butt in here now.” Archangel yelled through the loudspeakers. “We’ve
made a breakthrough with the anti-toxin.”

Delak quickly ran through the door and made his way to the lab where Archangel
and Dr Rei were hard at work. Delak could see a concussion missile laying open
on the table with a weird glowing substance in its center.

“What do we have here?” Delak asked.

“Oh so good of you to ask so good,” started Dr Rei, “We have made a
breakthrough in the anti-toxin and our problem with not being able to get it to
all of our troops in time to have this fear toxin do us in. We have been
monitoring the situation surrounding the palace and it looks as if House
members are ready to make a push for the palace. The only problem is they will
soon start feeling the effects of the toxin.” Continued Dr Rei. “We have found
that if we detonate a concussion missile directly above the palace it will
cause the anti-toxin which we have formulated to be able to be dispersed in the
same manner as the fear toxin was distributed when we saw the big cyclone that
took out Thurkear. Our mission is to get this missile above the palace with all
speed,” finished Dr Rei.

“Right so how do we get this missile above the palace for detonation?” Cruised
asked. “I would have taken it in my ride but it was shot down. Do we have a
launcher somewhere around here?”

“No we do not have a launcher anywhere the missile will need to be remote
detonated.” Archangel stated.

“So how do we get it there?” Delak asked knowing Cruise was about to make
another question about it.

“As soon as the cyclone hit it took Thurkear and knocked him down and out in
our direction. I went out and made sure the beast was alright. You can feel the
anger coming out of him. He wants to fight some more and help us out. Delak you
will ride Thurkear above the palace and remote detonate the missile when it
gets close enough. You are going to have to get real high for this to work.”
Archangel finished.

“Let’s get to it then.”

Ten minutes later Delak was flying on the back of Thurkear dragging the
concussion missile in one of the beast’s mighty claws. He was wearing a
portable heads up display helmet that he had procured from the labs armory. The
readout showed that he was circling at 2500 feet above the palace. He tapped
Thurkear’s neck to let the beast know that he wanted him to drop the missile.
The missile fell quickly and Delak watched his readouts as it dropped. It
reached 1000 feet and he pushed the trigger button that they had rigged up to
detonate their missile. It exploded with a bright flash and Delak watched as
the anti-toxin became a mist and fell on the Scholae troops and Dark Jedi that
were surrounding the palace. Delak hoped it hadn’t been too late.

Delak landed on the roof of the palace with Kraken regiment and began to lead
the troops into the roof openings where he had come out after his short
captivity.

The scions were dug in deep within the palace but the scholae forces had to continue on the offensive for the sake of the Emperor. They are converging on the enemy although thy refused to surrender. We have already lost considerable casualties from the assault however, they could not possibly back down at this point. Delak was coming in from the roof and Zagro was reinforcing as well to add to the troop strength.

There was too much invested in the assault to pull out at this point. The battle team leader pulled out his commlink to contact his fellow dark Jedi.

“ Zagro you almost at the Palace?” asked Lucyeth wondering where the much needed reinforcements are.

“ We are coming right behind you to provide support,” Zagro stated over the commlink. Lucyeth sighed with relief.

“ Delak you on your way?” inquired Lucyeth into the commlink as he waited in anticipation for an answer among the static.
“ I am entering through the roof and going to move through the upper levels of the palace,” Replied Delak over the comm.

“ I got some stragglers that regrouped with me as well,” added Delak over the comm.

“ Good to hear that Delak,” stated Lucyeth before he put the commlink back on his waist belt. Lucyeth deflected a few blaster bolts as a trooper fell beside him. He was relieved to hear that reinforcements were on the way but he didn’t want to a last stand either.

“ Where are you guys, we are getting killed here!” yelled Lucyeth on the comm. The scions were closing in and his head was throbbing more than ever. The fear toxin was taking a toll on his mind and body and he was on the verge of passing out from the toxin and the offense would be lost. He slashed at the scion charging him and was about to attempt at a slash at the other scion before the soldier fell before him. He turned around and saw Zagro coming into the battle scene with snipers covering his approach.

“ Glad to see you still here,” stated Zagro.

“ Well I am glad you came. Those snipers can provide support picking off reinforcements as we move up,” replied Lucyeth.

“ You okay to move forward?” asked Zagro with clear concern. Lucyeth nodded in agreement but his head was throbbing even more and Zagro was blowing up like a balloon.

“ Friendly fire to the north side of the palace,” Delak said over the comm channel as he appeared in the grand hall and converged on the rest of the Scholae forces.

“ Hey I thought you guys could use some of this as well,” added Delak as he displayed a crate of antitoxin to the group and they gave a vial to Lucyeth right away. He could of handled hallucinations a little while longer before he passed out but with a solution presented it no longer mattered.

“We better finish this battle and find the emperor,” stated Zagro as the rest of the group of dark Jedi nodded in agreement.

The entire might of the Imperial Dark Jedi planet side had converged on the grand hall and its adjacent throne room and audience chamber. The roaring firefight had begun to simmer out as the snipers took head shots and the mortar teams wrestled free all pockets of resistance.

“Word has arrived from the command center. Delak’s method has worked. Archangel and Dr. Rei have readied a few more anti-toxin warheads. The few shuttles we have on station will start scattering across Ohmen to get the populace back in order. Casualties are to be catastrophic but we can save the survivors at any rate.” Stated Dante.

“Yes, and in other good news somehow I was able to patch through to Shadow and her team. Fleet transmission got through, reinforcements will land within the hour to retake the city proper. Gunships will be in lower orbit immediately.” Chimmed in Lucyeth.

“Good, looks like the band is back together as it were. Still…Zhan and his lieutenants are still behind that door with the cream of the Scions. Lets do this now and find our boss. My Kraken Regiment has been mauled. Never let it be forgot that the savage Antenoran’s saved the Empire. “ Retorted Zagro.

With a nod, the ready mortar squad blasted the way clear. As the dust settled Zhan could be seen in the distance with his bodyguards frantically trying to radio in for help and for an extraction plan.

“Zag, get the soldiers back. We will end this fight on our terms. Lock this level down and secure the palace entrance ways and bring up the command center from Memorial Square. Scholae brothers, forward.” Lucyeth eyed the nearest Scion and led the way forward for the final showdown.