Log:Mandalorians: Steel Rain

House Kast leads an assault on Iziz, Onderon.

OOC Date: April 21, 2023
Location: Shared Atmosphere/Skies above Iziz City
Participants: Amaia Dara, Zena Tane, Grom, Hadrix Kora, Terek Rosol, Sumi Kora

Hundreds of Mandalorians have taken to the skies of Dxun, flying toward the dominating view of Onderon for which the atmosphere was shared. The moment they passed through the gassy veil, and the gravity field took hold, they began fall toward the planet and away from the moon. This is an odd situation where looking up, they see the distant land of Dxun, and looking down, they see the terrain of Onderon!

<<"All call signs check in,">> Growls Alor Talion Kast, whose Mandalorian 'House' made up for the bulk of the forces. Mandalorians began to sound off over comms, indicating they were ready.

<<"EE-TEE-AYY -- Five minutes. Thermals indicate the Beast Riders are aware of our approach and have taken to the skies. Kill the riders and the Beasts will flee. Our target.. Iziz Palace. Save your jetpacks for direction changes, fight in packs, and survive.">>

<<"Alor'Kora checking in. Moving to the vanguard position.">> Sumi's blue-toned shape is seen taking a more narrow form to attain maximum velocity and put her ahead of the bulk. She marks her position by activating an electrum hilt that produces a vibrant violet blade.

Mai Dara carried no storied weapons, no largescale weaponry capable of assisting in such an assault. But, but, she was another body to add to the roster of fighters, and one more body meant one more fighter who could assist the team in winning the day. She did, however, have a jetpack, so she was not being forced to freefall all the way down. And, she ad a couple of bracers. Small but mighty. Much like her Clan.

Zena, Alor'Kloo, does not have a jetpack. She does have Skyripper armor. This will do. <<"Alor'Kloo, sounding off,">> she says over comms as she extends the gliding surfaces on her armor. Her descent slows rapidly, but this is fine. Absolutely fine.

Because then she pulls out her Force-damned sniper rifle.

<<"I'll keep you all covered. Just don't let them get me, and I won't let them get you.">>

She racks the chamber, ready to fire. Hitting moving targets while in a controlled fall is going to be difficult, but nothing is ever easy.

It's gonna be real fun, though.

Grom had made a point of leaping into the air as the band departed the wild moon, so that later he could claim he *leapt* from one world to another. The massive bulk of a Houk in powered armor has no aerodynamic profile, and thus as the planet of Onderon looms overhead, the burly alien is booming with his typical bombast, "YES, the Mighty Grom will SLAY the tiny Sky knights in his mighty leap! GROM, who crosses worlds with a step, and will SMASH YOU, PUNY PLANET no matter the number of your beasts! Or riders! Or beast riders! Or-" Mercifully, the big fool didn't activate his comm, so none of the Mandalorians are forced to listen as Grom proceeds to challenge.. the planet.

Ascent changing to descent, there had been three times before this that Hadrix had travelled between during the the yearly event of Dxun and Onderon's atmospheres blending. A period of time where flying beasts would migrate or even experience one world for their first time. It was a prime hunting time... it was also excellent for wet-work insertions.

<<"Al'Verde Kora, read.">>

Unlimbering the sectional metal whip from where it wraps around his waist before the press of a switch snaps it to rigid form, crimson energy burning within it as the power couplings, the big man checks altimeter having a momentary conniption in his HUD display.

<"I'm fine if they reach me."> answering Zena, an almost purring rumble in his throat, <"I prefer it that way...">

The Mandalorians have ships harbored behind them, making their descent as well with turrets, cannons, rockets, missiles, and snubfighters. They're thirty-seconds into their fall when the anti-air defenses around Iziz kick in, targeting the ships. Alor'Kast growls something in Mando'a, informing the pilots to pull off. Ships pass beneath the army of Mandalorians, shields shimmering as they absorb flak and laser cannon fire. Some of the fighters are caught off-guard and combust into massive explosions, but the chaos was only starting.

It takes twenty-seconds for the ships to lead the fire away from the descending fighters, an opening joust between planetary defense forces playing out with cutlass fighters bearing Onderon's royal colors zipping by on occasion. The intimidating part of the battle was only just arriving; a dragon like roar followed by a chorus of others herald the arrival of a Beast Rider battalion riding a flock of avian like dragon-creatures. The beasts had long maws, with wyvern like wings for arms, and powerful hind-legs with claws large enough to crab, hook, and crush. Long tails trail behind them as they fly right into the falling force of Mandos.

<<"Contact!">> Sumi calls, intercepting the first beast. The glow of her jetpack shows her course correction, and she hits the side of the beast, doing her best to slide the violet blade into its hide. This proves unsuccessful, and she's struck and sent spiraling off.

Other Mandalorians fare differently, some have launched whip-cords to harpoon beasts and follow them through the air, while others 'dive-bomb' the riders themselves, cutting, shooting, stabbing, and even spartan kicking. The initial joust begins, and it's brutal chaos.

The ground is pretty far away. Not far enough away, it never is when you're falling towards it, but it's far enough away that Terek can at least focus on his shots, rather than how close it is.

<"Checking in."> He growls over the comms, as he looks down towards the beasts below them. They're coming up to meet them, only a matter of time before they're in range. He spreads himself out to slow himself down, his W-35 coming to bear as he angles towards one of the approaching riders, holding his shot until he's sure he's in range. Wasting shots wouldn't be worth the cost.

Mai, who had forgotten to sound off, because, well, let's be honest, she had been distracted by the fact that...she had literally never done anything like this before, ever, in her life, and had been incredibly pre-occupied with not dying, did so now, as she lifted her arm, keeping it close to her body to prevent the wind from whipping her arm around like a noodle, so she looked as though she were firing with her wrist attached to her side...which she sort of was, "Dara here, one rider dismounted!" Everything was moving too quickly to see if dismounted meant dead. It was not flying a beast. That was the important thing!

Zena takes aim, gritting her teeth behind her helmet. "Alright you little bastards. Hold still."

Spoiler: They do not.

She squeezes the trigger, trying to use her training to do the normal on the ground sniper work, but it's just not in the cards. The crimson bolt whings off into nothing as the target she was aiming for turns on a credstick. "Kriffing..." She racks the rifle again, ready to try once more when the time is right.

"Ah! Grom sees that you can ALSO ROAR. HAVE YOU, PUNY DRAGON. ROOOOOOOAAAARRRR-" Yes, he yells 'roar', no he has not remembered to activate his comlink. Firing his boot jets (which, for a wonder, fire on command) to roar his way toward the nearest rider, chopping away with gravitational power behind the swing, and hacking the unfortunate rider to death. "AH HA. GROM IS THE STRONGEST-" Until the dead rider's steed seeks revenge for having its master splattered all over its wings, and latches on to Grom with its teeth. "-What? STOP THAT. BAD DRAGON. You are biting the Gromgut: the strongest-hebehe CEASE THY TICKLING, AT ONCE. GROM DEMANDS IT." The armor is scratched but stopped the efforts of the beast to eat him, and the plummeting monarch finally pries the beast's jaws open and spirals off in the sky.

Left arm snapping out, a line from his vambrace crosses the distance between he and one of the flying beasts used by the Onderonian riders, swinging his body round when the winch begins to draw him in. Blade held ready in one hand and his boots pointed towards the creature so that he slams into the best in a half-crouch.

Arm swinging round in attempt to slash at the creature's neck - buffeted away by it's wing and then a jerk of its neck pulls Hadrix off his footing before his second wing can even come around again - Beast Rider slash skipping off his shoulder plate as Hadrix is whipped around again.

<"Kriff..."> wheeling around again, like a farkled up carnival ride - bringing him momentarily face to face with the rider again. Well. Visor to face.

There's a lot of things going through Terek's mind as he falls, but steadying that shot is the main thing, "Come on. Come on." He says to himself, inside of his helmet, before he pulls the trigger, the first golden bolt striking the rider between his neck and clavicle and sending him tumbling off of his mount, who turns and dives after him, allowing Terek to keep falling. He shifts his aim to a second rider and fires, this one whipping past and causing the rider to turn and return fire on Terek. Guess he better try again!

The battle is a criss-cross of occasional fighters zipping by, explosions at random locations, larger vessels gliding overhead or below, clouds passing, and the leathery-sounding flapping of wings as beasts and riders engage Mandalorian forces. Distress, amusement, bravado.. it is all heard over comms as people die from both sides and the war wages on despite the intervention of gravity. One minute and thirty seconds have passed. Alor'Kast's voice over general comms alerts, <<"A little over three minutes EE-Tee-AY.. watch your flight patterns, warriors.">>

Sumi is left spinning, having to deactivate her weapon to keep from cutting her own leg off. A timed ignition of her jetpack corrects her course and she resumes falling.

More beasts and riders join the fray, one even carrying the banner of the Royal family, using it as a lance to impale Mandos as it swoops by.

Perhaps it was the blue on blue of her armor that saved her, or the fact that she was trying to keep all of her limbs as close together as possible to remain a small visual target. The jetpack fired, now and them more for targeting assistance than maneuvering, as she did not close to melee range (nobody wanted to see that) and another shot from her laser plinked another rider off of its mount. A twist of her body and a jet away, was likely why the beast did not go after her, as it seemingly allowed its rider to fall to their doom.

Zena takes aim again, looking through her HUD and viewfinder. Keeping steady while rocketing towards the ground is next to impossible. She's trying anyway. "You kriffing little nerf herders," she says to herself, barrel swaying in the buffeting winds. "Stay still!"

She fires again, but an unruly gust hits her gliding surfaces, making her spin like a top for a second, blasting the shot wide and straight down. The crimson blast rockets towards the ground, doing nothing of any kind of use.

She racks the rifle again once she stabilizes her fall, green eyes narrowed behind her helmet.

Grom may not know what a flight pattern is, as the hulking alien flails his stubby limbs in a futile effort to 'swim' into a better orientation. Spotting one rider with a, "FLAG," Grom hits his boot jets again, "A flag means a WORTHY FOE. Or else a foe who brings their own napkin, which is considerate AND THEREFORE WORTHY. KING GROM IS UPON YOU." Once again, the boot jets obey and flare to life, but in the course of his very loud approach, the Onderonian flag bearer's steed latches its teeth onto Grom's left arm, clenching hard and drawing blood at the elbow. The faithful beast shortens Grom's reach just enough that the vicious axe cuts harmlessly through the air inches away from the rider, all while a deranged Houk bellows, "FLAG. FLAAAAAG."

Thrown off, going over the shoulder of the rider, slamming into the hind flank of the beast and rolling along its tail - barely getting his launcher aimed and a cord wrapped around the saddle horn to arrest his tumbling and dragging him along the creature's body. Bumping and clattering up until he can drive the glowing blade of the chain-sword through the back of the beast rider.

<"Treatments will speed healing -and- keep you moving like a man half my age... Nerf-shavit."> bashing the crown of his helmet into the back the sagging rider's head to send them toppling, Hadrix lifts his blade to attempt to sink it into the creature's spine... Only to be smashed into by a wing as the creature writhes, sending Al'Verde Kora hurtling off inro space again.

A bolt comes sailing back in at Terek, and he twists himself around in midair rolling to evade the shot coming in from the guy he had fired at. He squeezes the shot off at the target who had fired at him, knocking him off his creature as well. Terek has gotten lucky so far as the mounts have been too distracted trying to keep their riders from falling to come at him.

He swoops behind another one of the riders, turning over to fire back upwards at the rider he had just sailed past, sending the beast chasing after the rider as well. Terek turns around again and begins to scan for another target.

The battle continues to wage in the air with ships exploding, and people clashing. To those falling or flying, it's becoming a concerted effort to avoid hitting things now! Alor'Kast is heard over comms once more, <<"Two minutes out, people.. ground is coming up quick! Aim for Iziz Palace, its shielding and anti-air will prevent our ships from landing, but they will not stop us.">>

Sumi's course correction and sudden burst of jet propulsion put her on the back of one beast. The rider turns about to fire and she cuts their head right off with a single pass of the lightsaber. An effort is made to kill the beast beneath her feet, but the animal flicks its body to send Sumi off its hide and into the air once more, only to clamp its mouth down on her leg.

She screams when the teeth sink in, and as it tries to toss her up in the air for a larger bite, she activates her jetpack a third time to avoid it, falling out of its reach and holding her thigh.

Fighting to keep herself from being smashed into either debris or other bodies, both living and dead...or mostly dead, Mai Dara ipped and zagged, rolled and twisted as she tried to remain on target. The ground was coming up fairly quickly now, and that also distracted her. We talked about her enver doing something like this before, yes? Another shot of her laser, but it was both badly aimed, the beast rider she was aiming at caught a glint in its eye of her direction, leaving the shot to go wide as it avoided that attack, and sending beast and rider both in her direction. She just managed to kick away, using the beast's body as momentum as it tried to chomp down on her, saving her from a point blank shot from the dier. And then she was falling again. Onderon here she comes!

This time, Zena's perseverance pays off. She does her best to hold steady, spreading her legs a bit for a little more drag as she falls. She takes aim at one of the beast riders, drawing a deep breath and holding it. She waits for the right moment. The perfect time to pull the trigger. Her hand tenses, finger pulling slowly back until...

BLAM

A crimson bolt lances out, pegging the Beast Rider in the side of the head, blowing him, and his head gibs, off of his beast. For an instant, the winged creature looks between Zena and the falling rider before diving after the dead.

"Got you, you son of a Wampa."

Grom remains held fast by the left arm in the jaws of a flying beast as the bearer of the Onderon royal standard stabs at him with the lance and pennant. The raging Houk swats it away twice, before ripping his trapped arm loose of the monster's jaws and gaining the reach to lodge his axe deep in the rider's chest cavity. Newly freed left hand snatches the, "FLAG," as the enraged beast latches onto one boot, thrashing the Houk about in the air for a long moment before a boot jet fires in its mouth, driving the scalded monster away and leaving From to plummet in a pinwheel. "FLAaaaaAAAAaaaAAAAgggGGG-"

Tumbling end over end, trying to regain his bearings, finds Hadrix falling through the thick of it, watching the riderless beast he was so recently vacated from peel away and tucking into a ball as well as collapsing the chain whip when proximity alerts go off inside his helmet.

<"Kriff..."> trying to tuck even tighter when a massive winged beast goes past, spinning him in an alternate from his original whirl with much protesting from his stomach. Forced to extend himself out, catching sight of the rider who just passed. A fresh cord looping around one arm and forcing the Onderonian to turn and see the figure in dark purple plates running, with assistance, up the tail and flank of its mount and then the powered blade before their vision becomes a slowly graying out chaotic twirl.

Again attempts to take the beast now sans rider are met with his blade bouncing off of thick scales and his balance slips. No... it didn't slip - yanked by the creature with its teeth grinding against his beskar, shaking him violently from one side to another.

There's a lot going on all at once, and Terek winds up catching a piece of debris to the helmet. The helmet absorbs the damage, but he gets spun end over end, tumbling out of control. He tires to fire his jetpack, but that fails. He reaches back and whacks it with the butt of his pistol, squeezing the trigger as he does so, which sends a bolt sailing in whatever random direction that it was pointed as he was tumbling.

Several dozen meters away, a rider who didn't know Terek was there was issuing a command to his beast when the golden bolt penetrates under the base of his temple and he falls.

The ground was closing quickly, and the glowing hue of discharging defense cannons below can be seen as streaming laser contrails criss-cross, engaging ships landing around Iziz to deploy Mandalorian troops on the ground. A few of the ships meet their fate by the constant barrage of fire, and shields around the palace shimmer.

Beast Riders put up a valiant effort against Mandalorians, but fighting a loose formation of falling, armored warriors is very difficult. Beast Riders find every time they approach on attack, Mandalorians are firing harpoons and latching on, beating their beasts to death or slaying the riders. Some riders don't even make it to the fight, they're picked off by sharpshooters falling through the air! It's a poor showing, but it's clear the Beast Riders were not prepared for a battle in the air; ironic.

Sumi lands on another beast, immediately killing its rider before plunging her blade into the beast's back. When she leaps off its neck, the lightsaber severs the head from its body, and both beast and rider plummet to the surface.

<<"One minute out people, control your descent and prepare for tactical landing!">> Alor'Kast orders!

They were almost on the ground now. The warning of the landing was one thing, but seeing the ground coming up with frightening speed was another. Mai Dara did manage to get off one final shit, the bolt from her laser taking out one more of the riders, who, as she whipped around on the wind now falling right beside her, but with much less control. Her jetpack flared, a bright star of light as she pushed it to its limits, the sheer force of gravity catching up with her as she slowed down enough that, yes, the body hit the ground before she did, but, but...not so fast that the fountain of gore that the drop turned the body into splashed up high enough to hit her, and she managed to touch down before the g-forced caused her vision to darken. A body could only take so much. And the rattataki's body was only so ready.

Zena gets one more shot. One more chance to make this count. She grits her teeth, twisting in the air. She ends up in a prone position, her back to the castle, looking up at the moon they dropped from. She takes aim at another Beast Rider, taking a slow breath. "Target the center...pull the trigger," she whispers to herself. "Target the center, pull the trigger."

She aims for as close to center mass as she can, and another red bolt lances out. It pegs a Rider in the shoulder, hard enough to twist him out of the saddle and sending him careening to his inevitable and sudden death. She just nods once, twisting around in midair to see where she's falling.

Stowing the rifle, Zena splays her arms and legs wide, making her fall more controlled. She starts to swerve in the air, beginning to circle around wide to bleed some momentum as she falls. Around and around she goes, her spiral tightening as she uses everything she knows about the Skyripper to make her land safely.

Which she does, but it's a little rough. She tries to pull up, and her feet hit the battlement, but she's still going too fast. She's forced to immediately sprint, but loses her footing, taking a head over heels tumble until she just skids on the castle wall.

She lays there for a moment before raising her arm and giving a thumbsup. <<"I'm okay.">>

Grom gradually regains a consistent view of which way is down, in time to fire both boot jets up/now down to land on his broad booted feet on the ground of Iziz castle, vibro ax in one hand and captured royal banner in the other. The screech and venting gas from overstrained shock absorbers accompany the lift of his head and great, drawn breath: <<The hour has come, puny planet: GROM IS HERE.">> Rising from the slight crouch he had landed in, the monolith of a mercenary greets the first of the castle's knights with a slash that sends the corpse flying across the courtyard.

Alas for the Onderonians, the Houk is not the last of the killers to land from above.

The call for incoming landing goes out while he was being tossed through the air like a sack of meat, old guts still complaining at the violence of it and his HUD flashes as his chin smashes into a toggle, bracketing potential targets and the trio of rocket tubes on his right kneepad extend.

<"Rekkit...">

He might get lucky. And his systems give a firing solution, prompting him to squeeze his calf instinctively, launching the trio of rocket-darts as he continues to plummet. The rider, bracketed front and back by two of the micro-rockets has time enough to swing their head around when the third hits their side. The fountain of gore prolific when the ordnance goes off and hurls the rapidly cooling body into open air.

<<"Al'Verde Kora, inbound...">> turning and straightening out his body, increasing his speed to find himself drafting in Grom's wake, a weather eyes for the countdown of meters to the ground, watching the castle roof rushing to meet him. Spinning again before his anti-gravs kick in, slowing the fall over the final five meters so that his landing is a resounding, metal, KLANG and Hadrix is down in a three point stance, sword still in hand, rising and stepping towards the foeman.

The final descent sees the activation of hundreds of jetpacks as House Kast and allies adjust in the air to allow for a controlled fall. Troops land in the courtyards, battlements, ramparts, and on top of the castle launching an assault. Blaster fire is almost immediate as ground forces intercept many warriors where they land, but Mandalorians engage from the air, wiping out many of the troops as they sallied out.

Such was the case with Sumi as she lands and slays three warriors, one right after the other.

Alor'Kast is heard over general comms. <<"Begin the assault of the palace. Bring the King and the Princess to me. We will meet in the throne room when the attack is completed. OYA!">>